Latest UN News

United Nations officials today condemned the murder of six aid workers in north-west Pakistan, the latest in a series of attacks against the humanitarian community in the South Asian nation.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today it would welcome an independent inquiry into its operations in Somalia, after a United Nations monitoring group alleged that contractors have diverted the agency’s food aid away from the hungry.

All parties involved in Nepal’s peace process must demonstrate their commitment to peace and the democratic process and not get bogged down in short-term political maneuvering, the top United Nations political official said today.

One in three Africans is chronically hungry, despite $3 billion spent on food aid for the continent annually and $33 billion in food imports, the director of the food security at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has warned.

The United Nations is helping Tajikistan, a mountainous country prone to natural disasters, enhance its capacity to withstand catastrophes such as floods, avalanches and earthquakes which often destroy homes in the Central Asian nation.

More than three years after the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for a complete halt to fighting between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbollah, the situation in the region remains fragile, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report, which also raises concerns over increasingly bellicose rhetoric warning of renewed fighting.

The main priority for post-quake Haiti remains emergency shelter, the top United Nations relief official said today, adding that the world body is scaling up efforts to ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads by the time the rainy season begins in May.

Adding to his lengthy list of accomplishments, cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar has been named a Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The United Nations and the Government of Timor-Leste will be consulting closely on how the world body can best support the country’s efforts to secure a stable and prosperous future between now and 2012, when it is expected that the UN mission will close its operations there, said a senior official.

The world’s endangered great apes received a boost from the 2009 United Nations Year of the Gorillas, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said today, citing the funds raised for conservation projects and the increase in publicity on the plight of the animals.

Violence against women devastates individuals and societies alike, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling for united action to demand accountability, end impunity and support the victims of this global scourge.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today unveiled Argentine soccer genius Lionel Messi as its newest Goodwill Ambassador at a ceremony in Barcelona, where he plays club football.