A South African teenager was at the UN recently to raise her voice for children everywhere, particularly on the issues of education, child labour and gender inequality. Lathitha Beyile from Soweto read a manifesto she had written which was inspired by children in her country. The 14-year-old also served as a guest UN spokesperson during [...]

Sixty blue helmets were killed in attacks in 2017; nearly double the figure for the past two years. That's according to senior UN official Atul Khare, who reported that overall, 123 personnel died while serving at peacekeeping missions this year. The Under-Secretary-General for Field Support underlined that action is being taken to improve security conditions [...]

Make human trafficking "a real priority" urges UN chief In September, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on world leaders to make the scourge of human trafficking "a real priority for international cooperation". The call from the UN chief came as the General Assembly adopted a new Political Declaration to fight trafficking in persons at a [...]

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the recent exchange of prisoners and detainees in eastern Ukraine. In a statement from his Spokesperson, Mr. Guterres expressed hope that the humanitarian act could serve as a positive step towards strengthening the confidence among the sides. In the statement, the Secretary-General also urged all parties to take [...]

Although a UN court has charged more than 160 people for war crimes committed during the Balkan wars, that number is still "very little" considering the thousands of violations that still need to be investigated. That's the assessment of Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which closes [...]

Terrorist attack in Kabul another 'despicable crime' in a year already marked by unspeakable atrocities: UN Mission A deadly terrorist attack on Thursday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has killed scores of civilians and many children are feared to be among the casualties, the United Nations Assistance Mission in the country, UNAMA, has said. So [...]

Three months after Hurricanes Irma and Maria delivered a major blow to the island of Dominica, life is resuming on the Caribbean island. Schools are open, and food and water needs have been met. But only 10 per cent of the homes have electricity and the two main job areas — agriculture and tourism — [...]

On 22 December, tropical storm Tembin,  known locally as "Vinta", made landfall in southern Philippines and traversed a path of destruction as it swept through the region. Worst hit are the northern parts of Mindanao where over 150,000 people have been displaced due to landslides and flash floods. Over 150 people have died and many [...]

UN chief welcomes conduct of second round of presidential election in Liberia United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the peaceful conduct of the second round of the presidential election in Liberia. In a statement from his Spokesperson, Mr. Guterres expressed hope that the will of the Liberian people will be respected and that a [...]

Mobile police teams from the new UN mission in Haiti will bring together local communities and political leaders in efforts to find solutions to the country's peace and justice needs. Susan Page, Head of the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH), believes this "bottom-up and top-down approach" will help strengthen rule-of law-institutions in [...]