If Africa's young people are not supported in becoming the leaders of tomorrow, they will be "detractors" of those in power today. That's the opinion of Robert Ladu Luki, Chairperson of the National Land Commission in South Sudan. He was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, recently for a UN-backed conference that looked at young people's access [...]

"Heinous and cowardly" terror attack in Egypt condemned by UN chief An attack on an Egyptian mosque which left at least 235 people dead, was condemned by the UN Secretary-General "in the strongest terms" on Friday. In a statement from his Spokesperson's office, AntĂłnio Guterres called for those responsible for the "horrific" assault in Bir [...]

Listen to our daily bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, presented by Dianne Penn. In today’s special programme: We'll hear from a top human rights official on the ongoing efforts to bring an end to the death penalty; and: We'll learn how Anne Frank, the young Holocaust victim, continues to inspire young [...]

An initiative to end the trade in lethal drugs and other tools used for capital punishment or torture has been hailed by a senior UN official as a potential "step forward in civilization." Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour was speaking about a Global Alliance launched in September by the European Union and its [...]

Philippines urged to stop attacks and killings in anti-drugs campaign The Philippines should investigate killings connected to the state's war on drugs and stop the attacks, UN-appointed rights experts said on Thursday. Three Special Rapporteurs made the appeal to the government of Rodrigo Duterte following what they said had been "a great number" of new [...]

More than 500 students came to UN Headquarters in New York this month to mark the 70th anniversary of the publication of the diary of Anne Frank and celebrate the "deep connection" they feel with the young Holocaust victim. Her famous diary written as she and her family hid from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic, [...]

A team of doctors, nurses and technicians plays a "lifesaving role" in South Sudan according to a senior Jordanian doctor in the UN Peacekeeping Mission there, UNMISS. The UNMISS medical team cares for around 17,000 military, police and civilian staff across the country as well as on occasions South Sudanese civilians. Major Doctor Zaidoun Al-Rawashdeh [...]

Energy is key to global development but the world's poorest nations fare up to six times worse than their more industrialised counterparts when it comes to accessing the vital resource, the UN warned on Wednesday. In a report on 47 Least Developed Countries (LDC), the UN trade and development arm UNCTAD said that only four [...]

War crimes verdict hailed for Mladic, the "epitome of evil" The conviction on Wednesday of Ratko Mladic for genocide following his role in the Srebrenica massacre has been welcomed by UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who described the former general as "the epitome of evil". The verdict against Mladic, a commander in [...]

An increasing number of threats are being made towards human rights defenders all over the world, with some being murdered, arrested, prosecuted unfairly and in some cases, they "simply disappear". That's according to Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the UN Declaration [...]