Survivors of rape or sexual slavery should never again face "the prison of stigma" described by some of them as a "living death", the acting UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, has said. Adama Dieng, who is also the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, made the appeal to members of the [...]

Poverty impacting 25% of children in Middle East and North Africa Poverty is continuing to impact at least 29 million children across the Middle East and North Africa, or one in four children in the region. That's according to a study published on Monday by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The agency made the assessment [...]

The Secretary-General has expressed "outrage" over an attack by armed groups against the UN and civilians in the town of Bangassou, in the Central African Republic (CAR). António Guterres made the remarks in a statement issued by his Spokesperson on Sunday. The weekend attack led to significant population displacement, an undetermined number of civilian casualties [...]

Praising the "immense potential" of China's ambitious "One Belt, One Road" economic plan, the UN Secretary-General said it can also promote access to markets for countries yearning to integrate the global economy. António Guteress made these observations in a speech delivered on Sunday at the "Belt and Road Forum" in the capital Beijing. According to [...]

Mosul families flee ongoing "heavy bombing and fighting": UN Conditions in Mosul are "desperate and worsening" according to those fleeing the besieged Iraqi city. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said on Friday that families have reported heavy bombing and fighting in the west of the city, where ISIL fighters are resisting national troops. Some civilians [...]

Ongoing heavy fighting for full control of the Iraqi city of Mosul is putting increasing numbers of people in "grave danger", the UN said on Friday. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said that some families have been living on little more than flour and water, and that others have fled the ISIL-held western zone, risking [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Matthew Wells and Jocelyne Sambira. In today's programme: intense fighting to finally liberate western Mosul puts civilians in more danger than ever – we'll have the latest from the UN Refugee Agency… And…with 217,000 under UN protection, millions displaced and famine declared, [...]

  Ebola case confirmed in DRC, nine others suspected A case of the often-deadly Ebola virus has been confirmed by a laboratory test in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and nine other cases are suspected, said the government in statement on Friday. DRC's public health minister said he had informed the World Health [...]

"Tragic milestone": 1 in 5 South Sudanese children now a refugee, UNICEF South Sudan's intensifying humanitarian crisis now means that a "tragic milestone" has been reached, with more than a million children forced to flee the country. UNICEF's Chief of Communication in Sout h Sudan, Tim Irwin, said it represented a "generation on the brink of [...]

Top UN negotiator for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has expressed cautious optimism that a new ceasefire deal could help a fresh round of talks in Geneva. Failure to take advantage of it for the benefit of war-weary Syrians could result in "another 10…Aleppos", the Special Envoy said – a reference to the suffering caused by [...]