Migrants, particularly women and children, need protection from the international community, as they are human beings with "inalienable rights". That's according to Götz Schmidt-Bremme, the Co-Chair of forum on issues facing migrants which is taking place in June this year. He said up to 80 per cent of African women are often forced into prostitution [...]

ISIL terrorists may have attempted "to destroy our way of life" according to one young Iraqi student in the liberated town of Qayyarah, but now they're back in the classroom. 16-year-old Nisreen, and her father Tareq, have been describing their ordeal living under ISIL occupation, telling the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), that they refused to [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations, with Matthew Wells and Daniel Dickinson. In today's programme…food-insecurity among Syrian refugees living in Lebanon is rising at an alarming rate, with nearly three-quarters living below the poverty line. And, we'll hear how Iraqi schoolchildren are finally returning to the classroom after years of [...]

The number of migrant and refugee deaths worldwide, rose by a third last year compared with 2015, according to preliminary data from the UN Migration Agency (IOM). Almost 7,500 people on the move died or went missing in 2016. The total for the last three years is just over 18,500 said IOM, which Director General [...]

Somali refugees are "trapped" in camps in Yemen, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia and are enduring "dire" conditions as food supplies dwindle, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said. Many wish to return to Somalia despite the dangers which persist there due to the country's long-running conflict. The World Food Programme (WFP), says it is seriously [...]

Food-insecurity is rising for Syrian refugees living in Lebanon, many of whom are resorting to what have been described as "negative coping strategies" such as eating only one meal per day. That's according to the latest annual study carried out by UN agencies providing humanitarian relief in Lebanon, which is hosting more than a million [...]

Political support for preventing disasters needs a "higher level of attention" during 2017, according to the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in the Americas. A change in government often means countries stop prioritizing prevention policies, Ricardo Mena warned. The Americas region is highly susceptible to natural disasters. Earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic [...]

Killing of two peacekeepers in CAR condemned by UN The killing of two peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) has been condemned by the UN mission there. The blue helmets, who were part of a battalion from Morocco, were escorting fuel trucks, when they were ambushed by unknown assailants. Two other peacekeepers were injured, [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations, with Matthew Wells and Dianne Penn. In today's programme: "tremendous dramas" remain to be resolved across Syria's many battlefields, the UN special envoy warns. And, children's lives remain at risk in Haiti, three months on from Hurricane Matthew – we'll have the latest on [...]

Somali youths must unite to help eradicate "rampant" sexual and gender-based violence in the country. That was the call from one young speaker at a recent symposium held in Mogadishu, organized by a key UN partner in the east African state, that's recovering from decades of war. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) conference, [...]