The risk of a polio outbreak spreading in the Lake Chad region of Africa is real, the UN Children's Fund  UNICEF said Tuesday. The disease resurfaced in Nigeria in August and now the agency is aiming to vaccinate 41 million people in the north-east of the country, as well as in neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and [...]

Strengthening and "gearing up" partnerships is essential for Africa's peace and stability, according to the UN's Special Advisor on the continent, addressing a High-Level event at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Maged Abdelaziz said that there could be no development without peace, nor peace without development, and that ambitious goals could not be [...]

The prevailing "mood" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) does not allow for a "genuine dialogue' and a peaceful election process, the UN special envoy in the country has said. Maman Sambo Sidikou, who is also the head of the UN Mission there, made the remarks as the Security Council prepared to discuss [...]

  Fighting reported in Leer, South Sudan Sustained small arms fire as well mortar explosions and tank fire has been reported by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) around Leer town in the north of the country. The Mission said Government and opposition forces were reportedly fighting each other over the weekend. The almost [...]

  Human Rights chief condemns "outrageous" Yemen funeral attack "Outrageous attacks" in Yemen, such as airstrikes that killed at least 140 mourners at a funeral this weekend, cannot be allowed to continue, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Monday reiterated his call for an independent international inquiry [...]

Girls worldwide collectively spend more than 550 million hours each day cooking, cleaning, taking care of younger siblings and performing other unpaid household chores. The finding comes in a report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) which shows how gender disparity in domestic work starts early. It reveals that girls aged five to 14 years [...]

Reports of a series of deadly attacks in the South Sudanese town of Yei have been described as "horrific" by the UN mission in the country, UNMISS. According to UN agencies, some 100,000 people are trapped in Yei, which is situated in Central Equatoria state, about 150 kilometres south-west of the capital Juba. Until recently, [...]

Efforts to stabilize the Central African Republic could be undermined if the international community fails to maintain its commitment to the troubled country, according to the UN Peacekeeping chief. A three-year long political crisis in CAR as it's known has resulted in a violent conflict that has affected nearly the whole country. It's left some [...]

  Death penalty does not diminish terrorism: UN Secretary-General Capital punishment does not deter terrorism and could even attract followers to extremist groups, according to the UN Secretary-General. Ban Ki-moon's comments came in a message on the World Day against the Death Penalty, observed this Monday, 10 October. The focus this year is on terrorism-related [...]

Violence against women and gender inequality are "significant" challenges for the Pacific region, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has said. OHCHR has been working with the authorities of nations across the Pacific to ensure that the rights of individuals, especially women, are upheld at all times. The Pacific has some of the highest rates [...]