The victims of the Colombia conflict have been among the "most forceful" voices for peace and reconciliation, the UN chief has said. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in the city of Cartagena to witness the historic deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The agreement ends four years of negotiations between [...]

Protecting cultural heritage is an integral part of the "security and humanitarian response" to conflict situations; that's according to Irina Bokova Director General of the UN's cultural agency, UNESCO. Archaeological sites such as Palmyra in Syria and ancient and religious monuments in Timbuktu in Mali have been targeted and destroyed by terrorists. UNESCO has been [...]

People who are forced to leave their homes because of environmental factors should be considered refugees, according to a non-government organisation, attending the recent migrant and refugee summit at the UN. Rising sea levels and environmental disasters are increasingly driving people to find new places to live. Eleonor Mitch, represents the International Centre of Comparative [...]

Transforming agriculture to address challenges such as climate change and growing urban populations are among the topics experts and decision makers will be discussing this week in Rome. Delegates from more than 190 countries are in the Italian capital for the biannual meeting of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG). The Committee is one of the [...]

  Aid convoys deliver food in four besieged Syrian towns For the first time since April, aid has been delivered to besieged families in four Syrian towns, the World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed. A joint interagency convoy arrived in Madaya and Zabadani in Rural Damascus and Foaa and Kefraya in Rural Idlib on Sunday. [...]

Cyprus is fast approaching a "make or break moment" in long-running negotiations to reach a comprehensive settlement, and end decades of division between its Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. That's according to Espen Barth Eide, the UN Special Adviser on Cyprus, who is working with the leadership of both sides of the Mediterranean island. [...]

  Women should take lead in peace process for Israel and oPt Israel and the Palestinians are being urged to start a new peace process with the full participation of women. The call was made by a UN human rights expert following an official visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) to examine [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Dianne Penn and Jocelyne Sambira. The top UN official in Cyprus tells us negotiations on a solution for the divided island are approaching a "make or break moment" And then we head for the Caribbean, where the regional bloc CARICOM outlines challenges [...]

African parents cannot talk openly to their children about sexual relations because of cultural barriers, according to the First Lady of the Kingdom of Lesotho. Mathato Mosisili was at the UN in New York to attend a High-Level Event on the sexual reproductive health of adolescent girls across Africa. She is a member of the [...]

A decade-old UN fund which can allocate money within hours to support emergency responses anywhere in the world has been described as a fund "for all and by all." The Central Emergency Response Fund, or CERF as it's often known, has provided almost US$360 million so far this year. The UN Secretary-General has called for [...]