"Struggling for survival"- that's how the UN Secretary-General has described the world's newest nation, South Sudan. Almost three years of internal conflict, born out of a political row between two leaders serving in the same government, has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and forced some 2.6 million to flee their [...]

Caleb Orozco's story of survival Five years ago, Caleb Orozco challenged the criminalization of sodomy which is detailed in Section 53, of the Belize criminal code. The statute calls for a 10-year prison term for "carnal intercourse against the order of nature." Like many former colonies of the British Empire, Belize inherited the law from Britain. [...]

Women's economic empowerment is a "uniquely important" way to give women more control over their lives and promote genuine equality. That's the view of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the launch of a High-Level Panel report on the issue, at UN Headquarters on Thursday. The UN chief set the panel up earlier this year, [...]

The international community must act "rapidly and forcefully" to prevent more cultural heritage from being irrevocably destroyed by terrorist groups. That's the message coming from Jordan's foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, speaking at a High Level Meeting on Thursday entitled Protecting Cultural Heritage – an imperative for Humanity. In a message to the meeting, UN Secretary-General [...]

Disseminating information about the death penalty is the best way to get countries to abolish the practice, according to a senior UN official. Ivan Šimonović, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, said some 170 countries worldwide have either abolished capital punishment or have never implemented it. Mr Šimonović will moderate a panel discussion this Wednesday [...]

Jamaica is firmly committed to growing its economy and creating jobs to lift people out of poverty, even going as far as creating a ministry to deal with this matter. That's what Prime Minister Andrew Holness said on Tuesday, on the first day of the United Nations General Assembly debate. Globally, two out of every [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Matthew Wells and Dianne Penn. In today's programme…The warring parties in Syria and their allies must "negotiate a way out of hell" warns the UN chief in an emergency Security Council session. And what once looked impossible in terms of curbing carbon [...]

Appeal for funds to help liberated Libyan town In Libya, funding for humanitarian work is needed urgently to help nearly 80,000 people return to the town of Sirte, which was until recently in the hands of ISIL fighters. The US$ 10.7 million appeal comes from UN aid coordinating agency OCHA. Here's spokesperson Jens Laerke: "One [...]

Ongoing sanctions against Zimbabwe could threaten sustainable development in the country, President Robert Mugabe told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. World leaders are reviewing progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as part of this year's General Debate. It seeks to transform the world by eliminating extreme poverty, promoting greater equality and tackling [...]

China is urging more action to reduce inequalities in global development. Premier Li Keqiang made the appeal in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. Charles Appel reports. The Chinese Premier called on world leaders to work together to ensure the safe recovery of the global economy. Any long-term sluggishness would threaten efforts [...]