The 'horrendous' practice of enforced disappearances can affect entire communities by creating an atmosphere of fear and chaos. That's according to Santiago Corcuera, a member of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED). A forced disappearance is an act committed by the state in the form of abduction, arrest, detainment or any other violation [...]

  Praise for Gabon elections Gabon has been praised for its peaceful and orderly presidential elections held this past weekend. In congratulating the country, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that the same spirit of peace and transparency will prevail when the provisional results are officially announced. Citizens took to the polls on Saturday to [...]

Israeli authorities should "cease and reverse" illegal settlement-building on occupied Palestinian land as prospects "dwindle" for a two-state solution to the conflict. That’s according to Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, who briefed the Security Council on Monday. Matthew Wells reports. Duration: 2’38″

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Matthew Wells and Dianne Penn. In today's programme: "cease and reverse" illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land Israel is told. We'll report from the Security Council; and, gender inequality's cost sub-Saharan Africa more than US$90 billion each year since 2010. One [...]

Gender inequality in the labour market cost sub-Saharan African countries more than US$90 billion annually between 2010 and 2014. That finding comes in the latest Africa Human Development Report which looks at efforts to accelerate women's empowerment on the continent. Launched by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), it details the high cost when women are [...]

Anti-poverty policies often fail because of an inadequate understanding of the decisions poor people make. That's the view of Abhijit Banerjee, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of Poor Economics, A radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. He recently visited the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC [...]

Refugee children facing a "double crisis" in Greece says UNICEF Refugee children who are stranded in Greece are facing a "double crisis", according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The agency said on Friday that around 27,500 children were currently in Greece having fled countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Nearly 2,300 have arrived [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from United Nations Radio, with Jocelyne Sambira and Matthew Wells.

An increase in competition for global water resources may lead to more conflict, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned. Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of overall water usage around the world and the UN food agency says it must be better managed to ensure more equitable access. Experts from around the [...]

It's imperative that people of the besieged Syrian town of Darayya are protected in any evacuation that takes place and that this takes place voluntarily. That's according to a statement released by the UN Special Envoy for Syria regarding the removal of both civilians and fighters from the city on Friday. A deal to end [...]