November 20

• Africa: On World Toilet Day, UN Expert Highlights Links Between Lack of Sanitation and Persistent Poverty

  Marking World Toilet Day today, the United Nations independent expert on the right to clean water for drinking and personal hygiene said the international community's Millennium... Read more »

• Africa: UN Chief Spotlights Road Safety As Traffic Accidents Claim 1.2 Million Lives Each Year

  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the importance of road safety in preventing more than one million people from dying and many more from getting injured each year in... Read more »

November 19

• Africa: UN Experts Urge Creation of New Fund to Lift World's Vulnerable From Poverty

  A new global initiative ensuring the social protection of the world's poorest people is a growing necessity, two United Nations independent experts said today, noting that without... Read more »

• Africa: From Stamps to E-Services, UN Postal Agency Adapts to the March of Time

  The United Nations global post agency, the world's second oldest international body created at a time when the postage stamp was at the cutting edge of communications innovation 70... Read more »

• Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone - Ban Lauds Peaceful Conduct of Polls and High Voter Turnout

  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday congratulated the people of Sierra Leone for the peaceful and orderly elections held yesterday, the first one run entirely by the Government... Read more »

• Congo-Kinshasa: Rebels Advance on Eastern Capital

  United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today continued to assist the national army to halt the advance of the M23, while Secretary-General Ban... Read more »

November 18

• Africa: Stronger Political Will Worldwide Crucial to Tackle Growing Refugee Crisis, UN Warns

  A senior United Nations official appealed today for strengthened political will to help the world's more than 42 million refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and... Read more »

• Congo-Kinshasa: UN Holds Emergency Talks Over New M23 Attacks

  The Security Council, meeting in an emergency session on Saturday, strongly condemned the latest attacks by the M23 rebel group, which displaced more civilians in eastern... Read more »

November 17

• Africa: On International Day of Tolerance, UN Flags Key Role of Understanding in Countering Extremism and Ignorance

  United Nations officials today stressed the importance of building tolerance and understanding to counter ignorance and extremism, adding that differences and diversity should be a... Read more »

• Sudan: UN Calls for Abyei Police Force

  The Security Council today extended until 31 May 2013 the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping force for Abyei, an area contested by South Sudan and Sudan. Read more »

• Sierra Leone: Elections Are a 'Turning Point' for the Country, Says UN Envoy

  As Sierra Leone heads towards its third national elections since the end of its civil war, the top United Nations envoy in the West African country today urged voters to refrain... Read more »

• Sudan: Refugees Flee South Kordofan Fighting

  The United Nations refugee agency is reporting a sharp rise in new arrivals at South Sudan's largest refugee camp owing to escalating fighting in the South Kordofan region of... Read more »

• Cameroon: Gays Harassed, Imprisoned

  The United Nations human rights office today expressed its concern over reports of people in Cameroon being harassed, intimidated, arrested and imprisoned because they were... Read more »

• Ethiopia: Nation Singled Out for Labour Rights Violations

  A key rights committee of the United Nations labour agency today identified five countries where it says worker-rights violations - some involving murder - represent the "most... Read more »

• Tunisia: Human Rights Must Be at Centre of Tunisia's Transitional Justice Efforts - UN Expert

  Noting that the transitional justice process in Tunisia faces some serious challenges, an independent United Nations expert today urged authorities there to put human rights at the... Read more »

November 16

• Africa: Sixty Years of UN Guided Tours

  To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UN Guided Tours, we take a closer look at the work of those at the heart of presenting the UN to the public, the UN tour guides. Read more »

• West Africa: UN Top Official Calls On Countries to Help Break Cycle of Hunger in Dryland Countries

  With more than two billion people in so-called dryland countries at risk of hunger due to recurrent drought, conflict and volatile food prices, a United Nations senior official... Read more »

• Africa: On World Diabetes Day, Ban Calls for Global Action to Improve Quality of Life for Millions

  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged global action to tackle diabetes, one of the most common non-communicable diseases and one which affects 350 million people... Read more »

• Sierra Leone: UN Calls for 'Impartial' Poll

  In calling for "peaceful and impartial" elections on Saturday in Sierra Leone, the component of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission that deals with the West African country... Read more »

• Sierra Leone: UN Chief Calls for Peaceful Poll

  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today strongly encouraged Sierra Leoneans to ensure that national elections on Saturday are carried out peacefully to build on the... Read more »

• Somalia: New Cabinet Sworn In

  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the swearing-in today of the cabinet of ministers put forward by Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon and endorsed by the... Read more »

November 15

• Africa: Boosting Access to Family Planning Is Good for Women and the Economy - UN Report

  A new United Nations report urges additional investments in family planning that could save developing countries more than $11 billion a year in maternal and newborn health care... Read more »

• Somalia: President's Inauguration Marks 'New Era' for Somalia, Says UN Envoy

  The top United Nations envoy in Somalia on Sunday hailed the inauguration of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as a "new era" for the war-scarred nation and pledged the world body's... Read more »

• Congo-Kinshasa: Rebels Executed Hundreds, Including Children - UN

  Rebel groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arbitrarily executed at least 264 civilians, including 83 children, over a five-month period this year, according to... Read more »

November 14

• Mali: Vital to Preserve Mali's Unity When Tackling Its Political Crisis, Says UN Envoy

  A top United Nations official today stressed the need to preserve the unity of Mali, which has been divided since rebels took control of the north earlier this year, while at the... Read more »