UN News Centre

A senior United Nations official today warned of the risk of reprisal attacks against Tuareg and Arab civilians in various regions of northern Mali and urged the country’s military to protect all citizens regardless of their ethnic affiliation. “While the…

Spanish authorities must show leadership in the fight against racism and xenophobia in the country, an independent United Nations expert said today, adding that, against a backdrop of pervasive unemployment, the Government must ensure vulnerable groups such as immigrants are…

A new report proposing ways to tackle violence against women in India represents a groundbreaking basis for action, the United Nations human rights chief said today, urging the Government to follow through with its recommendations. The report was produced by…

A United Nations expert today urged the United Kingdom (UK) to revise a series of legal and policing measures that are having a negative impact on its citizens’ right of peaceful assembly and association. Measures such as the use of…

Over 140 governments meeting at a United Nations forum in Geneva have agreed to a global, legally-binding treaty to address mercury, a notorious heavy metal with significant health and environmental effects. The Minamata Convention on Mercury – named after a…

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today issued a passionate call to countries to advance disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, as well as illegal arms, stressing that Member States should not delay on this issue. “Delay comes with a…

14 January 2013 – The total number of Syrians seeking refuge in camps in Turkey from the ever-worsening violence of their country’s civil war has risen to over 153,300 persons, the United Nations refugee agency reported today. “This is about…

14 January 2013 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon again called on Israel today to withdraw new settlement plans for East Jerusalem while stressing that protests over the plans, as well as reactions to them, must remain peaceful, noting that…

The United Nations has recognized a Brazilian Dominican friar, Frei Betto, with a leading international prize for his “exceptional contribution” to building a universal culture of peace, social justice and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Director-General…