UN treaty regulating global arms trade set to enter into force
Less than two years after its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly, the Arms Trade Treaty has now received the 50 ratifications needed to trigger its entry into force, the world body announced today. The threshold…
FEATURE: UNAMA peacekeepers – partners in literacy
When the Taliban ruled in Afghanistan, girls were prohibited from attending school – rendering them illiterate. Some books and films have focused on the heroic journeys of young women who were determined to acquire the power…
Feature: Drawing down – the end of UN Peace Operations in Sierra Leone
Our two white UN vehicles are carefully moving down the dusty and bumpy road between Kenema and Koindu in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. We pass dozens of burnt, abandoned ruins of what were once sturdy brick and stone…
On International Day of Happiness, UN urges action to end poverty, build harmony
Marking the International Day of Happiness with calls to promote social inclusion and intercultural harmony, senior United Nations officials today urged the global community to make real the UN Charter’s pledge to end…
Sniffing out danger: dogs join UN peacekeepers in South Sudan to protect civilians
Standing on his hind legs to peer at a United Nations vehicle in South Sudan, he poked his head under the hood and sniffed, brown curls shaking around as he searched for explosives. This water cocker spaniel is one of eight…
UN urges demonstrators to remain calm after stoning UN cars in DR Congo
The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today urged demonstrators to use peaceful means to express themselves after protestors stoned several UN vehicles, injuring at least one…
UN steps up patrols, probing alleged human rights abuses in South Sudan
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is seeking to verify reports of human rights violations in the conflict that erupted just over a month ago, a spokesperson today said, as peacekeepers are boosting…
South Sudan: peacekeepers boost security for civilians on UN mission’s bases
Joint police and military patrols and the use of metal detectors are among the security steps being taken by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to protect some 65,000 displaced civilians seeking…
South Sudan: assailants attack UN base sheltering desperate civilians
Unknown assailants attacked a United Nations base in South Sudan today, possibly killing or injuring civilians who had sought refuge inside during violent clashes between Government forces and rebels, with the number of…
More women officers needed to meet peacekeeping challenges of UN Police, officials say
Outlining the array of challenges faced by United Nations police in peacekeeping missions, top UN Police officials today stressed the necessity of increasing the number of women officers for success in fulfilling their…
Chief of UN mission in DR Congo deplores death of demonstrators in Goma
The head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) today deplored the death of two civilians killed in demonstrations in Goma, the main city in the vast country's strife…
Warring parties in eastern DR Congo must protect civilians, UN agencies urge
United Nations humanitarian agencies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) strongly condemned the attacks that killed and wounded a number of civilians today as fighting flared between Government and rebel forces near…