UN Top Stories :: Do-Gooder

Worlds poorest can bank on UN support, Secretary-General says
The worlds poorest people can count on the United Nations and its Member States to support them, despite the current crisis engulfing financial markets, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
More than 250,000 Afghans returned home this year, reports UN agency
Over a quarter of a million Afghans have returned home so far this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which noted that many of them left neighbouring Pakistan and Iran due to security and economic worries.
Ban condemns suicide bombing in Sri Lankan town
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today deplored the latest suicide bombing in violence-torn Sri Lanka, which has killed many people, including a retired army general, and wounded scores more.
At least 5,000 Congolese arrive in Sudan after attacks by rebels - UN
At least 5,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have arrived in South Sudan in the past two weeks after fleeing "ferocious" attacks by the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
UN agency urges review of biofuel policies to ensure poor can benefit
Global biofuel policies should be urgently reviewed to ensure that the worlds poor benefit by ending trade-distorting subsidies favouring developed nations while countering the rise in food prices sparked by the diversion of foodstuff to energy production, according to a new United Nations report released today.
South Africa: UN rights chief urges protection for foreigners after brutal killing
The top United Nations human rights official today condemned the brutal killing of a Somali family in South Africa, and urged the authorities to take immediate action to protect foreigners from any further attacks.
Urbanization must not come at expense of environment, say UN officials
Top United Nations officials have marked World Habitat Day with a call to ensure that the rapid urbanization of towns and cities - which the majority of people today call home - is accompanied by decent living conditions and efforts to preserve the environment.
Economic, social, political trends endanger worlds uprooted - UN refugee chief
The worlds poor and uprooted people are increasingly at risk as the world struggles with a combination of adverse economic, social and political trends that threaten to trigger even greater displacement in the future, the top United Nations refugee official warned today.
Bringing Garden of Eden to Africa under UN-sponsored nature restoration
Learning from the success in rehabilitating the Iraqi marshlands that some believe was the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, United Nations-backed pilot projects are now targeting a lost lake in Mali, a Kenyan forest that is a vital source for key rivers and lakes and land restoration in Haiti.
Global progress in literacy masks sharp regional gaps, UN report finds
Global literacy rates continue to rise but some regions are still lagging sharply behind in the campaign to ensure that everyone can read and write, a United Nations report released today finds.
Financial crisis threatens efforts towards global anti-poverty targets, says Migiro
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has warned countries that the current financial crisis, which is impacting all economies and exacerbating the suffering of millions, is also threatening the efforts to slash poverty, hunger, disease and other socio-economic ills by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
UNICEF chief spotlights plight of Roma children during visit to Albania
The head of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has highlighted the plight of Albanias Roma children, especially the poor rates of school enrolment among the minority community, during a two-day visit to the South-Eastern European country.