UN

05/21/2007 -- Sen. Biden on Darfur: "The consensus among the American delegation, bipartisan delegation here, was that we cannot wait five or six or seven months for there to be any action taken on the ground [in Darfur]. There is a need to deal with stemming the bleeding. We know there's a need for a political solution, but you must – must stem the bleeding now… It is a disastrous, urgent situation that the international community has an obligation to respond to.    » read more »

14 May 2007 -- Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day for Biological Diversity, to be observed on 22 May:    » read more »

10 May 2007 -- The International Labor Organization is reporting some progress worldwide in fighting job discrimination based on gender and ethnic background. But a new report by the U.N. agency says discrimination is still undermining economic progress, and says new forms of bias are another problem. Ron Corben reports for VOA from Bangkok.

The International Labor Organization's report on "Equality at Work" says there has been both progress and failure since the last report four years ago.    » read more »

11 May 2007 -- A new survey suggests that while United Nations' member states frequently have a hard time agreeing on how the world body should carry out some of its key objectives -- preventing war, upholding human rights and promoting justice -- citizens of those states overwhelmingly support the United Nations and want it to take a more active role in resolving conflicts and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. VOA's William Ide has more from Washington.    » read more »

11 May 2007 -- The U.N. refugee agency says a lull in fighting is enabling it to give assistance to more people in Somalia's capital. The UNHCR also says internally displaced people are slowly trickling back to Mogadishu, but most are waiting to see if the city will stabilize before returning. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.    » read more »

May 10, 2007 -- Zimbabwe is completely unfit to serve as chair of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and its selection should be blocked by other members of the commission, Freedom House said today.    » read more »

The Commission on Sustainable Development “was in dangerous waters”, with little progress achieved, and negotiations continuing for a draft negotiating text for its current two-week session, which concludes tomorrow, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press conference this morning.    » read more »

While fossil fuels would continue to satisfy the lion’s share of the world’s growing energy needs in the coming decades, new and diverse energy sources must be explored in order to put the world, and developing countries in particular, on a greener path to economic growth, the Commission on Sustainable Development was told today, as it continued the high-level segment of its fifteenth session.    » read more »

Amid heightened concerns over, and growing awareness and acceptance of, the implications of global warming, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened a high-level gathering at Headquarters of environment and development leaders seeking to chart a sustainable course of action on the interlinked issues of energy, climate change, air pollution and industrial development.    » read more »

09 May 2007 -- The human rights organization, Amnesty International, has presented an appeal from 147 countries to the United Nations to maintain an independent and effective system of human rights experts. A petition signed by more than 12,500 people calling for stronger measures to help victims of human rights abuse was presented to the president of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA.    » read more »

09 May 2007 -- The government of Eritrea is defending its right to send troops into the disputed border region with Ethiopia.

Eritrean officials told a government-run newspaper Wednesday they blame the United Nations for the region's instability, saying it has failed to implement a five-year old border agreement.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council said it is "deeply concerned" by growing tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The council urged both countries to withdraw their forces from within and near the buffer zone.    » read more »

At a time of unprecedented awareness of the dangers of climate change, nations must adopt a common front to balance economic growth with responsible energy consumption and environmental protection, the three newly appointed United Nations Special Envoys on Climate Change said at a Headquarters press conference today.    » read more »

More than 70 delegations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the Arab Development Bank had participated in officially launching the implementation phase of the International Compact with Iraq following a nearly year-long preparatory process, Ibrahim Gambari, the Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Political Issues, said at a Headquarters press conference today.    » read more »

04 May 2007 -- A U.N. body committed to defending the rights of the world's over 370 million indigenous peoples meets later this month (May 14-25) in New York. Among the topics of discussion will be ways to increase international recognition of indigenous rights and to improve the participation of native peoples in their own development. From Washington, VOA reporter William Eagle looks at the upcoming Sixth UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.    » read more »

Says Package On Way Forward Must Be Launched At Bali Conference

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:    » read more »