The mandate of the independent body set up with United Nations help to investigate the activities of illegal armed groups in Guatemala will be extended for two years, it was announced today.

The willingness of the Government to discuss the subject of upholding human rights while countering terrorism is “most encouraging,” an independent United Nations expert said today.

A United Nations gathering underway in the Kazakh city, Almaty, has drawn dozens of experts and representatives of Central Asian nations to examine how to boost water management in the region.

The current financial turmoil that has swept the world provides an impetus to deliver on aid commitments and reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight internationally-agreed anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has said.

Affirming that there could be no democracy without the rule of law, the top United Nations envoy to Timor-Leste today called for a common strategic vision to overcome challenges to the fledgling nation’s justice sector.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today voiced outrage over the killing of an anti-corruption campaigner in Burundi, calling for an immediate investigation into the murder.

The top United Nations human rights official has welcomed a revised draft outcome document for next week’s anti-racism conference, exhorting delegates to take action to combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance.