21 December – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on world leaders to attend a summit next September to boost efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to slash a host of social ills, ranging from extreme poverty and hunger to maternal and infant mortality to lack of access to education and health care, all by 2015.
21 December – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for greater collective action as he marked International Solidarity Day during a year when the global financial and economic crisis may have pushed as many as 100 million people into poverty, and as the world faces challenges stemming from climate change to food insecurity.
21 December – The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders are intensifying their United Nations-backed talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island, scheduling two three-day series of discussions next month after a senior UN official said they had made good progress over the past year.
21 December – The peace process in the war-wracked Darfur region of Sudan has reached a “critical point,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, calling on both the Government and rebel groups to accelerate efforts to reach a compromise.
21 December – United Nations humanitarian officials are working with authorities in the Philippines to prepare for what scientists believe to be the imminent eruption of Mount Mayon, an active volcano within close reach of tens of thousands of people.
