8 September 2016 – On 15 June 2015, the United Nations General Assembly elected Mogens Lykketoft – a Danish national – to serve as the President of its seventieth session. At the time of his election, Mr. Lykketoft was the Speaker (President) of the Danish Parliament, a position he had held since 2011. Born on 9 January 1946, it was a fitting coincidence that he would turn 70 during his term as President of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly– a personal fact he highlighted during his acceptance speech to the world body upon his election.

6 September 2016 – A Greek human rights activist and a Greek volunteer rescue team – Efi Latsoudi and the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT) – have been jointly awarded this year'sNansen Refugee Award for their efforts to aid refugees arriving in Greece during 2015.

29 August 2016 - Marking the International Day against Nuclear Tests, senior United Nations officials today called for the entry into force of a multilateral treaty that bans all nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. Today marks a quarter of a century since the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan, ground zero for more than 450 nuclear tests, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his message for the day. The victims there are joined by others scattered across Central Asia, North Africa, North America and the South Pacific.

19 August 2016 – With a record 130 million people worldwide now dependent on humanitarian assistance, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that though solutions to the crises that plunged these people into such desperate hardship are neither simple nor quick, there are things we can all do – today, and every day. We can show compassion, we can raise our voices against injustice, and we can work for change.

The world's young people – who make up the largest generation of youth in history – can lead a global drive to break the patterns of the past and set the world on course to a more sustainable future, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said youth, with their creativity and idealism are the key to delivering the goals of the new UN sustainability agenda.

Nearly 60 students from around the world gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 29 July to present their action plans for building a sustainable future through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The event was the culmination of the weeklong Many Languages, One World® Global Youth Forum, held at Hofstra University in New York from 25 to 29 July.

9 August 2016 – To mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, senior United Nations officials are calling on Governments to improve access to education and ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind as the journey to achieve the new UN Sustainable Development Goals gets under way.

30 July 2016 – Marking the International Day of Friendship, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged everyone to unite in a shared spirit of human solidarity to overcome the crises confronting the global society.

The 10th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV 2017) will take place 7-9 March 2017 in New Delhi, India and will cover a wide range of issues such as digital empowerment, e-Governance, cyber security, and using of big data.

A United Nations-backed report launched today explores the different ways the international treaty governing the inscription of world heritage sites may one day apply to sunken coral islands, floating rainforests, or giant undersea volcanoes, none of which can be considered for listing because they are in the seas outside of any national jurisdiction.