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New York: Corruption is a serious impediment to reducing poverty and achieving development goals, the head of the United Nations agency anti-crime agency said today, adding that this year’s uprisings in the Arab world highlighted the anger within societies at this scourge.

New York: The deadly earthquake that has struck Turkey’s southeast highlights the importance of providing incentives for the construction of safe buildings and establishing preventive and response measures in the world’s most dangerous quake zones, a senior United Nations official said today.

New York: Human rights defenders continue to be harassed, attacked, killed and ‘disappeared’ around the world more than a decade after the adoption of an international declaration meant to protect them, a United Nations expert warned today.

New York: The United Nations refugee agency has facilitated the return of the first group of Ivorian refugees who have opted for voluntary repatriation from Liberia where they sought safety during the bloody unrest that rocked Côte d’Ivoire after presidential elections last November.

New York: Twenty-one countries were today elected to serve on the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and the main body tasked with furthering economic and social cooperation and development worldwide.

New York: A prestigious United States college fund tonight awarded its first International Humanitarian of the Year Award to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for “his steadfast commitment to confronting global challenges and his ability to effectively mobilize world leaders to do the same.”

New York: The United Nations human rights office today welcomed reports that Libya will set up an independent commission of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding last Thursday’s killing of the country’s former leader Muammar al-Qadhafi.

Eschborn — Countries in Emerging Europe and Central Asia need to reform their education and training systems in order to provide the right skills demanded by labor markets, says a new World Bank report, Skills, Not Just Diplomas: Managing Education for Results in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report will be released on October 25th in Eschborn, Germany, at the 6th World Bank Europe and Central Asia Education Conference. Having skilled workers boosts innovation, competitiveness, labor productivity, and earnings, which are key to ignite and sustain inclusive economic growth in the region.

Cameroon - In response to a growing demand for strengthened capacity in price risk management for the cocoa industry, the World Bank’s Agricultural Risk Management Team (ARMT) is working in collaboration with the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and its Cocoa Livelihoods Program to deliver price risk management training to the West Africa cocoa sector. The Cocoa Price Risk Management course will be held October 24-26, 2011 in Douala.

Washington – Most large-scale corruption cases involve using legal entities to conceal ownership and control of corrupt proceeds, and policymakers should take steps to improve transparency to reduce opportunities for wrongdoing, according to a study released today by the Stolen Asset Recovery (StAR) Initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.