The death penalty does not deter drug crimes, nor does it protect people from drug abuse, said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reiterating the world body's ongoing call to abolish the practice altogether, while emphasizing that if used, that it be applied only to the crime of intentional killing.

Over the next year, the United Nations will make a critical choice. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term ends Dec. 31, 2016, and a new leader will replace him. In the past, the election of a successor has taken place in the fall of a secretary-general’s final year in office, but the debate is heating up early this time around.Since the birth of the United Nations in 1945, eight men, from Norway, Sweden, Burma (or Myanmar), Austria, Peru, Egypt, Ghana and South Korea have held this important post. The next secretary-general should be a woman.

Last June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a far-reaching administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of the United Nations’ lesbian and gay employees, as well as to other U.N. workers who had entered legally recognized domestic partnerships. On Monday, March 2, Russia gave the plan a resounding nyet.

Ban Ki-moon’s second term as U.N. secretary general ends Dec. 31, 2016. To many, his choice in 2006 validated the soft bigotry of low expectations with respect to the world organization. Considering the structural constraints within which he must function, Ban’s record is not all that bad. He has led from the front on issues like promoting more women to senior positions, climate change, the responsibility to protect, and a development agenda to follow the Millennium Development Goals that expire this year.

The former president of the Seychelles, James Mancham, has called on United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the creation of a UN organisation that would seek resolutions for the water crisis facing the world.

The impact of Ban Ki-moon’s New York summit on UN efforts to curb climate change faces its first test on Monday in Bonn, where envoys from over 190 countries meet for a week of negotiations.

Leonardo DiCaprio's movie roles have made him an international star, but his long and little-known commitment to preserving the global environment has led to his new role — as a U.N. Messenger of Peace.  Ban told a news conference that the Dicaprio "is not just one of the world's leading actors" but he has "a longstanding commitment to environmental causes."

The event itself is still nearly two years away, but already the "pre-summits" are in full swing. Concept notes have been written, regional consultations have started, and online forums are open for comments - all leading up to the World Humanitarian Summit itself, scheduled to take place in Turkey, probably during May 2016. The meeting was proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and is timed so that it will take place just as his second term of office will be drawing to a close.