The United Nations top humanitarian official told reporters today that while the world body’s marquee relief agencies were ramping up activities in the eastern part of Libya and along the country’s southern and western borders, she was very concerned that fighting in and around Tripoli was preventing a tangible assessment of the humanitarian needs there.

A search committee is poised to launch a “rigorous” and “novel” selection process for the next top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said officials close to the Court at a Headquarters press conference today.

The Secretary-General will meet with the General Assembly Member States at 3 p.m. as they consider their response to the Human Rights Council’s resolution on Libya. He urges decisive action in the General Assembly, warning that, in Libya, a Government that has lost its legitimacy has declared war on its own people.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says the world must step up action to prevent a disaster inside Libya and that cutting off food supplies must not be used as a weapon. WFP is launching a nearly $40 million emergency operation to provide food aid to 2.7 million people in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia and planning a three-month programme to help shore up the food safety nets of Egypt and Tunisia.

A comprehensive strategy for Somalia and newly emergent crises in Africa would be among the priority issues to be considered during China’s March presidency of the Security Council, that country’s Permanent Representative told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference. “We cannot have a piecemeal solution,” Li Baodong said of Somalia, which would be the subject of an open debate on 10 March. He said that the situation remained very disturbing and deserved constant attention.

United Nations officials at the helms of the world body’s peacekeeping and drug enforcement activities today announced the signing of an agreement to further strengthen the partnership between those crucial security functions.

Conflict prevention and settlement of disputes, particularly in Africa, would come under the spotlight during the tenure of Joy Ogwu of Nigeria as Security Council President for July, the Ambassador said today briefing correspondents about the Council’s programme of work for the month.

With Russian forests aflame and Pakistan ravaged by floods, it was increasingly urgent to reach an adequate agreement at the next conference of parties to the climate change treaty, Bolivia’s representative to the United Nations said this morning.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that more than 14 million people — almost 1 in every 10 Pakistanis — have so far been affected by the flooding in that country. The monsoon season could last for at least another month, worsening the flooding that has been seen so far, including in parts of the country not so far affected. The Office also estimates that at least 6 million people are in desperate need of emergency aid.

Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council this morning that events in recent months, including the July Kabul Conference and this month’s legislative elections, have been crucial for the country’s transition.