UN "reports" on casualties in Syria

I see the lousy Western correspondents in Beirut throwing in their reports estimates of casualties in Syria and attributing them to "UN".  But correct me if I am wrong: did the UN not early on in the Syrian war announce officially that it won't be providing estimates of casualties in Syria because of the difficulty of counting?  The UN abandoned the effort and yet there are reports attributing estimates to the "UN".  Which is another way of providing legitimacy and credibility to the estimates provided daily by Rami Abdul-Rahman from his home in the UK: don't laugh. On a clear day, you really can see Syria from UK, all stereotypes about foggy UK notwithstanding.