In Brazil, UN chief encourages Olympic Refugee Team to ‘show strength,’ inspire the world
Aug 05, 2016, at 12:09 pm
New York, Aug 5 (Just Earth News): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday paid a visit to the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he encouraged refugee athletes to show the world their strengths.
Aug 05, 2016, at 12:07 pm
New York, Aug 5 (Just Earth News): The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, and the Inter-American Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, Edison Lanza, expressed concern at the eroding media freedom in Venezuela, citing a number of reported incidents of harassments of journalists and media groups.
Aug 05, 2016, at 12:06 pm
New York, Aug 5 (Just Earth News): Expressing deep concern about the critical health condition of a prisoner on hunger strike for three months, a group of United Nations independent human rights experts on Thursday called on the Government of China to stop all forms of ill-treatment and urgently provide him with specialized medical care, based on his full and informed consent.
Aid agencies ready to help ease suffering in 'iconic' Aleppo, once truce is secured – UN envoy
Aug 05, 2016, at 12:04 pm
New York, Aug 5 (Just Earth News): As fighting in and around battle-scarred Aleppo intensifies, along with diplomatic efforts to secure a truce, United Nations agencies and their partners are “ready, willing and able†to rush aid to the desperate people trapped there, a senior UN envoy said on Thursday, stressing that a humanitarian pause is critical, both to allow relief workers to enter the area, and for civilians to leave voluntary.
UN agency welcomes ‘landmark step’ by North and Central American countries to protect refugees
Aug 05, 2016, at 12:03 pm
New York, Aug 5 (Just Earth News): The United Nations refugee agency on Thursday welcomed a joint commitment by nine North and Central American countries acknowledging the need for stronger protection of asylum-seekers, refugees and internally displaced people in the region, where crime and gang violence have driven thousands of people from their homes.
Global food prices down slightly in July – UN agency
Aug 05, 2016, at 04:08 am
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): The international prices for major food commodities saw a modest decline in July, following five consecutive months of increases, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
South Sudan's government forces committed widespread violations in July fighting – UN
Aug 05, 2016, at 04:06 am
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): Preliminary United Nations investigations into the recent fighting in South Sudan reveal Government security forces carried out killings and rapes, and looted and destroyed properties, the UN human rights chief said on Thursday, calling on the Security Council to take stronger action.
Syria: Militant attack kills 8
Aug 04, 2016, at 04:33 pm
Damascus, Aug 4 (IBNS): Rocket shells fired terrorists of “Jaish al-Islam†in Syria's Damascus area has killed one people killed, media reports said.
Knife attack: 1 killed in London
Aug 04, 2016, at 03:04 pm
London, Aug 4 (IBNS): In a knife attack in London, a woman was stabbed to death and five other were injured on Wednesday,the police said.
In South Sudan, UN humanitarian chief calls for end to attacks against civilians, aid workers
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:22 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien concluded on Wednesday his three-day mission to crisis-torn South Sudan, voicing serious concern at the humanitarian situation in the country and in particular the violence against civilians, as well as attacks against aid workers, which is hampering efforts to respond to the needs of the people affected by the fighting.
UNESCO explores ways to apply World Heritage Convention to ‘wonders’ of open ocean
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:21 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): A United Nations-backed report launched on Wednesday 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.
UN ‘deeply troubled’ by latest DPRK missile launch
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:19 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): The United Nations is "deeply troubled" by the recent missile launches of the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday after one of the rockets, reportedly landed in or near Japanese waters for the first time.
Ban congratulates Kazakhstan on its signing of the Paris Agreement on climate change
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:18 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): In a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Erlan Idrissov, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the country on its recent election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, as well on its signing of the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
UN agency launches smartphone app in drought-hit Malawi to fundraise for school meals
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:17 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): The United Nations food relief agency on Wednesday started a fundraising campaign, using a smartphone application, to provide school meals in a southern district of Malawi, where El Niño-induced drought has reduced crop yields.
E-government a powerful tool to implement global sustainability goals, UN survey finds
Aug 04, 2016, at 01:15 pm
New York, Aug 4 (Just Earth News): A new United Nations report has found that e-government is an effective tool for facilitating integrated policies and public service by promoting accountable and transparent institutions, such as through open data and participatory decision-making, and therefore it has the potential to help support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Syria: ISIL’s genocide of Yazidis ‘ongoing,’ UN inquiry warns
Aug 04, 2016, at 03:47 am
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): A United Nations-mandated inquiry on human rights in Syria on Wednesday called for an end to the genocide and other crimes committed by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) against the Yazidis, recommending that the UN Security Council refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or an ad hoc tribunal.
UN warns of escalating tension in eastern Ukraine as casualties hit highest since last August
Aug 04, 2016, at 03:45 am
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): Civilian causalities in eastern Ukraine spiked in June and July, prompting the United Nations human rights chief to call on the parties to the conflict to make protection of civilians a priority and take urgent steps to de-escalate the increasingly tense situation at the contact line.
NATO Secretary General condemns North Korea's ballistic missile test
Aug 03, 2016, at 11:59 pm
New York, Aug 3 (IBNS): NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday condemned North Korea's ballistic missile test.
UK: Pedophile Pakistani woman gets 5 yrs jail for incest, distribution of porn videos
Aug 03, 2016, at 09:21 pm
Cardiff, Aug 3 (IBNS): A Pakistani woman, mother of four, was tried and sentenced to jail at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court in Wales on Monday for engaging in incest with her 14-year-old son and allegedly filming and distributing the tape to her cousin in Pakistan, reports said.
North Korea launches ballistic missile
Aug 03, 2016, at 03:51 pm
Seoul, Aug 3 (IBNS): South Korea on Wednesday claimed North Korea fired a off a ballistic missile into waters off its east coast, media reports said.
Colombia peace accord offers chance to ‘close chapter of war once and for all’ – UN envoy
Aug 03, 2016, at 12:44 pm
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): The head of the new United Nations political mission in Colombia on Tuesday pledged the world body’s steadfast support for the full implementation of the accord reached by the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC-EP), which seeks to bring an end the longest-running conflict in the Western Hemisphere.
Aug 03, 2016, at 12:43 pm
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): Deeply disturbed by reports that five hospitals and a blood bank have been hit by airstrikes in Syria, the United Nations on Tuesday reiterated its call on all parties to the conflict to end the destruction of medical facilities and other civilian infrastructure.
In South Sudan, UN humanitarian chief calls on all parties to work together for peace
Aug 03, 2016, at 12:41 pm
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien on Tuesday called on all actors in South Sudan, including the international community supporting the country, to work together for a peace that will enable the nation and its people to realize their hopes for a better future.
Undernutrition in Ghana takes huge human and economic toll – new UN study
Aug 03, 2016, at 12:39 pm
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): The economy of Ghana has been losing some $2.6 billion annually – or 6.4 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) – due to child undernutrition, according to a new United Nations study launched on Tuesday in the country’s capital, Accra.
‘If you want to protect your image, protect children,’ Ban tells debate on war-affected children
Aug 03, 2016, at 12:38 pm
New York, Aug 3 (Just Earth News): With children continuing to be tortured, maimed, imprisoned, starved, sexually abused and killed in armed conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called on all countries to back their words with concrete actions to end such violations.
In war-torn Iraq, UNICEF Ambassador Ewan McGregor warns children face ‘unimaginable horrors’
Aug 03, 2016, at 03:36 am
New York, Aug 2 (Just Earth News): Just back from crisis-riven northern Iraq, were he visited refugee camps for Iraqi and Syrian families and children, actor Ewan McGregor, an Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for more action to save children suffering the devastating effects of brutal conflicts and crises.
Some 60,000 flee recent South Sudan violence, bringing exodus to 900,000 since 2013 – UN
Aug 03, 2016, at 03:35 am
New York, Aug 2 (Just Earth News): Some 60,000 people have fled South Sudan's recent violence in the capital city of Juba, bringing the overall number of South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries since December 2013 to nearly 900,000, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.
Rebels shelling kills 30 in Syria
Aug 02, 2016, at 10:45 pm
Aleppo, Aug 2 (IBNS): At least 30 people were killed in shelling by rebels who targeted regime controlled areas of Aleppo city in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.
South Sudan: UN Mission condemns ‘unspeakable acts’ of abuse, sexual violence
Aug 02, 2016, at 01:18 pm
New York, Aug 2 (Just Earth News): The United Nations in South Sudan on Monday condemned unequivocally reports of widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, of women and young girls, by soldiers and unidentified armed men, stressing that such acts constitute grave violations of international human rights law and may be regarded as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In wake of renowned lawyer’s murder, UN experts urge Kenya to put an end to police impunity
Aug 02, 2016, at 01:16 pm
New York, Aug 2 (Just Earth News): Voicing deep concern over the continuing pattern of extrajudicial executions in Kenya, United Nations human rights experts have called on the Government to halt police violence and ensure accountability for the perpetrators.