UN urges efforts to end female genital mutilation
Jun 17, 2014, at 05:40 pm
New York, Jun 17 (IBNS): The United Nations human rights chief on Monday called for concerted efforts to urgently address female genital mutilation, calling it a form of gender-based discrimination and violence that must be eradicated if women, girls and their communities are to thrive.
UN hails move by US to curb power plant emissions
Jun 03, 2014, at 04:54 pm
New York, Jun 3 (IBNS): United Nations officials on Monday welcomed the initiative announced by President Barack Obama to limit emissions from power plants in the United States, voicing their hope that it will spur other countries to take concrete action to combat climate change.
UN seeks global cooperation for battle against climate change
May 30, 2014, at 05:25 pm
New York, May 30 (IBNS): The head of the United Nations agency on human settlements on Thursday said he hoped thousands of cities around the world will join forces to sign a compact to strengthen cooperation in tackling climate challenges when the UN convenes a summit on the issue four months from now.
UN issues guide to make fisheries more sustainable
May 29, 2014, at 05:14 pm
New York, May 29 (IBNS): A new series of guides released on Wednesday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will make it easier for fishers to identify deep-sea sharks, as well as improve reporting on catches and make deep-sea fisheries more sustainable.
UN urges end to social injustice of obstetric fistula
May 24, 2014, at 08:37 pm
New York, May 24 (IBNS): United Nations officials on Friday called for eradicating the global social injustice of obstetric fistula, a consequence of childbirth that affects an estimated two million women and girls in developing countries but is entirely preventable with access to quality medical care.
UN adopts new global platform to tackle wildlife
May 22, 2014, at 05:26 pm
New York, May 22 (IBNS): In response to the rising levels of illicit trafficking of fauna and flora, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has adopted a new global platform taking aim at this "particularly devastating" form of organized crime involving a raft of illegal activities - from poaching to timber smuggling and money laundering.
UN urges targets for improved health in development agenda
May 20, 2014, at 05:30 pm
New York, May 20 (IBNS): Health must be a part of any future global development agenda, a senior United Nations official underscored on Monday as she outlined a host of issues afflicting millions around the world and which impact on efforts to reduce poverty and advance overall well-being.
UN urges global regulatory regime to battle junk foods
May 20, 2014, at 05:28 pm
New York, May 20 (IBNS): Calling on Monday for a new global agreement to regulate unhealthy diets, the United Nations expert on the right to food urged swift action from governments to help change the way the world eats, as obesity-related health problems now kill more people than tobacco.
UN voices concern over gaps in maternity, paternity protections
May 14, 2014, at 06:23 pm
New York, May 14 (IBNS): Despite progress in maternity benefits and a positive trend in supporting new fathers, at least 830 million women workers still do not have adequate protection, the United Nations labour agency on Tuesday reported.
UN urges global action to disrupt illegal wildlife trade
May 14, 2014, at 06:21 pm
New York, May 14 (IBNS): Urging the international community to "come together at the highest political level" to halt the escalation of wildlife and forest crime, the United Nations crime chief said on Tuesday that the USD 8-USD 10 billion reaped annually from this "ruthless trade" ranks it alongside the trafficking of human beings, arms and drugs in terms of illicit profits.
UN official urges vigorous response to wildlife crime
May 13, 2014, at 05:31 pm
New York, May 13 (IBNS): The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Monday stressed the need for a vigorous response to wildlife and forest crime, noting the growing threat the scourge poses to development worldwide.
UN urges greater action to curb alcohol-related deaths
May 13, 2014, at 05:27 pm
New York, May 13 (IBNS): More than three million deaths in 2012 were linked to alcohol with a steady increase in alcohol use among women, the United Nations health agency on Monday reported calling on Governments to do more to prevent alcohol-related deaths and diseases.
UN summit commits to improve ocean health
Apr 26, 2014, at 05:24 pm
New York, Apr 26 (IBNS): A United Nations-backed summit wrapped up in the Netherlands on Friday with a set of concrete actions to turn around the health of the world's oceans and food security for millions by tackling key threats such as climate change, overfishing, habitat loss and pollution.
Scientists in UN-backed initiative decode tsetse fly genome
Apr 25, 2014, at 05:17 pm
New York, Apr 25 (IBNS): Scientists in a United Nations-backed collaborative have cracked the genetic code of the bloodsucking tsetse fly in a breakthrough that brings new hope to the fight against one of the most devastating livestock diseases spread by the insect.
UN boosts knowledge-sharing to combat diseases
Apr 25, 2014, at 04:59 pm
New York, Apr 25 (IBNS): Announcing that more than 50 partners are now on board its partnership initiative to fight against neglected tropical diseases, tuberculosis and malaria, the United Nations intellectual property agency on Thursday hailed the watershed achievement as a significant step towards helping more than one billion people overcome such maladies.
UN urges coordinated action on food security
Apr 23, 2014, at 05:24 pm
New York, Apr 23 (IBNS): Overfishing, habitat destruction and pollution are atop the agenda of a United Nations-backed summit on the role of oceans in global food security, livelihoods and economic development which opened on Tuesday in The Hague, the Netherlands.
UN urges action against banana disease
Apr 15, 2014, at 07:24 pm
New York, Apr 15 (IBNS): The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning countries to step up monitoring, reporting and prevention to tackle one of the world's most destructive banana diseases, Fusarium wilt, which recently spread from Asia to Africa and the Middle-East, and is now menacing Latin American countries.
UN launches initiative to promote sustainable energy
Apr 10, 2014, at 05:04 pm
New York, Apr 10 (IBNS): The United Nations launched on Wednesday the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014-2024), an initiative aimed at promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency worldwide, with a forum to take place annually, starting this coming June.
UN renews anti-polio efforts in Middle East
Apr 09, 2014, at 05:08 pm
New York, Apr 9 (IBNS): With the recent discovery of a new case of polio in a six-month-old boy in Iraq, the United Nations and it partners, warning that the crippling virus still poses a threat to children across the Middle East, have re-launched a massive vaccination campaign in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, aiming to reach 22 million children by Thursday.
UN urges countries to combat vector-borne diseases
Apr 08, 2014, at 07:18 pm
New York, Apr 8 (IBNS): Warning that a "small bite can carry a big threat," the United Nations family is marking World Health Day by urging the international community to back a global health agenda that gives higher priority to controlling the spread of vector-borne diseases, a step towards ensuring that no one in the 21st century would die from the bite of a mosquito or a tick.
UN seeks global instrument to protect marine biodiversity
Apr 03, 2014, at 05:43 pm
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): United Nations Member States have begun a series of meetings in New York to discuss the need for an international instrument that would regulate the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond countries' national jurisdiction.