UN agencies launch $1.98 billion humanitarian appeal for Africa's Sahel region
Dec 10, 2015, at 03:11 pm
New York, Dec 10 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Warning of dire effects of climate change, abject poverty, fast population growth and a tormenting rise in violence and insecurity in Africa's Sahel region, United Nations agencies and partners on Wednesday launched the Sahel humanitarian appeal for 2016, which includes a regional plan that calls for $1.98 billion to provide vital assistance to millions of people in nine countries across the region.
UN Security Council adopts first-ever resolution on youth, peace and security
Dec 10, 2015, at 03:01 pm
New York, Dec 10 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday adopted a historic resolution on youth, peace and security that urges greater representation by young men and women in the prevention and resolution of conflict amid "the rise of radicalization to violence and violent extremism amongst youth, which can be conducive to terrorism."
UN champions prevention as best hope for eliminating violence against women
Dec 10, 2015, at 02:58 pm
New York, Dec 10 (Just Earth News/IBNS): On a December evening in 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was beaten and brutally raped by five men and a youth on board an off-duty bus in the Indian capital, New Delhi. The injuries she sustained were so severe that she succumbed to them 13 days later, setting off protests in India and around the world for ending the scourge of violence against women.
UN marks first International Day to commemorate victims of genocide
Dec 10, 2015, at 02:56 pm
New York, Dec 10 (Just Earth NEWS/IBNS): The United Nations on Wednesday marked the first International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime to remember the victims of the "crime of crimes" and to call for action against the rise of hostility, xenophobia and intolerance across the world.
Syria: UNICEF plans to reach 2.6 million children with winter supplies and cash assistance
Dec 09, 2015, at 03:38 pm
New York, Dec 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Warning of harsh winter conditions looming for more than eight million Syrian children living inside the war-ravaged country or as refugees around the region and beyond, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced a package of assistance for 2.6 million Syrian children, including cash assistance, in addition to ongoing humanitarian programmes.
UN tests data collection system to track and curb attacks against health workers
Dec 09, 2015, at 03:37 pm
New York, Dec 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it now testing a new system for collecting data to ensure that attacks against healthcare workers in the line of fire – from Afghanistan to Ukraine and Yemen – do not go unnoticed and that they are better protected from violence and harm.
UN health agency outlines global trends and looks ahead to 2030 targets
Dec 09, 2015, at 03:16 pm
New York, Dec 9 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday issued a comprehensive analysis of global health trends since 2000, and laid out actions that should be prioritized over the next 15 years to achieve the newly-agreed United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), saying that universal health care is the “linchpin of development in health.â€
Confronting conflicts, UN launches largest ever humanitarian appeal at $20.1 billion
Dec 08, 2015, at 04:20 pm
New York, Dec 8 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Warning that global suffering has reached levels not seen in a generation, the United Nations and its partners on Monday launched their largest ever humanitarian appeal, calling for 20.1 billion life-saving dollars for 2016, even as the 2015 appeal posts the largest funding gap on record – $10.2 billion.
Amid violence in Syria: UN deputy relief chief urges greater civilian protection
Dec 08, 2015, at 04:11 pm
New York, Dec 8 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Against the backdrop of devastating attacks on health facilities resulting in the deaths of countless health workers along with their patients in Syria, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang on Monday called for greater protection and assistance for Syrians caught up in the country’s four-year conflict.
UN bedside tool to help prevent maternal and newborn deaths worldwide
Dec 05, 2015, at 02:26 pm
New York, Dec 5 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday a new checklist for healthcare workers that will help reduce maternal and newborn deaths with "a single and practical bedside tool" designed to make a difference for women and infants in various settings around the world.
UN refugee agency concerned by violence at Greek border, calls for improved security
Dec 04, 2015, at 02:48 pm
New York, Dec 4 (Just Earth News/IBNS): As a result of restrictions imposed by the authorities along the Western Balkans route, tensions have been rising at the border between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, prompting the United Nations refugee agency to call on the authorities of both countries to manage the border in a manner consistent with human rights and refugee-protection principles.
UN Middle East envoy calls for action on West Bank arson attack case
Dec 03, 2015, at 03:26 pm
New York, Dec 3 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Four months after the arson attack against the Dawabsha family in the West Bank village of Duma, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, on Wednesday expressed concern at the slow progress on the case and called on the Israeli authorities to "move swiftly in bringing the perpetrators of the this terrible crime to justice."
UN seeks to enlist citizens of world as foot soldiers in battle against hate speech
Dec 03, 2015, at 03:17 pm
New York, Dec 3 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations on Wednesday launched a campaign against hate speech, with senior officials calling for a global mobilization of citizens as foot soldiers in the battle to uproot a scourge that seeks to unleash a clash of civilizations in the name of religion.
UN marks World AIDS Day with hope as momentum builds to break epidemic
Dec 02, 2015, at 03:08 pm
New York, Dec 2 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The first World AIDS Day since political leaders committed to ending the epidemic by 2030 as part of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has generated "new hope" to break the epidemic and keep it from rebounding in "an unparalleled opportunity to change the course of history for ever."
Veteran Australian rights official appointed deputy UN human rights chief
Dec 02, 2015, at 02:48 pm
New York, Dec 2 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday announced the appointment of Kate Gilmore of Australia, a veteran United Nations, Government and non-governmental organization (NGOs) official, as Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.
UN nuclear watchdog's work impacting lives worldwide: Agency chief
Nov 27, 2015, at 01:07 pm
New York, Nov 27 (Just Eath News/IBNS): The head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday delivered an opening statement at the meeting of its Board of Governors by addressing issues of technical cooperation, nuclear applications, nuclear energy, safety and security, and nuclear verification.
UN weather agency delivers 'bad news' for planet, cites record heat
Nov 26, 2015, at 01:54 pm
New York, Nov 26 (Just Earth News/IBNS): In the last major report before world leaders meet in Paris to draft measures to counter global warming, the United Nations weather agency on Wednesday delivered "bad news for the planet," warning that 2015 is likely to be the warmest year on record, breaching the symbolic and significant milestone of 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial era.
UN guidelines seek to make genetic diversity part of climate change adaptation
Nov 26, 2015, at 01:51 pm
New York, Nov 26 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With the United Nations climate change conference in Paris just days away, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has issued new voluntary guidelines to assist countries in better managing and sustainably using genetic resources while addressing climate change.
UN: More than 21 million people in Yemen need basic humanitarian aid
Nov 25, 2015, at 03:52 pm
New York, Nov 25 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Some 21.2 million people in Yemen – or 82 per cent of the population – require some kind of assistance to meet their basic needs, according to a recently-published overview of the country’s humanitarian needs for the next year carried out by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Armed robbery of UN-partner compound in South Sudan condemned by relief official
Nov 24, 2015, at 02:38 pm
New York, Nov 24 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The top United Nations relief official in South Sudan on Monday strongly condemned the armed robbery in Juba of the compound of a UN-partner organization called Nile Hope.
Universal Children's Day: UN says world remains unfair place for children
Nov 21, 2015, at 02:38 pm
New York, Nov 21 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Marking Universal Children's Day, the United Nations on Friday highlighted that the world remains a "deeply unfair" place for the poorest and most disadvantaged children despite major advances since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 26 years ago today.
UN rights office concerned about Thailand’s deportation of Chinese activists
Nov 21, 2015, at 02:29 pm
New York, Nov 21 (Just Earth News/IBNS): Voicing strong concern over the deportation of two Chinese activists by the Thai Government and their risk of being tortured and ill-treated by the authorities once sent back to China, the United Nations on Friday urged Thailand to stop deporting individuals while calling on China to ensure its human rights obligation to those extradited.
UN Millennium Development Goal target to reduce malaria burden achieved
Nov 20, 2015, at 04:06 pm
New York, Nov 20 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With roughly six weeks left under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of eight universally-agreed goals adopted in 2000 to rid the world of extreme poverty and disease by 2015 – global leaders, diplomats and health experts are gathering at the UN on Thursday in New York to celebrate the progress made against one of the world’s leading killers: malaria.
UN stresses key role of water management in tackling challenges of climate change
Nov 19, 2015, at 02:13 pm
New York, Nov 19 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted a meeting on the links between water management and disaster risk reduction on Wednesday, stressing that floods, droughts and cyclones have caused more than $1 trillion in damages and affected over 4 billion people since 1990.
UN calls on countries to protect health from impacts of climate change
Nov 18, 2015, at 03:49 pm
New York, Nov 18 (Just Earth News/IBNS): With the United Nations climate conference (COP21) starting in Paris in less than two weeks away, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday underlined that climate change is already causing tens of thousands of deaths every year, and called on countries to take strong actions to address the issue.
UN-backed conference adopts measures to tackle threats to migratory waterbirds
Nov 18, 2015, at 03:47 pm
New York, Nov 18 (Just Earth News/IBNS):With many of the world's migratory waterbirds under heightened threat due to human activities and climate change, a United Nations Environment Programme-supported conference has adopted action plans to tackle various dangers those vulnerable species face and provide guidance on their sustainable use.
UN says 13 million affected by disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Nov 14, 2015, at 04:56 pm
New York, Nov 14 (Just Earth News/IBNS) : A staggering 13.2 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean were affected by disasters between January and October 2015, a report from the United Nations relief wing revealed, warning the situation could be further exacerbated by the current powerful El Niño.
World Diabetes Day: UN calls for action to turn tide of growing global epidemic
Nov 14, 2015, at 04:52 pm
New York, Nov 14 (Just Earth News/IBNS) : With the World Health Organization (WHO) warning that diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death by 2030, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is emphasizing that people must take steps towards leading healthy lives while governments create conditions to stem the global epidemic.
Ukraine: UN warns 700,000 children at risk due to severely damaged heating systems
Nov 14, 2015, at 04:46 pm
New York, Nov 14 (Just Earth News/IBNS) : About 700,000 children in Donetsk and Luhansk in Eastern Ukraine are in danger of the potential failure of the heating systems during the winter months, said United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday adding that conflict in the region has heavily damaged the interlinked water, heating and electricity service.
Measles vaccination saved 17 million lives since 2000 :UN
Nov 14, 2015, at 04:41 pm
New York, Nov 14 (Just Earth News/IBNS) : The number of measles-related deaths has decreased by 79 per cent since the beginning of the century, but the United Nations health agency is warning that 2015 global milestones and measles elimination goals are off track.