Venezuelans brave torrential border river, face exploitation, abuse – UN urges greater protection
Apr 06, 2019, at 06:19 am
New York, Apr 6 (IBNS):The Venezuela refugee crisis, which has already left some 1.1 million children, returnees and people in-transit lacking protection and basic services across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), has prompt the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to call on regional Governments to uphold their rights and protect unaccompanied, undocumented children.
Great opportunity to develop professionally, says Argentinian commander deployed at UN peacekeeping
Apr 05, 2019, at 08:43 pm
United Nations, Apr 5 (IBNS): A senior commander from Argentina, who has been deployed to the United Nations peacekeeping mission on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, has said that serving the UN is a “great opportunity” to develop professionally and personally.
Apr 05, 2019, at 09:13 am
New York, Apr 5 (IBNS): Helping to promote a “Libyan-led and Libyan owned political solution” to resolve years of instability and insecurity there that puts the “welfare of the Libyan people” first, is the sole agenda of the United Nations within the country, Secretary-General António Guterres told a press conference in the nation’s capital, Tripoli on Thursday.
UN agencies urge Brunei to repeal new ‘extreme and unjustified’ penal code
Apr 05, 2019, at 09:02 am
New York, Apr 5 (IBNS): New criminal laws in Brunei that impose the death penalty for same-sex relationships, adultery and childbirth out of marriage, “breach international human rights norms”, and should be suspended or repealed said the heads of two United Nations agencies on Thursday.
Apr 05, 2019, at 08:43 am
New York, Apr 5 (IBNS): A major new UN-led report, involving more than 60 international organizations, warns that a comprehensive overhaul of the world’s financial system is necessary, if governments are to honour commitments to tackle critical issues, such as combatting climate change and eradicating poverty by 2030.
Removing deadly mines means ‘new horizons and hope’, clears a path to SDGs, says UN chief
Apr 05, 2019, at 08:33 am
New York, Apr 5 (IBNS): The path towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must be “clear of landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)”, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Thursday, International Mine Awareness Day.
'Score a goal’ for humanity, says Mohammed, celebrating winning link between sport and development
Apr 04, 2019, at 08:31 am
New York, Apr 4 (IBNS): Celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told an event in New York on Wednesday - headquarters of team UN - that “sport helps find common ground” during times of division.
Apr 04, 2019, at 08:20 am
New York, Apr 4 (IBNS): In the wake of the resignation in Algeria of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the UN Secretary-General on Wednesday saluted “the mature and calm nature” of protests involving hundreds of thousands of citizens who took to the streets peacefully in recent weeks, to express “their desire for change.”
Lack of basic water facilities risks millions of lives globally: UN health agency
Apr 04, 2019, at 08:16 am
New York, Apr 4 (IBNS): More than two billion people face grave health risks because basic water facilities are not available in one in four medical centres globally, the UN has said, in an appeal to countries to do more to prevent the transmission of treatable infections that can turn deadly if not washed or flushed, away.
Apr 03, 2019, at 09:30 am
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): From killing and maiming, to recruitment, sexual abuse and abduction, “violence against children in armed conflict can take many forms”, said Secretary-General António Guterres, in a special message delivered at the launch of a new UN advocacy campaign on Tuesday - Act to Protect Children Affected by Conflict.
Prospect of a nuclear war ‘higher than it has been in generations’, warns UN
Apr 03, 2019, at 09:25 am
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): In a world defined by “competition over cooperation, and the acquisition of arms, prioritized over the pursuit of diplomacy”, the threat of a nuclear weapon being used is “higher than it has been in generations,” the Security Council heard on Tuesday.
Apr 03, 2019, at 09:19 am
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): On World Autism Awareness Day, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres underscored in his message on Tuesday, the importance of technology which helps people living with autism “achieve their full potential”.
Acute food insecurity ‘far too high’ UN agency warns, as 113 million go hungry
Apr 03, 2019, at 09:08 am
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): Approximately 113 million people in 53 countries experienced high levels of food insecurity last year, according to a new joint UN and European Union (EU) report released on Tuesday, which warns that these crises are primarily driven by conflict and climate-related disasters.
New UN data tool shows 'mismatch' between government aid and places modern slavery exists
Apr 03, 2019, at 08:54 am
New York, Apr 3 (IBNS): A new interactive data tool created by the UN University Centre for Policy Research, which shows a mismatch between where modern slavery occurs, and where governments are spending resources to address it, could help make a positive impact on policy debates surrounding the issue.
Apr 02, 2019, at 09:30 am
New York, Apr 2 (IBNS): With the rights and lives of millions of women, children and men uprooted by conflict every year, the UN Security Council held a special meeting on Monday to examine ways to promote and strengthen the rule of law, especially in the humanitarian field.
UN highlights profound implication of population trends on sustainable development
Apr 02, 2019, at 09:22 am
New York, Apr 2 (IBNS): The United Nations is highlighting the important role that population trends play in promoting sustainable development, during the annual Commission on Population and Development, which began at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday.
Brunei’s new penal code would enshrine ‘cruel and inhuman punishments’ UN rights chief warns
Apr 02, 2019, at 09:18 am
New York, Apr 2 (IBNS): Proposed changes to Brunei’s penal code to incorporate punishments under a strict interpretation of Islamic law - including death by stoning - should be halted, the UN’s top human rights official, Michelle Bachelet, said on Monday.
'Address root causes' of instability in Mali through 'aid and support' urges UN chief
Mar 30, 2019, at 09:32 am
New York, Mar 30 (IBNS): Appearing before the Security Council on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that the only way to prevent increased violence and instability in Mali is to tackle root causes such as grinding poverty; climate change and competition for resources; underdevelopment, and a fundamental lack of opportunities for young people.
Guterres lauds UN peacekeeping, highlights need to bridge ‘critical’ gaps
Mar 30, 2019, at 09:26 am
New York, Mar 30 (IBNS): United Nations Peacekeeping missions are working flat out and need to be made “stronger and safer”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a major ministerial pledging conference on Friday, stressing that “critical” gaps must be bridged, so they can deliver better, on behalf of the people they serve.
Khashoggi murder trials must public and meet international standards, UN expert urges
Mar 29, 2019, at 09:02 am
New York, Mar 29 (IBNS): A United Nations human rights expert said on Thursday that Saudi Arabia’s closed-door trials of those it accuses of assassinating the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, have fallen short of international standards, calling instead for public trials of the alleged killers.
New UN Global Climate report ‘another strong wake-up call’ over global warming: Guterres
Mar 29, 2019, at 09:01 am
New York, Mar 29 (IBNS): The increasing number of natural disasters and dangers linked to climate change, highlighted in a major UN report released on Thursday, represents “another strong wake-up call” to the world, which must be countered by finding sustainable solutions quickly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
Landmark terror finance resolution adopted by Security Council
Mar 29, 2019, at 08:48 am
New York, Mar 29 (IBNS): The UN is hailing a new Security Council resolution adopted on Thursday as a landmark step in suppressing the funding of terror groups worldwide.
Mar 28, 2019, at 08:57 am
New York, Mar 28 (IBNS): Nations across Asia and the Pacific need to take bold action to ensure empowerment, inclusiveness and equality if the region is to realize the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a major UN conference has heard.
Mar 27, 2019, at 09:38 am
New York, Mar 27 (IBNS): The UN’s outgoing Special Envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes region on Tuesday said countries there had made “important steps towards durable peace and stability” in the last 20 years, resulting in a region that is now “largely peaceful”.
Brazilian officer a ‘stellar example’ of why more women are needed in UN peacekeeping
Mar 27, 2019, at 09:13 am
New York, Mar 27 (IBNS): Training gender advisors and focal points in the Central African Republic (CAR) has earned a Brazilian United Nations peacekeeper a special gender advocate award, it was announced on Tuesday.
Mar 27, 2019, at 09:10 am
New York, Mar 27 (IBNS): With Yemen now in its fifth year of conflict between pro-Government forces and Houthi rebels, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for “unhindered access” to the most desperate areas in the frontline regions “to prevent the food security situation deteriorating”.
Tenants ‘forced out their homes’ by global investment firms, say UN experts
Mar 27, 2019, at 08:46 am
New York, Mar 27 (IBNS): UN human rights experts have condemned the ‘egregious’ business practices of global private equity and investment firms which, they say, have transformed the global housing landscape by raising rents and forcing some tenants out of their homes.
‘Uphold human dignity’, dismantle ‘specious notion of racial superiority’ urges UN chief
Mar 26, 2019, at 09:30 am
New York, Mar 26 (IBNS): Raise awareness of the dangers of racism and “stand up against old and new forms of slavery” was the resounding message of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday during a special event marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Autonomous weapons that kill must be banned, insists UN chief
Mar 26, 2019, at 09:23 am
New York, Mar 26 (IBNS): UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged artificial intelligence (AI) experts meeting in Geneva on Monday to push ahead with their work to restrict the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems, or LAWS, as they are also known.
UN launches drive to highlight environmental cost of staying fashionable
Mar 26, 2019, at 09:22 am
New York, Mar 26 (IBNS): It takes around 7,500 litres of water to make a single pair of jeans, equivalent to the amount of water the average person drinks over a period of seven years. That’s just one of the many startling facts to emerge from recent environmental research, which show that the cost of staying fashionable is a lot more than just the price tag.