UN decolonization successes can ‘inspire us today,’ UN chief tells Special Committee
Feb 22, 2019, at 09:26 am
New York, Feb 22 (IBNS): Since the early 1960s, the United Nations decolonization committee has “accompanied many territories in their journey”, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday, opening the body’s 2019 session.
Service and Sacrifice: UN peacekeeping assignment ‘lifetime opportunity’ for Nepalese doctor
Feb 22, 2019, at 09:21 am
For over six decades, Nepalese women and men have served around the world as United Nations peacekeepers. The South Asian nation is currently the fifth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping, with over 5,700 personnel serving in more than a dozen countries. They protect vulnerable communities and support countries working to move from conflict to peace, doing so at great personal risk and in harsh conditions. UN News spoke with one such peacekeeper, Captain Poonam Khadka, who served with the joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in the Darfur region of Sudan last year. Captain Khadka completed her assignment in Darfur and returned home to Nepal in January of this year. The following interview took place while she was still serving with the Mission.
Feb 21, 2019, at 08:53 am
New York, Feb 21 (IBNS): United Nations investigators on Wednesday denounced a raft of gross human rights violations being perpetrated in South Sudan, where over the past year, incidents of rape have surged and abductions, sexual slavery and brutal killings “have become commonplace.”
Prospect of lasting peace ‘fading by the day’ in Gaza and West Bank, senior UN envoy warns
Feb 21, 2019, at 08:50 am
New York, Feb 21 (IBNS): The spectres of violence and radicalism in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are growing, and the prospect of sustainable peace is fading by the day, a senior UN envoy in the region told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Feb 20, 2019, at 09:54 am
New York, Feb 20 (IBNS): At a time of rapid urbanization, cities face challenges that are global in nature but require “the full engagement of local authorities” for multilateral solutions, the head of the United Nations agriculture agency told a special gathering of mayors on Tuesday.
Moving from a promise made in Sweden to hope for peace in Yemen
Feb 20, 2019, at 09:41 am
New York, Feb 20 (IBNS): “Significant progress” is being made in implementing the deal reached in Stockholm last December between Government and Houthi leaders in Yemen, according to United Nations Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.
Not enough resettlement solutions for refugees worldwide, says UN
Feb 20, 2019, at 08:59 am
New York, Feb 20 (IBNS): Despite record numbers of people forcibly displaced across borders, with 1.2 million in need of a new permanent place to call home last year, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) released new data on Tuesday showing that only 55,700 of them – 4.7 per cent – were able to be resettled in 2018.
Myanmar and UN agriculture agency agree framework to improve nutrition and food security
Feb 20, 2019, at 08:51 am
New York, Feb 20 (IBNS): The Myanmar Government and the UN’s agriculture agency signed on Tuesday a multi-year agreement that will create conditions to help improve nutrition and food security in the south-east Asian country, while safeguarding and sustainably managing the use of natural resources.
UN rights chief ‘alarmed’ by upsurge in attacks against civilians in Syria’s Idlib
Feb 20, 2019, at 08:41 am
New York, Feb 20 (IBNS): Civilians in Syria's north-western city of idlib continue to be used “as pawns”, caught in the crossfire of bombardments by the Government and its allies, and attacks by non-State armed groups, the United Nations human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, warned on Tuesday.
UN and partners appeal for $920 million to meet ‘dire needs’ of Rohingya refugees
Feb 16, 2019, at 09:58 am
New York, Feb 16 (IBNS):With more than 745,000 Rohingya having fled violence in Myanmar to settle in Bangladesh, joining roughly 200,000 others already sheltering there, United Nations aid agencies and partners launched an appeal on Friday to help meet their “dire needs".
Security Council condemns ‘heinous and cowardly’ attack in Iran
Feb 15, 2019, at 09:20 am
New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): The United Nations Security Council has condemned “in the strongest terms” Wednesday’s “heinous and cowardly” terrorist attack in south-east Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
Humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world, warns UN
Feb 15, 2019, at 09:13 am
New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): An estimated 24 million people – close to 80 per cent of the population – need assistance and protection in Yemen, the UN warned on Thursday. With famine threatening hundreds of thousands of lives, humanitarian aid is increasingly becoming the only lifeline for millions across the country.
UN agencies call for action to bolster rights of Europe’s stateless children
Feb 15, 2019, at 09:04 am
New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): United Nations agencies are calling on States and regional organizations across Europe to take urgent action to ensure that thousands of currently stateless children are given the support and protection they deserve.
Feb 15, 2019, at 08:58 am
New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): French protesters’ rights have been “disproportionately curtailed” during the wave of recent “gilet jaunes”, or yellow jacket demonstrations across the country over Government economic policies, said a group of independent UN human rights experts on Thursday.
Radio still a powerful worldwide tool for ‘dialogue, tolerance and peace’: Guterres
Feb 14, 2019, at 09:15 am
New York, Feb 14 (IBNS): Radio is a powerful tool that continues to promote “dialogue, tolerance and peace,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in message on Thursday, marking World Radio Day.
‘Urgent need’ to stop Mali violence with ‘effective’ military response: UN expert
Feb 13, 2019, at 09:29 am
New York, Feb 13 (IBNS): The state of human rights and security across Mali is a “cause of grave concern,” the independent UN rights expert for the northwest African nation said in a statement on Tuesday, in which he called for an “effective military response” to end the violence and protect the civilian population.
As inequality grows, the UN fights for a fairer world
Feb 09, 2019, at 09:36 am
New York, Feb 9 (IBNS): The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the UN’s blueprint for a better and more sustainable future for all – calls for a reduction in inequality between and within countries. Nevertheless, global inequality is increasing. So what can be done?
UN rights chief ‘deeply concerned’ over Jehovah’s Witness sentencing in Russia
Feb 08, 2019, at 08:46 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): The sentencing in Russia of a Danish Jehovah’s Witness on Thursday to six years in prison on charges of “organising the activity of a banned extremist organisation” has been described as a “dangerous precedent” by the UN human rights chief.
Feb 08, 2019, at 08:42 am
New York, Feb 8 (IBNS): A newly formed parliamentary committee to amend Myanmar’s problematic constitution was welcomed as a positive move on Thursday by Yanghee Lee, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the country.
Guterres underlines climate action urgency, as UN weather agency confirms record global warming
Feb 07, 2019, at 01:54 pm
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): In the wake of data released by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), showing the past four years were officially the ‘four warmest on record,’ UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent climate action and increased ambition, ahead of his climate summit in September.
Central African Republic: UN chief hails signing of new peace agreement
Feb 07, 2019, at 10:22 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): Following the signing of a peace agreement between the Government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and 14 non-state armed groups active in the country on Wednesday, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, congratulated all stakeholders and encouraged them to now “live up to their commitments”.
Largest joint UN humanitarian convoy of the war, reaches remote Syrian settlement
Feb 07, 2019, at 10:09 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): The largest UN humanitarian convoy of the Syrian civil war reached the remote settlement of Rukban, on the border with Jordan on Wednesday, where it is delivering life-saving assistance to more than 40,000 displaced people, some of whom have been trapped there for years as the eight-year conflict grinds on.
With millions of girls ‘at risk’ today of genital mutilation, UN chief calls for zero tolerance
Feb 07, 2019, at 09:58 am
New York, Feb 7 (IBNS): Female genital mutilation, is “an abhorrent human rights violation” still affecting women and girls around the globe, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in his message for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, marked on Wednesday.
Dramatic drop in South Sudan political violence since peace agreement signing
Feb 06, 2019, at 10:21 am
New York, Feb 6 (IBNS): Since the signing of a September 2018 deal between the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his political rival and former deputy Riek Machar to end conflict in the country, political violence has “dropped dramatically,” David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan told reporters on Tuesday.
Piracy and high seas crime growing, becoming more sophisticated, UN Security Council told
Feb 06, 2019, at 10:13 am
New York, Feb 6 (IBNS): International maritime crime is becoming “increasingly sophisticated” as criminal groups exploit jurisdiction and enforcement challenges on the high seas and pose “immediate danger to people’s lives and safety”, the UN anti-drugs and crime chief warned the Security Council on Tuesday.
Feb 06, 2019, at 10:07 am
New York, Feb 6 (IBNS): The United Nations and its aid partners, together with the interim Government of Libya, launched on Tuesday a humanitarian response plan (HRP), appealing for $202 million to bring urgent life-saving assistance to some 550,000 women, children and men affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
As inequality grows, the UN fights for a fairer world
Feb 05, 2019, at 09:40 am
New York, Feb 5 (IBNS): The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the UN’s blueprint for a better and more sustainable future for all – calls for a reduction in inequality between and within countries. Nevertheless, global inequality is increasing. So what can be done?
Feb 05, 2019, at 09:36 am
New York, Feb 5 (IBNS): With mercenaries undermining global peace and security and weakening States’ capacities to protect their people, the UN Security Council on Monday shone its spotlight on their activities as a source of destabilization in Africa.
UN chief hopes for new agreement after Israel concludes international observation mission
Feb 03, 2019, at 05:07 pm
New York, Feb 3 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his gratitude to the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), West Bank, after Israel decided not to renew its mandate.
UN calls for support to implement Central Africa’s newly minted peace agreement
Feb 03, 2019, at 05:02 pm
New York, Feb 3 (IBNS): After 10 days of negotiations, the Central African government and 14 armed groups reached a peace agreement on Saturday, according to a tweet from the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).