Afghanistan: UN mission welcomes new penal code, urges measures to protect women from violence
Feb 23, 2018, at 02:31 pm
New York, Feb 23 (JEN): While welcoming the entry to force of a new Penal Code in Afghanistan as a having the “potential to trigger real change,” the United Nations mission in the country said on Thursday that it is concerned by the removal of the chapter penalizing violence against women.
Protect the rights of ‘Dreamers,’ UN human rights experts urge US Government
Feb 22, 2018, at 03:00 pm
New York, Feb 22 (JEN): With hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrived in the United States as children facing possible expulsion, a group of United Nations human rights experts has urged the country to take urgent steps to address their situation and ensure that their rights are protected.
UN chief ‘deeply alarmed’ by escalating hostilities in Syria’s east Ghouta
Feb 22, 2018, at 02:26 pm
New York, Feb 22 (JEN): Deeply alarmed by the escalating violence in Syria’s east Ghouta, the United Nations has reiterated a call for an end to hostilities so that the sick and wounded can be immediately evacuated and humanitarian aid deliveries can reach those in need.
Feb 21, 2018, at 03:05 pm
New York, Feb 21 (JEN): After over a century of hostilities including 50 years of continued military occupation, Israelis and Palestinians are still no closer to peace, a United Nations special envoy said on Tuesday, warning that even as many in the region have lost hope for positive change, the enemies of peace are growing more confident by the day.
Civilian situation in Syria’s east Ghouta ‘spiraling out of control,’ warns UN aid official
Feb 21, 2018, at 02:15 pm
New York, Feb 21 (IBNS): The humanitarian situation of civilians in Syria’s east Ghouta is spiraling out of control, a senior United Nation aid official has warned in the wake of escalating conflict which resulted in more than 40 civilian deaths on Monday alone.
Ahead of Social Justice Day, UN agency calls for fair labour migration governance
Feb 20, 2018, at 01:19 pm
New York, Feb 20 (JEN): Many migrant workers end up trapped in low-pay, unsafe and unhealthy jobs, the head of the United Nations labour agency warned Monday, calling for the adoption of fair labour migration governance frameworks at the global, regional and national levels.
United States: Planned execution of seriously ill man may amount to torture, warn UN experts
Feb 20, 2018, at 01:15 pm
New York, Feb 20 (JEN): Two United Nations human rights experts have urged the Government of the United States to halt the execution a seriously ill person stressing that given his health condition, the use of lethal injection could possibly amount to torture.
Feb 19, 2018, at 03:03 pm
New York, Feb 19 (JEN): The top United Nations humanitarian official in Somalia has commended the drought relief and recovery efforts of the authorities in the northern state of Puntland, while cautioning that the current humanitarian crisis is far from over.
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:56 pm
New York, Feb Countries need to strengthen the effectiveness of their tax regimes to unleash much-needed domestic resources to ensure the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the promotion of inclusive economic growth, United Nations and as key international economic and financial organizations have urged.
Haiti: UN determined to support authorities in strengthening rule of law
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:50 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Strengthening the rule of law and improving the national police and the judicial system in Haiti will require political will on the part of the authorities, and the United Nations is determined to support this goal, said Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bintou Keita.
UN development agency remains committed to support Lebanon, says agency head
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:46 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Reverberations of the Syrian conflict – which has now lasted longer than World War II – are being felt throughout the region, including in Lebanon, which shares most of its land border with the war-torn country, and hosts hundreds of thousands of its refugees, the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned on Friday.
crisis-torn eastern DR Congo, UN food relief agency expands operations to stem hunger
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:43 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Escalating violence, daunting logistical challenges and insufficient funding have prompted the United Nations food relief agency to broaden its emergency operation in the war-ravaged Kasai region in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:33 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Bold, innovative solutions are now on the table to accelerate the prevention and control of deadly noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – such as heart and lung disease, cancers and diabetes – as a new United Nations health agency high-level commission gets set to begin its work.
UN, partners complete first aid delivery in months to Syria’s war-battered east Ghouta
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:30 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Thousands of civilians in east Ghouta now have life-saving food and medical supplies after the first aid convoy in nearly three months reached the besieged enclave just outside the Syrian capital of Damascus, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country said on Friday.
Service and Sacrifice: Honouring Nigeria’s contribution to UN peacekeeping
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:26 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Since the 1960s, Nigeria has been a major contributor of troops and police to United Nations peace operations, having served in dozens of missions. Most recently, Nigerian troops were the military backbone of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), from 2003-2018, helping to restore security throughout a country that had undergone a brutal civil war.
UN rights chief urges Iran to halt executions of juveniles on death row
Feb 17, 2018, at 01:16 pm
New York, Feb 17 (JEN): Expressing concern over a “surge” in the number of juvenile offenders being executed in Iran, the United Nations top human rights official called on the country to abide by its obligations under international law and immediately halt all executions of people sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under the age of eighteen.
Feb 16, 2018, at 02:20 pm
New York, Feb 16 (JEN): Aid agencies in Mali have launched the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP ), asking for $263 million to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people, a senior United Nations aid official in the country said
Alarming gaps in reliable data leave 28 million uprooted children unprotected – UN
Feb 16, 2018, at 02:08 pm
New York, Feb 16 (JEN): There are “alarming holes” in the availability, reliability, timeliness and accessibility of the data and evidence essential for understanding how children and their families are impacted by migration and forced displacement, United Nations agencies and their partners warned on Thursday.
New guidelines on global care standards during childbirth issued by UN health agency
Feb 16, 2018, at 01:53 pm
New York, Feb 16 (JEN): The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has issued new guidelines on global care standards throughout labour and immediately after childbirth aimed at reducing the use of needless and potentially harmful routine clinical and medical interventions.
Feb 15, 2018, at 10:22 pm
Kabul, Feb 15 (IBNS): More than 10,000 civilians lost their lives or suffered injuries during 2017, according to the latest annual UN report documenting the impact of the armed conflict on civilians in Afghanistan.
Guinea-Bissau: Political crisis requires continued UN presence, Security Council told
Feb 15, 2018, at 02:55 pm
New York, Feb 15 (JEN): The United Nations will need to focus its efforts on supporting Guinea-Bissau’s national leaders in their efforts to appoint an acceptable Prime Minister, establish an inclusive Government, organize and conduct timely elections, and implement the priority reforms, a UN envoy for the West African country said Wednesday.
In Johannesburg, UN youth envoy spotlights need to boost support for reproductive health
Feb 15, 2018, at 02:49 pm
New York, Feb 15 (IBNS): In this century, child marriage cannot be allowed to happen, and similarly, children should not give birth to children, the United Nations youth envoy told an African forum on reproductive health and rights on Wednesday.
UN agency sets ambitious target to reduce hunger and poverty for millions worldwide
Feb 14, 2018, at 02:29 pm
New York, Feb 14 (JEN): Amid a global rise in hunger and poverty on back of the impacts of climate change and conflict, the United Nations rural development agency today announced an ambitious target to generate resources to fund loans and grants to enable millions in developing countries strengthen their food security and livelihoods.
Feb 14, 2018, at 02:23 pm
New York, Feb 14 (JEN): Nearly six months after an outbreak of violence drove almost 700,000 minority Rohingyas from Myanmar to seek safety in Bangladesh, senior United Nations officials on Tuesday said it is time to address the root causes – including decades of repression inside Myanmar – so those who fled feel safe enough to return to their homeland.
Both radio and sports can help people achieve their potential, says UN on World Radio Day
Feb 14, 2018, at 02:16 pm
New York, Feb 14 (JEN): In an era of dramatic advances in communications, radio retains its power to entertain, educate, inform and inspire, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, marking World Radio Day with a call to celebrate both radio and sports as ways of helping people achieve their potential.
Feb 13, 2018, at 03:08 pm
New York, Feb 13 (JEN): The global commitment to end the use of children in armed conflict led to the release and reintegration of more than 5,000 children in 2017, but tens of thousands of boys and girls are still being recruited, kidnapped, and forced to fight or work for military groups or armed forces at “alarming rates,” according to the United Nations.
Focus on future, prioritize reconciliation for the region, UN envoy urges Western Balkans
Feb 13, 2018, at 02:19 pm
Feb 13, 2018, at 02:16 pm
Maldives: UN rights experts denounce detention of judges as ‘direct attack’ on Supreme Court
Feb 13, 2018, at 02:07 pm
New York, Feb 13 (JEN): Denouncing the detention of two Supreme Court judges in the Maldives, United Nations human rights experts warned that the independence of the judiciary is under “serious threat” in the country, as is the principle of separation of powers between the State and the courts.
Civilians in war-torn Yemen ‘under fire on all sides’ – UN rights chief
Feb 13, 2018, at 01:57 pm
New York, Feb 13 (JEN): The situation in Taizz governorate – located in south-west Yemen – is of particular concern.