A global competition for the design of a monument to honour the victims of slavery was launched at the United Nations on Friday. The aim of the permanent monument, to be erected at the UN headquarters in New York, is to remind the world about the violent removal of millions of Africans to the Americas, [...]
PART I: World leaders gather as UN General Assembly debate begins 5'14'' PART II: Palestinian Authority applies for full UN membership. Israel says Palestinians should make peace before statehood. 3'45'' PART III: Libya again welcomed into the family of nations. 3'37'' Narrated and produced by Ambalika Misra Duration: 15’00″
Cambodia is "very optimistic" about ending the dispute with Thailand over the temple of Preah Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage site. That's one of the things the country's Deputy Prime Minister told UN radio during the General Assembly debate. Mr. Hor Namhong also says his country will withdraw its troops from the 11th century Hindu [...]
Authorities in Kosovo have been urged to put in place an effective witness and victim protection system for people involved in war crimes trials. The call has come from the United Nations human rights office in Geneva following the discovery on Wednesday of the body of a key witness in a park in Duisburg, Germany. [...]
The Syrian authorities are being urged to allow a team of UN experts into the country so they can investigate alleged human right abuses. The Human Rights Council in Geneva is awaiting the go-ahead from Syria. The ongoing violence in the country has prompted the Council to create an independent commission of inquiry. Daniel Dickison [...]
The world's newest nation, but also one of the poorest, has made a one million dollar contribution to the crisis-stricken Horn of Africa region. South Sudan says as a regional neighbour it cannot stand by and watch the suffering in Somalia, caused by drought and conflict. Gerry Adams asked Ambassador Majok Guandong of South Sudan's [...]
News and features from United Nations Radio.
The ongoing global economic and financial crisis is a devastating storm that has shown no signs of abating. Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines told the 66th session of the UN General Assembly that economies the world over remain in peril, and none is immune from the widening and deepening [...]
The African Union has been urged by the Security Council to increase the number of peacekeepers in Somalia to reach its mandated strength of 12,000. It currently has just over 9,000. The Security Council on Friday authorized the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to continue until the end of October next year. The African [...]
Grenada's efforts to achieve sustainable development can be helped by both the December 2011 Durban conference on climate change and the June 2012 Rio+20 conference on the environment. Prime Minister Tillman Thomas told the UN General Assembly that Grenada is appealing to all parties to negotiate seriously and to meet commitments at both of these [...]
An outbreak of dengue fever is continuing to spread rapidly in Pakistan. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 125 people have died as a result of the virus, out of the nearly 12,500 reported cases. Dengue fever is a deadly tropical disease caused by the dengue virus and is transmitted by certain kinds of [...]
Thousands of people who were forced to flee their homes following post election violence in Côte d'Ivoire continue to live in poor conditions. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says the number of displaced people has fallen to about 26,000 from its peak of 600,000 during the height of the political conflict between former President [...]
Jamaica has called for reform of the United Nations in order to enable the world body to better reflect the world’s reality with more “efficient” responses. The call came as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kenneth Baugh, addressed the general debate of the General Assembly's 66th session. Foreign Minister Baugh said that “in order for [...]
Syrian authorities are being urged to allow independent international human rights experts to visit the country to investigate allegations of human rights violations since the beginning of protests in March. The call has come from Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the head of a three-member commission of inquiry established by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights [...]
Afghanistan is facing disturbing levels of insecurity and violence in its ongoing transition process, as it assumes greater security responsibility. This was the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message to the Security Council on Thursday. The Secretary-General also voiced deep concern over rising civilian casualties, that are being largely caused by insurgent groups such as the [...]
Over 80,000 poor households in Zimbabwe are to benefit from a cash transfer programme aimed at helping them meet their immediate needs for food, education and health care. The households will receive at least 25 US dollars per month. The programme which is funded jointly by the government of Zimbabwe, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and [...]
Racism and injustice were a part of Sarah White's everyday life in Mississippi, a southern state in the United States with a history of racial intolerance. As the Board President of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights, Ms. White's goal has been to be the voice of those who have been excluded, marginalized, violated [...]
Bahrain has been criticized for jailing medical staff on grounds that they treated civilians injured in anti government protests. The UN Human Rights Office says the trials and the harsh sentences handed down to the doctors and 34 other civilians were beset by irregularities. The sentences which have been handed down by the Bahrain Court [...]
Water and sanitation services in a camp for people made homeless by the earthquake which struck Haiti in January last year have deteriorated due to a lack of funding, according to the UN's humanitarian chief. Over a million and a half people lost their homes in the earthquake in January 2010 and were accommodated [...]
Racism and injustice were a part of Sarah White's everyday life in Mississippi, a southern state in the United States with a history of racial intolerance. But this civil rights activist decided not to tolerate that intolerance. She organized fellow workers and has made great strides against the unfair treatment of Black and poor workers. [...]
