A sewing project has been started in Juba Maximum Prison where some of South Sudan's worst offenders are imprisoned. The prison which has tall walls with barbed wire at the top, houses both males and females. Some of the prisoners are on death row, others are serving short or long sentences while others are waiting [...]
A deadly attack in central Baghdad that reportedly killed at least 26 people and injured more than 100, has been strongly condemned by the United Nations top envoy in Iraq. According to media reports, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in the capital's centre on Monday. Martin Kobler, the [...]
The Security Council President for the month of June expects a busy agenda, with Syria at the top the list. Ambassador Li Baodong of China says there will be 30 items covering issues involving mainly the Middle East and Africa. On 7 June, UN-Arab League Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan will come to the Council [...]
As sustainability commitments and policies gain ground, corporate practice still lags behind according to the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative for responsible corporate citizenship. The public-private partnership's 2011 Implementation Survey finds large gaps when it comes to sustainability efforts made by big business. UN Global Compact Executive Director Georg Kell says commitments need [...]
Even if you have a national passport, the UN Environment Programme, UNEP, and Brazil are encouraging all who visit Rio de Janeiro these days to get a "Green Passport". Just ahead of World Environment Day, June 5th , the Rio + 20 Summit, the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the summer Olympics in 2016, [...]
The expansion of Israeli settlements and the realities of occupation have created a precarious and worrying situation for workers in the occupied Arab territories. That assessment comes from the International Labour Organization (ILO) in a report released on Monday. Dianne Penn reports. Duration: 3’02″
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned of a sharply worsening humanitarian situation in South Sudan's Upper Nile State. António Guterres says over the past three weeks an estimated 35,000 refugees have arrived there from Sudan's Blue Nile State. This is on top of an existing refugee population there of approximately 70,000. Derrick [...]
The Green Passport initiative has been launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the government of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. The campaign, which started ahead of World Environment Day on 5 June, aims to help travelers become more environmentally conscious. UNEP spokesperson Nick Nuttall says thousands of green passports will be distributed to [...]
The situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories is extremely worrying and remains precarious according to the annual report of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The survey has been submitted to the 101st Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva. Special Advisor to the ILO Director-General Kari Tapiola summed up the report's findings [...]
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has scheduled a new meeting with Iran to be held on 8 June in Vienna. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano is urging the country to sign a framework cooperation deal and provide inspectors with access to the Parchin military site. Mr. Amano says the IAEA continues to verify the [...]
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on nations to boost their efforts to combat terrorism. He made the remarks to the Second meeting of the Advisory Board of the UN Centre for Counter-Terrorism, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Mr. Ban said terrorism continues to affect all regions of the world and has left a heavy [...]
