A group of United Nations independent experts on Thursday warned that a draft law being considered by Russia could adversely impact civil society. Gerry Adams has the story. “ The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret [...]
The transition from conflict to sustainable peace and development can be a challenging one, says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. That's why the UN Peacebuilding Commission, the PBC, and its financial arm, the Peacebuilding Fund, were set up in 2005, to help struggling states avoid slipping back into war and chaos. At a Security Council debate on [...]
Sexual and physical attacks, emotional abuse, humiliation, rejection, neglect. These and other forms of violence are more likely to be suffered by disabled children, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). The report looked at 17 studies in high-income countries covering 18,000 children. It finds that on average, disabled children [...]
The end of conflict does not always mean peace has arrived. That is one of the reasons the United Nations created its Peacebuilding Commission. The Commission plays a unique role in bringing together all of the relevant actors, marshalling resources and advising on and proposing integrated strategies for post-conflict peacebuilding and recovery and where [...]
Female athletes from Saudi Arabia are going to the Olympics! Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, welcomed the decision of Saudi Arabia on Thursday to send female athletes to London to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. The decision follows a similar one made by Brunei Darussalam and Qatar. [...]
There are many "human rights concerns and critical gaps" in Kazakhstan's laws and rule-of-law institutions, the UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay told a press conference in the capital, Astana. Ms. Pillay is visiting the country as part of her first visit to Central Asia. Charles Appel reports. Ms. Pillay told reporters that freedom of [...]
Some 220,000 people have been newly displaced by increased fighting and insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA). OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke says the affected area, North Kivu, has been marred by conflict and displacement for close to 20 years, says. Over two million people are either internally [...]
Approximately 220,000 people have been newly displaced in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of insecurity stemming from movements by the M23 rebel group. The UN humanitarian office (OCHA), says while the majority of these people have been internally displaced, a significant number has crossed the border into Uganda where authorities [...]
• The former president of Botswana says maybe he could have done more to decriminalize laws that hamper AIDS progress. Festus Mogae, who is now part of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, says while millions of dollars have been invested over the past 30 years to expand lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment, [...]
Children with disabilities are four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children, according to a study published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The report says children with disability associated with mental illness or intellectual impairments were at a higher risk of sexual violence compared with their non-disabled peers. The study covered 18,374 [...]
