Southern African governments and their partners are being urged to work together to strengthen disaster preparedness and tackle food insecurity. The call has come from Catherin Bragg, the deputy United Nations humanitarian chief, who ended a five-day visit to Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe on Friday. Charles Appel reports. The UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator [...]
In Bamako, Mali on Friday, the Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told a meeting of the Support and Follow-up Group on Mali that, for many reasons, the situation in that country is unacceptable. He said that some 4.6 million people are at risk of food insecurity, while 560,000 children below the age of five are threatened [...]
The importance of conserving biological diversity has been a subject of discussion at a major meeting which ended in the Indian city of Hyderabad, India on Friday. The 11th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity or COP 11 brought together representatives of governments from around the world. The Hyderabad meeting reviewed [...]
Women's advancement is not an option; it is essential, the delegate of Haiti Nicole Romulus told the General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee during a discussion on the advancement of women. She stressed that "gender equality is not something we can afford to postpone", adding that integrating women into decision-making is important for Haiti. [...]
Representatives from the international community have expressed unity with Mali as the country responds to political, security and humanitarian challenges, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said on Friday. Eliasson was speaking to UN Radio from Mali's capital, Bamako, where he participated in a meeting which brought together the UN, the African Union and the Economic [...]
The General Assembly's committee that handles decolonization matters has forwarded 10 draft texts to the Assembly, with half of them being approved without a vote, reaffirming the rights of the people of Non-Self-Governing Territories to shape their destiny. The committee approved its annual omnibus draft resolution on Questions of a number of territories including several [...]
The UN Secretary-General and his Arab League counterpart are appealing for warring parties in Syria to observe a cease-fire during one of the holiest holidays in the Muslim calendar. In a statement on Friday, the two leaders also called on regional and international actors to support the appeal which was made by their Joint [...]
The role of the United Nations development system in advancing the global development agenda is one to which Jamaica attached great importance. Ambassador Raymond Wolfe told the UN General Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee that the support of the United Nations is particularly relevant as Jamaica pursues its development goals against the backdrop of the [...]
By all accounts, Cambodia is doing very well economically. For the first decade of the 21st century, it was the 15th fastest growing economy of the world, according to the World Bank. And, says the Bank, for the past two years, the country's economic performance has remained strong. But despite these impressive accomplishments, malnutrition [...]
By all accounts, Cambodia is doing very well economically. For the first decade of the 21st century, it was the 15th fastest growing economy of the world, according to the World Bank. And, says the Bank, for the past two years, the country's economic performance has remained strong. But despite these impressive accomplishments, malnutrition [...]
A $132 million appeal for Syria and the region remains $90 million underfunded, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced on Friday in Geneva. Meanwhile, the agency reported that the number of internally displaced Syrians continues to grow, half of whom are children. While the last official estimates put the figure at 1.2 million, UNICEF [...]
CARICOM has frequently underscored the importance of the provision of adequate and predictable funding for the UN system and in particular for its operational activities. So says the Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador John Ashe. He told the General Assembly's Economic and Financial Committee that in spite of the continued appeals by CARICOM, [...]
Life continues to be hard for Syrians and their children as the conflict drags on. According to the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA), inflation and rising market prices have reduced purchasing power in Syria. OCHA says the information comes from a Joint Rapid Food Security Needs Assessment which was organized by FAO and WFP in [...]
Caribbean history — from slavery to independence — bore ample testimony to the crucial role played by women in all aspects of development. That's what Guyana's Representative Ambassador George Talbot, told the General Assembly's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee at the start of its three-day discussion on the advancement of women. Speaking on behalf of [...]
There is an urgent need to end the climate of impunity in Sudan's Darfur region, the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement on Friday. This follows the deadly attack earlier this week on a convoy from the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Ravina Shamdasani is Acting Spokesperson for the UN Human [...]
In a world of plenty, no one should go hungry. That was the message UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered at the World Food Prize ceremony held on Thursday in the American city of Des Moines, Iowa. "Ending hunger and malnutrition can be done. It is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, [...]
People who commit rape and other acts of sexual violence against women during conflicts must know that they have no place to hide anywhere in the world, says the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Zainab Bangura says although in most cases perpetrators target women, men and boys are increasingly becoming [...]
The number of Somali refugees living in the Dollo Ado refugee camp in southeast Ethiopia has passed the 170,000 mark, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The agency says the Dollo Ado refugee complex is now the second largest refugee camp in the world after the Daadab complex in Kenya which hosts over 400,000 [...]
