• The first justice and security hub has been inaugurated in Liberia. It is one of five hubs the government plans to establish in various parts of the country to enable people in remote areas to have access to justice as Liberia rebuilds after the civil war that led to complete breakdown of law and [...]
As another sign of the return of normalcy in Somalia, the fire department in the country's capital, Mogadishu, is resuming operations for the first time since 1991. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which helped government forces retake the city from the Al-Shabaab Islamist extremists, is assisting in training fire-fighters in the Horn of [...]
The annual Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize of UNESCO, the UN cultural agency, is to be awarded to the President of France, François Hollande for his "valuable contribution to peace and stability in Africa." The award, created in 1989 by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), honours people, institutions and organizations that have contributed [...]
A 20-year-old woman accused of sorcery in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, was reportedly tortured and killed earlier this month, says the spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva. Cécille Pouilly says Kepari Leniata was burnt alive in front of a crowd by relatives of a six-year-old boy whom she was accused [...]
Earlier this week, members of the Community Media Network in Tanzania-COMNETA rejoiced after their network received official registration from the Government of Tanzania. The network comprises about 25 community radios operating in the most rural settings of Tanzania, home to over 44 million people and more than 126 ethnic groups. A national state owned broadcaster [...]
The United Nations, along with its partners continue to work closely with the people and Government of Haiti to provide treatment, improve water and sanitation facilities, and strengthen prevention and early warning to eliminate cholera in the country. At the same time, UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky says claims for compensation brought against the United Nations [...]
African leaders need to pay more attention to implementing policies to tackle growing challenges such as air pollution, vector borne diseases and chemical exposure. That's the conclusion of a new report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday. Derrick Mbatha reports. Duration: 3’27″
A digital gaming company based in Bangkok, Thailand has created a new way to support the United Nations World Food Programme's (WFP) emergency food assistance operation in Syria. The company, Sandbox Global, has created a Facebook game called Stylista. Stylista allows players to make virtual visits to famous fashion destinations around the world, shop for [...]
It is time for a new kind of fully inclusive dialogue about decolonization, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in remarks at the opening session of the Special Committee on Decolonization. He said the international community is more convinced than ever that colonialism has no place in the modern world. Noting that "the eradication of colonialism, in [...]
Thursday, February 21st is being observed as International Mother Language Day. This year, the theme for the Day is exploring the links between languages and books. Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General notes that in some countries, the dearth of books and textbooks in local languages hampers development and social inclusion and represents a violation of [...]
Haitian authorities have been reminded that the State has an obligation to ensure that there is no impunity for serious violations of human rights committed in the past. The call comes from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, as the Court of Appeal of Port-au-Prince is due to resume hearings later this week [...]
The food security outlook in Yemen for the first half of 2013 is slightly worse than in 2012 as the causes of food insecurity will likely persist in 2013, aggravated by the impact of poor prospects for local agricultural production, which is estimated to be about 8 percent lower than 2012 and 10 percent below [...]
Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced in Mali following a military coup in March last year and the occupation of the northern part of the country by armed rebels. Malians became refugees in neighbouring countries creating a humanitarian crisis. In this report prepared by UNHCR's Edith Champagne, she says Malians who fled Timbuktu, in [...]
Africa's leaders should put implementing environment and health issues at the top of their national and continent-wide policies, if growing challenges such as air pollution, vector-borne diseases and chemical exposure are to be addressed, according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released Thursday. The report, African Environment Outlook-3 (AEO-3), commissioned [...]
