The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday paid tribute to the late President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. The Assembly held a solemn meeting which began with the observation of a moment of silence in memory of the Venezuelan leader who passed away on 5 March. The President of the General Assembly, Vuk Jeremić, said history [...]
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday congratulated Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina on his election as the new Pope. The Secretary-General says he looks forward to continuing cooperation between the United Nations and the Holy See, under the wise leadership of His Holiness Pope Francis. "We share many common goals, from [...]
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres on Wednesday urged donors to approve extraordinary funds to help Syrian refugees and host countries. Speaking during his visit to Jordan where he met with senior government officials, Mr. Guterres said the Syrian refugee crisis is not just any crisis and requires a special mechanism of [...]
A group of United Nations independent human rights experts has expressed outrage at the execution of seven men in Saudi Arabia despite repeated calls to the authorities not to carry out the sentences. The men were executed by firing squad, not beheaded as is customary, on Wednesday morning. According to reports, the men were charged [...]
Corruption kills, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay told a panel discussion at a meeting of the Human Rights Council on Wednesday. In its first ever discussion on the connection between human rights and corruption, the Human Rights Council held an interactive debate on the Negative Impact of Corruption on the Enjoyment of Human [...]
The number of deaths in detention centres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) almost doubled from 56 in 2011 compared to 101 deaths recorded in 2012, according to a UN report. Poor conditions, malnutrition, limited access to health care, among other things were the main causes of these deaths. The UN High [...]
The overall level of health across Europe has improved but there are inequities within and between countries, says a report of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO's European health report 2012, covers the region's 53 countries and nearly 900 million people. The report, which is issued every three years, says that life expectancy [...]
Migrants are making an important contribution to the economies of developing countries by sending remittances, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The head of IOM, William Lacy Swing is attending a meeting of government leaders from 51 countries in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, to discuss future global trends in population dynamics. The [...]
A look on how changes in the traditional female role imply changes in the traditional male role. Language: English Genre: Report 1975 Duration: 4’32″
This programme shows that women are the greatest victims of under-development, being weighed down by prejudice in societies around the world. Language: English Genre: Report 1975 Duration: 4’42″
An immediate result of 1975's campaign to achieve equality between men and women was that a number of governments brought more women to high level advisory positions. Language: English Genre: Report 1975 Duration: 4’33″
The number of people who have died in detention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo almost doubled in 2012, according to a United Nations report released on Wednesday. The report is based on information collected by UN human rights officers during visits to prisons and other detention centres throughout the country. It says that [...]
Things are moving ahead in Haiti, but slowly, says Michel Forst, A United Nations independent expert on the human rights situation in the Caribbean country. Mr. Forst, who recently travelled to Haiti, says establishing the rule of law is one of the five top priorities of the President, Michel Joseph Martelly. The others include access [...]
The Commissioner General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is concerned about Palestinians trapped in the ongoing conflict in Syria. Filippo Grandi says a resolution to end the conflict in Syria must be found otherwise "the suffering will skyrocket and with it the enormous needs of these populations in distress." In an interview [...]
There is no doubt that corruption is an enormous obstacle to the realization of all human rights, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. Ms Pillay spoke at a panel discussion on the Negative Impact of Corruption on the Enjoyment of Human Rights held in Geneva on Wednesday. She [...]
