United Nations Radio

UN Calling Asia - a weekly magazine programme, in English, that keeps you in touch with UN developments covering Asia and the Pacific.

Secretary-General Year-End Press Conference

At his final press conference for the year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reviewed the year's accomplishments and looked forward to 2009. In a wide-ranging press conference, he characterized 2008 as a "year of multiple crises", and predicted 2009 would be just as difficult. In addition to the conflicts in Africa, including the situations in Darfur, Somalia and the DRC, Mr. Ban also addressed the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and his plans to make 2009 the year of climate change.

Social stock exchanges deliver returns in the form of "human good"

Clam Lorenz of Missionfish

On the occasion of the annual Day of South-South Cooperation, the UN Development Programme hosted several "social stock exchanges", an online marketplace for cooperation projects. Launched in 2003 by the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange as a place to allow social investors to find projects in need of funding, there are now several in places as diverse as South Africa, China, and India. In this story, Clem Lorenz of ebay's MissionFish and Ujwul Thakar of GiveIndia explain how their initiatives work.

Declaration on ending discrimination based on sexual orientation

Maxime Verhagen

A declaration in the General Assembly calling on countries to decriminalize homosexuality and to end discrimination based on sexual orientation was supported by 66 countries this week. The declaration was sponsored by France, with broad support of countries from every region. Opponents of the declaration decried it as an effort to undermine the international framework of human rights by trying to normalize pedophilia and "other deplorable acts". The Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, Maxime Verhagen, and Sunil Pant, an openly gay Member of Parliament in Nepal, weigh in on the need for such a declaration.

Producer: Diane Bailey
Duration: 14'12"