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

Pandemic flu icon

The World Health Organization and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have stressed that the announcement this week raising the pandemic level of the Influenza A H1N1 virus to Phase 6, the level of a global pandemic, is about the geographic spread of the disease and not its severity. Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO, told journalists that nearly 30,000 cases have been reported in 74 countries. Much is known about the disease, including its tendency to strike the young. But WHO has a head start, thanks to investments over the last five years in pandemic preparedness.

Oceans and Climate Change

ocean storm

When the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas was adopted in 1982, little was known about what global warming would mean for the world's oceans. Experts are now warning that the oceans many organisms, which absorb carbon dioxide much like forests do, are being destroyed by warming of the waters and marine pollution. Hasjim Djalal, Senior Adviser to Indonesia's Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and David Freestone, Professor at George Washington University Law School, argue that the issue of oceans and ocean acidification should be put on the agenda of the climate change talks leading the December's climate change conference.

World Day against Child Labour

chid labourers

A new report from the International Labour Office warns that the global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children, especially girls, into child labour. Many families will have to make tough decisions about which children will go to school and which children must stay at home. Mongolia is one country trying to eliminate child labour in the face of tough economic times.

Producers: Diane Bailey/Charles Appel
Duration: 13'58