Prime Minister of Bhutan Jigme Thinley said today that due to the growing frequency of natural and man made calamities, the world is now “more amenable” to the concept of Gross National Happiness, an indicator that measures quality of life as opposed to economic activity to determine a nation’s well-being. UNTV
The Human Rights Committee is wrapping up its 104th session after considering civil and political rights in Yemen, Turkmenistan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Cape Verde and recommending, among other things, that the amnesty law that paved the way for former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave office be repealed. UNTV
Head of UN humanitarian operations (OCHA) John Ging provides an update on his recent visit to the Sahel where he says the humanitarian situation across the Sahel region continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate and on the tens of thousands of refugees who have fled northern Mali due to fighting between the Tuareg rebels and the [...]
UN special representative for Afghanistan Ján Kubiš said today that the new mandate of the mission (UNAMA) recognises that Afghanistan is assuming more sovereignty and ownership of all processes happening in the country and that there are “changing realities in the country.” UNAMA
The Security Council today expressed deep alarm over military clashes in the region bordering Sudan and South Sudan, which threaten to precipitate a resumption of conflict between the two countries, worsen the humanitarian situation and lead to further civilian casualties. UNTV
PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi Tuesday told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People that the two-state solution is being systematically and deliberately destroyed by Israeli policies and measures and that without an intervention to end Israel’s practices by the end of the year, the prospects for peace [...]
At a press conference today called “Civil Society Coalitions React to Governments’ Progress at Rio+20 Negotiations” executive director Sascha Gabizon from Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) expressed outrage that G-77 leaders “deleted” gender equality and women’s rights land tenure saying women are the majority of the poor “they own less than one [...]
Top UN peacekeeping officials told the told the Security Council today that building lasting peace required helping national institutions reach a point where they could maintain a sufficient level of stability and security and that careful preparations were needed to ensure their survival after mission drawdown. The Council also issued a Presidential Statement on the [...]
Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Luc Gnacadja warned today that 75 billion tons of fertile soil are lost forever every year, with “23 hectares of land transformed into man-made desert every minute.” UNTV / UNICEF
UNDP Administrator Helen Clark wrapped up a two-day tour of Haiti to assess the progress of the reconstruction since the January 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 people and destroyed much of the impoverished nation. MINUSTAH