By Daniel Johnson of UN News GENEVA (IDN) – United Nations agencies are working round the clock to provide all the necessary aid to vulnerable sections of the society to combat the Coronavirus pandemic at diverse levels: ensuring meals to millions of children affected by the closure of schools, airlifting relief to Sudanese refugees in […]
New UN Report Warns of Adverse Impacts of Climate Change
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) – A new UN study has warned of accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere. Compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), parented by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the report documents impacts of weather and climate events on socio-economic development, human health, migration and […]
Hawaiian Culture and Native Plant: The ‘Inseparable Bond’
By UN News KAUAI, Hawaii (IDN) – The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and crate a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth […]
China Shows Novel Coronavirus Can Be ‘Stopped in Its Tracks’
By UN News BEIJING (IDN) – China’s experience in containing the spread of the new coronavirus could serve as a lesson for other countries now facing the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) has told UN News in an in-depth interview. While more than 153,00 cases of the respiratory illness […]
Veteran Mental Health Charity Leaves Thousands at Risk
By J W Jackie RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – A UK-based mental health charity that provides treatment to around 2,000 military veterans every year has announced that it will no longer be accepting new referrals. Combat Stress has helped veterans for more than 100 years but says that a lack of funding means that they […]
Amnesty Accuses Facebook, Google of Harming Human Rights
By J W Jackie RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – Facebook and Google play an important role in the lives of people across the globe – too big a role, according to Amnesty International. The pro-human rights organization recently published a report entitled, Surveillance Giants, which critiques the “insidious” surveillance exercised by these two digital giants.
The Civil Society Prepared for Intra-Afghan Peace
By Bernhard Schell DOHA | KABUL (IDN) — Women, youth as well as community and religious leaders in Afghanistan have been craving for peace and earnestly preparing for it long before the United States signed a landmark agreement with the Taliban on February 29. The deal sets the stage to end America’s longest war stretching […]
SDG 11 and the Crucible of Sustainable Development Success
Viewpoint by Jaffer Machano The writer is Global Programme Manager, Municipal Investment Finance, United Nations Capital Development Fund. This article first appeared 18 February in UN Chronicle, a digital magazine of the United Nations, produced by the Department of Global Communications. NEW YORK (IDN) — The lexicon of sustainable development includes an oft-used term: market […]
Experts Concerned About the State of Children
By Jaya Ramachadran GENEVA (IDN) —A landmark report focuses on the health and future of children and adolescents worldwide who are under immediate threat from ecological degradation, climate change and exploitative marketing practices that push heavily processed fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco at children. The report by a Commission of over 40 child […]
Mauritanian Anti-Slavery and Iranian Women Rights Activist Presented Awards
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – Biram Dah Abeid, a descendant of former slaves who has been called “the Nelson Mandela of Mauritania”, and Shaparak Shajarizadeh, a prominent Iranian women’s rights activist have been honoured for their courage to fight gross violations of human rights Abeid, founder of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the […]