A UN News Special UNITED NATIONS, 25 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Multilingual education is a critical key to razing inequalities and promoting human rights for all, UN officials said to mark International Mother Language Day. Commemorating the world’s languages—all 6,700 of them—since 1999, the 21 February aims at celebrating ways of showcasing the world’s linguistic […]
Universities Step Up Focus on SDGs in Post-Pandemic Revival
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY, 16 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Universities are sometimes seen as ivory towers aloft from the communities they are supposed to serve. But, in reviving a sector that was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, universities are now taking the lead in working with the communities to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable […]
African Leaders Launch Equality Drive at Landmark Conference
By UN News JUBA, South Sudan 14 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Women leaders called for swift, concerted action to advance gender rights at the first International Conference on Women’s Transformational Leadership, in Juba, South Sudan. Almost 400 women leaders from 15 African countries joined the UN-backed three-day conference, which opened on February 1, including former […]
Latin America & the Caribbean Lack Access to Healthy Diet
By Rodrigo Pérez SANTIAGO, Chile (IDN) — As many as 131.3 million in Latin America and the Caribbean have had to forego nutritious foods in 2020 because of the higher average daily cost of healthy diets in the region compared to those in other areas of the world. According to the new United Nations report […]
Of Love, Of Selfishness and a World
By Ramu Damodaran The author is the first Director of UN Academic Impact and a Senior Fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). NEW YORK (IDN) — It was in the final weeks of 2020, during the annually familiar, even at times festive, reaffirmation and celebration of faith, from Eid-e-Milad […]
African Leaders Unite in Pledge to End AIDS In Children
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) — Every five minutes, a child dies from AIDS-related causes. While three-quarters of adults (76 per cent) are on life-saving treatment, only half (52 per cent) of children living with HIV are receiving antiretrovirals. Despite the fact that only 4 per cent of the total number of people living with […]
In Focus: Gender Empowerment and the SDGs
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — The latest available Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 data shows that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. It will take perhaps another three centuries to close the global gender gap. Almost 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least […]
Thailand: ‘Seeds of Hope’ Aims to Ensure Community Food Security
By Pattama Vilailert KAEN MAKROOD, Thailand (IDN) — With the belief that without seeds, there is no hope of sustaining food security to accommodate the global population, the ‘Seeds of Hope’ (SOH) project in Thailand aims to mobilize the community to be self-reliant in their farming methods and protect themselves from predatory agri-business companies. The […]
As Tensions Rise, WHO Updates its Radiological & Nuclear Emergencies
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The rising nuclear threats over the Russian invasion of Ukraine—and the growing tensions in the Korean Peninsula triggered by a nuclear-armed North Korea—have prompted the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) to update its list of medicines that should be stockpiled for radiological and nuclear emergencies along with policy […]
UN Peacekeepers Victims of Continued Deadly Attacks
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The UN’s peacekeepers, described as one of the most hazardous jobs at the United Nations, routinely risk their lives either in ongoing military conflicts or in post-conflict war zones. According to figures released by the UN Staff Union on January 20, at least 32 UN peacekeeping personnel—28 military […]