UN INSIDER – Page 143 – IDN-InDepthNews

UN INSIDER2016-03-112023-07-10

Food Situation Worsening in North Korea and Southern Africa

ROME (IDN | INPS) – A new UN report warns that with a reduced harvest in 2015, the food security situation in North Korea is likely to deteriorate compared to the situation of previous years, when “most households were already estimated to have borderline or poor food consumption rates”.

The report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on March 9, explains that poor rains coupled with reduced supplies of irrigation water, sharply decreased the 2015 early and main season food crops production.

Heavy rains from late July to early August 2015 reportedly caused some localized floods across North Hamgyong and Rason provinces, located in the northeastern part of the country, causing severe damage to housing and infrastructure, including schools, roads and bridges.

UN INSIDER2016-03-092023-07-10

UNIDO and CTBTO Express Support for 2030 Gender Equality Target

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) are determined to undertake necessary steps to make “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”, the theme of the International Women’s Day 2016, a reality.

Director General, LI Yong, said: “UNIDO recognizes that investing in the economic empowerment of women sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive industrial development.”

He added: “Women make an enormous economic contribution, whether in businesses, as entrepreneurs, as employers or as employees, or by doing care work at home. But they also remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation.”

UN INSIDER2016-03-092023-07-10

UN Vows to End Child Marriage by 2030

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations has launched a new multi-country initiative to speed up action to end child marriage by 2030 and protect the rights of millions of the most vulnerable girls around the world.

Announcing the joint initiative on the International Women’s Day March 8, the UN Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said the Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage will involve families, communities, governments and young people.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage is being supported by Canada, the European Union, Italy, Netherlands, and the UK.

UN INSIDER2016-03-072023-07-10

Plea for a UN Environmental Disaster Rapid Reaction Capability

COLOMBO (IDN) – The worst cyclone on record to lash the idyllic islands of Fiji, Winston, left behind an unprecedented trail of devastation and death. A decade of hard won economic achievements lay scattered in a jumble of twisted steel and shredded plantations. Lives that had at last become more bearable are back to struggling to exist.

Science suggests that deaths and destruction experienced by Fiji, are likely to be repeated elsewhere, more frequently, as global warming and climate change begin to affect the planet’s environment, in particular the oceans. The effects of Katrina and Sandy on the U.S. and Haiyan on the Philippines are still vivid in our minds.

UN INSIDER2016-03-062023-07-10

Ban Ki-moon Declares Sahel Region a ‘Top Priority’ of the UN

NEW YORK (IDN) – As Ban Ki-moon inches closer to ending his second five-year term as the UN Secretary-General, he is setting his sights on the Saharan Sahel spanning across eight African countries – Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad – assuring that improving the situation in the region is a “top priority” for the United Nations.

The region is faced with a “triple peril” of environmental degradation, poverty and insecurity, Ban said during a visit to Mauritania on March 4. The UN estimates that one in seven Sahelians lack food, one in five children will die before their fifth birthday, and four and a half million people have been forced to flee their homes. Communities have also been struggling against harsh environmental conditions and worsening climatic shocks. Besides, many of the countries in the Sahel region are dealing with a volatile security situation.

UN INSIDER2016-03-052023-07-10

Youth Campaign for a Legally Binding Global Ban on Nuclear Tests

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – An international group of students and young graduates has decided to campaign for North Korea and seven other hold-out states ratifying a global treaty banning all nuclear tests so that it becomes legally binding for all states.

Since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was opened for signature twenty years ago, 183 countries have signed it, of which 164 have also ratified it, including three of the nuclear weapon States: France, Russia and the United Kingdom.

But 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify before the CTBT can enter into force. Of these, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the USA are still missing. In fact, India, North Korea and Pakistan have yet to sign the CTBT.

UN INSIDER2016-03-032023-07-10

New Sanctions on North Korea May Prove Counterproductive

UNITED NATIONS (IDN | INPS) – After nearly two months of closed-door negotiations, the 15 member UN Security Council (UNSC) decided to impose new sanctions on North Korea penalizing Pyongyang for its fourth nuclear test conducted on January 6.

The resolution, adopted unanimously by the UNSC, imposed some of the toughest sanctions on North Korea calling on all UN member states to inspect cargo destined for – and coming from – Pyongyang, in all airport and sea ports.

The sanctions include restrictions on the export of coal, iron, iron ore or other minerals, while prohibiting the supply of aviation fuel, including rocket fuel. The resolution also mandates member states to expel North Korean diplomats involved in Illicit trafficking.

UN INSIDER2016-03-022023-07-10

UN Commission Tasked with Health Employment & Economic Growth

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) – The global economy is projected to create around 40 million new health sector jobs by 2030, mostly in middle- and high-income countries. But there is a projected shortage of 18 million health workers to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in low- and lower-middle income countries.

In view of this, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on March 2 the appointment of a High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth. The Commission will hold its first meeting on March 23, 2016, and will deliver its final report in the margin of the 71st regular session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016.

UN INSIDER2016-03-022023-07-10

The Beginning of the End for Nuclear Weapons?

TOKYO (IDN | INPS) – Last year’s NPT Review Conference closed without bridging the chasm between the nuclear-weapon and non-nuclear-weapon states. It was deeply regrettable that no consensus was reached at this significant juncture marking the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Hope still remains, however, thanks to a number of important developments. These include: the growing number of countries endorsing the Humanitarian Pledge, a commitment to work together for the resolution of the nuclear arms issue; the adoption in December 2015 by the UN General Assembly of several ambitious resolutions calling for a breakthrough; and rising calls from civil society for the prohibition and abolition of nuclear weapons. READ IN JAPANESE

UN INSIDER2016-03-012023-07-10

The Fates of Vultures and Elephants Go Hand in Hand

By Dr Bradnee Chambers

BONN (IDN) – World Wildlife Day, being celebrated on March 3 for the third time – this year under the slogan ‘The Future of Wildlife is in our hands’ – is focusing on the plight of African and Asian elephants, which are being slaughtered in their thousands for their tusks to supply the ivory trade. But other species, such as vultures, are also in serious decline because of human actions.

Organized crime rings are often the masterminds behind the illegal trade in ivory. That elephants might go extinct does not cause them any pangs of conscience. And woe betide anyone who stands in their way; the poachers are often better equipped than the park wardens opposing them.