General News

Every year, more than seven million girls in poor countries are giving birth before they turn 18, according to a new report by the UN Population Fund.

UNFPA’s flagship report, The State of the World Population 2013, puts a particular emphasis on girls 14 and younger who are at higher risk for maternal death and other health-related problems.

The agency is promoting a new approach to tackle the challenge of adolescent pregnancy, which doesn’t just dwell on behaviour change.

Jocelyne Sambira has more.

UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay says she is alarmed at the excessive interference of the Supreme Court in the presidential elections in the Maldives.

Ms. Pillay released a statement on Wednesday in which she described this as a “dangerous drift in the democratic process” in the island nation, which is located in the Indian Ocean.

To find out more about the High Commissioner’s concerns, UN Radio’s Patrick Maigua spoke to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson at the UN Human Rights office in Geneva.

A UN-mandated Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will hold its latest round of public hearings in Washington, DC, this Thursday and Friday.

They follow previous hearings held in London, Seoul and Tokyo, where North Koreans who have left their homeland detailed the heart-wrenching violations they suffered in the country’s detention centres or even as far back as the Korean War in the early 1950s.

For the twenty-second time, delegates at the United Nations General Assembly voted to end the United States embargo against Cuba.

On Tuesday, the Assembly debated a resolution which called for “the necessity to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo” on the Caribbean island country.

188 Member States voted in favour of the resolution, with only the US and Israel voting against it. Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands abstained.

Jocelyne Sambira reports.

Duration: 2'20"

Water, water, everywhere…except in those parts of the world where it’s a limited resource.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says no doubt the growing global population and the impact of climate change will affect access to water.

The IMF’s Lika Gueye recently spoke to Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a think tank that explores solutions to environmental problems.

Chinese pianist Lang Lang has been chosen as a UN Messenger of Peace to boost efforts to improve education for the world’s poorest children.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the announcement during a news conference at UN headquarters on Monday.

Recent UN data indicates 57 million primary school-aged children were still out of school.

Mr. Lang has also been Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the past 10 years, helping raise awareness regarding child’s right to quality health care and education.

Delegates from 150 countries gathered at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi on Monday to showcase and promote development solutions originating in the Global South, meaning Africa, Central and Latin America and most of Asia.

The Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo is a powerful platform for the sharing and exchange of replicable and innovative solutions that have a significant development impact on the ground.

The UN Human Rights High Commissioner was in New York recently for her annual briefing to the General Assembly’s Third Committee which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

Navi Pillay sat down with UN Radio’s Donn Bobb to discuss numerous global human rights concerns, including the ongoing unrest in Egypt following the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in July.

The people of Madagascar on Friday went out to cast their votes for a president after four years of a political crisis.

The crisis started in 2009 when President Andry Rajoelina, supported by the military, overthrew Marc Ravalomanana.

To find out more about the elections, UN Radio’s Cristina Silveiro called Fatma Samoura, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator based in the country’s capital, Antananarivo.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator has urged the Security Council to ensure that the parties to the conflict in Syria take their obligations under international humanitarian law seriously.

In a briefing to the Council on Friday, Valerie Amos spoke of difficulties in accessing people in need, obtaining visas for international aid workers and even recruiting drivers for convoys because they fear for their lives.

Dianne Penn reports.

Duration: 3'08"