General News

Women in rural Nepal are learning new skills which are not only allowing them to provide for their families, but are also changing attitudes.

The skills are helping the women in western Nepal to start their own micro enterprises, as part of a programme supported by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

As James Heer reports, the new businesses are helping women to gain economic independence and to reduce poverty in the South Asian country.

Duration:  2'46"

The diets of people living in developing countries are becoming more unhealthy leading to an increase in non-communicable diseases or NCDs.

That’s according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Sedentary lifestyles, inactivity and the availability of junk food are all contributing to a growth of NCDs, like obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Anna Lartey is the Director of FAO’s Nutrition Division.

A genocide can be avoided in the Central African Republic with the intervention of the United Nations, according to an international body investigating human rights abuses in the country.

Fighting between mainly Muslim and Christian communities in CAR has fuelled a conflict which began at the end of 2012.

Thousands of people have died and over two million are in need of humanitarian aid as a result of the crisis.

The authorities in Cambodia are becoming increasingly concerned about the possible effects of climate change on the agriculture sector.

Different weather patterns, especially when it comes to rain, could have a significant impact on the South-East Asian country’s main crop, rice.

Cambodia has recently unveiled its Climate Change Strategic Plan which outlines how the country intends to respond to changing climatic conditions.

Patrick Maigua asked Say Sam Al, the Minister for Environment, how the weather could impact the country’s development agenda.

There is a lack of awareness among the people of South Sudan regarding the dangers of consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, an assistant professor of Pathology at the University of Juba warned.

The World Health Organization recently published a global status report on alcohol and health 2014 to assist countries in their efforts to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and its health and social consequences.

There were no statistics available for South Sudan in the reports’ individual profiles.

Progress on controlling non-communicable diseases or NCDs has been described as “insufficient and uneven” in a report launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday

NCDs include illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease.

The Non-Communicable Diseases Country Profiles 2014 report provides an overview of the current situation in 194 nations.

Daniel Dickinson asked Leanne Riley an expert at WHO whether the report contained mainly good or bad news.

Duration: 3’24”

Landmines and other explosive remnants of war that were left behind by the Khmer Rouge regime 30 years ago remain a grave danger to the civilian population in Cambodia.

Since the end of the regime over 60,000 Cambodians have been killed or maimed by landmines.

The government with the support of international donors has embarked on an aggressive landmine clearance campaign.

However, diminishing funds are threatening to slow down the demining programmes.

Patrick Maigua has this report.

Duration: 4'12"

An estimated 94,000 newborn deaths from malaria were averted in the three years leading up to 2012 following more intensive preventative treatment, according to a new report.

The Roll Back Malaria Partnership, which was created by four UN agencies, says that interventions during pregnancy and the use of insecticide treated nets have improved the survival rates for both women and their children.

Refugees who have fled fighting in Syria and the communities that are hosting them in Lebanon urgently need “additional assistance”, according to the top UN envoy to the country.

The number of refugees fleeing from Syria into neighbouring Lebanon surpassed one million in April stretching local resources to what that UN has described as a “breaking point.”

Derek Plumbly is the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon.

May Yaacoub began by asking him how Lebanon is coping with the continuing influx of refugees.

Duration: 2’40”

The food security situation in Somalia is expected to deteriorate over next 6 months, according to the UN humanitarian office, OCHA.

The agency says the availability of food will decline due to a combination of late and erratic seasonal rains, rising food prices and ongoing insecurity.

Currently, 2.9 million people are food insecure and 50,000 children under the age of five who are at risk of acute malnutrition require treatment.