General News

There is no “automatic link” between work and human development, according to a new UN report on the topic, released Monday.

The 2015 Human Development Report highlights that although work is vital, it is the quality of that work that matters most.

The report pays particularly attention to the 1.5 billion people in developing countries working in jobs that offer few rights, with virtually no social protections.

Most of the Syrians who are fleeing the war-torn country are doing so because they fear sexual violence; that’s according to a senior UN humanitarian coordinator in the region.

The civil war in Syria has driven more than four million people to seek refuge in other countries.

The sexual violence affects both men and women as well as children.

Dr Shible Sahbani is the Humanitarian Coordinator of UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for Jordan and southern Syria.

At the UN climate change conference, delegates don’t just stand around charging their phones while drinking juice and listening to the latest beats: they have to pedal hard for them.

Since COP21 began last week, the public has been invited to explore and exchange ideas about climate change in an open space called Generations Climats.

“It’s time for compromise”: the words of the minister heading Kenya’s delegation at the COP21 climate change talks, as negotiations continue into the weekend.

Despite some progress at the summit in Paris, sticking points remain, and a new – and delegates hope – final text, is due to be presented on Saturday morning, local time.

Kenya’s minister for the environment, Judi Wakhungu, spoke to Cristina Silveiro, and explained some of the key differences that remain.

Duration: 3’14”

A UN global plan of action to prevent violent extremism is being drawn up that will amount to much more than “just talk.”

That’s according to the senior official coordinating the effort, Jehangir Khan, who is the director of both the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) and the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Centre.

His office is working with 38 different UN entities on a comprehensive plan for the Secretary-General, focused on terrorism prevention.

Climate change could have a “huge impact” on the United Arab Emirates, according to a senior negotiator from the Gulf state who is currently attending the COP21 climate talks in Paris.

The UAE, which is a major oil producer, has come to the talks with a series of plans, known as INDCs, which will help to reach the target of reducing global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius.

Cristina Silveiro has been talking to Thani-Al-Zayoudi, the Director of Energy and Climate Change at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, who played a major role in establishing the modern human rights system, were honoured at a UN ceremony on Thursday.

The event took place on the island that bears the President’s name, in New York’s East River, to coincide with Human Rights Day.

It brought together UN staff, members of the New York City administration, and ambassadors past and present.

Matthew Wells was there.

Duration: 3’00”

Human rights need to be “at the centre” of climate change policy, according to a senior UN envoy.

Climate change Special Envoy, Mary Robinson, who is also a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was speaking at the COP21 climate change conference in Paris.

Delegates are working towards a deal that will limit global temperature rises due to carbon emissions, to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

When the rights of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community are denied, “we all suffer”.

That’s according to Charles Radcliffe, of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), marking international Human Rights day on Thursday.

He was highlighting the financial and social cost of discriminating against LGBT people across the world.

Around 24 million people are being targeted by the UN for aid in the Sahel region of Africa.

On Wednesday, the UN launched a US$2 billion appeal to support humanitarian relief there.

Up to 600,000 children alone, could die from malnutrition in the coming year unless they receive life-saving treatment.

Toby Lanzer is the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel and is currently in Senegal.

Daniel Dickinson asked him what the needs are.

Duration: 3’01”