Despite its high rate of economic growth, the Asia-Pacific region is facing challenges in reducing poverty and economic inequalities, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
UNDP on Monday launched its Regional Report ‘Achieving Development Results in Asia and the Pacific”.
The report highlights some of the successful programmes implemented between 2013 and 2014.
The resilience of women and girls who face gender-based violence around the world is being celebrated in a concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York on Monday evening.
Ninety-eight classical musicians from about 40 different orchestras around the world are participating in the concert to raise funds and public awareness for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.
Pollution from fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas is taking a toll on people’s health worldwide, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The so-called “dirty energy” from these fuels kills millions of people each year.
Coal generally causes the most air pollution followed by diesel, while natural gas and gasoline cause the least.
IMF is proposing a tax on motor fuels and carbon for example, commensurate with the damage they cause.
Theatre groups in Nicaragua are using performance as a tool to fight gender violence in the Central American country.
A third to a half of Nicaraguan women has suffered violence from men at some time, the UN estimates.
The country also has the second highest incident of domestic violence in the region which has been described as “endemic”.
Grace Barrett has the story.
Duration: 3’29’’
Inland fishing in canals, lakes, rivers and bays plays a critical role in food security, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Yet not much is known about the actual production and kinds of species of fish that as being caught.
Around 60 million people throughout the world are dependent on inland fishing.
To shed more light on the issue, about 200 experts, indigenous peoples groups, nutritionists and other users of fresh water ecosystems from around the world are gathering in Rome this week.
The British actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson has unveiled a new initiative to galvanize support for women’s empowerment.
Launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday it’s part of the UN’s HeForShe gender equality campaign.
Known as the HeForShe IMPACT 10X10X10, the new initiative is a one year pilot to engage governments, corporations and universities as instruments of change to promote gender equality.
Derrick Mbatha reports.
Duration: 2'43"
Iceland has been demonstrating to the international community why it ranks number one in the world in closing the gender gap.
The Nordic country recently hosted a conference at the United Nations to highlight the influence society has in the way men treat women.
The Barbershop Conference comes as the UN brings the global community together in 2015 with the hope of advancing women’s rights around the world.
Stephanie Castro begins her report with the Icelandic Foreign Minister’s response to the question “what makes a man.”
Duration: 2’01”
Small farmers play a critical role in feeding people around the world and now the food they produce is going to feed people 250 kilometres above the earth’s surface.
Chef Stefano Polato produces special meals known as bonus foods that European astronauts like Italy’s Samantha Cristoferetti can take to outer space.
The first Italian female astronaut attended a food event organized in Turin, Italy just one month before her mission on the International Space Station.
Anti-Semitism is rearing its ugly head again particularly in Europe, the United Nations General Assembly was told on Thursday as it held its first ever meeting on the issue.
The gathering comes in the wake of reports of attacks against Jews.
The most recent at a kosher supermarket in Paris, France where four Jewish men were killed by a terrorist.
Derrick Mbatha reports.
Duration: 2'44"
Jordan says it needs more help from the international community to accommodate refugees fleeing from the conflict in Syria.
The country is currently hosting around 800,000 refugees, the vast majority from Syria.
The Za’atari Refugee Camp in the north of the country is now the second largest camp for displaced people in the world.
Basma Baghall spoke with Dina Kawar, the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN at the unveiling of photo exhibit about Za’atari.
She began by asking Ms Kawar, about the refugee situation.
Duration: 1’51”
