General News

Barges carrying food have reached Malakal in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state bringing aid to thousands of people displaced by conflict.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP), which delivered the supplies, says access to people in need has improved with the coming of the dry season.

The UN estimates that around 2.5 million people require food assistance across the country.

Reech Malual asked WFP’s George Forminyen about the latest delivery of aid.

Duration: 2’02”

A social media campaign by the UN is honouring women human rights defenders worldwide and raising awareness about the dangers of the job.

Under the hashtag #reflect2protect, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) is releasing a series of 12 short video profiles of these defenders.

2015 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that reaffirmed the fundamental human rights for all women.

Running a small or medium sized business in South Sudan is set to become more straightforward following support from the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank.

Working with the Bank of South Sudan, the IFC is promoting the introduction of leasing in the African country.

Leasing enables companies which do not have access to large loans to rent and then ultimately buy equipment needed to run a business.

From an aerial view the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan looks like a prison camp, totally dehumanized.

That’s according to documentary photographer Nina Berman.

Ms Berman, along with four photographers from a Dutch photography collective, documented daily life in the camp which is run by the United Nations.

It’s now the 2nd largest refugee camp in the world accommodating almost 100,000 people who have fled the ongoing conflict in Syria.

Lessons of the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany at Auschwitz-Birkenau camp during the Second World War were revisited at the United Nations on Wednesday.

The camp was made up of a network of concentration and extermination facilities in areas of Poland annexed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Over one million people perished there.

Derrick Mbatha reports.

Duration: 3'48"

The battle against an ongoing plague of locusts in Madagascar risks being lost as funds run out for operations to control them, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.

The locust is the most serious threat to farmers on the Indian Ocean island.

If crops are damaged up to 13 million people may lose their livelihood or not have enough food to eat.

Sandra Ferrari asked Annie Monard, who leads FAO’s emergency response to the locust plague, about the current situation.

Duration: 3’17”

Finding people in Guinea who have come in contact with a family member or friend infected with Ebola is not only difficult but it’s dangerous, according to the UN.

The intervention, called “contact tracing” is being used to effectively control the Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks in the West African region.

In September last year, eight members of an outreach team died after being attacked with stones and clubs by villagers from Wome in the southeast of country.

Jocelyne Sambira has the story.

Duration: 2'54"

More than 6,000 people from across Afghanistan have been describing how they think peace can be brought to the troubled country.

The Afghan People’s Dialogue on Peace which is supported by the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, began three years ago.

Its recommendations will be presented to the government.

Afghanistan continues to face serious security challenges posed by Taliban extremists.

Setyo Budi reports from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Duration: 2’48”

Children returning to school in Guinea after a three month closure due to Ebola are learning how to stay safe from the deadly disease, the UN Children’s Fund says.

A protocol has been developed by UNICEF and its partners with safety measures such as daily temperature screening, encouraging handwashing and minimizing physical contact.

Schools officially reopened on 19 January in the West African nation after missing the normal start of the academic year which is in October.

The global economic outlook looks worse than it did in the last quarter of 2014, despite the sharp fall in oil prices across the world.

That’s according to a report launched by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Beijing, China on Tuesday.

The IMF says that global growth is forecast to increase moderately from 3.3 per cent in 2014 to 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 3.7 per cent in 2016.