General News

Millions of individual lives and the social fabric of entire countries are at stake in the Middle East, according to the United Nations.

A meeting of the Security Council on Friday invited UN officials, government representatives and religious leaders to address the growing issue of attacks and abuses on ethnic and religious grounds in the Middle East.

UN investigators recently reported that ISIL terrorists, also known as Daesh, have committed horrific crimes and could be guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A “Chiefs of Defence Conference” is welcoming more than 100 military leaders at UN Headquarters for the first time in history, to discuss the changing nature of peacekeeping and ways to improve the UN’s work on the ground.

That’s according to Edmond Mulet, the Assistant Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations.

The United Nations does not have its own military force and depends on financial and human resource contributions from Member States to operate its missions.

Universities in Europe are being urged to promote more women to professorial level.

According to a university teachers union in Ireland, women occupy just 19 per cent of senior academic posts across the continent.

Joan Donegan is the Deputy General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

Daniel Dickinson asked her what challenges her union faces.

Duration: 3’56”

The incoming Israeli government has been urged by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process to quickly demonstrate its commitment to the two-state solution.

Robert Serry on Thursday was briefing the Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York on ways to end what he called “the longest ongoing occupation in modern history”.

Stephanie Coutrix reports.

Duration: 2’49"

The practice of eating locally grown food has changed the lives of 250,000 people in Senegal, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Many people in the West African country currently rely on expensive, imported food.

IFAD says that growing their own food has not only significantly helped the population through what is known as the “hungry season”, it has also provided jobs for thousands of people.

James Heer reports.

Duration: 3’34"

Men in Nepal are being encouraged by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to play their role in ending violence against women.

Four hundred local people recently gathered in Rajbiraj City in Saptari district to participate in a theatre performance focusing on how to prevent violence against girls in school.

It was part of the UN’s Orange campaign to promote gender equality.

Santosh Chhetri reports.

Duration: 2’45”

The year 2014 was the worst time to be a child living in a violent and insecure country, according to the United Nations.

The organization estimates that 230 million children currently live in conflict zones of which 15 million have been directly affected by violence.

The Security Council on Wednesday held a debate on children and armed conflict, which focused on ways to protect child victims of armed groups.

Daniel Dickinson reports.

Duration: 2'34"

Communities in South Sudan are being supported by the UN Mine Action Service to clear remnants of war and identify areas where children’s lives are threatened by unexploded ordnance.

Toby Lanzer, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, recently travelled to Magwi in Easter Equatoria State.

He said mines are a still a “terrible threat” in that area.

Denis Louro began by asking Mr Lanzer about the purpose of his visit.

Duration: 1’52”

A permanent memorial to honour the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade will help teach present and future generations about, what the UN has called, “one of the darkest chapters in human history”.

For over 400 years, more than 15 million men, women and children were taken from Africa as slaves.

Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent, won a competition to design the memorial which is open to the public at UN Headquarters in New York.

A South African teenager hopes to be a human rights lawyer one day, thanks to her participation in Model UN activities in her school.

Model UN is a programme that allows students to learn about diplomacy and the United Nations, and play roles of delegates in simulated United Nations meetings or debates.

Tlotlo Tlhankana is a 17 year old student doing matric at St. Patrick’s College, in Kimberly, in the Northern Cape region of South Africa.