The opportunities for businesses and consumers in the developing world to benefit from e-commerce are growing according to the UN’s trade and development agency, UNCTAD.
The agency’s latest Information Economy Report, released on Tuesday, focuses on the potential opportunities and risks of on-line buying, selling and trading.
Sub-Saharan Africa is one area where growth is being predicted.
Daniel Dickinson reports.
Duration: 2'37"
Rural and urban communities in India are being told that violence against women is unacceptable.
Anuradha Kapoor, Director of Swayam, a women’s rights organization based in Kolkata says that positive change is underway but that women need to speak out more on the issue.
Ms Kapoor was recently at the UN in New York.
Ana Carmo started by asking her how Swayam is contributing to the empowerment of women in India.
Duration: 4’36”
Farmers in the Central African Republic (CAR) are in urgent need of seeds and tools for the upcoming April planting season, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The agency is warning that these resources are required in order to prevent further deterioration of the livelihoods of vulnerable populations.
Some 1.5 million people currently lack enough food due to ongoing fighting between rival militias.
The release of over 350 children who had been recruited as soldiers in South Sudan has been welcomed by the United Nations.
The children, most of whom are younger than 16 years old, had been forced to join a rebel group which had been operating in Jonglei state in the north of the country.
It’s thought that up to 3,000 children are still being held by the group, which calls itself the Cobra faction.
Sebit William asked John Budd from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF for details of the release.
A young Swedish student attending a UN conference on gender equality in New York says she thinks depression and eating disorders are an important part of the discussion on women’s rights.
Clara Helgesson believes it’s important to understand how mental illnesses affect girls' education and empowerment in general.
Joshua Mmali asked Ms. Helgesson about her experience as a young woman at the Commission on the Status of Women held at UN headquarters.
Duration: 3’19
Women who fish for a living are to benefit from new UN guidelines on sustainable fishing.
Worldwide, women play a key role in the small-scale fisheries and in some developing countries make up the majority of the work force.
The guidelines launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are aimed at promoting food security and poverty eradication.
Daniel Dickinson has been talking to Brave Rona Ndisale, Deputy Director in the Social Protection Division at FAO.
Duration: 3’05”
Small and medium-sized businesses in the Central Africa region are being held back because they are not able to access funds to grow; that’s according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Experts from around the region are meeting in Brazzavile, the capital of the Republic of the Congo on Monday to discuss how to change that situation.
They are looking at how to promote what’s known as financial inclusion.
Safe drinking water can be provided to all people by 2030 as envisaged in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that are being discussed by world leaders.
That’s the view of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, on World Water Day which is observed on 22 March each year.
The remarkable story of women transforming their lives by building a coffee company from scratch is the subject of a film by campaigning producer Lesley Chilcott.
Respected for her previous titles including “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Waiting For Superman”, Chilcott’s new film charts how women from a remote village in Costa Rica almost saw their project derailed by “South American machismo”… and not having a clue about coffee.
A resurgence of polio in Syria and an increase in waterborne diseases is signalling a deteriorating health situation in the country according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
More than 200,000 people have been killed and over one million have been injured since the crisis started in March 2011.
Before the conflict, WHO says Syria had very high vaccination coverage but today that rate has dropped.
