General News

An appeal is being made by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to support farmers in Nepal following the devastating earthquake which struck the country on Saturday.

The 7.8 magnitude tremor killed thousands and has left 3.5 million people in need of food assistance.

FAO says US$8 million is now needed to help farmers prepare for the upcoming rice sowing season set to start in mid-to-late May.

Somsak Pipoppinyo is the FAO Representative in Nepal and Bhutan.

Child rights experts issued a “wake-up call” to UN member states on Thursday after announcing that more than half of industrialised nations have inadequate strategies to teach youngsters about human rights at school.

The findings are revealed in a new UNICEF report carried out by Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland into 26 countries.

They’re all the more surprising as the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most ratified UN accord, as UNICEF’s Marie Wernham told Daniel Johnson.

Political will is needed to stop the illegal trafficking in wildlife in Africa according to the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.

African Heads of State are currently discussing the first ever continent-wide strategy to combat the US$23 billion a year trade in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville.

The trade includes elephant tusks and rhino horns as well as other flora and fauna.

Eleuterio Guevane asked UNDP’s Global Wildlife Enforcement Advisor, Paul Harrison, what progress he expected in Brazzaville

At a time when so many reporters are imprisoned, injured or killed, renowned journalist Christiane Amanpour is calling on the international community to say this cannot continue with impunity.

On Wednesday, the CNN chief international correspondent was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and Journalist Safety.

The rapid growth of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, has contributed to the massive scale of the earthquake disaster in the city, according to the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR.

The 7.8-magnitude tremor struck the city on Saturday and has reportedly killed more than 5,000 people.

The UN has launched an appeal for US$415m to provide emergency relief over the next three months.

Daniel Dickinson asked the UNISDR chief, Margareta Wahlström, why the damage was so extensive.

Somalia exported a record five million head of livestock to Gulf markets in 2014, the highest number in the past 20 years, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

A 9-year ban on live animal exports was lifted in 2004 and now the sector makes up 40 per cent of the country’s earnings or GDP.

Rudi Van Aaken is a senior officer with FAO’s office for Somalia based in Kenya.

Sandra Ferrari began by asking him why Somalia was originally banned from exporting livestock.

Duration: 3'03"

Women’s political participation is a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality in Asia and across the world, according to the UN body dedicated to women’s empowerment.

Female workers make up more than 70 per cent of the rural labour force in China, yet they only constitute 21 per cent of village committee members.

UN Women is working with the All-China Women’s Federation on how to support those workers to become part of local decision making processes.

Rwandan peacekeepers stationed in the Sudanese region of Darfur are “prepared for fighting” according to the Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwandan Defence Forces, RDF.

Rwanda has one of the largest contingents of peacekeepers in the UN mission, UNAMID.

They’re operating under what the UN has described as a “deteriorating security situation.”

UN peacekeepers are frequently targeted by militia in Darfur.

Women in Trinidad & Tobago are being encouraged to “run, win and lead” in local government politics.

The overall portion of women winning seats as councillors edged up from 29 to 31 per cent after the previous election in 2010.

Since 1996 the women’s movement has ensured that no local government corporation is devoid of women in its Council.

An organization in the twin island country is contributing to these developments, by focusing on helping women develop leadership skills to thrive in politics and promote the change within their communities.

Around 21,000 people have fled from Burundi into Rwanda following political protests, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has confirmed.

Civil unrest erupted on Sunday in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, after the ruling party elected sitting President Pierre Nkurunziza as its candidate for the third time.

The UN has warned that an attempt to seek a third term in the June presidential election is unconstitutional.