General News

Up to 90 per cent of the world's electronic or E-waste, worth nearly US$19 billion, is illegally traded or dumped each year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

In Asia, China, Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Viet Nam appear to bear the brunt of illegal E-waste shipments.

Organised crime syndicates are also becoming more involved in the illegal trade as regulators look at measures to stop it.

The separation between war and peace is not as clear cut as it used to be, according to the former Head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno served in this position for 8 years from 2000 to 2008.

He recently published a memoir about international peacekeeping in the 21st century called “The Fog of Peace”.

Tsigue Shiferaw met with Mr Guéhenno to discuss some of the major highlights and low points of his time serving as Under-Secretary-General.

A “male culture” still persists at the United Nations but the situation has changed tremendously over the last couple of years according to the outgoing UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

After 38 years of service with the Organization, Angela Kane is retiring at the end of May.

She has held many different positions over the decades—from an entry level staff to serving as Under-Secretary-General—and witnessed an evolving working environment for women.

But she says more could be done.

Peacekeepers working with the United Nations in Lebanon have paid a “heavy price” for securing peace in the country, according to a senior Irish soldier.

Forty-eight Irish peacekeepers have died there since 1978.

Commander Kevin McDonald is now on his fifth deployment to Lebanon.

He’s working for the UN mission in the country, UNIFIL.

Suzanne Badrelddine spoke with Mr McDonald on the International Day of United Nation Peacekeepers marked annually on 29 May.

The situation for thousands of people fleeing fighting in the Iraqi city of Ramadi has been described as desperate by UN humanitarian agencies.

On Friday the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it was deeply concerned by the challenges Iraqis are facing to reach safe areas.

The terrorist group known as ISIL is said to have taken over Ramadi in the Anbar governorate during the last weeks, creating fear and new waves of displacements.

Daniel Dickinson reports.

Duration: 2’24”

The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is about expressing “tremendous gratitude” to the men and women who serve the Organization in the world’s most insecure locations.

That’s according to the Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, who recently wrapped up a visit to the UN’s two newest operations in Mali and the Central African Republic.

The first ever Chinese UN peacekeeping combat force to an African country has deployed to South Sudan.

The African country gained its independence from Sudan in 2011 and has suffered periods of internal conflict ever since.

The Chinese battalion is part of a force of 12,500 peacekeeping troops authorized by the UN Security Council.

Ana Carmo has more.

Duration: 2'45"

The illicit tobacco trade poses major health, economic and security concerns and likely affects one in 10 cigarettes smoked globally, UN health experts say.

Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday 31 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) wants more countries to combat the trade by joining a new treaty banning the practice.

Developed by the WHO, the international agreement – known as a Protocol - requires 40 member states to sign it for it to become law.

So far the Protocol just has eight signatories.

The destruction of cultural heritage is a senseless form of violent extremism which seeks to destroy the past, the present and the future of human civilisation, according to the UN Deputy Secretary-General.

Jan Eliasson spoke on Thursday at UN’s headquarters in New York about the international community’s growing concern over the takeover of the city of Palmyra in Syria by the ISIL terrorist group.

Palmyra is a registered UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains monumental ruins dating back to the 1st and 2nd century.

The media has an important role to play in maintaining the international focus on the Middle East peace process, according to a senior UN official

The annual UN International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, aims to enhance dialogue and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

Participants at the seminar held in Astana in Kazakhstan looked at the challenges facing the media in covering the Israeli-Palestinian story.

Cristina Gallach the UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information was there.