General News

Gains made in the protection of human rights in Afghanistan “will be sustained” according to the outgoing director of rights issues at the UN mission in the country, UNAMA.

Georgette Gagnon is leaving the country after five years.

She’s warning that, despite those gains, security, political and economic challenges continue to pose a threat to human rights.

Setyo Budi reports from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Duration: 2’32”

The deadly Ebola outbreak which killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa is not yet over, according to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Ebola.

The number of cases has dropped dramatically but the three most affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are now feeling the economic fall-out.

Dr David Nabarro recently attended a ceremony to mark a contribution of US$ 1 million by Russia to a UN Development Programme multi-partner trust fund to fight Ebola.

Child abuse and violence is costing countries in East Asia and the Pacific around US$209 billion a year, according to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

It’s the first ever costing of child maltreatment in the region.

UNICEF says it will use the findings to take action with governments to reduce the abuse of young people.

Daniel Dickinson asked Andrew Brown, who’s based in Bangkok, Thailand for UNICEF where the maltreatment is taking place.

Farmers in Laos can now work their fields during both wet and dry season thanks to a new integrated irrigation project.

The project which is supported by the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) fund helps farmers to boost production and improve their livelihoods.

Cathrine Hasselberg spoke with Mme. Kaarina Immonen, the UNDP Resident Representative in Laos, and began by asking about the benefits of the project.

Duration: 3’09”

There have been tremendous challenges faced by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in its 65 years of existence.

That’s according to Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA who came to New York to attend a special event marking the agency’s 65^th anniversary on Tuesday.

UNRWA, which was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949, is mandated to provide assistance and protection to about 5 million Palestinian refugees.

Young people can contribute enormously to peace and development in African countries.

That’s what was said on Monday at the UN General Assembly’s High-level event on the Demographic Dividend and Youth Employment.

Senior government officials, including ministers attended the meeting in New York.

Derrick Mbatha reports.

Duration: 2'30"

The Asia and the Pacific region has achieved the largest reduction in the number of undernourished people in the world, according to research released by the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.

The UN agency estimates that in the past 25 years, people in most of the countries that it monitored get enough to eat.

The positive news for the region comes in the “State of Food Insecurity in the World” published by FAO.

Hiroyuki Konuma, is the Regional Representative for the FAO in Bangkok, Thailand.

Developing countries which are also landlocked are looking at ways of boosting their economic and trade competitiveness.

The countries known as LLDCs are meeting in Livingstone, Zambia this week to discuss the Vienna Programme of Action.

This international agreement sets out a roadmap for the development of the LLDCs.

Daniel Dickinson has been speaking to Mwaba Kasese-Bota, the Ambassador of Zambia to the UN and chair of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries.

He began by asking her about the common challenges the countries face.

The international community is “struggling for responses” to the global migrant workers crisis and needs to find a solution quickly, the UN’s labour agency chief said Monday.

Guy Ryder, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), made his comments as the agency’s annual meeting gets under way in Geneva.

He explained to Daniel Johnson that it was just one of the major issues that need to be resolved as member states focus on jobs and growth.

Duration: 4’12”