General News

A new digital platform has been launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to become a “one-stop shop” for information on family farming.

The Family Farming Knowledge Platform will contain information, data and legislation that can be shared by governments and help policy dialogue with organizations that represent those farmers.

FAO says the initiative is in recognition of the contributions to food security and poverty eradication by the sector that produces about 80 per cent of the world’s food.

Efforts to end the fighting in Yemen pressed ahead in Geneva on Tuesday with confirmation that the delayed opposition delegation has at last arrived in the Swiss city.

UN spokesperson Ahmad Fawzi said it was “a golden opportunity” to resolve the crisis, although there’s still some uncertainty about which members of the newly arrived delegation will take part in the ongoing consultations.

The number of girls in Afghanistan who are going to school has increased significantly since the former Taliban government was deposed in 2001, but obstacles remain, according to the United Nations.

The UN has been supporting the Afghan government in its efforts to have more children at school.

A law was passed in 2009 which criminalizes people who prohibit girls from accessing education.

Setyo Budi reports from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

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With 100 million children worldwide engaged in agricultural work, a UN agency is aiming to ensure they are working under safe conditions and that they are still going to school.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization , FAO, has released a handbook which proposes that anti-child labour measures are included in agricultural and rural development programmes.

Sandra Ferrari asked  Bernd Seiffert, FAO’s focal point for Child Labour Prevention in Agriculture, how the guide will benefit child workers.

Colossal human rights abuses are happening all over the world and “too many states” are backing out of their obligations to protect people, the UN’s top rights official said Monday.

At the start of a new Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said it was time to “reset” a general reluctance to name and shame governments responsible for terrible abuses.

The link between climate change and increased child trafficking and forced labour was in the spotlight at a special summit hosted by the 104th International Labour Conference in Geneva.

Heads of state underlined how the effects of changing weather patterns create dangerous conditions for children.

The International Labour Organization estimates that more than 168 million children are trapped in child labour worldwide.

Sixteen mobile emergency medical units trained by the World Health Organization (WHO) are providing quality health services to displaced people in eastern Ukraine, the UN health agency said on Friday.

Known as “MEPUs,” the teams use hand-held tablets—portable computers—to access an online patient health tool that contains urgent care protocols and procedures based on WHO guidelines.

People who have donated blood are being thanked for saving lives.

On World Blood Donor Day marked annually on 14 June, the World Health Organization (WHO) is encouraging more people to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters.”

Ivanna Mousa met with James Chitsva, WHO’s technical officer for blood and transfusion safety in South Sudan.

Eliminating leprosy and the stigma associated with the disease has been the mission of a Japanese philanthropist for many decades.

In 2001, Yôhei Sasakawa became the World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.

In this capacity, he has travelled to many countries, including recent visits to India and Indonesia to raise awareness about treatment options and fight myths that persist about people who’ve contracted the disease.

Mass abductions of children became increasingly prevalent in many of the 23 conflict situations around the world in 2014, according to the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict.

The report details how extreme violence rose dramatically throughout the year, accompanied by a large increase in the number of grave violations against children.