The situation of people in the Middle East who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) was recently discussed for the first time by the UN Security Council during what is known as an Arria formula meeting.
This form of meeting is a relatively recent practice, which enables members of the 15-member council to exchange views more flexibly.
While there is enough water on the planet to meet global needs, there must be better management of this irreplaceable natural resource, according to the UN World Water Assessment Programme.
Engin Koncugal, a senior officer with the programme, says this is particularly true for realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which countries are set to adopt next month at a summit in New York.
Tens of thousands of people in South Sudan who had been stranded for months due to insecurity have finally been reached by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
Access problems and concerns for staff safety prevented humanitarian agencies from reaching people living in Wau Shilluk and other areas of rural Upper Nile State.
More than two million people have been uprooted from their homes since fighting broke out in December 2013.
The Eiffel Tower is set to become a huge generator of human energy in December thanks to an original project created by a French artist.
Yann Toma, who is accredited to the UN as an artist-observer, will be building a village under the Parisian monument where people will be invited to be active—by biking, dancing, and playing other sports.
All movement will be tracked and calculated until enough energy is generated to light the Eiffel Tower for 60 minutes.
Deep shock has been expressed by top UN officials regarding what has been described as “utter disrespect for human life” and “unspeakable violence” by all parties to the conflict in South Sudan.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday was briefed on the situation in the world’s youngest nation.
Despite some positive developments to reach a political agreement, it was reported that fighting is having increasingly severe consequences for the civilian population.
Stephanie Coutrix reports.
Duration: 2'46"
As thousands of refugees and migrants from conflict areas continue to stream into the Western Balkans from Greece, UN agencies are stressing the importance of treating these people humanely.
More than 10,000 people who’ve fled violence in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, have flooded into the region in the past days.
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 2'20"
The response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has been a concerted effort between the UN and civil society, ensuring that help is “reaching the right people, in the right areas, in a timely fashion.”
That's according to Rosalia Gitau from the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, who’s based in Guinea.
Though this sounds like an easy feat, Ms Gitau says she has seen the challenges of supply chains which are not fully reliable and poor infrastructure which can impede the delivery of services.
Although the World Bank defines extreme poverty as subsisting on less than US$1.25 a day, “poverty” as a concept is viewed differently across cultures, as researchers at Oxford University in the United Kingdom have found.
They are devising a multidimensional poverty index (MPI) which takes into account malnutrition, child nutrition and other indicators to determine whether someone can be defined as poor.
Economist Sabine Alkire is Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.
A call centre has been established in Iraq to provide a humanitarian lifeline for millions of people escaping ongoing fighting in the country.
By dialling a hotline number, displaced people can get timely information on locations of food distribution points, medical services, shelter options and other assistance.
Renewed conflict has forced more than three million Iraqis to flee their homes since January 2014.
Water scarcity in North Africa and the Near East could have severe consequences for food production— something the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says will intensify with climate change.
FAO is creating a database to collect and analyze satellite imagery that will help countries to better manage water resources so that farmers can produce “more crop per drop.”
To find out more, Dianne Penn spoke to Jippe Hoogeveen of FAO’s Land and Water Division.
Duration: 2'28"
