Accusations that the UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, refused protection to civilians fleeing fighting in the country have been refuted by the mission.
On Saturday thousands of people sought refuge at the UN compound in Yambio, the capital city of Western Equatoria state, following clashes between government army units and local ethnic groups.
Attacks on a journalist and a well-known human rights defender in Burundi prompted the UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Tuesday to issue a call for restraint from all opposing groups.
News agency journalist Esdras Ndikumana was allegedly assaulted by state security forces on Monday, while rights activist Pierre Claver Mbonimpa was targeted in a separate attack.
The assaults come after the killing of General Adolphe Nshimirimana in a rocket attack at the weekend, OHCHR spokesperson Cécile Pouilly told Daniel Johnson.
Allowing women to breastfeed their infants at work helps women balance their professional and personal lives while increasing worker productivity, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Despite the benefits of allowing nursing in the workplace, the ILO says that, in practice, many women actually lose their jobs when they have children.
Susan Maybud, a senior gender specialist at the ILO, says society has a responsibility to support these women.
A global agreement has been reached at the United Nations which plots the way forward for sustainable development across the world.
All 193 countries that make up the UN have signed off on an agenda which it’s hoped will end poverty by 2030.
It includes Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote shared economic prosperity, social development and environmental protection.
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 4'06"
Despite the ongoing conflict in South Sudan, children there have issued a simple and clear message: we want to stay in school.
That’s according to Save the Children which is issuing a report this Tuesday on the plight of the country’s youngsters.
Small loans to women-owned cooperatives from the UN’s agricultural development fund, IFAD, are helping to close the gender gap in Morocco.
Women in remote mountain communities of the country are able to start their own small livestock and agribusinesses thanks to a microfinance project between IFAD and the Moroccan government.
Once relegated to domestic chores, these women are boosting household income and earning the respect of their husbands as equal partners.
James Heer has the story.
Duration: 3’16”
With a population of more than 340 million—and growing—West Africa is home to a third of the African continent. But the region is struggling to feed its people.
The World Bank believes governments can overcome this situation by creating an integrated regional trade market for food staples.
While rice, maize and cassava make up the bulk of the West African diet, the bank says crop yields are low and trade in these foods is mostly informal, usually at local markets.
A Ghanaian medical student in Russia says learning the language helped him to not only understand the people but to bear with predicaments ranging from the cold weather to racism.
Emmanuel Tetteh, who has been living in Volgograd for three years, is proud that he learned Russian well enough to write a 2,000-word essay in that language on the topic of water and sanitation for all.
Emmanuel was among 70 university students who won a UN-backed essay contest that promoted multilingualism.
Public-private partnership in building infrastructure in India has been both a blessing and a bother, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Through this partnership, huge public projects have been built over the past decade, such as highways and railway networks, with most of the actual work handled by private companies.
However, the IMF says because these firms typically look out for their bottom line, the partnership could sour if legal disputes arise.
A winner of a UN-backed multilingual essay competition wants more young people to be involved in the global organization’s work.
Sara Arafeh from Jordan was one of 70 university students from 42 countries who were at the UN this month to celebrate their achievement in winning the Many Languages, One World contest.
