General News

Although children are least responsible for climate change, they are the ones who will live with its consequences, the UN children’s fund (UNICEF) warns.

The agency says more than half a billion children live in areas that are prone to extreme flooding, while another 160 million are in areas with high drought severity.

Ahead of the start of the global climate change conference in Paris next week, UNICEF has released a report urging governments to take action to safeguard children’s lives.

The world is paying a high price for weather-related disasters, with nearly US$2 trillion in losses and more than 600,000 deaths in the past 20 years alone.

That’s the finding of a report launched Monday by the UN’s disaster risk office (UNISDR) and Belgium’s Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters.

The report shows how weather and climate are major drivers of disaster risk.

“Climate irresponsibility” could undermine economic growth, but there’s still time to act.

That’s the message ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP21, in Paris, from Professor Nick Stern, speaking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He argues that countries have to find ways of combining growth, with responsible policies that protect the environment, otherwise the chance to reverse climate change will be lost forever.

Women farmers on Zanzibar are going back to school to fight for their rights and boost family income.

Most of the farmers on the tropical island off the coast of mainland Tanzania are women, but traditionally they have had very little control over their lives, or finances.

But now a network of Farmer Field Schools, established by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, is creating new opportunities.

Joanne Levitan explains.

Duration: 4'08"

The Arab world has elected its first-ever woman Speaker of Parliament.

Dr Amal Al Qubaisi has been elected as Speaker of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Parliament, making her the first-ever woman Speaker of an Arab national parliament.

She has been a parliamentarian in the UAE since 2006, where she has been particularly active on youth and gender issues.

Veronica Reeves spoke with Zeina Hilal from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). She started by asking her what percentage of parliamentarians worldwide are women.

Duration: 1'57"

Protecting Iraq’s “mosaic” of minorities is “part of our humanity”.

That’s according to Adama Dieng, the UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, who has just returned from visiting those parts of Iraq where minorities are most at risk from violence, and even extinction.

He’s especially concerned that the methodical atrocities carried out by ISIL, or Daesh, against minorities such as the Yazidis in northern Iraq, are accounted for under international law, with the support of the Iraqi government.

A deadly hostage situation at a hotel in Mali which has reportedly led to the deaths of more than 25 people, is over, the UN has confirmed.

Armed terrorists had entered the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako, early on Friday morning, taking more than 150 hostages.

The hotel is popular with foreign business people, and airline crews.

The UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, supported the rescue operation providing security personnel and deploying medical resources.

Businesses in Iceland are being urged to “dig” into their operations to find ways to reduce harmful gas emissions.

More than one hundred institutions and companies have met in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, where they signed a Declaration on Climate Issues aimed at encouraging local environmental initiatives.

The declaration comes two weeks ahead of a United Nations conference in Paris, where it’s hoped a universal deal will be agreed to slow down climate change.

A range of restrictions put in place by governments against movements of refugees and migrants from Greece through the Western Balkans and further northwards will put already vulnerable people at risk according to the United Nations.

A joint statement has been released by two UN agencies and the International Organization for Migration saying that the new restrictions are becoming increasingly untenable on humanitarian, legal and safety grounds.

Nicki Chadwick has more.

Duration 2’02”

People around the world should never give up on striving for peace.

Those are the words of the director of the movie “The Day after Peace” which was shown as part of the first ever Geneva Peace Week held at the UN in the Swiss city.

Jeremy Gilley wrote and directed the documentary as part of his work towards realizing a globally observed day of ceasefire and non-violence.

Mamadou Alpha Diallo’s interview with Mr Gilley begins with a clip from the movie.

The filmmaker then gives his reaction to the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.