General News

The “epicentre of violence” in on-going clashes between Israelis and Palestinians has moved from Jerusalem, to the West Bank city of Hebron.

That’s according to Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, who briefed the Security Council on Thursday.

He said that due to developments on the ground across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, any return to peace negotiations were a “challenging prospect.”

The last phase of a measles vaccination campaign is underway in Sudan following a deadly outbreak of the virus nearly a year ago.

More than 3,400 children have been infected with measles in Sudan since December 2014. More than 70 of those children have died.

In response, the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) has launched a massive vaccination campaign, aiming to reach all 16.5 million children in Sudan between 6 months and 15 years old.

Killing Burundi’s children is tantamount to “killing the future” of the central African country, a senior UN representative on genocide issues has warned.

Adama Dieng, the UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, told the Security Council that the potential for atrocity crimes and genocide, similar to Rwanda in 1994, was growing.

Women in Afghanistan want peace “but not at any cost” according to a UN human rights and gender expert in the country.

The central Asian nation continues to recover from decades of instability.

The most recent threat has been the outlawed Taliban movement with which the government is trying to forge a peace deal.

Federica Seymandi is a human rights officer for the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA.

Daniel Dickinson asked her what changes Afghan women would like to see in their country.

Biodegradable plastics are thought by most to be good for the environment, but the opposite may be true.

That’s the startling conclusion of a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report entitled: “Biodegradable Plastics and Marine Litter: Misconceptions, Concerns and Impacts on Marine Environments.”

UNEP estimates that as much as 20 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the world’s seas and oceans every year, and people disposing of plastic labelled biodegradable, are simply adding to the problem, according to the report.

Finding the money to pay for initiatives to slow down climate change is seen by many as the greatest challenge facing the international community, as it prepares for historic talks in France in December.

It’s hoped that a global deal will be agreed at the COP21 talks in Paris, which will limit temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius.

Achim Steiner is the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

He’s positive that an agreement can be reached but says hurdles remain.

Fears being expressed over a possible “fifth column” of terrorists entering the United States along with Syrian refugees are understandable, but unfounded.

That’s according to the New York-based spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

So far, 31 state governors out of a total of 50 say they want to stop Syrians from being resettled in their states, claiming that terrorists will be hiding among them.

Work is underway to try and identify reasons for child stunting beyond poor nutrition, and the answer may be found with nuclear technology according to the UN.

In 2014, one in every four children under five years of age was stunted, a total of 159 million globally.

Nutrition interventions alone are not fixing the problem.

Now, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is using nuclear techniques as part of broader research into stunting.

Steve Thachet reports from the agency’s headquarters in Vienna.

The issue of road safety is being “completely ignored” in some countries according to a senior UN envoy.

Some 1.25 million people are killed in car crashes around the world each year.

Around 90 per cent of those fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries.

In 2011, the international community set out to prevent some five million traffic deaths.

Experts are gathering to discuss progress in Brazil from Wednesday.

“We have the tools” to do better in the fight against terrorism without compromising human rights.

That was the message to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, from the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Mr Ban was briefing the Council debate on Security, Development and the Root Causes of Conflict.

Matthew Wells reports.

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