General News

Women are playing a key role in Mali’s recovery from violent conflict, according to the UN’s head of humanitarian operations.

The government and rebels had been fighting for control of the West African country but a peace deal was signed in June this year.

Around 3.1 million people are still in need of relief assistance.

John Ging, the UN humanitarian office, OCHA's, Operations Director, has just returned from a visit to Mali.

Daniel Dickinson asked him what role women have been playing in the recovery.

Ongoing elections in Haiti are “important” as the Caribbean country has not had a functioning parliament since January.

That’s the assessment of Sandra Honoré, head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The electoral process began in August and preliminary results from the first round of presidential elections and parliamentary elections held last month were recently announced.

More than 160,000 Sri Lankan children born since the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami can thank a German lawyer for their safe start in life.

Kerstin Jeska-Thorwart was celebrating Christmas at her home on the island nation when the tsunami struck, killing more than 200,000 people in 14 countries.

Moved by the overwhelming loss and destruction, she mobilized more than 200 Rotary Clubs in Germany to contribute to the rebuilding of a maternity hospital.

Investment in research and development in the science sector has been boosted by private contributions as public funding has declined.

That’s according to the latest Science Report from the UN cultural and scientific organization, UNESCO.

The report, which suggests that science will be essential to reach many of the newly agreed Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, was released on World Science Day for Peace and Development, marked annually on 10 November.

Local public schools in Lebanon can accommodate only half of the 400,000 school-age Syrian refugee children in the country according to the UN Refugee Agency, (UNHCR).

More than four million people have fled Syria as a result of the four-year long civil war that has engulfed the country.

Many parents have arrived in Lebanon and are hoping that their children can receive a proper education.

Daniel Dickinson reports.

Duration: 2'15"

Start-up companies, artists, musicians and humanitarian workers have been examining how technological innovations can improve the lives of poor and marginalized children worldwide.

They have been meeting in Helsinki, Finland, at a two-day summit organized by the government and the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, which ended on Tuesday.

Dianne Penn has been talking to Gary Stahl, UNICEF representative in Brazil, where the agency is pioneering a mobile phone alert system to help keep millions of children in school.

Duration: 3'33"

Programmes that promote women’s entrepreneurship and educate adolescents about HIV and AIDS have changed the lives of more than 6,000 people in Zimbabwe.

That’s according to Stella S. Dongo who heads the Community Empowerment Project which was established as a means to buffer the blow of the 2008 global economic meltdown on citizens of the southern African country.

Ms Dongo was recently honoured by Rotary as a ‘Global Woman of Action.’ The international charity has had a longstanding relationship with the UN and hosts ‘Rotary Day at the UN’ each November.

Governments seeking to implement public policy initiatives and new globally agreed development goals have a “fundamental tool” that can help them: the Internet.

That’s according to Lenni Montiel, Assistant Secretary-General in the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, who’s making the case ahead of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which opens on Tuesday in Brazil.

A system to release children from armed groups in Colombia needs to be set up as soon as possible, according to the UN’s most senior envoy in the country.

It follows a commitment made by FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group, to stop the recruitment of children under the age of 18.

It’s thought that tens of thousands of children may have been drafted into rebel armies of criminal gangs in the South American nation.

Rocio Franco asked Fabrizio Hochschild , the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombia, to explain the significance of the FARC decision.

From a failed state to a country that is “coming together.” That is how UN Special Representative Nicholas Kay has described Somalia,

The envoy was addressing the Security Council which on Monday unanimously agreed to give more international support to the country as it gears up for elections next year while also confronting ongoing challenges such as terrorism.

Dianne Penn reports.

Duration: 3'05"