A new generation of sustainable bamboo houses that take just 20 days to build could be part of the answer to making cities more sustainable and resilient.
That’s the view of Oliver Frith, a director of the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan, which showcased one of its new houses at the recent Habitat III conference in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito.
There has been a “serious increase” in the numbers of civilians fleeing the Mosul area in Iraq according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as government forces continue their advance.
UNHCR is opening new camps to cope with the influx of internally displaced people, as the coalition battles ISIL terrorists, who have occupied Iraq’s second city for more than two years.
Matthew Wells reports.
Duration: 2'15"
A deadly ambush this weekend on UN peacekeepers in Mali has highlighted the dangerous landscape in which many blue helmets operate.
The UN Security Council has been looking at ways to strengthen support to field missions so that they can better respond to threats such as terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime.
Dianne Penn reports on Monday’s meeting.
Duration: 2'41"
The trauma of war still lingers with Sri Lankans whether they have been affected directly or not, an activist from the country told a meeting at the UN.
The Indian Ocean island nation is recovering from a 25 year old conflict that pitted government forces against the so-called Tamil Tigers ended in 2009
The society is also deeply divided along religious, ethnic and linguistic lines.
The “emotional bond” that mothers have with their children could help to counter violent forms of extremism and terrorist acts.
That’s according to Edit Schlaffer, the Founder of Women without Borders, who spoke at a conference hosted by the UN cultural agency, UNESCO focusing on the radicalisation of young people by extremist groups,.
Young children have been increasingly targetted for recruitment by groups such as ISIL in Syria.
The Cholera outbreak in Haiti could have been predicted using new technology that harnesses decades of satellite data, according to a scientific prize winner, speaking at UN Headquarters.
Rita Colwell is an academic from the United States who has developed a model that can see outbreaks coming up to six months in advance.
She was one of the recipients of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water, presented at UN Headquarters this week.
The official entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change which commits 193 countries to limit global temperature rises to below 2 degrees, is an “extraordinary milestone."
That’s according to Paul Hanle, president of Climate Central, one of the civil society groups taking part in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday, to mark the day.
Children who have been affected by the hurricane which struck Haiti one month ago face a desperate situation which is likely to persist for the “foreseeable future”, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Hurricane Matthew struck the Caribbean island on October 4th, killing some 400 people according to government estimates and leaving more than 1.4 million in need of humanitarian aid.
Workers in the global garment industry are often deprived of “freedom of association”, which is key to boosting competitiveness in the industry.
That’s according to Dan Rees, head of the Better Work Programme, an initiative set up by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank.
“Business as usual is not an option” for farmers across the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Changes to the climate are directly affecting the productivity and livelihoods of farmers, especially in developing countries and the UN food agency is warning that up to 120 million could fall into poverty if they fail to adapt to the new conditions.
