General News

A bid to halt grave rights violations against children in Sudan moved a step closer on Wednesday with a pledge by one of the country’s main guerrilla groups prohibiting the use of child soldiers.

Signing the deal at the UN in Geneva, the chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Malik Agar, pledged his group’s continuing commitment to the protection of children in conflict.

Daniel Johnson reports.

Duration: 3'00"

Exposing young girls to science and maths might help end the “macho” culture in the tech industry, according to a senior executive with one of the world’s biggest computer companies.

Astrid Tuminez is a Regional Director for Microsoft in South-East Asia.

She believes it would be a shame if one half of humanity were excluded from a sector that overflows with opportunities and careers.

Space technology is contributing to the reconstruction of one of the world’s most iconic heritage sites: Timbuktu in northern Mali.

That’s according to an Information Management specialist with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Bertrand Frot.

He said UNDP is helping to rebuild the centuries-old city, which was destroyed by conflict over the past few years; the agency is using satellite imagery to monitor the reconstruction and its impact on people living there.

What’s been described as a “digital classroom in a box” could provide a much-needed boost to rural education across Africa.

That’s the hope of Alex Masika, Head of Business Development for a Kenyan technology company called BRCK, which unveiled its new product called the Kio Kit, at the recent ITU Telecom World conference, in Thailand.

The world has a “moral responsibility” to assist climate-vulnerable countries, the head of the Lebanese delegation at the recent UN climate conference in Marrakech has urged.

These 47 “frontline” nations that are disproportionately affected by the warming of the planet formed an international partnership in 2009 named the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVM).

From Syria to Iraq and Gaza, water services are being deliberately attacked or used as leverage in negotiations, members of the UN Security Council heard on Tuesday.

The Council examined the role of water as a driver of conflict and the need to protect this essential resource in the context of war.

Depriving people of access to water or using water as a method of war is a violation of international humanitarian law.

Jocelyne Sambira reports.

Duration: 2'43"

Young people are interested in democracy but don’t get involved enough because of rules preventing their participation, and that needs to change, the UN Special Envoy for Youth said on Tuesday.

Launching the Not Too Young To Run Campaign, UN Envoy for Youth Ahmad Alhendawi said that in Nigeria, the voting age is 18, but people cannot stand for office until they are 30.

The political will to implement an international climate agreement “absolutely” exists, according to the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy.

A two-week long meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, on climate change issues has been assessing progress towards realizing the Paris Agreement which aims to keep global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius.

Countries that do not have their own space programmes could soon be reaching for the stars through a partnership between the United Nations and an American space and aviation company.

The UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) plan to launch the first dedicated UN space mission within the next five years.

Changing the way science and mathematics are taught could help increase the number of women employed in the aerospace industry, according to a senior adviser with the United States space agency, NASA.

NASA Deputy Chief Scientist Gale Allen said studies show that traditional methods of teaching the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) do not take into consideration how women learn.

Ms Allen participated in a networking breakfast for women in the space industry worldwide that took place in Dubai on Monday.