Some former child soldiers in Africa are taking their experiences and turning them into rap songs.
The five ex-child soldiers who met at a UNICEF supported transit centre in Bukavu, the Democratic Republic of Congo formed a hip hop group called ‘The Flavour Boyz".
The boys, along with others, were captured or freed by government forces from a myriad of different militia wreaking havoc across the region.
Julie Walker reports.
Duration: 3'45"
Twenty-five per cent of maternal deaths in Darfur are caused by excessive bleeding due to lack of adequate blood for transfusion.
The UN Country team in Darfur, with the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA), in the lead, launched a blood donation campaign programme for all of Darfur to address this pressing need.
Charles Appel reports:
Duration: 3'16"
The joint UN-Arab League envoy for Syria told the Security Council Monday that the country will complete the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from populated areas by April 10 according to US Ambassador Susan Rice.
Envoy Kofi Annan has also urged the Council to give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad those 10 days to fully comply with the cease-fire.
Mr. Annan has been pushing his six-point peace plan to both the Syrian government and the opposition which have been fighting for more than a year now.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is celebrating past and present inventors with the exhibition “Visionary Innovators” that highlights the work of Steve Jobs.
The show on view at the UN’s Geneva offices also covers the work of other inventors who have transformed the way the world lives including Thomas Edison, the father of the light bulb and the Wright Brothers, the brains behind the airplane.
Gross National Product, or the total value of a country’s economic activity for a year, has long been used to measure progress.
But is GNP the only indicator of national wealth?
Since the 1970s Bhutan has been experimenting with another yardstick that ties prosperity to well-being.
Charles Appel reports.
Duration: 2'58"
Last September, a young woman from Angola was crowned Miss Universe, beating out more than 80 other beauties from around the world.
Today, Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 2011, is lending her voice to the cause of combating desertification. Lopes has been named a Drylands Ambassador for the UN body which fights this problem, caused by drought and man-made factors.
Julie Walker has the story.
Duration: 2'26"
The first World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education, a comprehensive overview of the progress, as well as remaining gaps in gender equality at all educational levels, was launched this week in New York.
According to a senior UNESCO official, this Global Atlas allows an examination of gender equality from different perspectives and illustrates the extent to which gender disparities in education have changed since 1970.
Treatment for tuberculosis (“TB”) is cheap and readily available. But the disease remains “a hidden epidemic” in many countries, and it is children who are the most affected.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health workers often are unprepared in recognizing the signs and symptoms of TB in children and adolescents.
On World TB Day, observed 24 March, WHO is focusing on action to save the children from the disease, which affects the lungs and can be fatal.
Donn Bobb reports.
The UN Human Rights Council has condemned what it calls the sharply escalating gross violations of human rights by the Syrian authorities.
The majority of the Council’s members voted in favour of a resolution that Syria rejected as “biased.”
The Council pointed to arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters, refugees, human rights defenders and journalists as examples of the violations.
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 2'36"
The overthrow of the Mali government by mutinous members of the army on Wednesday has been strongly condemned by the United Nations.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the immediate restoration of constitutional rule in Mali.
The whereabouts of democratically elected President Amadou Toumani Touré is still unknown since the soldiers took power, detained government officials and imposed a curfew.
The coup d’état is likely to affect elections scheduled for 29 April.
Derrick Mbatha reports on the UN’s reaction to the coup.
