UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is visiting four countries in Asia.
At a training centre for peacekeepers in Indonesia, Mr. Ban gave a lecture on the challenges and opportunities the country and region face when it comes to peacekeeping.
Indonesia has participated in UN peacekeeping since 1956, when its troops were deployed to the Middle East.
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 2'45"
Eighteen African states, the UN, the private sector and other groups have agreed on a set of priority actions to better manage electronic waste – or ewaste - in Africa.
The forum – the first of its kind on the continent – was organized by the Basel Convention and the UN Environment Programme. Delegates say e-waste could represent an important growth sector for the African economy.
Bryan Coll reports from Nairobi.
Duration: 2'27"
Over the last few years, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have benefited from the rise in commodity prices.
But being wealthy in natural resources brings its own problems such as reducing competitiveness by raising exchange rates or a narrow tax base and increasing volatility.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is hosting a conference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa to discuss how these problems might be overcome.
Israel is being urged to stop using deadly attacks against Palestinian civilians.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is also calling for an end to the firing of projectiles from Gaza into Israel.
Ms. Pillay made the appeal in presenting her latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
Dianne Penn reports.
Twenty-two UN independent human rights experts want to make sure global goals are not only set at the Rio+20 conference in June, but also met.
The have sent an open letter to world Governments saying that real risk exists that commitments made in Rio will remain empty promises without effective monitoring and accountability.
Over the weekend the citizens of Timor-Leste took to the polls to vote for a new president. Results so far show incumbent Jose Ramos-Horta will not be among candidates for a run-off scheduled for April.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the Timorese people for showing their commitment to democracy and peace by participating in Saturday’s elections.
Among those casting ballots were inmates at the small prison at Gleno, roughly 50 miles from the capital, Dili.
Dianne Penn reports.
Duration: 2'04"
A top UN official has drawn attention to the current situation in Syria, one year after peaceful protests began.
Assistant Secretary-General Ed Luck, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect told UN TV that government can’t move forward with political reforms and rebuild social cohesion in the midst of its attacks on civilians.
Duration: 4’44”
The International Opium Convention, signed on 23 January 1912 at The Hague, was the first international drug control treaty and is the core of the international drug control system.
The adoption of the Convention was a turning point in multilateralism, based on the recognition of the transnational nature of the drug problem and the principle of shared responsibility.
The Joint UN and Arab League Special Envoy on Syria is sending a technical team to Damascus Sunday to continue talks and negotiations he began with the government there.
Special Envoy Kofi Annan, who was in Syria last week warns that the Syrian crisis may harm the entire region if not handled properly.
He is also encouraging the Security Council to speak with one voice as he tries to resolve the crisis in the country.
Julie Walker reports.
Duration: 2'24"
The people of the Southeast Asian nation of Timor Leste are voting in their third presidential election since the country gained its independence 10 years ago.
For the first time, the Timorese are managing the entire electoral process with the UN playing a supporting role.
Donn Bobb reports.
Duration: 2'17"
