Global

Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Lassina Zerbo.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Nuclear tests: 20 years after its adoption, the test ban treaty is yet to get into force

31 August 2016
Peace and Security

Adopted 20 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has not yet got into effect, and will only come into force once ratified by eight specific countries that have not done it yet.

Participant of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities takes photos of participants attending a special event organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
UN Photo

Women and girls with disabilities are equal rights holders, not ‘helpless objects of pity’ – UN rights committee

30 August 2016
Human Rights

Noting that national policies often tend to treat women and girls with disabilities as helpless objects of pity or allow them to be treated in that manner, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has stressed that, instead, they need to be empowered and allowed to enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms, as any other person.

 

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), sits down for an interview with UN News Centre in New York. <em>Source: Video screen capture</em>

INTERVIEW: 'Climate change is really about the wellbeing of people'

17 August 2016
Climate and Environment

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Patricia Espinosa as the new Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in May this year. Ms. Espinosa recently spoke with UN News about her work and the challenges ahead.

Evidence of a forest fire in Mykland, Norway.
<a href=http://bit.ly/2boPul9>UNEP GRID Arendal/Peter Prokosch</a>

Threat of wildfires expected to increase as global temperatures rise – UN

12 August 2016
Climate and Environment

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) has warned that wildfires could become more frequent and more destructive as global temperatures rise and drought conditions plague many regions of the world.