Global

Five-year-old Kiara makes a sale in a commuter train car in Buenos Aires, the capital. She has been working in the Subte, the city’s mass transit system, selling hairpins and other cheap goods, since she was three years old.
UNICEF/ Sebastian Rich

World ‘not yet on track’ to ensure children a better future: UN rights chief

14 January 2019
Human Rights

Some Member States have fallen short of offering a better future to children who continue to die prematurely or fall victim to poverty, trafficking and slavery, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday.

The three symbolic keys representing tripartism used at the inauguration ceremony of the ILO Building. (1926)
ILO

100 years on, UN labour agency mission focussed on growing inequality, says Director-General

9 January 2019
UN Affairs

As it celebrates its centenary year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) must help to tackle inequality in the world of work through the efforts of its 180-plus members, said Director-General Guy Ryder on Wednesday.

Rohingya refugees cross the border near Anzuman Para village, Palong Khali, Bangladesh. 9 October 2017.
© UNHCR/Roger Arnold

How to stay in shape and step up support for refugees

8 January 2019
Migrants and Refugees

At a time of year when many resolve to get fit, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the huge distances many are forced to cover to escape persecution, in search of a better life far from home.

President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, addresses the Climate Action Summit 2016 in Washington D.C. Photo: World Bank
Photo: World Bank

World Bank President steps down, Chief Executive assumes temporary role

7 January 2019
Economic Development

The President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, announced on Monday that he is stepping down, after more than six years in the role. Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank CEO, will assume the role of interim President, from 1 February.

The Saudi Arabian national, Rahaf Mohammed Al-qunun, has been communicating through Twitter from her hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand.
Rahaf Mohammed Al-qunun

Saudi woman seeking asylum in Thailand ‘now in a secure place’ says UNHCR

7 January 2019
Human Rights

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Monday that 18-year-old Saudi national Rahaf Mohammed Al-qunun, who had been stranded at Bangkok airport after fleeing her family in Kuwait, saying that she would be killed if forced to return, was “now in a secure place”.

Sofia, Bulgaria. NGO Animus Crises Center and Shelter for Victims of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence.
UNODC/Alessandro Scotti

Rising human trafficking takes on ‘horrific dimensions’: almost a third of victims are children

7 January 2019
Human Rights

A new UN report published on Monday shows that human trafficking is on the rise and taking on “horrific dimensions”, with sexual exploitation of victims the main driver. Children now account for 30 per cent of those being trafficked, and far more girls are detected than boys.

Emmanuel Elisha Ford, using paper printed in the Braille alphabet, speaks at the launch of the preparatory process of the High-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development. (2012)
UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

First-ever World Braille Day underscores importance of written language for human rights

4 January 2019
Human Rights

To raise awareness of the importance of Braille for approximately 1.3 billion people living with some form of distance or near vision impairment, on Friday the United Nations is observing the first official World Braille Day.

A group of young women graffiti artists painted orange murals in Guatemala City in support of UN Women and the UNiTE campaign to End Violence against Women, December 2018.
UN Women/Carlos Rivera

FROM THE FIELD: Heeding the call for women’s rights around the planet

3 January 2019
Women

Women and activists have been reflecting on the progress made across the world in 2018 in reducing discrimination and inequalities based on gender and what hopes they have for 2019.