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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.

 

In telephone conversations today with the Gabonese leaders vying for the country’s presidency, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced his concerns over early calls on the polls results, outside of any official process.

Following a meeting with Myanmar’s foreign minister, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the great challenges her country faces on its path of reform towards a harmonious, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and prosperous democracy.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has spoken out against the murder of two media workers – Mauricio Campos Rosa, a journalist and newspaper owner in Brazil, and Ali Ghani, a broadcast technician in Iraq.

The United Nations health agency has issued new guidelines for the treatment of three common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) – chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis – in response to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

The United Nations human rights office today spoke out against the killing of a government minister by a group of striking miners last Thursday, as well as deadly clashes between police and people opposed to a new mining law.

The United Nations food relief agency today warned that it urgently needs $48 million for its school meals assistance programme in West and Central Africa to avoid having more than 1.3 million children across West and Central Africa risk missing out its school meals as widening financial constraints force it to reduce its reach in the region.

The United Nations human rights office today welcomed last Friday’s decision by France’s highest administrative court to suspend the ban on “inappropriate” beachwear, which was adopted by a seaside town and had been widely interpreted as targeting the burkini and other forms of dress worn by Muslim women.

The United Nations senior official coordinating efforts towards the peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today reiterated a call for both sides to work towards a negotiated two-state solution which envisages the co-existence of Palestine and Israel as amicable neighbours.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today welcomed the establishment by US President Barack Obama of the largest nature reserve in the world, done through expanding a marine reserve in the state of Hawaii.