culture

A delegation of 24 young women from 15 different countries is in Brazil to represent the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts organizations, at the UN’s conference on sustainable development, known as Rio+20.

They are advocating for gender equality and non-formal education to be part of the final outcome document for the conference.

Jane Harris, a 21-year-old from Australia is part of the Girl Guides delegation at Rio+20. She says young women are future and that is why it is important to have their voices heard.

The Australian Mission to the United Nations held a celebration for the permanent forum on indigenous issues, with a reception in the General Assembly lobby.

Some 2,000 indigenous people from around the world are in New York for the annual meeting which ends this week. This year's special theme is "The Doctrine of Discovery: Its Enduring Impact on Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Redress for Past Conquests.” The Australian event was an opportunity for the country to celebrate its Indigenous Aborigines.

Duration: 2'45"

Following more than two decades of negotiation, the United Nations in 2007 adopted a declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.

The international human rights instrument emphasizes the rights of indigenous people everywhere—from the Andes Mountains in South America to the sacred aboriginal lands in Australia—to maintain their own institutions, cultures and traditions.

The Khmer Krom, the indigenous peoples of the Mekong Delta who live in Viet Nam, are trying to preserve their heritage while advancing their culture. They are one of the many groups that came to the United Nations to participate in the 11th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The UN says there are more than 370 million indigenous people in about 90 countries worldwide. Intreabud Ricky Tran, a youth coordinator with the Khmer Krom Federation says his group is trying to make Viet Nam more sensitive to indigenous peoples issues.

Duration: 3'05"

Singer Rachelle Jeanty performs in a myriad of styles, from pop to jazz, and she has worked with artists such as Celine Dion and Johnny Halliday. But she says regardless of the type of music she sings, her Haitian heritage is always an influence.

A special concert will be held Tuesday night at the United Nations in support of a Permanent Memorial to the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

In conjunction with the performance, the UN has an ongoing free exhibition in the visitors lobby that showcases a retrospective on the scope and abolition of the slave trade.

The multimedia show includes photographs, illustrations, narratives, maps and historic newspapers that chronicle the 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade.

The year 2012 will see the dawning of a new era for Guatemala and the world.

That is the message officials from the country brought to the United Nations on Monday.

For Guatemalans, 21 December 2012 will mark the start of the B’aktun era.  This is based on the Mayan calendar, from the indigenous people who built a civilization across Central America.

For Guatemala the date will be a time of celebration and reflection.

Dianne Penn reports.

(Duration: 3'04)

In Afghanistan, the minimum age for marriage is 16, but UN Women estimates half of all girls marry before age 15.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has been working to end the practice, says child brides represent the most prevalent form of sexual abuse and exploitation of girls.

Just recently the in-laws of an Afghanistan child bride who was tortured were sentenced to ten years in jail for human rights violations.

Some 2,000 indigenous people from around the world are in New York for the annual meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which opened this week.

Roughly two thirds of the world's indigenous population lives in Asia and the Pacific and the region is well represented at the forum which runs through 18 May.

Dianne Penn reports.

Duration: 2'04"

Rehearsals took place at the General Assembly Hall  on Sunday for the first International Jazz Day to be celebrated on 30 April 2012.

The hall was abuzz with jazz. Stevie Wonder, Sheila E, Jimmy Heath, Angelique Kidjo, were among the musicians doing sound checks and what not.

Also in the hall was Zakir Hussain, a classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order and a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement.