A preparatory meeting for next year’s Second International Conference on Nutrition began on Wednesday at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy.
Presentations and meetings over the next three days are expected to help set the stage for discussions between high level delegates participating in next year’s event.
International experts and guests across all sectors are coming together to share their thoughts and ideas on what nutrition issues need to be in the spotlight.
One of the challenges facing the new African nation of South Sudan is providing education to its children.
Decades of war have left almost three-quarters of adults illiterate in the country.
Since South Sudan seceded from the north in July 2011, it has struggled to build an education system for children and to educate the millions of adults who missed out on school during the war.
In Upper Nile State, the Ministry of General Education has introduced a new curriculum which has been packaged and distributed to all states.
Dianne Penn reports.
Every year, more than seven million girls in poor countries are giving birth before they turn 18, according to a new report by the UN Population Fund.
UNFPA’s flagship report, The State of the World Population 2013, puts a particular emphasis on girls 14 and younger who are at higher risk for maternal death and other health-related problems.
The agency is promoting a new approach to tackle the challenge of adolescent pregnancy, which doesn’t just dwell on behaviour change.
Jocelyne Sambira has more.
Chinese pianist Lang Lang has been chosen as a UN Messenger of Peace to boost efforts to improve education for the world’s poorest children.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the announcement during a news conference at UN headquarters on Monday.
Recent UN data indicates 57 million primary school-aged children were still out of school.
Mr. Lang has also been Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the past 10 years, helping raise awareness regarding child’s right to quality health care and education.
The rights of indigenous peoples continue to be violated throughout the world, according to a United Nations independent expert.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, James Anaya, presented his final report to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.
In September 2007 the General Assembly adopted a declaration which outlines the rights of the estimated 370 million indigenous peoples around the world.
Derrick Mbatha reports.
The founding father of the United Republic of Tanzania, the late Julius Kambarage Nyerere, popularly known as “Mwalimu,” was honoured at the United Nations this week.
The Permanent Mission of Tanzania to the United Nations organized the commemoration of Mwalimu Nyerere Day on 14 October.
The event coincided with the launch of a book titled “Julius Nyerere: Africa’s Titan on a Global Stage.”
It has been co-edited by Prof. Ali Mazrui of Binghamton University in New York and Prof. Lindah Mhando, a Tanzanian Professor at Duke University in North Carolina.
The value of educating a girl is not well understood in conservative areas of Pakistan, according to the Director of the Khushal School and College in Swat.
Mariam Khalique is also a teacher of Malala Yousafzai, the student and education activist shot by the Taliban last year. The Taliban used to control Swat Valley, in northwestern Pakistan, enforcing Islamic law until Pakistani forces drove them out.
Ms. Khalique told UNICEF’s Alex Goldmark what lessons can be learned from Malala’s tragic shooting.
Duration: 2'25"
A community of fishermen and rubber tappers is breaking ground by housing the first Climate Communications Centre in the archipelago nation of Indonesia.
Nestled near the winding Kahayan river, the remote village of Buntoi, may seem like an unlikely place to talk about, let alone practice, connectivity.
Jocelyne Sambira reports.
Duration: 2’46”
“Innovate to educate.”
That’s this year’s theme for the International Day of the Girl Child observed 11 October.
The UN is calling for creative and effective ways to advance girls’ education. Technology is one route that can overcome gender barriers to girls’ learning. Community mobilization and engaging young people are equally important.
Jocelyne Sambira reports.
Duration: 2'27"
