culture

Greater gender balance needed in peacekeeping, says UN chief

The Historic Centre of Vienna has been added to the list of World Heritage in Danger because of a planned high-rise building, the UN announced on Thursday.

The World Heritage Committee is responsible for monitoring the conservation state of conservation of these so-called natural or man-made “wonders of the world” and deciding which places go on the list.

A new guide aimed at preventing child labour in the agriculture sector during times of conflict or disaster has been launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The agency explained that these crises can affect a family’s ability to feed, educate and protect their children, thus forcing children to find work in the sector just to survive.

FAO estimates that 230 million children worldwide live in conflict areas while 100 million are affected by disaster each year.

Schoolgirls from South Sudan are learning gymnastics to help them release stress and heal from war-related trauma, according to the UN Mission in the country, UNMISS.

The Mission’s Civil Affairs Division has teamed up with a local non-governmental organisation, Spring of Peace, to use sport to promote peace and unity among various ethnicities in Yei town.

The city has become a flashpoint of fighting between government and rebel forces since July 2016.

Jocelyne Sambira has more.

Girls and boys are missing out on education: UN deputy chief

Protecting girls from forced or underage initiations like female circumcision has always been a focus of Sylvia Blyden, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Gender and Social Affairs.

She made the remarks on the margins of a disability conference at UN headquarters in New York that was held in June.

Sierra Leone is one of the 28 African countries where the procedure is practised, according to the World Health Organization or WHO.

So many girls are missing out on education but so are boys, the UN deputy chief said on Wednesday on the margins of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly.

Amina Mohammed was a key speaker at the one-day event which brings together education experts from around the world to discuss ways to advance action on Sustainable Development Goal 4.

SDG 4 seeks to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.”

Young people can help mobilize support for a nuclear weapon-free world by spreading the word through social media, according to the head of a UN partner organisation working to end nuclear testing.

Lassina Zerbo, Secretary-General of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) was speaking ahead of a meeting which opens on Tuesday and runs through Friday.

Refugee chefs from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia are showcasing their culinary skills in restaurants across 13 European cities this month.

They are participating in the second edition of the Refugee Food Festival, a two-week event organized by the NGO “Food Sweet Food”, in partnership with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Dianne Penn reports on the gastronomic kick-off held in the French city of Lyon.

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