While some 2.4 billion people live in countries where the supply of water is limited, global water demand for agriculture is expected to increase by 35 per cent up to 2050, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.
UN independent human rights experts have deplored the recent violent crackdown on civil society in Iran, calling on Wednesday for independent investigations into excessive use of force against protestors.
Jordan must reverse the decision to close a 140,000-strong teachers’ union and detain its leaders, independent UN human rights experts said on Wednesday, while also urging the authorities to lift gag orders prohibiting public discussion of the case.
Across Afghanistan, women’s employment opportunities are limited. In remote areas of the country, women rarely work outside the home because of cultural constraints and the ongoing conflict.
Those Afghan women who do work in rural areas typically find work in the public sector as teachers and healthcare professionals.
Thanks in part to international support and government programmes, women in the western region of Afghanistan are coming together to focus on starting and running successful businesses.
Teachers are “on the frontlines” of preventing young people from turning to radicalism, according to Lydia Ruprecht, a gender and policy specialist with the UN cultural organization, UNESCO.
UNESCO recently launched the Teacher’s Guide on the Prevention of Violent Extremism.
The guide provides practical tips to educators on discussing the subject in their classrooms.
Ms Ruprecht has been speaking to Janie Cangelosi.
Duration: 4’42”
Students and teachers in Gaza say they are counting on the UN Secretary-General to help keep their schools open and solve the current funding crisis.
The UN agency that works with Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, recently announced it would delay opening its schools in the region for the first time if it fails to raise more than US$100 million.
On Monday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon spoke via WebEx with a teacher and students whose education is threatened by the lack of funds.
Stephanie Coutrix reports.
