Switzerland needs to do more to keep ‘dirty money’ at bay, urges UN expert
Oct 05, 2017, at 01:12 pm
New York, Oct 5 (Just Earth News): Highlighting the problems posed by illicit financial flows globally, including undermining rule of law and human rights, a United Nations human rights expert has called on Switzerland to ensure that so called dirty money – which stems from tax evasion and corruption – does not enter its financial market.
Oct 05, 2017, at 01:11 pm
New York, Oct 5(Just Earth News): The human tragedy unfolding in southern Bangladesh is staggering in its scale, warned two senior United Nations officials on Wednesday as they wrapped up a mission to Cox’s Bazar with calls for a “significant increase in assistance†for the thousands of Rohingyas have settled in the area after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
Counselling and dieting among new UN health agency guidelines on child obesity
Oct 05, 2017, at 05:04 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): An estimated 41 million children under five years old are obese or overweight, United Nations health experts warned on Wednesday, launching new guidelines to tackle what they call a global epidemic.
UN chief to visit storm-ravaged islands of Antigua, Barbuda and Dominica this weekend
Oct 05, 2017, at 05:03 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Wednesday that he will be visiting hurricane hit islands of Antigua, Barbuda and Dominica this Saturday to survey the damage caused by multiple storms and what more the UN can do help people recover.
Sustainable cities key to implement SDGs, says head of UN regional development arm
Oct 05, 2017, at 05:02 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Noting the high speed of urbanization in Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations development arm in the region underlined the need to keep a close watch on the provision of services, equipment, mobility, housing and urban land to make sure they can match pace with the demand.
Canadian satellite aids in hurricane recovery
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:24 pm
Toronto, Oct 4 (IBNS): When Hurricane Irma last month hit the Caribbean region -- a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts -- leading to huge destruction, authorities on the ground faced difficulties in tracking the hurricane and assess the damages, media reports said.
Global Goals embraced by Japanese society, UN deputy chief says, wrapping up Tokyo visit
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:59 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Concluding her three-day visit to Japan on Tuesday, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed on Tuesday noted how much the Japanese society has embraced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a compass guiding to a more prosperous future for themselves.
In Bangladesh, UN aid chief urges scaling up response for Rohingya refugee crisis
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:58 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): With over half a million Rohingya refugees having fled their homes in Myanmar since violence erupted in late August, the top United Nations humanitarian official has underscored that the solution to the crisis needs to be found within Myanmar.
SDGs ‘take off’ in Nepal’s skies with UN development programme-airline partnership
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:57 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Through a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a private aircraft company, airplanes flying in Nepal’s skies will bear UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) branding icons, disseminating the globally-agreed targets far and wide.
Pioneer of work in women’s reproductive health appointed head of UN Population Fund
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:56 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday appointed Natalia Kanem of Panama to head the UN’s women’s health agency.
UN agriculture agency and World Bank launch new initiative to avert famine in Yemen
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:55 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): More than half a million vulnerable and food-insecure people in war-torn Yemen will receive immediate relief and long-term sustainable agricultural support, thanks to a $46 million project launched by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Bank.
Dire lack of winter funding puts millions of refugees in Middle East at risk, warns UN agency
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:53 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Dwindling resources could severely jeopardize efforts to provide refugees and displaced persons across the Middle East with essential winter supplies such as thermal blankets and warm clothing, the United Nations refugee agency has warned.
HIV-related stigma, discrimination prevent people from accessing health services – UN
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:52 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): People living with HIV who experience high levels of stigma are more than twice as likely to delay enrolment into care than people who do not perceive such stigma, a United Nations report released on Tuesday reveals.
Iraq: UN migration agency assists thousands newly displaced from west Anbar
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:51 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): With some 8,500 people displaced over the past two weeks amid Iraq’s military operations to retake Anbar province, the United Nations migration agency announced on Tuesday that it is stepping up provision of life-saving assistance.
UN and partners aim to slash 90 per cent of cholera deaths by 2040
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:50 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): A taskforce of United Nations and international partner agencies is gearing up to launch an ambitious new strategy to combat cholera – aiming to reduce deaths by 90 per cent by 2040, the UN health agency announced on Tuesday.
UN agency alarmed by largest influx of Congolese refugees into Zambia in five years
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:49 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Growing violence in south-eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has driven at least 4,460 refugees into northern Zambia over the past month, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday, warning that the humanitarian needs of the displaced could intensify on both sides of the border as the rainy season approaches.
Cameroon: UN Secretary-General urges dialogue to resolve grievances
Oct 04, 2017, at 10:47 am
New York, Oct 4(Just Earth News): Strongly condemning recent violence in south-west and north-west regions of Cameroon, including reported loss of life, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged all stakeholders to refrain from any further acts of violence and called on the authorities to investigate the incidents.
Las Vegas shooting: Two Canadians among victims
Oct 04, 2017, at 05:11 am
Las Vegas/Ottawa, Oct 3 (IBNS): Two Canadians have been identified as victims in the Las Vegas shooting, where a gunman opened fire on concert-goers opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring over 500 others, media reports said.
Asylum seeker in Toronto sues federal government over his five-year confinement
Oct 03, 2017, at 07:15 pm
Toronto, Oct 3 (I(BNS): An asylum seeker in Toronto has sued the federal government for compelling him to undergo a "humiliating" five years of imprisonment over immigration, media reports said.
Las Vegas shooting: Two Canadians among victims
Oct 03, 2017, at 07:14 pm
Las Vegas/Ottawa, Oct 3 (IBNS): Two Canadians have been identified as victims in the Las Vegas shooting, where a gunman opened fire on concert-goers opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring over 500 others, media reports said.
Oct 03, 2017, at 04:26 pm
Las Vegas, Oct 3 (IBNS): At least 42 guns and several loaded high capacity magazines were recovered from the suspected Las Vegas shooter's hotel room and residence, reports said.
As Rohingya crisis continues, UNICEF seeks funds to reach 720,000 children in need
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:31 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): Amid the deepening refugee crisis in Bangladesh and its attendant toll on children, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNCEF) launched on Monday an appeal for its emergency response to reach some 720,000 children – both in Rohingya refugee and host communities – with protection and assistance.
INTERVIEW: Global humanitarian needs have never been higher, says UN official
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:30 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): The number of those needing humanitarian assistance is at its highest since the end of the Second World War – some 145 million people. Several protracted crises in Africa and the Middle East are deteriorating and climate-induced emergencies, sometimes combined with violent conflict, continue to wreak havoc on vulnerable communities. Amid all this, United Nations-coordinated response plans remain severely underfunded.
'Nothing enduring can be built on violence,' UN Assembly President says, recalling words of Gandhi
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:28 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): Noting that in on Monday's world, violence has become a “tool of choice†for many and new evidence, of destruction and suffering, every day resulting from this choice, the President of the United Nations General Assembly has called for greater efforts to prevent conflict and for the Organization to promote the use of non-violence across all three pillars of its work.
Amid 'critical' resource shortage, UN agency cuts food rations for refugees in Kenya
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:27 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): For 420,000 refugees living in northern Kenya, insufficient funding has forced the United Nations food relief agency to cut rations by 30 per cent, as it appeals for nearly $30 million for assistance.
UNICEF urges child-centred budget decisions for rebuilding of quake-hit areas in Mexico
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:26 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for putting children at the heart of public and private investment in reconstruction of the areas devastated by two major earthquakes in September.
'Winner-takes-all' dynamics in digital economy could widen income gap – UN report
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:25 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): The benefits of digitalization to people's lives are enormous, but 'winner-takes-all' dynamics in the digital economy creates a risk of widening income inequalities, says a report released on Monday by a United Nations entity dealing with trade, investment and development.
In Tokyo, UN deputy chief cites benefits of local-level social dialogue on sustainable development
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:24 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, at an event in Tokyo on Monday, stressed the need for social dialogue on sustainable development, expressing her expectations regarding the role of media in bringing different constituents together to reflect on difficult questions such as on sustainable life style.
World must step up protection for refugees, do more to solve conflict – UN agency chief
Oct 03, 2017, at 01:23 pm
New York, Oct 3(Just Earth News): The global community is letting down millions of refugees and internally displaced people, and needs to renew efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts, focusing on protection and solutions, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said on Monday.
Affordable housing key for development and social equality, UN says on World Habitat Day
Oct 03, 2017, at 12:35 pm
New York, Oct 2(Just Earth News): As 1.6 billion people on Monday live in inadequate housing, one billion of whom reside in slums and informal settlements, The United Nations is spotlighting affordable home on on Monday's World Habitat Day, which also marks the official start of Urban October – a month of worldwide celebrations and citizens' engagement in urban life worldwide.