MH 370: Another plane part found
London, Aug 2 (IBNS): After the debris of an air craft suspected to be a part of the missing flight MH370 was found last week, another suspected plane debris has also washed ashore on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, media reports said on Sunday.
UN officials condemn West Bank arson attack that killed Palestinian child
New York, Aug 1 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN special envoy on the Middle East have strongly condemned Friday’s arson attack in the West Bank that killed a Palestinian child and left the child’s parents severely injured.
In ISIL-controlled territory, 8 million civilians living in ‘state of fear’: UN expert
New York, Aug 1 (IBNS): The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has engaged in widespread and systematic human rights violations of the most serious kinds in Syria and Iraq, brutally forcing some 8 million people to “assimilate, flee or face death,†according to a United Nations expert.
Ebola: WHO announces possible ‘game changer’ vaccine
New York, Aug 1 (IBNS): Having achieved its “core objective†of scaling up global action to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response will officially wind down on Friday, transferring its role to the World Health Organization (WHO), which just announced that an experimental vaccine being tested in Guinea appears to be highly effective and could be a “game changer.â€
UN envoy Angelina Jolie visits displaced people in Myanmar’s Kachin state
New York, Aug 1 (IBNS): Oscar-winning actress and United Nations refugee agency Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie, travelled on Thursday to Myanmar’s Kachin state, where internally displaced persons (IDPs), including a number of women, told her their stories
Yemen: UN begins food aid distribution in war-torn districts of Aden
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distribution of food to around 340,000 people in eight of the worst-affected areas of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden.
Small islands need partnerships to battle climate change: Ban
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): The global challenges facing the small island developing States (SIDS) are the international community’s collective responsibility, on Thursday stated the top United Nations official at the Security Council.
UN urges action to combat human trafficking, give victims ‘hope and justice’
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged every country to join the fight against human trafficking as United Nations agencies and their partners vowed to work together to support and protect victims of this transnational crime, while pursuing and prosecuting criminals and their networks.
UN urges action to tackle illegal wildlife trade
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): Recognizing that wild animals and plants are an “irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the Earth,†the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday urged its Member States to take decisive steps to prevent, combat and eradicate the illegal trade in wildlife, “on both the supply and demand sides.â€
Momentum building for UN-backed accord to combat rogue fishing business
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): Thirteen additional countries need to ratify an agreement brokered by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to combat illegal fishing by blocking ports to ships known or believed to be carrying illicit catches that account for more than 15 per cent of global output, the agency said onn Thursday.
Marking International Day of Friendship, Ban hails power of the human spirit
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday praised a Paraguayan man whose “profound vision that the forces of animosity and hatred in our world are no match for the power of the human spirit†led to the creation of the International Day of Friendship, which falls on July 30 every year.
UNESCO voices alarm at reported killing of Iraqi journalists by extremists
New York, Jul 31 (IBNS): The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voiced deep concern on Thursday over the reported killing of two Iraqi journalists in Mosul.
UN-backed plan sets disaster resilience standards for hotels in Asia and Pacific
New York, Jul 30 (IBNS): A United Nations-backed plan to develop and pilot disaster risk management standards for the hotel industry in Asia and the Pacific, home to 80 per cent of the world's disaster events, has been announced on Wednesday.
Security Council: Ban and UN envoy outline talk about political solution for Syria
New York, Jul 30 (IBNS): Describing the more than four years of “slaughter†in Syria as a “shameful symbol of the international community’s divisions and failure,†United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday appealed to the Security Council to endorse his Special Envoy’s recommendations on reaching the political solution that “all parties claim to support.â€
Orangutans face extinction on Borneo where deforestation is unsustainable: UN
New York, Jul 30 (IBNS): The massive conversion of Borneo’s forests for the production palm oil together with the impact of climate change is driving to extinction the orangutan on Asia’s largest island, making it “clear that a future without sustainable development will be a future with a different climate and, eventually, without orangutans, one of our closest relatives,†a new United Nations report revealed on Wednesday.