First Person: Reducing the harm caused by drugs in Thailand
Watcharapol Mahaprom, who goes by the name Paan, accesses services at a clinic in Bangkok run by the UNODC-supported non-governmental organization, Ozone. The organization promotes harm-reduction services which focus on their clients’ needs with the aim of preventing the health and social impacts of drug use. He spoke to UN News ahead of the International…
Read MoreAgencies join forces with deminers to reclaim agricultural land in Ukraine
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have designed a new joint programme for smallholder farmers and rural families most affected by the conflict. The goal is to clear farmland impacted by the fighting of mines and other explosive remnants of war, safely allowing it to produce crops once again. …
Read MoreHealth data, women’s and LGBT rights in spotlight at Human Rights Council
The Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned that technology enabled easy sharing of sensitive health data of adolescents, migrants and people whose sexual orientation or health status was subject to discrimination. “Accessibility of information through digital tools should not impair the right to have personal health data treated with confidentiality,” Ms. Mofokeng…
Read MoreFinancial system must evolve in ‘giant leap towards global justice’: Guterres
Speaking at the Paris Finance Summit, Mr. Guterres said many African States were spending more on debt repayments than on desperately needed healthcare, and that over 50 countries were either in default or “dangerously” close to it. The UN chief called for a debt relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms and lower…
Read MoreTop UN official for Africa calls for added action to stop piracy’s spread
Despite gains made in tackling sea-faring criminal groups, “piracy incidents continue to threaten the safety of maritime traffic in the region,” said Martha Pobee, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations. Effective deterrents Since her last briefing on maritime security in November, she said a steady decrease in…
Read MoreIn a dangerous and divided world, yoga yields ‘precious’ benefits
This year’s observance organized by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in collaboration with the Secretariat, took place under the theme, Yoga for Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (“the world is one family”). In his video message for the event, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded everyone that in a dangerous and divided world, the benefits of…
Read MoreAfghanistan mission chief to Taliban: Bans on women and girls cost you legitimacy at home and abroad
UN Special Representative Roza Otunbayeva was briefing the Security Council on the dire situation facing the country and the international aid effort, with UN women workers among those now prevented by Taliban edicts from working. “We will not put our national staff in danger and therefore we are asking them not to report to the office”…
Read MoreUN retirees host Ukrainian refugee family
Oksana and 11-year-old Sasha are among more than 100,000 Ukrainians who have been welcomed into homes across the United Kingdom after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Jane Howard and Laurens Jolles, who met them upon their arrival in the UK, said it “seemed the natural thing to do”. A UN-run bus takes…
Read MorePolar scientists call for more research and observation into rapid sea ice reduction
Sea ice is reducing at an unprecedented rate, prompting polar scientists to call for an urgent increase in research and observation, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
Read MoreTrafficking in the Sahel: Smugglers ‘will take you anywhere’
In this feature, part of a series exploring trafficking in the Sahel, UN News focuses on migrant smuggling. Migrant smugglers have been reaping rich dividends over the past decade in the Sahel, where armed violence, terrorist attacks, and climate shocks have displaced three million people and triggered growing numbers of others to flee, according to a…
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