Page 3 - United Nations

Black Sea grain deal to get 120-day extension after Russia agreed: UN

The United Nations has said the Black Sea grain agreement would be extended for 120 days after Russia agreed to a 60-day extension of the deal after negotiations in Geneva, CNN reported

UN delivers aid in in Mozambique, Malawi as Cyclone Freddy claims 200 lives

"According to authorities, at least 200 people have died in the two countries and 45,000 people have been displaced," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said

World was slow to send aid to Syria after earthquake, says United Nations

The international community and the Syrian government did not act quickly last month to help people in need in the rebel-held northwest after a deadly earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, a U.N. commission said Monday. The Feb. 6 magnitude 7.8 earthquake and strong aftershocks that ravaged southern Turkiye and northwestern Syria killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said there should be an investigation into why it took a week to open border crossings for aid to flow. It added that war-torn Syria now needs a comprehensive cease-fire that is fully respected for civilians, including aid workers, to be safe. It took a week for the U.N. and Syria's President Bashar Assad's government to agree on opening two more border crossings into the rebel-held region bordering Turkiye as many people were still under the rubble. Since the earthquake, we have seen many acts to help victims by the Syrians themselves,

Cold, hard facts should guide climate policy, says United Nation's chief

The head of the United Nations called on Monday for scientists to serve up cold, hard facts to push governments into making policies that curb climate change before a key global warming threshold is passed. His comments came as experts and officials from around the world gathered for a week-long meeting in the Swiss Alpine town of Interlaken to finalise the last of seven reports issued by the global body's panel of top scientists since the Paris climate accord was forged in 2015. In a video address to delegates, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could not come at a more pivotal time. Our world is at a crossroads and our planet is in the crosshairs, he said. We are nearing the point of no return; of overshooting the internationally agreed limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of global warming. That threshold, agreed in Paris almost eight years ago and measured against average temperatures duri

India's Permanent Mission to UN to co-host 2 special events on Mon, Thurs

India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations will be co-hosting two special events on Monday and Thursday in the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women

United Nations Security Council needs urgent reforms: Om Birla in Bahrain

He said that there is a wide agreement among the countries of the world too that important matters have to be taken seriously and honestly

US envoy to UN raises concern over ban on female education in Afghanistan

"We worked hard and learned a lot; we have goals and ambitions, and it is vital that our schools be opened in order to accomplish our educational dreams," said Husna, a student in the eleventh grade

Pak FM Bilawal admits Islamabad unable to get Kashmir attention at UN

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has admitted that Islamabad has been unable to get Kashmir to the centre of the UN agenda and India's diplomacy is able to scuttle its efforts

Tendency of categorisation of terrorism based on motive is dangerous: India

India has said that the tendency to categorise terrorism on the basis of motivations behind terrorist acts is dangerous and asserted that all kinds of terror attacks, whether motivated by Islamophobia, anti-Sikh, anti-Buddhist or anti-Hindu prejudices, are condemnable. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said on Thursday that the international community needs to stand guard against new terminologies and false priorities that can dilute its focus of combatting the scourge of terrorism. The tendency of categorisation of terrorism based on the motivations behind terrorist acts is dangerous and goes against the accepted principles that 'terrorism in all its forms and manifestations should be condemned and there cannot be any justification for any act of terrorism, whatsoever', she said at the First Reading of the Draft Resolution on 8th Review of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS). Underlining that there cannot be good or bad terrorists, Kamboj

From Kailasa to Kalakuta Republic: Micronations that amused the world

Micronations generally claim a territory, usually a piece of personal property or an uninhabitable tract of land

Countries must make 'massive efforts' to reduce salt intake, says WHO

Implementing highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies could save an estimated seven million lives globally by 2030, the WHO said

Two-thirds of Afghan people will need humanitarian aid, says UN envoy

Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that 28 mn people, accounting for two-thirds of the population, will need life-saving humanitarian assistance

Germany ramps up funding for UN women in 2023 for gender equality

Germany has pledged 26 million euros ($27.6 million) to UN Women in 2023, the country's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) said

Int'l Women's Day: UN calls for innovation, technology for gender equality

UN has chosen the theme 'DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality' for Women's Day 2023 to examine the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequality

UN rights chief opens channels of communication about issues in China

The new UN human rights chief said Tuesday that his office has opened "channels of communication" to help follow up on concerns about the rights of minorities in China, including Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans. But this fell short of activists' hopes for a stronger message to Beijing. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk, in an address highly anticipated by rights advocates, didn't detail how his office plans to follow up on a critical report on China's western Xinjiang region published in August by his predecessor, Michelle Bachelet. That report cited possible "crimes against humanity" against Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang. Trk noted that the UN rights office "documented grave concerns" like arbitrary detentions and family separations in China, and called for "concrete follow-up." He also voiced concerns about the impact of the national security law in Hong Kong that has suppressed its pro-democracy movement. "Regarding China, we have opened up channels of communication with

Matters pertaining to J&K internal affair, don't see role for OHCHR: India

India on Tuesday voiced regret over comments by the UN's human rights commissioner on the situation in Kashmir, terming the reference as "unwarranted and factually inaccurate". In a statement at the General Debate on the Oral Update by High Commissioner during the 52nd Session of Human Rights Council, Permanent Representative of India to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Indra Mani Pandey also asserted that New Delhi does not see any role for the human rights commissioner office's in matters that are the country's internal affairs. "We take note of the oral update and thank the High Commissioner. Since the constitutional changes in August 2019, there has been unprecedented progress in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in taking democracy to the grassroots, enhancing people's participation in political processes, providing good governance and security to the people and accelerating all round socio-economic development," Pandey said. "In this context, we regret the High Commissioner

High on promise

Details of High Seas Treaty will have to be worked out

UN rights chief cites 'communication' about human rights issues in China

The new U.N. human rights chief said Tuesday that his office has opened channels of communication to help follow up on concerns about the rights of minorities in China, including Uyghur Muslims and Tibetans. But this fell short of activists' hopes for a stronger message to Beijing. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk, in an address highly anticipated by rights advocates, didn't detail how his office plans to follow up on a critical report on China's western Xinjiang region published in August by his predecessor, Michelle Bachelet. That report cited possible crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and others in Xinjiang. Trk noted that the U.N. rights office documented grave concerns" like arbitrary detentions and family separations in China, and called for "concrete follow-up. He also voiced concerns about the impact of the national security law in Hong Kong that fanned huge protests. Regarding China, we have opened up channels of communication with a range of actors to

Malnutrition rises in pregnant women in 12 at-risk countries: UN report

Acute malnutrition among pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers has increased by 25 per cent in the past two years in 12 countries hard hit by rising food prices fuelled by the fighting in Ukraine, according to a new United Nations report. Surveys in 10 countries in Africa and two in the Middle East that are worst affected by the food crisis were used in a UNICEF report, released Tuesday, a day before International Women's Day. Poor nutrition in pregnant and breastfeeding women can lead to weak immunity and complications during pregnancy and birth. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have in previous studies recorded high infant mortality rates due to various complications. Globally, 51 million children under two years old are too short for their age due to malnutrition, a condition called stunting, and half of these become stunted during pregnancy or within their first six months of life, the report states. Without urgent action from the international community, the consequence

UN agrees high seas treaty to protect ocean life in international waters

Guterres in a statement stated, "This action is a victory for multilateralism and for global efforts to counter the destructive trends facing ocean ocean health, now and for generations to come"