Full Coverage: United Nations

29.01.2008 Hundreds of hospitals and heath facilities get destroyed every year by disasters. The UN has recently launched a global campaign to ensure that the needy are not left without vital care in the midst of an emergency.

24.01.2008 UN Human Rights High Commissioner seemed to have rubbed some of the Sri Lankan nationalists the wrong way when she remarked in the wake of recent termination of ceasefire that human rights violators could face trial in international courts. People’s Liberation Front and other groups have taken umbrage at her comments and are fuming.

24.01.2008 A slowdown in economic growth could spur global unemployment by 5 million persons in 2008, with unemployment rates touching levels never seen before, predicts the International Labour Organization’s annual Global Employment Trends (GET) report. The report also notes South Asia as having the highest share of vulnerable jobs and workers without a voice at work.

23.01.2008 International Labour Organisation’s new report says that ending poverty in South Asia will require labour market reforms coupled with economic progress. The report notes that instances of extreme poverty have impressively come down in the last decade but proportion of working poor continues to remain high in the region.

23.01.2008 More than 26,000 children die everyday in the world before they see their fifth birthday. Along with sub-Saharan Africa, India has been identified with high under-five mortality in UNICEF’s new report on the state of the world’s children. It calls for community-level integration of essential services to arrest this disturbing phenomenon.

21.01.2008 A comprehensive data pool on gender issues was launched by the SAARC Secretary General at the inaugural of the recent Sixth South Asian Regional Ministerial Conference by UNIFEM at New Delhi. The Gender Database will provide records on violence against women and trafficking in the South Asia region, and on women’s health and HIV/AIDS.

17.01.2008 In wake of Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis and demands by various activist groups, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has announced doubling its humanitarian aid to £18 million over the next three years. Around one-third of the country's poor survive on less than US$ 1 a day.

10.01.2008 Providing an overview on the achievements of the MDGs in India, a citizen’s report titled: Measuring India’s Progress on the Millennium Development Goals was released on January 7 in New Delhi by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA).

09.01.2008 The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh was honoured by the Millennium Campaign for its key participation at last year’s Stand Up and Speak Out initiative on October 17. The state witnessed a record turnout of more than half a million people in support of the campaign’s cause.

03.01.2008 UNICEF has recently released 2007 Tsunami Report, highlighting progress made for children in last three years. In 2004, tsunami waves had claimed more than 200,000 lives and devastated towns and communities.

02.01.2008 UNICEF Germany’s ‘Photo of the Year’ of a 40 year old groom with a child bride in Afghanistan raises global concerns about child marriages, widely condemned for their sexual abuse and violation of human rights. The bride in the photograph has just turned 11.