Month: November 2018

Gaza: deadly violence continues to escalate, top UN officials work to restore calm

As violence in the Gaza Strip is once again flaring up reportedly following a raid and bombings by Israeli forces and multiple rocket launches from inside the Palestinian enclave, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, said on Tuesday that he was following developments closely, while his Special Coordinator for the region, Nickolay Mladenov, works with all sides […]

Antimicrobial resistance a ‘global health emergency,’ UN, ahead of awareness week

By 2050, some five million people could die each year in Asia alone due to resistance to antibiotic medicines or antimicrobials, according to UN agencies. Many antibiotics are no longer effective in fighting infections as those infections have built up resistance to the medication. Deaths due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could surpass annual cancer fatalities, […]

UN gender agency hails record-breaking number of women in new Congress as ‘historic victory’

The record number of women who stood as candidates in the United States Congressional elections this week marks an “unprecedented” advance “critical for the achievement of gender equality and sustainable development,” the UN gender equality agency, UN Women, said in a statement on Thursday. A total of 277 women ran in the so-called mid-term elections for the […]

Poor diets threaten health more than malaria, tuberculosis, measles – new UN report

With one-in-five deaths associated with poor-quality diets, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a co-authored report on Wednesday, urging policymakers to reduce food loss and waste, to improve access to nutritious and healthy food. The report, entitled “Preventing nutrient loss and waste across the food system: Policy actions for high-quality diets”, concludes […]

Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants kick off a global migration search movement

As mothers searching for the whereabouts of their migrant children amassed last weekend in Mexico City, a historic nine countries were represented, as well as the United Nations International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project. For the first time ever, the so-called Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants – who, since 2005, have crossed Mexican territory […]