Emulate his example’ urges UN chief as world celebrates Nelson Mandela: a ‘global advocate for dignity and equality’
Nelson Mandela was an “extraordinary global advocate for dignity and equality” who anyone in public service should seek to emulate, Secretary-General António Guterres said marking the International Day that honours the iconic anti-apartheid campaigner, and South Africa’s first democratically-elected President. As “one of the most iconic and inspirational leaders of our time”, the UN chief said: […]
25 years after population conference, women still face challenges to ‘well-being and human rights’, says UN chief
Many women and girls “still face enormous challenges to their health, well-being and human rights”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a High-level General Assembly meeting on Tuesday conevened to mark the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), a milestone in reproductive health and rights. “Violence against women and girls affects one-in-three women worldwide”, the UN […]
Climate change threatens progress across sustainable development, warns new UN report
Four years into the Sustainable Development Goals, progress has been made in some areas, but monumental challenges remain. The impacts of climate change and increasing inequality across and within countries are undermining progress on the sustainable development agenda, threatening to reverse many of the gains made over the last decades that have improved people’s lives, warns […]
It’s time we took a seat ‘at your table’: Guterres calls on world youth to keep leading climate emergency response
Older generations have “failed to respond properly” to the climate emergency said the UN chief on Sunday, while the young are “stepping up to the challenge” and taking the lead to slow the destructive pace of global warming. António Guterres was making the closing address at the UN-backed World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, […]
The future of work ‘with social justice for all’ tops agenda of centenary UN Labour conference
The Centenary International Labour Conference got underway on Monday at the UN in Geneva, with ILO chief Guy Ryder, calling on hundreds of delegates from around the world to help “construct a future of work, with social justice for all”. The Director-General of the International Labour Organization said that with the possible adoption of […]
‘From farm to plate’, first-ever World Food Safety Day demonstrates the need to take unsafe food off the menu
Unsafe food kills an estimated 420,000 people every year, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, just ahead of the first-ever UN World Food Safety Day. Children under-five are the most at risk, carrying 40 per cent of the foodborne disease burden, amounting to 125,000 deaths every year. “These deaths […]