Page 48 - United Nations

Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN agency says

Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation says in its latest assessment of food security in the region. Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to be less food secure than men, the report says. The FAO's study focuses on food supply, consumption and dietary energy needs and is designed to capture a state of chronic energy deprivation that stunts growth and saps productivity and quality of life. The share of people in the region suffering from such undernourishment fell to 8.4 per cent in 2022 from 8.8 per cent the year before. But that's higher than the 7.3 per cent of people who were undernourished before the pandemic began, sending some economies into a tailspin and depriving millions of people of their livelihoods. Natural disasters and disruptions to food supplies, often linked to climate change, have added to those

Negotiators, activists ramp up urgency as climate talks enter final days

Delegates at the United Nations climate talks have little time left to decide how the world plans to cap planet-warming emissions and keep the worst of warming at bay, ramping up the urgency as new drafts were expected on key outcomes of the summit. Simon Stiell, the executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, told journalists Monday morning that the climate wolves remained at the world's doors as negotiations reach their climax at the summit. We do not have a minute to lose in this crucial final stretch and none of us have had much sleep, Stiell said. He added that the areas where options need to be negotiated have narrowed significantly, in particular how to reduce planet-warming emissions and the transition with the proper means of support to deliver it. When asked directly if it was a possibility that negotiators could leave Dubai without a deal, Stiell did not deny that could happen. One thing is for certain: I win, you lose is a recipe for collecti

UN agency warns of Afghans dying in winter if they don't get proper shelter

The UN refugee agency has warned that Afghans could die in harsh winter conditions if they don't get adequate shelter once they cross the border from Pakistan. Almost half a million Afghans have left Pakistan since early October, when the Islamabad government announced it would arrest and deport foreigners it said were in the country illegally. The overwhelming majority of them are from neighboring Afghanistan, though Islamabad insists the policy doesn't target a specific nationality. The forced returns are piling pressure on Afghanistan and aid agencies, which are providing the bulk of essential services like health care. Freezing temperatures are setting in and conditions at the border remain dire. Many Afghan returnees are vulnerable, including women and children, who could lose their lives in a harsh winter if left without adequate shelter, the U.N. refugee agency said in a report published Friday. People arriving at the border are exhausted and require urgent assistance as well

Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan: UN

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the UN mission in the country said on Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The UN mission, highlighting the Taliban's failures in upholding rights' obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees' rights. People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said. We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenet

Climate activists' biggest COP28 protest yet in UN Blue Zone despite ban

Hundreds gathered inside the COP's Blue Zone - officially United Nations territory for the two week of negotiations - alternating between the war in Gaza and climate change to lodge their protest

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US vetoes UN Security Council demand for humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza

The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution Friday backed by almost all other Security Council members and many other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. Supporters called it a terrible day and warned of more civilian deaths and destruction as the war goes into its third month. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood criticized the council after the vote for its failure to condemn Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or to acknowledge Israel's right to defend itself. He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and "only plant the seeds for the next war." "Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution," Wood said before the vote. For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can

World food price index unchanged in November, says UN food agency

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.4 points in November, 10.7% lower than last November

What is UN Charter's Article 99 invoked amid Israel's military attacks?

The United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, posted on X that the country has circulated a short draft resolution acting on Guterres' letter under Article 99

UN emergency meeting at Guyana's request on Venezuela's territorial claims

The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency closed meeting Friday at the request of Guyana following Venezuela's weekend referendum claiming the vast oil- and mineral-rich Essequibo region that makes up a large part of its neighbor. In a letter to the council president, Guyana's foreign minister, Hugh Hilton Todd, accused Venezuela of violating the UN Charter by attempting to take its territory. The letter recounted the arbitration between then-British Guiana and Venezuela in 1899 and the formal demarcation of their border in a 1905 agreement. For over 60 years, he said, Venezuela accepted the boundary, but in 1962 it challenged the 1899 arbitration that set the border. The diplomatic fight over the Essequibo region has flared since then, but it intensified in 2015 after ExxonMobil announced it had found vast amounts of oil off its coast. The dispute escalated as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro held a referendum Sunday in which Venezuelans approved his claim of sovereignty o

Moldova, Serbia volunteer to host UN climate talks 'COP29' next year

At this year's UN climate summit, countries, development institutions and businesses are pledging more money for everything from the energy transition to health care initiatives

Nearly half of Indian consumers want more diversity in ads, shows study

48% of Indians have expressed the need for more inclusive representation by brands, according to a UN-supported study on diversity and inclusion in the advertising sector

Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities, say UN officials

Intensifying Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities are worsening humanitarian conditions across the war-torn country, where heavy snow and freezing temperatures have already arrived, UN officials said Wednesday. Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca told the UN Security Council that Russia's continuing daily attacks on Ukraine's critical civilian infrastructure have resulted in civilian casualties, and Moscow recently escalated its barrages in populated areas including the capital, Kyiv. All attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure must stop immediately, he said. They are prohibited under international humanitarian law and are simply unacceptable. Jenca also raised the risks to all four of Ukraine's nuclear power plants. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which is Europe's largest, suffered its eighth complete off-site power outage since the invasion on Saturday, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Jenca said. And IAEA staff at the Khmelnitsky plant

UN warns 2 boats adrift in Andaman Sea with 400 Rohingya aboard need rescue

An estimated 400 Rohingya Muslims believed to be aboard two boats adrift in the Andaman Sea without adequate supplies could die if more is not done to rescue them, according to the UN refugee agency and aid workers. The number of Rohingya Muslims fleeing by boats in a seasonal exodus - usually from squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh - has been rising since last year due to cuts to food rations and a spike in gang violence. There are about 400 children, women and men looking death in the eye if there are no moves to save these desperate souls, Babar Baloch, the agency's Bangkok-based regional spokesperson, told The Associated Press. The whereabouts of the other boat were unclear. The boats apparently embarked from Bangladesh and are reported to have been at sea for about two weeks, he said. The captain of one of the boats, contacted by the AP, said he had 180 to 190 people on board. They were out of food and water and the engine was damaged. The captain, who gave his

India supported peacekeeping initiatives; very much count on it: UN

India, one of the leading troop and police-contributing countries, has steadily supported the UN's initiatives to improve peacekeeping operations and the world body counts on New Delhi as a major partner in peacekeeping, a top UN official has said. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix highlighted technology, increasing the number and role of women in peacekeeping missions and accountability for crimes against the Blue Helmets as crucial areas of cooperation with India in an exclusive interview with PTI here ahead of the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting. The Ministerial meeting is scheduled for December 5-6 in Accra, Ghana. It will bring together ministers and delegates from over 85 countries and international organisations to express their collective commitment to UN Peacekeeping, the UN said. "We very much count on India. India is one of the major partners to peacekeeping. It's one of the leading troop and police-contributing countries, but in ..

India needs to continue momentum at COP28, seek more commitments: UNDP

India needs to continue its momentum and advocacy efforts at the UN COP28 here towards global climate action and seek more commitments and finances from developed countries, UNDP India climate chief has said. The UN climate talks in Dubai opened with a bang with countries clinching an early deal on how to compensate developing and vulnerable countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis despite contributing very little to it. The agreement on the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund on the first day of COP28 set the stage for more ambitious decisions over the next 12 days. In an interview with PTI, Dr Ashish Chaturvedi, Head, Action for Climate and Environment at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India, lauded India's positive intent, highlighting the nation's commitment to continue contributing to global adaptation efforts. "The Loss and Damage fund stands as a victory for India to a certain extent as well. We've played an important role in pushing f

Kamboj chairs briefing ahead of 62nd UN Commission for Social Development

The 62nd session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD62) will take place from February 5 to 14, 2024, in Conference Room 4 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York

As host of COP28, autocratic UAE now allowing critics it once kept out

As participants at the United Nations' COP28 climate talks filed in Sunday for another day of talks, they found themselves greeted by a rare sight in the United Arab Emirates a protest. From activism about the Israel-Hamas war to environmental issues, activists allowed into the UAE can demonstrate under strict guidelines in this autocratic nation. Others from organisations long banned by the country also have been let in, providing them some the opportunity for the first time in over a decade to offer criticism though many acknowledge it may see them never allowed back in the country. The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms led by Abu Dhabi's ruler, bans political parties and labour unions. All power rests in each emirate's hereditary ruler. Broad laws tightly restrict speech and nearly all major local media are either state-owned or state-affiliated outlets. Laws also criminalise the very few protests that take place by foreign labourers over working conditions and unpaid ...

India elected executive committee member of UN's food standard-setting body

India has been unanimously elected as a member representing the Asian region in the executive committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the food safety and quality standard-setting body created by the UN, at its meeting in Rome. The executive committee is an important arm of the CAC and the member countries have a considerable interest in getting its membership. In this capacity, India would not only get an opportunity to contribute substantially in the international standard setting process for different food product categories but will also be involved in the decision-making process, the health ministry said in a statement. The executive committee supports in the management of the commission's programme of standards development by conducting a "critical review" of proposals to undertake work and monitors the progress of standards development. The committee comprises the chair, three vice chairs, six regional coordinators and seven elected representatives from various .

Himalayas melting alarmingly: UN chief insists on urgent action at COP28

Warning of a potential catastrophe in the Himalayas where the glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, UN chief Antonio Guterres on Saturday said the ongoing annual climate talks here must respond to the needs of the developing nations, especially the vulnerable mountain countries that need urgent help. Almost 240 million people depend on the glaciers and 10 major rivers, such as Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra, originating in the Himalayas. Another billion people living downstream of these rivers across eight countries, including India, are also dependent on the glacier-fed rivers. Addressing a meeting with mountain countries at this year's Conference of Parties (COP28), UN Secretary-General Guterres emphasised that nearly a third of Nepal's ice had vanished in just over 30 years, and it was directly linked to greenhouse gas pollution that heats up the planet. Guterres, who visited Nepal, including the Everest region, in October last week, called for developed countries to clarify t