Page 59 - United Nations

Taliban's treatment of Afghan women may amount to gender apartheid: UN

An United Nations expert on Monday said the Taliban's treatment of Afghanistan's women and girls may amount to gender apartheid

Leadership at global institutions like UN needs to be re-evaluated: PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi said that given the country's role in peacekeeping and growing economic prowess, the 'world should be asked' if it wants India to be in the key institutions

UNSC needs better reps including countries like India: UNGA Chief

Korosi stated that in the past when the UNSC was made at that time India was not among the "biggest ones." He further added that UNSC will reform

Restrictions on women, girls should be removed in Afghanistan: UN

They demanded that the 9international community should closely monitor human rights violations in Afghanistan and pressurize the Taliban to alter their conduct

UN complains Russia won't let aid workers into area of Ukraine dam collapse

The Kremlin's spokesman said on Monday that UN aid workers who want to visit areas ravaged by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine can't go there because fighting in the war makes it unsafe. The United Nations rebuked Moscow on Sunday for allegedly denying aid workers access to Russia-occupied areas where residents are stranded amid devastating destruction. The UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement that her staff were engaging with both Kyiv and Moscow, which control different parts of the area, in a bid to reach civilians in need. They face a shortage of drinking water and food and a lack of power. Brown urged Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law and let them in. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn't explicitly admit that Russia had blocked UN access, but told a conference call with reporters that Ukrainian attacks made a visit too risky. There has been constant ..

Russia not letting aid workers into areas hit by Ukraine dam collapse: UN

The United Nations has rebuked Moscow for allegedly denying its aid workers access to Russian-occupied areas affected by the recent Kakhova dam collapse in southern Ukraine, which stranded residents, threatened power supplies and caused an environmental calamity as the war approaches 16 months. The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement late Sunday that the organisation has engaged with Moscow and Kyiv, each of which occupies parts of the southern Kherson region where the dam and reservoir are located, to address the devastating destruction caused by the breach. The Russian government has so far declined our request to access the areas under its temporary military control, Brown said. "We urge the Russian authorities to act in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, her statement added. Exclusive drone photos and information obtained by The Associated Press indicate Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to

Chief of UN farm fund lauds India for reviving global focus on millets

The United Nations fund for agricultural development has complimented India for reviving focus on millets and exporting 1.8 million tonnes of wheat to 18 countries that faced an acute shortage of food last year in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Alvaro Lario, the president of the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD), also said that India's G20 presidency has the potential to transform the global food systems as some of New Delhi's focus areas are in sync with the UN body's priorities. In an interview to PTI, Lario, a noted development finance expert, said the Indian expertise could support the agricultural and rural development of other countries in the Global South. "We also appreciate India's exports of wheat - 1.8 million tonnes - to 18 countries facing an acute shortage last year in the wake of the war in Ukraine," he said. Lario was in India to attend the G20 agriculture ministers meeting. The IFAD is a specialised agency of the UN that has been focusing on .

UN in talks with Taliban over handover of education programmes, classes

As per UNICEF, it had received assurances from the Taliban's Education Ministry that its community-based classes, which educate 500,000 students, would continue while they discussed the matter

Mali's top diplomat demands UN peacekeepers leave country after over 10 yrs

Mali's top diplomat demanded on Friday that UN peacekeepers who have been in this West African country grappling with an Islamic insurgency for more than a decade leave immediately, claiming they had failed in their mission. Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop made the request in a speech to the United Nations Security Council. He said the UN mission had not achieved its objectives and was sowing distrust among the people. Mali has struggled to contain an Islamic extremist insurgency since 2012. Extremist rebels were forced from power in Mali's northern cities the following year, with the help of a French-led military operation, but they regrouped in the desert and began launching attacks on the Malian army and its allies. The UN peacekeepers a contingent of more than 15,000 came in a few months later in what has become one of the most dangerous UN missions in the world. At least 170 peacekeepers have been killed in the country since 2013, according to the UN. The Malian government a

UN Convention needs to define concept of reasonable opportunity, says India

India has said that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD) provides the concept of reasonable opportunity but it is required to be defined properly as it is culminating in the proportionate opportunity, which is restrictive in nature. The opportunities for employment should not be denied by prescription of kind of disabilities; full opportunity should be afforded to ensure need-based distributive justice, Justice Arun Mishra, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said. The CRPD provides the concept of reasonable opportunity. However, it is required to be defined properly as it is culminating in the proportionate opportunity, which is restrictive in nature, he said. Justice Mishra said this while making an intervention in the 3rd Roundtable on the Implementation of CRPD as part of the 16th Session of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP16), which is being organised at UN ..

Modi to lead Yoga day celebrations at UN, address US Congress next week

After finishing state visit to the US, Modi will be in Egypt for two days

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In a first, PM Modi to lead a session at UNHQ on International Yoga Day

In a historic commemoration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a yoga session for the first time at UN Headquarters here on the 9th International Day of Yoga to be celebrated on June 21. The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practising yoga. Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. On the occasion of the 9th International Day of Yoga, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations cordially invites you to join a Yoga session led by H. E. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, an advisory for the event said. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi had first proposed from the UN General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day. The Yoga session will run from 8 am - 9 am on June

Fossil fuels 'incompatible with human survival,' says UN chief Guterres

The head of the United Nations launched an angry tirade against fossil fuel companies on Thursday, accusing them of betraying future generations and undermining efforts to phase out a product he called incompatible with human survival. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also dismissed suggestions by some oil executives including the man tapped to chair this year's international climate talks in Dubai that fossil fuel firms can keep up production if they find a way to capture planet-warming carbon emissions. He warned that this would just make them more efficient planet-wreckers. It's not the first time the UN chief has called out Big Oil over its role in causing global warming, but the blunt attack reflects growing frustration at the industry's recent profit bonanza despite warnings from scientists that burning fossil fuels will push the world far beyond any safe climate threshold. Last year, the oil and gas industry reaped a record USD 4 trillion windfall in net income, Guterres

UN unanimously backs India's proposal for monument to honour peacekeepers

PM Modi formally made the proposal for the memorial in 2015 at the UN summit and offered to pay for it

110 mn forcibly displaced as Sudan, Ukraine wars add to refugee crisis: UN

Some 110 million people have had to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or human rights violations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. The war in Sudan, which has displaced nearly 2 million people since April, is but the latest in a long list of crises that has led to the record-breaking figure. It's quite an indictment on the state of our world, Filippo Grandi, who leads the U.N. refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva ahead of the publication Wednesday of UNHCR's Global Trends Report for 2022. Last year alone, an additional 19 million people were forcibly displaced including more than 11 million who fled Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what became the fastest and largest displacement of people since World War II. We are constantly confronted with emergencies, Grandi said. Last year the agency recorded 35 emergencies, three to four times more than in previous years. Very few make your headlines, Grandi added, arguing that the war in Sudan fell

PM Modi to lead yoga session at UN Secretariat on Jun 21: Shombi Sharp

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leading a yoga session at the United Nations' Secretariat on June 21 to mark the International Yoga Day, UN Resident Coordinator in India Shombi Sharp said on Tuesday. Interacting with PTI on the sidelines of a seminar held here to mark 75 years of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping, he also said since 2015, "the world has truly embraced International Yoga Day". Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga by a resolution. The day aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga. "Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi will be leading a yoga session at the United Nations, at the Secretariat, on June 21," Sharp said. The Secretariat carries out the substantive and administrative work of the United Nations as directed by the General Assembly, the Security Council and the other organs. "Everyone understood and 175 member states signed it very quickly.

Women's rights rolled back, can't gender achieve equality by 2030: UN

Noting that the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030, a new UN report flagged that movements against gender equality have gained traction and women's rights have been rolled back in many parts of the world. The Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by UN Member States in 2015, set a 2030 deadline for achieving gender equality. The latest Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) report has revealed no improvement in biases against women in a decade, with almost nine out of 10 men and women worldwide still holding such biases today. While the report noted that considerable progress for women has been achieved in many basic capabilities, it said progress has been tenuous in enhanced capabilities such as women's voice and power. "From corporate boardrooms to presidential cabinets, women remain under-represented in leadership positions. Women have accounted for around 10 per cent of heads of state or government since 1995, leaving them at the margins of decision making in

Time has come for making UN more democratic of current realities: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said when India, the most populous nation of the world, does not find a seat as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it tends to "undermine the moral legitimacy" of the global organisation. Addressing a gathering at a seminar held here to mark 75 years of United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping, he also said that time has come for making UN bodies "more democratic and representative of the current realities of our age". He made the remarks in the presence of UN Resident Coordinator Shombi Sharp, who shared the dais with him. In his address, Singh also said, "While we commemorate the past, we must also look towards the future." It is also important to look at the entire UN ecosystem and what can be done to improve it, he said. "One important reform that stares us in our faces is to make UN decision-making bodies, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), more reflective of demographic realities of the world," the

UN-backed team scans Ukraine historical sites to preserve them amid war

Under the plaintive painted eyes of the holy, a volunteer team of two United Nations-backed engineers watched as a whirling laser took a million measurements a second inside Kyiv's All Saints Church. The laser swept quickly across the church, part of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, while taking a series of incredibly high-resolution photographs. Those images will be stitched together with navigational data to create a perfect three-dimensional rendering of the holy site, part of a project to protect and preserve historic places across Ukraine now in as much in danger as its people amid Russia's war on the country. It's a critical moment," said Chiara Dezzi Bardeschi, who oversees Ukraine for UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural agency. "If it's not protected now, we really risk that this heritage is lost forever. Since Russia launched the war in February 2022, at least 259 cultural and historic sites have been damaged by the fighting, according to UNESCO. They include religious sites, museums, ...