12 November 2014 – The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr. David Nabarro, today made a passionate appeal to combat stigmatization surrounding the disease by calling for a global social media campaign to “express solidarity and to show we are anti-discrimination.” “It is really important that we all understand the roots of the stigma and work to address it,” Dr. Nabarro said, briefing to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at UN Headquarters. “We are all in this together.” “I think all of us have a role to try to reduce the stigmatization,” he said. The Special Envoy said that even UN people…
Author: UN News
12 November 2014 – The United Nations Security Council today reaffirmed its condemnation of all acts of piracy and robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, reiterating its calls for the international community to intensify their efforts in fighting what it said was a threat to the East African country’s stability. Adopting a new resolution, the Council stressed the need for UN Member States to engage in a “comprehensive response to repress piracy” and tackle its underlying causes, while also calling on the global community to “take part in the fight against piracy and armed robbery” by providing a…
11 November 2014 – Thousands of Nigerians are escaping the deadly threat posed by the terrorist group Boko Haram and fleeing into neighbouring Cameroon, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned. In a press release, UNHCR cited Cameroonian authorities’ claims that some 13,000 Nigerian refugees had now crossed over from the Nigerian border state of Adamawa after Boko Haram insurgents attacked and captured the town of Mubi in late October. The refugees fled to the towns of Guider and Gashiga in the North region of Cameroon and to Bourha, Mogode and Boukoula in the Far North, the agency added.…
10 November 2014 – The top United Nations official in Libya has strongly condemned the “cowardly” attack that occurred yesterday close to where he was meeting with the country’s Prime Minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, in the eastern city of Shahat to discuss how to put the political transition back on track. “I am not in a position to pass judgment on the apparent motive or the target behind the attack, but I can assure everyone that [it will in no way] have any impact on our work,” Mr. Bernardino Léon, who heads the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said today…
10 November 2014 – After being granted access yesterday to investigate allegations of the mass rape of 200 women and girls in a town in North Darfur, Sudan, the African Union-United Nations hybrid mission has said that its team found no evidence confirming the claims and received no information regarding the purported acts. In a press statement today, the African Union–UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), said that, after receiving access, its verification team – which included representatives from police, military and civilian components – spent several hours yesterday touring Tabit village and interviewed a range of the residents, to…
9 November 2014 – The world is on the “right track” to defeating Ebola as the infection rate of the deadly virus shows some signs of slowing in West Africa’s most affected areas, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared today as he urged the international community to remain constant in fighting the disease until it is completely extinguished. “The rate of new Ebola cases shows encouraging signs of slowing in some of the hardest-hit parts of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — and that’s good news. The full-scale international strategy to attack Ebola through safe burials, treatment facilities and community…
4 November 2014 – As civil conflicts, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, a rise in divisive politics, and health crises such as Ebola continued to transcend borders and threaten millions of people worldwide, United Nations partnerships with regional organizations were ever more vital to deal with and adapt to such challenges, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he addressed the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, Austria. Speaking on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Secretary-General stressed that he has continued to deepen ties between…
3 November 2014 – As part of a visit to mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Vienna International Centre today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among those treated to a performance by Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, calling her win earlier this year an “electrifying moment of human rights education.” “She confounds people’s preconceived ideas of gender and sexuality – and she appeals to them to accept her as she is,” Mr. Ban said of the drag performer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Austria in May, marking the country’s first win since 1966. “That is a powerful message,” he noted,…
30 October 2014 – The United Nations human rights expert on migrants today urged British authorities to reconsider a decision not to support search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, saying allowing people to die at Europe’s borders just because of their administrative status “is appalling.” The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, said in a press release issued in Geneva today that “governments that do not support the search and rescue efforts have reduced themselves to the same level as the smugglers.” “They are preying on the precariousness of the migrants and asylum…
29 October 2014 – Europe’s labour market is facing a “substantial” mismatch between supply and demand as a sizeable percentage of continental workers are currently over- or under- qualified for their jobs, a new United Nations study has found. The study, conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and released today, covers 24 European countries and shows that between 25 and 45 per cent of workers in Europe fail to meet the exact competences as required by their jobs. In particular, the ILO notes that in nine European countries – including Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the…