15 October is the International Day of Rural Women! #Ruralwomen play a catalytic role in the achievement of transformational economic, environmental and social change. UN Women calls for action on the glaring inequality of women in the agricultural workforce and is developing programmes that empower rural women worldwide. Get stories and facts from our #Beijing20 package on women and poverty HERE. The last few years have seen historic achievements in reducing the number of people who … [Read more...]
Anti-Slavery Day celebrated, creating awareness OCT 18
October 13, 2014 by
People with slaves? They don't know how to behave, so let's demonstrate ... Anti Slavery Day 18 October 2014 What do you think when you hear Anti Slavery Day? That slavery is something of the past? It should be, yet it's still rife in many parts of the world. Slavery has existed almost as long as human beings themselves, having been recorded as far back as the fifth century BC. Many people were treated as dogs - locked in chains around their hands, feet and even their necks. … [Read more...]
MDG momentum – Post 2015
October 2, 2014 by
Providing key information for MDG momentum UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals while speaking at a high-level event convened by the MDG Advocacy Group on 25 September. Organized by UN DESA in collaboration with a number of partners, the event featured the launch of a new publication as well as a data tool visualizing 14 years’ worth of MDG data from UN DESA’s Statistics Division. Gathering 300 global leaders, … [Read more...]
Women at the center of Economic Activity
October 1, 2014 by
Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh with the objective of helping poor people escape from poverty by providing loans without collateral to support income-generating activities. From Prof. Yunus's personal loan of small amounts of money in the mid-70's to destitute basket-weavers in Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through micro-lending. Today it has 8.4 million borrowers of … [Read more...]
Global Update: Special UN General Assembly Edition
September 25, 2014 by
As the General Assembly began the general debate of its sixty-ninth session, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented to the Assembly his annual report on the work of the Organization. UN Photo/Mark Garten 24 September 2014 – Warning that the world’s “fasten seat belt” light is illuminated, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today opened the 69th annual debate of the United Nations General Assembly with a call for decisive leadership at a time when the ghosts of the Cold War have returned and … [Read more...]
World peace?
September 7, 2014 by
These are the only 11 countries in the world that are actually free from conflict As new wars and civil unrests seem to be flaring up every week, we look for the only countries in the world that could be considered ‘conflict-free’. With the crisis in Gaza, the rise of Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria and the international stand-off ongoing in Ukraine, it can sometimes feel like the whole world is at war. But experts believe this is actually almost universally the case, according to … [Read more...]
UN Foundation, Elizabeth Gore
September 3, 2014 by
Can becoming an entrepreneur help a refugee live a better life? I recently had the opportunity to join the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for a visit to the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda, where I met seven incredible women entrepreneurs who have formed the Twitezimbere tailoring group. And through them, I learned the answer is yes. Despite the challenges they’ve faced, these women have been able to create and grow a business serving their neighbors in the eighth largest … [Read more...]
Realizing population/development commitments beyond 2014
September 2, 2014 by
Civil society, the UN system and other partners will join Governments at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday, 22 September, for the Special Session of the General Assembly on Population and Development. The Governments will gather at the highest political level to follow up on the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, to assess the status of implementation of the Programme of Action and to renew political support for actions required for the full … [Read more...]
What is ‘Human Trafficking’ ?
August 17, 2014 by
Human Trafficking Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. UNODC, as guardian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocols thereto, assists States in their … [Read more...]
