The United Nations group of independent experts on the use of mercenaries says it will present a proposal for a possible international convention to regulate activities of private military and security firms during its five-day meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York this week.
Investing in maternal and child health results in outsized benefits, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said, urging African leaders to make the issue a top priority and meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline of drastically improving reproductive care across the continent.
Strengthening measures to prevent and control outbreaks of animal diseases could result in the saving of large amounts of money for governments, the United Nations agriculture agency said today, announcing a new strategy to more effectively detect and combat the diseases.
As of 18 July 2010, worldwide more than 214 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including over 18366 deaths.
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Tajikistan has since 1 January 2010 reported 430 cases of polio following the importation of a wild poliovirus type 1 into the country. Nineteen of the cases were fatal. Seven virologically related cases have been detected in the Russian Federation, the only…
The United Nations Human Rights Council today announced the names of the three experts who will serve on a fact-finding mission to investigative violations of international law resulting from Israel's interception of a flotilla of aid ships bound for the Gaza Strip, which led to the deaths of…
As "troubling" inequalities persist between Maori and non-Maori, New Zealand must press ahead with efforts to improve the human rights of its indigenous people, a United Nations independent expert said today.
Migrants continue to endure multiple forms of discrimination, exploitation and other violations of human rights, a senior United Nations official has said, calling for their protection and social inclusion in communities where they live.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) today wrapped up its annual gathering with senior officials hailing the contributions of the month-long session towards advancing gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as in the areas of peace and development.
The Ministry of Health of Indonesia has announced a new case of human infection of H5N1 avian influenza. A 13-year-old female from Sukoharjo District, Central Java Province developed symptoms on 16 June, was hospitalized on 21 June and died on 24 June. Laboratory tests were positive for H5N1 virus…
Jatropha, a wild plant that grows well in dry areas on degraded lands and can be processed into biofuel, has potential as a low-cost energy source for poor farmers, according to a new United Nations report, which adds that further research is still needed on this crop.
More than 200,000 buildings in Haiti have been assessed for structural damage after January's massive earthquake as part of United Nations-backed efforts to boost reconstruction activities in the Caribbean country.
The United Nations and the Stop TB Partnership have agreed to step up joint efforts to halve by 2015 the number of people living with HIV who die from tuberculosis, which accounts for a quarter of all deaths among those living with the virus.
The Department of Environmental Protection today ordered Coventry Mart of 1453 S. Hanover St., North Coventry Township, to close until further notice, citing ongoing concerns over diesel fuel contaminating ...