Dr. Al Qassim: “The success of a society relies on its ability to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls”

The Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue H. E. Dr. Hanif Hassan Ali Al Qassim calls for the elimination of all forms of violence adversely affecting women and girls. Dr. Al Qassim’s appeal was made in relation to the observation of the 2017 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Foreign Investment Expands in Cuba…Despite Everything

“Maybe many of us thought that this project was a dream six years ago, but not anymore. The geography has completely changed, because of everything that has been built and the investments that have been approved," said Nathaly Suárez, director of Construction Management at the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM).

Combating Climate Change? Combat Land Degradation, Says UNCCD Chief

Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also stresses that by 2050, the world population will reach 10 billion. To feed that extra 2.4 billion, current food production would need to be increased by 75 percent.

New Study Concludes Europe’s Mediterranean Border Remains ‘World’s Deadliest’

IOM, the UN Migration Agency’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), today (24/11) released a new report reviewing the evidence of Four Decades of Cross-Mediterranean Undocumented Migration to Europe and concludes that Europe’s Mediterranean border is “by far the world’s deadliest.”

Will DNA Data Base Deter Sexual Abuse at UN?

The United Nations is fighting a losing battle against the widespread – and continued – sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by UN peacekeepers and civilian staff resulting in relatively few convictions amidst daunting problems in tracking abusers and nailing down paternity claims.

Conservative Onslaught Undermines Gender Advances in Latin America

A "conservative and fundamentalist onslaught" in Latin America against a supposed "gender ideology" is jeopardising advances in the fight against violence towards women, feminist activists complain.

A Cop Out at COP23?

Despite a few victories, the UN’s annual climate change conference ended without achieving its goals or injecting a sense of much needed urgency.

Why UN’s Global Compact on Refugees Must Address Needs of Young People

An estimated seven million refugees – about one-third of the global refugee population – are between 10 and 24 years old, yet this demographic is often overlooked in humanitarian and development responses. At a critical time in their lives, these young refugees experience the stress of displacement, which can impact their future development and success.

Violence: Unending Woes of Indian Women

The statistics are chilling. As many as 2.24 million crimes against women were reported over the past decade: 26 crimes against women are reported every hour, or one complaint every two minutes. As chilling as these statistics are, they don’t reflect the gory details.

IsDB and AfDB partner to boost agriculture and fight drought in Africa

A joint initiative of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and African Development Bank (AfDB) will boost agriculture value chains and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda.

Violence Against Women is Fundamentally About Power

Every woman and every girl has the right to a life free of violence. Yet this rupture of human rights occurs in a variety of ways in every community. It particularly affects those who are most marginalized and most vulnerable.

Young African Migrants Reroute their Dreams

When you are young, you dream big. Prospects abound and all seems be possible. In West Africa, dreams drive many young men and women out of their homes and away from their loved ones in search for better opportunities.

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Vanuatu: Learning to Grow

It’s been dry in Isavai on the island of Aniwa for last couple of years – ever since Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu in March 2015, leaving an El Nino-induced drought in its wake. A dry phase is bad news for farmers anywhere, but in Aniwa, where there is no constant water source and the only water supply comes almost exclusively from harvesting rain into tanks, it’s disastrous.

A Life Without the Threat of Violence for Everyone: Leave no One Behind

The initial response to the outpouring of ‘#MeToo’ around the world has been of outrage at the scale of sexual abuse and violence revealed. The millions of people joining the hashtag tide showed us how little they were heard before. They poured through the floodgate, opening up conversations, naming names and bolstering the frailty of individual statements with the robustness of a movement.

Taxi Company Empowers Women on Mumbai’s Bustling Streets

Jahhavi Kshsarter pulls out on to the Western Express Highway, careful to avoid the swarm of cars, lorries and motorbikes zipping past. She is one of 65 women employed by an all-female taxi company in Mumbai.

Goodbye Mugabe, Hello New Zimbabwe?

Robert Mugabe - the world’s oldest head of state - is dead, politically at least.

IOM Joins UN SG in Call to End Libya Migrant Slave Trade

IOM, the United Nations Migration agency, welcomes the remarks Monday of UN Secretary General António Guterres concerning recent news reports and video footage showing African migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves. This statement, along with recent engagement by Libyan authorities to tackle criminality and curb the power of the smugglers, encourages IOM that progress will be made, indeed is increasing.

Coping with Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly touted as the elixir for economic growth. While not against FDI, the mid-2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) for financing development also cautioned that it “is concentrated in a few sectors in many developing countries and often bypasses countries most in need, and international capital flows are often short-term oriented”.

Keeping the Spotlight on Violence against Women and Girls

As cases of sexual harassment and assault continue to come to light every day, a different campaign to end such violence wants to keep the spotlight shining.

For Africa to Root out Modern Day Slave Trade, Youth Empowerment Is Crucial

If the thought of a man armed with a rifle and driving with whips a group of African men, women, and children to sell them at a slave market makes you marvel at what kind of greed motivated such revolting barbarity centuries ago, the shocking truth is that we are witnessing a 21st century repeat of that abhorrent practice on African soil.

UN Agency Defers Action Cutting Ties to Tobacco Industry

Back in November 2008, the 193-member General Assembly decided, by consensus, to ban smoking and tobacco sales at the UN headquarters in New York: a ruling observed by all affiliated agencies worldwide, including the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) which has severed links with the tobacco industry.