Tanzania’s Coastal Communities Forced to Drink Seawater

The freshwater drinking supply of the coastal town of Pangani in northeast Tanzania is becoming increasingly contaminated as salt water steadily seeps in from the Indian Ocean.

U.N. Plans 70th Anniversary Celebrations in 2015

As the United Nations plans to celebrate its 70^th anniversary next year, the Department of Public Information (DPI) will be exhibiting some of the organization’s rarely-seen and wide-encompassing collection of films and videos, campaign posters and photographs.

UNAIDS Book Launch Triggers Controversy

A planned book launch on HIV and human rights has been mired in controversy. The book is titled “Legal and Policy Perspectives on HIV and Human Rights in the Caribbean” and is co-edited by Sir George Alleyne and Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine.

Conflicts Over Water Rise in Tanzania

Conflicts over water are increasing in the sprawling Pangani River Basin in northeastern Tanzania as farmers and herders jostle for dwindling water resources in the face of climate change.

New Tools to Help Improve Treatment of Women Prisoners

A toolbox, defined as a range of resources to help implement the “Bangkok rules” on the treatment of women, was launched at a meeting here last week.

Groups Target Food Waste to Eliminate Hunger

If all food loss and waste around the world could be recovered, half the world’s population, or 3.5 billion people, could be fed. Yet people throw away a third of food produced globally, an issue that inspired the theme of these year’s World Food Day, sustainable food systems for food security and nutrition.

Activists Struggle to Recover Human Rights Archives

Some 50,000 files on crimes against humanity are languishing in an undisclosed location in El Salvador, prey to damp and the ravages of time, while activists and lawyers frantically try to regain control over them.

Swat Not at Peace With Malala

Back in Swat Valley in Pakistan where she comes from, Malala Yousafzai who had been tipped to win the Nobel peace prize this year, has not only left behind more girls in school now than there were a year ago but also large numbers of people who are now distanced – and even hostile – to her.

UN Pledges Support for International Migrants

At a two-day high level dialogue on migration and development, member states adopted a Declaration calling for respect for human rights and international labour standards.

“Turn your back on division and hatred,” says U.N. Chief

The United Nations commemorated International Day of Non-Violence with a tribute to one of the world’s best known proponents of non-violence:  the late Mahatma Gandhi of India.

G-15 Calls for Heightened South-South Cooperation

The G-15 foreign ministers, meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly last week, renewed their commitment for enhanced engagement and cooperation among themselves, as well as with the relevant Geneva-based institutions. Their primary focus was on newly emerging areas of cooperation in step with the evolving post-2015 development agenda.

Alliance of Civilizations Seeks Global Harmony for Development & Prosperity

Speaking at the annual UNAOC ministerial meeting on “Global Harmony for Development and Prosperity”,  Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the U.N.  High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations said  that without global harmony, as enunciated in the U.N. charter, “the development and prosperity that our nations deserve will be difficult to achieve. “

Latin America Stirs the Marijuana Pot

In Latin America, where marijuana is the most widely consumed illegal drug, there is basically no home-grown research into its effects and properties. But possible legalisation in Uruguay and the Mexican capital could open the door to new studies.

Minorities & Indigenous Peoples Suffer More ill-Health & Poorer Quality of Care

Minorities and indigenous peoples suffer more ill-health and receive poorer quality of care, says a new report from an international rights organisation.

U.S. Citizens’ Rights Will Not Be Affected Despite Arms Trade Treaty, Says Kerry

At a treaty-signing ceremony Wednesday, 17 member states were the latest signatories to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), bringing the total to 107.

Sponsor a University Student in Spain

Adopt a tree. Adopt a polar bear. Sponsor a child in a poor country. The concept has caught on in Spain’s troubled academic system and now people and companies can sponsor a university student.

Millions Still Awaiting Education in Conflict Zones

The warning came from world leaders, international organisations and civil society: that 28.5 million children in countries affected by conflict are still being denied access to learning – and that they must not be made to wait any longer for an education.

Asian-Pacific Countries Adopt Ground Breaking Agenda on Population, Development and Rights

A regional ministerial meeting of Asian and Pacific governments last week declared that gender equality and sexual and reproductive rights are indispensable to sustainable development and must be a key part of the post-2015 development framework.

Killers Roam Free in Nepal

When the police finally arrested a man this month in the Nepali capital for the murder of a teenager nine years ago, it became a matter of life and death for Nanda Prasad Adhikari and his wife Ganga Maya.

Trinidad Cracks Down on Destructive Shrimp Trawling

Dianne Christian Simmons recalls the days when she would head out with her husband on fishing expeditions in the Gulf of Paria, a 3,000-square-mile shallow inland sea between Trinidad and Tobago and the east coast of Venezuela.

Free Lunches Come at an Environmental Cost

In spite of India’s much-publicised national renewable energy policy as part of its international commitments to reduce carbon emissions, its Mid Day Meal (MDM) Scheme, the world’s largest school lunch programme, has no energy conservation or even a fuel policy in its workings. Approximately 120 million children in 12.65 million schools around the country get a hot, cooked meal at lunch time every day.