Major New Andes Tunnel Turns Back on Volcano

A new system of tunnels at the Alto de La Línea mountain pass in Colombia’s central Cordillera mountain range will open up a key logistics route for this country and neighbouring Venezuela. But it could be overcome by disaster if the Machín volcano erupts.

Food Recognized as Basic Human Right

Food, as a basic human right, helps citizens and courts hold governments accountable for violations or victimisation that results in hunger, said Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.

Global Migration Needs Better Governance, Says U.N. Expert

In a new report on migration released here, a U.N. expert says there is an urgent need for better global migration governance and a strengthened institutional framework.

Mongolia’s Wild Asses Cornered From All Sides

Decades of international and local collaboration have brought the Tahki or Asian Wild Horse back from the brink of extinction and reintroduced herds to Mongolia’s Gobi desert and grasslands. However, the country’s other wild equine – the Mongolian Wild Ass or Khulan – is fast disappearing.

“One Day in There Is Like 100 Years”

“It’s just like a prison. One day in there is like 100 years,” says Jennifer, a 35-year-old Nigerian woman, describing what her aunt went through in the Immigrant Detention Centre (CIE) in this city in southern Spain before she was deported.

India Illegal Mining Enquiry Cut Short

A nationwide enquiry into illegal mining in India was aborted before it completed its investigation into the failings of the country’s mining industry. The study had prompted the government to ban mining in two states and arrest high-ranking politicians.

Democratic Participation Should be Key Element in Post-2015 Agenda

The United Nations and the international community have been urged to make democratic participation a key element  in the U.N.’s post-2015 economic agenda.

U.S. Drone Strikes May Amount to War Crimes

The U.S. government has been engaged in unlawful drone strikes in Pakistan that are in violation of international law, and may amount to war crimes, according to a new report released here by Amnesty International on Tuesday.

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.

No Mention of GMOs on World Food Day

This year, thousands of people around the globe are marking World Food Day in a spirit of somber reflection. With 860 million people going hungry every year, the question of how to feed the planet’s population has never been more pressing.

U.N. Chief Hopes to make Headway with Special Coordinator for Syria

U.N.  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as a Special Coordinator of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Mission to eliminate the stockpile of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.

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.

Weaving Next Generation of Female Role Models

Guadalupe and other women in the indigenous village of Teotitlán de Valle, high up in the mountains of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, are empowering their daughters to live different lives from their own.

U.N. Celebrates the “Backbone” of Humankind

On any given, one in every eight people on this planet wakes to the sharp pangs of hunger and no hope of a meal. In total, 860 million people go hungry every year.

Social & Political Transformation via Young People’s Participation

Latin America and the Caribbean has around 156 million people aged 15 to 29 years, which means that 26 percent of its population is young.

Sicilian Town Opposes U.S. Transmitters

Niscemi, with its 30,000 local residents and its white houses, is a typical southern Sicilian town. But it stands out not only for its ancient cork forest, but also for the Naval Radio Transmitter Facility located within the protected forest itself.