Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN labour agency warned Wednesday that gradual progress toward parity between the sexes in the workplace was expected to soon grind to a halt and could even reverse. “On average around the world, women remain much less likely to participate in the labour market than …
Read More »UN offers to help advance North Korea talks
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations on Tuesday welcomed plans for a summit between North and South Korean leaders and said it was ready to help advance talks on ending the crisis over Pyongyang’s drive to develop nuclear weapons. “Obviously, we are encouraged by these discussions,” said …
Read More »Mali insecurity continues, migrating to country’s center: UN
United Nations, United States | AFP | Insecurity in Mali “continues to rage” and is progressing toward the center of the country, according to an interim UN report. Members of Plateforme, an armed pro-government coalition, and the CMA rebel alliance, who were signatories to a 2015 peace deal, are seeing …
Read More »UN concedes training ‘gaps’ after DR Congo deaths
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations on Friday conceded that an attack that killed 15 peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo late last year exposed “gaps” in how UN troops are trained. The December 7 attack in the Beni territory of North Kivu province was …
Read More »Aid convoy blocked in Syria despite UN ceasefire order: official
United Nations, United States | AFP | About 40 trucks are loaded and ready to ferry relief supplies to Syria’s bomb-and-siege shattered Eastern Ghouta, but there has been no let up in fighting despite a UN ceasefire resolution, a top UN official said Wednesday. Mark Lowcock, the UN under secretary-general for …
Read More »Six aid workers killed in C. Africa
Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Unknown attackers have killed six humanitarian workers including one from the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF in the northwest of the Central African Republic, the UN said Wednesday. The world body’s Minusca mission “condemned the attack which led to the death of the …
Read More »North Korea vows sanctions will ‘never work’
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | North Korea told a United Nations disarmament forum on Tuesday that sanctions over its nuclear programme would “never work”, as it voiced further defiance against President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign. The “US should (be) aware that sanctions and pressure will never threaten (North Korea) and …
Read More »Donors conference set for March for UN Palestinian agency
United Nations, United States | AFP | A donors’ conference will be held next month to help fill a funding gap at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees caused by the US decision to cut support, Sweden’s deputy UN ambassador said Tuesday. The March 15 conference in Rome, hosted by Sweden, …
Read More »Kabila agrees to UN chief’s request to visit DR Congo
United Nations, United States | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has agreed to a request from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit his country ahead of elections later this year, the UN spokesman said Tuesday. Guterres wrote to Kabila to propose a joint visit with African …
Read More »UN peacekeepers from Ghana recalled over sex with S. Sudan women
United Nations, United States | AFP | Forty-six UN peacekeepers from Ghana have been recalled from their base in northwestern South Sudan following allegations of sexual exploitation of women sheltering at the site, a UN spokesman said Monday. The 46 police were confined to barracks in Juba on Saturday after a …
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