United Nations news

Delegates from 42 countries in Africa, which along with Asia is the most vulnerable continent to disasters, kicked off a United Nations-backed meeting in Nairobi today to discuss ways to make their communities and citizens safer.
Over 700,000 people in Africa have been killed, and more than 300 million others affected, over the past 30 years by more than 1,800 disasters, according to the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).

The second Africa Ministerial Conference

Wednesday 15th October marked the first ever Global Handwashing Day, celebrated in over 70 countries across five continents in an effort to mobilize and motivate millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. Handwashing with soap is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal disease and pneumonia, which together are responsible for approximately 3.5 million child deaths every year.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 the International Year o

Government, business and civil society leaders gathered at the United Nations last week to launch a global campaign to reduce malaria deaths, currently at more than 1 million each year, to near zero by 2015, with an initial commitment of nearly a US$3bn. The Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) aims to cuts deaths and illness by 2010 to half their 2000 levels by scaling up access to insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying and treatment, and achieve the near-zero goal through sustained univers

African health and environment ministers attending a United Nations-sponsored conference which concluded this week in Gabon have agreed to form an alliance to try to reduce environmental threats to human health and well-being. The Libreville Declaration, named after the Gabonese capital where the four-day conference was held, commits governments in the region to take measures to stimulate the necessary policy, investment and institutional changes so that synergies between health, environment and

Asia-Pacific is likely to continue to see strong economic growth this year, despite uncertainties posed by a slowing United States economy, according to a new United Nations report.
 
“Key Economic Developments and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region 2008” – published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) – states that the region’s resilience will be underpinned by strong growth in China and India and high commodity prices.

“Asia P