UN – United Nations

While this year’s United Nations General Assembly has wrapped up, the words of global leaders, experts, advocates, and citizens that have filled newspaper columns, Tweet decks, and television broadcasts will continue to resonate. 2014 was one momentous agenda, as the world struggles with terrorism, multiple conflict and humanitarian crises, and the deadly Ebola outbreak. Add to that the pressing issue of climate change and the ongoing process to make progress on the Millennium Development Goals […]

As you start your week, catch up on the important news you may have missed last week. Here are three important stories from the United Nations. UN opens Ebola response emergency mission The UN has deployed its first-ever emergency health mission as part of itsefforts to bring the Ebola epidemic under control. Racing against the clock, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) will bring together and optimize efforts on the ground in Liberia,

By Jordie Hannum, Executive Director of the Better World Campaign  Great news – we recently had another key victory on behalf of LGBT rights at the United Nations! At the end of September, the UN’s top human rights body, the Human Rights Council, adopted the second-ever resolution on LGBT rights – making a global statement on equality. Because of the broad diverse membership of the Council, this resolution will have more impact than if just

By Amber Mayfield, UN Foundation Public Affairs Intern “Now is the time for a robust and united effort to stop the outbreak. The world can and must stop Ebola – now.” – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon To spearhead its response to the Ebola outbreak raging in West Africa, the United Nations recently launched the first-ever emergency health mission, theUnited Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, known as UNMEER. UNMEER is headquartered in Accra, Ghana,

Around 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 has experienced sexual violence according to data from the United Nations. Every year, approximately 15 million girls are married as children. Millions more are denied their right to go to school, plan their families, and pursue their potential. These girls deserve better. They have the right to live free from violence and to shape their own futures – it’s time they had the chance. On

The 26th of September was World Contraception Day. To draw attention to it, the United Nations released country-level data on trends in contraceptive use rates as well as in the unmet need for family planning. These data are very useful as initiatives like Family Planning 2020 gather momentum and countries get down to actually formulating policies to satisfy half or more of the current unmet need for family planning. But they are also very useful

As the week winds down, in case you missed them, we are sharing three important stories from the United Nations this week: 1. UN Calls for Greater Global Response to Ebola As the UN continues to ramp up its response to the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa through its “UN Mission for Emergency Ebola Response,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the global community to do more. At a special meeting on Ebola at the

Independence: it’s what we all want for children everywhere. We hope they’ll have the chance to grow up healthy, go to school, and have every opportunity to reach their full potential. Above all, we want our children to count. Many of us take it for granted, but receiving a birth certificate is crucial for all of this. When you’re counted on the day that you’re born, it’s the first step toward accessing all the opportunities

Editor’s Note: In March, we featured the blog post below on one of the world’s silent killers: dangerous smoke from traditional cookstoves. On Tuesday, October 21, from 10:30am-11:30am ET, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and partners will hold a Twitter chat to raise awareness of the power of clean cooking solutions to improve health and save lives. We hope you will join the chat using hashtag #cookstoves and learn more about the upcoming Cookstoves