Only female contingent commander in South Sudan heads new hospital project in Bentiu "Women are still a minority in most of the armed forces around the world; and in some ways, that is a privileged position." That's the view of Lieutenant Colonel Katie Hislop of the United Kingdom who is the only female commander at [...]

Exposure to chemical waste is possibly the biggest cause of disease and death worldwide – and it affects children and minority groups the most, a UN human rights expert said on Thursday. Baskut Tuncak, who's a Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances, said that billions of people find themselves on the wrong side of this "toxic [...]

UNICEF delivers supplies to Rohingya children in Bangladesh Emergency water, sanitation and hygiene supplies are being delivered to support thousands of Rohingya children in Bangladesh, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced on Thursday. The agency's trucks are delivering the items to the south-eastern city of Cox's Bazar, representing the first wave of supplies in an [...]

Listen to our daily bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, presented by Dianne Penn. In today's programme a new alliance seeks to advance women and girls in innovation and technology;  and we hear how the return of displaced people to the city of Wau in South Sudan could serve as a model [...]

The innovation and technology sector holds "huge opportunities for women," said to become more tangible with a new alliance aimed at advancing women and girls in the field. That's the assessment of Fiona Bayat-Renoux, leader of innovation at UN Women, which on Thursday launched the Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC). The coalition is comprised [...]

UN Office on Drugs and Crime celebrates 20 years Helping justice take root is essential for preventing conflict, promoting international peace and security, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. That was the message delivered by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a video message on Thursday commemorating the 20th anniversary of the UN Office on Drugs [...]

Listen to our daily bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, presented by Ana Carmo. In today's programme the head of the newly-created UN Counter-Terrorism Office tells us geographical balance and gender equality will be essential to its success; and, we hear from a world poetry champion who is drawing attention to the [...]

Emtithal (Emi) Mahmoud writes poetry to draw attention to the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, as well as the global refugee crisis. The Sudanese poet, who currently lives in the United States, recently visited El Fasher, Darfur. Brought up in the region – which has suffered years of conflict – she left Sudan as a [...]

  States "reticent" at tackling global enforced disappearances crisis "Thousands and thousands of people" are victims of enforced disappearance around the world and the number shows no signs of falling, a UN human rights panel said on Wednesday. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances also said that an increasing number of armed groups with State [...]

New film by photographer Rankin and UNICEF highlights the plight of children uprooted Renowned fashion photographer and director Rankin has joined forces with the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, to create a 60-second film highlighting the plight of children uprooted by war, poverty and disaster. The thought-provoking video urges people to see past the refugee and [...]