Protecting girls from forced or underage initiations like female circumcision has always been a focus of Sylvia Blyden, Sierra Leone's Minister of Gender and Social Affairs. She made the remarks on the margins of a disability conference at UN headquarters in New York that was held in June. Sierra Leone is one of the 28 [...]

An alleged call to Qatar to close down a major broadcaster in exchange for the lifting of sanctions would be a "draconian" form of "extra-territorial censorship", a senior UN-appointed rights investigator has said. David Kaye, who's the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, made the comments after it was reported that the demand [...]

  Berlin meeting focuses on development and economic benefits of migration More than 700 policymakers from 140 countries, international organizations, civil society and the private sector are meeting in Berlin this week to discuss ways to leverage the development and economic benefits of migration. Senior UN representatives are also participating in the Global Forum on [...]

All parties to talks on Cyprus should seize an "historic opportunity" to reach an agreement, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday. The message, delivered in Switzerland by Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, came as negotiations resumed over the divided island. Mr Feltman told journalists that several issues needed to be decided but [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Dianne Penn. In today's programme: Girls and boys are missing out on education, the UN deputy chief warns; and Al-Jazeera ultimatum is a "draconian step" of censorship, says rights expert.

So many girls are missing out on education but so are boys, the UN deputy chief said on Wednesday on the margins of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly. Amina Mohammed was a key speaker at the one-day event which brings together education experts from around the world to discuss ways to advance action [...]

UN rights chief worried about civilians in Raqqa The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is gravely concerned about the fate of some 100,000 people caught up in the fight to root the extremist group ISIL, from the Syrian city of Raqqa. In a statement released on Wednesday, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called on all [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Dianne Penn and Jocelyne Sambira. In today’s programme: Cyprus talks are a "unique opportunity" says UN negotiator; and young people are being urged to mobilize support for a nuclear weapon-free world.

The number of suspected cholera cases in Yemen has dropped for the first time as efforts continue to resist the nationwide epidemic that UN agencies have described as the world’s worst outbreak. Dr Ahmed Zouiten, Senior Emergency Adviser at the World Health Organization (WHO), told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday that it is still too [...]

Young people can help mobilize support for a nuclear weapon-free world by spreading the word through social media, according to the head of a UN partner organisation working to end nuclear testing. Lassina Zerbo, Secretary-General of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) was speaking ahead of a meeting which opens on Tuesday and [...]