Conserving marine resources takes centre stage this week at the first-ever Ocean Conference being held at UN Headquarters in New York. Dianne Penn recently travelled to Trinidad and Tobago and learned how a group called Nature Seekers, which has received UN funding, is protecting leatherback turtles which previously were butchered for their meat or even [...]

An Aboriginal Australian behind an exhibit at the United Nations has been using his art to sound the alarm over abandoned fishing nets. Sid Bruce Short Joe from the remote Cape York community of Pormpuraaw takes these so-called "ghost nets" that wash up on the beach near his home and sculpts fish and other sea [...]

The new Oceans Advocate, globally-acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Cody Simpson, learned how to swim before he could walk. Cody took on his new role to help raise awareness of the ocean's importance in the health of the planet and people. He was appointed on 8 June, World Oceans Day, during the United Nations' first Ocean conference [...]

40,000 Raqqa children in line of fire as Syria fighting intensifies – UNICEF An estimated 100,000 people are trapped in the Syrian city of Raqqa, 40,000 of them children, the UN warned on Friday. At least 25 children have been reportedly killed and dozens more hurt in the ISIL stronghold, according to the UN Children's [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Dianne Penn and Daniel Johnson. In today's programme … On patrol with a group protecting nesting turtles in Trinidad and Tobago; And … An aboriginal artist sounds the alarm on the ravages caused by abandoned fishing nets;  

During a recent visit to the Central African Republic (CAR), a senior UN official heard "passionate demands" for an end to impunity in the country. The Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Andrew Gilmour, said people there were "desperate" for an end to their "tormented history". Progress has been made in securing the country, largely because [...]

To mark the UN Ocean Conference, one African recycling company, has been raising awareness of marine , together with UN agencies on the Kenyan coast this week. Sam Ngaruiya, is Chief Executive of the recycling company, Regeneration Africa, and he's been down at the beach in the coastal town of Watamu, talking to Newton Kanhema [...]

A growing movement aimed at getting Londoners to stop using throw-away plastic bottles has joined forces with the United Nations to save the ocean. The UN-backed #OneLess campaign is distributing free water bottles to diplomats and participants of the UN Ocean conference in New York. Some 8 million tons of plastic pour into the oceans [...]

Gabon to create vast network of protected marine areas in Africa Gabon has announced a bold new initiative to conserve the "incredible natural treasures" of its coastal waters, Lee White, the Director of Gabon's National Parks confirmed on Tuesday. Speaking on the margins of the United Nations Ocean Conference, he said the network would include [...]

Iran parliament attack "barbaric and cowardly:" UN Security Council The deadly terrorist attack on Iran's parliament on Wednesday has been condemned in the strongest terms by the UN Security Council. At least 50 people were killed when suicide bombers and gunmen launched a twin assault on the building and the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum, both in [...]