Allegations of grave human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) should face a high-level international probe, the UN Human Rights chief said on Wednesday. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein's announcement at the Human Rights Council in Geneva follows the discovery of new mass graves there. Elsewhere in Africa, Zeid condemned horrific violence [...]

Young democracies are doing better at enhancing women's representation in parliament than the established democracies of Europe, Martin Chungong, the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), has said. IPU released its flagship report, "Women in Parliament in 2016: The year in review," ahead of International Women's Day on 8 March, calling for renewed momentum [...]

Women in rural areas can play an important role in fighting hunger and malnutrition and poverty, a senior official with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said. Brave Disale, Director of FAO's Social Policies and Rural Institutions Division, has been speaking to Muriel Sarr ahead of International Women's Day. In developing countries, women make [...]

The internet could provide an "easy, accessible and cheap" way for millions of women to make a living and promote equality, one influential digital entrepreneur believes. Xenia Tchoumi promotes fashion online to more than seven million people; she says that if more women had access online, the impact could be "massive". For International Women's Day, [...]

Working as a female journalist in Afghanistan "is not easy" because it's not safe, but many girls still decide to do it. That's what Sadaf Ahamdi, a member of the Afghan Women Journalists Union told Shamsuddin Hamedi of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA. Ms Ahamdi was speaking with Mr Hamedi to mark International Women's [...]

Unless public health systems improve, women will continue to suffer disproportionately from changes in the climate. That's because women often undertake caring roles within their communities with little external support, Dr Nata Menabde, Executive Director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) New York office, told Lucy Dean. In times of climate related crises, the physical [...]

Somalia: action needed urgently to avoid famine, says OCHA Action is needed urgently to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia, where drought has left more than six million people in need of help. The appeal comes from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who's been visiting the country. OCHA, the UN's agency that coordinates humanitarian aid, says [...]

Listen to a bulletin of news and features from the United Nations, with Jocelyne Sambira and Dianne Penn. In today's programme: the world can avoid a tragedy in Somalia, the UN chief urges; and girls in Afghanistan are making their voices heard by becoming journalists.

A severe drought is currently placing Somalia on the brink of famine but "there is a chance to avoid the worse" the UN Secretary-General has warned. Antonio Guterres visited the African country on Tuesday in an effort to shed light on the crisis in the country and to ask the global community to support the [...]

The world can avoid a tragedy in Somalia like the one that happened in 2011, the UN Secretary-General urged on Tuesday, in reference to a famine that was concentrated in the south-central part of the country at the time. Briefing the press in Baidoa, in south-central Somalia, António Guterres appealed for US $ 825 million [...]