Approximately one in 10 people worldwide suffered from a mental disorder over the past year, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported. Supporting those going through this ordeal is the goal of World Mental Health Day, observed annually on 10 October. The theme this year focusses on how first-line responders such as police officers, firefighters [...]

A new app has been developed by a young entrepreneur in Ghana, which allows patients in remote areas to "see" a doctor, over their mobile phone. At present, there is less than one doctor for every 5,000 people in the West African country. But Raindolf Owusu hopes that his BISA app will help close the [...]

The struggle of indigenous communities in the face of climate change is the theme of The Anthropologist, a movie which was screened recently at the UN Office in Vienna. The film is told through the perspectives of the daughters of two renowned women anthropologists: the late Margaret Mead, who popularized the discipline in the United [...]

Music and the arts are a potential "money pot" for all countries, especially in the developing world. That's according to World Bank consultant, Patrick Kabanda, who adds that a country's cultural wealth presents a huge development opportunity, and engine for "social progress". The passionate music fan from Uganda is writing a book on the role [...]

The global aviation industry has reached a "historic" deal to cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, a senior official with the UN's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has said. The deal in Montreal, Canada follows the entry into force this week of the UN-led climate change accord, known as the Paris Agreement, in which [...]

Peacekeepers from the UN mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, are supporting efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to scores of people affected by Hurricane Matthew. The storm barrelled through the Caribbean nation on Tuesday and the UN says more than 350,000 people require assistance while some news agencies are putting the death toll at over 800. Haiti [...]

A Ugandan man who lived for more than 18 years on death row says it's "not easy to forgive", in his own words, "everybody who participated in my suffering." But that's exactly what Edward Mpagi has been able to do, taking his call for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, all the way to [...]

Some communities in the south of Haiti have been totally destroyed as a result of the hurricane which swept over the Caribbean nation on Tuesday; that's according to the UN humanitarian office, OCHA. Media reports put the number of dead due to Hurricane Matthew at up to 800 people. Around 1.2 million have been affected [...]

'Lack of awareness of legal remedies, complex court procedures and financial constraints are some of the issues women face in accessing justice. This is according to a UN official from Nepal. Sudhir Bhattrai, Under Secretary, in Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke at an event at UN headquarters,  on developing a 'Transformational Approach' to ensure [...]

A new marketing label has been launched which the UN hopes will help sustainable mountain goods to stand out from the crowd. The label will be granted to products that support "local biodiversity" and production methods that are traditional to mountain communities across the world. It's an initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [...]