The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and UN Women join forces for gender equality

  The agreement will provide a strong framework for UNODC and UN Women to work together to strengthen joint efforts in promoting gender equality and meeting the specific needs of women and girls when addressing the world drug problem; implementing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda; countering gender-based violence, organized crime, corruption, and terrorism; and strengthening crime prevention and building effective criminal justice systems. Recognizing the different ways in which women are affected by violence, corruption and other crimes is an essential step towards devising more effective strategies to achieve…

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UN calls for a war on garbage

The planet is literally drowning in garbage, and it is high time to clean up, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said last week, at an event in the General Assembly Hall marking the first-ever International Day of Zero Waste. The high-level meeting was held to raise awareness of the urgent need to transition to a “green” and circular economy that promotes sustainable production and consumption patterns. The move could save governments billions and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. Tweet URL Humanity currently generates more than two billion tonnes of municipal…

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UN launches $1 billion appeal to scale-up aid operations in Türkiye

The United Nations has launched a $1 billion appeal for Türkiye to assist more than five million people affected by the cataclysmic earthquakes recently, the largest to hit the country in a century. The funding, which covers a three-month-period, will allow aid organizations to swiftly ramp up their operations to support Government-led response efforts in areas that include food security, protection, education, water and shelter.    Tweet URL UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to step up and fully fund the response effort.  “Türkiye is home to the…

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‘Urgent need’ for more accountability from social media giants to curb hate speech: UN experts

In a detailed statement, more than two dozen UN-appointed independent human rights experts – including representatives from three different working groups and multiple Special Rapporteurs – called out chief executives by name, saying that the companies they lead “must urgently address posts and activities that advocate hatred, and constitute incitement to discrimination, in line with international standards for freedom of expression.” Tweet URL Time to change They said the new tech billionaire owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai, who heads Google’s parent company Alphabet, Apple’s Tim…

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Is it possible to be a ‘sustainable tourist’? 12 ways to make a positive impact on your travels

After a period of plummeting tourism numbers during the pandemic, tourism is having a resurgence. This is good news for many workers and businesses, but it could be bad for the planet. The UN have released a selection of ways tourists can ensure that their holidays don’t harm the environment. There are many positive aspects to tourism. Around two billion people travel each year for tourism purposes. Travel and tourism connect people and bring the world closer through shared experiences, cultural awareness and community building. It provides jobs, spurs regional…

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