Category Archives: News

Dire Need For Medical System and Social Infrastructure to Support Immunisation and Preventative HealthCare

USD 10.7 million response and recovery appeal launched.

Last week the Government of Samoa mandated the United Nations to assist the development of a national appeal in response to the rapidly spreading epidemic

Prior and since the start of the outbreak, the UN has been supporting the Government through its Ministry of Health in providing technical health support in vaccination and medical supplies.

The UN is also supporting the community response campaign led by the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health to better inform the communities about vaccination, hygiene, caring for measles patients and preventing measles infection. Equally important are messages on reproductive health – as well as options for women of reproductive age receiving vaccinations and psychosocial first aid initiatives to help families that are dealing with the loss of a loved one due to measles. More

More News:
UN team aids Samoa response to deadly measles epidemic : audio interview with Simona Marinescu, the UN Resident Coordinator in Samoa who discusses the developments and plans for long-term recovery with Julia Dean from the UN Information Centre in Canberra, Samoa, 6 December.

UN team aids Samoa response to deadly measles epidemic

UN teams are on the ground in Samoa as the country combats a deadly measles epidemic. So far, there have been more than 4,200 cases and 62 deaths, mainly babies, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency on 15 November and launch a mass vaccination campaign five days later. More

Decade Ending 2019 Likely To Be Hottest On Record – More Climate Action Needed

Exceptional global heat driven by greenhouse gas emissions mean this decade will most likely go down as the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) which released its provisional statement on the State of the Global Climate on Tuesday.

“If we do not take urgent climate action now, then we are heading for a temperature increase of more than 3°C by the end of the century, with ever more harmful impacts on human wellbeing”, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Signals Of Hope Multiplying In Face Of Global Climate Crisis Insists UN Chief Guterres

The UN Secretary-General has outlined the “increased ambition and commitment” that the world needs from governments during the coming days of the COP25 UN climate change conference which opens in Madrid on Monday, calling for “accountability, responsibility and leadership” to end the global climate crisis. More:

International Day Of Solidarity With the Palestinian People

The United Nations has underlined its unwavering commitment to the Palestinian people in their ongoing struggle to achieve self-determination, independence and sovereignty.

Senior officials joined ambassadors and other representatives from the international community in New York on Wednesday to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, officially observed each year on 29 November.

Established in 1977, it marks the day in 1947 when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning Palestine into an Arab State and a Jewish State. More

World On Course For More Than 3 Degree Spike

Even if countries meet commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world is heading for a 3.2 degrees Celsius global temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, leading to even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts, warns a report from the UN Environment Programme, released on Tuesday.

The annual Emissions Gap Report, which compares where greenhouse gas emissions are heading, versus where they need to be, shows that emissions need to fall by 7.6 per cent each year over the next decade, if the world is to get back on track towards the goal of limiting temperature rises to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius. More

A staggering one-in-three women experience physical, sexual abuse

Violence against women and girls is among the most widespread, and devastating human rights violations in the world, but much it is often unreported due to impunity, shame and gender inequality, the UN highlighted ahead of Monday’s World Day to stamp out abuse of women and girls. More

Young activists do the talking as UN marks World Children’s Day

Children were both seen and heard in the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, World Children’s Day, during a celebration to commemorate 30 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that protects the rights of Children. Goodwill Ambassador with the UN Children’s Fund Millie Bobby Brown said “young people don’t want to be talked about. We want to do the talking”. More

Brisbane To Host Major Asia/Pacific Ministerial Disaster Risk Reduction Conference in 2020

Next year for the first time the Asia Pacific’s major ministerial-level conference on disaster risk reduction will be held in the Pacific region in partnership with the Australia Government.

We asked the Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction in the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms Mami Mizutori how the 2020 Asia-pacific ministerial conference on disaster risk reduction in Brisbane, will contribute to the much-needed acceleration towards risk informed development.