The United Nations Population Fund organized a high-level meeting in Istanbul this week, calling attention to the economic benefit of supporting family planning and the rights of women. The meeting focused on the challenges that face Central Asia and Eastern Europe as the countries in the regions try to meet the Millennium Development goals that relate to maternal mortality.
In the wake of the financial crisis, the number of people worldwide who do not have enough to eat has topped a billion. However, a new report, Pathways to Success (pdf), by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests that there is positive news in the battle against hunger.
In 31 of the 79 countries that the FAO monitors, there has been a "notable decline" in the number of undernourished people between 1991 and 2005. How? The report notes four trends:
I headed up to the UN yesterday for the Dag Hammarskjold Scholarship Fund for Journalists and Inspiration Award luncheon. As the event’s name would suggest, the lunch served two purposes. First, it honored four recipients of the aforementioned fellowship, which is a program of the UN Correspondents Association that funds reporting projects for four journalists from the developing world during a ten week stint at the UN. (The UN Foundation is a sponsor).
As the clock ticks down to next month's Copenhagen climate conference, environmental activists have their eyes on key world leaders whose decisions on whether to attend the conference could make or break the prospects for a binding international treaty. This week, two of those leaders have provided insights into their intentions.
It's Veterans' Day here in the United States, and Armistice Day in much of Europe. This is a day to remember the human toll of war on those who fight it even as, in the words of the UN charter, we seek to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind."
The AP is reporting that President Obama will nominate Rajiv Shah, a medical doctor and former official at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who currently serves as Undersecretary for Research, Education and Economics at the US Department of Agriculture, to be USAID Administrator. The pick is somewhat of a surprise.
I don't know what's more sad - to actually hear about this news, or that I wasn't too surprised to hear it. In its first-ever study done on women's global health, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women aged 15 to 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing nations: