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International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

26 Jun 2010

Torture is a crime under international law. The prohibition of torture is absolute and unambiguous. Torture cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever, whether during a state of war or in response to terrorism, political instability or any other public emergency. And yet, torture is still practiced or tolerated by many States. Impunity persists for the perpetrators. The victims continue to suffer. The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is an occasion to underscore the internationally-recognized right of all men and women to live free from torture. It is an opp…

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

26 Jun 2010

As we prepare for this September's United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, we must recognize the major impediment to development posed by drug abuse and illicit trafficking. As this year's theme stresses, it is time to "Think Health, Not Drugs". Drug abuse poses significant health challenges. Injecting drug use is a leading cause of the spread of HIV. In some parts of the world, heroin use and HIV have reached epidemic proportions. Drug control - including prevention and measures to reduce the harmful effects of drug use - is therefore an important part of the battle to …

United Nations Public Service Day

23 Jun 2010

On the annual observance of Public Service Day, we pay tribute to public servants everywhere who have improved the lives of others in their communities. Public service is not always an easy career choice to make, but it can be immensely rewarding for the opportunity it offers to get involved in addressing the challenges of our times. In an era of increasingly complex challenges, from climate change to food insecurity and the financial and economic crisis, the world needs its public servants to be more creative and talented than ever. Through this year's United Nations Public Servi…

World Refugee Day

20 Jun 2010

On this observance of World Refugee Day, we must note a troubling trend: the decline in the number of refugees who are able to go home. In 2005, more than a million people returned to their own country on a voluntary basis. Last year, only 250,000 did so - the lowest number in two decades. The reasons for this include prolonged instability in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan. The theme of this year's observance -- "Home" -- highlights the plight of the world's 15 million refugees, more than three-quarters of them in the developing world, who have been uprooted…

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

17 Jun 2010

More than one billion poor and vulnerable people living in the world's drylands, where efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals face particular challenges and thus have lagged behind. Almost three-quarters of rangelands show symptoms of desertification. Over the past 40 years, nearly one third of the world's cropland has become unproductive, often ending up abandoned. The unremitting stress of drought, famine and deepening poverty threatens to create social strains, in turn creating the potential for involuntary migration, the breakdown of communities, political instability and arm…

Challenges and Opportunities for a State Role in the Post-Crisis

15 Jun 2010 | Op-ed

Abstract: The global financial crisis that emerged in developed countries' markets revealed the shortcomings of an economic policy approach which believed in the self-regulation of markets and minimized the role of the State. The post-crisis reality demands a reformulation of the role of the State. Latin America and the Caribbean countries face this challenge in a context of ongoing changes in the world production structure that threaten its position in the global economy. Although many Latin American and Caribbean countries were successful in overcoming the crisis, four key areas of policymak…

World Oceans Day

8 Jun 2010

Oceans play a key role in our daily lives. They are integral to sustainable development and an important frontier for research. As scientists explore the oceans at greater depths than ever before, they continue to discover new forms of marine life. This research has great potential to advance human well-being. But, if we are to fully benefit from what oceans have to offer, we must address the damaging impacts of human activities. The diversity of life in the oceans is under ever-increasing strain. Over-exploitation of marine living resources, climate change, and pollution from hazardous m…

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

18 May 2010

In today's world, telecommunications are more than just a basic service - they are a means to promote development, improve society and save lives. This will be all the more true in the world of tomorrow. The importance of telecommunications was on display in the wake of the earthquake which devastated Haiti earlier this year. Communications technologies were used to coordinate aid, optimize resources and provide desperately sought information about the victims. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and its commercial partners contributed scores of satellite terminals and helped to p…

International Mother Earth Day

22 Apr 2010

Mother Earth - our only home - is under pressure. We are making progressively unreasonable demands on her, and she is showing the strain. For all of human history we have depended on nature's bounty for sustenance, well-being and development. Too often we have drawn on nature's capital without putting back. We are now beginning to see the consequences of failing to safeguard our investment. Climate change and the depleted ozone layer are among the starkest examples. Biological diversity -- the incredible variety of life on Earth that sustains us -- is in rapid dec…

World Health Day 2010

7 Apr 2010

"Urban Health Matters" For the first time in history, more people live in cities and towns than in rural areas. In a parallel trend, the burden of world poverty is also shifting from sparsely populated rural areas to densely populated cities. By mid-century, urban dwellers will count for seven out of every ten people. Most of this explosive growth is occurring in developing countries. Rapid, unplanned urbanization is expanding slums and informal settlements and municipal authorities are struggling to cope. The disparity in people's income, opportunities, living conditions and access to ser…

Sixteenth Commemoration of the Genocide in Rwanda

7 Apr 2010

Today, we observe the sixteenth commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda. We cherish the memory of more than 800,000 innocent people who lost their lives. Our thoughts are also with the survivors, whose haunting testimony woke us to the reality of a tragedy that was all too preventable. The United Nations is fully committed to securing justice for the victims of genocide and to preventing future atrocities. The International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) delivered the first-ever verdicts in relation to genocide by an international court. These and similar actions from the halls of jus…

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

6 Apr 2010

Landmines and explosive remnants of war continue to inflict a terrible toll. These indiscriminate weapons cause grievous injuries and death, hamper reconstruction in post-conflict zones, damage the environment, and are an obstacle to socioeconomic and development activities long after conflicts have ended. They clog roads in Afghanistan, Sudan, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They block access to schools and to hospitals in Laos, Gaza and Nepal. But our work in this sector continues every hour of every day -- and it is a success story. Over the past two decades, United Nat…

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members

25 Mar 2010

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members has taken on even greater importance in recent years as attacks against the United Nations intensify. This is a day to mobilize action, demand justice and strengthen our resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers as well as our colleagues in the non-governmental community and the press. There are now 24 United Nations civilian personnel who have been arrested or detained in relation to UN-specific activities or under circumstances when access or due process was denied. I demand full justice and due process for all an…

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

25 Mar 2010

Slavery is abhorrent. It is explicitly prohibited by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations has reaffirmed this principle many times, including in the Durban Declaration adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism. But slavery and slavery-like practices continue in many parts of the world. Slavery is mutating and re-emerging in modern forms, including debt bondage, the sale of children, and the trafficking of women and girls for sex. Its roots lie in ignorance, intolerance and greed. We must create a climate in which such abuse and cruelty are inconceivable…

World Water Day

22 Mar 2010

Water is the source of life and the link that binds all living beings on this planet. It is connected directly to all our United Nations goals: improved maternal and child health and life expectancy, women's empowerment, food security, sustainable development and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Recognition of these links led to the declaration of 2005-2015 as the International Decade for Action "Water for Life". Our indispensable water resources have proven themselves to be greatly resilient, but they are increasingly vulnerable and threatened. Our growing population's need for wa…

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

21 Mar 2010

Fifty years ago today, scores of non-violent protestors were massacred in Sharpeville, South Africa, during a demonstration against the country's repugnant pass laws. The United Nations marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on this solemn anniversary to reaffirm our commitment to guard against a repeat of the horrors rooted in racism - from slavery to the Holocaust, from apartheid to ethnic cleansing and genocide. The focus of this year's observance on the interface between racism and sport is particularly timely as South Africa will be the first African cou…

International Women's Day

8 Mar 2010

"Equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all" 8 March 2010 Gender equality and women's empowerment are fundamental to the global mission of the United Nations to achieve equal rights and dignity for all. This is a matter of basic human rights, as enshrined in our founding Charter and the Universal Declaration. It is part of the Organization's very identity. But equality for women and girls is also an economic and social imperative. Until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals -- peace, security, sustainable development -- stand in jeopardy. Fifteen …

258 search results. Displaying 20 per page.