Drop by Drop

More than 1,000 submissions have been recorded now when less than two weeks are to go until the 29 February deadline in the Drop by Drop, UN European Ad competition. This time the “In Focus” is on the competition´s theme: Water. Did you know that 120 million Europeans lack access to clean water? Did you know it takes 15,000 liters of water to produced 1 kilo of beef? And a child dies every 20 seconds due to lack of sanitation caused by the absence of clean water? We look at all these issues and what to expect from the Rio+20 conference.

Indigenous people

The World´s indigenous people are In Focus this time. They can be found all around the world from Australia to the Arctic. We take a look at why they have been granted special rights in international law and take a closer look at Europe´s indigenous people; the Samis in three of the Nordic countries and the Greenlanders who seem to have independence within reach.

Volunteering – Inspiration in Action

Food Waste

Sanitation - A child dies every 20 seconds

One child dies every 20 seconds of diarrhea, a disease directly related to poor sanitation. This amounts to more deaths than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Less progress has been made in improving sanitation than most of the other MDGs. It is surprising since for every dollar spent on sanitation facilities, there is an average return of $9. The cost of universal access to sanitation: the amount the world spends on bottled water every year.

Sri Lanka – the untold crisis

This week our In Focus is devoted to Sri Lanka, the beautiful island which is now facing the challenge of overcoming its bloody past and focusing on development and stability.. As the UN Human Rights bodies consider if a full international inquiry on alleged war crimes should be launched, we look at the plight of Mariananthini and other forgotten returnees in the former rebel held northern provinces of the island where the majority of people live on one dollar a day. At the same time donors turn away since the island graduated to the status of a middle income state and because of the bad publicity of war crime allegations. Edward Mortimer finally argues why Sri Lanka matters.

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Madagascar – the untold crisis

Due to a volatile political situation, draught, floods and cyclones the Republic of Madagascar, an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa is facing a humanitarian crisis. In this weeks’ In Focus we look at what is happening in Madagascar and speak to Natascha Paddison acting Deputy Representative for UNICEF about what the organisation is doing on the ground.

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The good news they forgot to tell you

The Responsibility to Protect

The Responsibility to Protect doctrine is the enabling principle that first obligates individual states and then the international community to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. R2P, as it’s commonly known, is a set of principles based on the idea that sovereignty is not a privilege, but a responsibility. R2P was universally endorsed at the 2005 World Summit and then re-affirmed in 2006 by the U.N. In this week’s In Focus we look at the historical background and speak to the UN Special Advisor on R2P, Edward Luck and Alex Vines, Research Director at Chatham House about what R2P means in today’s world. ...   Read more...

Inside the General Assembly

On Tuesday, 13 September, the 66th session of the General Assembly will commence at UN Headquarters, bringing together leaders from all 193 Member States. The logistics require careful planning, most of which starts months in advance of the opening day.

In this week’s In Focus we’ve spoken with the UN Chief of Protocol in order to hear what happens behind the scenes at the GA. We also look at what is on the agenda this year and what being a member of the world’s biggest club mean to the member states.