Right to participate

To mark Human Rights Day, this issue of In Focus is dedicated to the same theme as the recent international day; the right to participation. A right that many have used the last years, some of which have suffered for it, as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay pointed out in her message 10 December. In Focus sheds the spotlight on a few of these people, from crowd sourcing Icelanders, via occupying students, to the European ombudsman, rapping Senegalese, legislation-initiating Finns and wall decorating Portuguese.

 Read more...

  Literacy

On the occasion of the International Day of Literacy we would like to highlight this important untold story. The 800 million people who are unable to read or write are almost all poor, two-thirds are female and most live the world’s poorest countries. While this does not come as a surprise, it is striking that one in five European fifteen year olds has poor reading skills and 75 million Europeans have low qualifications, often lacking basic reading and writing skills.

 Read more...

The UN and happiness

How happy were you on 20 March this year? Given Western European statistics, let’s assume not overtly happy. Because, let’s face it; a grey March day in Europe is not always the most uplifting scenario. In fact, it might very well be that you cannot recall any specific feelings from the 20th of this rather anonymous month at all. However, the UN has named the 20 March the International Day of Happiness.

Rio+20: A movement for change 

In Focus shines the spotlight on the other side of the Rio+20 Summit. It is widely reported that over 100 world leaders will meet in Rio for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development but it is less well known that 70,000 businesses and NGOs are expected to participate. As EU Commissioner Janez Potočnik said, “We can't wait for governments alone to take the initiative.”
We look at the social side of the summit and what the UN Secretary-General calls “a movement for change”..

Read more...

Human trafficking: slavery of modern times

This time human trafficking is the theme of our In Focus. While sexual exploitation is the most common cause of trafficking, forced labour, illegal child adoption and even illegal organ sale are also a concern to authorities and campaigners such as the UN initiative, the Blue Heart Campaign.

 Read more...

Youth unemployment

Youth unemployment is the theme in our In Focus this time. In Europe, on average, every fifth person under 24 is without a job and in Spain the percentage rises to over 40%. Although the employment situation in northern Europe is better, youth unemployment in Sweden is four times higher than the average rate. We take a special look at the young and the unemployed in Spain, Norway, Sweden and Germany.

 Read more...

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.

...   Read more...

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.

...   Read more...

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.