NEW YORK (IDN) – Media can play an important role in bringing the issue of homelessness to the forefront of discussions and encourage civil engagement. With this in view, the United Nations human rights expert on housing has commended a large media initiative in the U.S. city of San Francisco.

Leilani Farha, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, said in a statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The portrayal of homeless people in the media has a significant impact on public perception and empathy. I believe the San Francisco media push will encourage other media to report on homelessness in new ways, with a view to assessing accountability and offering solutions.”…

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Women has joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in welcoming the “historic” agreement signed in Cuba’s capital Havana between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), after 52 years of armed conflict and nearly four years of peace negotiations.

The June 23 accord “marks a definite step on the road to peace”, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said. “It is an occasion to be hopeful for the future and to strengthen our resolve to support this exemplary peace process,” she added in a statement on June 24.

UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, assured that it stands in solidarity with the Colombian women who had become an unstoppable force for peace despite suffering so much in the protracted war.…

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Women, United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, has drawn attention to three “historic firsts” achieved this year in combatting sexual violence in conflict. At the same time, the organisation’s Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri has stressed that “realizing gender equality has a deadline, and it is 2030”.

In run-up to the first International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19, United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women said all three historic firsts were “long overdue and all had one thing in common: the unstoppable force of women’s voice and leadership”.

According to the statement, in February 2016, a national court in Guatemala convicted two former military officers of committing sexual violence during the country’s civil war – the first time that a national court anywhere in the world considered charges of sexual slavery during armed …

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Child labour is rampant around the world: some 168 million children working in various sectors of the economy – ranging from agriculture to mining, from manufacturing to tourism – are producing goods and services consumed by millions every day.

Marking the World Day against Child Labour on June 12, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has drawn the focus on the plight of children toiling in some of the most hazardous jobs.

“That child labour has no place in well-functioning and well-regulated markets is evident. But the reality is that today, child labour remains widespread in supply chains,” said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in a statement that focussed on child labour and supply chains.…

By Rodney Reynolds

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study on the international trade in small arms and light weapons confirms the long standing traditional secrecy in the global market place.

Released June 6 – to coincide with the Sixth Biennial Meeting on the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms – the study pointedly says “export authorizations remain the most opaque dimension of small arms reporting”.

The 2016 Transparency Barometer, which evaluated the reporting practices of 49 countries, identified only three countries – Germany, the UK and the Netherlands – as “the most transparent major small arms exporters”.

The Netherlands was among the top three, due to improvements in reporting through its monthly arms export reports, which include new information on re-exports.…

Analysis by Martin Khor *

GENEVA (IDN | SOUTHNEWS) – The global health situation is facing many critical challenges, and multiple actions must be taken urgently to prevent crises from boiling over. This is the impression one gets from this year’s World Health Assembly held in Geneva on from May 23 to 28.

The WHA is the world’s prime public health event. This year 3,500 delegates from 194 countries took part, including Health Ministers of most countries. The one-week session provided a snapshot of the major medical problems and the actions being taken or proposed to deal with them.

In her opening speech, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan gave an overview of what went right and what is missing on the global health front.…