A first atlas on rural migration in sub-Saharan Africa
2 November 2017, Rome – A first atlas to offer a better understanding of complex rural migration patterns in sub-Saharan Africa has been published today.
The atlas – – also highlights the important role rural areas will continue to play in shaping the continent's migration for decades to come.
People without nationality face 'stark realities' of discrimination and persecution – UN report
3 November 2017 – Discrimination, exclusion and persecution are stark realities for many of the world's stateless minorities, the United Nations refugee agency warned in a new report, calling for immediate action to secure equal nationality rights for all.
Stateless people are just seeking the same basic rights that all citizens enjoy. But stateless minorities, like the Rohingya, often suffer from  and a systematic denial of their rights, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday on the launch of the report, .
The role of education in promoting the rights of children in Africa
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Children at birth take on the social and economic status of their parents and may be subject to abuse if special care and attention is not given them. They are minors who are socialized through education, formal or informal. At birth every child by nature can be said to be a social animal that can only develop its personality through social interaction. Through social interaction, children are taught their cultural values and duties. In the same way, through education, children can be taught their fundamental rights. Not only do children come to learn their rights through education, education also guarantees the enjoyment of those rights.Â
Universal rights of children
Books as a sign of hope: a reading festival in Mosul
According to a popular Arabic proverb, books are written in Cairo, published in Beirut and read in Baghdad. If this isn't testimony enough for the traditional love for knowledge and literature among Iraqis, citizens of Mosul organized their first reading festival just a few months after the liberation of the city from its occupation by ISIL.
The occupation of Mosul—Iraq's third largest city—by ISIL in June 2014 led to widespread destruction of monuments as well as books and anarchy. The library of Mosul University was razed to the ground, allegedly by ISIL, and nearly all of its 200,000 books had been destroyed by the end of the fighting.
2018 CTAUN Poster Competition for College Students
The 2018 Committee On Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) Conference will take place at UN Headquarters, New York on Friday 6 April 2018. This year's theme of the conference is:Â Stepping Up to Protect the World's Children.
CTAUN is now accepting submissions for its Poster Competition until the midnight of 28 February 2018. College students can submit a poster by emailing intlcoll@bridgeport.edu. Questions regarding the Poster Competition can be directed to the same email address.
Submission Guidelines
Carbon dioxide levels surge to new high in 2016, UN weather agency reports
30 October 2017 – Levels of carbon dioxide (C02) surged at record-breaking speed to new highs in 2016, the United Nations weather agency announced on Monday.
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), issued the warning in Geneva, at the launch of the organization's .
The report indicates that carbon dioxide concentrations reached 403.3 parts per million in 2016, up from 400 ppm in 2015.
We have never seen such big growth in one year as we have been seeing last year in carbon dioxide concentration, said Mr. Taalas, telling journalists that it is time for governments to fulfil the pledges they made in Paris in 2015 to take steps to reduce global warming.
Security Council debate on 'women, peace and security' spotlights prevention and gender equality links
27 October 2017 – At the Security Council today, a senior United Nations official called on Member States, regional organizations and civil society for greater partnership to boost women's participation at all levels and help ensure UN peace efforts are stronger and more sustainable.
We will ensure our prevention initiatives and monitoring include a focus on women's rights violations [and] we will tackle the structural and root causes of crisis, including gender inequality, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, the Chef de Cabinet, speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, told a day-long debate in the Security Council, underlining the need for more action on the 'women, peace and security agenda' – with prevention as a core pillar.
UN, African Union pledge to help Kenya ensure credible rerun of presidential poll
23 October 2017 – The heads of the United Nations and the African Union have expressed their organizations' commitment to assist Kenya in ensuring a credible and transparent process in the forthcoming rerun of the recent presidential election.
In a joint statement issued Sunday by the two organizations, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat urged all political actors, parties and their supporters to create conditions for a peaceful election and refrain from any act of violence.
On 1 September, the Supreme Court of Kenya nullified the August 2017 election and ordered the holding of a new one.
Rohingya crisis: UNICEF issues 'Child Alert,' outlines urgent action to save lives
20 October 2017 – Issuing a dire warning on the desperate situation of Rohingya refugee children, who now number more than 320,000 in Bangladesh, the United Nations Children's Fund () has called for an end to the atrocities targeting civilians in Myanmar's Rakhine state, and immediate and unfettered access to all children affected by the violence there.
At present, UNICEF has no access to Rohingya children in northern Rakhine state, where horrific violence since late August has driven over half a million members of the minority Muslim community to seek refuge across the border in Bangladesh.
From failed governance to building a new future: the case of the Central African Republic
An article submitted by Euclid University (Pôle Universitaire Euclide), an intergovernmental university with headquarters in Bangui, on the occasion of the visit of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to the Central African Republic (24–26 October 2017)
The Central African Republic—often referred to as 'CAR' or Centrafrique—is literally the heart of Africa. One of only two countries in Africa which incorporate the continent's name, the Central African Republic is in some ways little known and may evoke the image of forbidden diamonds, endangered elephants, a disgraced former Emperor (Bokassa)—or, more broadly, of yet another country struggling with one postcolonial tragedy after another.
Kicking off 'Africa Week' at UN, Guterres says women and youth can unleash continent's potential
16 October 2017 – Africa must focus on young people, empower women and girls, and be innovative in leveraging resources and financing for development, Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres said Monday as the United Nations kicked off Africa Week.
 is to raise awareness and mobilize support. I am convinced that, together, we can meet the challenges, Mr. Guterres said in his remarks to the high-level inaugural event at UN Headquarters in New York.
The Secretary-General said the international community must change the way it looks at the African continent.
UN rights office 'deeply concerned' over arrests of LGBT people in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia
13 October 2017 – The United Nations human rights office on Friday expressed deep concern about a wave of arrests in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia of more than 180 people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), many of whom have reportedly been mistreated by law enforcement officials.
Arresting or detaining people based on their actual or perceived  or gender identity is by definition arbitrary and violates international law, including rights to privacy, non-discrimination and equality before the law, said Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (), at a press briefing in Geneva.
CETYS for Mexico: UNAI member and higher education hub CETYS University raises close to $27k for earthquake victims
UNAI member and higher education hub CETYS University raises close to $27k for earthquake victims.
Around 90 tons of food collected at the centers located in the three campuses of CETYS University were sent to the victims of the earthquake that devastated south and central Mexico in the past weeks. Â
In addition, thanks to the CETYS community and the leadership of various student groups, more than $26,900 have been raised in response to the challenge set forth by Mexican-American journalist  who recently visited CETYS as a Keynote speaker.
The funds will be destined to rebuild devastated areas through the University Network for Disaster Prevention and Care (UNIRED for its spanish acronym), a non-governmental association whose Northwestern chapter is coordinated by CETYS.
UNICEF warns of nutrition crisis affecting 165,000 children in Mali
9 October 2017 – A nutrition crisis, exacerbated by continuing violence, instability and displacement, is threatening the lives and futures of thousands of children in Mali, the United Nations Children's Fund () warned today.
A report published today shows that an estimated 165,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition across the country in 2018.
µþ±ð³ó¾±²Ô»åÌý are the lives of the most vulnerable and forgotten girls and boys in Mali, said UNICEF Representative Lucia Elmi in a press release.
Raising awareness, connecting the world
When writing a scientific research paper two years ago, Milena Malteze, a law student from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, concluded that her country did too little to fully implement international regulations regarding the ocean, even though it is the country with the second longest coastline in Latin America. When Professor Menezes, Associate Professor at the department of international law, founded the group (CEDMAR), USP's Center for Studies of the Law of the Sea, which recently became the United Nations Academic Impact's (UNAI) latest ASPIRE chapter, Milena happily joined.