United Nations Radio

Two grassroots peace-builders and human rights activists are the winners of a UN prize promoting tolerance and non-violence. Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanat from Mali and Francisco Javier Estevez Valencia from Chile will share a US$100,000 award. Mr Idbaltanat has worked for years for the peaceful settlement of conflicts in the northern regions of Mali between sedentary [...]

People around the world committed to promoting peace now have an online social media platform where they express their views and exchange ideas. Civic Peace Corps was recently launched by the UN Information Centre in Beirut with three spaces where users can meet: "Exchange for Peace", "Art for Peace" and "Educate for Peace". UNIC Beirut [...]

Investigations are continuing regarding the alleged mass rapes that took place in a town in North Darfur. A verification team was allowed into the area earlier in the week to shed light on reports that 200 women and girls were raped. The team included members of the police, military and civilian components. On Friday, the [...]

A state law in Malaysia that criminalizes Muslim transgender women for cross-dressing, has been declared unconstitutional by the country's Court of Appeal according to the UN. Transgender women are people who were assigned as male at birth but identify themselves as female. These women have faced fines and up to six months in prison for [...]

Palestinian students attending United Nations schools are achieving higher-than-average results in international assessments, according to a new World Bank study. Children achieved these good scores despite living in what the World Bank describes as "challenging and adverse circumstances", due to conflict. The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) educates more than 500,000 refugee students each [...]

A civilian will head Burkina Faso's transition following a unanimous vote in Ouagadougou, the UN Special Envoy for West Africa has confirmed. The UN, the African Union and the West African regional bloc ECOWAS are presiding over talks with various groups in the country to resolve the crisis. A charter was agreed to and given [...]

News and features from United Nations Radio.

Half a million Kenya refugees are to have their daily food rations cut in half as the World Food Programme (WFP) struggles to meet a funding shortfall. Instead of their usual 2,100 calorie-a-day intake, the refugees will get just 1050, UN agency spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs said. The refugees come mainly from Somalia and South Sudan [...]

The militant Islamic group, ISIS, is imposing a rule of "terror" in areas it controls in Syria, a UN report has concluded. The UN commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic details summary executions, public beheadings and amputations carried out by ISIS terrorists. ISIS which is also known as ISIL has emerged as a [...]

An agreement has been reached on a civilian-led transitional government in Burkina Faso. Representatives of the military, political parties and civil society have been meeting in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou to resolve the political crisis there. The country was plunged into crisis after President Blaise Campaoré attempted to change the constitution and extend his 27 [...]

Syrians in areas controlled by the Islamist militant group ISIS are speaking out about the "barbaric" conditions they live under, according to a new UN report. Over 300 people who had fled the violence in the country gave first-hand accounts to members of the UN commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Photographs, video [...]

• The international community must “get ahead” of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. That's according to the head of the UN Mission for Ebola Response Emergency Response (UNMEER). The official, who is based in Ghana, has recently toured the three most affected countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where around 5000 people have [...]

Accountability for all crimes committed against women and girls in Afghanistan should remain a focus of the Afghan government and the international community.  The call from the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, came at the end of her seven-day visit to the country.  It was the first visit to Afghanistan since [...]

Men should respect women, not just in words but in action, the Bollywood actor, singer and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has urged. Mr Akhtar has been named South Asia Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, an organization dedicated to gender equality and empowerment. He's the first man in the history of the organization to be chosen. The [...]

A coalition of organizations which aims to reduce the number of deaths by road traffic collisions has been launched at the UN. Road traffic crashes are the number one killer of teenagers and young adults and the eighth leading cause of death globally, the UN says. A number of companies have come together from the [...]