Ecuadorian politician and poet becomes fourth woman to preside over UN General Assembly

UN Affairs
UN Photo/Loey Felipe

The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday elected Ecuadorean Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of its upcoming 73rd session; only the fourth woman to hold that position in the history of the world body, and the first since 2006.

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UN ‘Tech Bank’ opens in Turkey, to help poor nations ‘leapfrog development challenges’

The United Nations on Monday welcomed a new member of the family, which will help address the development challenges of the world’s poorest countries through science, technology and innovation,  while also marking a significant milestone for the whole 2030  Sustainable Development Agenda.

Dean Calma/IAEA

UN agency ready to play 'essential role' in verifying DPRK nuclear programme

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remains ready to play “an essential role” in verifying the status of North Korea’s nuclear programme as international talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula continue, the agency’s chief said on Monday.

MINUSCA

Guterres strongly denounces latest attack on peacekeepers in Central African Republic

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned Sunday’s attack that killed a UN peacekeeper from Tanzania and injured seven others while they were patrolling in the west of the Central African Republic (CAR).

UNDP South Sudan/Brian Sokol

‘Social drivers’ must be confronted in fight against tuberculosis says UN chief

Winning the fight against Tuberculosis requires that “social drivers” of the disease – especially poverty and inequality – are tackled head on, the United Nations Secretary-General said today, urging greater efforts to provide universal health coverage and combat the growing threat of anti-microbial resistance.

Special Rapporteur Philip Alston. UN File Photo/Loey Felipe

UN rights expert chides US government's 'systematic assault' on welfare

The principal strategy for dealing with extreme poverty in the USA is to “criminalise and stigmatise” those who need assistance, according to a United Nations independent human rights expert, in a statement on Tuesday.

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