In historic move, UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment

UN News Center, July 2nd, 2010. A very welcome initiative!

In a bid to accelerate the empowerment of women, the General Assembly today voted unanimously to create a dynamic new entity merging four United Nations offices focusing on gender equality, a move hailed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior officials.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35224&Cr=gender&Cr1

UN agency launches Web tool to help aid workers get food to Haitians in need

From the UN news Center.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today launched an interactive Web-based tool containing information on usable roads, crop calendars and damaged areas in Haiti to help aid workers in the Caribbean country better distribute food and combat shortages in the wake of last month's earthquake.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33769&Cr=Haiti&Cr1=

Human Rights Council opens Special Session on Support to Recovery process in Haiti: A Human Rights approach

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights of the UN published a report following the Special Session on “The Support of the Human Rights Council to the Recovery Process in Haiti after the Earthquake of January 12, 2010.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=9780&LangID=E

Obama's Speech to the United Nations General Assembly, September 23, 2009

Once again, the issue of development is a major component of Obama's speech, in the continuation of Cairo's speech and more recently Accra's speech in Ghana during his visit to African countries.

"At a time of such interdependence, we have a moral and pragmatic interest, however, in broader questions of development -- the questions of development that existed even before this crisis happened. And so America will continue our historic effort to help people feed themselves. We have set aside $63 billion to carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS, to end deaths from tuberculosis and malaria, to eradicate polio, and to strengthen public health systems. We are joining with other countries to contribute H1N1 vaccines to the World Health Organization. We will integrate more economies into a system of global trade. We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year's summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time".

For the full speech:

http://www.cfr.org/publication/20270/obamas_speech_to_the_united_nations_general_assembly_september_2009.html