The world’s food security could be threatened by the failure to conserve the wild plant species that are genetically related to the crops grown by mankind for food, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a new report released today. In the 350-page report, FAO warns that the loss of biodiversity will have a major impact on the ability of humankind to feed itself in the future, with...
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Promoting right to education among priorities for new UN independent expert
The United Nations independent expert on the right to education today outlined his priorities, promising to pay attention to gender equality in education, look into quality with a special focus on improving conditions for teachers, and explore innovative education financing mechanisms. Kishore Singh, who was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education by the UN Human Rights Council in June, said he would also look into ways of...
More »UN-backed initiative to enable the blind to access published works
In an unprecedented United Nations-supported initiative, people who cannot see and those who have other forms of visual disability will have access to published works through publisher intermediaries who will create accessible formats of publications and share them with specialized libraries. The new arrangement was announced today at the of the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi. It is estimated that only five percent of...
More »UN study highlights the immense economic and social value of ecosystems
Businesses and policy-makers need to recognize the tremendous economic value of ecosystems, as well as the social and economic costs of losing such natural resources as forests, freshwater, soils and coral reefs, a new United Nations report released today said. The report by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a body hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), seeks to galvanize the world to recognize the economic consequences of failing...
More »Number of Internet users to surpass 2 billion by end of year, UN agency reports
The number of Internet users worldwide has doubled in the past five years and will surpass the 2 billion mark in 2010, with the majority of the 226 million new users this year coming from developing countries, the United Nations telecommunication agency reported today. The number of people with Internet access at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010, with 65 per cent of...
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