After three days of deadlock, the United Nations climate talks here are moving again, propelled by a quickly approaching deadline, the prospect of 130 world leaders in the same city, and “sustained pressure” by major developing countries, including India. With less than 24 hours left before the end of the summit, negotiators are back to working on both the Kyoto Protocol and long-term action draft texts. In other encouraging signs for...
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With better stoves, UN aims to cut risk of murder, rape for women seeking firewood
The United Nations today launched a pilot project to provide fuel-efficient stoves to some 150,000 women in Sudan and Uganda to cut the risks of murder, rape and other violence they face in gathering firewood, while at the same time protecting the environment. The Safe Access to Firewood and Alternative Energy in Humanitarian Settings (SAFE) stoves initiative organized by the World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies, will be...
More »Ban lays out remaining hurdles in climate talks in Copenhagen
The outcome of the historic climate change negotiations in Copenhagen hinges on the issues of emissions reductions and financing, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he urged world leaders to use the final days of the talks to strike an ambitious new agreement. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that to stave off the worst effects of climate change, industrialized countries must slash greenhouse...
More »Increased aid to fight malaria paying off though much more needed: UN report
The global drive to eradicate malaria is beginning to show dividends, with more than a third of the most affected African nations slashing the number of cases of the deadly infection by half, according to a new United Nations health agency report released today. The 2009 World Malaria Report, produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), said that funding to fight the mosquito-borne disease had more than doubled, from $730...
More »Violence and threats bring a government to its knees by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Rajasthan had emerged as a model for transparency and accountability in NREGS implementation. Tragically, entrenched interests have been allowed to hijack the process. Through the second half of October and for most of November this year, Rajasthan was engulfed in an unusual form of protest, spearheaded in the main by gram panchayat officials. Joined in some places by elected MLAs and MPs, and backed covertly by a section of District...
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