31/10/2014
More than two-thirds of the world population – an estimated 5 billion people – will be living in cities by 2030, placing increasing amounts of pressure on housing, services, resources and the environment, according to estimates by UN-Habitat on the occasion of the first-ever World Cities Day on 31 October 2014. Over 60 per cent of urban populations will be under the age of 18.
On the first-ever World Cities Day, the UN highlighted the need for sustainable urban planning to make cities more “liveable.” Shown, street traffic in Kathmandu, Nepal. World Bank/Simone D. McCourtie
As the world’s urban areas inevitably expand, growing both in size and in population, they will also need to transition into better planned and better managed environments or risk exacerbating negative trends, the United Nations warned on 31 October 2014.*
Marking the inaugural edition of World Cities Day, a global event aimed at promoting sustainable urban development in cities and towns around the world, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared humanity’s future to be an urban one as the world’s population will increasingly become city-dwelling.
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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples |
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31/10/2014
Surabaya, 30 October 2014 (IRIN)* — Brothel closures in Indonesian cities could put sex workers in danger and hamper HIV prevention efforts, say health experts and outreach workers.
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**Photo: Kyle Knight/IRIN | As Indonesia’s red lights go out, HIV and protection concerns rise
In 2013 Surabaya’s firebrand mayor closed two of the city’s six red light districts, and in June 2014 she shut down Dolly, one of the largest sex work complexes in Southeast Asia. But while she is running the campaign in the name of public morality, research shows closing brothels puts sex workers at increased risk, and HIV interventions must adjust.
“Now if someone asks us `where is the red light district in Surabaya’, we have to say ‘everywhere’,” Mbak Ida, who was an HIV outreach worker in Dolly for 20 years, told IRIN. Anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000 sex workers used to operate in Dolly alone. But the now-empty alleyways do not mean the sex trade has disappeared, just dispersed.
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31/10/2014
The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) must come to a quick end and the global media can play a critical role in making that happen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 30 October 2014 affirmed during his visit to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
At age one, Fatima was subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in her village in Afar Region of Ethiopia which has one of the world’s highest prevalence rates. Photo: UNICEF/Kate Holt
Speaking at the launch of the Global Media Campaign against female genital mutilation organized by the Guardian Media Group, the Secretary-General underscored the importance of placing a greater media focus on the issue, which condemns millions of girls and women to the brutal practice each year.
“Change can happen through sustained media attention on the damaging public health consequences of FGM, as well as on the abuse of the rights of hundreds of thousands of women and girls around the world,” Ban confirmed.
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31/10/2014
The United Nations human rights expert on migrants on 30 October 2014urged British authorities to reconsider a decision not to support search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, saying allowing people to die at Europe’s borders just because of their administrative status “is appalling.”
Asylum-seekers and economic migrants take to the seas, waiting out the dangerous journey in the boat’s cramped cargo space. Photo: UNHCR/A. D’Amato
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, said in a press release issued in Geneva on 30 October 2014 that “governments that do not support the search and rescue efforts have reduced themselves to the same level as the smugglers.”*
“They are preying on the precariousness of the migrants and asylum seekers, robbing them of their dignity and playing with their lives,” Crépeau said.
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31/10/2014
The United Nations-backed Global Forum on Youth Policies, which brought together over 700 participants from over 165 countries, concluded on 30 October 2014 in Azerbaijan with the launch of an outcome document pledging to support countries that are in the process of developing and “elevating” national youth policy.
Photo: Youth Policy Forum
“I am happy to say that we will be launching a global initiative on youth policies that will be providing technical support and assistance to many governments and countries that are in the process of developing national youth policies,” said the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi, as the Forum wrapped up its work.
The Baku Commitment on Youth Policies agreed to by participants and co-conveners, highlights the principles to guide formulation, implementation and evaluation of youth policy in the 21 century. It calls for greater youth involvement in youth policy monitoring and evaluation.
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31/10/2014
30 October 2014 – Marking a milestone towards better disaster risk management in Asia and the Pacific, a United Nations-backed group of experts agreed this week on core principles for establishing a common basic range of disaster-related statistics.
Aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines, 6 December 2013. Photo: OCHA/Gemma Cortes
The Expert Group on Disaster-related Statistics in Asia and the Pacific met for the first time from 27 to 29 October in Sendai, Japan, in a conference led by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia (ESCAP), the Tohoku University and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Government of Japan and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).*
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
