Nearly 260 million children had no access to schooling in 2018, a United Nations agency said in a report Tuesday that blamed poverty and discrimination for educational inequalities that are being exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak.Children from poorer communities as well as girls, the disabled, immigrants and ethnic minorities were at a distinct educational disadvantage in many countries, the UN's Paris-based education body UNESCO said.In 2018, "258 million children and youth w

United States (US) President Donald Trump's all-out assault on the United Nations (UN) is doing "lasting damage" to international cooperation as the world faces a range of "existential threats", a former World Health Organization (WHO) chief warned Friday.Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime minister who served as head of the UN health agency from 1998 to 2003, said she was deeply concerned about concerted efforts by populist leaders in the US and elsewhere

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), about 122 million children aged between five- and 14-years old work for their survival in Asia. Some surveys estimate that there are around 152 to 168 million child labourers across the world. The actual figure is unclear given the variations in the definition of child labour in different countries including variations in age of employability and nature of employment.

The world added 12 percent more clean power capacity in 2019 than the year before, but new renewable energy planned over the next decade falls far short of what is needed to forestall dangerous global warming, the United Nations (UN) warned on Wednesday.An additional 184 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power - mostly solar and wind - came on line last year, according to the Annual Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report, jointly issued by the UN Environment Programme and Bloomberg New

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war has unleashed widespread and systematic killing with "near impunity" for offenders, a United Nations (UN) report said Thursday, calling for an independent probe into human rights abuses.Police have been encouraged by the highest levels of government to use lethal force on drug suspects and thousands have been killed by officers and unknown gunmen since 2016, the UN human rights office said. Many suspects had been put on &

The Group of 20 (G20) leaders urgently need to reconvene to agree on an enhanced and more strongly coordinated global response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Red Cross and the United Nations (UN) urged countries Wednesday to avoid trying to secure future immunisation jabs against the coronavirus for their populations only, calling for a true "people's vaccine".The groups spoke out as scientists race to identify and test possible vaccines for COVID-19, which has killed more than 380,000 people and infected close to 6.5 million globally.They are also scrambling to find a safe and effective treatment."We need to fight what is

Violence against women and children is the most prevalent human rights violation. Unfortunately, cases of gender-based violence – especially against women – is nothing new in Southeast Asia.Based on a report by the United Nations University - International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) in Malaysia, intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common form of gender-based violence, with 28 percent of women in the region having to deal with it.

The United States (US) and Britain on Friday defied China's anger by raising Hong Kong's autonomy at the United Nations (UN) Security Council as President Donald Trump prepared new measures against Beijing.Western criticism of China has escalated after it moved ahead this week on a security law that many Hong Kong residents fear would kill off the freedoms which Beijing promised before Britain handed over the territory in 1997.China is one of five powers to wield a veto at the Secur

Since the COVID-19 virus emerged in Wuhan, China late last year, people from various backgrounds have succumbed to the disease. From front liners, politicians, and celebrities to ordinary people – the new coronavirus doesn’t discriminate. To date, over 3.7 million people have been infected with the virus, taking with it more 250,000 lives worldwide. The negative implications of the pandemic on people from all walks of life have been immense.