Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations General Assembly has voted to create a new remembrance day in November for road traffic victims, who are regularly more numerous than deaths caused by wars or civil strife. Indeed, 1.2 million people are killed annually in road accidents, says the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than the population of Estonia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL alliance of environmental and conservation organisations is to develop a bird flu early warning system, alerting countries, and even communities, of a looming risk posed by migrating wild birds that may carry the disease. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Wetlands International, Birdlife International and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation are planning to help the scheme.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised the European Commission to launch negotiations with the Chilean government over updating EU-Chile agreements on the trade in wines, spirits and aromatised drinks. These deals have been in force since February 2003, and contain lists of mutually protected geographical indications, traditional expressions, official descriptions of quality for marketing purposes and a list of trademarks.…

BY MARK ROWE
IN times of conflict, cultural property, such as archaeological sites, works of art, museums and monuments, can also suffer grievously at the hands of opposing military and guerrilla forces. In recognition of this, such objects are accorded protection by the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DETAILS of a rich nine-year fishing access deal struck between the European Union (EU) and the Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific, have been released by the European Commission.

Noting that the western Pacific is “the richest tuna fishery ground in the world (it accounts for 50% of total tuna catches world-wide)”, the Commission stressed: “The current state of the stocks is good and that, for certain species, the maximum safe level of exploitation has not been reached yet.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
REGULATORS from 15 west African nations have agreed to a common regulatory framework for their national information technology and communications markets. Brokered by the International Telecommunication Union, the deal helps west African efforts to create a single market based on the European Union model.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has claimed rich country governments spend far too little on educating citizens on reducing environmental health problems. It has claimed that OECD countries spend, on average, only 3% of their healthcare budgets on prevention and public awareness programmes.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says developing countries can prosper more from tourism through locally-run websites enabling potential customers to research, reserve, and buy trips and hotel stays. This stops money leaching back to western tourism companies, it says, especially if “well-linked websites allow domestically owned hotels, banks and travel firms to provide the entire package of services”.…

KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Commission officials have claimed a breakthrough in the recently resumed talks on a European Union (EU)-United States open skies deal. Brussels newswires have reported both sides have agreed cabotage flights both in America and the EU. The agreement however must be approved by the EU Council of Ministers (not guaranteed) and depends on Washington allowing more foreign ownership of its airlines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SATELLITE images of the shrinking Aral Sea in central Asia have long horrified environmentalists, but now similar creeping disasters are threatening the many fresh water and brackish lakes of Africa. These are illustrated by disturbing satellite images within an atlas produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).…