UNREPORTED
News on the United Nations System at Work
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People in Mountains among World’s Hungriest
Mountain dwellers are among the world’s largest populations of undernourished and hungry people, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported. About 600 million people - one in ten - live in mountain areas. Outside the well-to-do mountain resorts and commuter towns in industrialized countries, the majority of mountain people are chronically undernourished, due partly to poverty and political marginalization, FAO said. In addition, they face physical barriers, such as rugged terrain, poor communications systems and inadequate roads.
International Year of Mountains (2002)
Curbing Deadly Pesticides
A committee of government-appointed experts concluded that three widely used pesticides and all forms of asbestos should be added to an international list of chemicals subject to trade controls, FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme announced. The experts were seeking to add the pesticides monocrotophos Granox TBC, Spinox T and DNOC, as well as five forms of asbestos, to the list of substances subject to an international treaty governing the trade in hazardous chemicals.
UNEP Press Release
Major Job Losses in Oil and Gas Industry
Buffeted by changing corporate structures and privatization, the workforce in the world’s oil and gas industries has shrunk dramatically in the past 25 years, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO). In the United States alone, employment in these industries slumped from a peak of 1.65 million workers in 1982 to roughly 640,000 by 2000, while in Canada, 2,250 jobs were lost in 1998 when oil drilling activity fell by 10 per cent. “The situation was equally bleak in other regions”, the agency said, citing job losses in Norway, China and the United Kingdom.
Tripartite Meeting on the Promotion of Good Industrial Relations in Oil and Gas Production and Oil Refining
Comprehensive Anti-terrorism Treaty
The General Assembly has restarted negotiations on a comprehensive international treaty on terrorism. The Ad Hoc Committee on Measures to Eliminate Terrorism, which is drafting the text, had several difficult topics to tackle, including dealing with the definition of terrorism and its relation to liberation movements, possible exemptions to the scope of the treaty, and how to advance the level and types of international cooperation to combat terrorism.
UN Action Against Terrorism
Non-Use of an Antibiotic in Food Suggested
FAO issued a statement suggesting that countries phase out the use of an antibiotic in food production that has been shown to cause genetic defects and could possibly lead to cancer. Chloramphenicol, a broad-spectrum antibiotic used in human and pet medicine, has been evaluated several times by an internationally recognized scientific committee, the UN agency said, and was found to be genotoxic. Most countries have banned the agent for use in food animal production, but it is still being used in some countries, in part in aquaculture.
Feed and Food Safety
Global Response to Infectious Diseases Urged
In a new report, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, the World Bank, the UN Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization and the UN Population Fund urged a stepped-up global response to infectious diseases. Launched at the World Economic Forum, the report argues that investments in health produce measurable financial returns, and calls for investments in drugs to treat tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, as well as in mosquito nets and condoms to prevent infection with malaria and HIV.
WHO: Action Against Infection
Guide for World Travellers
Facing a growing number of hazards, from car accidents to Ebola, international travellers can now rely on a new comprehensive guide for help in coping on the road. The guide book, International Travel and Health, and its accompanying Web site, draw on the World Health Organization’s global network of medical expertise to provide advice on how to prevent falling ill, and how to act if illness does strike when away from home.
WHO: International Travel and Health
International Year of Ecotourism
With tourism gaining popularity around the world, the United Nations launched the International Year of Ecotourism to raise public awareness about the effects of ecotourism on nature and cultural heritages, and to promote the idea of responsible travel. Ecotourism is one of the fastest-growing segments in the tourism industry and has great potential for economic development, yet it might well have devastating consequences if not managed properly. The objective must be to enjoy the planet’s natural resources while preventing any negative impact.
International Year of Ecotourism
