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The UN published promising news in the global fight for gender equality and opportunity on Wednesday, showing that when it comes to mathematics, girls are now performing as strongly as boys in the classroom – although there are plenty of barriers holding them back. The finding, from the UN agency UNESCO, followed analysis of primary and secondary education in 120 countries. Although boys perform better than girls in the subject in the early years, this gender gap disappears in secondary...

Eleven mainly European countries have now reported salmonella food poisoning, linked to popular “Kinder” chocolate products produced in Belgium, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that there have been more than 150 suspected cases of salmonellosis – from Belgium to the US – after United Kingdom regulators flagged a cluster of Salmonella (S.) Typhimurium cases a month ago, leading to a global recall. Children under 10...

An Ebola vaccination campaign has begun in northwest Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to halt the spread of a deadly new outbreak in the country, where the disease is endemic. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that people have now been inoculated in Mbandaka, the capital city of Equateur Province west. It follows the deaths of two people from Ebola since 21 April. More than 230 contacts of the deceased have been identified and monitored and three vaccination...

Selected among 142 entries from 63 countries, the top three winners come from Syria, Ghana, and China, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) winners sent the message globally that young people are stepping up to innovation challenges, using their energy and creativity to steer a course towards a better future. Smart devices, rice threshers and pictograms Twenty-five-year-old Hekma Jabouli from Syria won the first prize with her short film showing a home-made smart device...

Against the backdrop of shifting population demographics, conflicts, post-pandemic shocks and climate change, the developing world is on the brink of a “perfect storm” of debt, food and energy crises, experts warned the Commission on Population and Development on Monday. While sounding the alarm over the planet’s unequal COVID-19 recovery and notable reductions in public spending for youth, older people and other vulnerable populations, officials from across the UN system stressed that...

The global economy is under severe stress and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in “need of urgent rescue”, the deputy UN chief told the Financing for Development Forum on Monday. “Financing for developing is an essential part of the solution,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on behalf of the UN chief, adding that so far, the global response has fallen far short. For this reason, the Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance was established to...