News headlines in July 2015, page 11

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 09 (IPS) - As Nepal's monsoon rains approach, some humanitarian aid remains tied up in the capital Kathmandu and there are concerns that a rush to build shelters could lead to the same shoddy construction that collapsed during the Apr. 25 earthquake, a U.N. official said Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 08 (IPS) - A woman is stopped at a checkpoint; she gives birth, and dies. Another is sold in a slave market. A boy is killed by a tank. A young man drowns at sea, trying to reach a haven safe from oppression and poverty.

MANILA, Jul 08 (IPS) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started as a cooperation bloc in 1968. Founded by five countries - Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines - ASEAN has since evolved into a regional force which is slowly changing the landscape in global politics.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 08 (IPS) - "The action of the private sector can make or break the post-2015 development agenda," Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said in his opening remarks at a side event hosted in the context of a high-level political forum at the U.N. on Tuesday.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 08 (IPS) - On the eve of World Population Day, the United Nations is fighting a virtually losing battle against growing humanitarian emergencies triggered mostly by military conflicts that are displacing people by the millions – and rendering them either homeless or reducing them to the status of refugees.

ROME, Jul 08 (IPS) - More than four decades ago, the richer members of the international community committed to deliver at least 0.7 percent of their respective national incomes as official development assistance.

PARIS, Jul 07 (IPS) - The cost of inaction is high when it comes to climate change and, so far, countries' commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are not enough, says Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

WASHINGTON, Jul 07 (IPS) - Fifty-five percent of the world's poor still have limited protection from hunger and economic, social or political crises despite expansion of social safety programmes in developing countries in recent years.

BAMAKO, Jul 07 (IPS) - The recent peace agreements in Mali offer grounds for optimism. It's now time to capitalise on the accord to accelerate recovery, reconciliation and development. An important part of that process will entail placing the country's youth at the center of the country's agenda for peace and prosperity.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 07 (IPS) - Just days ahead of a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in which the five countries are expected to formally launch their New Development Bank (NDB), 40 NGOs and civil society groups have penned an open letter to their respective governments urging transparency and accountability in the proposed banking process.