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UN Day Symposium looks at human security

admin — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:59:31 +0000

United Nations Day (UN Day) is observed annually worldwide on 24 October to commemorate the founding of the United Nations in October 1945. To celebrate UN Day 2009, on Friday, 23 October, the UNU presented an academic symposium and, along with UN agencies in Japan, welcomed the public to outdoor activities, exhibitions and performances at United Nations…

UNU/UNESCO Conference focuses on Africa and Globalization

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:04:26 +0000

Day 1 — Monday, 28 September 2009

Over 300 people gathered in U Thant Hall at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, 28 September, for day 1 of the 2009 UNU/UNESCO international conference on “Africa and Globalization: Learning from the Past, Enabling a Better Future”. Japanese government representatives Tetsuro Fukuyama (MOFA), and Masaharu Nakagawa (MEXT) offered opening…

Experts urge global standards for electronics reuse, recycling

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:02:54 +0000

In 2006, more than 1 billion cell phones, 230 million computers, and 45 million TVs were sold worldwide. What will be the fate of these complex electronic products when they are eventually replaced or discarded?

The sad fact is that much of the world’s electronic scrap ends up in developing countries, where it typically is incinerated to…

One person can make a difference

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:41:51 +0000

In the Our World 2.0 article "One man inspiring Hope", Hope He tells the story of Wan Ping, a former thermo-dynmics engineer who nine years ago founded an ecological demonstration area in the Khorchin district of northeastern China. His efforts have established a windbreak that has stabilized moving dunes, achieved a 95% green coverage rate in the demonstration area, and increased local precipitation.

UNU Rector Osterwalder addresses higher education conference

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:24:38 +0000

On 6 July, UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder addressed an audience of almost 1,000 participants from 148 countries at the second World Conference on Higher Education, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Attendees included government ministers, university rectors, faculty and students as well as representatives of the private sector and regional and multilateral institutions.

The conference drew on the experiences…

UN Secretary-General visits UNU HQ

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:54:13 +0000

On 1 July, during an official visit to Tokyo at the invitation of the government of Japan, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the United Nations University Headquarters. After being welcomed by UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder, the Secretary-General first met with the heads of UN agencies in Japan.

Secretary-General Ban then spoke at a “town hall” meeting…

The role of education in adapting to climate change

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:21:11 +0000

Adaptation to climate change has emerged as one of the most important concerns in the global development agenda. However, the knowledge gap on adaptation is vast; knowledge and expertise remains primarily at the international level, and is not reaching those in the developing world who need it most. Higher education institutions can play a critical role…

Report says climate change will drive migration

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:38:48 +0000

The report “In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement”, by Dr. Koko Warner (UNU-EHS) and Dr. Charles Ehrhart (CARE International), highlights that climate change is already contributing to migration and displacement and predicts that there will be tens of millions of migrants within the next few years.

These findings…

UNU supports YouTube Think Green

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:13:46 +0000

In recognition of World Environment Day 2009, UNU has collaborated with YouTube Japan to support a special channel called Think Green.

More than 15 million viewers access YouTube each month in Japan. In order to help this community find videos that encourage them to think about environmental topics, YouTube has collaborated with some of its premium partners…

UN Secretary-General visits UNU-WIDER

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:01:58 +0000

In the last week of May, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to UNU-WIDER in Helsinki as part of his first official mission to Finland. After greeting members of the UNU-WIDER staff, the Secretary-General was formally welcomed by UNU-WIDER Deputy Director and Officer-in-Charge Professor Augustin Fosu. Following a briefing on the work of UNU-WIDER, the Secretary-General expressed his thanks and pointed out that the institute has a key role to play in the current global turndown. Secretary-General Ban added that he was looking to research institutes like UNU-WIDER to use their analytical capacity to promote understanding of the multitude of crises facing the world and to stimulate debate on how to assist the poorest and most vulnerable people, particularly in Africa.