UNEP United Nations Environment Programme [to 12 March 2016]
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/?doctypeID=1

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10/03/2016
Countries Take Final Step to Put Global Mercury Agreement Into Force
Minamata Convention to Protect Millions Worldwide from Health Threats of Mercury
Amman, 10 March 2016 – Over 550 governments representatives, stakeholders and experts gathered at the Dead Sea in Jordan today to put the final touches to one of the most important legally-binding international agreements – the Minamata Convention on Mercury – which has the potential to end a serious threat to the health of millions of people.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury – named after the Japanese city where thousands of people were poisoned by mercury-tainted industrial water- provides controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries that involve mercury. These range from medical equipment such as thermometers and energy-saving light bulbs to the mining, cement and coal fired power sectors.

The Convention was signed in 2013 under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). So far, 23 countries have ratified it out of the 50 required for its entry into force.

Speaking in Jordan, UNEP Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw issued a strong call for countries to accelerate the entry into force and implementation of the Convention…

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08/03/2016
Environmentally friendly stoves reduce risk of sexual assault
…In perhaps one of the most startling examples, a pilot project in Malawi, supported by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), reduces the number of trees cut down for firewood while also decreasing the risk of sexual assault that women suffer when they enter forests to gather wood.
Energy-efficient stoves were made available to residents in four districts of Malawi, a country with the highest rate of deforestation in Southern Africa. The stoves use high-density briquettes that last longer than wood, reducing the number of trees that are chopped down while decreasing negative impacts on the climate and improving women’s health.
The new ceramic stoves, which are made from local clay, have also dramatically cut the number of hours local women spend searching for firewood in the forest…

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08/03/2016
Hacked Afghan stoves boost women’s health and prevent flooding
Backed by UNEP and the Embassy of Finland, the Afghan NGO Conservation Organisation for Afghan Mountain Areas (COAM) has reinvented two traditional Afghan stoves that produce far less of the noxious smoke and are far more fuel efficient.

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08/03/2016
UN Secretary-General’s International Women’s Day Message, “From the Glass Ceiling to a Carpet of Shards”