First internationally recognized certificate of compliance is issued under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.cbd.int/press-releases/

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The first internationally recognized certificate of compliance is issued under the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing
Montreal, 7 October 2015 – The first internationally recognized certificate of compliance was issued on 1 October 2015, following a permit made available to the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Clearing-House by India.

Under the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, Parties are to issue a permit or its equivalent at the time of access as evidence that access to genetic resources was based on prior informed consent and that mutually agreed terms were established. Parties are required by the Nagoya Protocol to make information on the permit or its equivalent, available to the ABS Clearing-House for the constitution of the internationally recognized certificate of compliance.

The permit was issued by India’s National Biodiversity Authority, the competent national authority under the Nagoya Protocol. The certificate then constituted through the ABS Clearing-House serves as evidence of the decision by India to grant access to ethno-medicinal knowledge of the Siddi community from Gujarat to a researcher affiliated with the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. The researcher can now demonstrate that s/he has respected the ABS requirements of India when using this knowledge.

“Last week was an important week for the Nagoya Protocol,” said Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “In addition to having the first internationally recognized certificate of compliance published in the ABS Clearing-House, two additional countries joined the Protocol: the Philippines and Djibouti, which brings the total number of ratifications to 68.”…

United Nations – Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly [to 10 October 2015]

United Nations – Secretary General, Security Council, General Assembly   [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.un.org/en/unpress/
Selected Press Releases/Meetings Coverage

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9 October 2015
SC/12072
Adopting Resolution 2240 (2015), Security Council Authorizes Member States to Intercept Vessels off Libyan Coast Suspected of Migrant Smuggling
The Security Council this morning decided to authorize Member States for a period of one year to inspect vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they had reasonable grounds to suspect were being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from that country.

8 October 2015
SG/SM/17200-OBV/1531
Dignity Integral to Healthy, Fulfilling Lives for People with Mental Disabilities, Secretary-General Says in World Mental Health Day Message

8 October 2015
GA/11702-PAL/2197
Deputy Chief of Palestine Refugee Agency Paints Dire Picture of Financial Position as Member States Announce Donations at Pledging Conference
A total of 21 donors today announced contributions, or their intention to contribute, to the 2016 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as officials urged stable financing for the Agency against a backdrop of expanding crises in the Middle East.

3 October 2015
GA/11701
Concluding Debate, General Assembly Speakers Call on United Nations to Invoke Compassion, Dignity amid Waves of Refugees, War, Climate Threats
In addressing the world’s enormous challenges — serving waves of refugees in the Mediterranean, brokering necessary peace in the Middle East and managing the “existential” threat of climate change — speakers in the General Assembly today called on the United Nations to invoke the spirit that had underpinned its historic founding 70 years ago: one of compassion and dignity.

UN OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [to 10 October 2015]

UN OHCHR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true
Selected Press Releases/Announcements

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Migrant crisis: “High time for Europe to reclaim a leading role in human rights” – UN experts
10/9/2015

Right to pain relief: 5.5 billion people have no access to treatment, warn UN experts
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day – Saturday 10 October 2015
10/9/2015

“Dignity must prevail” – An appeal to do away with non-consensual psychiatric treatment
World Mental Health Day – Saturday 10 October 2015
10/8/2015

Using the death penalty to fight drug crimes violates international law, UN rights experts warn World Day Against the Death Penalty – Saturday 10 October
10/8/2015

EU migration policy will fail unless comprehensive and grounded in human rights – Zeid
10/8/2015
…“A migration policy that seeks simply to exclude irregular migrants, without taking into account a holistic analysis as to why they are moving, is unlikely to result in better management of migration. Instead, it is very likely to come at an unacceptable cost to the rights of migrants, including more deaths, detention and abuse of innocent people,” Zeid said.

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [to 10 October 2015]

Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Children/Pages/ChildrenIndex.aspx

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09 Oct 2015
Concern over mounting child casualties and grave violations in Kunduz voiced by Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui

09 Oct 2015
Accountability best defence for deterring attacks on schools: Leila Zerrougui

SRSG/SVC Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict [to 10 October 2015]

SRSG/SVC Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/media/press-releases/

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05 Oct 2015
UN Special Representative hails announcement of Japan’s first National Action Plan on Security Council resolution 1325
(New York, 05 October 2015) United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura has hailed the announcement by the Government of Japan of its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, stating that “I am very glad that Japan has launched its first national plan, which exemplifies the country’s leading role in pushing for the protection and empowerment of women.”…

UN OCHA [to 10 October 2015]

UN OCHA [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unocha.org/media-resources/press-releases

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09 Oct 2015
Somalia: Somalia: Early action by aid partners to step up El Niño preparedness
Mogadishu, 9 October 2015): Aid agencies are ramping up efforts to mitigate the impact of the El Niño phenomenon in Somalia between October and December. More than 600,000 people in southern and central Somalia and in Puntland are likely to be affected by flooding, which may result in disease and deterioration in the food security and nutritional situations…

09 Oct 2015
Nepal: Early Recovery Cluster: Nepal Earthquake Cluster Response April to September 2015
OVERALL ACHIEVEMENTS The Early Recovery Cluster and its partners reached 1,289,000 people out of the 2 million people targeted: Debris management and safe demolition An estimated 93,000 households benefitted from safe demolition and debris removal. The shift of implementation strategy to prioritise public buildings over private buildings contributed to a reach 250 per cent of the initial cluster target…

08 Oct 2015
Yemen: Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien – Statement on Yemen, 8 October 2015 [EN/AR]
Yemen – I am deeply disturbed by the news of civilians being killed by coalition air strikes that hit a wedding party in Yemen’s Dhamar Governorate yesterday. The Ministry of Public Health and Population reports that at least 47 civilians were killed, and 35 injured, among them many women and children. Once again we are seeing the devastating impact of explosive weapons – used by all parties – in this conflict…

06 Oct 2015
Central African Republic: Central African Republic: Humanitarian Coordinator stresses that humanitarian organizations are strongly committed to staying and delivering assistance

06 Oct 2015
World: World Humanitarian Summit: Global consultation in Switzerland
WHEN: 14-16 October 2015
WHERE: International Conference Centre (CICG) in Geneva, Switzerland
The Global Consultation in Geneva 14-16 October will complete the consultative process on the way to the World Humanitarian Summit called for by the UN Secretary-General and hosted by Turkey on 23-24 May 2016.

UNICEF [to 10 October 2015]

UNICEF [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_78364.html
Selected press releases

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UNICEF and WHO ready to support immediate polio vaccination campaign in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine/COPENHAGEN/GENEVA, 9 October 2015 – Six weeks after the polio outbreak in Ukraine, UNICEF and WHO have stepped up calls for an immediate first round of nationwide polio vaccination.

50 years after UNICEF received Nobel Peace Prize, children still face ‘conflict and crisis, deprivation and disadvantage’ — UNICEF Chief
NEW YORK, 6 October 2015 – “In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of UNICEF in 1965, UNICEF’s second Executive Director, Henry Labouisse, said that “the welfare of today’s children is inseparably linked with the peace of tomorrow’s world.” Today, in a world of growing turmoil, his words still ring true. And they speak to us all

UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [to 10 October 2015]

UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/search?page=&comid=4a0950336&cid=49aea93a7d&scid=49aea93a40

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International community commits to refocus attention on Afghan refugee situation; calls for increased support for regional solutions
8 October 2015

UNHCR’s Volker Türk warns against growing politicization of refugee and asylum matters as number of forcibly displaced soars, urges new global compact
8 October 2015

IOM / International Organization for Migration [to 10 October 2015]

IOM / International Organization for Migration [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.iom.int/press-room/press-releases
Selected Press Releases

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IOM Monitors Mediterranean Migrant Flows: 7,000 Crossing Daily to Greece
10/09/15
Greece – In the past week, IOM staff in the Greek islands have recorded a sharp increase in the number of newly arrived migrants and refugees to some 7,000 a day.

Conditions Improve in South Sudan’s Malakal Site, But Displaced Face Ongoing Hardship
10/09/15
South Sudan – Living conditions for new arrivals at the UN protection of civilians (PoC) site in Malakal, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, have improved since a 10-day influx of 11,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in early August. However, the site remains congested due to space constraints.

Swing Asks EU to Respect Rights of Vulnerable Migrants Arriving on its Shores
10/08/15
Luxembourg – IOM DG Swing has called on the EU to adopt policies that balance full protection for refugees, orderly border management and dignified return.

IOM, UNHCR Work Together to Aid Migrants and Refugees Fleeing Yemen
10/06/15
Kenya – Representatives from IOM and UNHCR have presented a Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan to respond to the crisis in Yemen at a donor meeting held in Nairobi.

IOM Monitors Latest Migrant Arrivals, Deaths in Mediterranean
10/06/15
Italy – IOM’s Missing Migrants Project calculates that 2,987 migrants so far this year have perished in the Mediterranean.

IOM Warns of Misinformation Campaigns, Following Renewed CAR Violence
10/06/15
Central African Republic – The recent attack on IOM’s office in Bangui has seriously diminished IOM CAR’s operational capacity.

West African States Discuss West African Irregular Migration Challenges
10/06/15
Nigeria – The Migration Dialogue for West Africa (MIDWA) 2015 conference on “Irregular Migration: Challenges and Solutions” will be held this week (6-8 October) in Nouakchott, Mauritania. The conference, which will include a two-day experts meeting, followed by a one-day Ministerial meeting, is supported by the Swiss Government.

UN Women [to 10 October 2015]

UN Women [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unwomen.org/news/stories
Selected Press Releases

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Statement by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka for International Day of the Girl Child, 11 October 2015
Date : October 9, 2015
We know we have an extraordinarily long way to go to achieve what we want for our 15-year-olds. But they must know that they, and all their siblings, are in the spotlight. Today is the Day when we focus our attention on the Girl Child, but it is not a day in isolation. It is part of a massive and relentless drive towards a world of equality: a Planet 50-50 by 2030…

WHO & Regionals [to 10 October 2015]

WHO & Regionals [to 10 October 2015]
WHO Welcomes Nobel Prize for Medicine Awards for Discoveries of Tropical Disease Drugs
October 2015 — WHO welcomes the decision to award the Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of drugs that have radically improved treatment for tropical diseases such as Malaria, onchocerciasis (River Blindness), and lymphatic filariasis.

World Mental Health Day 2015
Dignity in mental health

:: WHO Regional Offices
WHO African Region AFRO
:: Dr Moeti – Health is a reliable measure of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals
Cape Town, 6 October 2015 – The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti has underscored the critical role of health in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Addressing delegates at the Second Ministerial Forum on China-Africa Health Development, in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr Moeti observed that although health is a desirable outcome of the SDGs in its own right and an input into other goals, it is a reliable measure of sustainable development. She noted that health can no longer be considered as a consuming sector…

WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
:: Breast cancer awareness, screening and treatment save lives, PAHO experts say (10/06/2015)

WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
:: Dignity in mental health – 10 October 2015
:: Ensure eye care for all – 08 October 2015

WHO European Region EURO
:: UNICEF and WHO ready to support immediate polio vaccination campaign in Ukraine 09-10-2015
:: Food, water and health care: WHO reviews basic services for refugees crossing Serbia 09-10-2015
:: New WHO guidelines on antiretroviral therapy and pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection 07-10-2015
:: Medical professionals trained in refugee and migrant health in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 05-10-2015

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
:: 62nd session of the WHO Regional Committee concludes in Kuwait
9 October 2015 – The WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean concluded its 62nd session on 8 October with the adoption of important resolutions and decisions to advance the health agenda in the Region. Resolutions outline the joint work expected from Member States and WHO in the areas of health security, prevention and control of emerging infections, prevention of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, medical education, mental health, and assessment and monitoring of the implementation of the IHR 2005, among others.
:: Scaling up response to the cholera outbreak in Iraq – 8 October 2015
:: WHO delivers additional medical supplies to Yemen – 8 October 2015

WHO Western Pacific Region
No new digest content identified.

UNDP United Nations Development Programme [to 10 October 2015]

UNDP United Nations Development Programme [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter.html

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Twenty Ministers of Finance agree on financial mechanisms to foster greater investment in climate resiliency
Oct 8, 2015 Lima – Finance Ministers of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20), representing close to 700 million people threatened by climate change and spanning world regions, held their inaugural meeting on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru. They announced a series of actions to foster greater investment in climate resiliency and low emissions development at home and internationally.

Japan, UN support reintegration of child soldiers in Eastern DRC
Oct 7, 2015 Japan is contributing USD 4 million to help with the reintegration of former child soldiers and vulnerable children – including boys and girls who were victims of sexual violence — in the province of North Kivu, situated in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme [to 10 October 2015]

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/?doctypeID=1
Selected Press Releases

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New UN Report Details Ecosystem Services of Almost One Billion Dollars Annually in Four Pilot Countries
ProEcoServ assessed ecosystem services such as water, soil retention, shoreline protection, carbon sequestration and pollination in South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Viet Nam and Chile
07/10/2015

UNISDR UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [to 10 October 2015]

UNISDR UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unisdr.org/archive
Selected Press Releases

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Europe adopts Sendai roadmap
9 Oct 2015
European countries on Friday issued a broad-ranging plan to energize their implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, an international agreement that aims by 2030 to reduce substantially the number of deaths and economic damage caused by natural and man-made hazards.

Flash floods are a major global threat says UN
9 Oct 2015
The head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Margareta Wahlström, today said that urban areas must invest more in reducing the risk from flash floods such as those which have claimed hundreds of lives in Guatemala, South Carolina in the US and the south of France in recent days.

UNESCO [to 10 October 2015]

UNESCO [to 10 October 2015]
http://en.unesco.org/news

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09 October 2015
Nobel Peace Prize – UNESCO Director-General says the choice is “a tribute to civil society”

08 October 2015
Right to Education Programme launched in Pakistan aims to get 50,000 more girls in remote areas into school

05 October 2015
Laureates of the 2016 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Awards

05 October 2015
Director-General condemns the destruction of the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra: “Extremists are terrified of history”

05 October 2015
UNESCO panel of experts calls for ban on “editing” of human DNA to avoid unethical tampering with hereditary traits

UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [to 10 October 2015]

UNODC United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/allpress.html?ref=fp

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UNODC/South African presentation on Nelson Mandela Rules underscores need to treat prisoners with dignity
New York / Vienna, 8 October 2015 – “Prisoners are human beings, born in dignity and entitled to security and to the protection of their human rights,” said the President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, yesterday, at a presentation of the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of prisoners (also known as the “Nelson Mandela Rules” after the former South African President).

Mr. Lykketoft noted: “Too often, the driving principle behind prisoner treatment has been to see these individuals as entirely separate from our communities and our societies. Hidden from our gaze, and indeed sometimes before our very eyes, prisoners have suffered abuse and mistreatment.”

He welcomed the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) work with its partners, both within and outside the UN system, to help countries implement the Nelson Mandela Rules, and by doing so, improve prisoners’ lives…

UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme [to 10 October 2015]

UN-HABITAT United Nations Human Settlements Programme [to 10 October 2015]
http://unhabitat.org/media-centre/news/

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Calls for sustainable urbanisation as the globe celebrates World Habitat Day
New York/New Delhi/Nairobi 6 October 2015—World Habitat Day was marked on Monday with calls for sustainable urbanisation across the globe.
Posted October 6, 2015

UN-Habitat and the International Road Transport Union sign MOU
New York 6th October 2015 — On the sidelines of the historic United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, UN-Habitat and the International Road Transport Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding. “The MOU marks the beginning…
Posted October 6, 2015

FAO Food & Agriculture Organization [to 10 October 2015]

FAO Food & Agriculture Organization [to 10 October 2015]
http://www.fao.org/news/archive/news-by-date/2015/en/

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First global food and agriculture plant genetics data library gets go-ahead
The agreement to proceed with the proposal for a Global Information System (GLIS) from the FAO-based seed treaty came during a week-long meeting of the 6th biennial Governing Body that ended in Rome on October 9.
9-10-2015

FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries celebrates 20-year anniversary
Twenty years after its birth, FAO’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries shared a moment in the limelight with ministers, researchers and leaders in the fisheries industry at the first International Fisheries Stakeholders Forum that opened in Vigo, Spain, today.
8-10-2015

Genetic makeup of thousands of rice varieties placed in global seed data pool
The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Treaty (ITPGRFA) made the announcement at the 6th session of the Governing Body of the FAO-based 136-member nation plant treaty that is being held in Rome this week.
7-10-2015

South Sudan: FAO air operation delivers agriculture aid to hard-to-access areas
FAO’s rapid response operation in conflict-torn South Sudan has delivered livelihood assistance to 60,000 food-insecure households in hard-to-reach areas of northern Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile States, where food stocks are running out and most families have been unable to produce food this year.
5-10-2015