Monthly Archive: December 2017

PRESIDENT LUNGU TERMINATES MULUSA‘S APPOINTMENT

PRESIDENT LUNGU TERMINATES MULUSA‘S APPOINTMENT

  LUSAKA, (Wednesday, 27th December, 2017) His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia has terminated the appointment of Hon. Lucky Mulusa as Minister of National Development Planning. The President has also revoked Mr Mulusa’s nomination as Member of Parliament. The decision is pursuant to the powers vested in the President under Article 92 (2)(e)of the Constitution of Zambia read with Section 26 of the Interpretations of the General Provisions Act, Chapter 2 of the Laws of Zambia. The Head of State has thanked Mr Mulusa for the services he rendered to the country and wished him...

UN Assembly calls on Member States to ‘accelerate progress’ on goal of universal health coverage

UN Assembly calls on Member States to ‘accelerate progress’ on goal of universal health coverage

SEE ALSO: WHO Factsheet on Universal Health Coverage Via UN News Centre THE United Nations on Tuesday called for greater efforts on the part of its Member States to ensure universal health coverage, and designated 12 December as International Universal Health Coverage Day. In one of the two resolutions adopted today, the UN General Assembly – composed of all 193 UN Member States – called for efforts ensure that all people have equal access, without discrimination of any kind, to quality promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative basic health services. It also encouraged all Member States to promote the effective, full and...

One Planet Summit: Finance commitments fire-up higher momentum for Paris Agreement

One Planet Summit: Finance commitments fire-up higher momentum for Paris Agreement

Today at the One Planet Summit, on the second anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, world leaders gathered once again in the French capital to underscore how financial flows are shifting billions and trillions towards a low-carbon future that will benefit peoples and livelihoods. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, said: “Today has marked another extraordinary moment in the world-wide efforts to turn the promise of the Paris Agreement into a global reality—in other words delivering a climate secure future to all corners of the Earth and contributing to the sustainable future of every man, woman and child”....

Secretary-General’s remarks at the One Planet Summit

Secretary-General’s remarks at the One Planet Summit

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL REMARKS AT ONE PLANET SUMMIT Paris, 12 December 2017 [as delivered] President Macron, Excellencies, World Bank President Jim Kim, Ladies and gentlemen, We are not yet winning the war on climate change — the defining challenge of our times. The Paris Agreement lays the basis for ambitious action. But we know that current commitments will not get us there. Every day, in every region, the front pages are dominated by weather-related disasters – storms, floods, droughts, fires. My recent visit to Barbuda and Dominica was truly heart-breaking and eye-opening. Climate change is moving much faster than we are. Atmospheric...

Professor Jeffrey Sachs delivers address on sustaining peace

Professor Jeffrey Sachs delivers address on sustaining peace

On 8 December 2017, SDG Advocate Professor Jeffrey Sachs gave opening remarks at the event, ‘Sustaining Peace: Partnerships for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding’. This event was hosted by the President of the 72nd General Assembly (PGA) of the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the UN Global Compact, the United Nations Foundation, the New York University Center on International Cooperation, and the Quaker United Nations Office. Professor Sachs spoke of the timely issue of sustaining peace and how SDG 16 is one of the utmost priorities for not only governments, but civil society, academia, and the private sector. Sachs...

UN to recognize public services’ innovation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

UN to recognize public services’ innovation in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

By Dan Shepard and Sharon Birch United Nations calls for nominations for the 2018 Public Service Awards  New York, 19 December –  To recognize innovation and excellence in public service that supports the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations is calling for nominations for the 2018 UN Public Service Awards. Established in 2003, the UN Public Service Awards are a prestigious international programme that recognizes exceptional public service innovation. Since 2003, the UN has received over 3000 nominations from around the globe in such areas as health, education, accountability, and gender equality. “Public service is a...

 United States: ‘Global Magnitsky’ Targets 52 Individuals, Businesses

 United States: ‘Global Magnitsky’ Targets 52 Individuals, Businesses

  Washington  –  December 21, 2017 —  In response to the Trump administration decision to impose financial and travel sanctions on more than a dozen individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses and corruption – sanctions created by the Global Magnitsky Act passed by Congress in 2016 – Freedom House issued the following statement: “This first use of a groundbreaking law gives the United States a powerful tool to target perpetrators of the most serious human rights abuses and corruption,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “The individuals who will face stringent sanctions range from an arms dealer in the...

What a year! Google Cloud Platform in 2017

What a year! Google Cloud Platform in 2017

Monday, December 18, 2017 By Alex Barrett and Barrett Williams, Google Cloud blog editors The end of the year is a time for reflection . . . and making lists. As 2017 comes to a close, we thought we’d review some of the most memorable Google Cloud Platform(GCP) product announcements, white papers and how-tos, as judged by popularity with our readership. As we pulled the data for this post, some definite themes emerged about your interests when it comes to GCP: You love to hear about advanced infrastructure: CPUs, GPUs, TPUs, better network plumbing and more regions.  How we harden our infrastructure is endlessly...

UNICEF airlifts six million doses of vaccines to children in Yemen

UNICEF airlifts six million doses of vaccines to children in Yemen

By Via UN News Centre A plane charted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) landed in Sana’a, Yemen, on Thursday, delivering nearly 6 million doses of essential vaccines to protect millions of children at risk of preventable diseases, including the current diphtheria outbreak that has reportedly infected over 300 people and killed 35. “Vaccinating children in Yemen now is critical to protect them from preventable diseases and death. It is vital that vaccines and other lifesaving supplies for children continue to flow into Yemen and across the country unimpeded. They are a lifeline for millions of children,” said Meritxell Relaño, UNICEF Representative in...

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) sign First-ever Line of Financing agreement

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) sign First-ever Line of Financing agreement

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) sign First-ever Line of Financing agreement The USD 100-million line of financing facility will be utilized by Afreximbank to provide Shariah-compliant financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in its member countries in Africa JEDDAH, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, December 24, 2017/ — The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private sector (ICD) (www.ICD-ps.org) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.Afreximbank.com) signed a Line of financing agreement for a USD 100-million facility. The USD 100-million line of financing facility will be utilized by...

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