The World This Week

15.04.2016 - This week's #PhotoFriday highlights some of the most important UN news stories from around the world.

Photo: DFID.  A cement factory in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia is a 24 hour operation, producing 3,000 tons of cement a day to help meet the demand of the country's building boom.

At United Nations Headquarters, on Monday 11 April, there was the launch of the 2016 Economic Report on Africa, entitled “Greening Africa’s Industrialization”. The big opportunity for Africa in 2016, as a latecomer to industrialization, is in adopting alternative economic pathways to industrialization.  The report found that structural transformation in Africa’s economies remains the highest priority, and industrialization is the top strategy for achieving it in practice.

Photo: UN Photo. Mr. Ban in the ancient art sculpture hall of the Yale University Art Gallery during his visit to the university.

On 12 April, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to New Haven, Connecticut, to give the keynote address at the opening session of the eighth Global Colloquium of University Presidents, which was hosted by Yale University. Mr. Ban addressed the Colloquium on the topic “Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Challenges and Strategies”, at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Photo: UN Photo. A wide view of the Trusteeship Council Chamber at United Nations Headquarters, New York as Vesna Pusić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, addresses Member States regarding her candidacy.

The General Assembly held informal dialogues on 12-14 April with eight candidates for the position of the next Secretary-General of the United Nations. Current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will end his term 31 December 2016. This is the first time that candidates for the world’s top diplomatic post have gone before the Member States in open competition.

Photo: UN Photo. Danilo Türk (back to camera), former President of the Republic of Slovenia, speaks to journalists following his exchange with Member States regarding his candidacy.

Photo: Simon Matzinger. Old town of Quito. The capital of Ecuador, was founded in the 16th century on the ruins of an Inca city and stands at an altitude of 2,850 m.

On Tuesday 12 April at United Nations Headquarters, there was a press briefing by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and H.E. Rafael Correa, Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador. They briefed reporters on the Habitat III conference, which will be held in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. Habitat III aims to further a new urban agenda by promoting a new model of urban development that is able to integrate all facets of sustainable development to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity.

Photo: Claudio Pimazzoni

Thursday 14 April, UNICEF Office of Research, Innocenti, launched Report Card 13 (RC13).  It is the latest edition of the Innocenti Report Card series which assesses child well-being in high-income countries.

It features “League Tables” which rank EU and/or OECD countries on a variety of aspects highlighting the living conditions of children and adolescents. The series constitutes one of UNICEF’s main efforts to compile evidence to shape and improve policies for children in the developed world. RC13 Fairness for Children: A league table of inequality in child well-being in rich countries offers a detailed analysis of inequality in 41 high-income countries.