UNIC New Delhi collaborated with the NGO, Development, Welfare & Research Foundation (DWRF) and the Rotary International 3010 Safdarjung Club in observing International day of Families on the theme Ensuring Work-Family Balance.
 
DWRF, which promotes its campaign entitled 'Little Things Matter Initiatives', works with individuals, families, other civil society organizations to advocate with the government, public and private sector, UN and affiliated institutions on improving quality of life of people from a rights perspective and gender sensitivity. It has been organizing the International Day of Families for the past several years.
 
Several speakers at the seminar highlighted the web of complex issues that prevented workers, especially women from reaching any equitable family-work balance. They emphasized the need for better policies that would ease the current burden: flexible work hours and conditions, strengthening employers’ social responsibility and contribution to successful labor relations, employee health, well-being, gender equality, child, older parent and welfare. 
 
The observance underlined the importance of the family as the basic unit of society. The International Day of Families provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and can become a powerful mobilizing factor on behalf of families in all countries, allowing them to lobby for the protection and support of family issues appropriate to each society.
 
In her address, UNIC Director Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman, injected a personal note by speaking of the challenges she had faced in attaining work-family balance, from her days as a daughter to her role as spouse and mother.
 
Others who spoke included: Dr. Mala Kapur Shankardass, Sociologist and Gerontologist, Sumita Chopra, World Bank, Amarjeet Kaur, National Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, Saadya Hamdani, Gender Specialist ILO, Rashmi Singh, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Rtn Sanjay Khanna, District Governor Nominee Rotary International District 3010 and Rtn Neelam Sawhney, President, Rotary Safdarjung Club.
 
A very interesting interactive session followed which gave rise to a huge number of innovative ideas and paved the way for many future collaborative initiatives.

On 10 May, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Canberra held the Australian launch of the 2012 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific.

The ESCAP report, the oldest annual review of development in the region, was launched by Professor Raghbendra Jha, Professor of Economics and the Executive Director, Australia South Asia Research Centre in the ANU's Crawford school of Economics.
 
The launch was well attended by members of the diplomatic community, Australian government, academics and the general public. In his presentation, Professor Jha outlined the report's key findings and implications for the wider Asia Pacific region as well as Australia and the Pacific island countries specifically.
 
Many of the questions following the official launch centred on challenges to growth and financial stability including the effect of the recent natural disasters in Japan, Australia, Pakistan and Thailand on the region's economies.

You can view the report at: http://www.unescap.org/pdd/publications/ 

Asia and the Pacific faces another year of slowing growth as demand for its exports falls in developed nations and capital costs rise, but the region will remain the anchor of global economic stability, according to latest United Nations projections released in Ankara on 10 May.
 
The Ankara launch of the “Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2012”, was organized at the UN House with the participation of UN Resident Coordinator Shahid Najam, TEPAV Managing Director Prof. Güven Sak and ESCAP Economic Affairs Officer Dr. Hussain Malik.
 
Najam, in his opening remarks, emphasized the impact of the global economic crisis in several nations and pointed out that the Asia-Pacific region, which also includes Turkey, is still the driving force of the global economy. He said that last year, the world witnessed Turkish economic growth placed second after China. “This was a major success for Turkey”, Najam added.
 
"Although international prices of commodities have fluctuated dramatically over the past five years with major social and economic impact in Asia and the Pacific, the volatility has tended to conceal the longer-term trend of rising commodity prices which has even deeper consequences" said Malik. He also said that the trade between countries in the region should increase. He wanted an inclusive growth and creation of new job opportunities in the regional countries, especially to address youth unemployment.
 
Turkey should increase its connectivity with the Asia- Pacific region to efficiently diversify its trade partners and economy, according to Prof. Sak. Reminding that Asia-Pacific is the growth engine of the world, Prof. Sak urged Turkish businesses and government to closely watch the developments in the region and promote connectivity as a priority area to reach out to the Asia Pacific region.
 
A question and answer session mainly focused on how Turkey can diversify its economic relations and enhance its connectivity to the region followed. Currently, European Union countries are Turkey’s main trading partners.

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Windhoek commemorated World Telecommunication and Information Society Day at a breakfast ceremony held in collaboration with Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia(CRAN).The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

 Anthea Basson, head of UNIC Windhoek, delivered the statement of the Secretary-General and highlighted the importance for wide ranging efforts to close both the digital and the gender gap. The theme for this year’s event is “Women and Girls in ICT”, which aims to utilize ICT tools to provide new digital opportunities to end discrimination and empower the female half of the world’s population to achieve their rightful place as equals in the world. The ceremony was held prior to a workshop on “The establishment of Namibia’s Universal Access Fundand Strategy rollout” initiated by CRAN, an important step for ICT in Namibia.

Stanley Shanapinda, CEO of CRAN, reiterated the message by Namibia’s President, His Excellency HifikepunyePohamba, in his State of the Nation address earlier this year, where he stated; “Our country cannot afford to lag behind in the ICT area, because it is vital to the competitiveness of our nation.”

In his opening statement at the press conference, Jaco du Toit, Communications and Information Advisor, underlined that “The UN System in Namibia is geared to support the Namibian government in other initiatives that ensure universal access to information, one of the principles that underpins a knowledge society.