16 members of the Mohale's Hoek Development Studies Teachers Association visited the UN House on 26 July for an outreach event. The National Information Officer (NIO) of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Maseru gave a presentation on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The briefing covered the history of the UN, the Millennium Summit and Declaration as well as the MDGs.  The NIO also discussed MDG briefing materials on the Cyberschoolbus website.  The video entitled "The UN Working for Us All" was screened.  Copies of relevant documentation, the UN Works posters and copies of "Basic Facts about the UN" were distributed.  The participants were especially interested in the "Teaching Human Rights" publication and the Sesotho translation of "60 Ways the UN Makes a Difference."

In Azerbaijan 19 women have died in childbirth since the beginning of this year and the maternal mortality figures have grown steadily during the last five years.

These shocking facts were highlighted at a roundtable discussion organized by the Office of the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN DPI Office in Azerbaijan on the occasion of 11 July 2007 - World Population Day.

On Friday, 6 July 2007, UNIC Moscow held a briefing on the latest session of the Human Rights Council. The guest speaker was Mr. Oleg Malginov, Director of the Human Rights Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, accompanied by two of his deputies.

Opening the meeting, the Director of UNIC Moscow briefly outlined the main results of the Council's session and said that it triggered rather extensive news coverage and commentary. T o this effect, he quoted several articles in the Western and Russian press.  He specifically highlighted that the latest meeting of the Council was quite important for strengthening its institutional make-up.  In his words, the most important result was the agreement on the parameters of the periodical reviews of the performance of states in the area of human rights.  Describing the mechanics of the review, he said that the Council is to be working throughout a calendar year non-stop.

The key-note speaker also described the discussion of the special procedures of the UN human rights machinery and commented on the way country specific mandates were debated by the Council.