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New York: The number of people without access to adequate water and sanitation facilities in Africa has risen swiftly in recent decades as the continent’s rapid urbanization outpaced its capacity to provide the essential services, two United Nations agencies said in report released today.

Negotiating Group on Rules Chair Amb. Dennis Francis, on 17 March 2011, noted the limited progress so far in negotiations on regional trade agreements and urged delegations “to engage towards some zone of accommodation that could allow some acceptable way forward to arise”.

Over the past 10 days delegations provided no new input to revise the 2008 draft “modalities” text, agriculture negotiations chairperson David Walker told the full membership on 18 March 2011, but he understood that negotiators were continuing to work among themselves in order to make progress.

New York: A top United Nations official today called on countries to rethink the global strategy on drug control in light of the diverse and complex challenges that drugs pose for public health, security and development.

New York: The United Nations human rights experts tasked with assisting families determine the fate or whereabouts of disappeared relatives examined over 200 cases during its recent session held in Mexico City, and is now conducting a mission to learn about Mexico’s efforts in dealing with the issue.

An export-oriented recovery is underway. But domestic demand and potential output growth are unlikely to return to their pre-crisis trends, dampening medium-term growth prospects. The main challenges are to manage the deleveraging process, promote sustainable growth, and bring down unemployment. Fiscal policy is appropriately tightening but the quality of the adjustment needs to be improved to ensure its durability. Implementation of the pension reform is a “sine-qua-non” condition to preserve fiscal stability and prevent increases in sovereign financing costs. Banks suffer from weak capitalization and asset quality. Their governance should be strengthened, including by broadening the investor base.

New York: Forested areas in Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia have been increasing steadily, growing by 25 million hectares over the past two decades, the United Nations said today, citing diseases, insects and storms aggravated by climatic factors as the major threats to the ongoing health of woodlands.

Governments looking to boost their economies, create jobs and meet environmental targets see eco-innovation as part of the solution. Some subsidise research and development. Others stimulate demand by labelling energy efficient appliances and regulating against environmentally harmful products. All are looking for efficient policies to make it work.

New York: An inclusive dialogue on political, social and economic reform is the only way forward for Bahrain, where Government forces have cracked down after weeks of popular protests, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

New York: As senior Arab officials met today to discuss ways to ensure a more equitable future in their region, the United Nations labour agency stressed that the changes currently under way must meet the concerns of governments, employers and workers for achieving decent work.