Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Video message by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on World Children’s Day 2025.

"The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified treaty in history.

Signed 36 years ago today, it affirms a simple truth:

When we protect the youngest members of the human family, we build a better world.

But right now, children’s rights are under attack.

Poverty and emergencies are stealing education.

Climate chaos is jeopardizing futures.

And new dangers lurk in the online world.

Too many children already carry burdens far beyond their years, earning income or caring for siblings.

And famine and war have robbed thousands of the most basic right of all: The right to life.

Every child’s circumstances are unique.

But every child has the same rights, no matter who they are or where they live.

This World Children’s Day, let us listen to children. And let us amplify their voices as they stand up for their rights.

The future is defined by how we care for the next generation.

We must unite to build a safe and equal world for every child."

more info: https://www.un.org/en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8QacarOu0

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Launched in 2023, the Network for Uniformed Women Peacekeepers connects women from police, military, and justice & corrections serving in United Nations peace operations. Two years into the project, the Network has meaningfully enhanced the deployment experience for uniformed women peacekeepers and also brought about broader strategic benefits for peacekeeping overall. When women thrive, teams perform better, and in the end, everyone benefits for better peacekeeping.

More info: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/women-peacekeeping

More info on the Network: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLrnz-YQ7k

#WomenPeaceSecurity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE5Ol7hWsQ4

Source: United Nations (video statements)

Press Briefing by Mr. Bjørg Sandkjær, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), along with Mr. John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division, UN DESA, and Ms. Sara Hertog, Population Affairs Officer, Population Division, UN DESA. They brief journalists on the World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results.

——————–

“Fast-growing Dhaka, Bangladesh, will surpass Jakarta to become the world’s largest city by 2050,” The United Nations on Tuesday unveiled its World Urbanization Prospects 2025, outlining how population growth and shifting settlement patterns will reshape cities, towns and rural areas over the coming decades.

Bjørg Sandkjær, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) emphasized that “sustainable development requires integrated planning that treats cities, towns and rural areas as interconnected and interdependent,” adding that policies must “recognize the unique role of all settlement types” and be tailored to their specific needs.

She also underscored the importance of data-driven decision-making. “Timely and reliable data are going to effective planning,” she said, noting that regular censuses and the integration of geospatial and statistical information can enable better monitoring of settlement patterns and access to services.

Indicators tracking population density and built-up land per capita, she added, “provide useful information about human interactions with the environment.”

John Wilmoth, Director of the Population Division, said the release provides estimates and projections based on a new standard methodology called the Degree of Urbanization, which maps population data into one-square-kilometer grid cells and classifies all land areas into seven categories ranging from mostly uninhabited rural areas to densely populated cities.

Sara Hertog, a Population Affairs Officer with DESA, detailed the report’s latest demographic findings. “In 2025, 45 per cent of the world’s 8.2 billion people live in cities, 36 per cent live in towns, and the remaining 19 per cent live in rural areas,” she said.

By 2050, “two thirds of the growth of the world’s population will occur in cities,” with most of the rest happening in towns. The global rural population, she noted, is expected to peak in the 2040s before gradually declining.
Hertog added that “cities have more people than either towns or rural areas in 104 countries or areas,” representing nearly half of all locations for which UN estimates were produced.

She also highlighted the concentration of mega-cities in Asia. “Jakarta, Indonesia, with nearly 42 million inhabitants, is the world’s most populous city today,” she said, but projections indicate that “fast-growing Dhaka, Bangladesh, will surpass Jakarta to become the world’s largest city by 2050.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dme14SnW2RA