This is a day which acknowledges and celebrates the work of UN staff. As an expression of his deep appreciation for the tireless work, effort and contribution of all UN workforce around the globe, the Secretary-General has dedicated 25 October 2016 as UN Staff Day at all duty stations and field missions.

The Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for El Niño & Climate, Ambassador Macharia Kamau, visited Mozambique this week to highlight the urgent needs of 1.5 million people affected by the El Niño-related drought.

The Government of Mozambique today expressed its commitment to ensure that achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the set target date of 2030. The event, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation was attended by members of the Government, Heads of Diplomatic Missions and Cooperation Partners, the United Nations System Representatives in Mozambique, academic, civil society leaders. The Government decided to launch the campaign on 24 October, which is the 71 anniversary of the United Nations creation.

A Financial Inclusion Fair was held in City of Maxixe, some 500 km north of the capital Maputo on August 12. This event, the third of its kind, was organized by the Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ)

The United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Mozambique, Ms. Marcia de Castro, has called for measures that promote gender equality in the extractive industry, in order to reverse the current scenario in which men have more opportunities than women.

The Government of Mozambique and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on July 15, 2016 had an event to launch the Development Finance Assessment (DFA) in Mozambique a tool designed to assess opportunities and constraints in mobilizing development finance and align and integrate financial flows to the maximum extent possible within the development planning processes and national budgeting in a country.

The UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism, Ikponwosa Ero today said that in spite of all the successes in tackling crimes against persons with albinism in Mozambique, their situation remains precarious as the authorities are still to identify and arrest the masterminds behind such crimes.

The project is part of the “Leave No One Behind” regional initiative of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs which also funds two other consortia led by the International Organization in Migration (IOM) and the International AIDS Alliance, and will be implemented through a consortium composed of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR) and the Health Economics and AIDS Research Department of the University of Kwa Zulu Natal.

Mozambique holds a major seminar to reflect on the situation of the extractive industries facing severe challenges due to the drop of commodities prices and propose a way forward that would make them sustainable and benefit all.

The Paris Agreement was open for signature by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on 22 April and will remain open for signature for one year. Mozambique is among the first States that have signed the Paris Agreement and deposited their instrument of ratification at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.