"Un centre de gestion et de prévention des catastrophes naturelles pourrait voir le jour à Brazzaville"

Read the online article.

Interview with delegates on fact-finding mission in Congo Brazaville, Jessica Johmann, UNU-ViE, and Andries Jordaan, Director of DiMTEC.

Watch the TV interview.

15.09.2009 Processes and policies governing the reuse and recycling of electronic products need to be standardized worldwide to stem and reverse the growing problem of illegal and harmful e-waste processing practices in developing countries, according to experts behind the world’s first international e-waste academy.

International participants in the first E-Waste Summer School Sept. 6-11, organized by NVMP (the Dutch Foundation for the Disposal of Metal and Electrical Products) and StEP, shared and compared ideas on e-waste management.

Making appropriate recycling technologies available worldwide and standardizing government policy approaches to reuse and recycling could dramatically extend the life of many computers, mobile phones, TVs and similar products and allow for more complete end-of-life harvesting of the highly valuable metals and other components they contain.

"Rapid product innovations and replacements – the shift from analog to newer digital technologies and to flat-screen TVs and monitors, for example – is pushing every country to find more effective ways to cope with their e-waste,” says Ruediger Kuehr of United Nations University, Executive Secretary of a global public-private initiative called Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP). Based in Bonn, Germany, StEP works with policy makers, industry, academia and other stakeholders.

Download the full press release.

You can learn more about the work of UNU in Bonn in a very compact version by downloading the flyer (German)

Press Release - 16 November 2007

Low Collection Rates and Consumer Awareness, Rising Need to Harmonize Regulations, Says United Nations University Report for European Commission

Only about 25% of Europe’s medium sized household appliances and 40% of larger appliances are collected for salvage and recycling, leaving “substantial room for improvement,” according to a study for the European Commission by a United Nations University-led consortium. Small appliances, with a few exceptions, are close to zero percent collection.

Please download the press release in English and German

News release: 17 October 2007
African Decade for Education 2006-2015

G 8 experts and their African counterparts convene for two days in Germany, Oct. 18-19, to map out specific ways to meet agreed commitments to foster better economic and social conditions in Africa through science and technology (S&T). The meeting advances the initiatives pledged in the declarations of the Gleneagles and Heiligendamm G 8 summits, supporting a strong commitment towards Africa's development.

BMBF and UNU signing a strategic partnership agreement

The United Nations University (UNU) and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany (BMBF) signed an agreement on the establishment of a UNU Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE) on 4 June 2007 at the UN Campus in Bonn.

The foundation of UNU-ViE will be marking the establishment of the first UNU Vice Rectorate outside Tokyo. It constitutes an important building block towards the aim to strengthen the UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY’s presence in Europe, and a further step in its process of decentralization. The Vice Rectorate is expected to develop good relationships with agencies and programmes within the UN system, international and regional organizations, governmental bodies and other entities such as enterprises and public and private sector organizations, as well as university and research institutions and foundations primarily located in Europe. These endeavours are further supported by the long standing partnership existing between UNU and the ‘Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm’ University of Bonn. The two universities signed an association agreement in March 2007.