The commencement of the Rio+20 Sustainability Conference on June 20th coincides with another important UN event - World Refugee Day.  The occasion will be marked in countries accross the world to mobilise support for the millions of people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, poverty and natural disasters. The UNHCR Chief, António Guterres, is in Rio to emphasize that "environm ...

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, about two times the size of France. It is dominated by vast expanses of sparsely inhabited desert and the fertile surroundings of the Niger river. In historical times, the area was home to powerful empires and the ancient city of Timbuktu, with its architectural wonders, still tells of this era. ...