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This publication sets out to examine the major challenges for indigenous peoples to obtain adequate access to and utilization of quality health care services. It provides an important background to...

At its first session, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) requested the United Nations System to produce a report on the state of the world’s indigenous peoples (SOWIP)...

On 13 September 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It marked the culmination of decades of struggle among indigenous...

While indigenous peoples make up around 370 million of the world’s population – some 5 per cent – they constitute around one-third of the world’s 900 million extremely poor rural people. Every day...

This publication offers a wide-ranging perspective on indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources, examining legislation and agreements at the national and international level...

This publication discusses the scientific background of the African elephant and the effect of the ivory trade on its endangered population. A chapter on the counting of elephants provides the reader...

The value of this volume is the summary of the GEMS/Air assessment on the levels and effects of five of the most common and ubiquitous air pollutants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide...

The data in this fifth volume in the series of the UNEP/GEMS Environment Library provide a picture of levels and trends of food contamination over much of the globe. Contaminants such as lead, cadmium...

Polluted water has the potential for becoming a global threat. The GEMS assessment provides the first global picture of the state of much of the world's freshwater resources. It outlines the critical...

This volume deals with the effects of ozone depletion on human health and the environment, and outlines ways of reducing damage to the ozone layer. It discusses the effects of ultraviolet radiation on...

This technical document, written to be easily understood by those without technical qualifications, deals with the phenomenon of El Niño as it effects a reversal in the direction of winds and oceans...

Glaciers are important to the environmental health of the planet especially in the regulation of the Earth's heat balance. This volume presents the background and behaviour of glaciers, as they can be...

This volume summarizes the current state of knowledge on climate change and its possible consequences. It draws together scientific research on the enhanced greenhouse effect, global warming and...

Biodiversity describes the diversity of life on Earth encompassing all species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genetic material and the ecosystems of which they are part. This volume...

Good management of the world's freshwater resources depends on understanding their value and the major problems confronting them. This publication documents the state of the world's lakes and...

This volume summarizes the potential implications of climate change and variability on fisheries and on the societies that depend on them. It is based on a review of several fisheries case studies and...

Contributing to the scientific investigation of global water resources, this publication summarizes the results of analysis and interpretation for 82 major river basins around the world. It is...

It is urgent that we protect our groundwater supplies with diligence and that everyone understands the importance of doing so. This publication is intended to explain to all readers how important...