The food and nutrition crisis facing countries in West Africa’s drought-prone Sahel region has continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate despite commendable early response efforts by governments and international aid agencies, a senior United Nations official said today.

“We are in a race against time and some of the harshest climatic conditions on the planet,” said the Director of Operations at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, after returning from a week-long mission to Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, congratulated the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) for winning the 2012 Environmental Quality Award. The non-profit agency, which Senator Gillibrand nominated this past February, is partnering with Sustainable South Bronx and the Osborne Association to recruit and train Bronx residents for city jobs in emerging green industries.

At the Council’s Stated Meeting on Wednesday, March 28, the Council voted unanimously in favor of designating the City Island Nautical Museum, the former P.S. 102 and P.S. 17 City Island School, as a New York City Landmark.

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The Syrian Government has accepted the six-point plan put forward by the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan, who described the move as “an important initial step” to end the violence and urged President Bashar Al-Assad to put the proposal into effect immediately.

Although Syria accepted Annan's peace plan, which includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, the bloodshed continues as heavy fighting crossed the Lebanese border.