Uncategorized Archives - Page 72 of 185

African children bearing the brunt of climate change impacts

·September 1, 2023·3 min read

It was released as leaders prepare to meet for the African Climate Summit, taking place next week in Nairobi, Kenya. Children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed were found to be at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, based on their exposure and...

UNESCO World Heritage Sites often ‘last line of defence against extinction’

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·September 1, 2023·1 min read

Although properties protected under the World Heritage Convention make up less than one per cent of the Earth’s surface, they harbour more than 20 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity, new research by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed. The UN agency has urged...

Coups only make crises worse: Guterres

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·September 1, 2023·1 min read

Wednesday’s military takeover in Gabon came on the heels of Niger last month, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Chad, Guinea, Sudan and Mali in the years prior to that. Overall, all recent coups except Myanmar, in 2021, have taken place on African soil. The announcement of the takeover in Gabon...

Refusal to waive IP rights for COVID-19 vaccines violates human rights: Experts

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·September 1, 2023·2 min read

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) adopted a decision under its “early warning and urgent action” procedures, stating that developed countries’ “persistent refusal” to waive COVID-19 vaccine IP rights – such as patents and trademarks – violated non-discrimination guarantees under international human rights law. CERD is...

Yemen: Alarming surge in measles and rubella cases, reports WHO

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·August 31, 2023·1 min read

As of July, there have been more than 34,000 suspected cases of measles and rubella reported, resulting in 413 deaths; a significant increase compared to the 27,000 cases and 220 associated deaths recorded during all of last year, reported the UN health agency. Complicating matters further is limited funding for...

Mexico: Rights experts ‘outraged’ over attacks on women activists

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·August 31, 2023·2 min read

“We are outraged that those searching for forcibly disappeared family members and loved ones continue to be targeted and face violence in Mexico,” they said in a statement, issued in the wake of two recent incidents. Brutal killing Human rights defender Teresa Magueyal was shot dead while riding her bicycle in Celaya, Guanajuato state, on 2 May. ...

Guterres calls for end to ‘atrocious crime’ of enforced disappearances

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·August 31, 2023·2 min read

Enforced disappearance has regularly been used as a tool for instilling fear and exert control over a population. The feeling of insecurity it generates is not limited to close relatives of the disappeared, but also their communities and society as a whole. In a post on social media platform X,...

UN Women welcomes FIFA action against Spanish football federation chief

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·August 31, 2023·1 min read

UN Women issued a statement on Tuesday hailing the decision by the global football organization FIFA to suspend Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for kissing star player Jennifer Hermoso on the lips without her consent, after the national team won the Women’s World Cup earlier this month. “UN Women,...

UNICEF urges support for children, as wildfires rage across Greece

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·August 30, 2023·1 min read

Fuelled by record temperatures and high winds, the deadly fires that began across the country in July have so far claimed 27 lives, including two children – both asylum seekers, according to news reports. They were among 18 bodies discovered by Greek authorities on 22 August in the national forest...

UN appeals for nuclear test ban amid ‘alarming rise in global mistrust’

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·August 30, 2023·2 min read

In his message marking the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for key countries to ratify the international treaty that bans experiments for both peaceful and military purposes. ‘Recipe for annihilation’ “This year, we face an alarming rise in global mistrust and division,” he said. “At a...

With COVID-19 ‘here to stay’, new tools essential to continue fight: Tedros

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·August 30, 2023·1 min read

The partnership, called the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), was launched in 2020, to facilitate timely, equitable and affordable access to COVID-19 health products through public health oriented, transparent and non-exclusive licensing agreements. “COVID-19 is here to stay, and the world will continue to need tools to prevent it, test...

Sudan: ‘Civilians need life-saving assistance now,’ says UN relief chief

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·August 30, 2023·2 min read

The latest funds, approved by Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, builds upon previous support, bringing the total CERF funding for the crisis to $60 million. “As humanitarian needs soar in Sudan with critically low funding, I have approved an additional $20 million from CERF,” Mr. Griffiths said in a post...