Human Wrongs Watch

Human Wrongs Watch

New York – Global economic growth will continue to be “below potential” this year, according to a report released on 23 May 2013 by the United Nations that adds that job creation will be vital to spur recovery*.

A government unemployment office with job listings, Berlin, Germany, 1982. | Source: German Federal Archive | Wikimedia Commons

The UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2013 mid-year update notes that, since late 2012, new policy initiatives in major developed economies have reduced systemic risks and helped stabilize consumer, business and investor confidence, but with very limited improvement in economic growth.

“The main priority for policymakers worldwide should be to support a robust and balanced global recovery, with a focus on promoting job creation,” said Shamshad Akhtar, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development.

Human Wrongs Watch

With dire warnings likely to match or exceed the worst fears about the effects of global warming, environment and development experts gathered on 16 May 2013 at United Nations Headquarters to debate the twin challenge of curbing climate change while sustaining economic growth*.

Sustainable water management brings economic, social and environmental benefits, say countries. Photo: UNEP

“The fundamental challenge of our time is to end extreme poverty in this generation and significantly narrow the global gap between rich and poor without ruing the environmental basis for our survival,” General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic said as he opened the Thematic Debate Sustainable Development and Climate Change: Practical Solutions in the Energy-Water Nexus.

The gathering featured UN officials, a host of environment and energy Ministers, as well as a diverse mix of experts that included Jeffrey Sachs, Director of Colombia University’s Earth Institute, and Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Human Wrongs Watch

Rome, 14 May 2013 – Forests, trees on farms and agroforestry are critical in the fight against hunger and should be better integrated into food security and land use policies, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said on 13 May 2013 at the International Conference on Forests for Food Security and Nutrition in Rome (13-15 May).*

A woman selling dried caterpillars in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo | FAO “Forests contribute to the livelihoods of more than a billion people, including many of the world’s neediest. Forests provide food, fuel for cooking, fodder for animals and income to buy food,” Graziano da Silva said. “Wild animals and insects are often the main protein source for people in forest areas, while leaves, seeds, mushrooms, honey and fruits provide minerals and vitamins, thus ensuring a nutritious diet,” he added. “But forests and agroforestry systems are rarely considered in food security and land use policies.” “Often, rural people do not have secure access rights to forests and trees, putting their food security in danger. The important contributions forests can make to the food security and nutrition of rural people should be better recognized,” Graziano da Silva said. read more »

As an estimated 50 billion birds commence their annual migrations, the critical staging areas they need to complete these journeys continue to be degraded or are disappearing completely, the United Nations today warned on this year’s World Migratory Bird Day on 11 May 2013*.

White Pelican. Photo: UNEP/AEWA/Sergey Dereliev

In his message marking the Day, celebrated each year in over 65 countries on 11 and 12 May, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored the need for greater international action in protecting the winged fauna and saving their natural habitats.

With the stepping stones to their migration under increased pressure, some bird species could face extinction within a decade.