'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
Mario Lubetkin is Assistant Director General at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Women farmers irrigate crops of onions and other vegetables. They participate in a special programme to improve Senegal’s food security. Credit: FAO
(UN News)* — An estimated one in six children – or 356 million globally – were living in extreme poverty before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and this is set to worsen significantly, according to a new World Bank Group and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) analysis released on Tuesday [20 October 2020].
Global Estimate of Children in Monetary Poverty: An Update, notes that sub-Saharan Africa, with its limited social safety nets, accounts for two-thirds of children living in households that struggle to survive on an average of $1.90 a day or less per person – the international measure for extreme poverty, while South Asia accounts for nearly a fifth of these children.
20 October 2020 (UN News)* — With the COVID-19 pandemic sparking a “communications emergency” caused by false information disseminated on social media, the UN Secretary-General is encouraging people everywhere to take a breath before sharing content online.
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(UN Environment)* — “The world today finds itself in the worst financial and economic crisis in generations. The crisis has triggered an unprecedented policy response: interest rates have been dramatically reduced, in some cases down to almost zero, and hundreds of billions of dollars in liquidity support and fresh capital have been provided to banking systems around the world.”
Unsplash/RawFilm / 13 Oct 2020
– As the United Nations plans to commemorate its annual UN Day, come October 24, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is presiding over a world body which has remained locked down since last March because of the spreading coronavirus pandemic.
UN75: The Future We Want, The UN We Need. Credit: United Nations
“In a world turned upside down, this General Assembly Hall is among the strangest sights of all,” said Guterres last month, describing the venue of the UN’s highest policy-making body. Continue reading
A New Freely Downloadable Book
John Scales Avery
I would like to announce the publication of a new book, which discusses the question of how oligarchs maintain their grasp on an excessive share of wealth and power when, as Shelley pointed out, the have-nots are many, while the power-holders are few.
http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Ye-are-Many-They-are-Few-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf
Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many, they are few!
(UN News)* — Unless access is urgently granted to humanitarian organizations, thousands in the Central Sahel will be “pushed into further destitution”, the UN emergency food relief agency warned on Monday [19 October 2020].
Ahead of Tuesday’s High-Level Ministerial Conference on the Central Sahel in the Danish capital Copenhagen, the World Food Programme (WFP) sounded the alarm that catastrophic levels of hunger could hit parts of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Robert J. Burrowes
At what is arguably the most important time in human history, with Homo Sapiens confronted by an enormous range of violent challenges that threaten our very survival, the only question of any genuine importance is this:
Can we craft and implement a strategy to end the violence, particularly in each and all of its extinction-threatening dimensions, to ensure that humanity has a chance to thrive on planet Earth indefinitely into the future? But few are asking that question.
15 October 2020 (UN Environment)* — Industrialized farming has been a reliable way to produce lots of food, at a relatively low cost. But it’s not the bargain it was once believed to be. Unsustainable agriculture can pollute water, air and soil; is a source of greenhouse gas; and destroys wildlife – an environmental cost equivalent to about US$3 trillion every year.
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UN Photo/Fred Noy / 15 Oct 2020
The use of chemicals and antimicrobials can have adverse health effects and lead to resistant infections. And to top it all off, our production and consumption habits have been linked to the emergence of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19.
16 October 2020 (FAO)* — In India, a grassroots movement focused on agroecological farming is spreading fast. Beginning in the southern state of Karnataka, the natural farming methods were adopted first by tens, then hundreds and now hundreds of thousands of farmers across India. So, what’s so special about it?
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a projected rise in extreme poverty, a team of scientists says the world can no longer afford to overlook the role of forests and trees in poverty eradication.
– With extreme poverty (living on $1.90 a day) projected to rise for the first time in over 20 years, a new study has concluded that global poverty eradication efforts could be futile in the absence of forests and trees.
Social protection coverage in Asia and the Pacific ‘riddled with gaps’
(United Nations)* — In a world characterized by an unprecedented level of economic development, technological means and financial resources, that millions of persons are living in extreme poverty is a moral outrage.
Poverty is not solely an economic issue, but rather a multidimensional phenomenon that encompasses a lack of both income and the basic capabilities to live in dignity.
Addressing poverty eradication last week, just ahead of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17, UN chief António Guterres warned that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are falling “disproportionately on the most vulnerable: people living in poverty, the working poor, women and children, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups”.
Twelve-year-old boy in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, sorts through hazardous plastic waste without any protection, working to support his family amidst the coronavirus lockdown. Credit: UNICEF/Parvez Ahmad
FACT SHEET: Lack of hand-washing with soap puts millions at increased risk to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases | Français
NEW YORK, 15 October 2020 (UNICEF)* – Although handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against infectious diseases, including COVID-19, millions of people around the world have no ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF said ahead of Global Handwashing Day.
14 October 2020 (UN News)* — UN agencies in Myanmar have expressed ‘sadness’ and ‘shock’ over the killing of two boys, allegedly used as human shields by security forces in the country’s northern Rakhine province, earlier this month.
October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — Everything always the same. Repetition presides over processes, from metabolic ones to the passage of time: day, night, light, dark, birth, death, and old age. Having to make a living, having to feed, to get through life is the biggest contradiction of the process, of the dynamics of life. There is continuity only if there is maintenance. Linking dynamics to statics, movement to inertia, is dialectical. Living without contradiction is as desired as it is impossible.
The US is a hopelessly divided, and dysfunctional country
14 October2020 (Other News)* — Let’s take a look at the American elections which at this moment are important not only for the United States but also for the entire world. The American electoral system is a little known but disastrous system. It is also the most anti-democratic you can imagine.
Roberto Savio
This system is incomprehensible for a modern society but it is untouchable in the United States.
There are 50 states and each state has two senators. California has 39 million inhabitants and two senators. Wyoming has 850,000 inhabitants but also two senators.
Currently there are 47 Democratic senators (therefore 53 are Republicans) who obtained 17 million more votes than the Republicans. So the Republicans have the majority of seats despite having obtained 17 million fewer votes.
14 October 2020 (United Nations)* — Women and girls are disadvantaged in this pandemic, a problem aggravated in rural areas. Rural women, with a crucial role in agriculture, food security and nutrition, already face struggles in their daily lives.
11 October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — This series of articles will discuss the basic differences between human and computer intelligence, a particularly important distinction today, flooded as we are with predictions that artificial intelligence and robots will soon surpass human abilities. What is true and what is fiction in the conflicting stories we hear about this subject?
These actions, derived from experts and research by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) alongside others, are featured as part the Count Us In campaign, a diverse coalition of culture, faith, sport, cities and businesses.
Organizers hope the activities and support of the partners will inspire one billion people to take practical steps to reduce carbon pollution and challenge leaders to act more boldly on climate.
Individual action can make a significant impact. Count Us In organizers estimate that if 1 billion people take practical action in their own lives, they could reduce as much as 20 per cent of global carbon emissions.
(UN News)* — The first 20 years of this century have seen a “staggering” rise in climate disasters, UN researchers said on Monday [12 October 2020], while also maintaining that “almost all nations” have failed to prevent a “wave of death and illness” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
7 October 2020 (openDemocracy)* — Historical facts do not repeat themselves, but they can rhyme, like the verses of a long poem. I heard this phrase from my friend Sidney Chalhoub, a prestigious historian and professor at Harvard University.
New York, 10 October 2020 (UNFPA)* – On 11 October, organizations and activists around the world will mark the International Day of the Girl Child, shining a spotlight on the rights, needs, vulnerabilities, contributions and future potential of girls everywhere.
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The theme for the day is “My Voice, Our Equal Future” because girls’ voices are seldom heard – not in the halls of governments, nor in homes or classrooms.
But what do we learn when we finally listen to girls?
– Africa’s hopes of feeding a population projected to double by 2050 amidst a worsening climate crisis rest on huge investments in agriculture, including creating the conditions so that women can empower themselves and lead efforts to transform the continent’s farming landscape.
Rhoda Tumusiime
As we celebrate the 2020 International Year of Rural Women, Africa needs to reflect more on the role women play in food and nutrition security, land and water management.
Also, the impact of COVID-19 on women’s capacity to provide food for their families and care for their loved ones underscores the importance of strengthening their capacities by designing gender responsive actions.
We know the world has the technology and resources to eradicate hunger but finding the right policies and the will to implement them often elude us. Continue reading
12 October 2020 (UN Women)* — This year on International Day of Rural Women (15 October), the spotlight is on the urgent need for Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19, for “building back better” by strengthening rural women’s sustainable livelihoods and wellbeing.
COVID-19 and the climate emergency are telling us that we need clear vision, plans and competent, empowered institutions acting on scientific evidence for the public good.
Ubi vinci necesse, expedit cedere.
(Quintiliano)
10 October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — This theory mainly consists of the fact that two contenders are both about 50% likely to win a conflict. If this percentage fluctuates too much, on one side or the other, the conflict would be extinguished.
UNHCR’s Senior Mental Health Officer Pieter Ventevogel says COVID-19 has been a tipping point for many refugees in distress. But with the crisis comes an opportunity. | Español | Français
A South Sudanese refugee sits outside his shelter in Uganda’s Bidibidi settlement, November 2019. His wife was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in South Sudan in 2012 and she took her own life in exile. © UNHCR/Rocco Nuri
Washington (IOM)* – More than 70 million migrants living across international borders in the Region of the Americas are set to benefit from a joint agreement signed on 9 October 2020 by Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM-PAHO agreement will focus on increasing and scaling-up interventions that address barriers to health care and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on migrant populations. Photo: IOM/Rafael Rodríguez
Geneva (IOM)* - Effective international cooperation is urgently needed to address the circumstances of millions of migrants stranded worldwide due to mobility restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, the International Organization for Migration on 9 October 2020 said.
Farhiya and her eight-month-old son await return assistance to Ethiopia at a reception centre in Bossaso, Somalia, two of the 2.75 million migrants stranded globally due to COVID-19 mobility restrictions. Photo: IOM/Muse Mohammed
10 October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — We are watching now what may very well be the last American election. Before 2016, such words would have been unthinkable and unspeakable. The rapidity with which they have become not only possible, but actual, has many of us reeling in disbelief. In these darkest of times, I do not and can not afford myself the luxury to speak about any other current events or issues. Nothing is more important today.
– The 26th of September, the Lebanese prime minister Mustapha Adib stepped down after less than a month on his post. The president, Michael Auon, stated: ”Lebanon will be going to Hell if a new government is not formed soon.” The question is if his nation is not there already.
A horrifying image of the state of the nation was provided on the 4th of August when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored in a dockside hangar, blew up in an explosion killing more than 190 people, injuring 6,500 and damaging thousands of buildings. Continue reading
9 October 2020 (UN News)* — The UN World Food Programme (WFP), which provides lifesaving food assistance to millions across the world – often in extremely dangerous and hard-to-access conditions – has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize.
Balancing freedom of expression with social responsibility
Image from Wall Street International. 8 October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — Abraham Lincoln is credited with one of the most enduring statements in American history: “You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” Unfortunately, nearly all Americans have been fooled by this. The first person to utter the statement was actually the showman P.T. Barnum.
UNEP’s novel ‘World Environment Situation Room’ provides real-time data on PM2.5 levels across the planet, informing scientists, policy-makers and citizens alike.
Skeeze / Pixabay / 08 Oct 2020
8 October 2020 (UN Environment)* — Last month, as wildfires continued to rage across the American West, Pascal Peduzzi, a climate scientist with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Geneva, followed the situation with air quality in Mammoth Lakes, a town high in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.
(UN News)* — Armed conflict has a disproportionate impact on women and girls – a key reason why women’s “full, equal and meaningful participation” in UN peacekeeping is such a priority, the Secretary-General said on Thursday [8 October 2020].
Originally published on Medium.com/@UN_Women
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9 October 2020 (UN Women)* — Around the world, girls are driving change. They are activists and advocates on the front lines of movements for social and racial equality. They are calling for urgent climate action and demanding space at decision-making tables in their communities, countries and beyond.
9 October 2020 (United Nations)* — Progress for adolescent girls has not kept pace with the realities they face today, and COVID-19 has reinforced many of these gaps.
This year, under the theme, “My Voice, Our Equal Future”, let’s seize the opportunity to be inspired by what adolescent girls see as the change they want, the solutions- big and small- they are leading and demanding across the globe.
A Colombian woman who spent decades working to heal children and teenage survivors of sexual violence and exploitation on 5 October 2020 accepted the 2020 Nansen Refugee Award at a special ceremony, calling the prize a “recognition of their strength, courage and endurance.” | Español | Français | عربي
UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award Laureate 2020 hugs a young survivor of sexual exploitation.© UNHCR/Nicolo Filippo Rosso
(UN News)* — A stillborn baby is delivered every 16 seconds, which translates into nearly two million infants over the course of a year that never took their first breath, according to a new UN report published on Thursday [8 October 2020].
The world is looking in horror for the second straight year as historic blazesravage the world’s largest tropical forest. All the while, instead of fighting the fires, the Brazilian government fans the flames by emboldening those who are setting the fires to expand their agribusiness.
7 October 2020 (UN Environment)* — In 1933, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order allocating US$ 10 million for emergency conservation efforts under the New Deal, putting unemployed Americans to work. When South Korea was struggling with famine and a refugee crisis in the 1950s, the government restored forests and farmland, creating hundreds of thousands of rural jobs.
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