KABUL– Civilian casualties in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 reached record levels, including a particularly sharp increase in killings and injuries since May when international military forces began their withdrawal and the fighting intensified following the Taliban’s offensive.
In a new report issued on 26 July 2021, the United Nations warns that without a significant de-escalation in violence Afghanistan is on course for 2021 to witness the highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since UNAMA records began. Continue reading →
30 July 2021 (UN News)* — It’s been six months since the military coup in Myanmar where there’s grave concern over the widening impact of the deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis affecting the country’s people.
Unsplash/Matteo Massimi | People praying in the grounds of a temple in Yangon, Myanmar, the country’s largest city.
Speaking to UN News, the organisation’s top aid official in Myanmar, Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta’s power grab on 1 February.
(UN News)* — More than 100,000 children in Tigray, Ethiopia, could suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition in the next 12 months, a tenfold jump over average annual levels, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday 30 July 2021.
The development comes as UNICEF announced that it had recently reached areas of Tigray that were previously inaccessible owing to insecurity linked to nearly nine months of conflict between Government forces and those loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF.
UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado told a UN briefing in Geneva that humanitarians’ worst fears about the health and wellbeing of children have been realized.
The Values Espoused by Madiba[1] Are Burnt in the Civil Unrest
The cold, wintry South African weather experienced last week was the background setting for the serious, nationwide riots, in the midst of the Third Wave of SARS Cov-2 pandemic, with the Delta variant[2], wreaking havoc amongst the large unvaccinated population of South Africa.
Statue of Mandela Outside the Union Building in Pretoria RSA
(Athens) – The Greek government should urgently reform discriminatory policies so that children seeking asylum can go to school when the new year begins on September 13, 2021, Human Rights Watch on 29 July 2021 said.
New coalition to scale up programmes across the world
WFP Executive Director David Beasley describes the importance of school meals during a session on the new School Meals Coalition, as part of the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit in Rome. Photo: WFP/Giulio d’Adamo
The price of failing to fund children’s school meals far outweighs the cost of such programmes, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley said on 28 July 2021.
Nasra suffered from distance, pressure, racism and injustice in a context she thought was safe. In her migratory journey, she was a victim of trafficking. Photo: Sibylle Desjardins / IOM
“I wanted to go to France to continue my education, but I failed to secure the required resources and support,” she says.
“I couldn’t make the journey through regular channels so friends proposed we travel through Libya. We sold an uncle’s vehicle to pay XOF 1,000,000 (EUR 1,500) to a Burkinabé smuggler.”
Life then took a grim turn. Mariam travelled through Algeria and Libya, where she was sequestered under harsh and humiliating conditions. She was trafficked, primarily for prostitution and sexual slavery.
By Reuben Lim Wende in Myitkyina, Myanmar | UNHCR*
UNHCR is partnering with local communities and faith groups to help an estimated 200,000 people driven from their homes by fresh violence since February’s military takeover.| Español | Français | عربي
Armed conflict is sadly nothing new for 27-year-old Nway Nway Htay. An ethnic Rakhine woman originally from Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, she became familiar with the sounds of artillery and gunfire as the Myanmar Armed Forces, locally known as the Tatmadaw, battled ethnic armed groups in her native state. Security was something she constantly worried about.
30 July 2021 (UN News)* — A teenage girl who was sold for sex for the price of a few beers as a twelve-year-old, has told the United Nations how she was trafficked between Burundi and Tanzania in East Africa.
Munni was married at age 14, but her husband left her when she became pregnant – she was later sold to a brothel by a man offering to find her a job. Photo: UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani
(United Nations)* — Human trafficking is a crime that exploits women, children and men for numerous purposes including forced labour and sex. Since 2003 the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has collected information on about 225,000 victims of trafficking detected worldwide.
Globally countries are detecting and reporting more victims and are convicting more traffickers. This can be the result of increased capacity to identify victims and/or an increased number of trafficked victims.
In the midst of a global pandemic, accompanied by rising inequalities and economic devastation, the voices of human trafficking survivors and victims risk being drowned out.
But listening to their stories is more crucial than ever as the COVID-19 crisis increases fragilities and drives up desperation.
As many as 124 million more people have been pushed into extreme poverty by the pandemic, leaving many millions vulnerable to trafficking.
The stories of human trafficking survivors illustrate the impact of survivor engagement and the need for victim empowerment – each story shows the motivation to engage in anti-trafficking efforts. PHOTO:United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(United Nations)* — This year’s theme puts victims of human trafficking at the centre of the campaign and will highlight the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking.
The campaign portrays survivors as key actors in the fight against human trafficking and focusses on the crucial role they play in establishing effective measures to prevent this crime, identify and rescue victims and support them on their road to rehabilitation. Continue reading →
HAMILTON, Ontario, Canada, Jul 29 2021 (IPS)* – In 1995, a highly-respected water expert in South Africa, Bill Pitman, in very concise terms illustrated that the country, already battling a growing lack of water then, would likely run out in 25 years if it did not increase its supply.
Credit: UNICEF
Twenty-five years have now passed and the country is thirstier than ever.
(UN News)* — Three days of strong winds and heavy monsoon rain on sprawling refugee sites in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar have taken Rohingya refugee lives and wreaked havoc and destruction, the UN refugee agency said on Wednesday [28 July 2021].
WFP/Nihab Rahman | Strong winds and heavy monsoon rain in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar have taken a severe toll on Rohingya refugees sheltering there, much as it did to the family photographed here in 2019.
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While initial reports revealed that an estimated 2,500 shelters were damaged or destroyed – affecting more than 12,000 refugees, in the last 24 hours alone, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that nearly a foot of rain fell on camps hosting more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees.
(UN News)* — A culture of “safety, friends and food” at school has been replaced by “anxiety, violence, and teenage pregnancy”, with remote learning out of reach for millions, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, on 27 July 2021 said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “more than 600 million children in countries not on academic break are still affected by school closures”, James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson at a press conference at UN Geneva.
28 July 2021 (Wall Street International)* — Many of us spend a lot of time on social networks, on phones or laptops updating status, posting pictures, liking stuff, and messaging back and forth with friends. It’s where we get updates about our friends (enemies) and family, share our experiences, and procrastinate a lot of time.
We crossed the Atlantic, encountered a bunch of savages, defeated them, claimed the continent. We won! This is the history I remember learning, as satisfying and stupid as a John Wayne movie.
The myth is crumbling and cracking, its certainty now as precarious as the statue of a Confederate general. Truth flows in through the holes, e.g.:
By the late 1830s, most of the native residents had been “removed” from a big chunk of the South — a few million acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida — so white men could start growing cotton there.
In 1838, a final group of stubborn Cherokees were deported to Oklahoma Territory, as President Martin Van Buren sent 7,000 soldiers to do the job.
28 July 2021 (Wall Street International)* — The “racial reckoning” that is now occurring in the nation, especially as a result of the public murder of George Floyd, has race and racism at the forefront of many of our minds.
For many people desperate to see a return to a life that is more familiar, it is still easy to believe that the upheavals we have experienced since March 2020 and the changes that have been wrought in their train are ‘temporary’, even if they are starting to ‘drag on’ somewhat longer than hoped.
However, anyone who is paying attention to what is taking place in the background is well aware that the life we knew before 2020 has already ended and what is being systematically put in its place as the World Economic Forum (WEF) implements its ‘Great Reset’ will bear no comparison to any period prior to last year. See ‘Killing Democracy Once and for All: The Global Elite’s Coup d’état That Is Destroying Life as We Know It’.
27 July 2021 (UNEP)* — Every year, across the world, 1.3 billion tonnes of food is either lost or wasted, says the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Food Waste Index.
Unsplash/freepik / 27 Jul 2021
With world hunger on this rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to reduce food waste is becoming increasingly urgent.
UNDP/Yuichi Ishida | A woman plants mangrove trees in Timor Leste.
(UN News)* — The world is waking up to the importance of mangroves, a senior UN official said on Monday [26 July 2021], underscoring the need for everyone to support restoration and protection of these crucial habitats.
International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem – 26 July
26 July 2021 (UNESCO)* — Mangroves are rare, spectacular and prolific ecosystems on the boundary between land and sea. These extra ordinary ecosystems contribute to the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide.
They support a rich biodiversity and provide a valuable nursery habitat for fish and crustaceans.
Mangroves also act as a form of natural coastal defense against storm surges, tsunamis, rising sea levels and erosion. Their soils are highly effective carbon sinks, sequestering vast amounts of carbon.
FAO Director General, QU Dongyu, urges global leaders at Rome gathering to change policies, mind-sets and business models to transform agri-food systems
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu addressing the Pre-Summit opening ceremony. Seated in the front row (l-r) Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, International Fund for Agricultural Development President Gilbert Houngbo, World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley.
(UN News)* — More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009, a United Nations report revealed on Monday [26 July 2021].
UNAMA/Dilawar Khan Dilawar | A record number of children and women have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021.
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A particularly sharp rise in casualties occurred in May when international military forces began withdrawing from the country and fighting intensified following the Taliban offensive to take territory from Government forces.
With the Israeli government in permanent coma, the Palestinian house split against itself, the US and Israel sharing the bad karma of being built on stolen land, pushing the inhabitants into bantustans or worse, the Washington voice has been absent, silent on peacebuilding and supporting the Zionists in detriment of the Palestinians.
But peacebuilding is not sufficient; we need also peacemaking–a political solution–and peacekeeping. And here the EU enters: not only as a mediator, but as model, brilliantly accommodating a Germany that had made itself very difficult to digest by surrounding countries. Yesterday. Like Israel. Today.
Starting with the beginning, the only place to start, with a constructive approach to the future, the thesis is that a sustainable solution to Israel-Palestine has three levels:
(UN News)* — Landmark elections in the Occupied Palestinian territory must be rescheduled soon and include East Jerusalem, three UN independent human rights experts said in a statement on Monday 26 July 2021.
Rafique Gangat | The market in Old City of East Jerusalem.
The first parliamentary and presidential elections in 15 years were scheduled to take place in May and July, respectively. But they were postponed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 29 April, amid concerns about the ability to vote in East Jerusalem.
(UN News)* — Negotiations began on 26 July 2021 to approve a UN science report which will anchor high level summits later this year, charged with boosting climate action worldwide.
UNDP Tuvalu | The low-lying archipelago, Tuvalu, in the Pacific Ocean is reclaiming land as it fights the effects of climate change.
.The assessment comes as record-breaking heat waves, devastating floods and drought struck across three continents in recent weeks.“This report has been prepared in exceptional circumstances, and this is an unprecedented IPCC approval session,” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair, Hoesung Lee, told the opening session of the meeting.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jul 26 2021 (IPS)* – Undoubtedly, the world needs to reform existing food systems to better serve humanity and sustainable development. But the United Nations World Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) must be consistent with UN-led multilateralism.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
For the first time ever, the World Economic Forum (WEF), a partnership of some of the world’s most powerful corporations, is partnering the UN in launching the Summit, now scheduled for September, with its ‘Pre-Summit’ beginning today.
Food insecurity is primarily due to inequalities and deprivations as victims lack the means to obtain the food they need.
The UN should not serve those who cynically use hunger, starvation and deprivation to advance private commercial interests.
Opening ceremony features refugee athletes marching out under the Olympic flag, showcasing the power of sport and sending a message of hope to 82 million displaced people worldwide.| Français | عربي
One is a marathon runner who as a child fled fighting by crossing a desert on foot. Another is a swimmer escaping conflict who helped steer a boatful of people to safety when its motor broke down by jumping into the water.
Space travel was once about collective efforts to go beyond the limits of one’s imagination. Now it’s an exhibition of extreme entitlement
Billionaire Jeff Bezos is launched into space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket on 20 July 2021 | Joe Skipper/Reuters/Alamy
24 July 2021 (openDemocracy)* — On 20 July, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the second billionaire in a matter of weeks to take a flashy joyride into space. The date was significant, marking 52 years since the first moon landing in 1969.
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 26 2021 (IPS)* – As a wisecracking cynic once remarked: “The sun would never set on the British empire because God wouldn’t trust an Englishman in the dark“. Perhaps it was an uncharitable remark because most of the British colonies have long gone.
Trusteeship Council. Credit: UN Photo/CCOI
But when I quoted this witticism to a British journalist, he countered: “I am sure it was told by a Scotsman.“
Since Scotland is not a colony, its demand for independence is not a matter of decolonization, which is virtually dead on the UN’s political agenda.
23 July 2021 (openDemocrcay)* — Iraq in 2021 is still a state afflicted by poverty, injustice, the trauma of great loss of life, and daily fear. Iraqis still suffer from a sense of powerlessness, defeat and humiliation.
– Devastating floods in Europe. Temperatures soaring to 45ºC in Canada. Mudslides in Japan. Cloud bursts in India. Floods in New York subways, central China and Uganda, and a sweltering heatwave in Morocco.
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A woman is trying to move in a flooded street following heavy rains in Liege, on July 15, 2021. Illustration shows the scene in Liege after heavy rainfall, Thursday 15 July 2021. – The provincial disaster plan has been declared in Liege, Luxembourg and Namur provinces after large amounts of rainfall. Water in several rivers has reached alarming levels. – Belgium OUT (Photo by BRUNO FAHY / Belga / AFP)
ROME, (WFP)* — Ahead of the UN’s Food Systems Summit in September, people involved in all aspects of the production, transport and consumption of food are meeting at a ‘pre-summit’ in Rome.
VIDEO: Click on image to check out how we consume, distribute and consume food
24 July 2021 (UN News)* — Farmers, especially women and indigenous people, work tirelessly to put food on our tables. UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed met on Saturday 24 July 2021 women producers at a farmers’ market in Circo Massimo, Rome, ahead of the Food Systems Pre-Summit taking place next week.
UN Photo | UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed meets women producers at a farmers’ market in Circo Massimo, Rome.
Dozens of stalls were set up in the vicinity of the UN event’s venue, where heads of state and delegates will gather from Monday to discuss ways to transform food systems to tackle hunger, poverty, climate change and inequality.
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UN and government officials toured the market to meet with farmers before paying tribute to producers, particularly women, for their central role in food systems.
Rome, 23 July 2021 (IFAD)* – If we ignore the challenges and needs of rural people in the world’s poorest countries, our attempts to create more equitable and sustainable food systems are doomed to fail, said the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) ahead of the UN Food Systems pre-Summit that begins in Rome on Monday [26 July 2021].
“Rural people have long been side-lined in food value chains. While they toil to produce much of our food, too often they receive a pittance for their efforts and are left vulnerable to shocks,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD, the UN agency which leads on tackling rural poverty and hunger.
“This is a critical moment to address the inequity of our food systems. Without concrete actions that result in real changes for rural producers, hunger and poverty will only grow, and increased instability and migration will follow,” he added.
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Jul 23 2021 (IPS)* – Twenty-seven years after South Africa’s first democratic elections, the country finds itself reflecting on the catalysts of a week of looting and destruction of property resulting in more than 200 deaths and US$ 1.3 billion in damage.
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Alex residents queued for hours to buy basic foodstuff after shops were looted. The unrest has caused a humanitarian crisis, as has not been seen since the dawn of democracy in South Africa. Credit: Dan Ingham
President Cyril Ramaphosa described the week-long riots earlier this month as a failed insurrection.
The coronavirus pandemic is not yet over — despite our most optimistic thinking — and this year’s Defense News Top 100 list offers hints of how the broader international defense market has coped.
The answer appears to be that national security firms have fared well. Very well.
(Martin Barraud/Getty Images)
Consider that six of the 10 largest U.S. defense companies had revenues jump by 6 percent or more — a total of about $11 billion — from fiscal 2019. And all seven Chinese firms on the list grew during the last year as well.
Astronauts in the International Space Station regularly have to avoid catastrophic collisions with space debris | Image from Wall Street International.
23 July 2021 (Wall Street International)* — Above our heads, man-made satellites wage war against the stars.
On Earth, a handful of CEOs plan to put hundreds of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit—in addition to the 5,0001 satellites already launched.
Altogether, these satellites will outnumber the stars visible to the naked eye tenfold.
The region is in a trap of high inequality and low growth. Concentration of power, violence, and inefficient social protection policies fuel this vicious circle and limit human development, according to new UNDP report
The report recommends that the solutions must lead to greater growth with environmental sustainability, and to greater inclusion and social mobility.Photo: UNDP Colombia
New York (UNDP)* – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gap between extreme wealth and extreme poverty and vulnerability that characterizes the region, was made more evident and deepened even further.
New Global Dashboard on COVID-19 Vaccine Equity finds low-income countries would add $38 billion to their GDP forecast for 2021 if they had the same vaccination rate as high-income countries. Global economic recovery at risk if vaccines are not equitably manufactured, scaled up and distributed.
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Geneva/ New York City, (WHO)* — COVID-19 vaccine inequity will have a lasting and profound impact on socio-economic recovery in low- and lower-middle income countries without urgent action to boost supply and assure equitable access for every country, including through dose sharing, according to new data released on 22 July 2021 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the University of Oxford.
BEIRUT, 23 July 2021 (UNICEF)* – More than four million people, including one million refugees, are at immediate risk of losing access to safe water in Lebanon.
UNICEF/UN0482539/Mother Kanouz holding her one-year old daughter Fatima to wash her hands at Mhamara informal settlement, 5 July 2021
With the rapidly escalating economic crisis, shortages of funding, fuel and supplies such as chlorine and spare parts, UNICEF estimates that most water pumping will gradually cease across the country in the next four to six weeks.
22 July 2021 (UNEP)* — For the last half-century, money and meat have been a package deal: Across the globe, as wealth increases, so does consumption of animal-based foods. And by 2050, the demand for animal-based foods could increase by as much as 70 per cent.
Unsplash/Scott Warman / 21 Jul 2021
The irony, of course, is that this voracious consumption has not necessarily improved the quality of human life.
