Archive for November 18th, 2014

18/11/2014

A Family Made Whole Again: After Eight Agonizing Months, Idris Is Runited with His Wife and Sons

Human Wrongs Watch

‘Idris was separated from his wife and sons as they fled the fighting in Central African Republic. Eight agonizing months later, they reunite.’

UNHCR/Olivier Laban-Mattei

UNHCR/Olivier Laban-Mattei

By Baptiste de Cazenove*, 17 November 2014 — After eight months of anguish, Idris Ali is basking in joy. Three days ago he learned that his first wife and two sons would soon join him in eastern Cameroon, where he took refuge from atrocities back home in the Central African Republic. For the longest time, Idris had not even known if they were still alive.

The 35-year-old husband and father has imagined this moment many times. He has tried to prepare himself mentally. Still, he feels an urge to cry as he watches his wife and children enter the community shelter here in Gado-Badzere, soon after they arrived by bus from a transit site near the border.

Idris swoops the kids up his arms. “My God saved me and my family!” he says triumphantly.

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18/11/2014

Little Book, Big Data

Human Wrongs Watch

The Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has published a comprehensive pocketbook of nutrition-related data covering all regions of the world ahead of the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) taking place in the Italian capital on 19-21 November 2014. 

Source: FAO

Source: FAO

Food and Nutrition in Numbers – a pocket-sized compendium dedicated to the state of nutrition worldwide— offers diverse data and visualizations highlighting trends on such topics as micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases from 1990 to the present.*

Additionally, it offers indicators on the links between nutrition, health and the environment.

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18/11/2014

INTERPOL Operation Targets ‘Most Wanted’ Environmental Fugitives

Human Wrongs Watch

Nine fugitives are being pursued as part of a United Nations-backed joint INTERPOL global operation targeting individuals wanted for serious environmental – including wildlife – crime.

CITES is supporting INTERPOL’s Operation ‘INFRA-Terra’ (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest), targeting nine fugitives wanted for environmental crime, in particular wildlife crime. Credit: INTERPOL/CITES

Operation INFRA-Terra (International Fugitive Round Up and Arrest) is supported by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), which is a collaborative effort of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat, INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and the World Customs Organization. INTERPOL is leading the operation, which is the first of its kind.

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18/11/2014

DR Congo Declares End to Ebola Outbreak, as Top Footballers Join Global Fight against Deadly Virus

Human Wrongs Watch

The United Nations on 17 November 2014 praised the end of an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as some of the world’s top football players, including Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona’s Neymar Jr, announced they are joining the Organization’s fight to help raise global awareness in the fight against the deadly virus.

Ebola treatment centre outside an Ebola virus disease (EVD) case management centre run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the town of Guéckédou, Guinea. Photo: UNICEF/Suzanne Beukes

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Moustapha Soumaré praised the DRC authorities for their rapid and coordinated response, despite enormous logistical challenges, and paid tribute to the bravery of aid teams, in particular to the eight health workers who died in the early days of the outbreak.*

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO) there had been 66 cases of Ebola reported in the DRC, including the health-care workers. In total, 49 deaths have been reported before authorities in that country declared the end of the outbreak, which is unrelated to the Ebola outbreak that originated in West Africa.

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18/11/2014

Complications of Premature Birth, World’s Number One Killer of Young Children

Human Wrongs Watch

Marking the fourth World Prematurity Day on 17 November 2014, the United Nations has underscored that the complications of preterm birth outrank all other causes as the world’s number one killer of young children.

A health worker places a preterm newborn into an incubator to improve the chances of survival. Photo: IRIN/Sean Kimmons

“On World Prematurity Day, I urge all partners to recognize the vital importance of addressing prematurity as we strive to improve women’s and children’s health,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in remarks on the Day.*

“Intensifying our focus on prematurity will sustain gains in child survival, accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs], and help lay the groundwork for ending all preventable deaths of women and children by 2030,” he added.

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