20/02/2015
The United Nations Secretary-General on 20 February 2015 said that the World Day for Social Justice comes at a pivotal moment for people and the planet, adding that this year’s commemoration focuses on the scourge of human trafficking and the plight of approximately 21 million women, men and children in various forms of modern slavery.
Forced labour often means unpaid wages, excessively long work hours without rest days, confiscation of ID documents, little freedom of movement, deception, intimidation and physical or sexual violence. ILO/A. Khemka
“New instruments such as the ILO (International Labour Organization) Protocol and Recommendation on forced labour and human trafficking are helping to strengthen global efforts to punish perpetrators and end impunity,” said Ban Ki-moon in a message marking the Day.
“We must continue to do more. We simply cannot achieve development for all if we leave behind those who are socially and economically exploited.”
In what he described as a crucial year for global development, he said more needed to be done to eradicate all forms of human exploitation.
read more »
Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples |
Leave a Comment »
20/02/2015
Geneva, 20 February 2015 — In 2013, 939 million workers – 26.7 per cent of total employment, were still coping on US$2 a day or less. Millions of young people facing a future of unemployment or working poverty are losing hope in promises of economic and social progress, ILO Director-General said on this year’s World Day of Social Justice on 20 February 2015.
Source: ILO
The situation is aggravated by the widespread absence of basic social protection. Millions of people are subjected to unacceptable conditions of work and the denial of fundamental rights, according to ILO Director-General Guy Ryder.*
World Day of Social Justice should galvanize action against poverty and social exclusion. Work done in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity – decent work – is a key to inclusion and it is a conduit of social justice. Yet the global situation gives cause for grave concern.
The economic gap continues to widen, with the richest 10 per cent earning 30 to 40 per cent of total income while the poorest 10 per cent earn between 2 and 7 per cent.
.
In 2013, 939 million workers – 26.7 per cent of total employment, were still coping on US$2 a day or less. Millions of young people facing a future of unemployment or working poverty are losing hope in promises of economic and social progress.
Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples |
Leave a Comment »
20/02/2015
.
Top of the list, as so often, are three Scandinavian countries: Finland, which has been in first place for five years in succession, followed by Norway and Denmark.At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, in last place, were the worst performers.
.
France is ranked 38th (up one place), the United States 49th (down three places), Japan 61st (down two places), Brazil 99 (up 12 places), Russia 152 (down four places), Iran 173rd (unchanged) and China 176th (down one place).
read more »
Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples |
Leave a Comment »
20/02/2015
Rome, 19 February 2015 – Sharks may be able to swim more serenely one day thanks to a handy new digital technique developed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that allows for the quick identification of species of the iconic fish.*
A scalloped hammerhead shark, one of the species recognizable by FAO’s new software. | FAO
The new iSharkFin software will help protect endangered shark species and combat illegal trade in shark fins.
It is a tool for custom officers and inspectors at fish markets as well as for fishermen keen on avoiding the capture of protected species, said Monica Barone, who led a team in FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Department in the development of the software.
read more »
Posted in Market Lords, Mother Earth |
Leave a Comment »
19/02/2015
Civilian casualties in Afghanistan topped 10,000 in 2014, a 22 per cent increase compared to the past year, reflecting increased ground battles between armed groups and the Government, and a drastic drawdown of Western troop presence in the country, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on 18 February 2015 said.*
An IDP camp in the northern Afghanistan Province of Balkh. Photo: UNAMA/Eric Kanalstein
A total of 3,699 civilians were killed and 6,849 injured in 2014. The figures, released today in the Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict and prepared in coordination with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, are the highest number of civilian casualties recorded in a single year since the UN started keeping track in 2007.
The report also found that for the first time since 2009, more Afghan civilians were killed and injured in ground engagements than improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Civilian deaths and injuries from ground operations surged 54 per cent in 2014.
read more »
Posted in Asia, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords |
Leave a Comment »
19/02/2015
18 February 2015 (RT)* –
– If the US did not invade Iraq in 2003 probably there wouldn’t be ISIS or al-Qaeda there, or anywhere in the Mideast, so it’s their responsibility to handle the situation, Khaled El Shami, political editor of al-Quds newspaper, told RT’s In The Now.
.
**Iraq War montage.png| Author: Futuretrillionaire | Wikimedia Commons
RT: What do you think about Egypt basically asking for the world to intervene in Libya?
Khaled El Shami: Obviously the threat of terror in Libya now is not confined to Egypt or the Middle East but to Europe and eventually to the whole world.
The Egyptians were beheaded on the shore of Libya only 350 km away from the south of Italy.
I think now the EU countries realize this threat and the way is paved at the moment for a new UN resolution to intervene in Libya.
RT: There are about 15-20 strikes on ISIS by the US-led coalition a day. If the US really wants to get rid of ISIS shouldn’t the strikes be more frequent?
KS: I think many people in the Middle East are asking the same question. Now we don’t really know the answer. What we know is that if America didn’t invade Iraq in 2003 probably we wouldn’t have ISIS or al-Qaeda in Iraq or anywhere in the Middle East now…
read more »
Posted in Africa |
Leave a Comment »
19/02/2015
Recent savage terrorist acts – culminating in the beheading of 21 [Egyptian] Coptic Christians – highlight the “imminent danger” confronting Libya, its people and the wider region, the United Nations envoy to the country on 18 February 2015 warned, urging swift agreement among the main parties on resolving the crisis and ending the military and political conflict.
Photo: Tom Westcott/IRIN | Two soldiers from forces operating under Libya’s Tripoli-based government walking through the deserted streets of Bin Jawad.
Strongly condemning all the “horrific and brutal acts” witnessed in recent weeks in Libya, Bernardino León, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), underscored in his briefing to the Security Council that “no words can express my outrage and revulsion at the beheading of 21 men, including 20 Egyptian nationals who were targeted for no other reason than their religious belief and nationality.”*
read more »
Posted in Africa, Market Lords, Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords |
Leave a Comment »
18/02/2015
18 February 2015 (RT)* — ISIS’ plans to conquer Europe via Libya have been revealed in letters seen by an anti-terrorism group. Owing to its perfect location on the continental doorstep, the terrorists plan to ferry fighters from North Africa across the Mediterranean.
**Map of the Mediterranean Sea| Author: O H 237 | Wikimedia Commons
The plans, analyzed by anti-terrorism British think tank Quillum, outline a strategy to illegally ferry fighters across the sea from Libya into southern Europe, into ports such as Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa, less than 300 miles (483km) away.
Libya “has a long coast and looks upon the southern Crusader states, which can be reached with ease by even a rudimentary boat,” an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) propagandist says in the letters seen by Quillum, according to the Telegraph.
That information originates from an IS supporter using the moniker Abu Ibrahim al-Libim. The propagandist is believed to be a strong force in IS recruitment online, with a focus on Libya.
read more »
Posted in Middle East, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples, War Lords |
Leave a Comment »
18/02/2015
By Almigdad Mojalli
Sanaa, 18 February 2015 (IRIN)* – The coming to power of northern rebels in Yemen could derail moves to end the use of child soldiers in the country.
**Photo: Mohammed Al-Ariqi/IRIN | A poster from the Seyaj NGO reads: “Recruitment of children under the age of 18 is a crime”.
Last month the Houthi rebel group forced the government to resign and appointed a new parliament – which has been declared illegitimate by the UN.
The Houthi movement, like many Yemeni rebel groups, has long been accused of routinely using children in its ranks. A 2010 report from the UN found that “as many as half of the total number of fighters, from…the Al-Houthi rebels, are below 18 years of age.”
Leila Zerrougui, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said that Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi had pledged to help protect children from conflict in 2012 but has since appeared to reverse his position.
read more »
Posted in Middle East, The Peoples, War Lords |
Leave a Comment »
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 