6 February 2018 – Female genital mutilation is a violent act that, among other things, causes infection, disease, childbirth complications and death, said the Executive Directors of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in a joint statement for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Fatima, 7, sits on a bed in her home in Afar region, Ethiopia. She was subjected to FGM/C when she was 1 year old. Photo: UNICEF/ Holt
5 February 2018 – TRANSCEND Media Service — On January 23rd an overcrowded smuggling boat capsized off the coast of Aden in Southern Yemen. Smugglers packed 152 passengers from Somalia and Ethiopia in the boat and then, while at sea, reportedly pulled guns on the migrants to extort additional money from them.
Kathy Kelly
The boat capsized, according to The Guardian, after the shooting prompted panic.
The death toll, currently 30, is expected to rise. Dozens of children were on board.
The passengers had already risked the perilous journey from African shores to Yemen, a dangerous crossing that leaves people vulnerable to false promises, predatory captors, arbitrary detention and tortuous human rights violations.
Sheer desperation for basic needs has driven hundreds of thousands of African migrants to Yemen.
**Photo: SHANGHAI. President Vladimir Putin with US President George W. Bush.| 21 October 2001 | Kremlin.ru | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Oh, how easily people forget. It would be difficult to find a greater indicator of the fickle nature of politics or the hypocrisy of the party faithful than these two polls.
1- North Korea, 2- US-Saudi-Iran rivalry, 3- Rohingya-Myanmar-Bangladesh, 4- Yemen, 5- Afghanistan, 6- Syria, 7- The Sahel, 8- Democratic Republic of the Congo, 9- Ukraine, 10- Venezuela.
No! These are not conflicts, but areas on a state-oriented map. Seven of them are states, two are regions of states. Only one, #2 listed, spells out a (tripartite) conflict formation, listing the parties.
USA is among the three, but could just as well have been included in at least 6 of the others. Malley’s listing makes USA almost invisible.
Speaking on 5 February 2018 a day ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, the United Nations youth envoy people underscored that the ghastly practice is an aversion to the human rights of millions and keeps them from achieving their full potential.
The UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, speaks at the forum in Banjul, the Gambia. Photo: Alhagie Manka. | Source: UN News Centre
“This is not acceptable and this is done in the name of tradition, culture, religion or in the name of ensuring that women are to take on subservient roles to the men they will eventually marry,” said Jayathma Wickramanayake, the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, speaking at an international forum in the Gambia on strategies to combat the practice.
Berlin, 6 February 208 (IOM)* – The number of migrants who died crossing the United States-Mexico border in 2017 remained high, despite a 44 per cent decrease in border apprehensions reported by the US Border Patrol between 2016 and 2017.
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Irregular migrants atop freight train, ‘La Bestia’ which takes them through Mexico towards the US. Photo: UN Migration Agency (IOM) / Keith Dannemiller 2014
In 2017, 412 migrant deaths were recorded compared to 398 in 2016, according to IOM, the UN Migration Agency. This data was compiled by IOM’s Missing Migrants Project based in Berlin.
Describing January as “a dark month” in crisis-torn Middle East and North Africa, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) director for the region on 5 February 2018 said that the violence has had a devastating toll on children, who were being killed in ongoing conflicts or suicide attacks, or freezing to death as they fled active warzones.
On 13 September 2016 in the western part of Aleppo city, Syria, UNICEF representatives speak with displaced mothers and children living in make-shift tents and shelters in the neighbourhood of Majabel. Photo: UNICEF/Ourfali
“It is simply unacceptable that children continue being killed and injured every single day,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
In the month of January alone, escalating violence in Iraq, Libya, the Palestine, Syria and Yemen has claimed the lives of at least 83 children.
5 February 2018 – The least developed countries (LDCs) – nations categorized as requiring special attention from the international community – will fall short of goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development unless urgent action is taken, new United Nations analysis has revealed.
Olivia Nankindu, 27, surveys the fruits of her labor in the waning afternoon sunlight on her farm near Kyotera, Uganda. Photo:Stephan Gladieu/World Bank | Source: UN News Centre
The analysis by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) also highlights that LDC growth averaged five per cent in 2017 and will reach 5.4 per cent in 2018, below the seven per cent growth envisaged by Target One of Sustainable Development Goal 8 on promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The United Nations refugee agency and its partners are ramping up to assist Bangladesh’s efforts to mitigate some expected impacts of the upcoming monsoon season in the country, during which, according to an initial risk analysis, at least 100,000 Rohingya refugees could be in grave danger from landslides and floods.
Preparations ahead of the monsoon season in southern Bangladesh include upgrading Rohingya refugee shelters and deploying biodegradable sandbags to help to anchor the structures in heavy rains. Photo: UNHCR/Caroline Gluck
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 