Nevertheless, however alarming the issue, the risks of automatisation probably did not find their fair place among the top most likely and the highest impact “risks” as perceived by the those surveyed ahead of this year’s Davos World Economic Forum [1], but instead, much more, towards those least expected and the least severe risks.
In 2017, about 58,000 Afghan refugees voluntarily returned to their country after decades aboard only to be met with protection risks and “significant” barriers to long-term reintegration into society, two United Nations agencies working in the Asian country reported on 12 April 2018.
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UNHCR/Insiya Syed | Afghan refugees at a UNHCR voluntary repatriation centre in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. After decades in Pakistan, more Afghan refugees have begun to return.
Amid the risks of the situation in Syria “spiralling out of control,” the United Nations chief has appealed to the five permanent members of the Security Council to break the current deadlock on reported use of chemical weapons in the war-torn country.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | The Security Council votes on a draft resolution on Syria.
“I have also been closely following developments in the Security Council and regret that the Council has so far been unable to reach agreement on this issue,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement issued late 12 April 2018 night.
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“Let us not forget that, ultimately, our efforts must be about ending the terrible suffering of the Syrian people,” he added.
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 April 2018 said that it has received reports that an estimated 500 patients at Syrian health facilities have exhibited signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals, after the shelling of a Damascus suburb over the weekend.
UNOCHA | Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria.
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“We should all be outraged at these horrific reports and images from Douma,” Peter Salama, WHO Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response said, referreing to reports from the agency’s health cluster partners – a WHO-led team of 118 national and international nongovernmental organizations, UN agencies, national authorities and donors working inside Syria to provide emergency and trauma care, as well as basic health services.
Nadi, Fiji (FAO)* – FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva on 12 April 2018urged governments in the Asia and Pacific region to sharpen their focus on achieving Zero Hunger, and to do so by reducing rural poverty and adapting the agricultural sectors to climate change.
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FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva with Assistant Director-General Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan at the 34th Session of FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC).
11 April 2018 — While the number of migrants and refugees reaching Europe declined last year, the dangers they faced along the journey in many cases increased, according to a new report from the United Nations refugee agency.
UNHCR/Vania Turner | Refugees on board an Italian Coast Guard ship, which rescued them after their boat capsized off the coast of Libya. Migrants and refugees undertake a perilous sea crossing aboard rickety boats with hopes of reaching Europe, unfortunately many lose their lives along the way. (file photo)
The number of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Italy from Libya, for example, decreased by 74 per cent in the first three months of 2018 compared to the same period last year. But the share of these migrants perishing along the way more than doubled, according to the report, Desperate Journeys.
Geneva (WHO)* – WHO and UNICEF on 11 April 2018 issued new ten-step guidance to increase support for breastfeeding in health facilities that provide maternity and newborn services. Breastfeeding all babies for the first 2 years would save the lives of more than 820 000 children under age 5 annually.
THAPANGTHONG, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 10 April 2018 (UNFPA)* – “Just lie still and relax. Breathe slowly,” midwife Khoun Keobouttavong told Out, 30. Out was laying on the floor of her small stilt house in the southern Thapangthong District of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Ms. Keobouttavong pressed a fetal stethoscope into Out’s belly. Out was about six months pregnant.
“The heart is beating well,” she told Out, smiling.
Ms. Keobouttavong is the only midwife covering the district, which includes eight villages and hundreds of residents.
9 April 2018 (openDemocracy)*— Pregnant teenagers face expulsion from school, arrests, even death. The backlash against sex education in Africa is punishing our girls, and must end now.
**Proportional symbol map showing adolescent fertility and poverty in Africa | GraceN.Cartography
A new web platform aimed at migrant workers lists user reviews of recruitment agencies. By helping migrants avoid falling for false promises, the website is an important tool to promote fair recruitment.
GENEVA 11 April 2018 (ILO)* – While millions of workers migrate in search of a better life for themselves and their families, far too many are tricked by false promises made by unscrupulous recruitment agencies, including fake jobs, lower wages and unsafe working conditions.
Some end up trapped in forced labour and other forms of modern slavery.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 