ROME, April 2018 — It is now clearly evident that we are in a period of transition, even though its outcome remains uncertain.
Roberto Savio
The political, economic and social system that has accompanied us since the end of the Second World War is no longer sustainable.
The exponentially growing inequalities have, according to Amnesty International, taken us back to almost to levels seen in Victorian times – albeit now at a global level.
Ten years ago, 652 people had the same wealth as 2.3 billion people. Now there are eight.
Today’s eighteen-year-olds, according to projections of the International Labour Organization, will retire with an average pension of 632 euros a month.
Despite official warnings, we are, amidst great indifference, breaching the 2 degrees centigrade temperature limit beyond which our planet will undergo irreversible changes.
After last week’s deadly violence near the Gaza fence and with fresh protests planned at the Gaza-Israel border on 6 April 2018, the United Nations has urged all parties to refrain from any act that could lead to further violence or place civilians – especially children – in harm’s way.*
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UN Photo/Mark Garten | The United Nations flag flies at UN headquarters.
Rome, 5 April 2018 (FAO)* – Family farmers must remain central to bringing agroecology to scale, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva stressed in his closing remarks to the 2nd International Agroecology Symposium at FAO in Rome.
The Symposium brought together more than 700 participants with representatives from 72 governments, around 350 civil society and other non-governmental groups, and 6 UN organizations.
In 2017, solar energy dominated global investment in new power generation like never before, according to a new United Nations-backed report, which shows a steady move away from fossil fuel-based power production to ‘green’ power sources.
PresseBox.de flickr | A UNEP solar energy system, the largest of its type in Africa.
Last year, the world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity, far more than the net additions of the rest – other renewables, fossil fuel and nuclear, according to the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018 report, released on 5 April 2018 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners.
Expressing deep concern over the slow pace of the inter-Burundian dialogue and the lack of engagement by the Government, the United Nations Security Council called on all stakeholders, in particular the authorities to commit to the dialogue and reach an agreement ahead of the 2020 elections.
Phil Moore/IRIN | In this photograph from 2015, a protestor stands alogside a burning car in Bujumbura, Burundi. Disputed elections that year led to demonstrations and clashes. Since then thousands in the country remain displaced and many forced into refuge outside its borders. | Source: UN News Centre
Geneva, 3 April 2018 (IOM)*– IOM, the UN Migration Agency, begins casting a wide net this week to bring forth the talent behind one of the migration world’s enduring art forms: motion pictures. It’s all part of the UN Together campaign to promote diversity worldwide.
IOM – UN Migration Agency
To select a compelling roster of films to be screened at IOM’s December 2018 Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF), the Geneva-based body is calling for submissions of Full-Length Feature and Short Films, in all genres: fiction, documentary, animation, etc.
5 April 2018 (UNRWA)* — When Rana Mahmoud Halabi (33) talks about her comfortable life before the war, her eyes light up. Her husband used to fish for tilapia and carp in the Euphrates river. She would help him clean the catch of the day before he brought it to market.
“Raqqa was a lovely city,” she sighs. The war put an end to all that, forcing her children out of school and her family into debt. UNRWA cash assistance has allowed them to get back on their feet.
03 Aril 2018 (UNHCR)*— It is with regret that UNHCR notes today’s [03 April 2018] cancellation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Israel-UNHCR Agreement of 2nd April on solutions for Eritreans and Sudanese currently in Israel.
**Photo: The entrance to Holot immigration detention center, Negev desert, Israel. | Author: TrickyH | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
The Agreement was the result of discussions over an extended period of time, and reflected a shared effort to find a solution that gave international protection to people arriving in Israel fleeing war or persecution while also meeting the concerns of Israeli host communities.
2 April 2018 (openDemocracy)* — The city councilwoman advocated for the rights of the most oppressed Brazilians. This is why people around the world are mourning and protesting her death.
Marielle Franco in August 2016. Credit: Mídia NINJA/Flickr. [CC-BY-SA-2.0]. Some rights reserved.
The personal information of 87mn users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, the social media giant has said, while also admitting that they “believe most people on Facebook” have had their data misused at some point.
Facebook’s powerful search engine allowed any users to search for accounts by typing an individual’s phone number or email to locate the required person.
While convenient and efficient, the ‘Search and Account Recovery’ function likely also helped “malicious actors” gain access to the personal data of “most” of Facebook’s two billion users, the company has admitted.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 