'Unseen' News and Views
31 July 2018 — As thousands flee mounting political tensions, violence and serious human rights violations in Nicaragua, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has called for international solidarity and more support for the countries hosting those who are joining the exodus.
Cox’s Bazar. 31 July, 2018 (IOM)* – Thousands of people caught up in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee crisis are at risk of human trafficking, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, counter trafficking experts have warned, stressing that the scourge of exploitation can only be tackled if authorities, local and international agencies, and communities work together.
IOM Bangladesh’s Counter Trafficking Team has produced a series of three comic books which use real life stories to illustrate the dangers of trafficking to those affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis. Photo: IOM
Recent events in some prominent democratic nations have highlighted the internal threats that are hard to see and even harder to counter. A military dictator can be identified.
**Photo: Parliament House, Islamabad | CC BY-SA 3.0
Democracy is in the news in a Pakistan that has held controversial elections and an India that is gripped by hectic preparations for the elections next year.
Stockholm (SIPRI)* – Total world military expenditure rose to $1739 billion in 2017, a marginal increase of 1.1 per cent in real terms from 2016, according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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July 30, 2018 – Experts widely agree that human activities are harming the global environment. Since the Industrial Revolution, the world economy has grown dramatically. Overall this is a success story, since rising incomes have lifted millions of people out of poverty. But it has been fueled by population growth and increasing consumption of natural resources.
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Paulo Freire
Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Portuguese: Pedagogia do Oprimido), written by educator Paulo Freire, proposes a pedagogy with a new relationship between teacher, student, and society.
The book is considered one of the foundational texts of critical pedagogy.
Dedicated to the oppressed and based on his own experience helping Brazilian adults to read and write, Freire includes a detailed Marxist class analysis in his exploration of the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized.
In the book Freire calls traditional pedagogy the “banking model of education” because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge, like a piggy bank.
However, he argues for pedagogy to treat the learner as a co-creator of knowledge.
Talk given on 18 Dec 2015–more relevant than ever.
Faced with budget shortfalls and street gang violence, educators in Honduras are seeking greater protection and support – with UNHCR’s backing.
Yolani Ríos teaches fifth grade students at a UNHCR-supported education centre in a high-risk area of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. © UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo
The combination of effective grievance procedures and action taken by a pioneering Workers’ Centre is helping to put an end to the abuse of migrant workers in Jordan.
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AMMAN, 30 July 2018 (ILO)* – The Al Hassan Workers Centre in Jordan is a safe space for the thousands of migrant garment factory workers who work in the surrounding industrial zone, some of whom may be vulnerable to abuse.
Addis Ababa, 27 July 2018 (IOM)* –IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and the African Union Commission (AUC) have launched a study on the Benefits and Challenges of Free Movement of Persons in Africa.
IOM and the African Union Commission launch report on the Benefits and Challenges of Free Movement of Persons in Africa. Photo: AUC
The study – commissioned by the AUC and IOM to further inform deliberations on and work towards continental integration – explores the argument for free movement, while also highlighting potential pitfalls, and enables for a well-governed continental free movement regime.
One key conclusion is that the benefits of free movement far outweigh any challenges that may rise; moreover, solutions to those challenges do not lie in slowing the march towards freer movement of African citizens on the continent, but in AU Member States individually and collectively working to address the key challenges, the study has noted.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
