20 August, 2018 (UN Women)* – Aleeza Hafeez from Sailkot, one of Pakistan’s most industrialized areas, has her own income for the first time. Knowing her own rights and an enabling environment at the workplace made it possible for her to work and grow as a professional. The project has changed family dynamics too. Now, Hafeez’s father includes her when making family decisions, a role previously reserved for male members.
Aleeza Hafeez Photo: Baidarie/Gohar Zama
“My father, for as long as I can remember, was working day and night for us, but still his income was not sufficient to make our ends meet.
My siblings are all younger than me. I wanted to help my father in meeting our household needs.
As I started looking for jobs, I was unsure that I would get one, because I had no work experience.
But as they say, ‘When there is a will, there is a way.’
Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade; A breath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied
— Oliver Goldsmith, The Deserted Village
‘Think beyond farm jobs’ to reach sustainable development, UN agriculture chief advises African youth.
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FAO/Tamiru Legesse | A new talking app helps farmers like Tazelekwew, in southern Ethiopia, detect whether their crops have been infected by Fall Armyworm.
For the African continent to achieve sustainable development, more jobs must be created for its young people, including in the digitalized agriculture sectors, the United Nations agriculture chief on 20 August 2018 told an international conference.
20 August 2018 – With conflict raging in northwest Syria, the United Nations health agency has appealed for $11 million to provide life-saving care to parts of Aleppo, Hama, Idleb and Lattakia governorates.
UNICEF | A seven-year-old child stands in front of her damaged school in Idleb, Syria. October 2016.
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“The health situation in north-west Syria is already dire and looks set to deteriorate,” said Michel Thieren, Regional Emergencies Director for the World Health Organization (WHO).
“If WHO does not receive additional funding, more than two million people caught in the cross-fire may have no access to essential health care services, including life-saving trauma care.”
Tokyo/Geneva, (ICRC)* – Speaking on 20 August 2018 at a meeting of parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in Tokyo, Japan, Dr Helen Durham, Head of Law and Policy for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), highlighted ICRC’s concerns with the growing gap between words and actions in the global trade of arms.
“The very purpose of the Treaty is to prioritize humanitarian interests and, in doing so, to reduce human suffering,” said Dr Durham, “Yet we are concerned by the growing gap between States’ absolute commitments to human rights and international humanitarian law – in the Treaty and elsewhere – and how arms are transferred in practice.”
UNICEF Child Alert report shows dangerous journeys and deportations intensify root causes of irregular migration
UNICEF/UN0217796/Bindra | Eliasa, 15, embraces his mother after they are finally reunited at the governmental reception shelter “Nuestras Raices” (“Our Roots” in English) in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala on May 3, 2018.
NEW YORK/PANAMA CITY (UNICEF)*– Extreme violence, poverty and lack of opportunity are not only powerful drivers of irregular child migration from northern Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) and Mexico, but also consequences of deportations from Mexico and the United States – UNICEF on 16 August 2018 said in a new report.
SANLIURFA, Turkey, 17 August 2018 (UNFPA)* –“My husband was very strict,” Gemila*, a 28-year-old Syrian refugee, told UNFPA. “He wanted to crush people.”
Gemila had been married off, despite her protests, at age 17. A few years into her tumultuous marriage, the conflict in Syria forced their family to flee to Iraq.
Eventually, the couple decided to separate. Gemila’s husband promised to give her custody of their son in exchange for all of her savings – but then he disappeared with both.
Most of UNHCR’s staff are based in the field. Meet Eujin Byun, a communications officer in South Sudan, one of the world’s least safe countries for humanitarians.
Eujin Byun is from Korea and works as a UNHCR communications officer in South Sudan. In 2017, aid workers were the target of 46 major attacks in the country, including shootings, kidnappings and assaults.
Despite the risks, Eujin recently decided to extend her stay. Here she explains why.
For the last two years I have been working in South Sudan, one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a humanitarian worker.
Cox’s Bazar, 17 August 2018 (IOM)* – A major environmental project to provide around 250,000 families with liquid petroleum gas (LPG) stoves and gas cylinders has been launched by UN agencies and the government in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, to help prevent further deforestation linked to the Rohingya refugee crisis.
UN agencies and Bangladesh government launch alternative fuel project in Cox’s Bazar to help reduce deforestation linked to Rohingya crisis. Photos: Patrick Shepherd FAO/IOM
International Orangutan Day on 19 August coincides with the start of the International Primatological Society Congress in Nairobi, Kenya, and is a much-needed reminder that orangutans’ survival hangs in the balance.
16 August 2018 (UN Environment)* — There are three species of orangutan in the world and they are only found on two islands in Southeast Asia – Sumatra and Borneo. All three species are critically endangered.
Last year saw the amazing discovery of a new species, the Tapanuli orangutan. This is the eighth great ape species known to exist on Earth.
However, the Tapanuli orangutan faces extinction, threatened by plans to build a huge hydroelectric power dam in Batang Toru, North Sumatra.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 