'Unseen' News and Views
Wasting less, eating better and adopting a sustainable lifestyle are key to building a world free of hunger. The choices we make today are vital for a secure future of food. Here’s a list of simple actions to help you make #ZeroHunger way of life, to help re-connect to food and what it stands for.
The United Nations General Assembly held secret-ballot elections for the Human Rights Council (HRC) on 12 October 2018. As of 1 January next year, the 18 newly-elected States will serve for three years on the UN’s highest inter-governmental body, mandated to protect and promote human rights worldwide.
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While the institution has been the subject of controversy since its creation in 2006 – culminating in the withdrawal of the USA this past June – UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated that it plays “a very important role” in the UN’s human rights architecture.
12 October 2018 — UN human rights experts are urging Saudi Arabia to “immediately and unconditionally” release all women human rights defenders, including six imprisoned on charges relating to their peaceful defence of human rights.
Australia should end its offshore processing policy on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea amid reports of widespread, acute mental distress and attempted suicide by children and young adults, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on 12 October 2018.
‘The invading civilization[s] confused ecology with idolatry. Communion with nature was a sin worthy of punishment… Nature was a fierce beast that had to be tamed and punished so that it could work as a machine, placed at our service for ever and ever. Nature, which was eternal, owed us slavery’ (1) – Eduardo Galeano
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Nigeria’s two main rivers, the Niger and the Benue, burst their banks after heavy rains began in August, and the country has been experiencing large-scale floods ever since. A state of national disaster has been declared in the four most-affected states of Kogi, Niger, Anambra and Delta.
Buenos Aires (UN Environment)* – A third of all waste generated in cities of Latin America and the Caribbean ends up in open dumps or in the environment, polluting soil, water and air, and threatening the health of the population, according to a UN Environment report launched on 9 October 2018.
Photo from UN Environment.
145,000 tons are inadequately disposed every day in the region, equivalent to the waste generated by 27% of the regional population or 170 million people, according to the Waste Management Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean, launched during the XXI Forum of Ministers of Environment of the region, taking place in Buenos Aires, 9-12 October.
Wetlands cover around 4-6 per cent of the world’s surface – and are exactly as they sound – areas flooded with water. They contribute to climate regulation and support ecosystems and biodiversity.
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Photo from IFAD.
UN Women statement on the International Day of Rural Women, 15 October
Photo: UN/Lucien Rajaonina
11 October, 2018 (UN Women)* – In most countries around the world, rural women and girls face daily challenges of access to sustainable infrastructure, services and social protection.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 