31 December 2018 (UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is appealing to States to urgently offer safe ports and disembarkation to two NGO vessels on the Mediterranean carrying 49 rescued refugees and migrants, including young children.| Français | عربي
NEW YORK, 28 December 2018 (UNICEF)* – The futures of millions of children living in countries affected by armed conflict are at risk, as warring parties continue to commit grave violations against children, and world leaders fail to hold perpetrators accountable – UNICEF said on 27 December 2018.
“Children living in conflict zones around the world have continued to suffer through extreme levels of violence over the past 12 months, and the world has continued to fail them,” said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes.
After uncovering evidence that humanitarian food supplies are being diverted in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital, Sana’a, and other parts of the country, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has demanded an immediate end to the practice.
OCHA/ Charlotte Cans | Nine-month-old baby weighing 3 kg is being treated for acute malnutrition in a Sana’a hospital.
“This conduct amounts to the stealing of food from the mouths of hungry people,” WFP Executive Director David Beasley said on 31 December 2018.
Prompted by an increasing number of reports that humanitarian food was on sale in the capital, WFP conducted a survey to discover the misappropriation of those supplies.
Spain needs to close every coal mine by Dec. 31, 2018.
Spain will close all coal mines by 2019. | Photo: Reuters FILE | Phto from teleSUR.
30 December 2018 (teleSUR)* — Spain will stop its operations on at least 26 coal mines in 2019, putting an end to the exploitation of said mineral. The mines that will be closed can be found in the communities of Asturias, Aragon and Castilla and Leon.
The closure of these mines will affect more than 2,000 workers that are part of the special regime of coal mining.
The number of employees working on the coal mining industry in 1985 was 51,420.
The coal in Spain is mainly used for the production of electricity from thermal power plants.
By Catherine Wachiaya in Kigali, Rwanda* – (UNHCR)*
Support scheme in Rwandan capital and elsewhere sees refugee businesses including Burundian-owned LPG store create 2,600 new jobs countrywide.|Español|Français| عربي
At a busy intersection in downtown Kigali, Annick Iriwacu is meticulously going through her shop’s inventory. The Burundian refugee runs a small liquid petroleum gas (LPG) distribution store with her younger brother. Business is booming now, but things were not so rosy when she first arrived in the Rwandan capital three years ago.
“Coming here was not easy because when you reach a place you are not familiar with, you can face a lot of difficulties,” says the 33-year-old mother of three.