'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
8 November 2019 (WHO)* — The impact of successive storms, cyclones and heavy rains has been severe in 2019, and in the wake of heavy flooding, WHO is upping disease surveillance actions and providing critical supplies to hard-hit populations across Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Credit: EPA (photo posted ere from WHO).
8 November 2019 (UN Environment)* — When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in the late 15th century, he and his crew had spent months sleeping on a hard and dirty deck—most likely infested with vermin. It is no surprise that the islands seemed like paradise. Not only did the sailors finally feel the land beneath their feet again, but the indigenous people slept comfortably in nets between the trees, rather than on the hard floor.
Photo by Willian Justen de Vaconcellos/ Unsplash
It was a big difference from the sleepless months of hardship the sailors had just endured. On his trip back to Spain, Columbus took these indigenous nets with him, and before long sailors were relying on hammocks to stay comfortable on overnight voyages.
The autumn sun lights the classroom in Ternopil, Western Ukraine, where children laugh as Mr. Possum asks 11-year-old Sasha to deliver a package to his nephew in another country. Sasha hesitates, while her classmates give her advice: some suggest that she should help a stranger, others believe it’s risky.
Liza and Her Friends Travelling the World is a board game developed by IOM to help children and young people become aware of human trafficking. Photo: Studii Rozvytku
– Buses carrying cross-border traders and goods from Cotonou in Benin to Bamako in Mali have recently been using the Lomé route — travelling through the capital of Togo and then getting onto the Ouagadougou corridor on their way to the Malian capital.
Traders transporting goods in Mali. Thanks to the African Development Bank (AfDB), infrastructure linking African nations has made cross-border transportation of goods easier. Courtesy: Mary Newcombe/ CC by 2.0
