'Unseen' News and Views
Representatives from across the Middle East are meeting at UN Headquarters this week in efforts to negotiate a legally binding treaty establishing a regional zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. (*).
A child stands outside tents at a site for internally displaced persons in Kasenyi. © UNHCR/John Wessels
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed that hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are not only living in dire conditions without proper assistance but are unprotected and exposed to extreme human rights violations on a daily basis. (*).
(UN News)* — More than 5.4 million children are detained around the world, rights experts said on Monday [18 November 2019], highlighting “aggressive” State counter-terrorism measures for the spike in youngsters held for alleged links with armed conflict or national security concerns based on their social media posts.
(UN News)* — Over the last three months (August to October 2019), around one-third of the Afghan population required urgent humanitarian action, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Alert, released on Monday [18 November 2019 ], which declares that some 10.23 million people are living in a state of “severe acute food insecurity”.
The IPC, a coalition of UN agencies and other partners, classifies food insecurity in five distinct phases, from phase 1 (Minimal/ None), to phase 5 (Catastrophic/Famine): around 2.44 million Afghan are believed to be in an Emergency situation (phase 4), and 7.79 million in a Crisis situation (phase 3).
18 November 2019 (UN News)* — Ending the practice of defecating in the open, rather than in a toilet, will have “transformational benefits” for some of the world’s most vulnerable people, says the UN’s partner sanitation body, the WSSCC (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council).
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© WSSCC/Jason Florio | As the population in Nigeria increases, efforts are underway to ensure that open defecation does not increase.
What is World Toilet Day all About?
Payal (left) and Nisha (right) are happy to have a toilet in their school in Kakrana village. When schools have clean water, toilets and soap for handwashing, children have a healthy learning environment. © UNICEF/UN0271817/Hajra
19 November 2019 (United Nations)* — Toilets save lives, because human waste spreads killer diseases. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year. It’s all about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which promises sanitation for all by 2030.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 