16 August 2019 (FAO)* — Many people equate FAO to a knowledge centre or technical agency, the provider of statistics and world reports on issues such as food insecurity, biodiversity and deforestation.
So it can come as a surprise when they learn that when conflict, extreme weather events, natural disasters, plants pests, animal diseases or other threats devastate livelihoods and push people into hunger, FAO is on the ground to help — from the earliest days of the response.
By providing seeds, fishing gear, animal vaccines or other assets, FAO works to rebuild livelihoods and local food systems to support the self-reliance of those affected and boost their resilience against future threats.
ENTRE RIOS DO OESTE, Brazil, Aug 16 2019 (IPS)* – Romário Schaefer is fattening up 3,300 pigs that he receives when they weigh around 22 kg and returns when they reach 130 to 160 kg – a huge increase in meat and profits for their owner, a local meat-processing plant in this city in Brazil. | En español
The UN environment agency and human rights office (OHCHR) signed a landmark new agreement on Friday [16 August 2019] aimed at better protecting vulnerable human and environmental rights defenders and their families, while increasing protection for people and the places where they live, across the world.
UN Colombia | A wide range of human rights activists have been targeted in Colombia, especially those living in rural areas.Human and environmental rights campaigners are one focus of a new UNEP/OHCHR agreement signed 16 August, 2019.
Two months since hundreds of thousands of people fled violence in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians warned on Friday [16 August 2019] that armed militia continue to make their safe return impossible.
UNICEF/Madjiangar | Interethnic violence has ravaged the Ituri Province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since December last year, generating significant population movements within the Province, and toward neighbouring Uganda.
The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, has caused “overwhelming” despair and jeopardized the hopes of an entire generation, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, on 16 August 2019 said.
VILLA DE ZAACHILA, Mexico, Aug 13 2019 (IPS)* – Reyna Díaz cooks beans, chicken, pork and desserts in her solar cooker, which she sets up in the open courtyard of her home in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of this town in southwestern Mexico.| En español
When the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on July 31st for the first time in more than a decade, commentators were asking why.
Ellen Brown
According to official data, the economy was rebounding, unemployment was below 4%, and GDP growth was above 3%. If anything, by the Fed’s own reasoning, it should have been raising rates.
The explanation of market pundits was that we’re in a trade war and a currency war.
Other central banks were cutting their rates and the Fed had to follow suit, in order to prevent the dollar from becoming overvalued relative to other currencies.
The theory is that a cheaper dollar will make American products more attractive on foreign markets, helping our manufacturing and labor bases.
15 August 2019 — To mark next week’s International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, UN News travelled to Chad and the Far North region of Cameroon in West Africa earlier in the year, to interview people who have personal stories to tell about how terrorism has shattered their lives.*
UN News/Daniel Dickinson | 25-year old Kedra Abakar was abducted from his home on the the island of Ngomiron Doumou in Lake Chad by extremists from the Boko Haram terrorist group. (9 February 2019)
In 2015, the island of Ngomiron Doumou in Lake Chad was attacked by armed extremists who said they belonged to the outlawed Boko Haram group. The island is home to some 5,750 people.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 