There is a need for “genuine regional dialogue” to address rising tensions in the Gulf, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday [24 June 2019], calling on Secretary-General António Guterres“to play a role” in bringing countries to the table.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Majid Takht Ravanchi, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN, briefs journalists during Security Council consultations on the situation in the Middle East, specifically concerning Iran. (24 June 2019)
The international community must not take the generosity of Africans for granted, UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, told an informal meeting of Security Council members at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday 24 June 2019.
About 3,340 women, children and men have been given support to restart their lives after falling prey to sexual exploitation or abuse (SEA) by United Nations personnel, thanks to a Trust Fund established in 2016.
MONUSCO/Michael Ali | The UN Trust Fund in support of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse has supported women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo receive vocational trainings like mushroom farming. (October 2018)
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 21 2019 (IPS)*– A recently-released report by the Washington-based Center for Global Development (CGD) shows that generic drugs, like omeprazole (used to treat heartburn), can cost 20-30 times more in low and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.
Food is not a commodity, it is not “stuff” put together mechanically and artificially in labs and factories. Food is life.
Prof. Vandana Shiva
Food holds the contributions of all beings that make the food web, and it holds the potential of maintaining and regenerating the web of life.
Food also holds the potential for health and disease, depending on how it was grown and processed. Food is therefore the living currency of the web of life.
As an ancient Upanishad reminds us “Everything is food, everything is something else’s food. “
21 June 2019 (UN Environment)* — Exposure to asbestos has been a long-standing issue, threatening the health of both the environment and human population for centuries.
Photo by flickr/ Patrick Alexander
Hundreds of millions of people are exposed to the toxin worldwide each year, despite its known health risks. One study from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health estimates that roughly 250,000 people die as a result of asbestos exposure annually.
Digital currencies have great potential, but ceding control to a cartel of tech companies is not the answer.
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Image: Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0
21 June 2019 (openDemocracy)* — Facebook sent shockwaves through the world of finance this week with its vision to create ‘Libra’ – “a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people”.
A Last Ditch Strategy to Fight for Human Survival.
It will occur by 2026 a projected 10 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures | Image from Wall Street International.
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23 June 2019 (Wall Street International)* – There is almost unanimous agreement among climate scientists and organizations – that is, 97% of over 10,000 climate scientists and the various scientific organizations engaged in climate science research – that human beings have caused a dramatic increase in the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide released into Earth’s atmosphere since the pre-industrial era and that this is driving the climate catastrophe that continues to unfold1.
On International Widow’s Day, marked on Sunday 22 June 2019, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is asking everyone to reflect on the “economic hardship and increased vulnerability” of these bereaved women and ensure “they are not left out or left behind”.
UN Women/Ryan Brown | A 38-year-old widow who lost her husband in the Central African Republic war escaped to the Ngam refugee site in the Adamawa region of Cameroon with her five children; one of whom recently died.
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In the “absence of social and legal protection”, he said in his message, “widowed women’s lifetime earnings and savings are often too little to avoid poverty”.
20 June 2019 (WMO)* — Broadcast meteorologists and climate scientists are uniting on June 21 – the Summer/Winter Solstice – to encourage people around the world to #ShowYourStripes to build awareness of the extent of climate change.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 