Archive for January 17th, 2020

17/01/2020

Amazon Deforestation Is Expected to Accelerate in 2020

Human Wrongs Watch

“There is no budget … if you want to prevent fires you have to start right now, all has to be done in the first half of the year.”

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Children of the Kayapo tribe sit on the banks of Xingu River during a four-day pow wow in Piaracu village, in Xingu Indigenous Park, near Sao Jose do Xingu, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, January 15, 2020. Children of the Kayapo tribe sit on the banks of Xingu River during a four-day pow wow in Piaracu village, in Xingu Indigenous Park, near Sao Jose do Xingu, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, January 15, 2020. | Photo: Reuters (Photo posted here from teleSUR).

16 January 2020 (teleSUR)* — The Amazon rainforest is facing a serious threat because of deforestation and the situation is not likely to get any better in 2020, as experts believe this year will see the acceleration of the environmental crisis.

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17/01/2020

Perfect Storm: When Climate Change Stokes Wildfires, Marine Heatwaves and Biodiversity Loss

Human Wrongs Watch

16 January 2020 (UN Environment)* — 2020 is a crunch year for decision makers tackling the biodiversity and climate change emergencies and for humanity as a whole to start paying attention to the breakdown of our planetary systems. The year will host two major events, known as “conferences of parties,” on biodiversity and climate. The biodiversity conference will agree a new set of goals for nature for the next decade.

UnknownPhoto by the UN-REDD Programme

17/01/2020

Nearly Nine Years of Conflict in Syria Have Robbed Boys and Girls of Their Childhood And Subjected Them to “Unabated Violations of Their Rights”

Human Wrongs Watch

Nearly nine years of conflict in Syria have robbed boys and girls of their childhood and subjected them to “unabated violations of their rights”, including being killed, maimed, displaced, forced to fight or subjected to torture, rape and sexual slavery. The findings come in the latest report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, released on Thursday [16 January 2020]. (*).

©UNICEF/Bakr Alkasem |Children stand in the courtyard of a school-turned shelter in Ar-Raqqa, in Syria.

“I am appalled by the flagrant disregard for the laws of war and the Convention on the Rights of the Child by all parties involved in the conflict”, said Commission chair Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro.

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17/01/2020

Aid to Vulnerable Iraqis May ‘Come to a Complete Halt within Weeks’

Human Wrongs Watch

Aid to vulnerable people in Iraq risks being completely blocked within weeks, warned the UN’s humanitarian chief in Iraq, Marta Ruedas, on Tuesday [16 January 2020], as a result of the suspension of government documents allowing humanitarians to carry out critical missions. (*).

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OCHA/Themba Linden | Humanitarian partners distribute emergency assistance in Ibrahim Khalil village in Iraq
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In a statement released on Thursday [14 January 2020] by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ms. Ruedas declared that “our operations are at risk. Without predictable, continual access authorization, humanitarian aid is in danger of rotting in warehouses, putting lives in jeopardy and wasting badly-needed donor funds”.