Archive for January, 2020

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21/01/2020

United Nations’ Geneva Staff Battles UN Chief over Unequal Pay and Illegal Salary Cuts

Human Wrongs Watch

By Thalif Deen*

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 20 2020 (IPS)* – As the United Nations commemorates its 75th anniversary this year, the financially-crippled Organization is also saddled with a rash of administrative problems, plus an ongoing cash crisis, perhaps one of the worst in history.

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Credit: United Nations

At a town hall meeting with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month, UN staffers in Geneva, led by the Staff Coordinating Council (SCC), raised several issues, including the impact of the illegal pay cut on incomes, family life, and staff morale, and the growing number of obstacles to career development.

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20/01/2020

Digital Surveillance Threats for 2020

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Sebastien Thibault/agoodson.com (Image from Amnesty International).

For security teams trying to keep activists safe, it is a cat-and-mouse game as attackers rapidly adapt to developments aimed at protection.

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20/01/2020

Rapidly Spreading: Chinese Authorities Confirm 136 NEW Cases of Deadly Virus in 2 Days

19 Jan, 2020 (RT)* — Health officials in Wuhan, China have revealed that 136 new cases of a mysterious new strain of the coronavirus have been diagnosed over just two days, bringing the total in the city to 198.

Rapidly spreading: Chinese authorities confirm 136 NEW cases of deadly virus in 2 daysFile photo © REUTERS/Nicky Loh (Photo posted here from RT).

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20/01/2020

Massive, Border-Spanning Campaign Needed to Combat Locust Upsurge in East Africa

Human Wrongs Watch

Ravenous swarms threaten entire East Africa subregion – FAO scales up its emergency response

Photo: ©FAO/Petterik Wiggers/FAOShilabo, Ogaden, Somali region – Ethiopia – A herd of camels is trying to find its way through an invasion of locust.

Rome/Nairobi (FAO)*  – Desert Locust swarms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia – already unprecedented in their size and destructive potential – could swell exponentially and spill over into more countries in East Africa if efforts to deal with the voracious pest are not massively scaled up across the region, FAO warned today [20 January 2020].

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20/01/2020

Qatar: End of Abusive Exit Permits for Migrant Workers

But Domestic Workers Will Have to Notify Employers Before Leaving.

Qatar announced on January 16, 2020 that most migrant workers previously prevented from leaving the country without their employer’s permission, including domestic workers, will no longer need an exit permit, Human Rights Watch said today. While this is an important step forward, the larger kafala (visa sponsorship) system, which facilitates the abuse and exploitation of migrant workers, remains intact.

A picture taken on December 4, 2018, shows workers at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor, a city in northeastern Qatar. © 2018 David Harding/AFPA picture taken on December 4, 2018, shows workers at the Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor, a city in northeastern Qatar. © 2018 David Harding/AFP (Photo posted here from Human Rights Watch)

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20/01/2020

Heartbreak as Women and Children Perish in Migrant Shipwreck

Human Wrongs Watch

Çeşme, Western Turkey 14 January 2020 (IOM)* – “I saw some light of hope in people’s eyes hoping that their children or wives were alive but I had to give them the terrible news that some of their family members had died. Then I saw the deepest level of helplessness and desperation in their eyes. I had to inform a recently wed man that his wife and baby had died. I cannot find words to express how he hugged his deceased wife and child as a last farewell.’’

pbn01142020-turkey3A father and son huddle to keep warm in a Turkish Coast Guard rescue boat waiting to reach land last month. IOM’s Mediterranean Response Team has provided humanitarian assistance to migrants rescued in the Aegean Sea since 2016. © IOM 2019 /Bekir ERDİNÇ’

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20/01/2020

World Leaders Must Address ‘Shameful’ Disparities in Education Spending – UNICEF

(UN News)* —  A new report from the UN children’s fund, UNICEF, shows that a third of adolescent girls from the poorest households have never been to school, and spending on education is heavily skewed towards wealthier households.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe | Young women leave school in the town of Bol in Chad after classes.

 

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20/01/2020

‘This Terrible Situation Cannot Be Allowed to Continue’, UN Chief to World Leaders at Major Libya Summit

Human Wrongs Watch

Speaking at a major, high-level summit on Libya, held in the German capital Berlin on Sunday [20 January 2020], UN Secretary-General António Guterres evoked the disastrous humanitarian situation faced by thousands of civilians, as conflict in the North African country grows deeper and more destructive. (*).

Federal Government/Guido Bergmann | The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, addresses the Berlin Conference on Libya alongside the UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r).

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19/01/2020

Brazil’s Peoples: Bolsonaro Means Genocide, Ethnocide, Ecocide

Indigenous peoples denounced violence prompted by the extraction of natural resources in the Amazon basin.

Cacique Raoni of Kayapo tribe delivers a speech in Xingu Indigenous Park, Brazil, Jan. 17, 2020.Cacique Raoni of Kayapo tribe delivers a speech in Xingu Indigenous Park, Brazil, Jan. 17, 2020. | Photo: Reuters (Photo posted here from teleSUR).

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19/01/2020

Coronavirus, a Large Family of Viruses that Has Not Been Previously Identified in Humans – World Health Organization 

Human Wrongs Watch

January 2020 (WHO)* – Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

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Credit: Getty (Photo posted here from WHO).

Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

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