'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
A Sudanese teenager survived brushes with death in a quest for asylum, but rising insecurity and COVID-19 restrictions drove him to risk all on the open seas.
UNHCR staff distribute bottled water to refugees and migrants whose vessel was intercepted attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea and returned to Libya on April 9. © UNHCR/Noor Elshin
The wisdom of our mothers and mothers’ mothers from the dawn of time is reverberating throughout the cosmos, “What part of share the resources of the earth don’t you understand? Why aren’t you challenging the sanctity of private property rights at the top and making sure nobody is too rich or too poor?”
Marilyn Langlois
Our mothers carried us in the womb and brought us into this world, introducing us to the magical healing power of tender human touch.
They immersed us in unconditional love, empowering us to face the many challenges of life.
They taught us to communicate with words and actions, to resolve conflicts without inflicting pain on others. Our mothers taught us to share with our brothers and sisters.
Well, maybe not all mothers were able to do all of that, but they did their best. We forgive them and still love them.
Strengthened and comprehensive social protection systems will lessen the impact of crises such as COVID-19.
GENEVA, 14 May 2020 (ILO)* – The COVID-19 crisis has exposed devastating gaps in social protection coverage in developing countries, and recovery will only be sustained and future crises prevented if they can transform their ad hoc crisis response measures into comprehensive social protection systems, according to new analysis from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
(UN News)* — Last week’s deadly toxic gas leak at a Korean-owned polymer plant in south-eastern India, is a grim wake up call for the chemical industry to acknowledge and fulfil its responsibility to respect human rights, the UN independent expert who monitors the issue, said on Thursday [14 May 2020].
15 May 2020 (UNESCO)* — Light plays a central role in our lives. On the most fundamental level, through photosynthesis, light is at the origin of life itself. The study of light has led to promising alternative energy sources, lifesaving medical advances in diagnostics technology and treatments, light-speed internet and many other discoveries that have revolutionized society and shaped our understanding of the universe.
These technologies were developed through centuries of fundamental research on the properties of light – starting with Ibn Al-Haytham’s seminal work, Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), published in 1015 and including Einstein’s work at the beginning of the 20th century, which changed the way we think about time and light.
The International Day of Light [16 May] celebrates the role light plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 