(UN News)* — Each year, half of the world’s children – around one billion youngsters – are affected by physical, sexual or psychological violence because countries fail to follow established strategies to protect them, according to a new UN report issued Thursday [18 June 2020].
Paris – French police use overly broad stop-and-frisk powers to conduct discriminatory and abusive checks on Black and Arab boys and men, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today [18 June 2020].
Curbing these powers is key to addressing biased policing, including racial or ethnic profiling, and repairing police-community relations.
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 16 2020 (IPS)* – The world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons—estimated at over 13,400 at the beginning of 2020 – have a least one thing in common with humans: they are “retired” when they reach old age.
Credit: US government
The 2020 Yearbook, released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute .(SIPRI), says there was a decrease in the number of nuclear weapons worldwide in 2019.
And this was largely due to the dismantlement of “retired nuclear weapons” by Russia and the US—which together possess over 90 per cent of global nuclear weapons.
Stockholm – The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on launched the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2020, which assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. A key finding is that despite an overall decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2019, all nuclear weapon-possessing states continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals.
18 June 2020 (United Nations)* — The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent anti-racism protests have shown us how desperately we need to fight for a more inclusive and equal world: a world where no one is left behind. It has never been clearer that all of us have a role to play in order to bring about change. Everyone can make a difference. This is at the heart of UNHCR’s World Refugee Day campaign.
This year, we aim to remind the world that everyone, including refugees, can contribute to society and Every Action Counts in the effort to create a more just, inclusive, and equal world.
(UN News)* — Global displacement reached a staggering 79.5 million people last year – almost double the number of people in crisis registered a decade ago – owing to war, violence, persecution and other emergencies, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Thursday [18 June 2020].
Highlighting that this number now represents one in every 97 people on the planet, UNHCR’s latest Global Trends report shows that 8.7 million people were newly displaced in 2019 alone, with developing countries worst hit.
(UN News)* — The UN Secretary-General has called for “a new contract for nature” to address ongoing global challenges connected to land degradation, such as forced migration, hunger and climate change. António Guterres made the appeal on Wednesday [17 June 2020] in a message to mark the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
“Through international action and solidarity, we can scale up land restoration and nature-based solutions for climate action and the benefit of future generations. By doing so, we can deliver on the Sustainable Development Goalsand leave no one behind”, he said.
17 June 2020 (United Nations)* — Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world’s land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.
An extra 593 million hectares of agricultural land, an area nearly twice the size of India, will be required by 2050 over 2010 levels. Photo: Avijit Ghosh – Future Without Green | (India)/ UNCDD Photo contest 2018.
Paris/Nairobi, 16 June 2020 (UN Environment)* – Growth in renewable power has been impressive over the past five years. But too little is happening in heating, cooling and transport. Overall, global hunger for energy keeps increasing and eats up progress, according to REN21’s Renewables 2020 Global Status Report (GSR), released today. The journey towards climate disaster continues, unless we make an immediate switch to efficient and renewable energy in all sectors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Be adventurous in your tastes, local in your choices
Gastronomy is a cultural expression of the world’s natural and cultural diversity. On June 18, we celebrate Sustainable Gastronomy Day and acknowledge that everyone plays a role in making sustainable choices for healthy diets and a food-secure future. @ Chompoo Suriyo/ shutterstock.com
18 June 2020 (FAO)* — Every year, June 18 marks Sustainable Gastronomy Day. This begs the questions: 1) What in the world is sustainable gastronomy? 2) Why is it important enough to have a “day” dedicated to it? and 3) Even so, why should I care?
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 