SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 30 2020 (IPS)* – Seventy-five years ago, on 26 June 1945, before the Japanese surrender ending the Second World War, fifty nations gathered at San Francisco’s Opera House to sign the United Nations (UN) Charter.
UN Charter
Nations pledged “to practice tolerance and live together in peace …, and to ensure … that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples”.
They sought “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, … and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to … promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom”.
UNITED NATIONS, New York (UNFPA)* – Every day, hundreds of thousands of girls around the world are harmed physically or psychologically, with the full knowledge and consent of their families, friends and communities. And without urgent action, the situation is likely to worsen.
Without urgent action, the situation for women and girls could worsen. Artwork by Fatma Mahmoud Salama Raslan.
She is sick, she is frail and separated from her family. Emmanuelle Ochaya, 56, has been sleeping in a scanty makeshift hut, in the middle of a forest on cold, bare ground for almost one month. The nighttime temperature here drops to 10°C and her only belongings are the clothes she is wearing.
1 July 2020 (UNHCR)* — Emmanuelle is among an estimated 45,000 of people who fled attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that erupted in May. According to community representatives, armed groups began a violent rampage in War-Palara chiefdom, Mahagi Territory, including killings, sexual violence and looting.
(UN News)* — At the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday [1 July 2020], a teenager from Côte d’Ivoire has explained why protecting the environment matters so much.
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UNHRC Video Screenshot | Junior, a teenage youth activist from Côte d’Ivoire, speaks via videolink to the UN Human Rights Council about protecting the environment.
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The rare and refreshing intervention came from 14-year-old activist Junior, who spoke out against alleged industrial pollution, including from the cocoa production sector, in his home town of San-Pédro, in the West African State.
2 July 2020 — In his recently revised and updated book The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life, scientist Arthur Firstenberg has made both science and history comprehensible by explaining the importance and significance to life on Earth of a vital consideration that has long been ‘invisible’: electricity.
Robert J. Burrowes,
Indeed, as Firstenberg makes clear, if we want to understand life on Earth, we cannot do so without understanding the role that electricity plays in making life possible, healing it and, if abused, threatening us all.
Firstenberg’s book is unusual on at least two counts. Based on decades of scientific research, he carefully explains each point in language accessible to the non-scientist while documenting his case with exceptional clarity and detail complemented by a 138-page bibliography.
If you want to really understand this issue, and what is at stake, you will be doing yourself a favor by reading this book.
Its goal is to build a “moderately prosperous society” for 1.4 billion people in this Asian nation.
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The Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China, Dec. 2019. | Photo: EFE
(teleSUR)* — The Communist Party of China (CPC) Wednesday [1 July 2020] celebrated its 99th anniversary as the country reaches its goal in building a “moderately prosperous society, amid the pandemics.
(UN News)*— The Security Council on Wednesday [1 July 2020] echoed the Secretary-General’s call for a worldwide ceasefire, to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed more than half a million lives. The UN chief welcomed the long-awaited move, calling for countries to “redouble their efforts for peace”.
OCHA/Steve Hafez | A widow holds her grandson in a displaced persons camp in northern Idleb Governorate, Syria.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2532 (2020) on Wednesday [1 July 2020], the 15-member peace and security body demanded “a general and immediate cessation of hostilities in all situations, on its agenda.”
(FAO)* — The commune of Bonbon lies at the most western tip of the island of Haiti. It shares its name with the traditional Haitian sweet, ‘bonbon’, a cake made with dark sugarcane syrup and sweet spices. And thanks to 44-year-old Hilarion Célestin and a group of local beekeepers, the area is now well-known for another kind of sweet too: honey.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 