4 December 2020 (UNEP)* — Each year, the world marks World Soil Day on 5 December to raise awareness about the growing challenges in soil management and soil biodiversity loss, and encourage governments, communities and individuals around the world to commit to improving soil health.
‘Soil Pollution Can Lead to the Emergence of New Pests and Diseases by Changing the Balance of Ecosystems…’
Soils Host More than 25% of World’s Biological Diversity. And over 40% of All Living Organisms in Terrestrial Ecosystems Are Associated with Soils
Human Wrongs Watch
New FAO report examines the potential of soil organisms in ensuring sustainable agri-food systems and mitigating climate change
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ROME, 4 December 2020 (FAO)* — Soil organisms play a crucial role in boosting food production, enhancing nutritious diets, preserving human health, remediating polluted sites and combating climate change, but their contribution remains largely underestimated, FAO on 4 December 2020 in its first ever report on “The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity“.
The report was launched today on the occasion of World Soil Day, marked on 5 December.
Keep Soil Alive, Protect Soil Biodiversity – World Soil Day
4 December 2020 (United Nations)* — Plants nurture a whole world of creatures in the soil, that in return feed and protect the plants. This diverse community of living organisms keeps the soil healthy and fertile.
This vast world constitutes soil biodiversity and determines the main bio-geochemical processes that make life possible on Earth.
Reducing Inequality: What Is Your Country Doing to Tackle the Gap Between Rich and Poor?
Human Wrongs Watch
By OXFAM International*
The coronavirus pandemic has swept across a world that was already profoundly unequal. The failure to tackle inequality has left the majority of countries far more vulnerable and unprepared for both the health and economic impacts of the disease.

In the Central African Republic, the Covid-19 represents a health crisis which is added to an already alarming humanitarian crisis. One in two people in need of humanitarian assistance, and about 70% of health services are provided by humanitarian organizations. Photo: Aurelie Godet/Oxfam
How the Rich Get Richer
Human Wrongs Watch
Patients seeking treatment at the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Credit: World Bank/Dominic Chavez
– Wealth begets wealth. This simple concept of privilege has added to growing discontent with inequality that has escalated under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19’s Impact on Wages Is Only Just Getting Started – International Labour Organization
Human Wrongs Watch
(UN News)* — Global pressure on wages from COVID-19 will not stop with the arrival of a vaccine, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned on Wednesday [2 December 2020], coinciding with a major report showing how the pandemic had slowed or reversed a trend of rising wages across the world, hitting women workers and the low-paid hardest.

“It’s going to be a long road back and I think it’s going to be turbulent and it’s going to be hard”, said ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, as he announced the findings of the ILO’s flagship Global Wage Report, which is published every two years.
Revealed: The Cost of the Pandemic on World’s Poorest Countries
Human Wrongs Watch
(UN News)* — More than 32 million of the world’s poorest people face being pulled back into extreme poverty because of COVID-19, leading UN economists said on Thursday [3 December 2020], highlighting data showing that the pandemic is likely to cause the worst economic crisis in decades among least developed countries (LDCs).

Additional 207 Million People Could Be Pushed into ‘Extreme Poverty’ by 2030, Due to the Severe Long-term Impact of COVID-19, Bringing Total Number to More than a Billion
‘Put an End to the “Surreal and Absurd Dimension” of Human Rights Violations Engulfing War-Torn Yemen, Where Abuses Continue Unchecked’
Human Wrongs Watch
UN experts called on the Security Council on Thursday [3 December 2020], along with the international community at large, to put an end to the “surreal and absurd dimension” of human rights violations engulfing war-torn Yemen, where abuses continue unchecked. (*).


