UNITED NATIONS, Mar 8 2021 (IPS)* – The United Nations has rightly described the deaths and devastation in war-ravaged Yemen as the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster”— caused mostly by widespread air attacks on civilians by a coalition led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A woman in Aden, Yemen prepares food at a settlement for people who have fled their homes due to insecurity. Credit: UNOCHA/Giles Clarke
But rarely, if ever, has the world denounced the primary arms merchants, including the US and UK, for the more than 100,000 killings since 2015– despite accusations of “war crimes” by human rights organizations.
The killings are due mostly to air strikes on weddings, funerals, private homes, villages and schools. Additionally, over 130,000 have died resulting largely from war-related shortages of food and medical care.
In March 2015, Bill Gates showed an image of the coronavirus during a TED Talkand told the audience that it was what the greatest catastrophe of our time would look like. The real threat to life, he said, is “not missiles, but microbes.” When the coronavirus pandemic swept over the earth like a tsunami five years later, he revived the war language, describing the pandemic as “a world war.”
“The coronavirus pandemic pits all of humanity against the virus,” he said.
In fact, the pandemic is not a war. The pandemic is a consequence of war. A war against life. The mechanical mind connected to the money machine of extraction has created the illusion of humans as separate from nature, and nature as dead, inert raw material to be exploited.
But, in fact, we are part of the biome. And we are part of the virome. The biome and the virome are us. When we wage war on the biodiversity of our forests, our farms and in our guts, we wage war on ourselves.
March 2021 (WHO)* — Over 5% of the world’s population – or 430 million people – require rehabilitation to address their ‘disabling’ hearing loss (432 million adults and 34 million children). It is estimated that by 2050 over 700 million people – or one in every ten people – will have disabling hearing loss.
Nurse Carol Sinkende treating Memory Chisenga, 3, for a severe ear infection at the Lukomba Rural Health Centre in Kapiri Mposhii District, Zambia.
‘Disabling’ hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 35 decibels (dB) in the better hearing ear. Nearly 80% of people with disabling hearing loss live in low- and middle-income countries. The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age, among those older than 60 years, over 25% are affected by disabling hearing loss.
Geneva (WHO)* — Nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide ─ or 1 in 4 people ─ will be living with some degree of hearing loss by 2050, warns the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first World Report on Hearing, released on 2 March 2021. At least 700 million of these people will require access to ear and hearing care and other rehabilitation services unless action is taken. |
Credit: Starkey Hearing Foundation (Image posted here fromWHO).
“Our ability to hear is precious. Untreated hearing loss can have a devastating impact on people’s ability to communicate, to study and to earn a living. It can also impact on people’s mental health and their ability to sustain relationships,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
(UN News)* — The UN migration agency (IOM) on Monday 8 March 2021 called for “urgent humanitarian access” to an overcrowded migrant detention centre in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, where a deadly fire reportedly led to multiple deaths at the facility at the weekend.
Unsplash/Saif Albadni | A neighbourhood in Sana’a, Yemen. (file)
IOM also called for the release of all migrants from the Immigration, Passports and Naturalization Authority Immigration Holding Facility, where many Ethiopian detainees were being held, along with “renewed commitment to providing safe, predictable movement options for migrants”.
Dozens have reportedly been injured, and IOM tweeted that more than 170 have been treated for injuries “with many remaining in critical condition.” Carmela Godeau, IOM’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said “its impact is clearly horrific”.
When climate change dried up their livelihoods — literally — a group of women backed by the World Food Programme turned a traditional craft into a business
Full swing: Two members of the Women of Hope cooperative in Morazán show off their handiwork — their hammocks have quadrupled in price. Photo: WFP
(WFP)* — “It is a beautiful river — it used to be very large, it had fish, but now the water’s gone down so much,” says Elba. Years of recurring droughts and an erratic climate have taken their toll on the Torola, which courses through the department of Morazán, in eastern El Salvador.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 