28 May 2021 (UNEP)* — Nitrogen is a double-edged sword. The element is a key component in fertilizers and helps fuel the growth of essential crops like wheat and maize. But too much nitrogen can pollute the air, decimate soils and create lifeless “dead zones” in the ocean.
Reuters/Fayaz Aziz / 27 May 2021
To counter those threats, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is coordinating a global drive to manage nitrogen more sustainably.
Ahead of the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration on 5 June, UNEP is hosting a webinar to explore how nitrogen management can help revive natural spaces while combating hunger, improving human health and tackling climate change.
World Food Programme aims to make staying in hometowns a better option than risking exploitation in the goldmines of the north
‘Up north you’re an easy target for criminals,’ says Adam. Photo: WFP/María Gallar Sánchez
28 May 2021 (WFP)* — In the provinces of central Chad migrating is, by tradition, less a last resort than a way of life. For centuries, during the dry season, herdsmen have made for the wetlands and pastures around Lake Chad and in the south of the country.
(UN News)* — UN humanitarians expressed deep concern on 28 May 2021 about serious and ongoing abuses carried out against displaced civilians who are also facing dire food insecurity in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, after months of conflict.
In an alert, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said that it was aware of “gross violations”, including gender-based violence in the war-torn north.
Vile attacks
“The situation of women and adolescent girls in Tigray and border areas of Amhara and Afar remains dire”, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem.
Geneva (UNEP)* – A total investment in nature of USD 8.1 trillion is required between now and 2050 – while annual investment should reach USD 536 billion annually by 2050 – in order to successfully tackle the interlinked climate, biodiversity, and land degradation crises, according to the State of Finance for Nature report released on 27 May 2021.
The report finds that annual investments in nature-based solutions will have to triple by 2030 and increase four-fold by 2050 from the current investments into nature-based solutions of USD 133 billion (using 2020 as base year).
27 May 2021 (UNEP)* — The ongoing loss of natural spaces, including forests, has become a systemic risk for the global economy, warns a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and several partners.
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REUTERS/Aly Song / 27 May 2021
Over the past decade, 26 per cent of global tree cover loss was caused by the production of just seven agricultural commodities – cattle, oil palm, soy, cocoa, rubber, coffee and wood fibre – said the State of Financing for Naturereport.
Barring major changes, the toll on forests and other wild spaces will continue to mount, ultimately imperiling industries that rely on natural resources.
GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 27 May 2021 (UNICEF)* – As the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) advise people living in part of the city of Goma to vacate their homes due to the risk of another volcanic eruption, UNICEF has warned that as many as 400,000 people – including 280,000 children – could be displaced and in need of protection or support.
UNICEF/UN0466151/AclandFlowing lava from the volcanic eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, which occurred late on 22 May, UNICEF has reported that more than 150 children have been separated from their families and more than 170 children are feared to be missing as people fled the city of Goma.
On the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, it is hard not to draw comparisons between Black Lives Matter and growing international solidarity with the Palestinians.
Palestinian artist Ayman al-Hasari paints a mural of African-American George Floyd on a wall in Gaza City | ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved
25 May 2021 (openDemocracy)* — For the past two weeks, social media platforms have been awash with solidarity posts about the Palestinian struggle. As we mark the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, it is hard not to draw comparisons with the global Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the impact it had on the growing international solidarity with the Palestinians.
(UN News)* — UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on Thursday [27 May 2021] for a “genuine and inclusive peace process” to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and a repeat of recent deadly clashes that have been marked by possible war crimes by Israeli security forces.
In comments to the Human Rights Council in Geneva – which stopped short of supporting a call for an international probe into the escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel – Ms. Bachelet condemned indiscriminate rocket attacks by Gaza’s de facto authority Hamas, which claimed 10 lives in Israel, and strikes inside the enclave by Israeli Security Forces that left 242 dead.
(UN News)* — Only a political solution will end the “senseless and costly cycles of violence” between Israelis and Palestinians, UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said in a briefing to the Security Council on Thursday [27 May 2021].
UNRWA/Mohamed Hinnawi | A building damaged by an Israeli air strike amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence in Gaza City.
Ambassadors met in person in New York as a fragile cessation of hostilities continues to hold, following 11 days of deadly conflict this month which engulfed the Occupied Palestinian Territory and several cities across Israel.
“These recent events have made clear once again the costs of perpetual conflict and lost hope”, said Mr Wennesland, officially the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
Nairobi, 25 May 2021 (IOM)* – At least 300,000 migrants across the East and Horn of Africa have been affected by COVID-19 in 2020, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s annual flagship report on migration trends and population movements in the region, released this week.
Migrants walking in the desert from Alat Ela to Fantahero in Djibouti. Photo: IOM 2020/Alexander BEE
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 