Presenting the findings of a six-month accountability report, Co-chairs Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, warned that “uneven” progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause illness, deaths and economic losses.
Beirut, Nov 18 2021 (IPS)* – On the streets of Beirut, Hadi Hassoun begs for a few pounds to feed his five children. He has little hope of a job, especially now that the economic crisis in Lebanon has destroyed wealth.
19 November 2021 (UN News)* — With about 2.3 million people already suffering with serious water, food and pasture shortages in Somalia, a rapidly worsening drought could lead to an “extreme situation” by April next year.
UNDP Somalia | Somalia’s drought has left more than two million people facing severe food and water shortages.
The warning comes from the United Nations and the Somali Government. Climate projections show that the country is facing a fourth consecutive failed rainfall season.In a joint statement on Friday [19 November 2021], the organizations said it is imperative to act now to prevent a slide into the kind of drought and even famine conditions experienced in previous years.
DOHA 18 November 2021 (ILO)* — An in-depth analysis of work-related deaths and injuries in Qatar by the International Labour Organization, has shown that 50 workers lost their lives in 2020 and just over 500 were severely injured, with 37,600 suffering mild to moderate injuries.
(UN News)* — “Catastrophic and famine-like conditions” hang over Afghanistan’s farmers and herders, whose needs continue to worsen with the onset of winter, UN humanitarians on 19 November 2021 said.
While humanitarian access has never been better, prices are soaring and needs continue to outpace the resources provided, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) explained.
Global warming causes global swarming. In 2018, Indian Ocean cyclones hit Oman and Yemen, creating conditions for an outbreak of desert locusts.
Swarms grew throughout 2019 and 2020, two of the hottest years on record. Swarms with 80 million insects have swept across Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, and, as of last week, Kenya, consuming enough staple crops that would otherwise feed 35,000 people, every day.
Scientists have linked the growth of locust plagues to climate change.
Making leather is hard and dirty work, but should children in Bangladesh be banned from it?
Tannery work in Dhaka, Bangladesh | Zakir Hossain Chowdhury/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News. All rights reserved
15 November 2021 (openDemocracy)* — Leather production is a global, billion-dollar industry and Bangladesh’s second most profitable export sector after ready-made garments. It also has a problem with child labour.
NEW YORK, Nov 17 2021 (IPS)*– Once again, the U.S. faces a test case along racial lines. Will the courts mete out justice in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by three white men while jogging in Georgia?
Anna Shen
The case is one in a long line of prominent trials with similar racial undertones, highlighting the divide in America’s legal system when it comes to race. Recent cases with mixed and highly charged verdicts include: George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, and Breonna Taylor.
Despite widespread attention — the national movement of Black Lives Matter, widespread protests, and federal laws intended to provide equal access — systemic racism in the legal system is flagrant and persistent. Put simply, it must be eradicated, said a new report by the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.
Nairobi (UNEP)* – Global cities are key to overcoming the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution. A new vision of future cities is detailed in a report released on 18 November 2021 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
20 November 2021 (UN News)* — Nadya Zafira, an international relations student at Indonesia’s Gadjah Mada University, won a writing competition for her letter to UN chief António Guterres, in which she addressed the inequalities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how indigenous communities and youth are marginalized in global conversations on climate crisis.
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Unsplash/Atilla Taskiran | Lombok island, Indonesia.
.“In the past two years, my reality, yours, and many others, has changed dramatically. Not overnight, but rather, over a series of incremental global disruptions that began with the news of an unknown pneumonia outbreak. While all countries face the common threat of a deadly virus, clearly the pandemic has not proven to be “the great equalizer”, as deep-seated inequalities between the Global North and South shape each country’s path of survivability in this era of multidimensional crises, with some winning first, and others lagging behind.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 