(UN News)* — After four months of war in Sudan, UN humanitarians on Tuesday [] called for action to be taken to end the conflict which is having a “devastating impact” on people’s lives, health and well-being.
UN Photo/Albert González Farran | People continue to be displaced by conflict in Sudan.
In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that the “disastrous, senseless war in Sudan, born out of a wanton drive for power, has resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of family homes, schools, hospitals and other essential services, massive displacement, as well as sexual violence, in acts which may amount to war crimes”.
(UN News)* — A spike in conflict and displacement in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is pushing children into the worst cholera crisis since 2017, warns UNICEF.
Across the country, there have been at least 31,342 suspected or confirmed cholera cases and 230 deaths in the first seven months of 2023 – many of them children.
As Afghanistan’s widespread economic crisis drags on and jobs become scarcer, the women of Dogabad village are finding innovative ways to support their loved ones, even as their own lives seem grimmer than ever. In this impoverished neighbourhood of Kabul, against all odds, women are taking the lead.
UN News / David Mottershead | A female beneficiary of a UNODC alternative development project feeding her chickens in Dogabad village, Kabul, Afghanistan.
In the United States, the Biden administration has adopted the policy of sending many billions of dollars’ worth of advanced weapons to Ukraine, with the hope of weakening Russia, and in the hope of a Ukrainian victory.
John Scales Avery
An underlying motive can be found in the enormous profits made by the American weapons industry.
In fact, the military-industrial complex (against which President Eisenhower warned in his famous Farewell Address) has complete control over both political parties.
The latest yearly appropriation for military purposes was almost a trillion dollars.
The war in Ukraine has always been a proxy war between NATO and Russia, although it is being fought on Ukrainian soil, and although it involves great suffering for the Ukrainian people.
(UN News)* — Arms and ammunition transfers to Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent months, alongside concerning reports of deliveries of banned cluster munitions, the UN’s top disarmament official told the Security Council on Thursday [].
“The influx of weapons and ammunition into any armed conflict can contribute to the escalation and presents significant risks of diversion and proliferation even after the conflict has ended,” Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the Council, briefing on the latest developments in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
(UN News)* — The first global Traditional Medicine Summit convened by UN health agency WHO, got underway this week in the Indian city of Gandhinagar focused on sharing evidence and best practices in this field.
.
UN-REDD/Leona Liu | In Viet Nam, many people use traditional medicine for healing, and 90 percent of active ingredients come from forests.
8 Aug 2023 – Israeli airstrikes on Syria have become routine and deadly. Yesterday, Israeli airstrikes on Damascus at 2:20 am local time killed four Syrian soldiers and wounded four others.
Damascus residents were awoken from sleep to sounds and flashes of bright lights from the attacks. Regardless of the numerous attacks, the civilian populations are held hostage to the Israeli military and their relentless attacks which cause emotional distress on innocent people sleeping in their own homes, while trying to survive in a collapsed economy which has pushed the majority to the poverty line.
(UN News)*— Dire predictions about escalating hunger in Sudan have tragically come true, as conflict-induced food scarcity has plunged 20.3 million people into severe acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday [].
Of that figure, 6.3 million people – 13 per cent of Sudan’s population – are experiencing emergency levels of hunger – classified as Phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Classification – just one step from famine, with the conflict continuing to disrupt access to humanitarian aid and forcing millions to flee their homes.
(UN News)* — The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on Tuesday [] revealed compelling evidence of the country’s military and affiliate militias engaging in more frequent and audacious war crimes and crimes against humanity.
IRIN/Steve Sandford | Two soldiers stand guard at a post in northern Myanmar. (file)
These include indiscriminate attacks on civilians from aerial bombing, mass executions of civilians and detained combatants, and large-scale and intentional burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting in the destruction of entire villages in some cases, the Mechanism said in a news release.
“Every loss of life in Myanmar is tragic, but the devastation caused to whole communities through aerial bombardments and village burnings is particularly shocking,” said Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Mechanism.
()* — A significant surge in dengue fever cases has gripped Bangladesh, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday [], calling for efforts to control the mosquito vector population and minimize individual exposure such as using mosquito repellents and wearing long-sleeved clothes.
IAEA | Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are one of primary vectors for dengue. (file)
.
The outbreak, which escalated rapidly since late June, has seen a total of 69,483 confirmed cases and 327 related deaths between 1 January and 7 August, with a case fatality rate of 0.47 per cent, according to the UN health agency. The cases were reported from all 64 districts in the country.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 