'Unseen' News and Views
They were one of the first domesticated plants, but millets have been overshadowed by other grains over the last decades. This year, FAO is celebrating the International Year of Millets to help everyone rediscover the multi-faceted reasons this crop should resurface in our markets and on our tables. ©FAO/Jeanette Van Acker
Climate-induced water insecurity poses one of the biggest threats to humanity and will lead to more hunger, disease and displacement.
Climate Change and Water Security. Oxfam‘s report “Water Dilemmas” highlights how a water security crisis, in large part driven by global heating from greenhouse gas emissions, will fuel hunger and disease and force more people to leave their homes. | Photo: Oxfamwash.org
Climate justice is not just about survival but also about benefit sharing, reducing inequality and enabling a better society that thrives – Yamide Dagnet, Climate Justice Director at Open Society Foundations
A family shelter on the roof of their small house surrounded by floodwater in Jatrapur Union in Kurigram District, Bangladesh. Credit: Muhammad Amdad Hossain/Climate Visuals
– The failure to tackle the climate change crisis is an injustice to the millions who have lost lives and livelihoods through floods, extreme weather, and wildfires, pointing to the urgency of adaptation and mitigation finance, experts say.
(UN News)* — Children in Africa are among the most at risk from climate change impacts but are being woefully deprived of the financing necessary to help them adapt, survive and respond to the crisis, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a new report on Friday [].
It was released as leaders prepare to meet for the African Climate Summit, taking place next week in Nairobi, Kenya.
Children in 48 out of 49 African countries assessed were found to be at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, based on their exposure and vulnerability to cyclones, heatwaves and other climate and environmental shocks, and access to essential services.
(UN News)* — A nexus of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement and limited humanitarian access threatens to plunge nearly one million children under the age of five into acute malnutrition by the end of this year – with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them, UN agencies said on Friday [].
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Biden Administration Should End Dangerous Deportations to Haiti.
On August 30, the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince called on all US citizens to leave Haiti “as soon as possible” because of the worsening security situation in the country. The next day, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement loaded 57 Haitians on a plane and deported them to Haiti.
(UN News)* — The UN migration agency (IOM) called on Friday [] for the setting up of a humanitarian corridor in Niger to enable voluntary returns of stranded migrants, after July’s military takeover triggered border & airspace closures.
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IOM Regional Director Christopher Gascon told reporters in Geneva that 4,800 migrants were hosted by IOM at seven transit centres in the country, awaiting voluntary return. They were primarily from western Africa: Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria, he said.
Mr. Gascon said airport access was crucial to “organise charter flights in order to return people home”.
He stressed that IOM’s transit centres were currently 40 per cent over capacity and an additional 1,400 migrants outside the centres needed help.
Mr. Gascon added that setting up a corridor would also facilitate the delivery of aid to conflict-affected areas of Niger.
(UN News)* – Haiti is in the grip of “extreme brutality”, with gang-related violence continuing to force thousands from their homes amidst widespread suffering, said the UN’s top humanitarian official there.
The desperate situation prompted a tweet on Friday [] from Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths calling for an immediate end to the fighting.
“This carnage needs to stop” said the UN relief chief.
Major escalation
In the past two weeks alone, 71 people have been killed and injured in capital Port-au-Prince, marking a major escalation, according to UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, which Mr. Griffiths heads.
IOM Calls for Increased Support, Sustainable Solutions for Rohingya Refugees
Geneva/Cox’s Bazar, 25 August 2023 (IOM)*– As the Rohingya crisis marks its sixth year in Bangladesh, the plight of nearly 1 million refugees remains unchanged, trapped in a cycle of uncertainty and vulnerability.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 