A new report from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has laid bare the devastating environmental and economic consequences of the unlawful discharge of untreated wastewater from Israeli settlements into Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank.
Two elderly Palestinian farmers observing their land in Beit Ummar, West Bank. Photo by Sherbel Dissi/ NRC
In both sites researched for the report, wastewater, including human sewage and animal waste, flowing from illegal Israeli settlements for long distances has damaged crops and knocked agricultural Palestinian lands out of use.
Geneva/Berlin, 26 March 2024 (IOM)* –-As the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project marks its ten-year milestone, a new report reveals alarming trends in migrant deaths and disappearances over the past decade.
The identities of those who have lost their lives largely remain unknown. Photo: Eva Sibanda/IOM Djibouti 2023
More than one-third of deceased migrants whose country of origin could be identified come from countries in conflict or with large refugee populations, highlighting the dangers faced by those attempting to flee conflict zones without safe pathways.
(UN News)* —Conflict in Yemen entered its 10th year on Monday [], as UN humanitarians issued a warning that over half the country’s populations are in desperate need of aid.
14 March 2024 (UNICEF)* — Most people know that you can’t survive without water. But the truth is slightly more nuanced. You need more than just water – you need SAFE water.
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UNICEF/UN0211984/Noorani
You also need safe toilets to keep the environment clean, and as well as soap and water to stop the spread of disease.
Find out more about why safe water, sanitation and hygiene are so important:
(UN News)* — Israeli authorities informed the United Nations on Sunday [] that it will no longer approve the passage of any UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, food convoys into northern Gaza.
“As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on X.
He called the decision “outrageous”, saying it was made to intentionally obstruct lifesaving aid deliveries during a man-made famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
(UN News)* — The situation in the gang-ravaged capital of Haiti has gone from worrying to “extremely alarming” as conditions in Port-au-Prince continue to worsen amid growing hunger and serious shortages in hospitals to treat gunshot victims, said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator there on Thursday [].
“It’s important we don’t let the violence spill over from the capital into the country,” said Ulrika Richardson, briefing journalists at UN Headquarters via videolink from Haiti.
On March 21, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution—the first ever — on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems that will also benefit “sustainable development for all”. Adopting a United States-led draft resolution, without a vote, the Assembly also highlighted the respect, protection and promotion of human rights in the design, development, deployment and the use of AI. The text was “co-sponsored” or backed by more than 120 other Member States
Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 25 2024 (IPS)* – Speaking at the third Summit for Democracy in South Korea last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that a malicious “flood” of disinformation is threatening the world’s democracies—triggered in part by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).
GENEVA (UN Human Rights) 22 March 2024 – UN experts* today expressed alarm about increasing reports of trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, for purposes of sexual exploitation and sexual slavery, child and forced marriage, and the recruitment of boys for participation in hostilities in Sudan, against the backdrop of the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the country that has caused an unprecedented mass displacement of over 9 million people.
Access to support for victims and survivors has reportedly deteriorated since December 2023, eight months after the outbreak of conflict between Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023, the experts said.
Geneva, 22 March 2024 (IOM)* — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is profoundly shocked and alarmed by the discovery of at least 65 migrants’ bodies in a mass grave in Southwest Libya.
The circumstance of their death and nationalities remains unknown, but it is believed that they died in the process of being smuggled through the desert.
(UN News)* —Amid reports of ongoing bombardment across Gaza on Friday [], UN humanitarians highlighted “shocking levels of disease and hunger” after visiting an overwhelmed hospital in the north of the enclave.
The UN’s top aid official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jamie McGoldrick, reached Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia on Thursday, where children with the most severe and life-threatening hunger are being treated at a new World Health Organization (WHO)-supported specialised feeding facility.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 