MADRID, Jan 16 2025 (IPS)* –It is no longer a secret that at major global summits there are more lobbyists than official delegates. There, they participate as ‘guests,’ and most of them work for big business corporations. Their goal? To deter the adoption of policies that conflict with their employers’ interests.
Transparency International revealed alarming findings in December 2024 about the siphoning of public funds in Africa. Credit: Shutterstock
Their persuasion exercise quite often helps water down the urgency of taking decisive actions, the need to cut the private business staggering profits, the financial dues of the industrialised powers to the impoverished nations that bear the heaviest brunt of their policies, and so on.
To achieve such a purpose, lobbyists often quietly show different sorts of ‘gratitude.’
(UN News)* —The humanitarian crisis in Haiti has reached a critical point, with one in eight children now internally displaced due to escalating violence fuelled by armed groups who continue to control most of the capital, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
()* — Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) on Friday []welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, pledging to scale up aid delivery across the stricken enclave once it comes into effect.
UN Photo/Mark Garten | Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, briefs journalists on UNRWA and latest developments in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Lazzarini emphasised that the agreement is only the first step in addressing the region’s overwhelming humanitarian challenges.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 