(UN News)* — Myanmar is mired in one of the world’s worst human rights crises, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on said, describing conditions there as “a litany of human suffering.”
Addressing the Human Rights Council on Friday, he detailed the devastating toll of the ongoing conflict and economic collapse on civilians – many of whom have been displaced by the fighting.
Earlier in the day the Council discussed the deteriorating situation in South Sudan, having heard a report from rights investigators serving on the Commission on Human Rights in the country.
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 27 2025 (IPS)* –Renewable energy and climate change activists have challenged African heads of state to take a united stance to safeguard essential mineral resources, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other parts of the continent, which are selfishly exploited by foreign miners with disregard for poverty-stricken local communities.
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Dr. Augustine Njamnshi of ACSEA addresses a group of civil society organizations ahead of the AUC Summit in Addis Ababa. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS
Konaté sits on the step of her home. Photo: OCHA/Ibrahima Koné
At the Sossokoira displacement site in Gao, she sits in a tent with other women from her community. Her face is etched with exhaustion and quiet strength.
Like thousands of other residents of Talataye village, Nana sought refuge in this displacement site on the outskirts of Gao, far from the home she once knew.
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Feb 19 2024 (IPS)* –– Imperialism continues to dominate the world. Globalisation is losing to some of its anti-theses, but imperialism still rules, increasingly by law, albeit in changing even contradictory ways.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Hence, we live in challenging times. It is often difficult to see the main challenges we face as there seem to be so many.
Also, the new or the unusual gains far more attention than what appears commonplace.
Power and empire Our histories and cultures are often quite different despite our common, but varied experiences of foreign domination, even rule.
Such power involves varied mixes of socioeconomic and political relations, involving governance and even the rule of law.
Our world has seen empires and imperialism for over two millennia, at least from before the time of Jesus Christ in Palestine, who had to deal with the satraps of the Roman empire then.
(UN News)* — There were just under 150 incidents of illegal or unauthorised activity involving nuclear and other radioactive material reported last year, according to the international nuclear energy watchdog’s monitoring database tracking these incidents.
New data released on Friday [] from the UN-backed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reveals that while the overall number remains consistent with previous years, the continued incidents of trafficking and radioactive contamination cases raises concerns over nuclear security.
PORT SUDAN, Sudan, – Intense fighting in Zamzam camp in Sudan’s North Darfur region has forced the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to temporarily pause the distribution of life-saving food and nutrition assistance in the famine-hit camp for displaced people.
Syria, 28 February 2025 – Around the world, Ramadan is a time to come together as a family. It represents the warmth of home, sharing a good meal and enjoying a variety of food.
As Ramadan arrives, millions of Syrians prepare to once again mark the occasion with the little resources they have. Photo: IOM Türkiye
But for millions of Syrians still displaced 14 years after the conflict began, this Ramadan comes with the heavy burden of poverty and hunger.
(UN News)* — At night he sleeps under a tarpaulin sheet on the ruins of his family home. Like others returning to northern Gaza after months of being displaced by war, Sufian Al-Majdalawi clings to whatever he can find.
UN News | Sufyan Al-Majdalawi inspects the rubble of his home in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Using small tools and his bare hands, he sifts through mounds of twisted debris and dirt to try and unearth belongings and important paperwork such as property deeds to prove he is the legal owner.
He dreams of one day being able to rebuild; in the short-term, he hopes that even the rubble might hold some value.
The war in Gaza has left an unprecedented level of destruction, with an estimated 51 million tons of rubble blanket the landscape where bustling neighborhoods once thrived.
(UN News)* — The ongoing emergency in Haiti is crushing children’s chances of an education and a better future as scores of youngsters are recruited by heavily armed and violent gangs, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Friday [].
UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, Geetanjali Narayan, told journalists that just last month, armed groups destroyed 47 schools in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, adding to the 284 schools destroyed in 2024.
“The relentless attacks on education are accelerating, leaving hundreds of thousands of children without a place to learn,” she said.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 