11 December 2022 (UN News)* — More than 11,000 boys and girls have been killed or injured in the war in Yemen – an average of four a day since fighting escalated in 2015, though the number is likely to be far higher, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported.
Agency chief Catherine Russell, who has completed a visit to the country, called for urgent renewal of the truce between the Government and Houthi rebels.
The landmark agreement was initially announced in April and led to a significant reduction in the intensity of the conflict. However, a further 62 children have been killed or injured in the period since it ended in early October and 30 November, UNICEF said.
(UN News)* — More than one in five people employed – almost 23 per cent – have experienced violence and harassment in the workplace, whether physical, psychological or sexual, according to the first ever joint analysis of data worldwide carried out by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), the independent global charity Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and analytics and polling company, Gallup.
This first global survey on experiences of violence and harassment at work, aims to provide a better understanding and awareness of an issue rooted in complex economic, social and cultural factors, said ILO in a press release published on Monday [].
Experiences of Violence and Harassment at Work: A global first survey assesses the extent of the problem and looks at the factors that may prevent people from talking about what they’ve gone through, including shame, guilt or a lack of trust in institutions, or because such unacceptable behaviours are seen as “normal”.
Dec 8 2022 (IPS)* – After four failed rainy seasons, the land of the Maasai has withered. The worst drought in 40 years is a slow-motion storm of devastation in the Greater Horn of Africa, ruining the livestock, the communities, the Maasai way of life. Their cattle have been their greatest source of wealth and nutrition, but with grazing lands shriveled from the dry heat and their livestock emaciated, the entire region is in peril.
Places where Indigenous tenure is secure are where lands and waters are best protected. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS
In contrast, the storms that smash the Philippines bring intense rains and devastating winds. The Igorot communities on the Island of Luzon have a front-row seat for these storms, and they are hard pressed keeping their way of life intact.
A new report, including disturbing video and audio evidence, shows security forces along European Union borders detaining migrants and asylum seekers at secret locations before forcing them back across borders. The report, released by collaborative journalism outfit Lighthouse Reports, primarily documented abuses occurring in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Croatia.
Many of the migrants who built World Cup infrastructure in Qatar are still waiting for their last pay cheques.
Joerg Boethling/Alamy Stock Photo. All rights reserved
7 December 2022 (openDemocracy)* — “In 2015, when I joined Leighton Contracting Qatar as a land surveyor, I felt proud,” Varun Babu, a migrant worker from India, recalled. “Big company and good salary – we built the Doha Orbital Highway, part of the 2022 FIFA World Cup! But in March 2020, everything turned upside down.”
Covid-19 in Qatar. Given the thousands of migrant workers who died while building infrastructure for the games, the pandemic’s non-lethal effects in the country can feel almost like a footnote. But the terminated employment and theft of wages and benefits that thousands of migrant workers experienced as the virus spread constitute a tragedy unto themselves. For many, it was never resolved.
MADRID, Dec 7 2022 (IPS)* – “Western Europe and the European Union remains the highest scoring region in the world’s corruption index, progress has halted and worrying signs of backsliding have emerged.”
While corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, in Western Europe and the European Union, 84% of countries have declined or made little to no progress in the last 10 years, report finds. Credit: Shutterstock.
The report shows that while corruption levels remain at a standstill worldwide, “in Western Europe and the European Union, 84% of countries have declined or made little to no progress in the last 10 years.”
MADRID, Dec 6 2022 (IPS)* – In these times when all sorts of human rights violations have been ‘normalised,’ a crime which continues to be perpetrated everywhere but punished nowhere: corruption is also seen as a business as usual. A business, by the way, that relies on the wide complicity of official authorities.
Multinational companies bribing their way into foreign markets go largely unpunished, and victims’ compensation is rare, according to new report. Credit: Ashwath Hedge/Wikimedia Commons
“Corruption attacks the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the solicitation of bribes.”
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 5 2022 (IPS)* – A head of state who presided over an authoritarian regime in Southeast Asia, was once asked about rigged elections in his country.
“I promised I will give you the right to vote” he said, “but I didn’t say anything about counting those votes.”
Voters wait to cast their ballots for federal and provincial elections at a polling location in Bhaktapur district, Nepal. Meanwhile, the United Nations marked the annual International Day of Democracy, on September 15, calling on world leaders to build a more equal, inclusive and sustainable world, with full respect for human rights. Credit: UN News
That infamous quote, perhaps uttered half-jokingly, was rightly described as an unholy combination of despotism and democracy.
Immediate and drastic action is needed to prevent irreversible climate change. However, the worst effects of climate change lie in the distant future, perhaps as much as a thousand years from today. It is part of our human nature to see what is near to us.
We accept the comfort and convenience provided by fossil fuels. It is therefore difficult to mobilize the political will needed for drastic and immediate action.
Some of Antonio Guterres’ Remarks at COP27
Here are a few extracts from the Secretary General’s speech:
“Dear friends, in just days, our planet’s population will cross a new threshold. The 8 billionth member of our human family will be born. This milestone puts into perspective what this climate conference is all about. How will we answer when “Baby 8 Billion” is old enough to ask: What did you do for our world – and for our planet — when you had the chance?
(UN News)* — The legacy of the transatlantic slave trade “reverberates to this day”, just as modern-day enslavement is growing, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said.
In a message ahead of commemorations for the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, on 2 December, Mr. Guterres said that societies remain scarred by the historical suffering of enslaved Africans, and are unable to offer everyone the same development opportunities.
The UN chief also urged action to identify and recommit to eradicating all forms of contemporary slavery, from people trafficking to sexual exploitation, child labour, forced marriage and the use of children in armed conflict.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 