(UN News)* — While groundwater accounts for 99 per cent of all running freshwater on Earth, it is often undervalued, mismanaged, and overexploited, according to a report published on Monday [21 March 2022] by the UN scientific organization, UNESCO.
“Groundwater is a critical natural resource, invisible but indispensable for life on our planet”, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said in the Foreword of Making the invisible visible, the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report (WWDR).
PORTLAND, USA, Mar 21 2022 (IPS)* – Planet Earth is increasingly being transformed into planet Plastics. Approximately 400,000,000 metric tons of plastics are produced worldwide annually. Those plastics amount to about 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds, every year for each of the 8 billion human inhabitants living on the unfolding planet Plastics.
Today, plastics are ubiquitous, pervading all aspects of human activity and invading all dimensions of the environment, with the result being the emergence of planet Plastics. Credit: Albert Oppong-Ansah/IPS.
18 March 2022 (UNHCR)* – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, together with 102 humanitarian and development partners is appealing for US$1.2 billion to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance and protection to 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees and local communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. | Español | Français | عربي
Tripoli, 17 March 2022 (IOM)* – At least 70 migrants are missing at sea and presumed dead off the Libyan shore in the past two weeks, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Mediterranean Sea. Photo IOM/Mohamed Muse
On 12 March, a boat reportedly carrying 25 migrants capsized near the Libyan coast of Tobruk. Authorities rescued six migrants and recovered seven bodies while 12 remain missing.
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 18 2022 (IPS)* – The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF), which is expected to provide retirement, death, disability and related benefits for staff, upon cessation of their services– has a staggering portfolio amounting to over $81.5 billion ranking far, far ahead of the UN’s annual budget of $3.1 billion and its average peacekeeping budget of over $6.4 billion.
The thousands of UN retirees and their beneficiaries, numbering over 71,000 at last count, who depend on their pensions for economic survival, are relentlessly protective of the Fund—while protesting all attempts at risky investments.
MADRID, Mar 15 2022 (IPS)* – More than 60 percent of the world’s adult labour force –or about 2 billion workers– work in the informal economy. “They are not recognised, registered, regulated or protected under labour legislation and social protection. The consequences can be severe, for individuals, families as well as economies.”
Women sell fruit and vegetables on a sidewalk in the Philippines. Credit: ILO/Minette Rimando
The International Labour Organization (ILO) on 18 February 2022 on this issue reported that despite major efforts over the years, there are few signs of the informal economy shrinking in size.
Farmers and fishing communities have had to let go of their folk knowledge on weather and seasonal patterns that used to guide them for the best times to carry out the various steps in their trade—planting, harvesting, setting out to sea, preservative drying of goods, etc.
Governments inability or unwillingness to implement solutions to the climate crisis is deeply entrenched, and seemingly intractable | Image from Wall Street International Magazine.
March 2022 (Wall Street International)* — For far too many climate change activists, 2021 and the beginning of 2022 have plunged people into feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
The inertia of the existing fossil fuel infrastructure and governments inability/unwillingness to implement tangible, collaborative, global solutions to the climate crisis is deeply entrenched, and seemingly intractable.
(UN News)* — More than 70 percent of South Sudan’s population will struggle to survive the peak of the annual ‘lean season’ this year, as the country grapples with unprecedented levels of food insecurity caused by conflict, climate shocks, COVID-19, and rising costs, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday[11 March 2022]
While global attention is focused on Ukraine, said WFP in a press release, a “hidden hunger emergency” is engulfing South Sudan with about 8.3 million there – including refugees – facing extreme hunger in the coming months.
10 March 2022(UN News)* — The business model of the news media is ‘broken’ and with it, our fundamental right to information is at risk, a new UNESCO report examining global trends in freedom of expression warns.
Unsplash/Lilly Rum | The dominating presence of social media has led to a decline in demand for traditional print journalism.
In the past five years, both news audiences and advertising revenues have moved in huge numbers to internet platforms, with only two companies – Google and Meta (formerly known as Facebook) – soaking up half of all global digital advertising spending.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 