Archive for ‘Africa’

24/05/2025

Artificial Intelligence Threatens 1 in 4 jobs – But Transformation, Not Replacement, Is the Real Risk

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Women and clerical workers face the highest risk of their roles being radically transformed by Artificial Intelligence, prompting calls for inclusive policy responses.

ILO researchers first developed a methodology in 2023, and later refined it in 2025, to estimate the potential effects of generative AI on existing occupations, and then in a second step, on employment.  20 May 2025
© Unsplash/Hitesh Choudhary | ILO researchers first developed a methodology in 2023, and later refined it in 2025, to estimate the potential effects of generative AI on existing occupations, and then in a second step, on employment. 20 May 2025

The study finds that transforming job descriptions, not widespread job loss, is the more likely result.

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23/05/2025

Haiti: Armed Violence and Insecurity Expose Already Vulnerable Children to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Armed violence and insecurity in Haiti have exposed already vulnerable children to sexual violence and exploitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Wednesday .

Haitians displaced by violence find refuge on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
© IOM/Antoine Lemonnier | Haitians displaced by violence find refuge on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, gang violence has permeated the capital Port-au-Prince and expanded into other regions, displacing over one million people.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that more than half of the displaced are children, meaning one in eight Haitian children has been uprooted in recent years.

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22/05/2025

Agenda for Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference Still Unclear

Human Wrongs Watch

NEW YORK, May 21 2025 (IPS)* The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must not be allowed to collapse under the weight of geopolitical cynicism, the preparatory committee at the UN heard.
 
The closing session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Credit: UN TV

The closing session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Credit: UN TV

This year, the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (April 28-May 9) was intended to address procedural issues related to the treaty and the upcoming conference next year.

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21/05/2025

10 Things You Should Know about Nuclear Weapons

Human Wrongs Watch

1️⃣ The consequences of nuclear weapons are catastrophic. 

Nuclear weapons are not like other weapons, they are designed to mass murder civilians, wipe out entire cities and cause irreversible harm to the environment. 

First responders like the Red Cross have warned that they would have no capacity to deal with a nuclear detonation, and if the conflict were to escalate into nuclear war, recent studies show over 5 billion people could die from the famine that follows.

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21/05/2025

Unprecedented Rise in Global Military Expenditure as European and Middle East Spending Surges

Human Wrongs Watch

By the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)*

(Stockholm) — World military expenditure reached $2718 billion in 2024, an increase of 9.4 per cent in real terms from 2023 and the steepest year-on-year rise since at least the end of the cold war.
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Photo: Shutterstock

Photo: Shutterstock

Military spending increased in all world regions, with particularly rapid growth in both Europe and the Middle East.

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21/05/2025

World Health Organization’s Annual Budget Is the ‘Equivalent to Global Military Expenditure Every Eight Hours’

Human Wrongs Watch

World Health Assembly opens amid high-stakes pandemic treaty vote, global funding crisis

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus address the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
© WHO/Pierre Albouy | WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus address the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

(UN News)* — The 78th World Health Assembly opened on 19 May 2025 with a broad appeal to global solidarity, as delegates from around the world gather in Geneva to confront mounting health, climate, and financial challenges – and finalise a global treaty to head off the next pandemic.

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20/05/2025

A New Life Under a Safe Roof

Human Wrongs Watch

15 May 2025 — Hawaou Adama, a mother of three, knows all too well what it means to fight for survival every single day. Hawaou is a refugee who fled the violence that tore through her home country, the Central African Republic (CAR).

Hawaou Adama. Photo: Patricia Pouhe/NRC

After years of living in uncertainty, without a proper roof to protect her family from the elements and the dangers of daily life, Hawaou can now look forward to a safer, more stable future.
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Before war tore through her homeland, Hawaou lived a simple yet fulfilling life. Her husband worked as a farmer, while she cared for their three children, dreaming of a peaceful future for them.

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19/05/2025

‘We Depend on Plants for 80% of Food We Eat and 98% of the Oxygen We Breathe. But We Lose 40% of Crops to Pests’

Human Wrongs Watch

By the UN Food and Agriculture Organizaion (FAO)*

Pest-infected plants can trigger a cascade of negative effects on food supplies and induce outbreaks of zoonotic diseases…

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Plant health is the foundation of food security and is interconnected with human, animal and environmental health. Healthy plants provide nutrient-rich diets for humans and animals and help promote a balanced ecosystem.

Pest-infected plants can trigger a cascade of negative effects on food supplies and induce outbreaks of zoonotic diseases transmitted through harmful pathogens.

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19/05/2025

Acute Food Insecurity and Malnutrition Rise for Sixth Consecutive Year in World’s Most Fragile Regions

Human Wrongs Watch

Joint Report by EU/FAO/IFAD/UNHCR/UNICEF/WB/WFP*

In 2024, over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute hunger—an increase of almost 14 million people compared to 2023, while the number of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger reached a record high.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have sought refuge in Chad due to the ongoing conflict and resulting food shortages.
© WFP/Lena von Zabern | Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have sought refuge in Chad due to the ongoing conflict and resulting food shortages.
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Geneva/New York/Rome/Washington (FAO)* – Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing millions of people to the brink, in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), released on 16 May 2025.
18/05/2025

End of Eternal Ice: ‘Many Glaciers Will Not Survive This Century’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Glaciers in many regions will not survive the 21st century if they keep melting at the current rate, potentially jeopardising hundreds of millions of people living downstream, UN climate experts said on the first World Day for Glaciers.

Natural-colour satellite image of the margin of Matusevich Glacier in East Antarctica. (file)
© NASA Earth Observatory | Natural-colour satellite image of the margin of Matusevich Glacier in East Antarctica. (file)
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Together with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers lock up about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves. They are striking indicators of climate change as they typically remain about the same size in a stable climate.

But, with rising temperatures and global warming triggered by human-induced climate change, they are melting at unprecedented speed, said Sulagna Mishra, a scientific officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

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