'Unseen' News and Views
ROME (FAO)* – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 29 May 2019 launched the United Nations’ Decade of Family Farming and a Global Action Plan to boost support for family farmers, particularly those in developing countries.
Kicking off on Saturday [1 June 2019] the first-ever global Parenting Month, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is calling on world leaders to invest in family-friendly policies that support parents to give their children “the best start in life”.
(Greenpeace)* — On May 1, the British House of Commons became the world’s first national parliament to declare a “climate emergency.” The motion is not binding and may have no effect on government policy, which appears reminiscent of the Paris emissions promises.
Night time road blocks at the Extinction Rebellion environmental activists camp at Marble Arch © Photo by Ollie Millington/Getty Images (Photo from Greenpeace).
After visiting Julian Assange in a London prison, an independent UN human rights expert expressed urgent concern on Friday [31 May 2019], for the Wikileaks co-founder’s well-being, accusing “a group of democratic States” of “ganging up” on the prisoner to “isolate, demonize and abuse” him and warned against extraditing the controversial publisher to the United States.
“My most urgent concern is that, in the United States, Mr. Assange would be exposed to a real risk of serious violations of his human rights, including his freedom of expression, his right to a fair trial and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” said Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, in a statement.
31 May 2019 (UN Environment)* — According to the World Health Organization, every year, around 7 million people die prematurely from disease caused by air pollution. That is 800 people every hour, or 13 every minute, dying because of the dirty air they breathe. Approximately, 4 million of these deaths occur in the Asia-Pacific region.
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– Over recent decades, the scope, size, concentration, power and even the purpose and role of finance have changed so significantly that a new term, financialization, was coined to name this phenomenon.
Financialization refers to a process that has not only transformed finance itself, but also, the real economy and society.
The transformation goes beyond the quantitative to involve qualitative change as finance becomes dominant, instead of serving the needs of the real economy.
Financialization involves the growth and transformation of finance such that with its hugely expanded size, scope and concentration, finance now overshadows, dominates and destabilizes the productive economy.
The role and purpose of finance has been qualitatively transformed. Finance used to profit from serving production and trade. Traditionally, financing production involved providing funds for manufacturers to finance production, and for traders to buy and sell.
29 May 2019 (WHO)* — The focus of World No Tobacco Day 2019, marked in 31 May, is on “tobacco and lung health.” The campaign will increase awareness on the negative impact that tobacco has on people’s lung health, from cancer to chronic respiratory disease, and the fundamental role lungs play for the health and well-being of all people.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 