(UN News)* — The number of children being recruited into armed groups across Haiti has increased by 70 per cent over the past year, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported. The unprecedented spike also reveals the alarming deterioration of child protection amid escalating violence in the Caribbean nation.
According to the latest estimates, children now comprise up to half of all armed group members, with recruitment driven by widespread poverty, lack of education and collapse of essential services.
(UN News)* —Rich nations pledged to contribute at least $300 billion annually to the global fight against climate change as UN climate talks came to a contentious end early Sunday [24 November 2024] morning in Baku.
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UNFCCC/Kiara Worth | Wide shot of the plenary hall at the UN climate conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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Developing nations who had sought over $1 trillion in assistance called the agreement “insulting” and argued it did not give them the vital resources they required to truly address the complexities of the climate crisis.
BAKU, Nov 24 2024 (IPS)* –They say it is taboo to talk about money. But this is exactly what developing countries came for: to haggle and push for the climate finance deal of a lifetime, as the climate crisis is, for them, a matter of life and death.
A delegate reacts during the final negotiations that led to a much-criticized climate finance deal. Credit: UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth
Wealthy nations also came for their own deal of a lifetime—to hoist the climate finance burden on the private sector as they take the bare minimum financial responsibility.
A finance COP was always going to be difficult as, although they can pay, they simply will not pay.
MADRID, 23 November 2024 – Human atrocities seem to have become so ‘normalised’ that more and more major crimes continue to be either nearly ignored, or shortly reported every now and then… or even only once a year.
16 Days of Activism: #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women
(UN News)* — The death toll of humanitarian workers in 2024 has become the “deadliest on record”, with 281 killed globally, the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, reported on Friday [].
The grim milestone has surpassed previous records.
“Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs,”said Tom Fletcher, the new UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
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“This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations,” he added.
MADRID, Nov 20 2024 (IPS)* – Did you know that hundreds of millions of children around the world are currently suffering from physical, sexual, and psychological violence, including child labour, child marriage, female genital mutilation, gender-based violence, war, trafficking, bullying, and cyberbullying?
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Over 1 billion children have had their lives disrupted by disasters since 2000, with over 80,000 schools damaged or destroyed. Credit: Shutterstock
(Beirut) – Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on 20 November 2024.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov 19 2024 (IPS)* – Western financial policies have been squeezing economies worldwide. After being urged to borrow commercial finance heavily, developing countries now struggle with contractionary Western monetary policies.
Central banks ‘Unconventional monetary measures’ in the West helped offset the world economic slowdown after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Higher interest rates have worsened contractions, debt distress, and inequalities due to cost-push inflation triggered by ‘geopolitical’ supply disruptions.
Western central bank efforts have tried to check inflation by curbing demand and raising interest rates. Higher interest rates have worsened contractionary tendencies, exacerbating world stagnation.
7 Nov 2024 – Empires do NOT reform. Resilience is the term associated with the Oppressed, not the Oppressor. (Try imagine being enslaved or colonized for 300 years).
Maung Zarni
With elite delusions and a popular sense of “being special/ exceptional/ unique/ superior), Empires get toxic at home and abroad, decay, get overpowered/ crushed or simply collapse.
USA is no exception, except it has the capacity to bring humanity at large with it, to Hell.
I do not hate Americans as a people – just another population of fellow humans, who deserve life, not more or less than any other population.
But, with every cell in my body, I absolutely loath Empires and Imperialisms, whatever their names.
()* — As COP29 climate talks in Baku enter their final week, the UN climate chief told negotiators on Monday [] to “cut the theatrics,” get down to business and hammer out a new finance deal to compensate countries for climate-driven damages and pay for a clean-energy transition.
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UNFCCC/Kiara Worth | UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell addresses negotiators as the final week of COP29 begins in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“We can’t lose sight of the forest because we’re tussling over individual trees,” said Simon Stiell, urging delegates to wrap up “less contentious issues” as early as possible this week, so there is enough time for the major political decisions.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 