Archive for ‘Africa’

18/09/2024

‘Failing the Stress Test’: UN Chief Calls for Global Finance Overhaul

Human Wrongs Watch

By Conor Lennon

(UN News)* — Some of the world’s poorest countries spend more on debt repayments than health, education and infrastructure combined, severely hampering their chances of developing their economies.

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Women sell okra at a market in Tanout, Niger.
© FAO/Luis Tato | Women sell okra at a market in Tanout, Niger.

“The international financial architecture, crafted in 1945 after the Second World War, is undergoing a stress test of historic proportions – and it is failing that test”, argues UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a 2023 policy brief.

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18/09/2024

UNICEF Appeals for US$58.8 Million to Address the Rising Mpox Crisis across Six African Countries Where Children Are Most Affected

Human Wrongs Watch

NEW YORK, 16 September 2024 (UNICEF)* – UNICEF has launched an appeal for US$58.8 million to address the rising mpox crisis across six African countries where children are most affected.

A mother holds her toddler.
UNICEF/UNI633481/Mazinge

Though child deaths are currently confined to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the data underscores their vulnerability, as UNICEF works to scale up prevention and response efforts across the region.

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16/09/2024

Why Dirty Air Costs US$ Trillions Every Year

Human Wrongs Watch

(UNEP)* — Air pollution costs the global economy a staggering US$8.1 trillion every year, or 6.1 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.

Credit: UNEP

Air pollution comes from myriad sources and disproportionately affects the marginalized, including women, children and the elderly.  Its impact crosses borders, harming public health, the economy and the environment. 

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16/09/2024

August 2024, the Warmest on Record, Marking the 15th Consecutive Month of Record-High Global Temperatures

Human Wrongs Watch

13 September 2024 (WMO)* — The extended streak of extraordinarily high temperatures has continued, and the year so far has been the warmest on record for the globe, according to three leading international datasets.
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It was the warmest August on record, marking the 15th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures, which it itself is a record, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

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16/09/2024

Half the World Lacks Social Protection amid Climate Crisis – International Labour Organization

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Social protection is essential to safeguard people from shocks, but half the world is without any coverage, including over 90 per cent of people living in climate-vulnerable countries, according to a new report released on Thursday [] by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

People wading through flood waters in search of shelter in Feni following catastrophic flooding that displaced five million people in southeastern Bangladesh in August 2024. (file)
© UNICEF/Sultan Mahmud Mukut | People wading through flood waters in search of shelter in Feni following catastrophic flooding that displaced five million people in southeastern Bangladesh in August 2024. (file)
 
Around 50 per cent of us do have access to at least one social protection benefit – but 3.8 billion people lack any kind of safety net, including 1.8 billion children worldwide, according to the World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition.
15/09/2024

“A Race against Time”: Pregnant Djamila’s Journey to Hospital by Canoe in Flood-Ravaged Cameroon

Human Wrongs Watch

FAR NORTH REGION, Cameroon, 11 September 2024 (UNFPA)* -– As Djamila* clutched her pregnant belly, the floodwaters rose around her, threatening to engulf the fragile canoe she had escaped in.

 A woman stands in floodwater surrounding a collapsed wooden gate and a house with a thatched roof
A pregnant woman is stranded by her house amid recent flooding in Cameroon’s Far North region. Credit: UNFPA Cameroon / Samuel Sawalda

“The water was everywhere,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “I was so scared – not just for myself, but for my babies. Every minute felt like an eternity.”

At 18, this was her first pregnancy – and she was expecting twins.

15/09/2024

Nigeria: Hundreds of Thousands in Need of Aid as Flooding Wipes Out Homes – World Food Programme

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — UN humanitarians are rushing to assist scores of newly displaced people in northeast Nigeria, after torrential rains caused a dam to collapse and flood the area, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday [].

Millions remain displaced across Nigeria due to conflict, climate change impacts and natural disasters. In this file photo, a girl carries water to her shelter at an IDP camp in the country's northeast. (file)
© UNICEF/KC Nwakalor | Millions remain displaced across Nigeria due to conflict, climate change impacts and natural disasters. In this file photo, a girl carries water to her shelter at an IDP camp in the country’s northeast. (file)
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Alau Dam, located just over 10 miles to the south of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, collapsed in the middle of the night on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of thousands from their homes.
13/09/2024

The Deadly US Weapons of Civilian Destruction

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 13 2024 (IPS)* As the devastating 11-month-old conflict in Gaza keeps escalating, with over 41,000 mostly civilian killings, and more than 92,000 Palestinians injured –in retaliation for the 1,200 killings inside Israel last October– the Israelis continue to defy the United States which maintains its uninterrupted flow of heavy weapons to Tel Aviv.

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Much of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed in the conflict. Credit: UNRWA

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13/09/2024

Atmosphere of ‘Desperation, Extreme Fear and Trauma’ Envelops Women of Sudan

Human Wrongs Watch

By Abdelmonem Makki

(UN News)* — An atmosphere of desperation, extreme fear and trauma envelops the women of Sudan in a conflict that has left half of its 50-million-person population in dire need of assistance, according to Laila Baker, a senior regional director from the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

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Laila Baker, UNFPA Regional Director for Arab States, talks to a Sudanese displaced woman in Port Sudan.
UNFPA | Laila Baker, UNFPA Regional Director for Arab States, talks to a Sudanese displaced woman in Port Sudan.
10/09/2024

Cooking Smoke Kills Millions Every Year. Here’s What the World Can Do about That

Human Wrongs Watch

5 September 2024 (UNEP)* — For billions of people across the developing world, particularly children and women, mealtime starts by firing up a kerosene stove, lighting a charcoal grill or setting some logs ablaze. 

Credit: Robert Harding via AFP/Lee Frost