Workplace exposures to excessive heat in Africa were above the global average, affecting 92.9 per cent of the workforce.
.
GENEVA, 25 July 2024 (ILO)* –A new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Heat at work: Implications for safety and health, warns that more workers are being exposed to heat stress worldwide.
The new data reveals that regions previously unaccustomed to extreme heat will face increased risks, while workers in already hot climates will confront ever more dangerous conditions.
Rio de Janeiro, 24 July 2024 (FAO)* –Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today [24 July 2024] by five United Nations specialized agencies.
(UN News)* — Soaring summer temperatures in Europe and Central Asia are killing nearly 400 children a year according to new analysis of the latest available data by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released on Wednesday [].
UNICEF revealed that 377 children died in 2021 based on data from 23 countries across the vast region. Heat-related illnesses claimed the lives of half of those vulnerable youngsters in the first year of their lives.
(UN News)* —Nearly 26 million people in war-torn Sudan are not getting enough to eat, the UN reported on Tuesday [23 July 2024], citing its humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.
“To give you an example, that is equivalent to the entire population of Australia,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists attending his daily briefing in New York.
(UN News)* — UN agencies alongside humanitarian partners in Malawi have launched a Flash Appeal to help millions in the country stricken by drought that has decimated harvests and sent hunger levels soaring.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jul 24 2024 (IPS)* –– Many low-income countries (LICs) continue to slip further behind the rest of the world. Meanwhile, people in extreme poverty have been increasing again after decades of decline.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Falling further behind
World output more than doubled from $36 trillion in 1990 to $87 trillion by 2021 (in constant US dollars), but this growth has not been evenly distributed, causing most LICs to fall further behind.
Many of the world’s poorest economies have had meagre growth since the 1960s. As most developing countries have made progress, income gaps among nations have declined.
Climate change is fuelling flooding and other forms of extreme weather, causing fresh displacement and making life even harder for people already uprooted from their homes.
(UN News)* — The desperate plight of migrants and refugees tortured, trafficked and sold “at scale” in Libya took centre stage at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday [], where UN rights chief Volker Türk urged the international community to consider halting its agreement with the north African country on asylum seekers and migration.
On 15 November 2022, the world’s population reached an estimated 8.0 billion people, a milestone in human development. This unprecedented growth, according to the UN, is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries. Meanwhile, the UN will be commemorating World Population Day on July 11.
WASHINGTON DC, Jul 9 2024 (IPS)* – Across East Asia, birthrates are plummeting. Japan’s has been falling for eight straight years and recently hit a record low of 1.2 children per woman, the lowest since record keeping began in 1899.
For reference, a total fertility rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain a stable population. China’s total fertility rate is now approaching 1.0. South Korea’s plummeted in 2023 to a record low of 0.72, the worlds’ lowest.