Archive for ‘Africa’

06/07/2024

Migrants and Refugees Continue to Face ‘Extreme Horrors’ Not Just at Sea, but Also on Land Routes to Africa’s Mediterranean Coast

Human Wrongs Watch

Geneva (IOM)* – Refugees and migrants continue to face extreme forms of violence, human rights violations and exploitation not just at sea, but also on land routes across the African continent, towards its Mediterranean coastline.

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A group of migrants trek together in Tadjoura, Djibouti. Photo: IOM/Alexander Bee

This is according to a new report released today [5 July 2024] by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), titled “On this journey, no-one cares if you live or die” (Volume 2).

04/07/2024

Sudan’s Cocktail of War and Flooding Leaves People Trapped, Unable to Flee

Human Wrongs Watch

Only 19 per cent of the required funds for UNHCR’s refugee response have been received thus far, meaning that food rations have had to be “drastically cut”

Sudanese women find shelter at the Aboutengue refugee camp in eastern Chad.
© UNHCR/Levon Sevunts | Sudanese women find shelter at the Aboutengue refugee camp in eastern Chad.

30/06/2024

5 Facts about Food Waste and Hunger

Human Wrongs Watch

By World Food Programme (WFP)*

The shocking cost of poor storage in the farms of developing countries — and careless shopping in rich ones.
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Cambodian woman smiles as she drives a motorbike loaded with green leafy vegetables
Sourcing school meals ingredients from local farmers like this one in Cambodia can help reduce food waste. Photo: WFP/Samantha Reinders

– Global hunger isn’t about a lack of food. Right now, the world produces enough food to nourish every child, woman and man on the planet.

But nearly a fifth of all food produced each year is squandered or lost before it can be consumed.

In many rich countries, this food waste happens in the kitchen — when we prepare foods that go uneaten, or leave food to spoil in fridges and kitchen cabinets.

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30/06/2024

UN Refugee Agency Sounds the Alarm on Climate Change Pounding Refugee Communities

Human Wrongs Watch

This is a summary of what was said by Andrew Harper, UNHCR Special Advisor on Climate Action – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

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An area of Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, once home to refugee families, that was devastated by unprecedented floods last month. © UNHCR/Ricardo Ara

28 June 2024 (UNHCR)* — Devastating extreme weather events and natural disasters are shattering many refugee and other displaced communities worldwide, worsening their plight and in some cases forcing them to move onwards and start from zero once again.

This is what UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has observed with a series of catastrophic floods, earthquakes, cyclones, storms and heatwaves afflicting refugee and internal displacement settings in Africa, the AmericasLink is external, Asia and beyond.

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29/06/2024

United Nations’ Human Rights Chief Calls Time on ‘Economic Violence’ against Women and Girls

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — On Friday [28 June 2024], at the UN Human Rights Council’s (OHCHR) first panel for the annual full-day discussion on women’s rights, The UN human rights chief Volker Türk told a Human Rights Council panel that it’s time to eliminate laws and practices that contribute to “economic violence” against women and girls.

Women attend a community meeting in Cameroon.
UN Women/Ryan Brown | Women attend a community meeting in Cameroon.

During his opening statement to the all-day panel dedicated to women and human rights, Mr. Türk said there had been “extraordinary progress” thanks to the worldwide women’s movement.

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29/06/2024

Explainer: What’s a Dignity Kit?

Human Wrongs Watch

()* — Every month, nearly two billion women and girls menstruate, but during times of war and climate disasters, from the conflict in Gaza to the devastation caused by Cyclone Remal in Asia, UN humanitarian teams rush to serve affected communities, providing critical aid, which includes dignity kits.

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A teacher in India leads an awareness class about menstrual and general hygiene to her students. (file)

UNICEF/Prashanth Vishwanathan | A teacher in India leads an awareness class about menstrual and general hygiene to her students. (file)

28/06/2024

Unveiling the “Dark Matter” of Food, Diets and Biodiversity

Human Wrongs Watch

Jun 20 2024 (IPS)** This year, bee pollen has become a trendy superfood thanks to a wide range of potential benefits. Last year, sea moss led the superfood trends. Before that, it was turmeric.
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We need help illuminating the dark matter in food and charting the intricate interplay between food, ecosystems, climate and health, argue the authors. Credit: Shutterstock.

We need help illuminating the dark matter in food and charting the intricate interplay between food, ecosystems, climate and health, argue the authors. Credit: Shutterstock.

Invariably, these newly celebrated superfoods are never new; they have long been consumed by non-Western cultures.

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27/06/2024

Why Won’t the US Help Negotiate a Peaceful End to the War in Ukraine?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Jeffrey D. Sachs – TRANSCEND Media Service*

For goodness’ sake, negotiate!

For the fifth time since 2008, Russia has proposed to negotiate with the U.S. over security arrangements, this time in proposals made by President Vladimir Putin on June 14, 2024.

Four previous times, the U.S. rejected the offer of negotiations in favor of a neocon strategy to weaken or dismember Russia through war and covert operations.

Jeffrey D. SachsThe U.S. neocon tactics have failed disastrously, devastating Ukraine in the process, and endangering the whole world. After all the warmongering, it’s time for Biden to open negotiations for peace with Russia.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. grand strategy has been to weaken Russia. As early as 1992, then Defense Secretary Richard Cheney opined that following the 1991 demise of the Soviet Union, Russia too should be dismembered.

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26/06/2024

As Sudan War Drags On, Millions Still Languish in Displacement Camps

Human Wrongs Watch

By Moulid Hujale in Kosti, Sudan, and Funmi Osibona and Reason Runyanga in South Sudan

With no end to the violence in Sudan, nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries including South Sudan, where at least 1,000 people still cross the border daily.

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Nyapuot Riak Dup, a South Soudanese refugee displaced from Omdurman city in Sudan, is one of 440,000 people now living in Alagaya camp in Sudan’s White Nile State. © UNHCR/Samuel Otieno


24 June 2024 (UNHCR)* — Nyapuot Riak Dup recalls the fateful day last April when a piece of shrapnel ripped through her house in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman and smashed a hole through the floor near where she was hiding.

21/06/2024

‘Honour the Strength and Courage of Refugees,’ Urges UN Chief

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — “Conflict, climate chaos and upheaval” have forced more than 120 million people from their homes including 43.5 million who have fled across national borders said the UN Secretary-General in his message for World Refugee Day, marked on Thursday [20 ].

A Sudanese refugee sits with her three-month-old twins at a UNICEF-supported breastfeeding and nutrition awareness centre in Eastern Chad.
© UNICEF/Donaig Le Du | A Sudanese refugee sits with her three-month-old twins at a UNICEF-supported breastfeeding and nutrition awareness centre in Eastern Chad.

That’s a record number on the move – “fuelling profound human suffering”, António Guterres added, while at the same time honouring their strength and courage.

Drawing attention to the day each 20 June, is also about stepping up efforts to protect and support those forced from their homes “on every stop of their journey.”

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