MADRID, Dec 6 2021 (IPS) – ”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These words are a sound introduction to the transcendental issue of human rights and equalities, as stated by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The Declaration proclaims the “inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
(UN News)* — The UN’s top human rights official on Monday [6 December 2021]condemned the imprisonment of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi by a military-controlled court, and called for her release. She also faces additional charges of corruption and electoral fraud.
ICJ/Frank van Beek | Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 10 December 2019.
.The development follows media reports that a military vehicle slammed into demonstrators in the city of Yangon over the weekend, leaving an unknown number injured and at least five dead.
Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, in which exceptionalism and selective amnesia are celebrated. The sick fairy tale obscures the violent foundations of a settler colonial nation.
United American Indians of New England | Photo: Facebook
Tomorrow, in homes across the country, millions of people will cluster around dinner tables and say an obligatory prayer of thanks that they were born free and white in America. They will then stuff their faces with piles of bland food and wash it all down with too much beer and occasional shots of whiskey.
(UN News)* — Women and children are at high risk of being pushed into contemporary forms of slavery, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Wednesday [1 December 2021].
In an alert to coincide with the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on 2 December, they warned that global challenges such as COVID-19, climate change and armed conflict have amplified existing vulnerabilities.
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According to figures released by UNICEF and ILO in June, almost 80 million children aged 5 to 17, are subjected to hazardous work which is classified as a contemporary form of slavery.
MADRID, Dec 1 2021 (IPS)* – No matter what it is called — it is the abhorrent daily life of a billion enslaved humans. The real number of “modern” slaves is understandably unknown. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that more than 40 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery.
Teenage girls harvest tomatoes on a farm in the state of Sinaloa, in northern Mexico. Credit: Courtesy of Sinaloa Institute for Adult Education
Although modern slavery is not defined in law, it is used as an umbrella term covering practices such as forced labour, debt bondage, forced marriage, and human trafficking, it says.
The end of the year is near: a change in seasons and celebrations of traditional holidays around the world. For many, that means an increase in consumption habits.
Big brands sit back and wait for consumers to think they are making a smart decision just because the price is low, forgetting that the lower the discount, the lower price put on the planet.
In discussing the threat of catastrophic climate change, we need to be aware of the contrast between the short-term future and the long-term future.
Unless we take immediate and drastic action, we risk passing environmental tipping points, beyond which uncontrollable feedback loops will take over, making human efforts useless.
However, it is difficult to mobilize the political will needed for immediate and drastic action, because the worst effects of catastrophic climate change lie in the very distant future.
What will happen if we fail to act decisively and immediately on the issue of climate?
Tor Wennesland told Council Members that “recent developments on the ground are worrying”, pointing out the situation in the West Bank and Gaza and the challenges faced by the Palestinian Authority.
It was with deep sadness that on Wed 23 Nov 2021 the world watched in horror the news that 27 people had drowned in the English Channel when their flimsy dinghy overturned in the sea in an attempted crossing from Calais to Dover.
At least 27 migrants drowned crossing the English Channel from France. ABC
I am sorry and I ask the forgiveness of migrants and refugees who have been forced to flee their lands and seek a place of refuge in any country who would give them a place to lay their heads. I send my condolences to the families at the loss of their beloved ones in a cold watery tragedy far away from their homes.
(UN News)* — Unless leaders tackle stark inequalities, the world could face 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths over the next 10 years, the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) warned on Monday [29 November 2021] in a new report.
UNAIDS | Fanaye Hailu says her daughter Betty was born HIV-free and is now eight years old and suggests that every mother, every pregnant woman must get tested for HIV which can save the lives of the mother and her baby. Photo: UNAIDS
In an urgent call to action ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the agency focused on ending the disease as a public health threat by 2030, said that if transformative measures are not taken, the world will stay trapped in the COVID-19 crisis and remain dangerously unprepared for all future pandemics.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 