Archive for ‘Asia’

02/12/2025

Gaza: UN Reports Expanded ‘Winterisation’ Efforts as Cold Weather and Heavy Rain Continue to Impact Displaced Palestinians

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN says humanitarian partners in Gaza are scaling up winterisation efforts as cold weather and heavy rain continue to impact displaced Palestinians.

Cold and rainy weather has made some shelters in Gaza uninhabitable.
© UNRWA | Cold and rainy weather has made some shelters in Gaza uninhabitable.
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More than 230,000 families – that’s around 1.15 million people – received monthly food parcels between 1 and 27 November, through 59 distribution points, including 21 in northern Gaza.

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02/12/2025

UN Chief Warns Unpaid Dues Near $1.6 Billion, as Budget Cuts Deepen

Human Wrongs Watch

By Vibhu Mishra

(UN News)* — With nearly $1.6 billion in unpaid dues, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday [] that chronic late payments are hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping cuts move forward through the General Assembly’s main budget committee.

António Guterres told the Fifth Committee the UN is facing its most fragile cash position in years, despite sharp reductions already built into next year’s budget plans.

UN News/Vibhu Mishra | The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City.

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02/12/2025

World Must Pay to Make America Great Again

Human Wrongs Watch

MANILA, Philippines, Nov 11 2025 (IPS)* US President Trump’s economic strategy for his second term aims to get the rest of the world, especially its wealthy allies with greater means, to pay more to help strengthen the US economy.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Recent US initiatives have undoubtedly accelerated de-dollarisation but these have largely been unavoidable consequences of its own actions rather than due to any conspiracy by others to that end.

De-dollarisation distraction
Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff recently observed, “We are absolutely at the biggest inflection point in the global currency system since the Nixon shock to end the last vestige of the gold standard.”

After the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the gold price was set at $35 per ounce. In August 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended this gold-dollar parity.

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01/12/2025

Vulnerable Populations Will Suffer With UNAIDS Early Closure

Human Wrongs Watch

BRATISLAVA, Dec 1 2025 (IPS)* “It’s like adding fuel to an already burning fire,” says Aditia Taslim.
UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS

UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS

“We have not recovered from the impact of the US funding cuts earlier this year, and closing down UNAIDS prematurely will only make things worse, especially for key populations and other criminalized groups, including people who use drugs,” Taslim, who is Advocacy Lead at the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), tells IPS.

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01/12/2025

Millions of Children and Adolescents Living with HIV, Left Behind Due to Shrinking Funding – UNICEF

Human Wrongs Watch

NEW YORK, 28 November 2025 (UNICEF)* – Children and adolescents living with HIV continue to be left behind in access to early diagnosis, life-saving treatment, and care, as shrinking funding threatens to increase their risks and reverse decades of progress, UNICEF on 28 November 2025 warned ahead of World AIDS Day (1 December 2025).

A mother holds her infant's hand.
 
UNICEF/UNI670039/Muthuramalingam

30/11/2025

Modern Slavery Is Increasing Significantly

Human Wrongs Watch

By the United Nations*

A young lady adding her signature on a wall.

A young visitor signs a panel at Geneva’s Palais des Nations to support the “50 for Freedom” campaign, which urges global ratification of the ILO’s Protocol on Forced Labour to help end modern slavery affecting 21 million people worldwide.PHOTO:UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferré

Latest estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) show that forced labour and forced marriage have increased significantly in the last five years. 

10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates, bringing the total to 50 million worldwide. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable.

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30/11/2025

“Anyone a Victim”, a Global Campaign for a Stronger Action to Prevent Human Trafficking and Expand Support for Survivors

Human Wrongs Watch

By the International Organization for Migration*

Geneva, 24 November 2025 The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched Anyone a Victim, a global campaign that calls for stronger action to prevent human trafficking and expand support for survivors.

The “Anyone a Victim” campaign brings survivor stories to the forefront, encouraging global support for efforts that help people regain safety and rebuild their lives. Photo: Peter Bateman

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29/11/2025

Global Measles Cases Surge as 30 Million Children Miss Vaccines

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Measles deaths have dropped by 88 per cent since 2000 – yet an estimated 95,000 people, mostly children, still died from the virus last year, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday []. 

Measles vaccines are administered in Balkh Province in Afghanistan.
© WHO | Measles vaccines are administered in Balkh Province in Afghanistan.
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Officials said global outbreaks are accelerating as millions of children remain under-immunized following years of COVID-19 pandemic-related disruption.
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Measles remains one of the most contagious respiratory viruses,” said Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHOs Director of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals.

Tweet URL

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29/11/2025

The UN Human Rights Body, “Appalled” by the “Brazen Killing” of Two Palestinian Men by Israeli Police in the West Bank

Human Wrongs Watch

UN human rights office condemns ‘apparent summary execution’ of two men in the West Bank

Three people walk through the streets of Jenin in the West Bank.
© Wahaj Bani Moufleh | Three people walk through the streets of Jenin in the West Bank.
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(UN News)* — The UN human rights office, OHCHR said on Friday [] that it was “appalled” by the “brazen killing” of two Palestinian men by Israeli border police in the West Bank, describing it as “an apparent summary execution.

The shooting occurred on Thursday [] in Jenin and was apparently caught on film by a TV channel, OHCHR Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told journalists in Geneva.

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28/11/2025

Cambodia: Returned Migrant Workers Face Hunger, Joblessness

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

Many Fleeing Thailand at Government’s Urging Saddled with Predatory Loans

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Migrant workers move through the Ban Laem Immigration Checkpoint on the Thai-Cambodian border, July 28, 2025. © 2025 Ploy Phutpheng/SOPA Images/Sipa via AP Photo

(Bangkok) – The Cambodian government is failing to provide support to hundreds of thousands of migrant workers with microfinance debts who returned from Thailand because of hostilities in mid-2025, Human Rights Watch on 25 November 2025 said.

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