UNITED NATIONS, Jan 21 2025 (IPS)* – Perhaps one of the UN’s most ambitious and longstanding projects – the launching of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)– is aimed, among other things, at helping developing nations eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. But that elusive goal has made little or no significant progress.
.
Credit: UN Women
And now comes a new report from Oxfam, “Takers Not Makers” which finds that in 2024 alone, billionaires amassed $2 trillion in wealth, and nearly four new billionaires were minted every week.
Education in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Pakistan and the Philippines most severely affected by heatwaves, cyclones, floods and storms
UNICEF/UNI636920/Himu
NEW YORK (UNICEF)* –At least 242 million students in 85 countries had their schooling disrupted by extreme climate events in 2024, including heatwaves, tropical cyclones, storms, floods, and droughts, exacerbating an existing learning crisis, according to a new UNICEF analysis released on 24 January 2025.
(UN News)* — The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday [] expressed grave concerns over escalating violence in the Jenin area of the occupied West Bank, condemning the use of “unlawful lethal force” by Israeli security forces.
OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan added that the Israeli military operation in and around the Jenin refugee camp had involved “disproportionate” use of force, including airstrikes and shootings that reportedly targeted unarmed residents.
(UN News)* — In a rare moment of cautious optimism, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher addressed the Security Council on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza on Thursday [], emphasizing the plight of children who have borne the brunt of the conflict.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan 21 2025 (IPS)* –Corporate-dominated food systems are responsible for widespread but still spreading malnutrition and ill health. Poor diets worsen non-communicable diseases (NCDs), now costing over eight trillion dollars yearly!
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Unhealthy food systems A recent UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study of 156 countries found that such food systems account for unsafe food and diet-related NCDs.
FAO estimates related ‘hidden costs’ at about $12 trillion annually, with 70% ($8.1 trillion) due to NCDs such as heart disease, strokes and diabetes. Such costs significantly exceed these food systems’ environmental and social costs.
FAO’s annual State of Food and Agriculture 2024 (SOFA) investigated hidden costs worldwide. These were primarily health-related, followed by environmental degradation, mainly in more ‘industrialised’ agri-food systems in upper-middle and high-income countries.
United States President Donald Trump, on his first day in office on January 20, 2025, issued numerous executive orders that threaten to undermine respect for international human rights both in the US and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today [22 January 2025].
21 January 2025 –UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have officially launched the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation on January 21st, 2025, marking a crucial milestone in global efforts to protect these essential water towers that provide freshwater to over 2 billion people worldwide.
Zuckerberg, Trump, Musk. None care about free speech, least of all yours or mine. They care about power and remaining billionaires – or, better still, becoming trillionaires.
.
8 Jan 2025 – A few observations on Mark Zuckerberg’s astonishing volte face today, declaring that he will end the crushing climate of censorship on his Meta platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, in time for Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House.
It should not have taken a video admission from Zuckerberg for us to appreciate the degree to which we have been living for many years under a regime of political censorship on social media, with Meta leading the pack.
()* — Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) on Friday []welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, pledging to scale up aid delivery across the stricken enclave once it comes into effect.
UN Photo/Mark Garten | Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, briefs journalists on UNRWA and latest developments in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Lazzarini emphasised that the agreement is only the first step in addressing the region’s overwhelming humanitarian challenges.
MADRID, January 2025 – In his master-piece: 1984, George Orwell amazingly predicted how today’s world would be, and how the current reality is not expected to get any better, rather…
George Orwell*
This way, war is now called peace; the killing of unarmed civilians for the purpose of invading and dominating is called an act of self-defence; all products are now marketed as ‘100% natural’ as if all what-ever has been elaborated had never used natural resources…
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair is his real name) wrote 1984 in 1949, that’s four years after publishing his yet another masterpiece: Animal Farm, through which he also predicted how popular uprisings and ‘revolutions’ have ended up in apparent ‘regime changes’ that quite too often led to restoring the old ones.
Done!
Meanwhile, today’s world is visibly dominated by the addiction to war and the destruction of Nature, through more and more voracity and greed. This is called ‘development.’
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 