“At a time when the world is falling apart for millions of people, we are seeing an increasing trend of international neglect. I have never before seen such a glaring gap between the need for lifesaving aid and available funding…
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).
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”
(UN News)* — Millions of people have been forced out of Sudan as the brutal civil war continues to spread, including in Sinja Town, south of the capital Khartoum, where UN humanitarians reported on Tuesday [3 July 2024] that more than 55,000 people have already fled.
3 July 2024 (UN News)* — The United Nations has called for international solidarity with Grenada, the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and other Caribbean islands hit hard by Hurricane Beryl.
A Category 5 storm, Hurricane Beryl has claimed at least six lives as it barrels through the Caribbean Sea. Initial reports indicate severe damage to homes, infrastructure and power and communications.
The shocking cost of poor storage in the farms of developing countries — and careless shopping in rich ones.
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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.
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.
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.
(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 ].
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.”
(United Nations)* — Refugees need our solidarity now more than ever. Solidarity means keeping our doors open, celebrating their strengths and achievements, and reflecting on the challenges they face.
Solidarity with people forced to flee also means finding solutions to their plight – ending conflicts so they can return home in safety, ensuring they have opportunities to thrive in the communities that have welcomed them, and providing countries with the resources they need to include and support refugees.
17 June 2024 — In 2023, the nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined total of $91,393,404,739 on their arsenals – equivalent to $2,898 a second. ICAN’s latest report “Surge: 2023 Global nuclear weapons spending” shows $10.7 billion more was spent on nuclear weapons in 2023 than in 2022.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jun 17 2024 (IPS)* –Since 2008, farmland acquisitions have doubled prices worldwide, squeezing family farmers and other poor rural communities. Such land grabs are worsening inequality, poverty, and food insecurity.
Squeezing land and farmers
A new IPES-Food report highlights land grabs (including for ostensibly ‘green’ purposes), the financial means used, and some significant implications.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Powerful governments, financiers, speculators, and agribusinesses are opportunistically gaining control of more cultivable land.
The report notes the 2007-08 food price spike and financial crash catalysed more land acquisitions.
Quantitative easing and financialization after the 2008 global financial crisis enabled even more land grabs. Investors, agri-food companies, and even sovereign wealth funds have obtained farmland worldwide.
Agribusinesses and other investors want land to make more profits, urging governments to enable takeovers. Cultivable land is being used for cash crops, natural resource extraction, mining, real property and infrastructure development, and ‘green’ projects, including biofuels.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 
