(UN News)* — Conflict and insecurity in countries such as South Sudan and its neighbour to the north are set to make 2023 another year of high death tolls and and injuries for aid workers in the field, the UN warned on Thursday [].
The grim forecast comes ahead of World Humanitarian Day, commemorated annually on 19 August.
Since the start of the year, 62 aid workers have been killed, 84 have been wounded and 34 kidnapped, the UN said, citing provisional data from the independent research organization Humanitarian Outcomes. Last year, the death toll reached 116.
South Sudan remains the most dangerous place to be a humanitarian. Forty attacks and 22 fatalities have been reported there as of 16 August.
(UN News)* — Heatwaves sweeping large parts of the world offer yet another reminder that extreme weather events boosted by human-induced climate change have become “the new normal”, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned on Friday [].
Weather agency Spokesperson Clare Nullis said that heat warnings have been issued by many weather services across Europe this week, including in France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, parts of the Middle East were expected to see temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius in the coming days, and Japan was experiencing a “prolonged” heatwave which shattered temperature records.
11 August 2023 (WHO)* — Rabies, a deadly viral disease, continues to have a profound impact on communities throughout Africa, causing progressive and fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. However, the good news is that rabies is 100% vaccine-preventable.
“Vaccinating dogs, including puppies, is the most cost–effective strategy for preventing rabies in people because it stops the transmission at its source.” Meseline Mulokozi
(UN News)* — A spike in conflict and displacement in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is pushing children into the worst cholera crisis since 2017, warns UNICEF.
Across the country, there have been at least 31,342 suspected or confirmed cholera cases and 230 deaths in the first seven months of 2023 – many of them children.
()* — A significant surge in dengue fever cases has gripped Bangladesh, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday [], calling for efforts to control the mosquito vector population and minimize individual exposure such as using mosquito repellents and wearing long-sleeved clothes.
IAEA | Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are one of primary vectors for dengue. (file)
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The outbreak, which escalated rapidly since late June, has seen a total of 69,483 confirmed cases and 327 related deaths between 1 January and 7 August, with a case fatality rate of 0.47 per cent, according to the UN health agency. The cases were reported from all 64 districts in the country.
How untapped indigenous knowledge can prevent catastrophic wildfires and combat global warming. As an increasing number of countries struggle to deal with wildfires that have become more frequent and more destructive, UNESCO is highlighting the untapped value of alternative models for fire management based on traditional knowledge.
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Copyright: Elkins Eye Visuals
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9 August 2023 (UNESCO)* — For thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples have woven fire into the fabric of their existence, understanding that this destructive force could also be used as a powerful tool.
In the Guyana Shield region of South America, these communities have harnessed fire through intentional and precise burns to sculpt their surroundings, nurture their ecosystems, and enhance their livelihoods.
ALEPPO, Syrian Arab Republic, 4 August 2023 (UNFPA)* – “My suffering started with the crisis in Syria, then the economic situation got worse, and the last straw was the earthquake.”
Najwa Bikdash, 52, is from the Bustan Al Zahra neighbourhood in Aleppo. After 20 years of marriage, her husband abandoned her and their four daughters, leaving the family to fend for themselves financially.
(UN News)* — Record numbers of migrants are crossing the Darién jungle in Latin America in a desperate and perilous journey, including from as far off as Nepal and Afghanistan, UN agencies said on , highlighting the urgency of finding safe and regular pathways.
Crossing the Darién jungle – on the border between Colombia and Panama – and its infamous and so-called Darién Gap, is an arduous undertaking, involving hikes over steep mountains, enduring torrential rain and fording swift rivers. Those on the move are also at risk of robbery and rape.
Belet Weyne, 8 August 2023 (IOM)* – Zamzan knows the devastation of climate shocks all too well. First, drought pushed her to move away from the place she had called home for years, then flooding swept away the new home she’d just begun to build for herself and her family.
Aerial view of Belet Weyne in May 2023, a town in central Hirshabelle State, Somalia, severely affected by the floods. Heavy rainfall in Somalia and the highlands of Ethiopia led to the worst floods the region has experienced in 30 years. Photo: IOM
(UN News)* — The global average temperature for July 2023 was the highest on record and likely for at least 120,000 years, the UN weather agency and partners said on Tuesday [].
WMO/Eneko Perez | Global air and ocean temperatures are reaching new record highs.
“The global average temperature for July 2023 is confirmed to be the highest on record for any month,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The month is estimated to have been around 1.5C warmer than the average for 1815 to 1900, so the average for pre-industrial times.”
Briefing journalists in Geneva, Ms. Burgess noted that July had been marked by heatwaves “in multiple regions around the world”.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 