'Unseen' News and Views
Tuvalu “faces an existential threat from sea-level rise”, the United Nations chief said during his visit to the Pacific island nation on Friday [17 May 2019] whose highest point is less than five metres above the waves.
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“We must stop Tuvalu from sinking and the world from sinking with Tuvalu”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a tweet posted during his on-going trip to the South Pacific.
Poet, Lawyer, Activists Jailed in Free Speech Crackdown
A Bangladeshi reads a news report that makes mention of Facebook along with other social networking services, on his mobile phone in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Thursday, December 20, 2018. © 2018 AP Photo | Photo from Human Rights Watch.
New York, 17 May 2019 (Human Rights Watch)* – Bangladesh authorities made a series of new arrests in their crackdown on the right to free speech, Human Rights Watch said today [17 May 2019]. The arrests were based on vague charges such as “hurting religious sentiment” or undermining “law and order.”
Mogadishu/Rome (FAO)* — A disastrous drought in Somalia could leave some 2.2 million people – nearly 18 percent of the population – faced with severe hunger during the July-September period, FAO warned today [15 May 2019].
The UN agency issued a special alert on Somalia, indicating that the number of hungry people in the country this year is expected to be 40 percent higher than estimates made at the beginning of 2019.
ROME, 13 May 2019 (FAO)* – Poor farmers can obtain significant economic gains and other benefits by implementing modified farming practices aimed at boosting their ability to cope with disasters and natural shocks, according to a new FAO study released today [13 May 2019].
Matteo Salvini’s rhetoric is getting ever more worrying as we approach the EU elections.
Salvini with League’s delegation at the Quirinal Palace in April 2018 | Presidenza della Repubblica
Why we need to #StopSoilErosion to ensure a food-secure future.
Soil erosion can increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters like landslides and floods. ©Carey Marks
10 May 2019 (FAO)* — One of the key ingredients to a #ZeroHunger future is the soil beneath our feet. Although it may not look like much, soil is full of water, nutrients and microorganisms that are vital for growing our food.
However, soil is a finite resource – restoring even a few centimetres of soil can take up to 1 000 years.
And their work can require them to confront attitudes that harm women’s health and demean their status and value.
This courageous work is being celebrated on 5 May, the International Day of the Midwife.
Soghra and Nabila are two such heroes.
Njoro is an agricultural area on the edge of the Rift Valley in Kenya. It is home to Charity Kathambi Chepkwony, a forest and farm producer who is also the first woman elected to Kenya’s parliament for the Njoro Constituency in Nakuru County. She is also working with FAO to encourage others in her community, particularly women, to plant trees and grow new livelihoods.
2 May 2019 (FAO)* — Women are the backbone of rural economies, particularly in Africa, but they are much less likely to be involved in the decision-making.
30 April 2019 — Communities in Colombia in South America are being helped by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to preserve and reintroduce indigenous crops as a way to combat the effects of climate change.*
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 