'Unseen' News and Views
Two internally displaced sisters from Jalalabad pictured in their temporary accommodation in Kabul, Afghanistan. © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
GENEVA (UNHCR)* – The number of people displaced by conflict, violence, persecution and human rights abuses rose for the tenth straight year in 2021 to reach the highest level since records began, according to the latest Global Trends report released on 16 June 2022 by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
22 June 2022 (UNEP)* — While many use paint to cover the blemishes on their walls, each coat they apply could end up leaving a stain on the planet. Despite legally binding controls in 87 countries, lead is still commonly used in paint, and experts warn that it’s time to stop brushing aside the hazardous chemical’s human and environmental health impacts.
Every year, an estimated 900,000 people die from lead exposure. Lead exposure can also result in increased risk of antisocial behavior, cardiovascular disease and reduced fertility.
(UN News)* — Because of the global hunger crisis, every single minute, one child is pushed into life-threatening, severe malnutrition.
That’s the alarming message on Thursday [23 June 2022] from UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, which issued the alert for 15 countries in crisis where the situation is worsening.
UNICEF has called for $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs of eight million children at risk of death from severe wasting, in 15 mainly African nations, such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, but also Afghanistan and Haiti.
“We speak of the 222 million dreams representing each 222 million children and adolescents sustaining the extreme hardship of emergencies and protracted crises. Their dreams are profoundly driven by their experience of wars and forced displacement. This is our moment to empower them to turn their dreams into reality.” Yasmine Sherif, Director, ECW
(UN News)* — Further food ration cuts are imminent for refugees as humanitarian needs multiply around the world while funding struggles to keep pace, the UN food relief agency warned on Monday [20 June 2022], World Refugee Day.
“As global hunger soars way beyond the resources available to feed all the families who desperately need WFP’s help, we are being forced to make the heart-breaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).
The sombre warning comes as WFP has already been forced to significantly reduce rations to refugees across its operations.
Disasters Threaten Human Civilization
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John Scales Avery
Among the greatest dangers to human civilization are nuclear war and catastrophic climate change, dangers which also threaten the biosphere.
In addition to these two existential threats, humans also face the threat of an extremely large-scale famine, involving billions of people, rather than millions.
The beginning of this famine, which could involve much of the world’s population by 2050, can already be seen.
17 June 2022 (UN News)* — Sweltering conditions in Europe have come earlier than expected this year but the bad news is, they’re the shape of things to come. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the intense heatwave made its way from North Africa.
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(UN News)* — The current global economic paradigm of infinite growth based on using up a finite amount of resources, such as fossil fuels, will only deliver a “permanent triple whammy of inflation, climate chaos and conflict”, the UN chief warned on Friday[17 June 2022].
António Guterres was addressing the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington DC, convened by the United States top climate envoy, John Kerry, and hosted by President Joe Biden.
The meeting included countries representing 80 per cent of global GDP, population, and greenhouse gas emissions, according to the White House.
Two young victims of human trafficking, who were rescued from the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, are receiving support at a shelter in Malawi. Credit: UNODC
One of them is a Malawi refugee camp, where such inhumane practice has been reported by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Malawian Police Service.
“I even witnessed a kind of Sunday market, where people come to buy children who were then exploited in situations of forced labour and prostitution,” on 11 June said UNODC’s Maxwell Matewere.
Pakistani migrant workers on a construction site in Dubai. Credit: S. Irfan Ahmed/IPS
Migrant workers’ remittances amount to over 6 billion US dollars a year, which is three times greater than the whole Global Official Development Assistance, now situated at around 180 billion US dollars.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 