Archive for ‘Latin America & Caribbean’

22/06/2021

Invisible Women, Invisible Problems

A woman ties a baby to her back as she gets ready to leave for work.

Hawa was pregnant when she lost her husband and the rest of her family in the fighting in the Central African Republic. She fled and crossed into Cameroon, becoming a refugee at the Gado camp, where she gave birth to Haphisi. PHOTO:UN Women/Ryan Brown

22 June 2021 (United Nations)* — For many women around the world, the devastating loss of a partner is magnified by a long-term fight for their basic rights and dignity.

Despite the fact that there are more than 258 million widows around the world, widows have historically been left unseen, unsupported, and unmeasured in our societies.

Today, as armed conflicts, displacement and migration, and the COVID-19 pandemic leave tens of thousands of women newly widowed and many others whose partners are missing or disappeared, the unique experiences and needs of widows must be brought to the forefront, with their voices leading the way.

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22/06/2021

Is the Real Reason the US Is So Interested in What’s Going on in Xinjiang Because It Contains So Much Oil?

Human Wrongs Watch

Is the real reason the US is so interested in what’s going on in Xinjiang because it contains so much oil?

Last week, China made a significant announcement that went somewhat under the radar. In the Xinjiang autonomous region in the far west, its oil companies have discovered an oil reserve that amounts to nearly one billion tons. This is the largest found in China in decades, and adds to an ever-growing number of discoveries in this region.

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22/06/2021

The Same Shady People Own Big Pharma and the Media

Human Wrongs Watch

By Joseph Mercola, M.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service*

Financial Times

  • Big Pharma and mainstream media are largely owned by two asset management firms: BlackRock and Vanguard
  • Drug companies are driving COVID-19 responses — all of which, so far, have endangered rather than optimized public health — and mainstream media have been willing accomplices in spreading their propaganda, a false official narrative that leads the public astray and fosters fear based on lies
  • Vanguard and BlackRock are the top two owners of Time Warner, Comcast, Disney and News Corp, four of the six media companies that control more than 90% of the U.S. media landscape

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21/06/2021

The Dictator’s Daughter or the Farmer’s Son?

Human Wrongs Watch

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LIMA, Peru, Jun 21 2021 (IPS)* – Peru’s first round of elections on 11 April saw voters choosing between 18 presidential candidates with no one candidate leading by an impressive margin.

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Police-in-Peru_

Police in Peru used “unnecessary and excessive force” during protests in the capital last November challenging the legitimacy of the interim President, the UN Human Rights Office found, in a January 2021 report. Meanwhile, supporters of socialist Pedro Castillo and conservative Keiko Fujimori took to the streets on Saturday June 19, as tensions rose over the result of the Jun 6 presidential election. Castillo was leading the official count while Fujimori sought to get votes annulled. Credit: Patricio Lagos Bustamante / LaMula.pe via UN News

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21/06/2021

Despite the Pandemic, the Number of People Fleeing Wars, Violence and Human Rights Violations Rose in 2020 to More than 82 Million

Human Wrongs Watch

UNHCR: World leaders must act to reverse the trend of soaring displacementEspañol   |  Français   |  عربي

Congolese asylum-seekers await health screening in Zombo, near the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2020.

Congolese asylum-seekers await health screening in Zombo, near the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in July 2020.  © UNHCR/Rocco Nuri

(UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on 18 June 2021 urged world leaders to step up their efforts to foster peace, stability and cooperation in order to halt and begin reversing nearly a decade-long trend of surging displacement driven by violence and persecution.

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21/06/2021

‘As World Leaders Are Seemingly Unable or Unwilling to Make Peace, More and More Displaced People Pay the Price’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees*

Venezuelan doctor Samuel, 27, fled to Ecuador in 2018 where he now cares for locals and Colombian refugees during the pandemic.

Venezuelan doctor Samuel, 27, fled to Ecuador in 2018 where he now cares for locals and Colombian refugees during the pandemic.  © UNHCR/Jaime Giménez

And as world leaders are seemingly unable or unwilling to make peace, more and more displaced people pay the price.

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21/06/2021

‘We Heal Together When We All Get the Care We Need’ – World Refugee Day

Human Wrongs Watch

By António Guterres, UN Secretary General*

War, violence and persecution have forced more than 80 million people around the world to flee their homes, leaving everything behind to save themselves and their families.

Refugees must begin their lives anew.

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Group of people wait by the side of the street.

But for so many, the pandemic has wiped out their livelihoods, led to stigmatization and vilification and exposed them disproportionately to the virus.

At the same time, refugees once again demonstrated their invaluable contribution to their adoptive societies as essential and frontline workers.

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18/06/2021

‘Drought Has Directly Affected 1.5 Billion People So Far this Century, More than Any Other Slow-Onset Disaster’

17 June 2021 (WMO)* — Drought has directly affected 1.5 billion people so far this century, more than any other slow-onset disaster.
This number will grow dramatically because of climate change, environmental degradation and demographic shifts.

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18/06/2021

UN Chief Urges Debt Relief Extension for More than 100 Middle-Income Countries

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Innovative measures to address debt are required to help the world’s more than 100 middle-income countries expand their economies and exit the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly on Thursday [17 June 2021].

© ILO | Workers in a garment factory in Bangladesh.

Addressing a high-level meeting on these nations, which account for more than half of the UN’s 193 Member States, he underlined the need for financing to help them recover in the wake of the global crisis.

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18/06/2021

‘Every Year, More People Die as a Result of Suicide than HIV, Malaria or Breast Cancer ̶or War and Homicide’

Human Wrongs Watch

WHO guidance to help the world reach the target of reducing suicide rate by 1/3 by 2030

(WHO)*Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, according to WHO’s latest estimates, published on 17 June 2021 in “Suicide worldwide in 2019”.

Every year, more people die as a result of suicide than HIV, malaria or breast cancer  ̶  or war and homicide. In 2019, more than 700 000 people died by suicide: one in every 100 deaths, prompting WHO to produce new guidance to help countries improve suicide prevention and care.

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