'Unseen' News and Views
(UN News)* — The first 20 years of this century have seen a “staggering” rise in climate disasters, UN researchers said on Monday [12 October 2020], while also maintaining that “almost all nations” have failed to prevent a “wave of death and illness” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
7 October 2020 (openDemocracy)* — Historical facts do not repeat themselves, but they can rhyme, like the verses of a long poem. I heard this phrase from my friend Sidney Chalhoub, a prestigious historian and professor at Harvard University.
New York, 10 October 2020 (UNFPA)* – On 11 October, organizations and activists around the world will mark the International Day of the Girl Child, shining a spotlight on the rights, needs, vulnerabilities, contributions and future potential of girls everywhere.
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The theme for the day is “My Voice, Our Equal Future” because girls’ voices are seldom heard – not in the halls of governments, nor in homes or classrooms.
But what do we learn when we finally listen to girls?
– Africa’s hopes of feeding a population projected to double by 2050 amidst a worsening climate crisis rest on huge investments in agriculture, including creating the conditions so that women can empower themselves and lead efforts to transform the continent’s farming landscape.
Rhoda Tumusiime
As we celebrate the 2020 International Year of Rural Women, Africa needs to reflect more on the role women play in food and nutrition security, land and water management.
Also, the impact of COVID-19 on women’s capacity to provide food for their families and care for their loved ones underscores the importance of strengthening their capacities by designing gender responsive actions.
We know the world has the technology and resources to eradicate hunger but finding the right policies and the will to implement them often elude us.
12 October 2020 (UN Women)* — This year on International Day of Rural Women (15 October), the spotlight is on the urgent need for Building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19, for “building back better” by strengthening rural women’s sustainable livelihoods and wellbeing.
Ubi vinci necesse, expedit cedere.
(Quintiliano)
10 October 2020 (Wall Street International)* — This theory mainly consists of the fact that two contenders are both about 50% likely to win a conflict. If this percentage fluctuates too much, on one side or the other, the conflict would be extinguished.
UNHCR’s Senior Mental Health Officer Pieter Ventevogel says COVID-19 has been a tipping point for many refugees in distress. But with the crisis comes an opportunity. | Español | Français
A South Sudanese refugee sits outside his shelter in Uganda’s Bidibidi settlement, November 2019. His wife was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in South Sudan in 2012 and she took her own life in exile. © UNHCR/Rocco Nuri
Washington (IOM)* – More than 70 million migrants living across international borders in the Region of the Americas are set to benefit from a joint agreement signed on 9 October 2020 by Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM-PAHO agreement will focus on increasing and scaling-up interventions that address barriers to health care and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on migrant populations. Photo: IOM/Rafael Rodríguez
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 