A 15-year old girl is rescued from the rubble of her house in central Sulawesi in Indonesia hit by an earthquake and tsunami in September 2018. This is the sixth fatal tsunami to strike the country since the huge 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Indonesia has suffered more deaths from tsunamis than any other country. © UNICEF/Tirto.id/@Arimacswilander
World Tsunami Awareness Day
Africa’s Youth Make Land Restoration Their Business
Human Wrongs Watch
– The last time Siyabulela Sokomani ran a marathon he did so with a tree strapped to his back. A native wild olive sapling to be exact. It affected his race time for sure, with the seasoned runner completing the 42.2 km race in 4.42 hours rather than his usual 3.37 hours.

Drone visual of the area in Upper East Region, Ghana prior to restoration taken in 2015. Experts say that Africa’s youth need to become involved in land restoration projects. Credit: Albert Oppong-Ansah /IPS
Latin American, Caribbean scouts Join the Global Fight against Plastic Pollution
Panama City, 01 November 2019 (UN Environment)* – Thousands of scouts from Latin America and the Caribbean will join global efforts against marine litter by taking a 10-week challenge to reduce single-use plastics as part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Clean Seas campaign.
Far More Needed to ‘Confront the World’s Climate Emergency’, UN Chief Warns at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Summit
Human Wrongs Watch
Four of the ten countries most affected by climate change are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Sunday [3 November 2019], urging the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok to “confront the world’s climate emergency”. *

“This region is highly vulnerable, particularly to rising sea-levels, with catastrophic consequences for low-lying communities, as recently published research illustrated”, he said, pointing out that 70 per cent of the global population most at risk of rising sea-levels are within ASEAN and other countries that will be represented at summits later this week.
‘Microplastics, Microbeads and Single-Use Plastics Poisoning Sea Life and Affecting Humans’
Each year, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean – equivalent to a full garbage truck every minute dumped into the sea – the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said Monday [4 November 2019], drawing attention to the damage it cause and cost-effective switches that can be made. *

I am Generation Equality: Demecia Yat Continues Her Search for Justice
Human Wrongs Watch
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.

Demecia Yat. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.
By UN Women* — This interview features Demecia Yat, one of 15 women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Guatemala.
More than Half of South Asian Youth Are Not on Track to Have the Education and Skills Necessary for Employment in 2030
Human Wrongs Watch
South Asia has the largest youth labour force in the world with nearly 100,000 young people entering the labour market each day.

UNICEF/UN0215383/Vishwanathan
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KATHMANDU/NEW YORK/MUMBAI, 30 October 2019 (UNICEF)* – An estimated 54 per cent of South Asian youth leave school without the necessary skills to get a decent job in the next decade, according to data produced by the Global Business Coalition for Education (GBC-Education), the Education Commission, and UNICEF.
Coal Addiction ‘Must Be Overcome’ to Ease Climate Change – UN Chief
Human Wrongs Watch
In Thailand for the ASEAN Summit, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited a climate mitigation project in Bangkok’s new Centenary Park on Saturday [2 November 2019] where he told journalists that “coal addiction must be overcome”. *



