Representatives from across the Middle East are meeting at UN Headquarters this week in efforts to negotiate a legally binding treaty establishing a regional zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.(*).
UN Photo/Manuel Elias | A view of the sculpture – Good Defeats Evil – on the UN Headquarters grounds, presented to the UN by the Soviet Union on the occasion of the Organization’s 45th anniversary.
.Speaking on Monday [18 November 2019] during the inaugural session of the deliberations on a nuclear-weapon free Middle East, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the zone would have significance beyond the region.
“I therefore hope this Conference will serve as the start of an inclusive process in which all the States of the region can participate,” he said.
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at 12 November 2019 press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva | Español | Français | عربي
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed that hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are not only living in dire conditions without proper assistance but are unprotected and exposed to extreme human rights violations on a daily basis. (*).
(UN News)* — More than 5.4 million children are detained around the world, rights experts said on Monday [18 November 2019], highlighting “aggressive” State counter-terrorism measures for the spike in youngsters held for alleged links with armed conflict or national security concerns based on their social media posts.
18 November 2019 (UN News)* — Ending the practice of defecating in the open, rather than in a toilet, will have “transformational benefits” for some of the world’s most vulnerable people, says the UN’s partner sanitation body, the WSSCC (Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council).
19 November 2019 (United Nations)* — Toilets save lives, because human waste spreads killer diseases. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year. It’s all about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which promises sanitation for all by 2030.
Durban, 14 November 2019 (UN Environment)* – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today launched the Global Environment Outlook-6 (GEO-6) for Youth in Africa report on the margins of the 17th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN).
The report analyses the economic opportunities that Africa’s natural resources can provide for job creation and sustainable development. It also provides a package of solutions to tackle Africa’s youth unemployment through the Green Economy.
17 November 2019 — Saving lives by improving road safety is “one of the many objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, the United Nations chief said in his message for the global day set aside for remembering the victims of traffick accidents. (*).
Noting that more than 1.3 million people die in road accidents every year, Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that more young people between the ages of 15 and 29 die from road crashes annually than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis or homicide.
Stockholm (SIPRI)* — Climate change poses serious challenges to current and future peacebuilding missions, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which studies the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). Climate change amplifies existing challenges and strengthens radical groups. At the same time, climate change forces missions to think out of the box with UNSOM proving to be an encouraging example.
Somali men on motorcycles ride along a road 6 August 2012, opposite the parliament building in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.Photo posted here from SIPRI).
Durban (UN Environment)* – A new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) desk study launched today [15 November 2019] at the 17th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in Durban, South Africa, calls for urgent action to address the production and consumption of biomass as a source of energy in Africa.
The study presents the current status of biomass energy in Africa and explores ways to mitigate its negative impacts until a transition to cleaner and modern energy sources takes place.
© WSSCC/Jason Florio | As the population in Nigeria increases, efforts are underway to ensure that open defecation does not increase.
Payal (left) and Nisha (right) are happy to have a toilet in their school in Kakrana village. When schools have clean water, toilets and soap for handwashing, children have a healthy learning environment. © UNICEF/UN0271817/Hajra
By Margaret Wurth*
Pixabay (image posted here from UN Enviroment).
