'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
We are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. An unprecedented 68.5 million people around the world have been forced from home. Among them are nearly 25.4 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.
200 parliamentarians from 80 countries met at the headquarters of the Spanish Senate for two days seeking to redouble the efforts of the international community to realize the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) of the UN 2030 agenda that seeks to achieve, within 12 years, a world free of hunger.
The meeting also addressed the problems that are causing overweight and obesity, which have been qualified by the WHO as a 21st century epidemic at global level, with devastating effects on people and threatening to raise the costs of public health budgets.
– When the long-awaited UN conference focusing on the rights and safety of migrants and refugees takes off in Morocco, it will be a rare, if not an unprecedented meeting, for one reason: the withdrawal of at least seven member states almost at the 59th minute of the eleventh hour.
Refugees from South Sudan. Credit: UNHCR/Will Swanson
As the international community struggles to resolve a spreading global humanitarian crisis, and restrict the intake of refugees and migrants, the approval of a “Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” is turning out to be a politically sensitive issue.
Every year, trillions of dollars – equivalent to more than five percent of global GDP – are paid in bribes or stolen through corruption, the United Nations reported on the International Day which serves to highlight the pervasive crime, marked this Sunday 9 December 2018.
Secretary-General António Guterres deemed corruption “an assault on the values of the United Nations,” in a message on International Anti-Corruption Day, which is marked each 9 December.
7 December 2018 (UN Environment)* — Gone are the days when you could fill up your car gas tank with US$20. Yet, despite the steady increases, gas prices are still artificially low, keeping transportation and national production costs relatively contained and internationally competitive.
Unfortunately, this situation is deeply unsustainable, particularly if we are to seriously curb our CO2emissions, slow our impact on climate change and reduce air pollution.
Every year, governments spend between US$160 and US$400 billion as fossil fuel subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil and gas.
Katowice (UN Environment)* – While climate consciousness across the globe is on the rise, the fourth UN Environment Adaptation Gap Report released on 6 December 2018 has revealed a considerable gap between countries’ preparedness for climate change and the actual measures that should be put in place to prepare communities for a future of increasing climate risks.
Photo from UN Environment.
The research particularly underscores a growing divide between the estimated annual costs of adaptation and the actual global investments in resilience measures, drawing a distinct connection between our adaptation to climate change and sustainable development that results in healthy communities and thriving economies.
For a taste of the evidence in this regard focusing on the climate, see Climate Collapse and Near Term Human Extinction, Release of Arctic Methane “May Be Apocalyptic,” Study Warns and 7,000 underground [methane] gas bubbles poised to “explode” in Arctic.
8 December 2018 – Paving the way to the key UN migration conference in Marrakech, Morocco, which it is hoped will agree new measures to make life safer and more dignified for people on the move, UN agencies held a series of side events to highlight the different aspects of migration, paying special attention to the most vulnerable, and the challenges they face on their often perilous journeys.
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8 December 2018 – As hundreds of decision-makers are gathering in Marrakech to agree new standards for global migration, the UN climate change conference ‘COP24’ is looking at concrete ways to help countries tackle large-scale displacement caused by the impacts of climate change including water scarcity, flooding, storms and rising sea levels.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights reaches its 70th anniversary on Monday [10 December 2018], a chance to highlight the many important breakthroughs brought about by the landmark UN document, and to remind the world that the human rights of millions are still being violated on a daily basis.
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There are also an estimated 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.