'Unseen' News and Views
Two internally displaced sisters from Jalalabad pictured in their temporary accommodation in Kabul, Afghanistan. © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
GENEVA (UNHCR)* – The number of people displaced by conflict, violence, persecution and human rights abuses rose for the tenth straight year in 2021 to reach the highest level since records began, according to the latest Global Trends report released on 16 June 2022 by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
(UN News)* — The UN and partners have rushed to support Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that hit two provinces in the east of the country early on Wednesday [22 June 2022] morning.
(UN News)* — Because of the global hunger crisis, every single minute, one child is pushed into life-threatening, severe malnutrition.
That’s the alarming message on Thursday [23 June 2022] from UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, which issued the alert for 15 countries in crisis where the situation is worsening.
UNICEF has called for $1.2 billion to meet urgent needs of eight million children at risk of death from severe wasting, in 15 mainly African nations, such as Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, but also Afghanistan and Haiti.
“We speak of the 222 million dreams representing each 222 million children and adolescents sustaining the extreme hardship of emergencies and protracted crises. Their dreams are profoundly driven by their experience of wars and forced displacement. This is our moment to empower them to turn their dreams into reality.” Yasmine Sherif, Director, ECW
(UN News)* — Further food ration cuts are imminent for refugees as humanitarian needs multiply around the world while funding struggles to keep pace, the UN food relief agency warned on Monday [20 June 2022], World Refugee Day.
“As global hunger soars way beyond the resources available to feed all the families who desperately need WFP’s help, we are being forced to make the heart-breaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).
The sombre warning comes as WFP has already been forced to significantly reduce rations to refugees across its operations.
(UN News)* — Sexual violence has become a brutal tactic of warfare and repression that “terrorizes populations, destroys lives and fractures communities,” the UN chief said on Friday [17 June 2022].
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(UN News)* – Nearly one billion people worldwide suffer from some form of mental disorder, according to latest UN data – a staggering figure that is even more worrying, if you consider that it includes around one in seven teenagers.
Disasters Threaten Human Civilization
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John Scales Avery
Among the greatest dangers to human civilization are nuclear war and catastrophic climate change, dangers which also threaten the biosphere.
In addition to these two existential threats, humans also face the threat of an extremely large-scale famine, involving billions of people, rather than millions.
The beginning of this famine, which could involve much of the world’s population by 2050, can already be seen.
17 June 2022 (UN News)* — Sweltering conditions in Europe have come earlier than expected this year but the bad news is, they’re the shape of things to come. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the intense heatwave made its way from North Africa.
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(UN News)* — The current global economic paradigm of infinite growth based on using up a finite amount of resources, such as fossil fuels, will only deliver a “permanent triple whammy of inflation, climate chaos and conflict”, the UN chief warned on Friday[17 June 2022].
António Guterres was addressing the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington DC, convened by the United States top climate envoy, John Kerry, and hosted by President Joe Biden.
The meeting included countries representing 80 per cent of global GDP, population, and greenhouse gas emissions, according to the White House.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 