Archive for ‘Migrants and Refugees’

30/11/2021

Mexico: Over 95,000 Registered as Disappeared, Impunity ‘Almost Absolute’

Human Wrongs Watch

29 November 2021 (UN News)*As of last Friday, more than 95,000 people have been officially registered as disappeared in Mexico. That includes a worrying increase in the number of women and children, a trend that has worsened during the pandemic, with migrants particularly at risk.

UNIC/Mexico | A protest rally in Mexico City on the case of Ayoitzinapa rural school attended by the 43 disappeared students.
Those are some of the key findings shared by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, at the end of a visit between 15 and 26 November, noting that more than 100 disappearances allegedly took place just during the course of their fact-finding mission.
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In a statement, the Committee urged Mexican authorities to quickly locate those who have gone missing, identify the deceased and take prompt action to investigate all cases.
30/11/2021

World ‘Dangerously Unprepared’ for Future Pandemics Unless Leaders Tackle Inequalities

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Unless leaders tackle stark inequalities, the world could face 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths over the next 10 years, the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) warned on Monday [29 November 2021] in a new report.

UNAIDS | Fanaye Hailu says her daughter Betty was born HIV-free and is now eight years old and suggests that every mother, every pregnant woman must get tested for HIV which can save the lives of the mother and her baby. Photo: UNAIDS

In an urgent call to action ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December, the agency focused on ending the disease as a public health threat by 2030, said that if transformative measures are not taken, the world will stay trapped in the COVID-19 crisis and remain dangerously unprepared for all future pandemics.

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29/11/2021

Growing Amazon Deforestation a Grave Threat to Global Climate

Human Wrongs Watch

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 26 2021 (IPS)* – For three weeks, the Brazilian government concealed the fact that deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest increased by nearly 22 percent last year, accentuating a trend that threatens to derail efforts to curb global warming. | En español

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Brazil has a “green future,” announced Environment Minister Joaquim Leite and Vice-President Hamilton Mourão, in a videoconference presentation from Brasilia at the Glasgow climate summit, in an attempt to shore up Brazil’s credibility, damaged by Amazon deforestation. The two officials concealed the fact that deforestation in the Amazon rose by 21.9 percent last year. CREDIT: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil-Fotos Públicas

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29/11/2021

Still ‘Not Clear’ Whether Omicron COVID Variant Is More Transmissible or More Severe than Delta: WHO

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The World Health Organization published on Sunday [28 November 2021] an update on the science regarding the new coronavirus variant Omicron which is causing global concern and sparking increasing flight bans on Southern African countries.

WHO/D. Elombat | Passenger screening at Maya Maya international airport, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
28/11/2021

How to Tackle Africa’s Employment Crisis

Human Wrongs Watch

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Youth-at-the-Grand_

Youth at the Grand Médine town hall in Dakar, Senegal. Senegal has a large youth population, half of which is under the age of 18. By 2025, 376,000 youth are expected to enter the job market that offers only 30,000 jobs. And this number will rise to 411,000 in 2030, according to the Wilson Centre. Credit: Samuelle Paul Banga/IPS

ACCRA, Ghana, Nov 25 2021 (IPS)* – The Covid-19 pandemic aggravated Africa’s already severe employment crisis. The solution lies in a long-term political and economic transformation.

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28/11/2021

9.4 Million People Are ‘Living Their Worst Nightmare’ in Northern Ethiopia Due to Ongoing Conflict 

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The number of people in need of humanitarian food assistance across northern Ethiopia has spiked as a direct result of ongoing conflict, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday [26 November 2021]. 

© WFP/Sinisa Marolt | Lifesaving food is delivered to people in Amhara, Ethiopia.

“Today, 9.4 million people are living their worst nightmare,” Tomson Phiri, the agency’s spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.

80 per cent ‘behind battle lines’ 

Of the people across northern Ethiopia in need of assistance, more than 80 per cent – 7.8 million – “are behind battle lines”.

The largest jump in numbers has occurred in Amhara region with 3.7 million people now in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

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25/11/2021

‘One in Five Refugee or Internally Displaced Women Have Faced Sexual Violence’

DRC. SGBV survivors rebuild their lives with UNHCR support

A young woman who survived kidnapping and rape in a brutal attack is starting to rebuild her life with help from UNHCR.   © UNHCR/Vittoria Moretti

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25/11/2021

Moving Animals

Human Wrongs Watch

By We Animals Media – TRANSCEND Media Service*

Moving Animals is a powerful short film about Jo-Anne McArthur’s documentation of the long-distance transport of animals, shot and produced by filmmaker Miguel Endara.

“This is my world. Join me as I climb transport trucks, and stay quietly and diligently with animals as they go to slaughter. Join me in the dusty roads and at my little hotel room editing desk, as Miguel and I discuss animals, animal photojournalism and, ultimately, kindness.”

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25/11/2021

Arrested Development and Poverty Take a $57 Billion Economic Toll in Palestine

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Following Israeli closures, restrictions and military operations, the West Bank has suffered two decades of arrested development and poverty, according to a report published on Wednesday 24 November 2021 by the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD.

© UNRWA/Mohammed Hinnawi | Buildings destroyed by airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

With an economic toll of an estimated at $57.7 billion, the study estimated the cost to be equivalent to three and a half times the 2019 GDP of the occupied Palestinian territory’.

Moreover, it indicated that the minimum cost of eliminating poverty in the West Bank had increased six times between 1998 and 2007 – from $73 million to $428 million.

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24/11/2021

Three Billion People Cannot Afford a Healthy Diet

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Approximately three billion people, almost 40 per cent of the world’s population, cannot afford a healthy diet and another one billion people would join their ranks should further unpredictable events reduce incomes by one-third, the UN food agency said, launching a new report on Tuesday [23 November 2021]. 

© ILO/Maxime Fossat | The COVID-19 pandemic has affected global food systems worldwide, causing food insecurity and malnutrition.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2021 State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) report – Making agrifood systems more resilient to shocks and stresses – states that, without proper preparation, unpredictable shocks will continue to undermine these systems. 

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