16 June 2021 (WFP)* — Famine — driven by conflict and fueled by climate shocks and the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — could soon become a reality for millions of people. Below, the World Food Programme’s acting director of nutrition, Allison Oman Lawi, explains what famine is — and spells out the urgent need for action to avert it.
Yemen: A child at a WFP-supported clinic in Hajjah is diagnosed with moderate acute malnutrition. Photo: WFP/Issa Al-Ragh
17 June 2021 (UNCCD)* — Climate change, overuse and conversion for agriculture, cities and infrastructure mean that one fifth of the planet’s land area is degraded. This damage, which also drives drought and desertification, harms the livelihoods of almost half the planet’s population.
However, as much as one billion hectares can be restored over the next 10 years if there is political will.
Mali has partnered with UNDP to strengthen agricultural communities and empower women to mitigate the consequences of climate change and desertification in the Sahel region of Africa. UNDP/Imen Meliane
Humanity is waging a relentless, self-destructive war on nature.
Biodiversity is declining, greenhouse gas concentrations are rising, and our pollution can be found from the remotest islands to the highest peaks.
We must make peace with nature.
The land can be our greatest ally. But the land is suffering.
In Faux-Cap, Madagascar, the dunes and their strong winds pose a threat to their crops. With the greenest weapons, its inhabitants worked for 120 days to secure 75 hectares of dunes. Once settled, the risk is over. PHOTO:UNDP Madagascar
16 June 2021 (United Nations)* — The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day to be held on 17 June will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security.
15 June 2021 (IFAD)* — Every year, on 16 June, the International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) is observed to raise further awareness on the abnegation and sacrifice of migrant workers, who support their families and communities of origin through the money they send back home, particularly in these times of crisis.
This year, the IDFR lauds the human spirit and resilience of over 200 million migrants who defied predictions of the pandemic and continued to send money home to their countries of origin.
16 June 2021 (United Nations)* — The International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and is observed on 16 June. The IDFR recognizes more than 200 million migrant workers, women and men, who send money home to over 800 million family members.
First World Health Organization report on e-waste and child health calls for more effective and binding action to protect children from growing health threat.
15 June 2021 (WHO)* — Effective and binding action is urgently required to protect the millions of children, adolescents and expectant mothers worldwide whose health is jeopardized by the informal processing of discarded electrical or electronic devices according to a new ground-breaking report from the World Health Organization: Children and Digital Dumpsites.
(UN News)* — Due to the ever-increasing demands of the global economy, the resources of the planet are being used up at an alarming rate and waste and pollution are growing fast. The idea of a more sustainable “circular economy” is gaining traction, but what does this concept mean, and can it help save the planet?
UNDP/Sumaya Agha | Women sort plastic at a recycling plant in Jordan.
1) Business as usual, the path to catastrophe
Unless we make some major adjustments to the way the planet is run, many observers believe that business as usual puts us on a path to catastrophe.
Around 90 per cent of global biodiversity loss and water stress (when the demand for water is greater than the available amount), and a significant proportion of the harmful emissions that are driving climate change, is caused by the way we use and process natural resources.
Left: A market vendor sells produce at Victoria Market in Port Victoria, Seychelles. Right: 64 years old, Christine Banlog, has been a market woman for 22 years. She is widowed, and raising her three grandchildren in Nyalla, Cameroon. PHOTO:UN Women/Ryan Brown
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(United Nations)* — Although all age groups are at risk of contracting COVID-19, older persons are at a significantly higher risk of mortality and severe disease following infection, with those over 80 years old dying at five times the average rate.
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An estimated 66% of people aged 70 and over have at least one underlying condition, placing them at increased risk of severe impact from COVID-19.
Children around the world are being poisoned by lead on a massive and previously unrecognized scale.
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UNICEF/UNI118470/Noorani
Lead is a highly poisonous element that is responsible for nearly 1.5 per cent of annual global deaths – almost as many deaths as from HIV and AIDS, and more than from malaria.
Nearly a third of the world’s children – up to 800 million children – are affected by lead poisoning.
©IFAD/GMB Akash
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 