IRIN | Opium poppy field in Afghanistan. | UN News Centre
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Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan reached a record-high last year, leading to unprecedented levels of potential heroin on the world market, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a new report released on 21 May 2018.
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The report noted opium cultivationincreased by 63 per cent; from 201,000 hectares in 2016 to an estimated 328,000 hectares in 2017.
UNODC said that it would be possible to produce between 550 and 900 tons of export-quality heroin from the poppies harvested throughout the country during 2017.
Kadir van Lohuizen/NOOR/UNEP | Coral reef ecosystems house 25 per cent of all marine life, feeding hundreds of millions of people. A healthy reef at Molinere Bay, Marine Protected Area in Grenada.
Since December 1993, when theConvention on Biological Diversityentered into force, its parties have acted to conserve the earth’s flora and fauna, in a sustainable and fair way, said the UN chief.
19 May 2018, Ljubljana — On the eve of the first World Bee Day, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has urged countries and individuals to do more to protect bees and other pollinators or risk a sharp drop in food diversity.
A beekeeper in the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. The first World Bee Day, on 20 May 2018, highlights that bees are vital to sustainable and healthy food systems.
Bees are under great threat from the combined effects of climate change, intensive agriculture, pesticides, biodiversity loss and pollution.
In Slovenia for the official ceremony to mark World Bee Day, FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva said countries need to shift to more pollinator-friendly and sustainable food policies and systems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency meeting on 18 May 2018 to “consider the international risks” of the latest outbreak of the deadly disease Ebola, which has now moved to an urban area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
UNICEF/Naftalin | Health workers prepare to treat suspected Ebola patients in Bikoro Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
One new case of Ebola virus disease has been confirmed in Mbandaka, a city with a population of about 1.2 million, WHO confirmed on 17 May 2018, raising fears that despite a rapid response by authorities, the outbreak has not been contained.
15 May 2018 (openDemocracy)* — The concept of generations has been central to the way scholars, decision-makers and activists portray the implications of climate change. International agreements enshrine ‘future generations’as stakeholders in the decision-making of the present.
Its proximate cause was the latest Man-Child effort of Donald J Trump, this time to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv, with all the other embassies, to Jerusalem, half of which though annexed by Israel still constitutes Occupied Territory under international law.
None of the world’s challenges loom as large as climate change, the United Nations chief told a major climate action summit on 15 May 2018, reiterating his belief that global warming poses an “existential threat” to humanity.
World Bank/Dominic Sansoni | Solar panel used for lighting village homes in Sri Lanka. | Source: UN News Centre
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Both leadership and innovation are essential for climate action, Secretary-General António Guterressaid in his keynote address to the global gathering, known as the R20 Austrian World Summit – a long-term initiative to help regions, States and cities implement the Sustainable Development Goalsand meet the Paris Agreementtargets.
Medical teams inside Gaza are running out of supplies to cope with the wounded, following the deadliest day of protests against occupation along the border with Israel so far this year, UN aid agencies on 15 May 2018 warned.
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Save the Children/Mohamed N Ali | A 14-year-old boy who was reportedly shot and injured in both legs on 30 March in Gaza.
Speaking after 58 Palestinians lost their lives and more than 1,300 were injured by Israeli security forces on Monday, the World Health Organization’s Tarik Jasarevic said that life-saving drugs were “urgently needed”.
These include antibiotics and adrenaline, according to the WHO spokesperson, who explained that more than 10 years of blockade had already undermined Gaza’s healthcare capacity.
Industrially-produced trans-fats may give food a longer shelf life, but each year they also lead to the death of more than 500,000 people from cardiovascular and heart disease, according to the United Nations health agency.
Public Domain |Hamburger with Fries. WHO has released the REPLACE guidelines, to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from food suplly.
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Now, the World Health Organization(WHO) has released guidance which is hopes will help make it possible to eliminate these harmful compounds altogether, by 2023.
Action to combat climate change could create millions of new job opportunities and “more than” offset losses in traditional industries, the UN labour agency on 14 May 2018 said.
World Bank/ Ivelina Taushanova | Wind farm near Kavarna, Bulgaria. According to ILO’s 2018 World Employment and Social Outlook report action to combat climate change will create 24 million new jobs globally by 2030. Photo from UN News Centre.
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The International Labour Organization (ILO) made the announcement at the launch of its annual flagship reporton the state of the global job market.
