'Unseen' News and Views
11 March 2021 (Wall Street International)* — On 3rd March 2021, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the message “everything will be okay”, 19 year old dancer Ma Kyal Sin participated in a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Mandalay. The teenager was shot dead by a military sniper.
Almost 12,000 children killed or injured in the past decade, according to verified data – an average of more than three children a day
AMMAN/NEW YORK (UNICEF)* – The war in Syria has left the lives and futures of a generation of children hanging by a thread, UNICEF on 10 March 2021 warned, as the conflict nears the 10-year mark.
The situation for many children and families remains precarious, with nearly 90 per cent of children in need of humanitarian assistance, a 20 per cent increase in the past year alone.
NEW YORK (UNICEF)* — Ten million additional child marriages may occur before the end of the decade, threatening years of progress in reducing the practice, according to a new analysis released by UNICEF on 8 March 2021.
That is deeply problematic in a world where 690 million people were undernourished in 2019, a number expected to rise sharply with COVID-19. It’s also bad for the planet. 8-10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from producing food that is ultimately thrown away.
(UN News)* — Conflict drives hunger, and when that turns to famine, that then drives conflict, the UN chief told the Security Council on Thursday 11 March 2021, adding that “if you don’t feed people, you feed conflict”.
“When a country or region is gripped by conflict and hunger, they become mutually reinforcing…[and] cannot be resolved separately”, Secretary-General António Guterres said via videoconference to the meeting which focused on how conflict and food security are interlinked.
And when hunger meets inequality, climate shocks, sectarian and ethnic tensions, together with grievances over resources, they then “spark and drive conflict”.
ADEN/SANA’A, 10 March 2021 (WFP)* – The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme issued an urgent plea for peace in Yemen and called for funding to help the most vulnerable hungry families as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the country where the worst famine the world has seen in modern history is now looming.
Photo: WFP/ Alaa Noman
“Over half of the people in Yemen are facing acute food shortages with millions knocking on the door of famine. These are not just numbers. They are real people and it is heartbreaking,” said David Beasley.
(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has underlined the UN’s determination to continue pursuing a negotiated political settlement to the Syrian civil war, a “living nightmare” that has endured for 10 years now.
Briefing journalists at UN Headquarters on 10 March 2021, the UN chief stressed the need for countries to put aside their differences to support Syrians in finding a solution to the crisis.
“After a decade of conflict, in the middle of a global pandemic, and faced with a steady stream of new crises, Syria has fallen off the front page”, he said. “And yet the situation remains a living nightmare.”
(UN News)* — United Nations officials on 10 March 2021 highlighted the contributions of migrants to economies and societies in Asia and the Pacific, calling on countries to ensure all who live within their borders are fully included in national coronavirus inoculation programmes.
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(UN News)* — A “polar vortex” was responsible for the freezing conditions in the US state of Texas last month, UN weather experts said on Tuesday 9 March 2021, before warning of a worrying increase in global carbon dioxide levels.
New data tool offers detailed insights covering role of land use, agriculture, refrigeration, packaging and more, providing critical guidance for holistic mitigation efforts
ROME, 9 March 2021 (FAO)* — The world’s food systems are responsible for more than one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, according to a pioneering new study published in Nature Food.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 