'Unseen' News and Views
– As the devastating 11-month-old conflict in Gaza keeps escalating, with over 41,000 mostly civilian killings, and more than 92,000 Palestinians injured –in retaliation for the 1,200 killings inside Israel last October– the Israelis continue to defy the United States which maintains its uninterrupted flow of heavy weapons to Tel Aviv.
Much of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed in the conflict. Credit: UNRWA
Over 22,500 have suffered ‘life-changing injuries’ in Gaza
(UN News)* — More than 22,500 people – a quarter of those wounded in Gaza since Israel’s offensive began – have life-changing injuries, requiring rehabilitation services “now and for years to come”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday [].
(UN News)* — The UN chief on Thursday [] described the continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas as “unconscionable”.
(UN News)* — An atmosphere of desperation, extreme fear and trauma envelops the women of Sudan in a conflict that has left half of its 50-million-person population in dire need of assistance, according to Laila Baker, a senior regional director from the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA.
.
5 September 2024 (UNEP)* — For billions of people across the developing world, particularly children and women, mealtime starts by firing up a kerosene stove, lighting a charcoal grill or setting some logs ablaze.
The problem: much of this cooking happens inside and the smoke it produces is laced with toxic particles. This type of household air pollution led to 3.1 million premature deaths in 2021 and is part of a larger crisis driving climate change and biodiversity loss.
– Last July, we were confronted with alarming statistics: 733 million people experienced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally.
In Africa it was even higher, with one in five people going hungry. Climate change is a significant driver of this crisis.
05 September 2024 (WMO)* — A vicious cycle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution is having a spiralling negative impact on human health, ecosystems and agriculture, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
.
The WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin includes a special focus on wildfires. It also looks at global and regional concentrations of particulate matter pollution and its harmful effects on crops in 2023.
Iceland´s glaciers are retreating so rapidly that future generations may wonder how the ancient island nation got its name. No surprise then that the land of the Vikings was chosen to house the world’s first global glacier graveyard which was unveiled at a ceremony last month, close to the capital Reykjavik.
.
(UN News)* — Sudan’s health system is “near collapse” after 16 months of war have left the country and its people facing what the UN’s top health official described on Sunday [] as the “perfect storm of crises”, which the world is largely ignoring.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 