(UN News)* —Every day, almost one in five young women are married off while still children, according to the UN reproductive and sexual health agency, UNFPA, which is urging countries to say “I don’t” to child marriage, an illegal practice that is almost universally condemned and yet remains widespread globally.
“I was married at 14, and I lost my first child at 16 during pregnancy,” Ranu Chakma said. Child marriage is common in her village of Teknaf Upazila, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, even though it is illegal and a human rights violation.
Those violations occur even at a time when many countries are banning the illegal practice, most recently in Colombia, where a law came into effect earlier this month.
Here are five common misconceptions about child marriage:
(UN News)* —The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a $40.4 million appeal to address the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its impact on neighbouring countries, particularly Burundi, where thousands are arriving daily in desperate conditions.
As fighting escalates in eastern DRC, more than 40,000 Congolese refugees – primarily women and children – have crossed into Burundi since February, with over 9,000 arrivals recorded in a single day this week.
The United Nations Development Programme says that while nine out of ten people are living in poverty and one in four jobless, Syria’s economy could restore its pre-conflict level within a decade with robust growth.
Photo: UNDP Syria
New York, 19 February 2025 (UNDP)* – Fourteen years of conflict in Syria have undone nearly four decades of economic, social, and human capital progress, according to a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) preliminary socio-economic impact assessment.
The report issues a stark warning: at current growth rates, Syria’s economy will not regain its pre-conflict GDP level before 2080.
MBARALI, Tanzania, Feb 21 2025 (IPS)* – A hush had fallen over Mbarali District, but it was not the quiet of peace—it was the silence of uncertainty.
The REGROW project, aimed at doubling the size of Ruaha National Park, has left many without land and prospects. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS
Just months ago, the rolling plains were gripped by fear as government-backed rangers, dressed in olive green fatigues, roamed through villages, seizing cattle, torching homes, and forcing entire communities to the wobbly edge of survival.
21 February 2025 — In early 2024, clashes between armed forces and non-state armed groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo resumed after a period of inactivity. By late 2024, the city of Goma was surrounded and most access roads were blocked.
Jorime and Desanges were forced to flee their homes by brutal violence in eastern DR Congo. Photo: Desire Cimerhe/NRC
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The already isolated population was deprived of access to essential goods. They had no idea they were about to face the country’s most dramatic crisis since the conflict began nearly three decades ago.
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In the village of Kivale, daily life was relatively peaceful. Children ran freely, families cooked tasty meals under the shade of the trees, and people cultivated the land and ran their businesses as best they could.
20 February 2025 – The Trump administration has enacted new immigration policies at a dizzying pace, some of which obliterate programs built over decades to enable avenues to safety for people fleeing war and persecution.
The impact of these policies is felt directly by the asylum seekers, migrants, refugees, their families and communities. But the impact will also be far-reaching as the US sets an example that is likely to cause other countries to turn their backs on people fleeing for their lives.
(UN News)* — The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Tuesday [] sounded the alarm over escalating rights abuses in Sudan, warning that impunity is driving violations as fighting spreads and more armed groups become involved.
In a newreport, UN investigators detailed multiple attacks on civilians, healthcare facilities, markets, and schools, as well as ethnically motivated summary executions.
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 2025 (IPS)* – President Trump—whose rash and ill-conceived proposals continue unabated—has threatened to “seize Gaza,” turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” and move Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, two longstanding American allies who depend heavily on US support for their survival.
Children in Gaza stand on debris from a destroyed building. February 2025. Credit: UN News
The US President has also hinted that both countries would suffer either cutbacks or elimination of billions of dollars in economic and military aid —if they refuse to cooperate with him.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)regrets to inform that we, for the first time in our history, will have to suspend ongoing and urgent US-funded humanitarian work in nearly 20 countries affected by wars, disasters, and displacement.
This will impact hundreds of thousands of people. These dramatic measures come in response to the stop, partial suspension, or lack of reimbursement of United States funding for our global humanitarian operations.
(Beirut) –Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon between October 2023 and December 2024 destroyed vast swathes of critical civilian infrastructure and public services, preventing tens of thousands of Lebanese from returning to their homes, Human Rights Watch said on 17 February 2025.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 