IWGIA – International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs*, 1 November 2023 — While miners are blamed for the destruction of the forests, this gold fever would not exist without the lavish consumption of sheikhs, influencers, rappers, footballers, brokers, Hollywood actors and famous singers.
Following the rise in the price of gold during Covid-19, Central Banks and speculators have further boosted this demand.
In Brazil and Venezuela, the land area affected by mining is increasing rapidly and the presence of gold miners threatens the indigenous communities living near the deposits.
When we think of the illegal and legal gold mining that is bleeding the Amazon, the culprits are obvious.
— Three weeks of near-constant bombardment in Gaza have left its entire population in desperate and catastrophic conditions. The World Food Programme (WFP) is striving to reach over 1 million people for whom water and food are running out.
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A boy picks his way through a destroyed neighbourhood in Gaza. Photo: WFP Photolibrary
Here, one WFP employee (who prefers not to be identified) describes the horror, the personal grief of losing at least seven family members as well as some friends, her dreams for a better future, and why her work must go on in the face of it all.
(WHO)* — East Jerusalem/Geneva/ New York,3 November 2023 — Women, children and newborns in Gaza are disproportionately bearing the burden of the escalation of hostilities in the occupied Palestinian territory, both as casualties and in reduced access to health services, warn the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), and the World Health Organization (WHO).
UNAMID/Mohamad Almahady | Intercommunal violence in Darfur has left millions in need of assistance. Pictured here, an IDP settlement in north Darfur. (file)
Myanmar witnessed a sharp escalation in fighting between the military and opposition groups this week fuelling a surge in new displacements, the UN humanitarian wing has said.
On November 5, 2024, voters in the United States will cast their next ballots in a federal election that could have important implications for the US government’s ability to address ongoing human rights violations.
(UN News)* — The UN General Assembly on Thursday [] voted by a large margin against the United States’ economic and trade embargo against Cuba, first imposed in 1960. A total of 187 States voted for the resolution put forward each year against the embargo with only the US and Israel voting against and Ukraine abstaining.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider | The UN General Assembly votes on the necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba.
The number of people killed in Gaza is nearing the 9,000 mark amid mounting concerns over the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on a densely-populated refugee camp near Gaza City, while a key hospital has stopped operations and UN humanitarians are unable to deliver aid to the north as the ground war intensifies.
2 November 2023 — The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are warning of the rapidly rising numbers of Afghans returning from Pakistan and urging international donors to mobilise additional humanitarian funding to address their needs and avoid a new crisis.
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Loaded trucks in Torkham as thousands of Afghan returnees make their way back to Afghanistan from Pakistan. Credit: Maisam Shafiey/NRC
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Furthermore, the three organisations call upon neighbouring countries to continue offering protection and refuge to all vulnerable Afghan refugees until conditions in their home country are conducive to a safe, sustainable and voluntary return.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 