'Unseen' News and Views
Belet Weyne, 8 August 2023 (IOM)* – Zamzan knows the devastation of climate shocks all too well. First, drought pushed her to move away from the place she had called home for years, then flooding swept away the new home she’d just begun to build for herself and her family.
(UN News)* — Two senior UN humanitarian officials have called for more funding and less bureaucratic impediments to support civilians affected by the war in Sudan, including roughly 14 million children.
Ted Chaiban of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and Edem Wosornu with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, briefed journalists on their recent mission to the country and Chad, one of several neighbouring nations hosting some 900,000 people who fled the violence.
Fighting between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) recently passed the 100-day mark. Overall, 24 million people across the country require aid.
Close to 300 cases have been reported so far this year, nearly the total number registered for all of 2022, and three times more than 2021.
PORT-AU-PRINCE/PANAMA CITY/NEW YORK, 7 August 2023 (UNICEF)* –The ongoing violence in Haiti continues to threaten the well-being of children and women. The latest reports received by UNICEF reveal an alarming spike in kidnappings, with nearly 300 cases confirmed in the first six months of 2023, almost matching the total number documented for the entire previous year, and close to three times more than in 2021.
(UN News)* — The threat of famine, with people slowly starving to death, must be considered a red line for international peace and security, the UN Famine Prevention and Response Coordinator said on Thursday [], warning that warring groups deliberately use hunger as a tactic of war.
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Globally, over 250 million people suffered acute hunger in 2022, the highest in recent years, with about 376,000 people facing famine-like conditions in seven countries – all affected by armed conflict or extreme levels of violence. Another 35 million people are on the edge, Reena Ghelani said.
Ma Phyu Ma, a 37-year-old internally displaced Rohingya woman, stands amidst debris left behind by Cyclone Mocha in her village. © UNHCR/Reuben Lim Wende
Intelligence or… what? What are AI possibilities, vis-a-vis its human counterpart? A new human master?
You be the judge.
Freepik
It is claimed that ChatGPT does not have access to the Internet but I find this incongruent. Therefore, this piece assumes that AI depends on the Web in the same way that a microorganism needs a body to survive and grow, possibly eventually killing it.
San Jose, 28 July 2023 (IOM)* – “I arrived in the Dominican Republic knowing I owed USD 4,500. Still, I did not know the conditions under which I would have to repay it,” tells Andrea*, a young Colombian woman who left her country in search of better opportunities. “I soon discovered that all the money I earned was taken from me and that I was required to work long hours, from 8 AM to 3 AM the next day.”
Andrea was a victim of sexual exploitation in the Dominican Republic after accepting a fake job offer. Illustration: IOM 2023/Milena Somogyi
Andrea was grappling with her country’s economic hardship and a lack of employment options. Amidst her desperation, a friend told her of a promising job opportunity in the Dominican Republic. The offer was tempting: a good salary and a significant loan from the company to cover her travel expenses.
(UN News)* — More than two days of armed violence at the Ein El Hilweh Palestine Refugee camp in southern Lebanon continues to impact civilians, including children, a senior UN official in the country said on Monday [].
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Eleven people were killed and another 40 were injured, including a staff member with the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said Dorothee Klaus, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, citing reports.
Two schools operated by the agency sustained damage, and more than 2,000 people were forced to flee in search of safety.
(UN News)* — Global crises, conflicts, and the climate emergency are escalating trafficking risks, the UN warned on Sunday [], the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. People lacking legal status, living in poverty and without decent work often become the primary targets of traffickers.
MALAKAL, South Sudan, 24 July 2023 (UNFPA)* – “My neighbour Rose* travelled with me to Renk, but her three daughters stayed behind in Khartoum. Later she learned they had been gang raped,” said Martha.*
Martha had recently arrived in the port of Malakal, a key transit point for those fleeing the violence in Sudan and crossing into South Sudan. More than 170,000 returnees and refugees have so far arrived in Malakal since the conflict erupted on 15 April, a number that will only increase if the crisis continues.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 