Human Wrongs Watch
By Human Rights Watch*
Detained Migrants Allege Torture, Killing in Detention, Fears of Covid-19
15/12/2020
It’s 2020. What Would YOU Do?
Human Wrongs Watch
By Marilyn Langlois – TRANSCEND Media Service*
The year is drawing to a close, memorable for its unrelenting spotlight on coronavirus. Reflecting on the past 12 months, imagine what you would do if you were in a position of great power and influence. Two scenarios are offered, each with different underlying goals.
Marilyn Langlois
The Global Power Elite scenario is geared toward protecting the right of the super-rich to continue amassing ever more riches, and the One Earth Family scenario is aimed at ensuring every human being can live in dignity and harmony with the earth. I’ll start this exercise; then it’s your turn.
Global Power Elite Scenario
The Global Power Elite[i] described by Peter Phillips include many of the world’s wealthiest and well-connected people in high finance, mega-corporations, information technology, intelligence agencies, public relations, media, academia and politics, in other words, the 0.01%.
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15/12/2020
Migrants Earn Much Less than Locals, and the Gap Is Widening – International Labour Organization
Human Wrongs Watch
Migrants earn nearly 13 per cent less than national workers, an ILO study shows. In some countries, the gap is as much as 42 per cent.
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GENEVA, 14 December 2020 (ILO)* – Migrants earn nearly 13 per cent on average less than national workers in high-income countries, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) report.
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14/12/2020
A Vaccine That Was Hijacked by the Rich
Human Wrongs Watch
“Vaccinating the world against COVID-19 will be one of the largest mass undertakings in human history, and we will need to move as quickly as the vaccines can be produced,” says Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
A health worker fills a syringe with vaccine at a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Credit: UNICEF/Patrick Brown.
– There is a longstanding belief that virtually everything in this world is stacked up against the poor and the downtrodden. The Covid-19 vaccine is no exception because some of world’s richest nations, including the US, Canada and UK, seem to have cornered most of the supplies — whilst marginalizing the world’s poorer nations.
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14/12/2020
The Handmaid’s Tale: Making a Drama Out of a Crisis
13 December 2020 (UN News)* — The Handmaid’s Tale, a critically acclaimed television series which has won 38 Emmy awards, may be about a fictional “alternative reality”, but the show’s creators have gone to great lengths to ensure that references to themes such as climate change, human rights abuses, and refugees, are as real and accurate as possible, by collaborating closely with UN experts.
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14/12/2020
Yemen: Food Insecurity a ‘Ticking Time-Bomb’
Human Wrongs Watch
(UN News)* — UN experts called on the Security Council on 3 December 2020, along with the international community at large, to put an end to the “surreal and absurd dimension” of human rights violations engulfing war-torn Yemen, where abuses continue unchecked.
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“We are running out of time…approximately 16 million people cannot put food on their table. This is a disaster, this is a ticking time-bomb and the world needs to act now,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri told journalists at a scheduled press conference in Geneva.
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11/12/2020
World Press Freedom Conference Spotlights Dangerous Job of Separating ‘Truth from Falsehood’
9 December 2020 (UN News)* — Prominent journalists and champions of press freedom from across the world are examining ways to overcome increasing challenges facing the media during a two-day online conference organized jointly by the UN’s cultural and educational agency, UNESCO, and the Netherlands.
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The World Press Freedom Conference 2020, which began on Wednesday [9 December 2020], features interactive panels and discussions covering issues such as investigating the killings of journalists, online violence against women journalists, and the media’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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11/12/2020
Life a ‘Waking Nightmare’ for 12 Million Children in Yemen
Human Wrongs Watch
By UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore*
NEW YORK, 10 December 2020 (UNICEF)* –These are the remarks of UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s High-Level Event: Averting famine in Yemen: What can we do now and in 2021.
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UNICEF Yemen/2020/Mahmoud Al-FalsatinyShawqi, 1, with his mother at the maternal and childhood centre in Zingibar, Abyan. Shawqi is making a strong recovery after receiving care at the UNICEF-supported health facility.
11/12/2020
Illicit Financial Flows Are Robbing Africa of $50 Billion Annually
(UN News)* — At a time when Africa is mobilizing resources for pandemic recovery and sustainable development, illicit financial flows (IFFs) are robbing the continent of $50 billion annually, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a high-level virtual meeting on Thursday [10 December 2020] held under the African Union’s (AU) ‘Silencing the Guns’ initiative.
These “staggering losses” would be enough to bridge nearly 75 per cent of Africa’s health financing gap, provide inclusive education for all children there, and fund infrastructure projects, she added. “These flows pose a threat to stability and security in African countries, undermine institutions and democracy, and jeopardize sustainable development and the rule of law,” said Ms. Mohammed.
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11/12/2020
Non-Communicable Diseases Killing More People than Ever Before – World Health Organization
Non-communicable diseases account for 7 of the world’s top 10 causes of death, a sharp increase from two decades ago, and heart disease remains the leading cause of death globally, a new UN World Health Organization (WHO) study has found (*).
The 2019 Global Health Estimates, released on Wednesday [9 December 2020], “clearly highlight” the need for increased attention on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries, according to WHO.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 