In Malawi, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, voiced alarm on Friday [25 January 2019 ]over increasing, horrific violence there, linked to upcoming elections.
WFP/Badre Bahaji | Jiran crossed a WFP-donated bridge to deliver her first-born child at Lugola health centre in Chikulo, Malawi. (file)
The victims have included politicians, male and female party activists and persons with albinism – the condition where those affected are born with lighter skin, hair and eye colour.
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In one recent incident in the north of the country, a 55-year-old man with albinism was repeatedly stabbed in front of his child, before his arms were amputated by his attackers.
UN spokesperson Rupert Colville told journalists in Geneva that Member of Parliament, Bon Kalindo, was also set upon after being arrested for allegedly insulting the President.
Bamako, 25 January 2019 (IOM)* – Every year, thousands of Nigerian women receive false promises. If they leave their country, they are told, they will find a good job, maybe as a waitress or a hairdresser. There they can earn enough money to begin a new life.
Instead, many are caught in vicious cycles of sexual exploitation and servitude.
Chance, a Nigerian VoT who returned from Mali in 2018, speaks about her experience to IOM staff. Photo: IOM
‘Chance’, a young Nigerian, learned all this the hard way. Just over a year ago she was approached by neighbours who persuaded her to quit school and leave Nigeria for new work opportunities.
(Brussels) – European Union policies contribute to a cycle of extreme abuse against migrants in Libya, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today [21 January 2019]. The EU and Italy’s support for the Libyan Coast Guard contributes significantly to the interception of migrants and asylum seekers and their subsequent detention in arbitrary, abusive detention in Libya.
European Union policies contribute to a cycle of extreme abuse against migrants in Libya. The EU and Italy’s support for the Libyan Coast Guard contributes significantly to the interception of migrants and asylum seekers and their subsequent detention in arbitrary, abusive detention in Libya.
UNICEF/Pirozzi | Eight-year old attends the second grade in the Guinea-Bissau village of Ponta Nova.
.“Education transforms lives”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, recounting his personal story of teaching in “the slums of Lisbon” where he saw first-hand that “education is an engine for poverty eradication and a force for peace”.
Around 4.3 million Cameroonians, mostly women and children, are now in need of lifesaving assistance, the UN announced on Thursday [24 January 2019], presenting it’s 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for the West African country, in coordination with the Government and aid partners.
UNHCR/Catianne Tijerina | Central African mothers and children queue for food at the Timangolo refugee centre in Cameroon.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, Ms. Allegra Baiocchi, and Cameroon’s Civil Protection Director, Ms. Yap Mariatou, warned at the launch in Geneva, that the was a drastic increase in humanitarian need across the country.
Discrimination of women is common in all societies – rich western countries or poorer countries of Asia, Africa or Latin America. The level of discrimination of course varies – it can be subtle in the former countries and more pronounced in the latter.
Ravi P Bhatia
Even most religions discriminate against women in some areas or the other. A Church normally would have male pastors or bishops and the Sunday service is generally carried out by men.
Similarly, women feel the brunt of discrimination in other major religions — Islam, Hinduism.
There is a very cruel practice that women face – divorce in the form of what is called triple talaq in several Islamic countries including India.
23 January 2019 – In Ukraine, extreme winter cold is making life harder for thousands of people whose lives have already been torn apart by conflict. Hoping to find safer places to live, families in the region have had to endure a battle for survival, in buildings without heat or electricity.
Since 2014, conflict in Ukraine has forced 1.5 million people to flee their homes, according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR..After five years, many of the displaced are often forced to choose between buying food and medicine or paying for heating.
23 January 2019 — Against the backdrop of seemingly endless challenges across the world, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a conference of development-minded partners in Nigeria that “no country, no region” could tackle them alone.
IRIN/Kate Holt | A young girl in Kaduna state, Nigeria, carries water from a river known to be infested with flies that cause river blindness.
“In the regions today, no country is alone. Our borders don’t make any difference in the Sahel when we talk about issues of terrorism, migration, and climate change”, Ms. Mohammed said on Tuesday at the opening of the Kaduna State Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Acceleration Conference 2019.
Our economy is broken. Hundreds of millions of people living in extreme poverty while huge rewards go to those at the very top. There are more billionaires than ever before, and their fortunes have grown to record levels. Meanwhile, the world’s poorest got even poorer.
Pratima lost her twin babies through delays and poor treatment after she gave birth at her local government clinic. In India, the highest -quality medical care is only available to those who have the money to pay for it. Photo: Atul Loke, Panos/Oxfam
Many governments are fueling this inequality crisis. They are under taxing corporations and wealthy individuals, yet underfunding vital public services like healthcare and education.
The possibility of establishing a “viable, contiguous Palestinian state” has been “systematically eroded by facts on the ground,” Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on Tuesday [22 January 2019], ahead of the quarterly open debate on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine).
UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Nickolay Mladenov (on screen), UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, briefs the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. 22 January 2019.
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