'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
FACT SHEET: Lack of hand-washing with soap puts millions at increased risk to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases | Français
NEW YORK, 15 October 2020 (UNICEF)* – Although handwashing with soap is critical in the fight against infectious diseases, including COVID-19, millions of people around the world have no ready access to a place to wash their hands, UNICEF said ahead of Global Handwashing Day.
29 September 2020 (UN News)* — New approaches and solutions are needed to address worsening food loss and waste, the UN Secretary-General has said, in a message marking the first ever International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste Reduction.
(UN News)* — A new mechanism launched on 9 July 2020 aims to speed up action so that people everywhere will have access to water and sanitation by the end of the decade, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Global Acceleration Framework for SDG 6 addresses an issue which cuts across many areas of the UN’s work.
3 July 2020 (WMO)* — Climate change impacts are affecting water availability and are exacerbating the damages floods and drought cause worldwide. Climate related water action is a key for bringing us back on track to deliver Sustainable Development Goal 6, to ensure access to water and sanitation for all and to sustain a healthy environment.
WMO hosted a virtual diplomatic briefing on 2 July on plans for a Water and Climate Coalition aimed at building momentum on water and climate action through implementing concrete activities at the national, regional and global levels.
– A communally built small dam at almost 3,500 meters above sea level supplies water to small-scale farmer Cristina Azpur and her two young daughters in Peru’s Andes highlands, where they face water shortages exacerbated by climate change.
Local residents of Churia, a village of some 25 families at more than 3,100 meters above sea level in the highlands of the Peruvian department of Ayacucho, are building simple dikes to fill ponds with water to irrigate their crops, water their animals and consume at home. CREDIT: Courtesy of Huñuc Mayu
Nidhi Nagabhatla is Principal Researcher, Water Security at the UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health, funded by the Government of Canada and hosted by McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada
Padma River Basin, Bangladesh Credit: Nidhi Nagabhatla
– Do migrants willingly choose to flee their homes, or is migration the only option available?
– The relentless battle against the devastating coronavirus pandemic has been underlined by several widespread advisories from health experts – STAY HOME. WASH YOUR HANDS. WEAR MASK. KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE.
But the UK-based WaterAid and UN Habitat in Nairobi point out the paradox in at least two of the warnings: a staggering 3.0 billion people worldwide have no water to wash their hands and over 1.8 billion people have no adequate shelter—or homes to go to.
SANA’A/ADEN (UNICEF)* – Over 5 million children under the age of five in Yemen are facing a heightened threat of cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) as the country continues to experience increased heavy rains since mid-April. More than 110,000 cases of suspected cholera have been recorded across 290 of Yemen’s 331 districts since January 2020. Children under the age of five account for a quarter of these cases.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 