Jerusalem, August 16, 2022 – Israeli authorities should immediately release the French-Palestinian human rights worker Salah Hamouri from administrative detention and reverse the decision to revoke his residency status in his native Jerusalem, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 7, Israeli authorities detained Hamouri, a lawyer who works with the Palestinian prisoner rights group […]
World
“Returning to Haiti means death”
PORT-AU-PRINCE/NEW YORK, August 12, 2022—Haitians seeking asylum in the United States continue to be at risk of being expelled and sent back to a country in crisis, where the capital, Port-au-Prince, has become a battleground between armed groups, causing thousands of people to flee their homes and leaving many residents with extremely limited access to […]
Prolonged and intense heatwave affecting parts of western and northern Europe breaks temperature records; globally, July 2022 was one of three warmest Julys on record
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice cover and hydrological variables. All the reported findings are based on computer-generated […]
Critical thinking protecting Ukrainians against Russia’s disinformation campaign
August 4, 2022 – In disinformation campaigns, like the long-standing pro-Kremlin campaign targeted at Ukraine by the Russian government, who is most at risk of believing false information? A study led by McGill University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that Ukrainians who engaged in more analytic thinking were less likely to believe […]
Yemen: IRC statement on 2-month extension of UN-led truce agreement
02 August 2022, Aden, Yemen – The International Rescue Committee (IRC) welcomes the two month extension of the truce in Yemen, which remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world with over 20 million people in need of assistance. Zeleke Bacha, IRC Yemen Deputy Director of Operations, said, “The extension of this truce […]
European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day
Strasbourg, 02.08.2022 – Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe made the following statement today: “Today, we commemorate European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day and pay tribute to the thousands of victims. “Seventy-eight years ago, on 2 August 1944, 3 000 Roma – mainly women and children – were brutally murdered in the […]
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen statement on UNGA resolution recognizing the right to a healthy environment
Today, the UN General Assembly made history. Today, the General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Today, the General Assembly delivered a victory for people and planet. The resolution adopted today was five decades in the making. From a foothold in the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, the right […]
Under attack, global sexual health ‘can’t rely on US’
Religious campaigns and political interference could threaten hard-won reproductive health rights in the global South in the wake of the US Supreme Court decision on abortion, health advocates fear. Cross-border solidarity and coordination will be needed to face down the growing global threat to reproductive rights, health and policy experts have told SciDev.Net. Unsafe abortion is a leading […]
UN Special Rapporteurs appeal for strong international response in the wake of ‘devastating’ executions by Myanmar junta
GENEVA, July 25, 2022 – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, today condemned the Myanmar junta’s execution of four individuals, as reported by the junta. “We are outraged and devastated at the news of […]
The Lancet: 160 million women worldwide have unmet contraception needs
Published in The Lancet journal by the Global Burden of Disease study, the most comprehensive assessment of worldwide contraceptive need and use estimated that over 160 million women and adolescents with need to prevent childbearing remained without contraception in 2019 – despite major increases in use at a global level since 1970. This study provides estimates of […]
Just 10 financial actors hold the key to climate change
July 21, 2022 – A new report has identified the 10 financial actors with the most influence on the fossil fuel economy and outlines the decisive role they can play in helping de-carbonize our future. The study found that the top 10 most influential actors, including investment advisors, governments, and sovereign wealth funds from around […]
Lifting of blockade on Ukraine ports is first step towards easing global hunger crisis, says IRC
July 22, 2022, Nairobi, Kenya — The International Rescue Committee (IRC) welcomes the lifting of the Black Sea blockade on Ukraine’s seaports where 20 million tonnes of wheat are currently being held. These blockades have greatly contributed to the growing global hunger crisis, especially in East Africa, with countries relying on Russia and Ukraine for […]
“This heatwave is the new normal”, WMO Secretary-General says
July 19, 2022 – “We have broken an all-time high in the UK”, said Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General. “Heatwaves will happen more frequently because of climate change. The connection has been clearly demonstrated by IPCC”. Stable high pressures, and hence the heatwave, are here to last for several days. This Tuesday was expected to be […]
WMO: The first Red Extreme heat warning issued in UK, Western Europe suffocating
For the first time temperatures of 40°C have been forecast in the UK and the Met Office has issued the first ever Red warning for exceptional heat. In Portugal and Spain temperatures have reached highs up to around 46 degrees Celsius. Exceptional heat is expected to affect a large part of England early this week, with […]
World population to reach 8 billion on November 15, 2022
July 11, 2022 – The global population is projected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022, and India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to World Population Prospects 2022, released today on World Population Day. “This year’s World Population Day falls during a milestone year, when we […]
UN report: Value of nature must not be overridden by pursuit of short-term profit
The values that we ascribe to nature are vital parts of our cultures, identities, economies, and ways of life, all of which should be reflected in policy decisions surrounding our natural world, according to a new UN-backed report released on Monday. However, the new Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) assessment report […]
Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021
Rome/New York — The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (1), according to a United Nations report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, […]
Mass relocations continue: 17,000 Tibetans to leave homes by August
More than 17,000 Tibetans from Tsonyi (Chinese: Shuanghu) county, Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture are to leave their homes to settle about 400km away in Lhoka (Shannan) prefecture of the “Tibet Autonomous Region,” Chinese state media are reporting. The Tibetans will join the 4,000 farmers and herdsmen that were already relocated in the first phase of relocation […]
Cabo Verde faces spike in food insecurity as a result of drought, Covid-19 and the crisis in Ukraine
DAKAR – The number of people affected by food insecurity in Cabo Verde is set to spike with more than 46,000 women, men and children – almost 10 percent of the population – facing an acute deterioration in food security between June and August this year. This represents a threat to the country’s hard-won gains […]
“Intolerable tide” of people displaced by climate change: UN expert
GENEVA (23 June 2022) – Tackling the devastating effects of extreme weather changes and disasters on communities in vulnerable situations across the world will be a top priority, the new UN expert on human rights and climate change told the Human Rights Council. “The huge human cost of the climate crisis is being ignored. We […]