September 23, 2021 No comments
Food’s a human right, not just ‘a commodity to be traded’: Guterres
INTERNATIONAL, 23 September 2021, UN Affairs - Every day, hundreds of millions of people go to bed hungry. Three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet. Two billion are overweight or obese and yet 462 million, are underweight. Nearly a third of all food that is produced, is lost or wasted. These are just some of the problems and contradictions laid bare by the UN Secretary-General on Thursday at the opening of the landmark UN Food Systems Summit, that is bringing together farmers and fishers, youth, Indigenous Peoples, Heads of State, governments and many more, in an effort to transform the sector and get the world back on track to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. For António Guterres, “change in food systems is not only possible, it is necessary”; for the people, for the planet and for prosperity. The UN chief warned, though, that COVID-19 has made the challenge much greater. The pandemic has deepened inequalities, decimated economies, plunged millions into...
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September 23, 2021 No comments
UN chief: Window to avert devasting climate impacts ‘rapidly closing’
INTERNATIONAL, 23 September 2021, Climate and Environment - No region is immune to climate disasters the UN chief told the Security Council on Thursday, warning that “our window of opportunity” to prevent the worst climate impacts is “rapidly closing”. Drawing attention to the “deeply alarming” report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last month, Secretary-General António Guterres spelled out that “much bolder climate action is needed” to maintain international peace and security. He urged the G20 industrialized nations to step up and drive action before the UN Climate Conference (COP26) in early November. ‘Risk multipliers’ Against the backdrop of wildfires, flooding, droughts and other extreme weather events, the UN chief said that “no region is immune”. And he pointed out that the climate crisis is “particularly profound” with compounded by fragility and conflict. Describing...
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September 23, 2021 No comments
Call to action: Prevent gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies
INTERNATIONAL, 23 September 2021, Women - Top UN officials met in the margins of the 76th General Assembly on Thursday, with a strong call to action to stamp out gender-based violence (GBV), amid a rise in forced displacement and other humanitarian emergencies around the globe. GBV includes acts that inflict physical, sexual or mental harm – or other forms of suffering, coercion and limits on personal freedoms - and has “long-term consequences on the sexual, physical and psychological health of survivors”, according to the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA). These are being driven increasingly by conflict, climate change, famine and insecurity, heightening vulnerabilities for girls and women. ‘Willingness to act' UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem told the meeting on Localizing GBV in humanitarian crises, that peace, justice...
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September 23, 2021 No comments
UNICEF: Haiti children vulnerable to ‘violence, poverty and displacement’
INTERNATIONAL, 23 September 2021, Migrants and Refugees - As Haiti continues to reel from the “triple tragedy” of natural disasters, gang violence and the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) expressed concern on Thursday that two-thirds of Haitian migrants expelled from the United States border in recent days are women and children – including newborns with “specific and immediate needs”. “When children and families are sent back without adequate protection, they find themselves even more vulnerable to violence, poverty and displacement – factors that drove them to migrate in the first place”, said Executive Director Henrietta Fore. A rocky road Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has been long plagued with poverty, civil unrest, political and economic instability. Children should never be returned to situations...
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September 23, 2021 No comments
UN chief appeals for countries to sign nuclear test-ban treaty
INTERNATIONAL, 23 September 2021, Peace and Security - UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday again urged eight key countries which have not yet signed or ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), to do so without delay. His request came in remarks to the latest conference to promote the treaty’s entry into force, which were delivered by UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu. Near universal acceptance The CTBT was adopted in 1996 and has been signed by 185 countries, and ratified by 170 of them, including three nuclear weapons-holding States: France, Russia and the United Kingdom. However, for the Treaty to enter into force, it must be signed and ratified by 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries, eight of which have yet to ratify the Treaty: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, the Democratic People’s...
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