May 09, 2021 No comments
‘I am alive, but I feel like I am dead’: a migrant grieves the drowning of 3 children
INTERNATIONAL, 9 May 2021, Migrants and Refugees - Misrah, an undocumented migrant worker, and her family, left their home in Ethiopia hoping for a better life. Instead, her three children are now dead, drowned during a perilous sea crossing across the Gulf of Aden, when the overloaded boat smuggling them into the country capsized. Misrah lost three children who drowned when the boat they were travelling in capsized in the Gulf of Aden., by © IOM 2021/Hawa Diallo “I have lost everything,” says Misrah, as she struggles to recount the most traumatic of events, witnessing the deaths of her three children. The 27-year-old Ethiopian woman, her husband and children – Aziza, five; Rachar, three; and Ikram, two – and at least 55 other migrants and refugees...
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May 08, 2021 No comments
Kabul school bombing condemned by senior UN officials
INTERNATIONAL, 8 May 2021, Peace and Security - Saturday’s deadly bombing outside a high school in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, has been condemned by leading UN officials. The attack led to the deaths of at least 30 people, including several schoolchildren. Most of the casualties are reported to be girls, who were leaving the building at the end of the school day. According to media reports, the city was full of shoppers, ahead of the Eid-al-Fitr celebrations. Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reacted in a press statement. "UNICEF strongly condemns the horrific attack earlier today near the Sayed Ul-Shuhada high school, in Kabul, Afghanistan", said Ms. Fore. "The attack claimed the lives of dozens of schoolchildren, mostly girls, and...
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May 08, 2021 No comments
The United Nations remembers the dead of WWII
INTERNATIONAL, 8 May 2021, Peace and Security - The Second World War had a profound impact on the international community, and established the conditions for the creation of the United Nations. This weekend marks the official remembrance of the tens of millions of civilians and soldiers who died during the conflict. In total, about 40 million civilians, and some 20 million soldiers, almost half of them Russians, lost their lives in the war between 1939 and 1945. On 8 and 9 May, the UN invites its 193 member countries, non-governmental organizations, and individuals, to pay tribute to the victims of the conflict. The date of 8 May was chosen because it is the day the Nazi forces in Germany surrendered in 1945 but, recognizing that UN...
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May 08, 2021 No comments
What can the UN do to support India through its deadly COVID-19 surge?
INTERNATIONAL, 8 May 2021, Health - The UN is at the forefront of efforts to help India extricate itself from the almost unimaginable scale of suffering its citizens are undergoing, as a result of a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections. Earlier this week, UN News spoke to the country chiefs based in India, for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund, to get their take on the crisis. Here are some key excerpts from the interviews. 'We gave the virus a chance' Dr. Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO representative to India: It is important to remember that, by early February of this year, the economy and social activities reopened. We also saw that people were not behaving in a way that was appropriate to slowing COVID-19, and...
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May 07, 2021 No comments
Stop evictions in East Jerusalem neighbourhood immediately, UN rights office urges Israel
INTERNATIONAL, 7 May 2021, Human Rights - The UN’s human rights office (OHCHR), on Friday, called on Israel to immediately halt all forced evictions, including those in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, as well as to exercise maximum restraint in the use of force while ensuring safety and security there. Eight Palestinian refugee families residing in Sheikh Jarrah are facing forced eviction due to a legal challenge by the Nahalat Shimon settler organization, with the risk “imminent” for four of the families, according to the office. OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville said that the evictions, if ordered and implemented, would violate Israel’s obligations under international law. “Given the disturbing scenes in Sheikh Jarrah over the past few days, we wish to emphasize that East Jerusalem remains part of the...
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