Hundreds of thousands of workers in both countries have lost their livelihoods because of the earthquakes, preliminary findings showed in the new ILO assessments of the disaster’s impact on the labour market. “Employment promotion is central to a successful and inclusive response to this disaster,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo. “People can only begin to…
The blaze at the migrant centre which was reportedly run by Mexico’s National Migration Institute in Ciudad Juarez, began during a protest against imminent deportations on Monday night, according to local officials. There were 68 adult men in total staying at the facility, the Institute reported. News reports said that most of the victims are…
Entering its 13th year of brutal civil war and scrambling to recover from devastating earthquakes in February, Syria and its people “deserve peace” and to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. 100,000 Syrians missing “The whereabouts and fate of an estimated 100,000 Syrians remains unknown,” he…
The UN chief drew a parallel between the spirit of “understanding and compassion” which characterizes Ramadan, and the mission of the United Nations, “to foster dialogue, unity and peace.” “In these challenging times, my thoughts are with those facing conflict, displacement and suffering. I join everyone observing Ramadan to call for peace, mutual respect and…
In a joint press encounter with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, Mr. Guterres appealed for EU leaders to help the world “get back on track” towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a time when progress in so many parts of the world had been reversed. Acceleration and reform “We need an acceleration agenda,” he…
The UN rights chief called on Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, not to sign the bill into law, saying that it would mean lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda will become criminals simply “for existing, for being who they are“. He warned the legislation would lead to “systematic” human rights violations. Adopted by Uganda’s parliament…
The Commission of Inquiry on Syria pointed to “failures that hindered the delivery of urgent and lifesaving aid” to the largely opposition-held northwest region, in the days after the 6 February quakes. Humanitarian assessments point to more than 7,000 people killed in Syria by the natural disaster. Rescue equipment lacking At a press conference in…
In his latest report to the Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Gerard Quinn, outlined how more inclusive policy approaches and innovative private sector involvement can spur progress. “States and societies at large must move away from systems that were historically built to provide a material safety net and…
The current human rights landscape is compounded by conflict, discrimination, poverty, shrinking civic spaces, and the emergence of new human rights challenges such as the rise of artificial intelligence and surveillance, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted. “Fresh thinking, political leadership, renewed commitments, and dramatically scaled-up financing, with the centrality of human…
On Monday at the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), a series of roundtable discussions saw global leaders, ci confront two of the most fundamental hurdles facing LDCs: how to make better use of science, technology and innovation (STI), and how to promote structural transformations that can help overcome the real impediments…
