World News in Brief: DR Congo clashes, invest in ending polio, say #IDONT to child marriage

World News in Brief: DR Congo clashes, invest in ending polio, say #IDONT to child marriage

Violence last week forced thousands to flee, and fighting occurred on Tuesday in the outskirts of Sake, which is located some 20 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital, Goma. “Our peacekeeping mission is continuing to support the Congolese armed forces and is doing its utmost to protect civilians, including by maintaining a presence along the Goma-Sake axis,” said…

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World News in Brief: Artificial Intelligence pledge, child abuse online, Sudan crisis deepens

World News in Brief: Artificial Intelligence pledge, child abuse online, Sudan crisis deepens

Lenovo Group, LG AI Research, Mastercard, Microsoft, Salesforce, Telefonica, GSMA network of mobile phone operators, and INNIT have pledged to “integrate the values and principles” of UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI when designing and deploying AI systems. The announcement came at the UN education, science and culture agency’s  Global Forum on AI, taking place…

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World News in Brief: Haiti child displacement, Hong Kong torture claims, support Sudan refugees

World News in Brief: Haiti child displacement, Hong Kong torture claims, support Sudan refugees

Escalating armed violence in Haiti has triggered a profound humanitarian crisis, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Wednesday. At least 170,000 children are now displaced – double the number from last year – amid a surge in gang-led killings and kidnappings, sexual violence and a severe food crisis. “In Haiti, children and families are…

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World News in Brief: Child deaths in Ukraine, alarm over US death row ‘experiment’, Timor Leste nutrition boost

World News in Brief: Child deaths in Ukraine, alarm over US death row ‘experiment’, Timor Leste nutrition boost

“Over the last six days, children and families, and the infrastructure they rely on have come under attack in Dnipro, Lviv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, and other populated areas”, said Munir Mammadzade. With schools and health facilities destroyed and damaged, “Ukraine’s youngest citizens continue to bear the brunt of these attacks. Our heartfelt thoughts are with…

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World News in Brief: Burkina Faso attack, ending AIDS, Syrian child casualties, new UN migration ambassador

World News in Brief: Burkina Faso attack, ending AIDS, Syrian child casualties, new UN migration ambassador

A large number of fighters from the militant Islamist group JNIM attacked a military base, homes, and a camp for displaced people in the city of Djibo, on Sunday. At least 40 people were killed and more than 42 injured. The attackers also set fire to 20 shops and three sites for displaced people. Stop attacking civilians “Attacks on…

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UN agencies urge action to safeguard maternal, child health amidst climate crisis

UN agencies urge action to safeguard maternal, child health amidst climate crisis

In Protecting maternal, newborn and child health from the impacts of climate change, the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly underscore the neglect, underreporting, and underestimation of climate events’ effects on maternal and child health.  It also draws attention to the importance of integrating maternal or child…

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Gaza crisis: aid agencies warn of ‘tragic, avoidable surge’ in child deaths

Gaza crisis: aid agencies warn of ‘tragic, avoidable surge’ in child deaths

“About 160 children are killed every day; that’s one every 10 minutes,” said UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, echoing concerns from the UN Children’s Fund about the serious additional threat of a mass disease outbreak in the enclave. “If youngsters continue to have restricted access to water and sanitation in Gaza, we…

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Child deaths from wasting are predictable and preventable: WHO chief

Child deaths from wasting are predictable and preventable: WHO chief

Convened by the Government of the United Kingdom, the day-long conference brought together representatives from more than 20 countries to shore up efforts to achieve zero hunger and end malnutrition, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Far off track  Speaking during a session on creating new approaches to ending preventable child deaths, WHO…

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World News in Brief: Femicide ‘pandemic’, war crimes appeal to Israeli lawyers, Syria child detainees

World News in Brief: Femicide ‘pandemic’, war crimes appeal to Israeli lawyers, Syria child detainees

That’s the message from the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, who said on Monday that perpetrators are mostly, but not exclusively, partners or ex-partners, and often escape accountability “due to a lack of proper investigation”. A 2022 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN…

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World News in Brief: Funds dry up for Afghan quake survivors, child deaths alert in Sudan, diphtheria outbreak in Guinea

World News in Brief: Funds dry up for Afghan quake survivors, child deaths alert in Sudan, diphtheria outbreak in Guinea

That’s the message from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), which appealed on Wednesday for $19 million to provide emergency food assistance to those “in desperate need” in the country’s western Herat province. The agency’s deputy director in Afghanistan Ana Maria Salhuana stressed that to assist earthquake survivors WFP “is having to take this food…

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