UN agencies sound alarm over renewed clashes in eastern DR Congo

World News in Brief: DR Congo conflict could spell catastrophe, plastics treaty progress, enforced disappearances rise ahead of Venezuela poll

adminApril 30, 2024September 20, 202408 mins

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) called for greater international support for the Congolese people to avoid a potential catastrophe for the country and the region. Current conflicts have escalated levels of gender-based violence, displacement and hunger in the restive eastern region where multiple armed groups are battling the national army and each other for control….

Cambodia: UN rights chief regrets ‘severely restricted’ poll and opposition clampdown

adminJuly 26, 2023September 15, 202403 mins

In a news release issued by his Office, Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, denounced “constant shrinkage” in Cambodia’s democratic space in recent years, which he said is undermining citizen’s fundamental freedoms and their right to participate in the public square. In the lead up to the elections, Cambodia’s National Election Committee disqualified…