UN chief urges ‘surge in investment’ to overcome $4 trillion financing gap

UN chief urges ‘surge in investment’ to overcome $4 trillion financing gap

According to UN estimates, the world is facing an annual financing gap of about $4 trillion to achieve sustainable development, leaving countries with hardly any resources to invest in better education, healthcare, renewable energy or social protection. “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are hanging by a thread, and with them, the hopes and dreams of…

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Drug control on the internet: UN-backed body offers solutions to counter narcotics surge

Drug control on the internet: UN-backed body offers solutions to counter narcotics surge

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) study recommends responding with the same methods, running counter-narcotics campaigns offering advice that can be trusted on popular online platforms.  “We can see that drug trafficking is not just carried out on the dark web. Legitimate e-commerce platforms are being exploited by criminals too,” said Jallal Toufiq, INCB President. …

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World News in Brief: Millions battle hunger due to Sudan war, human rights essential to peace, surge in fighting along Ukraine frontline

World News in Brief: Millions battle hunger due to Sudan war, human rights essential to peace, surge in fighting along Ukraine frontline

Thousands of families continue to be displaced and forced across borders into Chad and South Sudan each week while fighting between Government forces and the powerful RSF militia, which erupted last April, continues. WFP Regional Director Michael Dunford said the crisis impacting Sudan, South Sudan and Chad has created “the world’s largest displacement crisis”. Acute…

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World News in Brief: Strikes in Ukraine condemned, surge in Rohingya deaths at sea, boost investment in decent jobs

World News in Brief: Strikes in Ukraine condemned, surge in Rohingya deaths at sea, boost investment in decent jobs

“I was having coffee at home this morning in Kyiv, my neighbours were getting ready for work, children preparing to go to school, when our homes started to shake because of a wave of airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital,” Denise Brown said in a statement. The attacks damaged civilian buildings just next to the UN…

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World News in Brief: End e-cigarette boom urges WHO, measles surge in Europe, Central Asia; crisis for kids in Lebanon

World News in Brief: End e-cigarette boom urges WHO, measles surge in Europe, Central Asia; crisis for kids in Lebanon

WHO said that 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought and 74 countries have not implemented any e-cigarette regulations. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to ramp up prevention measures, saying that “kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and may get…

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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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Regional action essential to address migrant surge through Central America

Regional action essential to address migrant surge through Central America

“The situation underscores the urgent need for the immediate collective involvement of governments from origin, transit and destination countries to provide humanitarian assistance, especially to vulnerable groups like women and children,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America and the Caribbean.   Perilous journeys IOM cited statistics that reveal the…

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