According to the UN agency, between 2019 and 2021 – the early years of the global health emergency – life expectancy around the world dropped by 1.8 years to 71.4 years, which is the 2012 level. Responding to the findings, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the fragility of global health advances when confronted with…
Typically, an average year sees 14 named storms with wind speeds exceeding 65 kilometres (40 miles) per hour. However, this year, 17 to 25 storms are expected, with four to seven of them potentially becoming major hurricanes, characterized by winds of at least 178 kilometres (111 miles) per hour. However, this year, 17 to 25…
This follows a request from South Africa in a pending case accusing Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention. Reading the new provisional measures in an open session at the court in The Hague, ICJ Justice Nawaf Salam announced that Israel must abide by its obligations under the Genocide Convention to “immediately halt…
Fierce battles have intensified between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, displacing tens of thousands of people in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in recent days. An estimated 45,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled to an area on the Naf River near the border with Bangladesh, seeking protection. Over one million Rohingya…
Adopting resolution 2730 (2024) with 14 votes in favour and one abstention (Russia), the Security Council also denounced disinformation, information manipulation and incitement to violence against humanitarian and UN personnel. Led by Switzerland and co-sponsored by over 90 nations, the resolution noted “deep concern” about the particular vulnerability of national and locally recruited personnel who…
The spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR), Liz Throssell, said that people left the Kharkiv region frontline and have been forced to stay in “cold, dark basements, with no electricity” due to aerial bombardments, drone and missile strikes, and artillery shelling. Displaced civilians Ms. Throssell reported that many homes and civilian infrastructure have…
The fighting has reportedly forced thousands of people to flee since 10 May and caused hundreds of civilian casualties, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists in New York. “Unfortunately, in El Fasher South Hospital – which is the only functioning hospital in that state – only 10 days of supplies are left, with an urgent…
The Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge also includes key provisions aimed at protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Its approval by consensus, in Geneva, marked the conclusion of negotiations that began in 2001. “Today we made history in many ways. This is not just the first new…
“With today’s adoption of Security Council resolution 2730 calling for the protection of humanitarian workers and the International Court of Justice’s order to open the Rafah crossing to provide aid at scale and stop the military offensive there, this is a moment of clarity,” he said in a statement. “It is a moment to demand…
Denise Brown said civilian lives must be protected during conflict by all sides, but in Kharkiv in recent days, they have instead been targeted in their homes, with businesses and transport links damaged and attacked. “My thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones due to the strikes,” she said, adding that…
