Afghan girls' voices for education echo loudly through new global campaign

Afghan girls’ voices for education echo loudly through new global campaign

#AfghanGirlsVoices comes precisely two years after the de facto Taliban authorities seized control in Afghanistan and will continue until September 18, which marks the start of their official ban on school for adolescent girls. Voices and visuals The campaign was developed in collaboration with ECW Global Champion Somaya Faruqi, former captain of the Afghan Girls’…

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Sudan: Four months of conflict 'destroying people's lives and violating their basic human rights', humanitarians warn

Sudan: Four months of conflict ‘destroying people’s lives and violating their basic human rights’, humanitarians warn

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that the “disastrous, senseless war in Sudan, born out of a wanton drive for power, has resulted in thousands of deaths, the destruction of family homes, schools, hospitals and other essential services, massive displacement, as well as sexual violence, in acts which may amount…

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Keep pressuring Afghanistan amid ‘unparalleled assault’ on women’s rights

Keep pressuring Afghanistan amid ‘unparalleled assault’ on women’s rights

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, made the appeal in a statement marking two years since the Taliban regained control of the country. ‘Gender apartheid’ “Through over 50 edicts, orders and restrictions, the Taliban have left no aspect of women’s lives untouched, no freedom spared.  They have created a system founded on the mass…

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Disability rights threatened by bad working conditions for carers: independent expert

Disability rights threatened by bad working conditions for carers: independent expert

Gerard Quinn, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, said that “dead-end jobs, low wages, poor conditions and little room for social mobility” in the care sector are not a way to build resilient systems – as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown.  Women carers ‘severely disadvantaged’  Speaking at the opening of the…

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Top UN aid official in Ukraine condemns latest wave of indiscriminate attacks

Top UN aid official in Ukraine condemns latest wave of indiscriminate attacks

Denise Brown issued a statement deploring the “indiscriminate” attacks impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure.  She stressed that people in the south, including in the Kherson and Odesa regions, had endured “a particularly harsh weekend” after reports that strikes left many civilians, including children, killed and injured. An entire family, including an infant, were among the…

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The eerie silence of starvation ‘is deafening, it never leaves you’: UN official

Rights experts denounce idea of ‘reformed’ Taliban two years after return to power

The gap between promises and practices by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities has widened during this period, they said, denouncing the idea of a “reformed” Taliban.  They said Taliban policies imposed on the population “have resulted in a continuous, systematic and shocking rescinding of a multitude of human rights, including the rights to education, work, and…

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From ashes to riches: Profiting from peatland in Indonesia

From ashes to riches: Profiting from peatland in Indonesia

Progress is already being made: a school building was saved from burning down; farmers are earning 50 per cent higher incomes; and a healthier peatland is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since its launch in 2019, the programme, which includes training for villagers and critical infrastructure upgrades, has dramatically reduced fire risk and equipped the residents…

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