International Youth Day is marked annually on 12 August and the 2023 edition spotlights green skills and the major role young people will play in driving the much-needed shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly mindset. These include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings,…
The men – four national staff and a Bangladeshi citizen – were abducted in the southern governorate of Abyan on 11 February 2022 after returning from a field mission. UN Secretary-General António Guterres was delighted to learn of their release, noting that available information suggests they all are in good health. Mr. Guterres was “profoundly…
Of that figure, 6.3 million people – 13 per cent of Sudan’s population – are experiencing emergency levels of hunger – classified as Phase 4 of the Integrated Food Security Classification – just one step from famine, with the conflict continuing to disrupt access to humanitarian aid and forcing millions to flee their homes. “The…
A young mother sits on a low wooden stool above burning embers from a piece of bark placed in a small earthenware pot. A bright purple and white cloth covers her legs and keeps the smoke from escaping. This is part of a lower-body treatment process for mothers who have given birth as teenagers. She…
UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the news of the successful transfer of oil aboard the FSO Safer to a replacement vessel, thus “avoiding what could have been a monumental environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.” The FSO Safer was built as a supertanker in 1976 and converted a decade later into what is in effect a floating…
The outbreak, which escalated rapidly since late June, has seen a total of 69,483 confirmed cases and 327 related deaths between 1 January and 7 August, with a case fatality rate of 0.47 per cent, according to the UN health agency. The cases were reported from all 64 districts in the country. In July alone,…
The International Organization for Migration (IOM); the UN refugee agency, UNCHR; and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also called for coordinated search and rescue mechanisms. The tragedy occurred between Thursday 3 August and Friday 4 August, and to date, only four survivors have been rescued – all by a merchant vessel. The survivors, brought…
The experts sounded the alarm on the lack of information provided by Chinese authorities – deeming it a deliberate attempt to “make the world forget” about the individuals who are spending year after year in isolation. Between 2010 and 2019, nine environmental human rights defenders were arrested and imprisoned after they protested against allegedly illegal mining activities and hunting of…
President Mohamed Bazoum and his family are believed to be living without electricity, water, food or medicine, according to media reports. Release detained leader The democratically elected leader has been detained since soldiers seized power on 26 July. “The Secretary-General reiterates his concern for the health and safety of the President and his family and…
On 4 August, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers declared a state of emergency in the region after, according to media reports, the regional leader said he was no longer able to contain a surge of violence between a local militia and the army over a disputed plan to absorb the regional security forces into the…
