Airborne contaminants are one of the most significant environmental health risks. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), 99 per cent of the world’s population breathes polluted air, with the exposure significantly worse in low and middle-income countries. The pervasive nature of air pollution requires global collaboration. This year’s theme, Together for Clean Air, addresses the urgent…
The news came as the UN chief released a strongly worded statement on a record summer of global warming in the northern hemisphere, according to the European Union’s climate service Copernicus. Dog days bite back “Our planet has just endured a season of simmering – the hottest summer on record,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres,…
So far this year, more than 330,000 people have crossed the Darien Gap on their journey towards North America – the highest annual figure recorded to date, OHCHR said. One in five was a child. Risk of sexual violence During the crossing, migrants and refugees are exposed to multiple human rights violations and abuses, including…
It details how systemic racism, marginalization and exclusion, rooted in the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, continue to have a negative effect on all aspects of life. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged States to “accelerate action towards meaningful, inclusive and safe participation for people of African descent in every aspect of…
This is equivalent to over one million dump trucks every day – placing immense pressure on marine biodiversity and the well-being of coastal communities. Marine Sand Watch, a platform developed by UN Environment Programme (UNEP)’s analytical centre, GRID-Geneva, uses artificial intelligence and automatic signals from ships to track and monitor sand, clay, silt, gravel, and…
Forced to take the drastic measures citing a “massive funding shortfall”, WFP will only be able to provide emergency assistance to three million people per month across the country from October. “Amid already worrying levels of hunger and malnutrition, we are obliged to choose between the hungry and the starving, leaving millions of families scrambling for their…
The CMC 2023 report indicates that 1,172 people were killed or injured in 2022, which is the highest number since regular reporting started in 2010. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Human Rights Arms Advocacy Director Mary Wareham, emphasised that 95 per cent of casualties reported were civilians. “It is unconscionable that civilians are still dying…
Secretary-General António Guterres was addressing the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, noting that despite “extreme heat, ferocious floods, and tens of thousands dead from devastating droughts”, the continent was responsible for less than four per cent of emissions. “The blow inflicted on development is all around with growing hunger and displacement”, he said. ‘Quantum…
“Our survival depends on our cooperation,” he said, pointing to global road blocks such as accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, education and gender inequality. “Let us put money where our promises are,” he added, urging governments to translate actions for sustainable development into budgeting policies, national regulations and capacity building. The 77th session, which formally…
The UN humanitarian affairs office which he leads (OCHA), reported that in 2023, global funding requirements have surpassed $55 billion to support 250 million people affected by conflict, climate change, disease outbreaks, and other crises. Faced with these record needs, less than 30 per cent of the target funding goal has been received. ‘Cruel reality’…
