“For three months now, the people of Sudan have endured unspeakable suffering amid violence that is tearing their country apart,” Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a statement. “As the conflict enters its fourth month, the battle lines are hardening, making it ever more difficult to reach the…
The figure is equivalent to about 11 children dying each week, “far beyond what we hear in news headlines,” Vera Knaus, the agency’s Global Lead on Migration and Displacement, told journalists attending the biweekly UN humanitarian briefing in Geneva. “We cannot continue to ignore what is happening – stand by silently when nearly 300 children…
According to the UN weather agency, June witnessed the warmest global average temperature on record, and heatwaves have persisted into early July. Torrential rains and floods have resulted in dozens of fatalities and affected millions in the United States, Japan, China and India. ‘New normal’ “The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our…
“Every new wave of warfare brings with it a rising tide of human tragedy, including new waves of war’s oldest, most silenced and least condemned crime,” she said. The Council meeting to examine implementation of its resolutions on conflict-related sexual violence was convened by the United Kingdom, which holds the rotating presidency this month. Meetings survivors in…
The joint assessment from WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which is part of WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization, represents the first public intervention by the UN health agency on the widely used sweetener. Aspartame has been used in multiple food and…
The demonstrations began over what many Kenyans view as unfair tax hikes and rising inflation in the country, according to news reports. OHCHR Spokesperson Jeremy Laurance issued a statement condemning the violence, expressing concern over “allegations of unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, including the use of firearms, by police”. Reports estimate the number of people…
Cities and towns have become the drivers of economic growth and now account for more than 80 per cent of global GDP. Yet, in 2020, over one billion inhabitants of urban areas were still living in slums or informal settlements, predominantly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. As urban populations grow, slums expand even faster, UN…
Briefing the Security Council, Prosecutor Karim Khan, said that the mandate of his office, pursuant to resolution 1593 referring the situation in Darfur to the Court in 2005, was clear. “[Our mandate is] ongoing with respect to crimes within our jurisdiction, the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; and any individual who…
“The continuous decline in water quality due to increased salinity levels in its composition is alarming. This situation significantly impacts vulnerable groups, such as children and adolescents, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic diseases,” they said in a statement. Water privatization fears Although health authorities have urged vulnerable groups to purchase bottled water, “this may…
Khaled Khiari was briefing the Council just a day after DPRK conducted the second launch of its Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a system which he said can now “reach most points on Earth.” It represented “potentially” Pyongyang’s longest ever ballistic missile flight, lasting around 74 minutes and travelling over 1,000 kilometres before crashing into…
