Impunity drives cycles of ‘horrific’ crimes in South Sudan, Human Rights Council hears

Impunity drives cycles of ‘horrific’ crimes in South Sudan, Human Rights Council hears

“It is hard to imagine peace while State actors continue to be involved in gross human rights violations,” said Commission member Barney Afako, presenting the latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “A true demonstration of the Government’s stated commitments to peace and human rights would involve dismissing the responsible officials and initiating…

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Tropical cyclone Freddy set to further weaken cholera-hit Malawi

Tropical cyclone Freddy set to further weaken cholera-hit Malawi

“Malawi is really experiencing the deadliest cholera outbreak in its recorded history – nothing less than that – and the country is also struggling to respond to an earlier outbreak and ongoing COVID-19 cases across the nation,” said Rudolf Schwenk, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Malawi Representative. In an update to journalists in Geneva, Mr. Schwenk…

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‘Radical change of direction’ needed in women, peace and security agenda

‘Radical change of direction’ needed in women, peace and security agenda

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, was speaking during a Council meeting to reaffirm the importance of Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security,  adopted in October 2000, and to take stock of implementation since it turned 20 nearly three years ago.  “As we meet today at the mid-point between the 20th and 25th anniversaries, on…

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UN rights chief calls for fresh thinking to tackle global challenges

UN rights chief calls for fresh thinking to tackle global challenges

The current human rights landscape is compounded by conflict, discrimination, poverty, shrinking civic spaces, and the emergence of new human rights challenges such as the rise of artificial intelligence and surveillance, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted. “Fresh thinking, political leadership, renewed commitments, and dramatically scaled-up financing, with the centrality of human…

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LDC5: UN conference weighs building resilient agrifood systems in the face of risk and uncertainty

LDC5: UN conference weighs building resilient agrifood systems in the face of risk and uncertainty

Among the many challenges they face, the world’s least developed countries (LDCs) remain hotspots of chronic and acute food insecurity, with an average prevalence of chronic undernourishment of 22.1 per cent, and in some countries, reaching more than 50 per cent.  Despite some progress since 2020, the overall situation has worsened over the past decade due…

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Jobs and pay for women, barely improved in 20 years: UN labour agency

Jobs and pay for women, barely improved in 20 years: UN labour agency

The jobs gap for women is a “stubborn and damaging reality of the global labour market” but it is particularly worrying in developing countries, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said, with almost one in four women unable to find a job, compared with 16.6 per cent of men. ‘Bleaker picture’ That assessment is based on new data gathered from…

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