WHO calls for more action to end ‘cycles of poverty and stigma’ related to tropical diseases

WHO calls for more action to end ‘cycles of poverty and stigma’ related to tropical diseases

To mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day, the UN agency has released a report highlighting progress and challenges in delivering care for these 20 conditions, which mainly affect the world’s poorest people.  NTDs are caused by a variety of pathogens including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins, and can be deadly.  Other examples are Buruli…

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Libya: human rights abuses must be addressed, says UN probe

Libya: human rights abuses must be addressed, says UN probe

The UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya was established by the Human Rights Council in June 2020, to investigate alleged abuses of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in Libya since 2016. The panel’s latest official visit to Libya which ended on Sunday heard testimony from victims’ relatives of extrajudicial killings, torture,…

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Tedros: COVID-19 remains an international health threat

Tedros: COVID-19 remains an international health threat

Tedros’s decision follows the advice offered at the latest coronavirus Emergency Committee meeting last Friday, held at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva via videoconference. “There is little doubt that this virus will remain a permanently established pathogen in humans and animals for the foreseeable future,” the Committee said. It is three years to…

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Israel-Palestine: UNICEF warns children are paying ‘the highest price’ as violence escalates

Israel-Palestine: UNICEF warns children are paying ‘the highest price’ as violence escalates

“Children continue to pay the highest price of violence,” the statement declared. “As the situation remains very volatile, UNICEF fears that an increasing number of children will suffer.” Just a few weeks into the new year, seven Palestinian children and one Israeli child had been killed and many more injured. Since 26 January alone, the terrorist attack outside…

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‘All sides need to think about the future they want for Venezuela’, says UN human rights chief

‘All sides need to think about the future they want for Venezuela’, says UN human rights chief

“Following my meeting with President [Nicolás] Maduro, he publicly expressed his readiness to work towards improving the justice system. This is a key area for reform, and I offer the support and expertise of my Office to pursue this,” Volker Türk told reporters in Caracas at the end of his three-day visit.  In addition to Mr. Maduro,…

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Myanmar mired ever deeper in crisis as human rights spiral backwards, warns Türk

Myanmar mired ever deeper in crisis as human rights spiral backwards, warns Türk

“By nearly every feasible measurement, and in every area of human rights – economic, social and cultural, as much as civil and political – Myanmar has profoundly regressed,” he said. “Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been consistent disregard for the related rules of…

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Climate crisis and migration: Greta Thunberg supports IOM over ‘life and death’ issue

Climate crisis and migration: Greta Thunberg supports IOM over ‘life and death’ issue

António Vitorino, and Ms. Thunberg said they had “found much common ground” during a recent discussion about the impact of global climate change on human mobility. The Greta Thunberg Foundation has donated 275,000 Euros (around $269,000) to support IOM‘s emergency response to the historic floods in Pakistan and the crippling drought in Somalia. ‘Chain of…

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