Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

Orlando Bloom describes ‘devastating impact’ of DR Congo violence on women and children

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visited the region  for the first time this week to see the dire conditions there for himself. “The staggering scale of the conflict in eastern DRC, the horrific level of violence, and its devastating impact on the children and women I met is heart-wrenching,” said Mr. Bloom. “No child should…

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UN investigative team hands over key ISIL crime data to Iraq

UN investigative team hands over key ISIL crime data to Iraq

Thus far, some 28 terabytes (TB) of data have been transferred, representing a majority of the 40TB held by UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD). Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, UNITAD acting head Ana Peyró Llopis said she has regularly engaged with Iraqi officials, notably the judiciary, survivors…

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Increasing disease and humanitarian strain in Gaza amid aid shortages

New UNICEF report reveals severe child food poverty amid world crises

The report warned that millions of children under five have difficulty accessing nutritious and diverse diets necessary for developmental growth and that food prices and living costs have hit record-high levels as countries continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF Nutrition Specialist, Harriet Torlesse – who was also a lead writer…

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World News in Brief: World News in Brief: Warmest January on record, Sudan diplomacy push, catching childhood cancer early

World heading towards new temperature records, UN weather watchdog warns

Latest forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization indicated that there was an 80 per cent likelihood that the world will see the annual average global temperature temporarily exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the next five years, a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns.  “WMO is sounding the alarm that…

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Break free from pollution, climate chaos and ‘biodiversity decimation’, UN chief urges

Break free from pollution, climate chaos and ‘biodiversity decimation’, UN chief urges

In a message marking Wednesday’s World Environment Day, António Guterres emphasized that countries “must deliver” on all their commitments to restore degraded ecosystems and land, and on Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, the global agreement to protect biodiversity. “They must use their new national climate action plans to set out how they will halt and reverse deforestation…

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Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

Continuing restrictions hamper humanitarian access inside Gaza

Humanitarians said that “security and humanitarian access conditions” have been further reduced since May because of increased violence in northern and southern Gaza, especially in Rafah, where Israeli forces continue their bombardment and military offensive.   “Despite the presence of a system to notify and coordinate humanitarian movements, impediments, delays, and denials of missions continue…

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More than 500 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN rights chief

More than 500 Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank: UN rights chief

Two of the latest fatalities were 16-year-old Ahmed Ashraf Hamidat and 17-year-old Mohammed Musa Al Bitar, both shot “at a distance of about 70 metres while running away after throwing stones and/or Molotov cocktails towards a[n Israeli] military post outside a settlement near Aqabat Jaber, CCTV footage shows”, said the High Commissioner’s Office, OHCHR. The…

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