Month: December 2022
Peace needed now, ‘more than ever’: Guterres
“Every New Year is a moment of rebirth”, said António Guterres. We sweep out the ashes of the old year and prepare for a brighter day. In 2022, millions of people around the world literally swept out ashes.” The impact on civilians, meant that over 100 million people found themselves fleeing violence, wildfires, droughts, poverty and hunger, the…
Read MoreSouth Sudan: UN and partners make plea for urgent intervention to end ‘escalating violence’
UNMISS, the African Union mission, regional bloc IGAD, the so-called Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway), the European Union, and the body overseeing the peace agreement signed by the warring parties in South Sudan (R-JMEC), issued a statement on Wednesday, saying they were “gravely concerned about the escalating ongoing violence, loss of life and…
Read MoreUN chief issues global ‘wake-up call’ on Day of Epidemic Preparedness
“The costs have been catastrophic”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement marking the day. Since the pandemic struck, he pointed out that millions of lives have been lost, as hundreds of millions fallen ill. And economies have been shattered, health systems stretched, and trillions of dollars lost. Moreover, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals…
Read MoreUN refugee agency welcomes Indonesia’s ‘act of humanity’ in rescuing migrants adrift at sea
UNHCR issued a statement explaining that two groups of survivors had been brought to shore off the coast of north-west Indonesia. Believed to have been at sea for more than a month, the UN agency expressed relief that they are now safe in Indonesia. After highlighting their plight, Ann Maymann, UNHCR Representative in Indonesia said,…
Read More2022 Year in Review: Amid global turmoil, UN doggedly pursues international climate agreements
At the end of 2021, when the UN climate conference (COP26) wrapped up in Glasgow, none of those present could have suspected that a war in Ukraine would throw the global economy into turmoil, convincing many nations to suspend their commitments to a low carbon economy, as they scrambled to reduce their dependence on Russian…
Read MoreKenya: Severe drought fuels malnutrition, reduces hospital-delivery births in Turkana County
“I have never experienced a drought as bad as this in my life”, 28-year-old Akure Ewar told UNFPA. At seven months pregnant, she complains that she is hungry and often feels dizzy when going about her day. “The dry seasons have been progressively getting worse over the last three years, but our animals kept us…
Read More‘Unfathomable restrictions’ on women’s rights risk destabilizing Afghanistan
“No country can develop – indeed survive – socially and economically with half its population excluded”, said the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, pose a risk beyond Afghanistan’s borders”. He urged the de facto authorities to “respect…
Read More2022 Year In health: New Ebola and cholera outbreaks, mpox emergency, COVID-19 ‘not over’
A global population weary of the chaos caused by COVID-19 pandemic had to contend with a new, highly transmissible variant at the beginning of the year: Omicron. Omicron and on This latest version swept across Europe, leading to record weekly case numbers, although the number of deaths was relatively low, compared to previous outbreaks. And,…
Read More2022 Year in Review: 100 million displaced, ‘a record that should never have been set’
The 100 million figure, which includes those fleeing conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution, was announced by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in May and described by Filippo Grandi, the head of the agency, as “a record that should never have been set”. The figure is up from some 90 million in 2021. Outbreaks…
Read MoreUN Secretary-General ‘deeply disturbed’ by Taliban’s reported ban on women working for NGOs in Afghanistan
A statement issued by Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply disturbed by the reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities” and that the UN chief “reiterates the rights of all women to participate in the workforce thus contributing to the greater good.” According to media reports, the Taliban ordered all foreign and domestic non-governmental groups…
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