Month: January 2023
Pakistan floods: 9 million more risk being pushed into poverty, warns UNDP
“We estimate that up to around nine million people – additional people – could be pushed into poverty due to the flood impact” said Knut Ostby, UNDP Resident Representative in Pakistan. Climate risk knows no borders Although the Pakistan flooding was “unprecedented”, it could happen to other countries affected by climate change, Mr. Ostby warned.…
Read MoreUN working to reduce tensions following Israel minister’s holy site visit
Ambassadors were briefed by Khalid Khiari, a UN Assistant Secretary-General, who expressed concern over the developments and the broader ongoing tensions and violence in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, Israel’s new National Security Minister, far-right party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s old city that is sacred to both Jews and…
Read MoreEurope: Warm start to 2023 breaks records and skiers’ hearts, says WMO
And as a growing number of European ski resorts at lower altitudes struggle to provide adequate snow cover for their early-season visitors, the WMO pointed to widely accepted peer-reviewed scientific data from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicating that the frequency of cold spells and frost days “will decrease”. “Strong declines in…
Read MoreSyria: Rights experts call for renewal of cross-border aid resolution
They warned of the dire consequences of not renewing Resolution 2642, which is set to expire on 10 January. “If the cross-border resolution is not renewed, the already desperate humanitarian situation in northwest Syria will be further aggravated at a time when people in the country need the international community’s support to survive,” they said…
Read MoreUkraine: FAO and EU in $15.5 million bid to avert food crisis threat
With funding from the European Union, the project will help sustain agricultural production in Ukraine, after Russia’s full-scale invasion last February forced many rural producers to scale down or abandon their activities, amid the destruction of crops and farm equipment, and disruption to supply chains. Some 13 million people living in rural areas rely on…
Read MoreWHO continues to urge China to share more data amid COVID-19 surge
“We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing,” he said, speaking from Geneva. WHO is concerned about the risk to life in the world’s most populous country and reiterated the importance of stepping up vaccination coverage, including booster doses, particularly…
Read MoreUN rights chief appeals for end to arbitrary detention
“At the start of this year – the 75th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – I call on governments and all detaining authorities, globally, to amnesty, pardon or simply release all those detained for exercising their rights,” he said in a statement. “Reach into your hearts, review their cases, and make a choice to…
Read MoreUkraine: ‘Multiple civilian causalities’ as new year dawns
Citing UN humanitarian colleagues, he informed the media at the regular daily press briefing that intensified violence in different regions of the war-torn country caused “multiple civilian casualties”, which included children and journalists. “Ukrainian authorities reported more than 50 civilian casualties on December 31st alone”, said Mr. Haq. Mounting casualties The latest attacks on the…
Read MoreCOVID-19: China infection surge on agenda at WHO coronavirus meeting
In Geneva, a spokesperson for the WHO confirmed during a scheduled press briefing that Chinese scientists had been invited to participate in a meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 (TAG). The 30-strong expert group was formed in June 2020 to advise the UN health agency and Member States on coronavirus mutations and variants.…
Read MoreSyria: Security Council advised to extend cross-border aid access ‘without delay’
The joint statement was issued by the heads of the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN refugee agency (UNHCR). If the Council fails to extend resolution 2642, “the consequences will be catastrophic for…
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