Month: February 2023
South African peacekeeper killed after helicopter comes under fire mid-flight in DR Congo
In a statement issued by his Spokesperson, UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack, which left the South African ‘blue helmet’ dead, and another wounded. Emergency landing According to news reports, the severely injured peacekeeper was able to continue flying, and along with the rest of the crew, managed to land at the airport of the…
Read MoreIraq must seize ‘brief window of opportunity’ to turn tide of instability
Highlighting recent achievements and challenges ahead following a year of tensions and political discord, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said the hope is that the confirmation of the new Government will provide an opportunity to structurally address the many pressing issues. ‘Glass half full’ “Effecting meaningful change will take time, as this can only happen through structural change…
Read MoreDownward slide in global food prices continues: FAO
Price indices for vegetable oils, dairy and sugar drove the January decline, the UN food agency said, issuing two new reports on food production expectations. The FAO food price index fell 17.9 per cent below its all-time peak, reached in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The downward pricing trend was helped in…
Read MoreTransforming how we eat, ‘a critical accelerator’ towards 2030 development goals: Deputy UN chief
The so-called UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment is the first global follow-up to a 2021 summit convened to change how the world produces, consumes and thinks about food. The high-level event falls at the halfway point for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development (SDGs), which provide a blueprint for…
Read MoreUN child rights committee lauds Swiss asylum offer to Kurdish family
“We welcome the timely action taken by Switzerland to suspend the children’s return to Bulgaria, in compliance with the Committee’s request for interim measures,” said Ann Skelton, a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). “We also welcome the decision to reassess these children’s situation and their risk of being exposed…
Read MoreFrom the Field: Earning a crust from bread
© UNHCR/Samuel Otieno | Kavugwa Shebulike Cadet (right) prepares dough with his employees and trainees at his bakery in Nyankanda refugee camp. Kavugwa Shebulike Cadet, fled with his wife and seven children to the Nyankanda refugee camp, in eastern Burundi, where he set up a bakery providing what he calls the best bread “for miles…
Read MoreWHO launches bid to tackle inequalities behind global breast cancer threat
Each year, more than 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the most common cancer in the world affecting all adults, according to WHO. Although a limited number of high-income countries have been able to reduce breast cancer mortality by 40 per cent since 1990, for women in poorer countries, one of…
Read MoreUN chief: Build ‘alliance of peace’ on International Day of Human Fraternity
The International Day of Human Fraternity celebrates the values that “are the glue that hold our human family together” – compassion, religious understanding, and mutual respect, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said. Prevent hatred, defuse extremism “These values underwrite peace, yet all over the world, they are being eroded by deepening divides, widening inequalities and growing…
Read MoreMoldova: The long and winding road to safety
Tucked away in the southeastern corner of Europe, Moldova’s winters may be drab and harsh, but the road from Ukraine’s border spools out through bare, brown hills like a ribbon of hope. To Larysa, who came from the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the silent heath means safety. It means a pause in the constant barrage…
Read MoreUN rights chief appeals for Israelis and Palestinians to end ‘illogic of escalation’
“Rather than doubling down on failed approaches of violence and coercion that have singularly failed in the past, I urge everyone involved to step out of the illogic of escalation that has only ended in dead bodies, shattered lives and utter despair,” he said in a statement. Record killings in 2022 Mr. Türk reported…
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