October 2023 – Page 12 – Career Meaning

Karabakh: Humanitarians respond to growing health needs

Concerns also remain for those unable to leave the Karabakh Region town of Khankendi – known as Stepanakert among Armenians – which the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said was close to empty. Its priority remains finding those too vulnerable to help themselves. Deserted city “The city is now completely deserted. The hospitals,…

Women and girls continue to be killed, based on gender alone

“Women and girls continue to be killed on the basis of their sex and gender, rendered more vulnerable to femicide when being women and girls intersect with other grounds or identities,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on the issue – whose brief includes examining the causes and consequences of attacks. She stated that “they…

Looming hunger emergency for South Sudanese families fleeing war

Nearly 300,000 people have arrived in South Sudan since the conflict began across the border in mid-April, most of whom are returnees.  Among them, one in five children is malnourished and 90 per cent of families are experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. Screening data from the border crossing also revealed that more than a quarter…

Arbitrary detention still widespread in Mexico, rights expert warns

In a statement concluding a 12-day visit there, the UN expert group said that reforms including the transition to an accusatory criminal procedure, adherence to international human rights laws and introduction of a National Registry of Detentions, and an increasingly human-rights centred legal system are significant achievements. ‘Catalyst for ill-treatment’ However, they noted that “these…

We’re better off thanks to migrants, says new IOM chief

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on her first official day as head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope said that migrants were “people first” who should not be seen as a problem. That distinction was more critical than ever today, the IOM Director-General added, noting that it is almost 10 years since…

INTERVIEW: How new mission could support gang-ravaged Haiti

This week, the Security Council will consider a draft resolution on a new non-UN multinational mission under the UN Charter’s Chapter VII provision allowing the use of force. “This is not a typical or old kind of peacekeeping mission,” Ambassador Robert Rae of Canada, Chair of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Ad Hoc Advisory Group…

World Habitat Day focuses on cities as drivers of growth

Global economic growth is declining to about 2.5 per cent this year, the UN said. Apart from the initial COVID-19 crisis three years ago, and the global financial crisis in 2009, this represents the weakest level since 2001. Given the size of the contribution of cities to national economies, the future of many countries will…

Mediterranean ‘becoming a cemetery for children and their futures’

More than 11,600 unaccompanied children have crossed the Central Mediterranean to Italy so far this year the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday, an increase of 60 per cent compared with last year. The number of arrivals peaked this month on the small island of Lampedusa off Italy’s southern coast, with 4,800 people arriving…

Tackling fake news in Kenya: A UN Resident Coordinator blog

Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, reflects on the 2022 elections, which saw an effective partnership with the Government and private-sector rise to the occasion to take down fake news. “No one is born with hate. Hate is taught, and then hate spreads. Over recent years, social media and other digital platforms, amplified…

‘Magnificent diversity’ of humanity is a treasure, not a threat, Guterres says

The International Day is observed annually on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian freedom movement and pioneer of the philosophy of non-violence. “On this International Day, we commemorate not only the birth of Mahatma Gandhi but also the timeless values he championed: mutual respect and understanding, justice, and the…