September 24, 2021 No comments
Syria: 10 years of war has left at least 350,000 dead
INTERNATIONAL, 24 September 2021, Human Rights - A decade of war in Syria has left more 350,200 people dead, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council on Friday, noting that this total was an “under-count of the actual number of killings”. These are a result of a war that spiralled out of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Based on the “rigorous work” of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), she said that the tally, which includes civilians and combatants, is based on “strict methodology” requiring the deceased’s full name, the date of death, and location of the body. People behind the numbers In the first official update on the death toll since 2014, Ms. Bachelet informed the...
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September 24, 2021 No comments
Afghanistan: Girls’ education must be a given, urges deputy UN chief
INTERNATIONAL, 24 September 2021, Human Rights - Ensuring all Afghan girls can be educated must be “a zero condition” for the Taliban, before international recognition of their de facto authority, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Friday. Ms. Mohammed was speaking during a panel discussion on supporting a future for girls’ education in Afghanistan, held on the margins of the UN General Assembly. Prominent women advocates from Afghanistan and the international community also participated in the discussion, held both online and in person, and moderated by BBC correspondent Laura Trevelyan from UN Headquarters in New York. ‘Front and centre’ Asked if international aid to Afghanistan could be conditional on education for women and girls, Ms. Mohammed responded “absolutely”, stating that the issue “continues to remain...
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September 24, 2021 No comments
Human rights in Belarus continue downward spiral, warns Bachelet
INTERNATIONAL, 24 September 2021, Human Rights - The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that she continues to be alarmed by “persistent allegations” of “widespread and systematic torture” of protesters in Belarus. Gender-based violence is of serious concern, with reports that approximately 30 per cent of those arbitrarily detained were women and girls, Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Freedoms under assault Severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms have also continued since the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in August last year, Ms Bachelet said. She highlighted ongoing police raids against civil society groups and independent media, and the politically motivated arrests and criminal prosecutions of activists and journalists. More than 650 people are believed to be in prison because of their opinions – including the head...
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September 24, 2021 No comments
WHO backs Regeneron COVID-19 drug cocktail - with equal access, price cut
INTERNATIONAL, 24 September 2021, Health - The Regeneron antibody drug cocktail – casirivimab and imdevimab – has been added to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) list of treatments for COVID-19 patients, the UN agency said on Friday, before underscoring the need for lower prices and equitable distribution. “This is a major breakthrough in the care of COVID-19 patients”, said Dr. Janet Diaz, WHO head of clinical care. “This is our first recommendation for a therapeutic for those patients with mild, moderate disease,” she said, because it reduces “the need for hospitalisation if they are at high risk”. Effective ‘reduction in mortality’ WHO’s conditional recommendations are for use of the drug combination on patients who are not severely ill, but at high risk of being admitted to hospital with COVID-19, or those with severe cases of the disease and no existing antibodies. “Giving...
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September 24, 2021 No comments
Deadly ‘invisible shipwrecks’ plague migrants bound for Canary Islands
INTERNATIONAL, 24 September 2021, Migrants and Refugees - A sharp increase in the deaths and disappearances of migrants at sea heading to Spain’s Canary Islands, along the West African coast, is a cause for “extreme concern” the UN’s migration agency, IOM, said on Friday. By the end of last month, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project recorded 785 people, including 177 women and 50 children, who had died or disappeared this year. Frank Laczko, Director of IOM's Global Migration Data Analysis Centre noted that the actual numbers are likely much higher. “Invisible shipwrecks, in which there are no survivors, are believed to be frequent occurrences on this route but are nearly impossible to verify”, he said. Deadly August August was the deadliest month in terms of documented fatalities – with 379 lives lost – accounting for nearly half of...
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