November 23, 2020 No comments
‘Real hope’ surrounding COVID vaccines ‘cannot be overstated’ – WHO chief
INTERNATIONAL, 23 November 2020, Health - Along with other tried and tested public health measures, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) told journalists on Monday that “there is now real hope” that vaccines will play an essential part in helping end the COVID pandemic. “With the latest positive news from vaccine trials, the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel is growing brighter”, said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “The significance of this scientific achievement cannot be overstated”. Setting new standards Noting that no vaccine in history has been developed as rapidly, the WHO chief remarked that the scientific community had set “a new standard for vaccine development” and now the international community must set “a new standard for access”. “The urgency with which vaccines have been developed...
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November 23, 2020 No comments
UN ‘extremely concerned’ for safety of Tigray civilians in regional capital, as refugee numbers grow
INTERNATIONAL, 23 November 2020, Peace and Security - The UN on Monday said it was “extremely concerned” over the safety of civilians across Ethiopia’s Tigray region, as fighting between Government troops and those loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reportedly continued, with the Ethiopian Prime Minister having called on opposition forces to surrender the capital Mekelle, by Wednesday. Due to a near total communications blackout across Tigray, establishing facts on the ground is proving difficult, but UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told correspondents at UN Headquarters that more than half a million people remain in Mekelle “following information that fighting might move into the city in the coming hours.” The TPLF was formerly the dominant political party of government in Ethiopia, losing out at the ballot...
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November 23, 2020 No comments
UN expert calls for urgent action to end ‘pandemic of femicide and violence against women’
INTERNATIONAL, 23 November 2020, Human Rights - COVID-19 is overshadowing what has become a “pandemic of femicide” and related gender-based violence against women and girls, said independent UN human rights expert Dubravka Šimonović on Monday, calling for the universal establishment of national initiatives to monitor and prevent such killings. Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marked on 25 November, Ms. Šimonović said the rise in femicides and violence was “taking the lives of women and girls everywhere” around the world, as the coronavirus continues to rage out of control. ‘Femicide watches’ The UN Human Rights expert called on “all States and relevant stakeholders worldwide to take urgent steps to prevent the pandemic of femicide or gender related killings of women, and gender-based violence against women, through the establishment of national multidisciplinary prevention bodies or Femicide watches/observatories on violence against women”. She said those bodies should be...
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November 23, 2020 No comments
Afghanistan: UN’s Grandi and Bachelet put plea for lasting ceasefire top of their wishlist
INTERNATIONAL, 23 November 2020, Peace and Security - Two top UN officials called for an end to the long-running conflict in Afghanistan on Monday, telling a major conference in Geneva that normality could only return to the country if there was a sustained ceasefire. Speaking at the Afghanistan 2020 Conference, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, both listed changes that would improve the lot of ordinary Afghans and prospects for rebuilding the war-torn country. Six asks OHCHR chief Ms. Bachelet said she had six “asks” for the people of Afghanistan, beginning with an immediate commitment to protect civilians from harm. “This can save thousands of families from suffering and lessen recriminations and bolster confidence and trust among negotiators. Parties should...
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November 23, 2020 No comments
Somalia at a crossroad, UN envoy urges ‘deepened’ political consensus
INTERNATIONAL, 23 November 2020, Peace and Security - The “broad political consensus” reached in September that ended a two-year stalemate in Somalia must be “preserved and indeed deepened”, the country’s UN envoy told the Security Council on Monday. Although the agreed model of voting “regrettably fell short” of the constitutional requirement for parliamentary elections based on the principle of universal suffrage, Special Representative James Swan, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), acknowledged that it did reflect “wide Somali political consensus and ownership”. “In addition to the support of the President and federal member state leaders, the indirect model was also endorsed by other key Somali stakeholders, including political parties and civil society, and was ratified by the Federal Parliament”, he said via...
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