November 14, 2019 No comments
Bolivia crisis: UN chief sends envoy to support peace, amidst renewed clashes
INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 2019, Peace and Security - UN chief António Guterres announced on Thursday that he had appointed a Personal Envoy who would be travelling to Bolivia later in the day, to offer support to national leaders, following the departure of former president, Evo Morales. “The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned about the developments in Bolivia”, his Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York. “He reiterates his appeal to all Bolivians to refrain from violence and exercise utmost restraint”, he added, referring to the rising incidents of violence following weeks of protest which began over disputed presidential election results. Opposition Senator, Jeanine Añez, assumed the presidency on an interim basis on Tuesday, and has promised to hold elections soon, according to news reports. The deputy Senate leader was third in line to become interim leader, but supporters of Mr. Morales took to the streets amidst violent clashes with security...
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November 14, 2019 No comments
Renewal of cross-border aid operation critical to northern Syria: UN relief chief
INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 2019, Peace and Security - The top UN humanitarian official was in the Security Council on Wednesday to appeal for the renewal of an operation that delivers life-saving food and other aid relief to some four million civilians in northern Syria. The mandate of the cross-border mechanism operating from Turkey will expire in January. “Without the cross-border operation, we would see an immediate end of aid supporting millions of civilians,” Mark Lowcock, the UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the Council. “That would cause a rapid increase in hunger and disease. A lot more people would flood across the borders, making an existing crisis even worse in the region.” Rising humanitarian needs The cross-border operation was mandated under UN Security Council Resolution 2165...
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November 14, 2019 No comments
UN mosquito sterilization technology set for global testing, in battle against malaria, dengue
INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 2019, Health - With more than half the world now at risk from mosquito-transmitted dengue fever, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN has taken the lead on a global effort to eradicate the disease – and many others – by measuring the impact of releasing millions of sterilized pests across several continents, it announced on Thursday. Using a process known as Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – developed decades ago to target crop-eating insects in the United States – UN researchers have spent the last 10 years adapting it to mosquitoes. Working with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) tropical diseases programme, they have now drawn up guidelines for nations wanting to tackle disease outbreaks transmitted by the winged insects. “Countries have...
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November 14, 2019 No comments
UN agency sounds alarm: Dwindling agrobiodiversity ‘severe threat’ to food security
INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 2019, Climate Change - To help ensure the most-consumed foods don’t disappear in the face of the climate crisis, farmers must cultivate crops able to resist environmental shocks and other stresses, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) highlighted in a new set of conservation guidelines published on Thursday. The Voluntary Guidelines for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Farmers Varieties, spotlights the need for food systems to be sustainable, but the lack of variety and increasing uniformity of crops may render them unsuitable for the changing conditions under which they grow. “It is worrisome that humans rely on only three crops - maize, wheat and rice - for 51 per cent of all plant-based food”, Assistant Director-General of the Agriculture and...
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November 14, 2019 No comments
Revealed: danger and squalor for cleaners who remove human waste by hand
INTERNATIONAL, 14 November 2019, Health - The plight of sanitation workers in the developing world should be addressed urgently, the UN said on Thursday, warning that their rights, health and dignity are at risk. Highlighting the dangers for the millions of people who clean toilets, sewers and septic tanks, ahead of World Toilet Day next Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that while the workforce performs an essential public service, their own health is compromised and they are often shunned. “Workers often come into direct contact with human waste, working with no equipment or protection to remove it by hand, which expose them to a long list of health hazards and diseases”, WHO said in a statement accompanying a new report. “It is only when those...
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