Page 175 - Lobal Issues News Today

Renewed diplomatic attention on Syria in the aftermath of the recent devastating earthquakes that hit the country and neighbouring Türkiye could help to unlock stalled peace efforts, UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Thursday.

In a landmark resolution, the UN Security Council on Thursday condemned the de facto rulers of Afghanistan’s decision to ban women nationals from working for the United Nations, calling for Taliban leaders to “swiftly reverse” their decision.

The UN has been forced to essentially halt all aid operations across Sudan due to the continuing fighting between rival militaries, but humanitarians who have re-located to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast are determined to return to Khartoum “as quickly as possible”, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator said on Thursday.

BULAWAYO, Apr 28 (IPS) - Growing up in Palau in the western Pacific Ocean, Surangel Whipps Jr. played on the reefs and spearfished on an island teeming with birds, giant clams, fish, and turtles.

The rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti demands that the country remains at the centre of international attention and action, newly appointed UN Special Representative Maria Isabel Salvador said on Wednesday in her first briefing to the Security Council.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday launched a new initiative to help strengthen countries’ ability to plan for, and deal with, another deadly pandemic like COVID-19, as latest figures show a huge fall in COVID deaths this year.

One year after the General Assembly adopted its so-called “veto initiative”, Member States met on Wednesday to discuss how it could contribute to a more efficient and impact-oriented UN.

Survivors of one of the world’s worst ever nuclear accidents at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine on 26 April 1986 have been reflecting on the events of that fateful day 37 years ago, as current employees consider the challenges of working at the plant which was seized by Russian troops following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The UN’s Special Representative for Sudan has called on the rival military factions which have plunged the country into chaos during 11 days of fighting to “fully adhere” to the agreed 72-hour ceasefire amid increasing concern at reports of inter-communal violence and attacks in the West Darfur region.

BRUSSELS, Apr 27 (IPS) - In todays world, human rights defenders face immense challenges, with threats, attacks, and repression being rampant in many countries. According to the latest report by Front Line Defenders, killings of rights defenders increased in 2022, with a total of 401 deaths across 26 different countries. Despite the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders 25 years ago, the threats faced by defenders persist globally.