Category: United Nations (Page 9 of 11)

UNICEF warns: Public water system on the verge of collapse in Lebanon.

July 24, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

The public water system in Lebanon is “on life support” and could collapse at any moment, putting 71 per cent of the population, or more than four million people, at immediate risk of losing access to safe supply, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Friday.

Most water pumping will gradually cease in the next four to six weeks, the United Nations agency estimated, due to the escalating economic crisis and shortages in funding and supplies, such as chlorine and spare parts.

A collapse could lead to water prices rising by 200 per cent a month as families rush to secure alternative or private suppliers.

“The water sector is being squeezed to destruction by the current economic crisis in Lebanon, unable to function due to the dollarized maintenance costs, water loss caused by non-revenue water, the parallel collapse of the power grid and the threat of rising fuel costs,” said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative in the country.

“A loss of access to the public water supply could force households to make extremely difficult decisions regarding their basic water, sanitation and hygiene needs,” she added.

A UNICEF assessment based on data from Lebanon’s four main public utility companies revealed that more than 70 per cent of people are now living with “highly critical” and “critical” levels of vulnerability.

Nearly 1.7 million people have access to just 35 litres a day, compared with the national average of 165 litres prior to 2020, or a nearly 80 per cent decrease.

“At the height of the summer months, with COVID-19 cases beginning to rise again due to the Delta variant, Lebanon’s precious public water system is on life support and could collapse at any moment,” Ms Mokuo said according UN News.

UNICEF requires $40 million a year to secure the minimum levels of fuel, chlorine, spare parts and maintenance necessary to keep critical systems operational. 

Ms. Mokuo underscored the need for urgent action as facilities such as schools and hospitals will not be able to function, and millions will be forced to resort to unsafe and expensive water sources.

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Fewer women will regain jobs lost to the COVID-19 pandemic according the International Labour Organization.

July 20, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

According a new study released on Monday by the UN`s labour agency fewer women will regain jobs lost to the COVID-19 pandemic during the recovery period, than men.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) highlights that between 2019 and 2020, women’s employment declined by 4.2 per cent globally, representing 54 million jobs, while men suffered a three per cent decline, or 60 million jobs.

This means that there will be 13 million fewer women in employment this year compared to 2019, but the number of men in work will likely recover to levels seen two years ago.

This means that only 43 per cent of the world’s working-age women will be employed in 2021, compared to 69 per cent of their male counterparts.

The International Labour Organization paper suggests that women have seen disproportionate job and income losses because they are over-represented in the sectors hit hardest by lockdowns, such as accommodation, food services and manufacturing according UN News.

Fewer women will regain jobs lost to the COVID-19 pandemic

Not all regions have been affected in the same way.

For example, the study revealed that women’s employment was hit hardest in the Americas, falling by more than nine per cent.

This was followed by the Arab States at just over four per cent, then Asia-Pacific at 3.8 per cent, Europe at 2.5 per cent and Central Asia at 1.9 per cent.

In Africa, men’s employment dropped by just 0.1 per cent between 2019 and 2020, while women’s employment decreased by 1.9 per cent.

Throughout the pandemic, women faired considerably better in countries that took measures to prevent them from losing their jobs and allowed them to get back into the workforce as early as possible.

In Chile and Colombia, for example, wage subsidies were applied to new hires, with higher subsidy rates for women.

And Colombia and Senegal were among those nations which created or strengthened support for women entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, in Mexico and Kenya quotas were established to guarantee that women benefited from public employment programmes.

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Nelson Mandela day: Call for ‘dignity, equality, justice and human rights’ rings out.

July 18, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

Nelson Mandela International Day is an opportunity to reflect on the life and legacy of “a legendary global advocate for dignity, equality, justice and human rights”, the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said on Sunday.

“Each year, on this day, Nelson’s Mandela’s birthday, we pay tribute to this extraordinary man who embodied the highest aspirations of the United Nations and the human family”, Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message commemorating the 18 July celebration of South Africa’s first Black head of State.

Affectionately known as Madiba, his calls for solidarity and an end to racism are particularly relevant today, as social cohesion around the world is under threat of division.

With hate speech on the rise and misinformation blurring the truth, questioning science and undermining democratic institutions, societies are becoming more polarized, said the UN chief.

And the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has not only made these ills more acute but also rolled back years of progress in the global fight against poverty.

“As always in times of crises, it is the marginalized and discriminated against who suffer the most, often while being blamed for problems they did not cause”, said Mr. Guterres according UN News.

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ECOSOC President: “Act now to provide COVID-19 vaccines for all”.

July 17, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

The President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Munir Akram, said on friday: ensuring COVID-19 vaccines for all will be critical if the world is to defeat the pandemic in his address to the closing its high-level segment.

ECOSOC is one of the six main organs of the United Nations, and the pandemic is unfolding during its 75th anniversary.

Reflecting on the past year, Mr. Akram recalled how the Council responded to the crisis, and climate and development challenges, including through drawing attention to the special needs of the world’s least developed nations.

He urged countries to build on convergence and consensus achieved to confront major tasks ahead, starting with ensuring everyone, everywhere, is protected against the virus.

“Universal and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines is essential to defeat the virus and to revive global trade, investment and growth.

We have agreed on what needs to be done.

We must now do it,” he said, according UN News.

ECOSOC promotes collective action for a sustainable world.

The meeting was held one day after the conclusion of its annual High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Developing countries will need $4.3 trillion to recover from the triple crises and to realize the 17 goals by 2030.

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Funding shortfall amid deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

July 16, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

Senior UN official Ramiz Alakbarov on Thursday urged donors to step up support for Afghanistan, where ongoing drought and increased military operations amid foreign troop withdrawal, are displacing scores of civilians, creating a growing humanitarian crisis.

According UN News: Ramiz Alakbarov, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said a $1.3 billion appeal, launched earlier this year, is less than 40 per cent funded.

Some 18 million Afghans, or half the population, require assistance.

A third of the country is malnourished, while half of all children under five are experiencing acute malnutrition.

The $450 million received so far, half of which came from the United States, falls far short of what is needed.

“Our plan is to provide assistance to at least 15.7 million people, and right now it will not be possible without these additional contributions,” said Mr. Alakbarov, speaking via videoconference to journalists in New York.

The developments are occurring as the deadline for foreign troops to fully withdraw from the country approaches.

The drought, the second in three years, and ongoing military response in the wake of a “spring offensive” by the Taliban, have uprooted some 270,000 people who have fled rural areas for urban centres.

In the northern city of Kunduz, for example, roughly 35,000 displaced people are being housed in schools and public buildings, and need food, water and sanitation.

The fundamentalist Taliban who have been fighting the internationally-recognized central Government for years, have taken over all districts surrounding the city.

Meanwhile, neighbouring countries, such as Iran, have been deporting Afghan refugees from their territories.

Humanitarians are also witnessing “very intensive” population movements in areas near the borders with Iran and Pakistan, which are now largely closed.

The closures have not yet affected humanitarians as aid stocks are sufficient to last through the end of August.

Mr. Alakbarov has visited five regions of Afghanistan in as many weeks.

The UN official was particularly concerned about the plight of women and girls, who are facing “very difficult conditions”.

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‘Deeply negative impact’ of COVID pandemic, reverses Sustainable Development Goals progress.

July 16, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

Closing a key international development forum on Thursday, the deputy UN chief Amina Mohammed observed that a year of “immense challenges” has reversed progress on meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

After eight “solid days” of deliberations at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), Amina Mohammed attributed the COVID pandemic to “a reversal of SDG progress in some areas, and delayed action on many of the major transitions required to meet our 2030 goals”.

She said the pandemic has had a “deeply negative impact” on health and well-being; employment, businesses, incomes, education; and human rights, with “a particularly damaging effect on women and girls”.

Throughout the Forum, according UN News: during which nine Global Goals and 47 Voluntary National Review outcomes were examined in depth, many participants observed that some of the measures put in place during the pandemic could provide a foundation for SDG progress.

Ms. Mohammed gave the examples of digital learning, which could help to transform education more broadly, along with building on critical fiscal support many countries had provided to their economy, jobs and people.

“Governments should now consider whether some of these measures can be integrated into comprehensive social protection systems”, said the UN official.

Recovery efforts can be designed both to restart economies and accelerate SDG implementation.

Ms. Mohammed said that stimulus packages and Special Drawing Rights for foreign exchange reserves, can be leveraged to advance gender equality, boost investment in education, health and social protection.

They could also be used to accelerate climate change mitigation and generate decent jobs.

But there can be no pandemic recovery without “international solidarity and cooperation”, including through climate finance and financing for development, she added.

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WHO chief: ‘Early stages’ of COVID third wave, amid Delta surge.

July 15, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

The variant’s spread, along with increased social mobility and the inconsistent use of proven public health measures, is driving an increase in both case numbers and deaths, the head of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (World Health Organization) said on Wednesday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the recent data in an address to the Emergency Committee on COVID-19, established under the International Health Regulations (IHR), a treaty that guides global response to public health risks.

Recalling the sustained decline in COVID-19 cases and deaths that was being driven, in recent months, by increasing vaccination rates in Europe and North America, he sounded alarms over the fresh reversal of that positive trend.

“Unfortunately…we are now in the early stages of a third wave”, he said according UN News.

Delta variant dominates

Last week marked the fourth consecutive week of rising cases of COVID-19 globally, with increases recorded in all but one of WHO’s six regions.

Deaths are also rising again, after 10 weeks of steady decline.

Meanwhile, said Tedros, the virus is continuing to evolve, resulting in more transmissible variants.

“The Delta variant is now in more than 111 countries and we expect it to soon be the dominant COVID-19 strain circulating worldwide, if it isn’t already,” he said.

The spread of the Delta variant – one of the main drivers of the current increase in transmission – is also being fuelled by increased social mobility and the inconsistent use of proven public health and social measures.

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Conflict, climate change, COVID, pushes more people into hunger.

July 13, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

Global hunger levels have skyrocketed because of conflict, climate change and the economic impact of COVID-19; and one in five children around the world is stunted, UN agencies warned on Monday.

New data that represents the first comprehensive global assessment of food insecurity carried out since the coronavirus pandemic began, indicates that the number of people affected by chronic hunger in 2020, rose by more than in the previous five years combined.

Reversing this situation will likely take years if not decades, maintained the World Food Programme (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Food system reform call

“The pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” the heads of those UN agencies wrote in this year’s report.

It notes that around a tenth of the global population – between 720 million people and 811 million – were undernourished last year.

Some 418 million of that number were in Asia and 282 million were in Africa.

Globally, 2.4 billion people did not have access to sufficiently nutritious food in 2020 – an increase of nearly 320 million people in one year.

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Joe Biden backs Trump rejection of China’s South China Sea claim.

July 12, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

The Biden administration on Sunday upheld a Trump-era rejection of nearly all of China’s significant maritime claims in the South China Sea.

The administration also warned China that any attack on the Philippines in the flashpoint region would draw a U.S. response under a mutual defense treaty.

According AP News the stern message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken came in a statement released ahead of this week’s fifth anniversary of an international tribunal’s ruling in favor of the Philippines, against China’s maritime claims around the Spratly Islands and neighboring reefs and shoals.

China rejects the ruling.

Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the ruling last year, the Trump administration came out in favor of the ruling but also said it regarded as illegitimate virtually all Chinese maritime claims in the South China Sea outside China’s internationally recognized waters.

Sunday’s statement reaffirms that position, which had been laid out by Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.

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UN chief Antonio Guterres: “Ensure reproductive health rights for all on World Population Day”.

July 11, 2021 / Michael Maas / 0 Comments

In his message for World Population Day according UN News, observed on Sunday, the UN chief called for closing gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health services which the crisis has created.

Erosion of women’s reproductive rights has been one of the fallouts from the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said.

The pandemic “continues to upend our world, reaching one grim milestone after another,” said Mr. Guterres.

Last week, the global death toll due to COVID-19 officially surpassed four million.

“In addition to the millions of lives tragically lost, there has been a less visible toll: a shocking rise in domestic violence as women were forced into isolation with their abusers; empty maternity wards as women postponed motherhood; and unintended pregnancies due to curtailed access to contraceptive services,” said the UN Secretary-General.

The UN estimates that the pandemic will push some 47 million women and girls into extreme poverty. Additionally, many girls now out of school may never return to the classroom.

“In every corner of the world, we are seeing a reversal of hard-won gains and an erosion of women’s reproductive rights, choices and agency. With the onset of the pandemic, resources for sexual and reproductive health services were diverted,” the UN Secretary-General said.

“These gaps in access to health rights are unacceptable. Women cannot be alone in this fight,” he added.

“As we mark World Population Day, let us pledge to ensure the reproductive health rights of everyone, everywhere.”

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Delta variant dominates

Food system reform call

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