Belarus debate in spotlight at Human Rights Council. The Belarus Government should end “violent crackdowns” and “increasing repression” against protesters who are still contesting the result of last month's Presidential elections, UN deputy rights chief Nada Al Nashif told the Human Rights Council on Friday.
Venezuela: Human Rights Council-appointed fact-finding report urges accountability for crimes against humanity. Rights violations against anti-Government protesters in Venezuela “amounted to crimes against humanity”, UN-appointed rights investigators have said in their first report.
Hottest summer on record in north fuels concerns over wildfire destruction on US west coast. The northern hemisphere has just had its hottest summer and warmest August on record, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday, amid searing conditions that have contributed to devastating wildfires on the US west coast.
Belarus concerns lead opening session of Human Rights Council. UN Member States gathered in person in Geneva on Monday for a new session of the Human Rights Council; proceedings began with a decision to hold a rare Urgent Debate on the situation in Belarus.
Fresh war crimes fears highlighted in new Yemen report. The war in Yemen continues to ravage the country and its people, senior UN-appointed rights investigators said on Wednesday, as they called for the first time for an international criminal probe into suspected war crimes and sanctions against perpetrators.
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing Resurging Violence in DRC - Kasai UNHCR
Attacks on journalists are attacks on all civil society: UN rights chief Bachelet. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has urged all countries to do more to protect journalists, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, as their work helps save lives.
Heavy seasonal rains have caused severe flooding in Sudan leaving vast damage to people and infrastructure including access to clean water – critical in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic
UN Syria negotiator welcomes ‘commonalities’ shared by Syrians in Geneva talks. Syrian opponents meeting in Geneva as part of efforts to find a peaceful end to nearly a decade of conflict in their country have found common ground on which to pursue further discussions, UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen said on Saturday.
Syrian Constitutional Committee - Arrivals 28AUG2020
Violent hurricanes in Gulf Coast offer a tate of things to come as WMO warns of “more hurricanes of categories 4 and 5” this season. As the Gulf Coast of the United States left assessing the massive damage left by hurricane Laura , scientist predict that the strongest storm tied to hit the state of Louisiana since 1856 was just the beginning of more hurricanes to be expected during this season.
Syrian Constitutional Committee Resumption - Arrivals 27AUG2020
Syria constitutional talks reconvene after COVID-19 suspension. UN-facilitated talks to discuss a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution for war-torn Syria reconvened at UN Geneva on Thursday after being suspended three days earlier when four participants tested positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19 reinfection seems not to be a ‘regular event’, says UN health agency. There is likely only a slim possibility of people being reinfected with COVID-19, the UN health agency said on Tuesday, following reports in Hong Kong that a man had contracted new coronavirus for a second time after an interval of more than four months.
15 participants each from the Government of Syria, the Syrian Negotiations Commission and Civil Society delegations (also known as the “middle third”), who are meeting at UN Geneva in line with a key part of Security Council resolution 2254 (from 2015), which called for setting a schedule and process for drafting a new constitution. A larger group of 150 delegates is also part of the process, but only the smaller group is meeting in Geneva as of Monday.
Beirut blast exposed widespread corruption and accountability deficit in Lebanon, says UNDP. The explosion at the port of Beirut on the 4th of August has resulted in deep human suffering and massive destruction to the Lebanese capital, but it has also revealed a deeper and more devastating problem the country, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): widespread and systemic corruption.
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing UNOG-NEWS Beirut Humanitarian Response 11AUG2020: As extent of blast damage and people’s needs become clear in Beirut, UN humanitarian agencies bring immediate aid and appeal for support
UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing Lebanon Blast Reax 07AUG2020
Breastfeeding link to COVID-19 is negligible, says World Health Organization. The risk of COVID-19 infection from breastfeeding is negligible and has never been documented, the UN health agency said on Tuesday, while warning that not using mother’s milk is linked to more than 820,000 child deaths a year, at a cost to the global economy of some $300 billion.
Thousands suffer extreme rights abuses journeying to Africa’s Mediterranean coast: UNHCR, IOM
COVID-19 is not seasonal, says WHO, urges greater respect for physical distancing
Dramatic Arctic fires and sea ice melt, reminders of need for urgent climate action, says WMO
COVID-19 scapegoating triggers fresh displacement in Yemen, warns migration agency
Starvation, death from disease and violence can be stopped with $10.3 billion appeal: UN agencies. A huge increase in the number of people facing starvation because of the COVID-19 crisis is only one of the many problems UN humanitarians are concerned about because of the pandemic, they said on Friday.
In Yemen, thousands of Ethiopian migrants stranded, COVID-19 likely widespread: IOM
Covid-19, war and hunger – Yemen’s humanitarian food crisis is becoming worse, warns the World Food Programme (WFP)
OHCHR Inquiry on Syria press conference: Idlib Report 07JUL2020
Thousands continue to flee DR Congo violence seeking shelter in Uganda. Thousands of people fleeing murderous attacks in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have crossed into neighbouring Uganda, the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.
WFP: Tens of millions more people to go hungry in Africa this year because of Covid-19
UN’s Bachelet urges Philippines’ President not to sign new anti-terror law. The Human Rights Council should consider supporting new accountability measures against perpetrators of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines’ so-called war on illegal drugs, the UN’s top rights official said on Tuesday.
Urgent global action needed to end harmful practices against women and girls, says the United Nations Population Fund. Urgent action is needed to stop female genital mutilation, child marriage, and other harmful practices to which millions of women and girls are subjected to every year. This according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) State of World Population report for 2020.
Swiss Ephemeral Art at UN Geneva
Syrians face ‘unprecedented’ hunger amid impending COVID crisis, warn UN humanitarians
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter, young researchers discussed the future of Sports, Culture and Tourism with top international officials.
Siberia ‘sets extreme weather record’ for Arctic Circle. Reports that temperatures in a Russian town in the Arctic Circle likely reached a record 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) have been approved pending final verification by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), it said on Tuesday.
Human Rights Council unanimously calls on top UN rights official to take action on racist violence. The UN’s top rights official, Michelle Bachelet, is to spearhead efforts to address systemic racism on people of African descent by law enforcement agencies, the Human Rights Council decided on Friday.