May 27, 2020 No comments
Countries need to do more to stop harmful marketing of breast-milk substitutes, says UN
INTERNATIONAL, 27 May 2020, Health - Despite efforts to stop the harmful promotion of breast-milk substitutes, countries are still falling short in protecting parents from misleading information, according to a new UN report released Wednesday. Titled Marketing of Breast‐milk Substitutes: National Implementation of the International Code – Status report 2020, the study highlights the need for stronger legislation to protect families from false claims about the safety of breast-milk substitutes or aggressive marketing practices, findings that take on increased importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Baby Food Action Network collaborated in the report’s publication. Impact of aggressive marketing “The aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes, especially through health professionals that parents trust for nutrition and health advice,...
Read more
May 27, 2020 No comments
On Peacekeepers Day, UN to spotlight vital role of women peace operations
INTERNATIONAL, 27 May 2020, Peace and Security - In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, on Friday, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948. “[We] honour more than one million men and women who have served as United Nations peacekeepers and the more than 3,900 who have lost their lives in the line of duty”, he said in a video message for the occasion. The UN chief will also award, posthumously, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal to the 83 military, police and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2019. The Secretary-General’s message also expresses gratitude to the 95,000 civilian, police and military personnel currently deployed around...
Read more
May 27, 2020 No comments
WHO Foundation to broaden funding base for global health investment
INTERNATIONAL, 27 May 2020, Health - A new foundation launched on Wednesday will generate funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners by tapping non-traditional sources, including the public. The WHO Foundation, which is independent, will be an integral part of the UN agency’s resource mobilization strategy to broaden its donor base. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the idea came from a staff member in response to a call made nearly three years ago for suggestions to transform the organization. “It is well documented that one of the greatest threats to WHO’s success is the fact that less than 20 per cent of our budget comes in the form of flexible assessed contributions from Member States, while more than 80 per cent is voluntary contributions, from...
Read more
May 27, 2020 No comments
COVID-19: A ‘new and deadly threat’ for civilians caught up in violence
INTERNATIONAL, 27 May 2020, Peace and Security - Innocent civilians trapped in violence now face “a new and deadly threat” from COVID-19, the UN chief told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning that the pandemic is “amplifying and exploiting the fragilities of our world”. Citing conflict as one of the greatest causes of that fragility, Secretary-General António Guterres told a high-level videoconference on the protection of civilians in armed conflict that the coronavirus is causing “enormous human suffering” and additional stress to vulnerable health systems, economies and communities already been weakened by years of armed conflict. Peacekeeper of the Day: As logistics, warehouse & inventory specialist w/ @UN_CAR, Noella Fatoumata's job is to collect, distribute & manage the flow of materials for smooth running of the mission in Central African Rep,...
Read more
May 27, 2020 No comments
‘Lockdown generation’ of young workers will need extra help after COVID-19, urges UN labour chief
INTERNATIONAL, 27 May 2020, Economic Development - Further evidence of the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the global job market has emerged in a new study by the UN labour agency, which on Wednesday said that more than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the pandemic. Those young people who still have a job have seen their working hours cut by 23 per cent, said the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder, who also urged Governments to conduct widespread coronavirus testing and tracing of populations to help get economies back on their feet. Countries such as the Republic of Korea and Iceland had invested in effective virus-hunting techniques which had cost less than one per cent of their economic...
Read more
