March 04, 2021 No comments
UN Development Programme urges temporary basic income for women hit hard by COVID-19 fallout
INTERNATIONAL, 4 March 2021 - Economic Development, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has called for temporary basic income for millions of the world’s poorest women, to help them cope with effects of coronavirus pandemic and alleviate the economic pressures they face every day. In a report released on Thursday, UNDP highlighted that the financial support could prevent rising poverty and widening gender inequality, especially in developing countries. “Women have been harder hit than men by the pandemic, losing income and leaving the labour market at a greater rate and taking on a greater share of care work”, the agency said. “A temporary basic income could provide financial security in the short-term paving the way for future investments that address systematic gender inequality”, it added. According to UNDP, a monthly...
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March 04, 2021 No comments
20 die after human traffickers force migrants into sea en route to Yemen
INTERNATIONAL, 4 March 2021, Migrants and Refugees - At least 20 people have drowned after smugglers threw dozens of migrants overboard as they sailed from Djibouti to Yemen, UN migration agency IOM said on Thursday. This is the third such incident in the Gulf of Aden in the last six months, according to the International Organization for Migration, which said that survivors are receiving medical treatment in the port town of Obock, Djibouti. “Wednesday’s tragedy is further proof that criminals continue to exploit people desperate to improve their lives for profit regardless of the consequences”, said IOM Djibouti Chief of Mission, Stephanie Daviot. She called for smugglers and human traffickers to be prosecuted, before appealing for the creation of legal migration pathways, “to allow people to pursue work...
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March 04, 2021 No comments
Stop murdering and jailing protestors, UN human rights chief tells Myanmar military
INTERNATIONAL, 4 March 2021, Peace and Security - The United Nations top human rights official, on Thursday, said that the military in Myanmar must halt their “vicious crackdown” on peaceful protestors, amid reports that at least 54 people have been killed since the 1 February coup, 38 of them on Wednesday alone. “It is utterly abhorrent that security forces are firing live ammunition against peaceful protesters across the country”, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. “I am also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured”, she added. According to the High Commissioner’s Office (OHCHR), of the 54 cases it has documented, at least 30 people were killed in Yangon, Mandalay,...
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March 04, 2021 No comments
‘Limited’ progress in closing Syria chemical weapons file, UN Disarmament Chief tells Security Council
INTERNATIONAL, 4 March 2021, Peace and Security - Seven years after the Security Council mandated the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, there have been only “limited developments” in the implementation of resolution 2118, passed unanimously in 2013 to bring the country into compliance with its global obligations, the UN disarmament chief said on Thursday. “At this stage, the declaration submitted by [Syria] cannot be considered accurate and complete,” Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council in her monthly briefing, owing to “identified gaps, inconsistencies and discrepancies that remain unresolved”. Detailing the latest developments, she said her Office received information from the Permanent Mission of Syria, which it carefully studied and forwarded to the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the world body overseeing implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Assessment Team deploys While the pandemic continues to impact OPCW’s...
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March 04, 2021 No comments
ICC Prosecutor opens probe into alleged crimes in occupied Palestine
INTERNATIONAL, 4 March 2021, Law and Crime Prevention - The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Wednesday that her Office has started an investigation into crimes allegedly committed in Occupied Palestinian Territory. “I confirm the initiation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of an investigation respecting the Situation in Palestine”, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement. “The investigation will cover crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court that are alleged to have been committed in the Situation since 13 June 2014, the date to which reference is made in the Referral of the Situation to my Office”, she added. The probe follows the 5 February 2021 decision, by majority, of ICC’s Pre Trial Chamber I, that the Court may exercise its criminal...
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