Month: August 2019

Football is ‘refuge for those who have left everything’; UN initiative aims to bolster well-being of refugee, migrant children in Peru

Sport brings people together “regardless of conditions or flags”, a senior United Nations official in Perú said on Tuesday referring to a new initiative launched over this past weekend to promote the well-being of children and youth in Lima’s refugee and migrant communities through football. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)’s ‘The Ball […]

Thursday’s Daily Brief: UN refugee agency on Venezuelan migrant crisis, dramatic resurgence’ of measles in Europe, a UN News visit to former nuclear test site, Colombian law for disabled persons receives praise, Security Council on violence in Yemen

A recap of Thursday’s stories: ‘No end in sight’ to massive movement of Venezuelan migrants and refugees; ‘Dramatic resurgence’ of measles threatens Europe; Report from nuclear test site in Kazakhstan;  UN expert welcomes new Colombian law for persons with disabilities; Security Council concerned over violent spams in Yemen.   Venezuela migrant crisis begs a ‘coherent, […]

Myanmar military committed ‘routine, systematic’ sexual violence against ethnic minorities, UN experts find

Myanmar’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize and punish ethnic minorities, according to a new report released on Thursday by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission. “Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation and the deliberate infliction of severe physical […]

Steps taken to end Saudi ‘guardianship’ system for women, ‘encouraging’ start

Allowing Saudi women to apply for passports and travel without their guardians’ permission is “an encouraging move” towards the “complete abolition of the ‘guardianship’ system,” independent United Nations rights experts said on Thursday, but more action is needed to fully dismantle these restrictions. “Any progress will remain very frail unless accompanied by wider reforms and […]