UNDP Syria/ The UN is supporting vulnerable communities in Syria during the coronavirus pandemic. As civilian casualties mount across Syria and human rights violations continue unabated, the UN rights chief expressed serious concern on Friday that some parties to the conflict, including ISIL terrorist fighters, may be using the COVID-19 pandemic as “an opportunity to […]
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UN rights expert urges States to step-up anti-slavery efforts to protect most vulnerable during COVID-19
© UNICEF/Eyas El BabaThirteen-year-old boy in Palestine collects rubble near Gaza City, which he transports by donkey to the market to sell. A UN human rights expert urged governments on Tuesday to increase protection for those millions of workers, who due to the COVID-19 pandemic, risk being pushed into exploitative jobs that are tantamount to slavery. “The […]
Attacks on civilians, arbitrary arrests, top list of abuses in Libya: ICC Prosecutor
©UNICEF/Giovanni DiffidentiA Somali woman sits with her one-year-old child, in the Ganfoda Detention Centre near Benghazi, after fleeing violence in her country and illegally entering Libya. Unabated violence, particularly in and around the Libyan capital, has now been raging for more than a year, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the Security […]
COVID-19 pandemic exposes global ‘frailties and inequalities’: UN deputy chief
The COVID-19 pandemic which has swept across the developed and developing world is “exposing the frailties and inequalities of our societies,” according to the UN Deputy Secretary-General. Speaking to UN News, Amina Mohammed said that the global crisis unleashed by the virus could and should kickstart efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, the 17 globally […]
Lift Cuba embargo or risk many lives lost to COVID-19, UN rights experts warn US
UN CubaHealth personnel from the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine in Havana, Cuba The United States must urgently lift its blockade on Cuba to save lives amid the expanding COVID-19 crisis, UN human rights experts stressed on Thursday, emphasizing that the more than six-decades-old sanctions are impeding the supply of medicine, medical equipment, food […]
Beyond hand washing: maintaining your holistic health during COVID-19
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are frequently told how to look after the health of ourselves and our communities. Maintaining high levels of basic hygiene, including frequent hand washing, has been recommended by health authorities across the globe, from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services to the World Health Organisation. […]