The EU’s ‘racist’ refugee system, and how to fix it
26/7/2022: At around 3.7 million, the number of Ukrainians who have applied for protection in EU member states dwarfs the 1.3 million people who applied for asylum in the EU in 2015. Europe’s response in 2022, however, has been vastly different from that of 2015.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Water scarcity is biggest threat to food security
26/7/2022: Increased demand for water will be the biggest threat to food security in the next two decades, says a new report that identifies and ranks the top ten risks. It calls for collaboration between scientists and policymakers to boost resilience in global food systems.
Source: SciDev.Net
Myanmar Junta executes four
25/7/2022: Myanmar’s military junta has reported the execution of four men in the country’s first death sentences carried out in over 30 years. All were convicted after closed trials that fell far short of international standards.
Source: Human Rights Watch
300,000 teachers in DRC going unpaid
22/7/2022: Congolese families cheered in 2019 when President Félix Tshisékedi ordered the country’s schools to provide free and compulsory primary education. At least 3 million more children enrolled in school. But DRC’s schools depend on informal teachers reliant on parent donations which are no longer permitted.
Source: African Arguments
WHO updates global COVID-19 vaccination strategy
22/7/2022: Only 28% of older people and 37% of health care workers in low-income countries have received their primary course of Covid vaccine. The World Health Organization's latest strategy will seek greater priority for these at-risk groups within its overall 70% coverage target.
Source: World Health Organization
Black Sea grain deal releases food and fertilizer exports
22/7/2022: Russian and Ukrainian ministers have signed the Black Sea Grain Initiative which should stabilize global food prices and bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy.
Source: UN News
Are we inured to weather crises?
16/7/2022: We are so distracted by politics and crime that extreme climate events are passing us by with barely a whimper in the media. With each successive disaster in India, people lose their ability to cope and have no alternative but to migrate.
Source: Down to Earth
“Right to Protest” under threat around the world
20/7/2022: Citizens across the globe are confronted by a growing number of laws restricting their right to protest; enforced by mass surveillance, internet shutdowns and online censorship. Amnesty International has launched a new global campaign to protect this fundamental human right.
Source: Inter Press Service
Fundamental rights are key to peaceful elections in Kenya
21/7/2022: Independent UN human rights experts have called on candidates standing in next month’s general election to foster civic space to prevent violence. Kenya has a history of contested elections and political violence, marked by human rights violations.
Source: UN News
Zimbabwe chokes on $13 billion China loans
20/7/2022: Zimbabwe is choking under mounting international debt as it begins to pay the price for borrowing heavily from China for infrastructure projects. Debt relief strategies may depend on genuine political and economic reforms.
Source: The East African