Amazon Rainforest loss could reach new height in just 5 years
11/5/2023: A recent study has found that in the five-year period between 2021 and 2025, the Amazon could lose half the total forest cover it lost in the previous 20 years. Experts say the Amazon Rainforest is currently experiencing this pessimistic scenario.
Source: Mongabay
Germany’s foreign policy: values or national interests?
7/5/2023: Germany has made democracy and human rights the centerpiece of its foreign policy. However, denouncing nations that don't check the values box, such as China, leads to criticism from domestic business interests.
Source: DW
Sudan refugee response estimates need for $445 million
4/5/2023: In a preliminary projection for financial and operational planning, the UN Refugee Agency anticipates an outflow of 860,000 refugees and returnees from the conflict in Sudan. Egypt and South Sudan are expected to see the most arrivals.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
How (and why) Nigeria should remove its fuel subsidy
5/5/2023: Nigeria spends a quarter of its budget on a regressive fuel subsidy. Removing it and distributing the savings can help the poorest. A defining moment for Nigerians could come after the swearing-in of Nigeria’s new president on 29 May.
Source: African Arguments
Global report finds quarter of a billion people hungry
3/5/2023: The 2023 Global Report on Food Crises finds that 258 million people in 58 countries faced high levels of acute food insecurity in 2022, a jump of about 33% from the previous year. The world is wildly off track for achieving its goal of zero hunger by the end of this decade.
Source: Devex
Global endeavour to restore child immunization progress
24/4/2023: The pandemic saw essential immunization levels decrease in over 100 countries, leading to outbreaks of measles, diphtheria, polio and yellow fever. Global and national health partners have joined forces to boost vaccination among children.
Source: World Health Organization
Former UN chief advocates an International Tribunal for Ukraine
23/4/2023: Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, believes that the best way to hold the top Russian leadership accountable is through the establishment of an international tribunal on aggression, based on international law. There can be no lasting peace without justice.
Source: PassBlue
Background to the crisis in Sudan
28/4/2023: A turbulent transition to civilian rule had been underway in Sudan since the ouster of former President Omar Hassan El-Bashir in April 2019. The UN has been supporting the incomplete process through the efforts of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan.
Source: UN News
Violence continues in Myanmar two years into military coup
24/4/2023: The Five-Point Consensus agreed between the junta and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in April 2021 has not been implemented. With its annual summit due next month, ASEAN continues to be criticised for its ineffective role.
Source: CNA
Military spending increases worldwide
24/4/2023: For 2022, researchers from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute have recorded a year-on-year jump of 3.7% in worldwide military expenditure. Inflation, Russia's war on Ukraine and US efforts to outpace China are major factors.
Source: DW