Nearly one-third of 2022 UK aid spent on refugees at home
29/3/2023: The UK government gave its Home Office a “blank cheque” to spend on refugees in the country’s fractured asylum system, according to an independent watchdog’s report. This made it impossible for officials to plan an aid strategy, causing major disruption to international development.
Source: Devex
International system unfit to deal with global crises
28/3/2023: Amnesty International’s Annual Report for 2022 highlights double standards throughout the world on human rights. The failure of the international community to unite has led to inadequate responses to human rights abuses, fuelling impunity and instability.
Source: Amnesty International
Global population could peak below 9 billion
27/3/2023: A new analysis suggests the global population could peak at a level significantly lower than is assumed by the UN. In a scenario of unprecedented investment in poverty alleviation, particularly investment in education and health, researchers estimate that population could decline to around 6 billion people by the end of the century.
Source: Earth4All
African countries embrace first malaria vaccine
23/3/2023: The new vaccine has been criticized for its relatively high costs and low efficacy but the World Health Organization reports a more than 10% drop in child deaths in three pilot countries. At least 28 further African countries are planning to introduce the vaccine this year.
Source: Devex
IPCC highlights rich nations’ failure to help developing world
20/3/2023: The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that funding needs to increase ‘many-fold’ in order to protect communities disproportionately affected by global warming. The report says some tropical, coastal, polar and mountain ecosystems have already reached hard adaptation limits.
Source: Climate Home News
If we value human rights, we must fight for climate justice
23/3/2023: The island state of Vanuatu is leading more than 100 countries in tabling a resolution at the UN General Assembly to refer the issue of climate change to the International Court of Justice. The motion seeks to clarify the obligations of states under international law to protect future generations from climate change.
Source: Inter Press Service
Water security lags behind in UN environmental protection
25/3/2023: The UN’s first water conference in nearly 50 years claims to have secured over $300 billion of promises of global action. But there is no legally binding international agreement to protect water resources and no UN special envoy.
Source: Devex
UN warns of’imminent global water crisis
22/3/2023: The UN has released the World Water Development Report 2023, painting a grim picture of rising global water scarcity. It finds that about 10% of the global population lives in countries where water stress is considered "high or critical."
Source: DW
Covid vaccine doses stranded in East Africa
19/3/2023: Up to 40 million Covid-19 vaccines could go to waste in East Africa as the fight against the virus slows down due to apathy and logistical hitches. The region’s countries cannot dispense of the vaccines due to lack of support for their inoculation programmes.
Source: The East African
Black Sea grain deal extended
18/3/2023: The UN has announced that a deal allowing for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports had been extended, on the day it was due to expire. Since July last year the agreement has helped bring down global food prices.
Source: DW