News headlines in May 2021, page 23

RÍO DE JANEIRO, May 04 (IPS) - "Rainfall is fundamental; the streams and rivers we have would not suffice for irrigation, even if they were the Amazon River," said Dirceu Dezem, referring to the amount of water required for the extensive crops in Brazil’s midwest.

May 04 (IPS) - Eighteen-year-old Chuol Nyakoach lives in the Nguenyyiel Refugee Camp in Gambella, Ethiopia. Chuol is grateful that despite the trauma she has already experienced in her young life, she is able to continue her education in the refugee camp. Learning has given her a reason to wake up every day.

Young people are taking a leading role in shaping fair and equitable food systems around the world, senior UN officials affirmed on Tuesday during a global youth dialogue on the theme of “Good Food for All”.

The countrywide reopening of schools in South Sudan is a welcome step on the road to “normalcy” for youngsters, two in three of whom need humanitarian assistance, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

Harnessing the full potential of science and technology for the benefit of all people, everywhere, is the focus of a two-day virtual meeting convened by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which opened on Tuesday. 

UNITED NATIONS, May 04 (IPS) - Since the COVID-19 vaccination began in the US in mid-December 2020, Africa had been looking forward to its turn. For Nigeria, that time came on 2nd March 2021 when the first batch of 3.9 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the country from the Serum Institute of India.

United Nations independent human rights experts, on Tuesday, called on Iranian authorities to immediately release a political activist, said to be at risk of severe health complications and even death, if not provided with appropriate medical care.

The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) on Tuesday voiced deep alarm over the violence in the city of Cali in Colombia overnight, as a number of people were reportedly killed and wounded when police opened fire on demonstrators. 

May 03 (IPS) - If you enter a garment factory in India, or any part of the world for that matter, you will see that the workforce is starkly female. The Indian textile and garment industry employs 45 million peopleout of which more than 60 percent are women. This makes it the biggest formal employer of women in a country where 80 percent of them are not engaged in paid work. While that might paint a rosy picture of women’s empowerment at the first glance, a closer look reveals something different.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how all countries are connected, underscoring that global cooperation and solidarity are the only way out of the crisis, senior UN officials said on Monday during the annual Partnership Forum, organized by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).