News headlines in June 2021

KAMPALA, Jun 30 (IPS) - At Mulago, Uganda’s biggest public hospital, a receptionist at an HIV clinic for marginalised and ‘most at risk’ populations, including LGBT people, said that an undercover reporter’s 17-year-old gay brother could “quit” his same-sex attraction.

Despite “significant progress” in the fight against terrorism, the UN counter-terrorism chief warned on Wednesday that amidst new and more diverse threats, COVID-19 has triggered increased activity throughout many countries.

In a bid to put gender equality at the heart of COVID recovery, UN Women kicked off a three-day “landmark effort” in Paris on Wednesday, aiming to lay out ambitious investments and policies to bridge the chasm between where women stand in the world today, and where they should be, by 2030.  

DHAKA, Jun 30 (IPS) - Rani Akter, a mother of five, usually works as a domestic helper in Dhaka’s Zikatola area. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out in Bangladesh last March, her employers asked her not to come to their homes for fear of infection.

“I lost my work in three houses one after the other, which became a nightmare for me. My rich employers did not allow me in their homes as they thought that I might carry the invisible virus,” Akter told IPS.

Extreme overcrowding and lack of access to food, water and health, are among the ‘inhumane conditions’ that prisoners in Haiti must endure, often over the course of many years, according to a new UN report.

The number of international migrant workers has increased from 164 to 169 million, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday, noting a marked rise in the number of young people seeking opportunities abroad, too.

WASHINGTON DC, Jun 30 (IPS) - Sub-Saharan Africa is in the grips of a third wave of COVID-19 infections that threatens to be even more brutal than the two that came before.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism could result in a more than $4 trillion loss to the global economy, UN trade and development body UNCTAD said on Wednesday in a report issued jointly with the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). 

TORONTO, Canada, Jun 29 (IPS) - Life is a series of choices. And choices have consequences. When it comes to climate change, some choices have bigger consequences than others, and there's a startling takeaway: your next "big" decision will play a meaningful role in our collective ability to reach Net-Zero by 2050.

BERLIN, Jun 29 (IPS) - Many products these days come with the promise that workers and communities all along their supply line  are protected from abuse  under a particular standard or code of conduct. Since the United Nations adopted the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights a decade ago, a plethora of such certification systems have emerged, including for  mining  and connected industries ranging from cars to jewelry and electronics.