News headlines in October 2021, page 5

PORTLAND, USA, Oct 27 (IPS) - Illegal immigration is a 21st century crisis that will only worsen with the consequences of climate change.

DOMINICA, Oct 27 (IPS) - A few days before the international community gathers for COP26, widely considered the most important climate conference since the 2015 gathering which resulted in the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)  is reporting that despite global hits in trade and travel by the COVID-19 pandemic, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new high in 2020.

The jobs recovery is stalled worldwide and disparities between advanced and developing economies threaten the whole global economy, warned the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Wednesday.  

Countries must unite and act urgently to secure stability in Afghanistan, and a better future for its people, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message on Wednesday to a regional conference of the country’s neighbours, organized by Iran.  

CAIRO, Egypt, Oct 27 (IPS) - The fate of Egyptian women and girls delicately hangs in the balance as the country continues to have one of the worst records in the world for gender equality. With oppression often state-sanctioned, Egyptian women face a daily struggle against sexual harassment and other violations of their basic human rights, including institutionalised violence.

In a UN first, a ferocious and talkative dinosaur bursts into the iconic General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York, with a special warning for any diplomats who still think climate action is for the birds.  

Oct 26 (IPS) - Today, technology has become integral to almost all aspects of work—from implementing and standardising processes and collecting data to monitoring and evaluation and helping an organisation scale. This was increasingly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all organisations turned to technologies like WhatsApp and Zoom to stay connected and deliver their programmes to communities. And yet in the nonprofit sector, tech is viewed as an overhead rather than being fundamental to the functioning of an organisation.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday renewed his call for the immediate release of all those detained in the military coup in Sudan, as the Security Council meets behind closed doors in New York to discuss the crisis. 

While women in Belarus overall are being denied rights and freedoms, female political activists are subjected to enforced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and exile, an independent UN human rights expert told the General Assembly on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) body advancing public health for all is asking for ambitious investments in healthcare spending, reframing it as a long-term investment and not a short-term cost.