News headlines in February 2022

Delegates were looking to advance a global agreement on plastic pollution, among a series of draft resolutions on biodiversity and health, green economy, and circularity, as the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly kicked off in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday.

The answers to some of the world’s most pressing problems are rooted in human rights, UN Secretary-General António Guterres affirmed on Monday. 

After three days of intense clashes across areas in parts of Ukraine, the number of civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure are growing, and the United Nations and its relief partners are working day and night to care for the injured, the Security Council heard on Monday during an urgent meeting on the humanitarian situation in the country.

The intensification of the Russian offensive in Ukraine is having devastating consequences on women and children, senior UN officials have reported. 

MEXICO CITY, Feb 28 2022 (IPS) - For a country like Mexico, which in recent years has made the fight against corruption one of its highest priorities, a story published earlier this year fell like a bucket of cold water.

Impunity for the use of chemical weapons is “intolerable,” the UN disarmament chief told the Security Council meeting on Syria, held on Monday morning.

The scheduled work of the UN Human Rights Council was halted temporarily on Monday as Member States were called to vote on a request from Ukraine to hold an urgent debate on the matter and to condemn Russia’s military operation.  

As fighting escalates in Ukraine, UN Member States met on Monday for a rare emergency special session of the General Assembly to discuss the crisis.  

NEW YORK, Feb 28 (IPS) - Russian President and former intelligence officer Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been at the helm of power since 1999, promoting jingoistic nationalism to keep his hold on power and creating a democratic deficit on the home front.

Fighting in Ukraine has so far pushed roughly a half million people across the country's borders, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Monday.