News headlines in April 2022, page 17

Although safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinations are available, the pandemic is still far from over, and countries affected by conflict are in danger of being left behind, the UN Security Council heard on Monday. 

ZARAGOZA, El Salvador, Apr 11 (IPS) - A group of preschool students enthusiastically planted cucumbers and other vegetables in their small school garden in southern El Salvador, a sign that school feeding programs are being revived as the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Increasing reports of sexual violence and human trafficking in Ukraine - allegedly committed against women and children in the context of massive displacement and the ongoing Russian invasion - are raising “all the red flags” about a potential protection crisis, the head of the UN’s gender agency warned the Security Council on Monday.

Decrying the erosion of democracy in Brazil, a UN expert has called for authorities to create and maintain a safe environment conducive to the exercise of the rights to peaceful assembly and association. 

The basic rights of older persons need to be protected today, more than ever before, said the UN human rights chief on Monday, but existing legal safeguards render them, in effect, “invisible”.

PUNE, India, Apr 11 (IPS) - Even as erratic weather and extremely high temperatures increase pest infestation and affect harvests, a combination of traditional methods, integrated pest management through intercropping and multilayering is helping farmers in Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts of Maharashtra, India.

PORTLAND, USA, Apr 11 (IPS) - Twilight for the 1951 Refugee Convention is becoming a 21st century reality for an increasing number of countries worldwide.

Oman has become the 100th country to ratify a 2006 treaty that protects the rights, pay and conditions of seafarers - a milestone that was commemorated on Monday by a ceremony at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. 

A UN-led development plan for Ukraine launched on Monday, to provide immediate economic help and longer-term assistance to the millions left struggling to meet basic needs, in the wake of the Russian invasion.

ODESA, Ukraine, Apr 11 (IPS) - In the eyes of the Kremlin leadership, the basic precondition of the successful war against Ukraine has been the perceived power of the Russian Armed Forces and possible superiority over the Ukrainian forces.