News headlines in April 2022, page 18

Fabien Mwingwa once fought as a child soldier with an armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Today, he has turned his life around, and works for the UN peacekeeping mission in the country as a firefighter, helping to keep local people safe.

In Papua New Guinea, defending women accused of sorcery, has become a life-threatening occupation. The UN and European Union run Spotlight Initiative, is promoting legislation that will protect threatened human rights defenders in the country, who risk violence, torture, and death.

Governments and pharmaceutical companies need to work together in a better way, to deliver vaccines “to every person, everywhere” – not simply in the wealthiest nations, said the UN chief on Friday.

Following this week’s crackdown on non-violent demonstrations in Sri Lanka, independent UN human rights experts urged the government on Friday to “ensure that all human rights be respected and protected” and guarantee the fundamental rights of peaceful assembly and expression.

Critical funding and timely action are needed to prevent a decaying tanker anchored close to Yemen’s coastline from sparking a major oil spill, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the country said on Friday in New York. 

The number of hungry people in the Sahel and West Africa has quadrupled over the last three years, currently reaching 41 million, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico, Apr 08 (IPS) - Along the wide slash of white earth in southwestern Mexico there are no longer trees or animals. In their place, orange signs with white stripes warn visitors: "Heavy machinery in motion," "No unauthorized personnel allowed".

Twelve years into the war in Syria, thousands of families “remain in the dark” when it comes to the fates of their missing relatives, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet told the General Assembly on Friday. 

In eastern Ukraine, a reported Russian missile attack on a railway station that’s killed dozens of civilians including children, has been condemned by the United Nations. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement, that the strike - and others against civilians and civilian infrastructure - were "gross violations" of international law.

Global food prices have reached “a new all-time high,” the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday, “hitting the poorest the hardest.”