News headlines in May 2022, page 15

Almost one billion people with disabilities and older persons are being denied access to assistive technology, according to a UN report published on Monday, calling on governments and industry to fund and prioritize access.

BERLIN, May 16 (IPS) - The 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), is taking place in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire, from 9 to 20 May 2022. The theme: “Land, Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.” “We are faced with a crucial choice,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told participants: “We can either reap the benefits of land restoration now or continue on the disastrous path that has led us to the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution”

The landmark land tenure decision by parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2019 offers a blueprint for upcoming climate negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh in November.

Durban, May 15 (IPS) - Children's voices took centre stage at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour, which kicked off in Durban, South Africa, on May 15, 2022. Their voices resonated with the saying: "Nothing about us without us."

Durban, May 15 (IPS) - The Global Estimate on Child Labour estimates 160 million children are in child labour worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years – with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday appealed for greater harmony one day after 10 people were killed, and three wounded, in a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

A group of former combatants with the FARC rebel group in Colombia have been reflecting on five years of peace and community building in a locality called Tierra Grata, which translates as “pleasant land”

Investigations must be held into the actions of the Israeli security forces, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Saturday, calling for accountability and an end to impunity.

A human trafficking expert at the United Nations has told UN News how she was instrumental in saving over 1000 trafficking victims, mainly in eastern Europe and Central Asia. Reda Sirgediene works for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the Regional Adviser on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling for Central Asia after serving for more than 20 years in the Lithuanian police force.

Governments, cities, companies, and communities around the world are taking action to address a significant and growing threat to wildlife, including many species of migratory birds - light pollution.

BUENOS AIRES, May 13 (IPS) - It’s a strange trial, with no defendants. The purpose is not to hand down a conviction, but to bring visibility to an atrocious event that occurred almost a hundred years ago in northern Argentina and was concealed by the State for decades with singular success: the massacre by security forces of hundreds of indigenous people who were protesting labor mistreatment and discrimination.