News headlines in January 2023, page 11

Barring girls and young women from classrooms in Afghanistan could wipe out huge gains made in education and create “a lost generation”, the UN’s educational and cultural organization, UNESCO, has warned.  

A South African court has allowed a group of UN-appointed experts to intervene in a class action lawsuit against a mining company based in Zambia, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, reported on Thursday. 

The United Kingdom’s plans to offer limited immunity from prosecution to those accused of crimes during Northern Ireland’s “Troubles” have been called into question by UN rights chief Volker Türk. 

TOKYO, Japan, Jan 18 (IPS) - The Ukraine crisis that erupted in February last year continues with no prospect for cessation. The intensified hostilities have inflicted great suffering in population centers and destroyed infrastructure facilities, compelling large numbers of civilians, including many children and women, to live in a state of constant peril.

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Jan 18 (IPS) - Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. However, negotiating a solution has been challenging due to several factors. One of the main reasons that recent COP Climate summits and other international climate talks have not been able to resolve climate change is that there is a lack of consensus among countries on how to address the issue.

Developed countries, which have historically been the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are often unwilling to take on significant emissions reductions or to provide financial assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (IPS) - The multilateral system, even in the face of heightened geopolitical tension and big power rivalry, remains the uniquely inclusive vehicle for managing mutual interdependencies in ways that enhance national and global welfare. The complex challenges of a global pandemic, climate emergency, inequality and the risk of nuclear conflict cannot be dealt with by one country or one region alone. Coordinated collective action is required.

KARACHI, Jan 18 (IPS) - Experts question Pakistan's 10bn USD funding for flood rehabilitation, asking if it wouldn't have been better to access climate change grants.

Terming the recent international donors’ conference held in Geneva a “success” after Pakistan was able to secure 10 billion US dollars, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised “every penny” of the pledges will be used towards rehabilitation of flood-hit people.

The UN on Wednesday said that it aims to increase the number of inter-agency convoys providing aid to parts of Ukraine “close to the frontlines”, in support of work being carried out by local organisations and volunteers.

The UN human rights chief on Wednesday appealed for greater protection for justice officials in Guatemala who are being persecuted for fighting impunity or working on anti-corruption cases. 

The world’s collective priority for the Occupied Palestinian Territory must be reversing the negative trajectory that marked 2022 as one of the deadliest years in recent memory, the senior UN official in the region told the Security Council on Wednesday.