News headlines in March 2023, page 17

Some countries and private companies are using “counter-terrorism and security rhetoric” to justify a major increase in the deployment and use of cutting-edge surveillance technology, with no regulation, and at an “enormous cost” to human rights, said an independent UN expert on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON DC, Mar 13 (IPS) - BP, the oil company that previously brought us “Beyond Petroleum” and more recently robust corporate climate goals, has announced a return in emphasis to its traditional business of producing oil. Drawn by the inescapable appeal of oil’s latest high profits, has BP rebranded itself as “Back to Petroleum?”

MADRID, Mar 13 (IPS) - Islamophobia is a ‘fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world.’

NAIROBI, Mar 13 (IPS) - Up until 2019, nurses in three health facilities located in the semi-arid south-eastern Kenya region of Makueni County struggled to bring critical health services closer to a hard-to-reach population scattered across three remote, far-flung villages.

JOHANNESBURG, Mar 13 (IPS) - Child marriage, gender-based violence (GBV), sexuality education, religion, and tradition came under the spotlight during a conference, Arab and Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting to Follow-Up on ICPD25 Commitments: Addressing Youth Empowerment and Gender-Based Violence, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

GENEVA, Mar 13 (IPS) - As countries recently gathered in Geneva for the fourth round of negotiations on the WHO proposed pandemic treaty or accord, close examination of the current text by civil society experts has revealed significant gaps.

The UN chief on Monday confirmed the UN would “do everything possible to preserve the integrity” of the Black Sea Grain Initiative – the deal agreed between Ukraine and Russia last July that is due to expire in just a few days.

World leaders need to listen to and act on solid scientific guidance to urgently reduce global warming, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message at the opening of the new session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Monday.

During a dialogue with women civil society leaders in the UN General Assembly Hall on Monday, Secretary-General António Guterres heard about the critical need to make the internet safer for women and girls – and to ensure that they are equal participants in global conservations, both online and in-person. 

South Africa must swiftly set up a watchdog mechanism to examine prisons, detention centres, and other facilities, UN independent experts on torture prevention said on Monday, citing “entrenched” ill treatment.