News headlines in March 2023, page 2

ADDIS ABABA, Mar 30 (IPS) - There are about 5 billion people globally who cannot access surgery. In Ethiopia, for every 5,000 needed surgeries per 100,000 people, the country’s health system can only provide 192. Yet, this is Africa’s second largest population, with over 120 million people.

SONJEKE, MALAWI, Mar 30 (IPS) - In Sonjeka village in Mulanje district, which lies on the border with Mozambique in southern Malawi, destroyed crop fields stretch almost interminably after floods ripped through them when Tropical Cyclone Freddy pounded the country.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, Mar 30 (IPS) - On 12th March 2023, The Republic of Mauritius celebrates 55 years of post-independence history. It would be an understatement to just say that there has been a lot of water under the bridge on our journey to self-determination!.. Indeed, we have made massive progress since we lowered the Union Jack and unfurled our own flag. It was and remains a moment of great pride whenever I see our flag in any international event, I participate in.

SA’ANA, Yemen, Mar 30 (IPS) - As Yemen enters its ninth year of war, its people are facing a humanitarian crisis of horrifying proportions. In my role as Oxfam's Yemen Country Director, I have witnessed firsthand the effects of the humanitarian catastrophe, worsened by economic collapse and sharp increases in the cost of food and other essential commodities.

The international community must take firm and principled action to protect the human rights and dignity of Palestinians, amid mounting violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the threat of even further annexation, an independent UN-appointed rights expert said on Thursday. 

The UN’s Elsie Initiative Fund (EIF) launched a fresh call for funding proposals on Thursday, aimed at improving opportunities for uniformed women to serve in peacekeeping operations, and better serve vulnerable communities worldwide.

The planet is literally drowning in garbage, and it is high time to clean up, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday, at an event in the General Assembly Hall marking the first-ever International Day of Zero Waste. 

Retaliation continues against officials who spearheaded the fight against corruption in Guatemala, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Thursday.

LONDON / MONTEVIDEO, Mar 29 (IPS) - Brave protests against women’s second-class status in Iran; the mass defence of economic rights in the face of a unilateral presidential decision in France; huge mobilisations to resist government plans to weaken the courts in Israel: all these have shown the willingness of people to take public action to stand up for human rights.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 29 (IPS) - A group of UN experts* on human rights has blasted the Government of Uganda for making homosexuality punishable by death.

“It is an egregious violation of human rights, the experts said, urging Uganda’s president not to promulgate laws that take aim at and further criminalise people identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT), and those who support and defend their human rights.