News headlines in March 2023, page 21

The Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) concluded on Thursday with countries adopting concrete measures to implement the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) – which aims to renew and strengthen commitments between LDCs and their development partners – marking a transformative turning point for the world’s most vulnerable countries. 

UN humanitarian coordinators have deployed to Vanuatu to help with the aid response, a week since back-to-back tropical cyclones and a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific island nation.

The COVID-19 pandemic, climate disasters and ongoing conflict have deepened inequalities among children in Europe and Central Asia, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a report published on Thursday, calling for more robust support for boys and girls at risk of poverty and social exclusion. 

Moves by a small number of governments to legalize the non-medical use of cannabis have led to increased consumption without explaining the potentially serious health dangers that users face from the drug, a UN narcotics watchdog said on Thursday.

Implementing sodium reduction policies could save an estimated seven million lives globally by 2030, WHO said in a new report launched on Thursday.

PARIS, Mar 08 (IPS) - For the past six years, Jamaican writer and scholar Opal Palmer Adisa has been one of the voices crying out against the prevalence of gender-based violence in the Caribbean and elsewhere. To highlight this human rights issue, she launched “Thursdays in Black” - holding public protests throughout the year and, on Thursdays, making use of social media to spread her message and raise awareness.

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 08 (IPS) - For the first time in history, says a new report from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), not a single functioning parliament in the world is “male-only”.

Is the increasing number of women in parliaments a singular achievement for gender empowerment? Or is it the result of mandatory legislative quotas for women’s representation in world’s parliaments?

PARIS, Mar 08 (IPS) - In September 2020, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for women’s rights celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was, however, a bittersweet commemoration, mixing joy for the progress in gender equality achieved since 1995, and the stark realization about the multidimensional gaps awaiting tackling and the new divides brought by the social consequences of COVID-19.

JOHANNESBURG, Mar 08 (IPS) - With more than 600 million youth aged between 18 and 24 in the Asia and Pacific region, putting their issues front and center is crucial. Speakers at a recent forum, Youth Empowerment: Education, Employment and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, held in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, agreed that policy development and implementation should be youth-centered.

NEW YORK, Mar 08 (IPS) - The internet has a pivotal role to play in empowering women and girls across Africa, but preexisting forms of gender discrimination and marginalization are underpinning a widening digital gender divide.