News headlines in June 2023, page 8

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 21 (IPS) - When the 193-member General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development back in September 2015, it was aimed at transforming the world into an idealistic state of peace and economic prosperity.

But eight years later, most of the world’s low-income countries (LICs) have been struggling to achieve even a single goal, including the two key targets: the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030.

Zeinabou Maata, a Muslim from Mauritania, is one of 50 women serving on the frontlines of preventing the spread of violent extremism in her country, with UN support.

International cooperation is making waves in combatting piracy in West Africa, but addressing its root causes and ensuring sustainable funding must fully eliminate threat, which is spreading to other regions, a top UN official told the Security Council on Wednesday.

The latest UN report on the human rights situation in Iran paints a grim picture of a record number of executions in 2022, arrests of thousands of children and numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment by security forces.

The UN has worked to extend critical humanitarian assistance for the people of Ukraine since day one of the invasion, the Organization’s development chief told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London on Wednesday.

Conflicts, climate change and financial turmoil are increasing the need for humanitarian aid, but a lack of funding is resulting in painful rollbacks, the UN chief told a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday looking at how to respond to the crisis.

Celebrating the union of body, mind and soul, hundreds of yoga enthusiasts - including UN officials and staffers - filled the green expanse of the North Lawn at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday to mark the ninth celebration of the International Day of Yoga, observed each 21 June.

The multiple restrictions placed on women and girls by Afghanistan’s de facto rulers are costing the Taliban “both domestic and international legitimacy” and are highly unpopular across the country, said the top UN official based there on Wednesday.

NAIROBI, Jun 20 (IPS) - Oil palm has brought significant benefits and prosperity to Liberia. The export of crude palm oil is a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the government. The palm oil crop covers more than 1 million hectares, hundreds of thousands are employed in the palm oil sector, and at least 21 percent of the farming households produce palm oil.

NAIROBI, Jun 20 (IPS) - Home Away From Home is the theme of World Refugee Day 2023. However, for many, including human rights activists who have fled their homes, a decline in civil rights in their host countries means their lives are often endangered and their activism curtailed.While leaving one’s country and becoming a refugee is a last resort, it is a decision that many, like Steve Kitsa, have had to make. As conflict becomes increasingly protracted in many African countries, many others will take this step.