News headlines in September 2023, page 7

Young people continue to be “relentlessly” targeted with tobacco and nicotine products, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday, in a call to ban smoking and vaping “whether sitting in class, playing games outside or waiting at the school bus stop”.

WASHINGTON DC, Sep 25 (IPS) - When the heads of state of all United Nations members spoke in front of the UN General Assembly last week, a number of African leaders were not be able to attend, having been removed from office in military-led coups.

NEW YORK, Sep 25 (IPS) - With its global representation, one would expect the UN General Assembly to touch on many diverse issues. And it does. But talks have repeatedly come back to one unifying call: if we want to save ourselves, our planet, and our future, we must act now.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 25 (IPS) - When the UN’s 193 member states reviewed the current status of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030, the verdict was mostly failures—and with little or no successes.

The hunger/poverty nexus was best characterized by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who warned last week that under current trends, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030—and as many people suffering from hunger by 2030 as in 2015 (600 million people).

When “geopolitical mistrust and competition” has pushed the nuclear risk to Cold War levels, total elimination of such weapons is the only route to a peaceful future, the UN chief has said.

Attacks on civic and democratic space in Venezuela are increasing through policies aimed at silencing opposition and criticism of the Government, the head of a UN-appointed human rights body said on Monday.

Russian forces in Ukraine faced new allegations of war crimes on Monday as UN-appointed independent rights experts published the findings of their latest report into Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

Palestinian authorities must strengthen fundamental legal safeguards against torture and ill-treatment, especially from the first moments of detention, a group of UN human rights experts said on Monday.

“We are not going anywhere” is the message coming from UN nuclear safety watchdog IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, about the agency’s commitment to continued monitoring of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants during Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Despite pouring rain, around 60,000 advocates, artists, influencers and concerned citizens were in New York’s iconic Central Park on Saturday night, where they heard the deputy UN chief issue a clarion call to mobilize for change.