News headlines in February 2024, page 8

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 21 (IPS) - Medical experts and women's rights activists are pinning hopes on the establishment of an anti-rape crisis centre for the provision of medical and legal aid to victims of sexual assaults in a timely manner will ensure convictions.

In 1951, the UN Secretariat opened for business. The slender 39-storey office tower has become the iconic symbol of the United Nations, so we dove into our archives for a look at the world’s meeting place that has grown alongside New York’s ever-changing skyline over the past seven decades.

In a collective appeal, heads of UN humanitarian entities and global NGOs implored world leaders to help prevent further deterioration of the crisis in Gaza that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians – mostly women and children – dead.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) on Wednesday urged greater support for the country’s efforts to build a professional national army, as part of a security overhaul, and stem the proliferation of deadly illicit weapons.

Today’s multilateral arrangements – global and regional organizations and major development banks – are “not up to the job” of helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the deputy UN chief said on Tuesday.

As the war in Ukraine nears the two-year mark since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, UN humanitarians reported on Wednesday that attacks along the frontline in the Donetsk region had disrupted clean water supplies in Kramatorsk City.

The United Kingdom must take action to end all forms of violence against women and girls, having labelled it a “national threat”, a UN independent human rights expert on the issue said on Wednesday.

Myanmar’s military government is becoming an even greater threat to civilians following the imposition of a mandatory draft this month, the UN independent expert on human rights in the country said on Wednesday.

An “inhumane” health and humanitarian situation now prevails across Gaza with conditions continuing to deteriorate, the head of the UN World Health Organization warned on Wednesday.

YAOUNDE, Feb 20 (IPS) - Climate change made 2023 the warmest year on record. As urgency mounts to address this worldwide crisis, phasing out the use of fossil fuels is a necessary step that all nations must take. This is because fossil fuels—coal, oil and gas -- are the primary drivers of the climate crisis accounting for over 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide emissions.