Africa 

IAEA chief outlines five principles to avert nuclear ‘catastrophe’ in Ukraine

Delivering his latest update, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reported that the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) – the largest in Europe – remains extremely fragile and dangerous. Military operations continue in the region “and may well increase very considerably in the near future,” he warned. Rolling the dice The Zaporizhzhya plant has come under fire during… Read More
Africa 

WMO makes urgent call to action over melting cryosphere

WMO warned on Tuesday that glaciers and ice sheet melt in Greenland and Antarctica accounts for some 50 per cent of sea level rise, which is accelerating, with disastrous impacts on small island developing states (SIDS) and densely populated coastal areas. Glacier melt The average thickness of the world’s glaciers has plummeted by almost 30 metres since 1970. “The cryosphere issue is a hot topic not… Read More
Africa 

Nearly half of Haiti going hungry, new food security report warns

The latest integrated food security phase classification (IPC) analysis, reported on Sunday that of the total number of affected people, 1.8 million are in an emergency-level phase of need. This means that households face large food consumption gaps resulting in high acute malnutrition and excess mortality, or are forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms to cover food needs, such as… Read More
Africa 

International Day of UN Peacekeepers honours 75 years of service and sacrifice

“United Nations peacekeepers are the beating heart of our commitment to a more peaceful world,” Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the Day. He called for continued support for these men and women, who help countries to transition from war to peace. Hope and help “They are also critical to the protection of civilians caught up in the… Read More
Africa 

UN agencies warn of rising hunger risk in 18 ‘hotspots’

Sudan, Burkina Faso, Haiti and Mali have been elevated to the highest alert level, joining Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Additionally, a likely El Niño – a naturally occurring climatic phenomenon that has a warming effect on ocean surface temperatures in the central and east Pacific – is also raising fears of climate extremes in vulnerable nations. Against ‘business-as-usual’… Read More
Africa 

Trafficking in the Sahel: Killer cough syrup and fake medicine

This feature, which focuses on the illegal trade in substandard and fake medicines, is part of a UN News series exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel. From ineffective hand sanitizer to fake antimalarial pills, an illicit trade that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is being meticulously dismantled by the UN and partner countries in Africa’s Sahel… Read More
Africa 

UNESCO unveils new AI roadmap for classrooms

Less than 10 per cent of schools and universities follow formal guidance on using wildly popular artificial intelligence (AI) tools, like the chatbot software ChatGPT, according to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which hosted more than 40 ministers at an groundbreaking online meeting on Thursday. The ministers exchanged policy approaches and plans while considering the agency’s new… Read More
Africa 

Stop tobacco farming, grow food instead, says WHO

Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday 31 May, WHO deplored that 3.2 million hectares of fertile land across 124 countries are being used to grow deadly tobacco – even in places where people are starving. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that governments across the world “spend millions supporting tobacco farms”, and that choosing to grow food instead of… Read More
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