New UN websites & publications
UN in General
Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Centre
https://www.un.org/en/black-sea-grain-initiative/
An “unprecedented agreement” on the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea amid the ongoing war is “a beacon of hope” in a world that desperately needs it, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said at the signing ceremony on 27 July in Istanbul, Türkiye. The UN plan, which also paves the way for Russian food and fertilizer to reach global markets, will help to stabilize spiralling food prices worldwide and stave off famine, affecting millions. The initiative specifically allows for significant volumes of commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea – Odesa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny. The Secretary-General also announced the establishment of a Joint Coordination Centre to monitor implementation. It will be hosted in Istanbul and will include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and Türkiye.
Further information on Ukraine, see UNRIC Library Backgrounder: https://unric.org/en/unric-library-backgrounder-ukraine/
Global impact of war in Ukraine: Energy crisis – UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance, Brief No.3, 3 August 2022
https://news.un.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/GCRG_3rd-Brief_Aug3_2022_FINAL.pdf
As the war in Ukraine continues to rage, skyrocketing energy prices are compounding an existential cost-of-living crisis for hundreds of millions of people, warned the UN Secretary-General’s Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance. Despite this alarming situation, major oil and gas companies recently reported record profits, which Secretary-General António Guterres, who launched the brief on 3 August 2022, called “immoral.” “The combined profits of the largest energy companies in the first quarter of this year are close to $100 billion. I urge governments to tax these excessive profits, and use the funds to support the most vulnerable people through these difficult times,” he said. The GCRG’s third brief recommends that governments find the most effective ways to fund energy solutions, such as publicly funded cash transfers and rebate policies, to protect vulnerable communities everywhere, including through windfall taxes on the largest oil and gas companies. At the same time, the brief urges a transition to renewables. The brief comes on the heels of the landmark Black Sea Grain Initiative which was agreed between Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine, under the auspices of the United Nations, on 22 July, paving the way for the first shipment of grains from Ukraine to leave the port of Odesa on 1 August.
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
English, French & Spanish: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/
The annual report reviews progress of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using the latest available data and estimates, The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 gives the global community a reality check on the devastating impacts of multiple crises affecting people’s lives and livelihoods. It details the reversal of years of progress in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health and education, providing basic services, and much more. The report also highlights areas that need urgent actions in order to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and the planet by 2030. The report is prepared by UN DESA in collaboration with more than 50 international and regional organizations.
A/RES/76/296: Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibility: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 21 July 2022
English, French & Spanish: https://unodcs.org/A/RES/76/296
German: https://www.un.org/Depts/german/umwelt/A-CONF230-20222-12-DEU.pdf
Following a week of discussions and events in Lisbon, Portugal, the UN Ocean Conference concluded with governments and heads of state agreeing on a new political declaration to Save Our Ocean.
Addressing conspiracy theories: what should teachers know? (UNESCO)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381958
The report is an introduction for educators, working in and outside of formal schooling, on how to identify, prevent and address conspiracy theories. It seeks to provide educators with key definitions and essential knowledge to grasp the complexity of the phenomenon and alert learners about the key characteristics and harmful effects of conspiracy theories for a first, immediate response.
History under attack: Holocaust denial and distortion on social media (UN / UNESCO)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000382159
Holocaust denial and distortion on social media remains a significant cause of concern, finds a new report released by the Department for Global Communications and UNESCO, in partnership with the World Jewish Congress. It is a data-driven investigation into the extent and nature of Holocaust denial and distortion on contemporary social media. Almost 4,000 pieces of content related to the Holocaust were collected in June and July 2021, from five major online platforms: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and Telegram. The content was manually analyzed by experts from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford in English, French, German and Spanish, with the aim of providing a wide-ranging review that addresses multiple countries and contexts. The review finds that nearly half of Holocaust-related content on Telegram either denied or distorted its history.
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
COVID-19 policy responses in the Arab region: Limited fiscal space and lack of effective social protection systems (ESCWA)
https://www.unescwa.org/publications/limited-fiscal-space-lack-effective-social-protection-systems
The COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Arab region hard both in terms of human casualties and socio-economic ramifications. To mitigate the effects of the pandemic, countries had to rapidly find solutions despite resource limitations and challenging circumstances. The present policy brief sheds the light on social protection interventions as part of wider fiscal support measures implemented by Governments in the Arab region to cushion the repercussions of the pandemic on private households. It focuses on intra- and cross-regional differences in social protection spending using information and figures of public announcements issued by Governments and tracked by the COVID-19 Stimulus Tracker of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: A global analysis in the time of COVID-19 (ILO / WHO)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240052895
Women in the health and care sector face a larger gender pay gap than in other economic sectors, earning on average of 24 percent less than peers who are men, according to a new joint report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The report, the world’s most comprehensive analysis on gender pay inequities in health, finds a raw gender pay gap of approximately 20 percentage points which jumps to 24 percentage points when accounting for factors such as age, education and working time. This highlights that women are underpaid for their labour market attributes when compared to men. Much of the wage gap is unexplained, perhaps due to discrimination towards women – who account for 67 percent of health and care workers worldwide. The report also finds that that wages in the health and care sector tend to be lower overall, when compared with other economic sectors. This is consistent with the finding that wages often are lower in economic sectors where women are predominant. The report finds that, even with the COVID-19 pandemic and the crucial role played by health and care workers, there were only marginal improvements in pay equality between 2019 and 2020. It also finds a wide variation in gender pay gaps in different countries, suggesting that pay gaps in the sector are not inevitable and that more can be done to close these gaps. Within countries, gender pay gaps tend to be wider in higher pay categories, where men are over-represented. Women are over-represented in the lower pay categories.
Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety: a rapid review (WHO)
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240055094
The pandemic has emphasized the high risk of avoidable harm to patients, health workers, and the general public, and has identified a range of safety gaps across all core components of health systems at all levels. The rapid review ‘Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for patient safety’ explores impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic did have on patient safety in terms of risks and avoidable harm, specifically in terms of diagnostic, treatment and care management related issues as well as highlights the main patterns of these implications within the broader health system context.
Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Addressing the cost-of-living crisis in developing countries: Poverty and vulnerability projections and policy responses (UNDP)
https://undp.org/publications/addressing-cost-living-crisis-developing-countries-poverty-and-vulnerability-projections-and-policy-responses
Soaring inflation rates have seen an increase in the number of poor people in developing countries by 71 million in the three months since March 2022, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) alerts in a report released on 7 July 2022. As interest rates rise in response to soaring inflation, there is a risk of triggering further recession-induced poverty that will exacerbate the crisis even more, accelerating and deepening poverty worldwide. Developing countries, grappling with depleted fiscal reserves and high levels of sovereign debt as well as rising interest rates on global financial markets, face challenges that cannot be solved without urgent attention by the global community. Analysis of 159 developing countries globally indicate that price spikes in key commodities is already having immediate and devastating impacts on the poorest households, with clear hotspots in the Balkans, countries in the Caspian Sea region and Sub-Saharan Africa (in particular the Sahel region), according to the UNDP estimates. This report zooms in on the insights provided by the two briefs of the UN Secretary-General Global Crisis Response Group on the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine.
Decent work deficits among rural workers (ILO)
English, French & Spanish: https://www.ilo.org/actrav/pubs/WCMS_850582/lang–en/index.htm
About 80 per cent of the world’s poor live in rural areas many among them workers who face severe decent work deficits, including inadequate safety at work, low pay, lack of stability and security of work, and excessive working hours, with women and young workers the hardest hit according to a new report from the Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) at the International Labour Organization (ILO). The report is based on 16 cases studies covering 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change (Georgetown University / IOM / UNICEF / UNU)
https://www.unicef.org/globalinsight/reports/guiding-principles-children-move-context-climate-change
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Georgetown University, and the United Nations University have launched on 25 July 2022 new guidelines to provide the first-ever global policy framework that will help protect, include, and empower children on the move in the context of climate change. The Guiding Principles for Children on the Move in the Context of Climate Change provides a set of 9 principles that address the unique and layered vulnerabilities of children on the move both internally and across borders as a result of the adverse impacts of climate change. Currently, most child-related migration policies do not consider climate and environmental factors, while most climate change policies overlook the unique needs of children. The guidelines note that climate change is intersecting with existing environmental, social, political, economic, and demographic conditions contributing to people’s decisions to move. In 2020 alone, nearly 10 million children were displaced in the aftermath of weather-related shocks. With around one billion children – nearly half of the world’s 2.2 billion children – living in 33 countries at high risk of the impacts of climate change, millions more children could be on the move in the coming years. Developed in collaboration with young climate and migration activists, academics, experts, policymakers, practitioners, and UN agencies, the guiding principles are based on the globally ratified Convention on the Rights of the Child and are further informed by existing operational guidelines and frameworks. The guiding principles provide national and local governments, international organizations and civil society groups with a foundation to build policies that protect children’s rights.
Mapping of protection services for vulnerable people on the move, including victims of trafficking – On routes toward the Central and Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic (UNHCR)
https://reporting.unhcr.org/mapping-of-protection-services-central-west-med-and-atlantic
Each year, thousands of refugees and migrants are subjected to horrific abuse as they move along different routes within the Sahel and East Africa, and towards North Africa and sometimes on to Europe.3 This includes being subjected to repeated gender-based violence (GBV), kidnappings for ransom, being left for dead in the desert, and many forms of physical and psychological abuse by a range of perpetrators including smugglers, traffickers and sometimes State actors. In July 2020, UNHCR and the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) released a joint report highlighting the range of abuses refugees and migrants face as they travel along routes through West and East Africa to Libya and Egypt. This updated 2022 mapping report continues to reveal that protection services for survivors of abuses along the route remain extremely limited in some key locations. For example, little is available in the way of safe shelters for victims of trafficking or survivors of other abuses in Sudan, with only two facilities in the whole country, which are both in Kassala in the east of the country. Similarly, specific support for access to justice for survivors of various forms of abuses is rarely available anywhere on the routes, while in several key mixed movement locations (such as in Dongola in northern Sudan, Ounianga-Kebit and Faya-Largeau in northern Chad, and in areas in Mali and Niger bordering Algeria or Libya), there are almost no protection services available to survivors of abuses. These locations are often the last stops before refugees and migrants embark on further dangerous journeys across the Sahara Desert. They present a critical opportunity for people, who may have already been subjected to abuses at the hands of state and/or non-state actors, to get help and to access protection instead of, and as an alternative to, moving onward to risk crossing the desert in the hands of unscrupulous human smugglers and traffickers. People expelled from some North African countries (Libya and Algeria) are abandoned in these locations, leaving them in vulnerable, and often life-threatening situations. Identification and profiling capacities and support for victims of trafficking are generally very limited in these remote areas and all along the routes.
Motherhood in Childhood: The Untold Story (UNFPA)
https://www.unfpa.org/publications/motherhood-childhood-untold-story
Nearly a third of all women in developing countries, start having children at the age of 19 or younger, and nearly half of first births to adolescents, are to children or girls aged 17 or under, new research released on 5 July 2022 by UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, reveals. While total fertility across the globe has fallen, the UNFPA report shows that women who began childbearing in adolescence, had almost five births by the time they reached 40, during the period examined in the report, between 2015 and 2019. Gender-based and income inequalities are highlighted as key in fuelling teen pregnancies by increasing child marriage rates, keeping girls out of school, restricting their career aspirations, and limiting healthcare and information on safe, consensual sex. Entrenching these inequalities are climate disasters, COVID-19 and conflict, which are all upending lives around the world, obliterating livelihoods and making it more difficult for girls to afford or even physically reach school and health services. This leaves tens of millions yet more vulnerable to child marriage and early pregnancy.
This report is accompanied by Supplementary Material and an Executive Summary.
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022: Repurposing food and agricultural policies to make healthy diets more affordable (FAO)
Report: https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc0639en
Interactive Story: https://www.fao.org/interactive/state-of-food-security-nutrition/en/
The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, according to a new UN report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving in reverse, away from the Sustainable Development Goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms, by 2030, when the SDGs are supposed to be realized. That represents an increase of about 46 million since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the world’s economy into a downward spiral, and 150 million more since 2019. The 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report presents updates on the food security and nutrition situation around the world, including the latest estimates of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet. It also examines ways governments can repurpose their current support to agriculture to help make healthy and nutritious food cheaper, mindful of the limited public resources available in many parts of the world. The report is a joint publication by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results
https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/World-Population-Prospects-2022
This is the twenty-seventh edition of the official United Nations population estimates and projections. It presents population estimates from 1950 to the present for 237 countries or areas, underpinned by analyses of historical demographic trends. This latest assessment considers the results of 1,758 national population censuses conducted between 1950 and 2022, as well as information from vital registration systems and from 2,890 nationally representative sample surveys. The 2022 revision also presents population projections to the year 2100 that reflect a range of plausible outcomes at the global, regional and national levels. For the first time, the estimates and projections are presented in one-year intervals of age and time instead of the five-year intervals used previously.
International Peace and Security
Guidance Note on Abduction (OSRSG Children and Armed Conflict / UNICEF)
https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/22-00040_Abduction-Guidance-for-CAAC_FINAL_WEB-1.pdf
In an effort to strengthen the monitoring and reporting on the abduction of children in armed conflict, a guidance note is being published by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict offering additional tools to practitioners to address this complex grave violation of children’s rights in times of war. With the six grave violations against children in armed conflict being intrinsically interlinked, children often endure other grave violations during the time of their abduction and are recruited and used, killed, maimed, or sexually abused. In recent years, the abduction of children has risen steeply in situations on the children and armed conflict agenda, whether to terrorize communities, target specific groups, or to force the participation of children in hostilities. In response to this worrying trend, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2225 in 2015 and formally recognized the importance of holding parties accountable for abducting children. The guidance note was produced by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in consultation with UNICEF, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, and the Department of Peace Operations in the framework of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) Technical Reference Group.
Concept note for the Arria-formula meeting, co-sponsored by Colombia and Norway, on the theme “A milestone year for a peaceful future: transitional justice in Colombia”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/553
Ireland organized an Arria-formula meeting on the theme “A milestone year for a peaceful future: transitional justice in Colombia” on 14 July 2022. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Ireland has prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Arria-formula meeting on the theme “Destruction of cultural heritage as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/551
Albania and Poland, in cooperation with Ukraine, organized an Arria-formula meeting on the theme “Destruction of cultural heritage as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine” on 15 July 2022. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Albania and Poland have prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Security Council high-level open debate on the theme “United Nations peacekeeping operations: the key role of strategic communications for efficient peacekeeping”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/539
Brazil, President of the Security Council for the month of July 2022, held a high-level open debate on the theme “Key role of strategic communications for efficient peacekeeping” on 12 July 2022. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Brazil has prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Security Council high-level open debate on the theme “Children and armed conflict”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/540
Brazil, President of the Security Council for the month of July 2022, held a high -level open debate on the theme “Children and armed conflict” on 19 July 2022. In order to guide the discussions on this topic, Brazil has prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Security Council open debate on the theme “Peace and security in Africa: capacity-building for sustaining peace”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/592
China, as President of the Security Council for the month of August 2022, China convened a Security Council open debate on the theme “Peace and security in Africa: capacity -building for sustaining peace” on 8 August 2022. In order to guide the discussions on the topic, China has prepared this concept note.
Development of Africa
Economic Development in Africa – Report 2022: Rethinking the Foundations of Export Diversification in Africa; The Catalytic Role of Business and Financial Services
https://unctad.org/webflyer/economic-development-africa-report-2022
African countries must diversify their exports to survive economic shocks from global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, says a new UNCTAD report to be published on 14 July 2022. UNCTAD says African countries can diversify their economies through boosting exports of high-value services, expanding private businesses’ access to financial services, tapping into new financial technologies and implementing effective policies. Despite decades-long efforts to diversify, 45 out of the continent’s 54 countries remain dependent on exports of primary products in the agricultural, mining and extractive industries.
Human Rights
UN General Assembly declares access to clean and healthy environment a universal human right
Resolution A/RES/76/300 in English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/RES/76/300
UN News Story
• English: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1123482
• French: https://news.un.org/fr/story/2022/07/1124582
• Spanish: https://news.un.org/es/story/2022/07/1512242
• Portuguese [BR]: https://news.un.org/pt/story/2022/07/1796682
Implementing the third pillar: lessons from transitional justice guidance by the Working Group Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (A/HRC/50/40/Add.4, 8 June 2022)
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/HRC/50/40/Add.4
Doing business in conflict-affected areas means business enterprises have responsibilities to conduct heightened human rights due diligence and adopt a conflict-sensitive approach in all decisions impacting affected populations, UN experts said on 27 July 2022. In collaboration with the University of Essex and University of Virginia, the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises formally launched new guidance for businesses working in conflict-affected regions. Its report analyses how States have used transitional justice mechanisms to address the responsibility of business for their role in conflicts, and how relevant concepts and standards of reparation have addressed business-related human rights abuses. The annex to the report sets out Guidelines for Designing and Implementing Reparation Programs in Business and Human Rights” which stress the need for reparation processes to be victim-centred.
Safety and Dignity for Refugee and Migrant Children: Recommendations for alternatives to detention and appropriate care arrangements in Europe
https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/press_release/file/advocacy-brief-alternatives-to-detention-appropriate-care-arrangements-fo-refugee-and-migrant-children-europe.pdf
In a briefing paper published on 5 July 2022, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and IOM, the International Organization for Migration, detail the practice of child immigration detention across countries in Europe, and offer a range of alternatives and recommendations to help countries in ending child detention. Detention has a profound and negative impact on child health and well-being and can have a long-lasting negative impact on children’s cognitive development. Placement in detention is known to exacerbate psychological distress and children held in detention are at risk of suffering depression and anxiety as well as violence and abuse. In the joint review conducted by IOM, UNHCR and UNICEF in 38 countries across the European region, the agencies found many worrying examples of child detention. It also found that alternatives to detention such as supported independent living, foster and family-based care, and other child-friendly and child-centred models are already in place in various European countries and offer viable and cost-efficient solutions for host States. The recommendations set forth by the three agencies include expanding alternatives to detention for children and families, investing in reception conditions and national child protection systems and enhancing national data collection and monitoring capacities within States as well as the European Union.
Humanitarian Affairs
Age, Gender and Diversity Report 2021: Promising Practices from Europe (UNHCR)
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/94181
“Introduction: Throughout 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic entered its second year, UNHCR country operations continued to advance age, gender and diversity (AGD) inclusive programming and advocacy to address the adverse effects of the pandemic on persons of concern and to promote accountability to affected people (AAP), in line with the core actions of UNHCR’s Policy on Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD Policy). UNHCR and its partners across the region applied the age, gender and diversity approach to address the needs of persons of concern, while building on their capacities, abilities and resilience. In 2021, UNHCR and partners also advanced targeted activities to prevent, respond to and mitigate the risk of gender-based violence (GBV), to advocate for the protection of children, and to work with LGBTIQ+ persons, older persons and persons with disabilities. In line with its 2021-2025 Strategic Priorities, UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Europe completed two in-depth surveys in 2021: (i) a survey on GBV against refugees and other persons of concern and (ii) a survey on community engagement and communication with communities. The two surveys informed UNHCR’s priority actions at regional level, including the issuance of GBV grants to country operations with Safe from the Start funding and the development of child-friendly information material. In addition, UNHCR commissioned in-depth research on child-friendly and gender-sensitive asylum systems in Europe and organized a regional conference for refugee-led organizations, refugee leaders, volunteers and outreach workers, in collaboration with the European Coalition for Refugees and Migrants. Throughout 2021, the Community-Based Protection (CBP) Working Group conducted regular meetings and thematic webinars, including on the use of social media for CBP, the protection of persons with disabilities, and working with refugee-led organizations. Promising practices were documented and regularly disseminated to further advance AGD mainstreaming and targeted action. This report provides a sample of some of UNHCR’s activities in 2021 to implement the 10 Core Actions of UNHCR’s AGD Policy in the Europe region.
From Our Table to Yours: Fusion Cuisine (UNHCR)
Spanish/English: https://www.acnur.org/from-our-table-to-yours-fusion-cuisine.html
This cookbook that contains stories of, and recipes from, refugees and forcibly displaced persons in Latin America and the Caribbean. Discover recipes from cooking lovers for whom gastronomy has become a means to preserve their origin and share experiences in their host country.
Integrating Migration into International Cooperation and Development: Guidelines for International Cooperation and Development Actors (IOM)
https://publications.iom.int/books/integrating-migration-international-cooperation-and-development-guidelines-international
The Mainstreaming Migration into International Cooperation and Development (MMICD) project aims to strengthen the process of integrating migration into international cooperation and development interventions. These Guidelines for Integrating Migration into International Cooperation and Development provide practical guidance for development partners to integrate migration into policies, plans, and programmes. The aim of the Guidelines is to improve the efficacy of development cooperation by strengthening understanding and know-how of partners in non-migration sectors to deal with the ways in which migration and sustainable development interact.
Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation (IAHE) of the Yemen Crisis (IASC)
https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/inter-agency-humaniatrian-evaluations-steering-group/inter-agency-humanitarian-evaluation-iahe-yemen-crisis
The inter-agency humanitarian evaluation (IAHE) of Yemen covered one of the largest and most significant humanitarian responses by Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) partners. The evaluation finds that despite multiple political, bureaucratic and geographical challenges, the humanitarian response in Yemen scaled up impressively, and slowed the collapse of basic services. In so doing, lives were saved and suffering alleviated. In particular, Cholera was contained, the food security situation slightly improved and levels of acute malnutrition declined. However, despite these considerable achievements, the collective operation struggled to ensure: quality aid provision, proper oversight, robust data collection and analysis, balance among long- and short-term competing priorities, and the preservation of humanitarian principles against the backdrop of a bitter war. The report formulates twelve recommendations to address these challenges in Yemen and future humanitarian responses.
Lives on Hold: Profiles and Intentions of Refugees from Ukraine (UNHCR)
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/94176#_ga=2.150029617.604841581.1659255474-474132512.1659255474
The majority of refugees from Ukraine hope to return home as soon as possible but around two-thirds expect to stay in their current host countries until hostilities subside and the security situation improves, according to new findings published on 13 July 2022 by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The report shows refugees consistently expressing concerns about their futures due to the ongoing war, which is preventing them from making secure, long-term plans. For the survey, UNHCR and partners interviewed some 4,900 refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia between mid-May and mid-June 2022 to better understand their profiles and future intentions. The data showed that 16 per cent were planning to return to Ukraine in the coming two months, with 15 per cent of those only planning to stay temporarily to visit family, get supplies or help relatives to evacuate. Of those seeking to return, 40 per cent were planning to do so in the next month. However, refugees’ plans on whether to stay put or when to move varied significantly according to their regions of origin, the time elapsed since displacement and their current host countries. A higher proportion of refugees from Kyiv and areas in the west were planning to return than those who arrived from the east and north.
World report on the health of refugees and migrants (WHO)
Report in English, Summary in English, French & Spanish: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240054462
Around the world, millions of refugees and migrants in vulnerable situations, such as low-skilled migrant workers, face poorer health outcomes than their host communities, especially where living and working conditions are sub-standard, according to the first WHO World report on the health of refugees and migrants. This has dire consequences for the probability that the world will not achieve the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for these populations. Based on an extensive review of literature from around the world, the report demonstrates that refugees and migrants are not inherently less healthy than host populations. It is, rather, the impact of the various suboptimal health determinants, such as education, income, housing, access to services, compounded by linguistic, cultural, legal and other barriers and the interaction of these during the life course, that are behind poor health outcomes. The report reiterates that the experience of migration and displacement is a key factor in a person’s health and wellbeing, especially when combined with other determinants. For example, a recent meta-analysis of more than 17 million participants from 16 countries across five WHO regions found that, compared with non-migrant workers, migrant workers were less likely to use health services and more likely to have an occupational injury. Evidence also showed that a significant number of the 169 million migrant workers globally are engaged in dirty, dangerous, and demanding jobs and are at greater risk of occupational accidents, injuries, and work-related health problems than their non-migrant counterparts, conditions exacerbated by their often limited or restricted access to and use of health services.
Nuclear, Chemical and Conventional Weapons Disarmament
The Arms-Related Risk Analysis Toolkit: Practical Guidance for Integrating Conventional Arms-Related Risks into Conflict Analysis and Prevention (UNIDIR)
https://unidir.org/publication/arms-related-risk-analysis-toolkit
The Arms-Related Risk Analysis Toolkit is a UNIDIR Toolkit designed to contribute to ongoing efforts to include conventional arms and ammunition-related risks in conflict analysis and conflict prevention, management, and resolution efforts. The Toolkit consists of three tools: the Arms-Related Risk Analysis Tool, the Risk Factor Selector Tool; and the Arms-Related Information Sources Compendium Tool. The Toolkit responds to the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for the integration of conventional arms control into United Nations conflict prevention and management activities by providing guidance on how to gather and interpret arms-related information for conflict prevention efforts. This Toolkit builds upon research undertaken by UNIDIR as part of its workstream on “Integrating Conventional Arms Control into Conflict Prevention and Management”.
Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism
UNODC Business Integrity Portal
https://businessintegrity.unodc.org/bip/en/index.html
Tackling corruption requires active involvement from all areas of society. One, however, has a particularly critical role as the world’s key economic driver: the private sector. The private sector has a vested interest in curbing corruption. Corruption impedes the economic and financial growth of businesses by distorting markets and increasing costs. The private sector can therefore be a powerful agent for change by contributing to a culture of integrity and transparency and by strengthening the rule of law. It is not only possible but also beneficial for the business community to create stronger economies and more prosperous societies. For over a decade, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been fostering dialogue between businesses and governments to find common solutions to a common problem and enhance the capacity of both sectors to prevent and counter corruption. By improving accountability and transparency in industries and supply chains, and by educating and empowering employees to speak up and report corrupt practices, UNODC promotes a culture of integrity in business. Educating youth on fairness and ethics today is key to building generations of integrity business leaders tomorrow. To ensure forward momentum on business integrity, UNODC has launched its brand-new Business Integrity Portal. Serving as an online one-stop shop, the Portal houses a wealth of resources, tools, and good practices, emerging from a range of anti-corruption projects for the private sector implemented by UNODC and funded by the Siemens Integrity Initiative. The projects, delivered in 16 countries across the globe, are designed to reduce corruption by strengthening legal frameworks, public-private dialogue and private sector capacity in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument. Collective action increases the impact and credibility of individual action.
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