New UN websites & publications
UN in General
UN Member States on the Record – new look, new features
https://www.un.org/en/library/unms
On the International Day for Universal Access to Information, 18 October 2022, the Dag Hammarskjöld Library has relaunched its popular website UN Member States on the Record. The new version features an updated and modern layout with data visualizations that make finding relevant documentation a breeze. Powered by the UN Digital Library and Ask DAG, the Library’s knowledge base of frequently asked questions, UN Member States on the Record is the one-stop shop for Member State-related information and provides direct access to documents that reflect a country’s positions.
For each Member State, the website features:
• Date of membership with links to associated documents
• Dates served as a member of the Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council
• General debate statements
• All speeches in principal organs
• Co-sponsorship information of draft resolutions
• Notes verbales announcing diplomatic relations between States
• Press releases for the presentation of credentials of newly-appointed Permanent Representatives to the UN
New content includes:
• Security Council membership timeline
• Photos of Permanent Representatives to the UN presenting their credentials
• Photo gallery of Member States Representatives at the general debate
• Interactive membership timeline and map
Launched in English with the other official language versions to follow.
United Nations Handbook 2022-23
https://bit.ly/3ThV1dG
“The UN Handbook is a valuable reference guide that helps everyone working with or within the United Nations navigate the UN system effectively. New Zealand has demonstrated its long-standing commitment and practical support for the United Nations by producing the UN Handbook since 1961.”
2022 UN Card
English, French & Spanish: https://www.un.org/en/delegate/page/2022-edition-un-card
The 2022 edition of The UN Card brings an update to 10 actions of the UN that show in quantifiable terms how the daily work of the UN and its agencies affects the lives of people around the globe.
170 Actions (UN Geneva)
English & French: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/action
• 170 Actions to Transform Our World
• 170 Actions to Reduce Inequality
• 170 Actions to Combat Climate Change
• 170 Actions to Embrace a Sustainable Lifestyle
Starting making small (or big) changes in our lives, in the way we consume, we produce, we live, is our individual contribution to the achievement of the Global Goals and a necessary condition to build a better future for the generations to come. But, where do we start from?
If you want to start, or increase, the sustainable practices in your daily life, the series of booklet “170 actions” by the Perception Change Project of UN Geneva is the right place to begin. Whether it’s about reducing inequalities, combatting climate change, or embracing a sustainable consumption, this series of booklets lists 170 daily actions that everyone can take. Read the booklets, take action and share what you’re doing on social media, to inspire others to do the same.
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Putting Pandemics Behind Us: Investing in One Health to Reduce Risks of Emerging Infectious Diseases (World Bank)
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099530010212241754/P17840200ca7ff098091b7014001a08952e
As the world continues to deal with the devastating effects of COVID-19, the World Bank released on 24 October 2022 a new report that proposes actionable solutions to end the cycle of devastating pandemics. The pace of emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks has increased at an average annual rate of 6.7 percent from 1980 onwards and the number of outbreaks has grown to several hundred per year since 2000. This is largely due to humans extending their global footprint, altering natural habitats, and accelerating the spillover of animal microbes into human populations. Seventy-five percent of EIDs and almost all known pandemics result from increased contact between animals and people, causing more than 1 billion human infections and 1 million deaths each year. This, coupled with increasing movement of goods and people around the world, has demonstrated the ease of spread and volatility of EIDs. In the report, policymakers, governments, and the international community are urged to invest in pandemic prevention and to move away from the business-as-usual approach based on containment and control after a disease has emerged. The report estimates that prevention costs guided by a One Health approach – which would sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems – would range from $10.3 billion to $11.5 billion per year, compared to the cost of managing pandemics which, according to the recent estimate by the G20 Joint Finance and Health Taskforce, amounts to about $30.1 billion per year.
System-Wide Evaluation of the UNDS Socio-economic Response to COVID-19: Final Report (October 2022)
https://unsdg.un.org/resources/system-wide-evaluation-unds-socio-economic-response-covid-19-final-report
This system-wide evaluation report assesses the effectiveness of the United Nations Development System’s (UNDS) Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19. As the first UNDS system-wide evaluation, this report provides stakeholders with an overarching perspective that allows a look at the UNDS as a whole and assesses the extent to which it has been able to collectively bring its strengths and capacities to bear for countries in their recovery towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
2022 Progress Report on the Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy For Women’s, Children’s And Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030)
http://78.83.251.71/ewec2022/
pdf version: http://78.83.251.71/ewec2022/assets/EWEC-2022-Report.pdf
Advocacy brief: http://78.83.251.71/ewec2022/assets/EWEC-2022-Advocacy-Brief.pdf
A new UN report shows that women’s and children’s health has suffered globally, as the impacts of conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change converge with devastating effects on prospects for children, young people and women. Data presented in the report show a critical regression across virtually every major measure of childhood wellbeing, and many key indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the last Every Woman Every Child Progress Report published in 2020, food insecurity, hunger, child marriage, risks from intimate partner violence, and adolescent depression and anxiety have all increased. An estimated 25 million children were un- or under-vaccinated in 2021 – 6 million more than in 2019 – increasing their risk of contracting deadly and debilitating diseases. Millions of children missed out on school during the pandemic, many for more than a year, while approximately 80% of children in 104 countries and territories experienced learning-loss because of school closures. Since the start of the global pandemic, 10.5 million children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.
2022 State of Climate Services: Energy (WMO)
https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=22136
The supply of electricity from clean energy sources must double within the next eight years to limit global temperature increase. Otherwise, there is a risk that climate change, more extreme weather and water stress will undermine our energy security and even jeopardize renewable energy supplies, according to a new multi-agency report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO’s State of Climate Services annual report, which includes inputs from 26 different organizations, focuses on energy this year because it holds the key to international agreements on sustainable development and climate change and, indeed, to the planet’s health.
Adaptation Gap Report 2022 (UNEP)
https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2022
As climate impacts intensify across the globe, nations must dramatically increase funding and implementation of actions designed to help vulnerable nations and communities adapt to the climate storm, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report. Released ahead of COP27 – the latest round of climate talks taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt – the report finds that global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation are not keeping pace with the growing risks.
Authentic Sustainability Assessment: A User Manual for the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators (UNRISD)
https://cdn.unrisd.org/assets/library/reports/2022/manual-sdpi-2022.pdf
On 1 November 2022, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) released this publication, which provides —for the first time— a comprehensive set of indicators for assessing organizational performance in the context of sustainability thresholds and transformative change needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To advance from existing SDG indicators, which assess incremental performance (i.e., year-to-year progress in percentages), the SDPIs instead assess performance relative to normative sustainability thresholds. This 4-year project has been supported by the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies (CSES).
Avoiding ‘Too Little Too Late’ on International Debt Relief (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/avoiding-too-little-too-late-international-debt-relief
This paper takes stock of the unfolding debt crisis across developing low- and middle-income countries and discusses how to break with the inertia in debt restructurings under the Common Framework for Debt Treatments (CF). Using data on credit ratings, debt sustainability ratings, and sovereign bond spreads the paper identifies 54 developing economies with severe debt problems. Given the global outlook of low growth and high interest rates, the international community must urgently step-up debt relief efforts to avert a deepening development crisis. The paper proposes a way forward for the CF focusing on issues of official creditor coordination, private creditor participation, and the use of state-contingent debt clauses that target future economic and fiscal resilience. Fundamentally, the paper argues that the focus must shift from debt rescheduling to comprehensive restructuring involving write-offs allowing countries a faster return to growth, financial markets, and development progress. A structurally different future of tighter funding conditions and higher frequency of climate disasters will require a re-think and ramp-up of official sector concessional lending to vulnerable developing economies.
Cities Alive: Designing Cities That Work for Women (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/cities-alive-designing-cities-work-women
Urgent action is needed to remove the gender bias built into cities and improve women’s safety, their health, and access to education and employment, according to a new report released on 24 October 2022 by Arup, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the University of Liverpool. Approximately 4.5 billion people, or 55% of the world population, live in urban areas, and 50% of the world’s population is made up of women and girls. The new report shows that while women make up half the global urban population, cities have not been designed with them in mind. It calls on decision-makers, urban designers, and city planners to work towards cities that are more inclusive, safer, and equitable for women around the world. The report draws on the voices and experiences of women globally, as well as a thorough review of data and research, to identify issues and recommendations based on the four critical themes: safety and security, justice and equity, health and wellbeing and enrichment and fulfilment.
ClimaHealth (WHO /WMO) – Knowledge platform for climate and health
https://climahealth.info/
The first global knowledge platform dedicated to climate and health was launched on 31 October 2022 by the Joint Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with support from the Wellcome Trust. It is in response to growing calls for actionable information to protect people from the health risks of climate change and other environmental hazards. Climate and health are inextricably linked. Climate change, extreme weather events and environmental degradation have fundamental impact on human health and well-being. More people than ever before are exposed to increased climate-related health risks, from poor water and air quality to infectious diseases and heat stress.
Climate Concern to Climate Action: The Role of Young Social Entrepreneurs (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/publications/climate-concern-climate-action-role-young-social-entrepreneurs
The climate emergency is affecting livelihoods across the world, with health and security already at risk due to extreme weather conditions, rising sea levels, and other climate change-induced challenges. These challenges are also posing a threat to the sustainable futures of more than 660 million youth in the Asia-Pacific region. The People’s Climate Vote (2021), which is the largest public perception survey on climate change ever conducted, found that compared to other generations, belief that climate change is an emergency, is most common among young people under-18. Over 60 percent of under-18s in all surveyed countries in the Asia-Pacific region believe that climate change is an emergency. At the same time, young people across the region are taking the lead to combat the climate crisis through awareness campaigns, climate strikes and local climate solutions. In this context and from its unique vantage point in supporting the largest movement of young social entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific region, Youth Co:Lab undertook this research to better understand the catalytic role that the young social entrepreneurs in the AsiaPacific region can play in tackling the climate emergency, and the support they need to amplify the potential impact of their climate actions and solutions.
The coldest year of the rest of their lives: Protecting children from the escalating impacts of heatwaves (UNICEF)
Report in English, Executive Summary in English, French & Spanish: https://www.unicef.org/reports/coldest-year-rest-of-their-lives-children-heatwaves
Heatwaves have become an unavoidable health hazard for many nations, but new data indicates that they are set to affect virtually every child on earth by 2050, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on 25 October 2022. Today, at least half a billion youngsters are already exposed to a high number of heatwaves, placing them on the front lines of climate change, the UN agency noted. By the middle of this century, moreover, it estimates that more than two billion children will be exposed to “more frequent, longer lasting, and more severe” heatwaves. New data from the agency published in its report, underscores that young children face greater risks than adults when faced with extreme heat events. This is because they are less able to regulate their body temperature compared to adults. The more heatwaves children are exposed to, the greater the chance of health problems including chronic respiratory conditions, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases.
Crisis of Inequality: Shifting Power for a New Eco-Social Contract (UNRISD)
https://www.unrisd.org/en/library/publications/crises-of-inequality
There is perhaps no stronger evidence of the pressing need to redesign our global system than the fact that a global health crisis doubled the wealth of the 10 richest men in the world while sending upwards of 120 million people into extreme poverty. This UNRISD Flagship Report shows how inequalities and crises reinforce and compound each other, leading to extreme disparity, vulnerability and unsustainability. It argues that this is not the result of a broken system but one in which inequality and injustice are built in by design. The social contract has broken down to the great detriment of people and planet. The report associates the multiple crises and increasing inequalities we are facing with policy choices promoted during the age of neoliberal hyperglobalization. It unpacks the implications for sustainable development and for disadvantaged social groups through the lenses of intersectionality and power. To address inequality, break the cycle of multiple and interlocking crises, and work toward a more equal, just and sustainable future, the report proposes the creation of a new eco-social contract and a policy approach based on alternative economies, transformative social policies, and reimagined multilateralism and strengthened solidarities.
Emissions Gap Report 2022: The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies (UNEP)
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022
The report is the 13th edition in an annual series that provides an overview of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The report shows that updated national pledges since COP26 – held in 2021 in Glasgow, UK – make a negligible difference to predicted 2030 emissions and that we are far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C. Policies currently in place point to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century. Implementation of the current pledges will only reduce this to a 2.4-2.6°C temperature rise by the end of the century, for conditional and unconditional pledges respectively. The report finds that only an urgent system-wide transformation can deliver the enormous cuts needed to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 2030: 45 per cent compared with projections based on policies currently in place to get on track to 1.5°C and 30 per cent for 2°C. This report provides an in-depth exploration of how to deliver this transformation, looking at the required actions in the electricity supply, industry, transport and buildings sectors, and the food and financial systems. In the best-case scenario, full implementation of unconditional NDCs and additional net-zero emissions commitments point to only a 1.8°C increase, so there is hope. However, this scenario is not currently credible based on the discrepancy between current emissions, short-term NDC targets and long-term net-zero targets.
Extreme Heat: Preparing for the heatwaves of the future (OCHA / IFRC)
https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/extreme-heat-preparing-heatwaves-future
Record high temperatures this year – which are fueling catastrophes in Somalia, Pakistan and around the world – foreshadow a future with deadlier, more frequent, and more intense heat-related humanitarian emergencies, a new report warns. Released a month ahead of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27), the report says that, with climate change making heatwaves ever more dangerous, aggressive steps must be taken now to avert potentially recurrent heat disasters. The report—the first to be published jointly by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)— offers concrete steps that humanitarians and decision makers can take to mitigate extreme heat’s worst effects. 2022 has already seen communities across North Africa, Australia, Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East suffocate under record-high temperatures. Most recently the Western United States and China have buckled under severe heat. The report notes that in the coming decades, heatwaves are predicted to meet and exceed human physiological and social limits in regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South and South-West Asia. Extreme heatwaves in these regions, where humanitarian needs are already high, would result in large-scale suffering and loss of life, population movements and further entrenched inequality, the report warns.
Fish: Know it, cook it, eat it (FAO)
Digital Recipe Book: https://www.fao.org/3/cc1395en/online/cc1395en.html
Recipe Book in pdf format: https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc1395en
Fish provides more than 4.5 billion people around the world with a critical share of their daily protein requirements. For many, it’s an essential daily meal key for nutrition, health and well-being. And while fish may not be enough to ensure global food security, there will be no global food security without fish. FAO’s Fish: Know it, cook it, eat it presents traditional recipes from dozens of countries and features dishes from celebrated chefs. But it also takes the reader on a journey to learn a whole lot more about fish and shellfish culture, science and trade. It additionally helps consumers recognize various types of fish, their origin and nutritional value. With its spectacular illustrations, interesting food facts, humorous fish “interviews” and tantalizing recipes, it is unlike any other fish recipe book.
Gender, displacement and climate change: November 2022 (UNHCR) https://reporting.unhcr.org/document/3568
The climate crisis is an unequivocal threat to human wellbeing. However, not all human beings are equally affected. With pre-existing gender inequalities compounding their vulnerabilities, women and girls are among the worst impacted. Climate change is contributing to humanitarian crises and will continue to increase displacement across regions. Those already displaced are disproportionately exposed to climate and environmental risks, 1 and often lack the means for sustainable, climate risk-informed solutions to their displacement. As women and children make up the overwhelming majority of displaced population due to conflict, they often experience ruinous impacts brought on by climate change. It is crucial to prioritize women’s and girl’s empowerment when addressing protection risks, including gender-based violence, in the context of displacement and climate change. Adopting a gender lens helps to identify and respond to specific risks and needs, and it highlights the essential roles women can take on in leading sustainable transformations.
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022: Unpacking deprivation bundles to reduce multidimensional poverty
https://hdr.undp.org/content/2022-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi
The new Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released on 17 October 2022 finds that reducing poverty at scale is possible and unveils new ‘poverty profiles’ that can offer a breakthrough in development efforts to tackle the interlinked aspects of poverty. This analysis by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford looks beyond income as a measurement of poverty to understand how people experience poverty in different aspects of their daily lives – from access to education and health, to living standards such as housing, drinking water, sanitation and electricity. The report notably identifies a series of ‘deprivation bundles’ — recurring patterns of poverty — that commonly impact those who live in multidimensional poverty across the world. The data are used to identify the different poverty profiles that are more common in certain places. This is a crucial step in designing strategies that address multiple aspects of poverty at the same time. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis are accounted for, the data shows that 1.2 billion people in 111 developing countries are living in acute multidimensional poverty. This is nearly double the number who are seen as poor when poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 per day.
see also: https://feature.undp.org/multidimensional-poverty/
Global status report on physical activity 2022 (WHO)
Report in English, Executive Summary in English, French & Spanish:
https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/physical-activity/global-status-report-on-physical-activity-2022
This Global status report on physical activity is WHO’s first dedicated global assessment of global progress on country implementation of policy recommendations of the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) 2018-2030. It also presents an estimate of the cost to health systems of not taking action to improve physical activity levels and reinforces the urgency to position physical activity as a shared, whole-of-government priority, and to strengthen coordination and partnerships to promote physical activity.
Global status of multi-hazard early warning systems: Target G (UNDRR/WMO)
https://www.undrr.org/publication/global-status-multi-hazard-early-warning-systems-target-g
A new report from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that half of the countries globally are not protected by multi-hazard early warning systems. The numbers are even worse for developing countries on the front lines of climate change. Less than half of the Least Developed Countries and only one-third of Small Island Developing States have a multi-hazard early warning system. The report, Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems – Target G, analyses new data and shows that countries with limited early warning coverage have disaster mortality that is eight times higher than countries with substantial to comprehensive coverage. The report, released to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, shows that least developed countries, small island developing states, and countries in Africa require the most investment to increase early warning coverage and adequately protect themselves against disasters.
Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, October 2022 (WMO)
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/more-bad-news-planet-greenhouse-gas-levels-hit-new-highs
In yet another ominous climate change warning, atmospheric levels of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all reached new record highs in 2021, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), released on 26 October 2022. WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reported the biggest year-on-year jump in methane concentrations in 2021 since systematic measurements began nearly 40 years ago. The reason for this exceptional increase is not clear but seems to be a result of both biological and human-induced processes. The increase in carbon dioxide levels from 2020 to 2021 was larger than the average annual growth rate over the last decade. Measurements from WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network stations show that these levels continue to rise in 2022 over the whole globe.
Human Climate Horizons (UNDP)
https://horizons.hdr.undp.org/
Without concerted and urgent action, climate change will exacerbate inequalities and widen gaps in human development according to the new Human Climate Horizons platform launched on 4 November 2022 by the United Nations Development Programme and the Climate Impact Lab. Designed to empower people and decision makers everywhere, it shows what climate change could mean for people’s lives through changes in mortality, the ability to earn a living and energy use. Freely available on the eve of COP27, the new platform opens access to an evolving stream of research to help inform action to reduce the unequal effects of rising global greenhouse gas emissions.
The impact of the war in Ukraine and subsequent economic downturn on child poverty in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (UNICEF)
https://www.unicef.org/eca/reports/impact-war-ukraine-and-subsequent-economic-downturn-child-poverty-eastern-europe
The war in Ukraine and rising inflation have driven an additional four million children across eastern Europe and Central Asia into poverty, a 19 per cent increase since 2021, according to a new UNICEF study published on 17 October 2022. The publication – which features data from 22 countries across the region – shows that children are bearing the heaviest burden of the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While children make up 25 per cent of the population, they account for nearly 40 per cent of the additional 10.4 million people experiencing poverty this year. The Russian Federation accounts for nearly three-quarters of the total increase in the number of children living in poverty due to the Ukraine war and a cost-of-living crisis across the region, with an additional 2.8 million children now living in households below the poverty line. Ukraine is home to half a million additional children living in poverty, the second largest share, followed by Romania, with an additional 110,000 children, the study notes.
The Least Developed Countries Report 2022: The low-carbon transition and its daunting implications for structural transformation (UNCTAD)
https://unctad.org/ldc2022
Report in English, Overview in English, French & Spanish:
https://unctad.org/webflyer/least-developed-countries-report-2022
As nations convene for the 27th UN Climate Conference (COP27), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has set out the actions needed to ensure global efforts towards a low-carbon future don’t leave least developed countries (LDCs) behind. UNCTAD’s Least Developed Countries Report 2022 published on 3 November 2022 says LDCs are the “litmus test” against which history will judge how effectively efforts to make the low-carbon transition consider development needs and countries’ different obligations and capacities to fight climate change. The world’s 46 LDCs, home to about 1.1 billion people, have contributed minimally to CO2 emissions. In 2019 they accounted for less than 4% of total world greenhouse gas emissions. Yet over the last 50 years, 69% of worldwide deaths caused by climate-related disasters occurred in LDCs.
Nature is Counting on Us: Mapping Progress to Implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNDP / GEF)
https://www.undp.org/publications/nature-counting-us
In this comprehensive analysis of Convention on Biological Diversity policy documents, we seek to better understand trends in the use spatial data and tools for biodiversity policymaking among developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and to evaluate the impact that spatial data use may have on policy outcomes. These data are helping to determine pathways to accelerate action on nature, climate and sustainable development, and the capacity of policymakers to use it.
Nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. Synthesis report by the secretariat (FCCC/PA/CMA/2022/4)
https://unfccc.int/documents/619180
Long-term low-emission development strategies. Synthesis report by the secretariat (FCCC/PA/CMA/2022/8)
https://unfccc.int/documents/619179
A new report from UN Climate Change shows countries are bending the curve of global greenhouse gas emissions downward but underlines that these efforts remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. According to the report, the combined climate pledges of 193 Parties under the Paris Agreement could put the world on track for around 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century. It also shows current commitments will increase emissions by 10.6% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. This is an improvement over last year’s assessment, which found countries were on a path to increase emissions by 13.7% by 2030, compared to 2010 levels. Last year’s analysis showed projected emissions would continue to increase beyond 2030. However, this year’s analysis shows that while emissions are no longer increasing after 2030, they are still not demonstrating the rapid downward trend science says is necessary this decade.
One health joint plan of action (2022‒2026): working together for the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240059139
On 17 October 2022, a new One Health Joint Plan of Action was launched by the Quadripartite – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE). This first joint plan on One Health aims to create a framework to integrate systems and capacity so that we can collectively better prevent, predict, detect, and respond to health threats. Ultimately, this initiative seeks to improve the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment, while contributing to sustainable development. The One Health Joint Plan of Action, developed through a participatory process, provides a set of activities that aim to strengthen collaboration, communication, capacity building, and coordination equally across all sectors responsible for addressing health concerns at the human-animal-plant-environment interface.
see also: https://www.who.int/news/item/17-10-2022-one-health-joint-plan-of-action-launched-to-address-health-threats-to-humans–animals–plants-and-environment
Outlook Study for Ukraine on Advancement of Business Membership Organizations and Business Development Services (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/ukraine/publications/outlook-study-ukraine-advancement-business-membership-organizations-and-business-development-services
The study aims at strengthening business membership organizations (BMOs) and their service offerings, taking into account best international practices and the context, vision and needs of local MSMEs in Ukraine. It was conducted in several stages during 2021 and 2022, using both primary and secondary data. The primary data collection consisted of representative samples from five macro-regions collected from a survey of 1,000 Ukrainian MSMEs, from focus group discussions with business representatives of different sizes and interviews with key sector experts. The secondary collection focused on an analysis of best international practices in the development of business associations and business development services. The findings of this research will be of value to BMOs interested in increasing the efficiency of their operations and the satisfaction of their members, businesses and organizations interested in establishing/joining a BMO, and private and state institutions looking to engage with MSMEs in the public policy discussion. This publication was created under the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Strengthening MSME Business Membership Organizations in Ukraine,” which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and with the support of Switzerland.
People on the Move in a Changing Climate – Linking Policy, Evidence and Action (IOM)
https://publications.iom.int/books/people-move-changing-climate-linking-policy-evidence-and-action
An extensive array of international agreements and frameworks attest to the urgency of addressing climate change and human mobility together, as climate change, environmental degradation and disasters reshape contemporary human mobility patterns. It is now time to put these agreements into practice and step-up implementation on human mobility in contexts of climate change. People on the Move in a Changing Climate provides insights and recommendations on how to do so. Specifically, it draws on existing knowledge and IOM’s experience of working with governments, other UN agencies and partners at different levels to outline the main aspects of the human mobility and climate change nexus from a policy perspective and put forward a series of recommended actions for policymakers. The recommendations are supported by practical examples to guide future action and aim to provide (1) Solutions for people to move; (2) Solutions for people on the move; and (3) Solutions for people to stay. These are based on the three strategic objectives identified in the IOM Institutional Strategy on Migration, Environment and Climate Change 2021–2030.
Rapid Assessment of the War’s Impact on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine (UNDP)
https://www.undp.org/ukraine/publications/rapid-assessment-wars-impact-micro-small-and-medium-enterprises-ukraine
The publication focuses on the current status of MSME business activity across different regions and industries, on critical challenges and issues caused by the war and on significant changes that have occurred compared to the pre-war period. It also aims to identify support available to MSMEs from various stakeholders, such as the government, local authorities, donor organizations and the private sector. This rapid assessment is based on a thorough analysis of a wide range of secondary data collected by substantive desk research. The report summarizes the key findings from the assessment and presents observations about possible actions in response to challenges currently faced by MSMEs in Ukraine. It aims to provide a snapshot of the current consequences of the war on the MSME sector. This publication was created under the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Strengthening MSME Business Membership Organizations in Ukraine,” implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and with the support of Switzerland.
The State of Food and Agriculture 2022: Leveraging automation to transform agrifood systems (FAO)
https://www.fao.org/3/cb9479en/online/cb9479en.html
Agricultural automation, which includes anything from tractors to artificial intelligence, can play an important role in making food production more efficient and more environmentally friendly. However, its uneven adoption can also deepen inequalities, especially if it remains inaccessible to small-scale producers and other marginalized groups, such as youth and women. The 2022 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA), one of the flagship reports produced each year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), looks at how automation in our agrifood systems can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and offers recommendations to policy makers on how to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks. From hire-a-tractor services in Ghana to shrimp boxes that use machine learning and robotics in Mexico, the report looks at 27 case studies from all over the world, representing technologies at different stages of readiness and appropriate to agricultural producers of different scales and levels of income. It investigates the drivers of these technologies and identifies several barriers preventing its adoption, particularly by small-scale producers. Based on this analysis, the publication suggests policies to ensure that agricultural automation is inclusive and contributes to sustainable and resilient agrifood systems. Finally, the report also looks at one of the most common concerns about automation – that it creates unemployment – and concludes that such fears are not borne out by historical realities.
State of the Climate in Europe 2021 (WMO)
https://library.wmo.int/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=22152
Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years – the highest of any continent in the world. As the warming trend continues, exceptional heat, wildfires, floods and other climate change impacts will affect society, economies and ecosystems, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), released on 2 November 2022. The State of the Climate in Europe report, produced jointly with the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, focused on 2021. It provides information on rising temperatures, land and marine heatwaves, extreme weather, changing precipitation patterns and retreating ice and snow. Temperatures over Europe have warmed significantly over the 1991-2021 period, at an average rate of about +0.5 °C per decade. As a result, Alpine glaciers lost 30 meters in ice thickness from 1997 to 2021. The Greenland ice sheet is melting and contributing to accelerating sea level rise. In summer 2021, Greenland saw a melt event and the first-ever recorded rainfall at its highest point, Summit station. In 2021, high impact weather and climate events led to hundreds of fatalities, directly affected more than half a million people and caused economic damages exceeding US$ 50 billion. About 84% of the events were floods or storms. It’s not all bad news. A number of countries in Europe have been very successful in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, in the European Union (EU) greenhouse gas emissions decreased 31% between 1990 and 2020, with a net 55% reduction target for 2030.
State of the World’s Drinking Water (UNICEF / WHO / World Bank)
https://www.unicef.org/reports/state-worlds-drinking-water
This report developed by UNICEF, WHO and World Bank is a comprehensive survey of what we know about the links between water, health, and development, with actionable recommendations to reach Sustainable Development Goal targets on access to safe drinking water. It is illustrated by many examples of how countries have addressed the challenge of providing safely managed drinking water to their populations. The report outlines ways in which governments can meaningfully enact sustainable improvements, even with limited budgets and while capacity is developing, understanding that ultimately a comprehensive approach with political leadership is required, addressing infrastructure, governance, finance, capacity development, data and information and innovation.
A trade hope: The role of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in bringing Ukrainian grain to the world (UNCTAD)
https://unctad.org/a-trade-hope
An UNCTAD report published on 20 October shows how the Black Sea Grain Initiative signed in July 2022 to resume exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea amid the ongoing war has offered hope and shown the power of trade in times of crisis. The report underlines why it’s critical to renew the initiative next month. Thanks to the initiative, port activity in Ukraine is picking up and large shipments of grain are reaching world markets. As of 19 October, the total tonnage of grain and other foodstuffs exported through the initiative had reached almost 8 million metric tons.
Trade Remedies Data Portal
https://trade-remedies.wto.org/
The Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 1 November 2022 launched the Trade Remedies Data Portal, an online tool that provides access to information on members’ anti-dumping and countervailing duty actions. The new Portal provides a gateway to comprehensive data on all anti-dumping and countervailing duty actions notified by WTO members, displaying information in the form of searchable tables and customizable graphs. The Portal allows users to filter information based on various parameters. The Portal has been developed in the context of the Open Trade Data Initiative (OTDI), a WTO Secretariat initiative to improve data collection and dissemination, with the aim of updating the databases used to store information on members’ trade remedy actions.
UNEP’s Foresight Brief: Plastics in agriculture – an environmental challenge
https://www.unep.org/resources/emerging-issues/plastics-agriculture-environmental-challenge
Plastics are accumulating in the world’s soils at a worrying rate, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The 29th edition of UNEP’s Foresight Brief highlights how plastics used extensively in farming – from plastic coated plastic fertilizers to mulch film – are contaminating the soil and potentially threatening food security. Microplastics are also impacting human health when transferred to people through the food chain.
Urban ecosystem-based adaptation: Regreening cities to tackle climate change (UNEP)
https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/40404
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is a strategy for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change by harnessing nature and the services it can provide. This strategy is crucial for cities and peri-urban areas, threatened by a multitude of climate hazards and home to more than half the human population as of 2018. Despite some outmigration from the largest cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, urbanization will continue, and by 2035, 62.5 percent of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas. However, given the need to retrofit, replace and upgrade deteriorating urban infrastructure, and to meet the challenges of climate change, including the urban heat island effect, droughts and more intense flooding, many experts and policymakers see in these demands an opportunity to reinvent cities as greener, less prone to pandemics, and more liveable.
Water & Sanitation: Realizing Human Rights and Achieving Sustainable Development Goals, A Handbook for Parliamentarians
English, French, Spanish and Portuguese: https://www.sanitationandwaterforall.org/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-handbook-parliamentarians
Parliaments and parliamentarians play a critical role in ensuring accountable, participatory, transparent governance which is necessary for inclusive and sustainable development. However, this critical role faces numerous challenges. This handbook, released on 20 October 2022 by the UN-hosted Sanitation and Water for All global partnership (SWA), aims to provide parliamentarians with information and inspiration, to help them deliver on their responsibilities to ensure effective water and sanitation services for the constituents and communities they serve. This handbook has been prepared in response to requests by SWA partners to provide support to parliamentarians, in order to contribute to their understanding of the legal, political, and programmatic implications of realizing the human rights to water and sanitation and achieving the related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
WHO global strategy for food safety 2022-2030: towards stronger food safety systems and global cooperation
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240057685
On 17 October 2022, WHO launches the WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety 2022-2030, adopted by Member States at the 75th Session of the World Health Assembly – Resolution WHA75(22). The launch marks a milestone in WHO work to promote health, keep the world safe and protect the vulnerable. Every year, one in ten people globally fall ill due to foodborne diseases. Contaminated food can cause over 200 diseases, and the magnitude of public health burden is comparable to malaria or HIV AIDS. Children under five are at higher risk, as one in six deaths from diarrhoea are caused by unsafe food. The updated WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety is a step towards a safer and healthier world, but also towards strengthening multisectoral collaboration and innovative public health approaches. The Global Food Safety Strategy has been developed to guide and support Member States in their efforts to prioritize, plan, implement, monitor and regularly evaluate actions towards the reduction of the burden of foodborne diseases (FBD) by continuously strengthening food safety systems and promoting global cooperation.
World heritage glaciers: sentinels of climate change (UNESCO / IUCN)
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000383551
50 UNESCO World Heritage sites are home to glaciers (A total of 18,600 glaciers have been identified in these 50 sites, covering around 66,000 km2), representing almost 10% of the Earth’s total glacierized area. They include the highest (next to Mt. Everest), the longest (in Alaska), and the last remaining glaciers in Africa, amongst others, giving a representative overview of the general situation of glaciers in the world. But a new study by UNESCO, in partnership with IUCN, shows these glaciers have been retreating at an accelerated rate since 2000 due to CO2 emissions, which are warming temperatures. They are currently losing 58 billion tons of ice every year – equivalent to the combined annual water use of France and Spain– and are responsible for nearly 5% of observed global sea-level rise.
International Peace and Security
Concept note for the Security Council open debate on women and peace and security on the theme “Strengthening women’s resilience and leadership as a path to peace in regions plagued by armed groups”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/743
The President of the Security Council for the month of October 2022, Gabon will convene a Security Council debate on 20 October 2022 on women and peace and security on the theme “Strengthening women’s resilience and leadership as a path to peace in regions plagued by armed groups”. In order to guide the discussions on the topic, Gabon has prepared this concept note.
Concept note for the Security Council open debate on the topic “Integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace”
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/799
The President of the Security Council for the month of November 2022, Ghana, will convene a ministerial-level open debate on the topic “Integrating effective resilience-building in peace operations for sustainable peace” under the item “Peacebuilding and sustaining peace” on 3 November 2022. This concept note was prepared to guide the discussions during the open debate.
Defueling Conflict: Environment and Natural Resource Management as a Pathway to Peace (World Bank)
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/environment/publication/defueling-conflict-environment-and-natural-resource-management-as-a-pathway-to-peace
Climate change, environment degradation, and conflict are strongly correlated: natural resources were a source of contention in one in four global crises and conflicts in 2014-18, and closely related to 40% of all intrastate conflicts in 1946-2006. In addition, as much as 70 percent of the most climate-vulnerable countries are also among the most fragile. Conflict-environment linkages particularly affect poor and vulnerable populations. Structural gender inequalities, discriminatory laws, and adverse gender norms put women and girls at a further disadvantage to cope with conflict and climate-related shocks, given they lack equal access to land, property, and other assets. Understanding these linkages matter. The World Bank Group (WBG) Strategy for Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) 2020-2025 explicitly recognizes the importance of climate change as a driver of FCV and as a threat multiplier, while emphasizing the need to address both the environmental impacts and drivers of FCV. As the Strategy implementation rolls out, it is essential to share a common understanding of these links and ensure they are reflected at the project and policy level. The report seeks to throw some light into environment-conflict dynamics with views to help integrate them more broadly into World Bank interventions in FCS. To this end, the report offers an in-depth analysis of the interplay between environment, climate change, fragility, and gender, while taking a deep look into World Bank operations in FCS.
Guidance on Mediation of Ceasefires (DPPA)
https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/Ceasefire-Guidance-2022.pdf
The Guidance is designed to support United Nations senior leadership and staff, mediators, and facilitators within and outside the UN, along with their teams, conflict parties, representatives of States and regional organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, women’s groups and other stakeholders in peace processes.
The Implications of Climate Change for Mediation and Peace Processes: DPPA Practice Note
https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/DPPAPracticeNote-TheImplicationsofClimateChangeforMediationandPeaceProcesses.pdf
Climate change effects are felt in every corner of the world and can affect conflicts in different ways. They can be a source of conflict, a multiplier of existing risks, or an opportunity for manipulation by conflict parties. Building on DPPA’s broader efforts to address the complex linkages between climate, peace and security, this note aims to provide guidance to mediation practitioners operating in climate exposed and fragile contexts. It explores the opportunities and challenges of incorporating climate change considerations into peace processes and presents concrete measures to be taken.
Perceptions of FARC Dissident Groups in Colombia: Implications for Future Peace (UNIDIR / UNU-CPR)
http://collections.unu.edu/view/UNU:8960#viewAttachments
This report is based on data collected as part of a phone survey of community members in 19 municipalities across Colombia, conducted in two waves: from April to May 2021 and November to December 2021. The report also includes a small amount of data collected from 50 former members of active armed groups, including FARC dissident groups, in survey interviews held between April and September 2022. The report presents findings on public perceptions of FARC dissident groups, as well as the experiences of, and perceptions held by, individuals who left these groups. By comparing municipal-level summary statistics, this report allows for an examination of regional differences, often stemming from their different conflict histories. Analysis of this data aims to be useful for the international community, governments, local authorities, and Colombian civil society organizations in their peacemaking and peacebuilding efforts – including potential talks between the Government and some of these groups. The report ends with an examination of the key policy and programmatic implications of these findings.
Seeking Peace: Stories of Women Peacebuilder and Peacekeepers – new podcast series
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/seeking-peace-new-podcast-series-co-produced-georgetown-institute-women-peace-and-security-and
The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) has launched a new podcast series “Seeking Peace”, which they coproduced with Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS). The 5-episode podcast series, which is GIWPS’ third season so far, explores women’s roles in bringing lasting peace to communities – through grassroots activism, in peace negotiations, politics or as uniformed peacekeepers in peacekeeping settings: the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Mali and South Sudan. You will also hear from women leading the charge for peace at the highest level at the UN, and experts and researchers in the field. Episodes 1 to 3 feature women peace activists and episodes 4 and 5 portray the voices of women in peacekeeping. Each English-language episode is about 30-min long, in audio form. The series is running from 24th October to 21st November 2022 with a new episode released each week in English.
The Taliban in Afghanistan: Assessing New Threats to the Region and Beyond (UNICRI)
https://unicri.it/News/Taliban-Afghanistan-Assessing-New-Threats
This brief threat assessment report by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Institute (UNICRI) aims to analyse and assess the recent developments in Afghanistan and their broader implications on the security context at the domestic, regional, and international levels. This is a prelude to a more comprehensive report that will aim to explore and identify: (i) current sources of Taliban funding; (ii) the relationship between the Taliban and foreign terrorist groups, notably Al-Qaida and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan (ISIL-K); (iii) the use of sanctions, and their unintended consequences; (iv) regional relations and dynamics; and (v) potential implications for the European security context. This research aims to provide actionable recommendations to guide the design of an integrated programme for neighbouring countries. In the next months, UNICRI will hold a virtual expert-level meeting with representatives from UN entities, EU institutions, and selected regional and national experts to further outline these initial findings and discuss key areas where the international community can take mitigative measures. Following this, UNICRI will publish the final report, including detailed recommendations for short-term and medium-term activities. The final report will be launched in early 2023.
Women and peace and security: Report of the Secretary-General (S/2022/740, 5 October 2022)
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/S/2022/740
Against a backdrop of increasing violent conflicts and reversal of generational gains in women’s rights, the women, peace and security agenda is farther from achieving its goals than ever before, as the latest UN Secretary-General report shows. The report points out that the sharp deterioration in peace and security globally is causing immense suffering and has a significant and specific impact on women and girls in conflict-affected countries. The SG report comes on the sidelines of the annual UN Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security taking place on 20 October 2022 in New York, entitled “Strengthening women’s resilience and leadership as a path to peace in regions plagued by armed groups”.
Women’s participation in local mediation: Lessons from Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen (UN Women)
https://arabstates.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/06/womens-participation-in-local-mediation-lessons-from-iraq-libya-syria-and-yemen
Largely excluded from formal mediation roles, women across conflict-affected countries in the Arab region have been instrumental in diffusing tensions and mediating conflicts in their own communities. UN Women’s new report sheds light on the diverse mediation roles women have played to resolve conflict and restore social cohesion in their communities. Drawing on various case studies from the four conflict-affected countries, the report demonstrates how women have mediated ceasefires and a halt to violations against civilians, brokered the release of political prisoners, prevented and resolved tribal conflicts and engaged in cross-line negotiations to secure access to water and other vital resources. Yet, their contributions to peace go largely unrecognized. The invisibility and marginalization of women’s efforts means their work is less documented and understood, posing a challenge for those wishing to support them. The report makes a series of recommendations to support women’s local mediation while stressing the importance of understanding the local contexts where women mediators operate and providing assistance in a way that ensures their safety and security.
Development of Africa
Born to learn: Spotlight on basic education completion and foundational learning in Africa (UNESCO)
https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/en/2022-spotlight-africa
The Spotlight report on basic education completion and foundational learning in Africa is the first in a three-part series. It is a partnership between the Global Education Monitoring Report, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the African Union. It aims to inspire national dialogue on foundational learning and to form a key input for the new LEARN peer learning mechanism on basic education established by the African Union. The report focuses on why learning levels from the region are low. All children are #BorntoLearn yet only one in five children who reach the end of primary school achieve the minimum level of proficiency required for them to continue their education and fulfil their potential. Combining completion and learning statistics, the report shows that children in Africa are at least five times less likely than children in the rest of the world to be prepared for the future. The report contains eight policy-oriented recommendations for driving change. It calls for the spotlight to be turned on children’s learning. Despite improvements in learning assessments, there are no data on the learning levels of two thirds of African children. And it remains very important to provide the minimal conditions for learning. Today, only one in three primary school students in Africa receive a school meal. Just one in five are taught in their home language. Each textbook is shared on average by three students and yet owning their textbook can increase children’s literacy scores by up to 20%.
Human Rights
Nowhere but back: Assisted return, reintegration and the human rights protection of migrants in Libya (OHCHR)
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/OHCHR-Report-on-assited-return-and-reintegration.pdf
This report sheds light on gaps in the human rights protection of migrants who are assisted to return from Libya to their countries of origin. While such returns are in principle “voluntary”, the report finds that many migrants in Libya are unable to make a truly voluntary decision to return in accordance with international human rights law and standards, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent. Instead, they are frequently compelled to accept assisted return to escape abusive detention conditions and other human rights violations, or because they are effectively denied access to safe and regular protection pathways, including asylum. Additionally, the report finds that many migrants are returned to the same adverse drivers and structural conditions which compelled their movement in the first place, putting them in precarious and vulnerable situations upon their return. Such returns are unlikely to be sustainable from a human rights perspective, the report finds.
Plan of Action for the Fourth Phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education
https://www.ohchr.org/en/publications/human-rights-education-series/plan-action-fourth-phase-world-programme-human-rights
The fourth phase (2020-2024) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education focuses on youth empowerment through human rights education, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and specifically target 4.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. This publication, jointly prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), provides guidance to develop, as agreed internationally, a comprehensive human rights education strategy for youth at the national level, to be adapted to national contexts. It lays out objectives, components, actions and practical steps for implementation with a focus on young people as key actors of the whole process.
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change (A/77/226, 26 July 2022)
English, French & Spanish: https://undocs.org/A/77/226
Human-induced climate change is the largest, most pervasive threat to the natural environment and societies the world has ever experienced, and the poorest countries are paying the heaviest price, a UN expert said. “Throughout the world, human rights are being negatively impacted and violated as a consequence of climate change. This includes the right to life, health, food, development, self-determination, water and sanitation, work, adequate housing and freedom from violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and slavery,” said Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, in a report to the General Assembly on 21 October 2022. The Special Rapporteur’s report focuses on the topics of mitigation action, loss and damage, access and inclusion, and the protection of climate rights defenders.
see also: INTERVIEW: Connection between human rights and climate change ‘must not be denied’ (UN News, 21 October 2022): https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129767
Sexual violence in Port-au-Prince: a weapon used by gangs to instill fear (BINUH / OHCHR)
English & French: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/sexual-violence-port-au-prince-weapon-used-gangs-instill-fear
Children as young as 10 and elderly women have been subjected to sexual violence – including collective rapes for hours in front of their parents or children by more than half a dozen armed elements – amid an explosion of gang violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, a UN human rights report published on 14 October 2022 finds. The report was jointly published by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Statistics on Children: Spotlight on children exposed to violence, in alternative care, and with disabilities (UNECE)
https://unece.org/statistics/publications/statistics-children
The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges parties to ensure all children have a fair chance in life. The development of national and international policies that provide all children and youth the best possible start in life and support a successful transition to adulthood requires robust and reliable information on a wide range of areas affecting children’s lives. The measurement and monitoring of children’s and youth’s well-being has improved in the last decade, but data gaps remain, particularly for children in the most vulnerable positions, including children experiencing violence, children in alternative care, and children with disabilities. To improve the situation, an expert task force under the Conference of European Statisticians developed the present Guidance.
Humanitarian Affairs
Forced displacement from and within Ukraine (EU / IOM / OECD)
https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/forced-displacement-and-within-ukraine
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have published a Joint Report on profiles, experiences, and aspirations of forcibly displaced people by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Joint Report provides an in-depth study of the scale of displacement to EU countries and people seeking protection there, by building on initial findings derived from a June EUAA-OECD Survey. Around 14.3 million exits from Ukraine have been registered, of which three quarters were into the four neighbouring EU Member States (Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia). The speed and scale of the crisis makes it the biggest and fastest displacement of people in Europe since World War II, with a third of the entire Ukrainian population finding themselves displaced internally or externally. Europe has emerged as a safe haven for Ukrainian families and the swift activation of the Temporary Protection Directive enabled EU countries to provide uniform protection to around 4.6 million displaced people in Europe, while averting the collapse of the Common European Asylum System.
Global Roadmap for Refugee Entrepreneurship (UNHCR)
https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/brochures/63565bc94/global-roadmap-refugee-entrepreneurship.html
The main objectives of this study were to put UNHCR operations into context with global best practices in entrepreneurship and inclusion of vulnerable communities and to provide strategic guidance to UNHCR in the form of a global roadmap on refugee entrepreneurship. To this end the study analyzed the breadth of refugee entrepreneurship activities that are being delivered through UNHCR country operations, implementing partners, and in partnership with relevant actors. Furthermore, the study identified good practices and areas of opportunity within the field of refugee entrepreneurship.
Out of the Spotlight: Away from the headlines, millions of forcibly displaced people are being pushed to the brink (UNHCR, 24 October 2022)
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8ca0005f48fc4f29b4dfd519824def54
A new data visualization reveals how the ripple effects of the Ukraine war are impacting refugees and internally displaced people in parts of the world far from the media spotlight.
Promising practices from working with refugee-led organizations in Europe: UNHCR Issue Brief
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/96068
UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Europe conducted a comprehensive mapping of ongoing initiatives and engagement with refugee-led organizations in 2020. This Issue Brief seeks to summarize the main findings of this mapping exercise, share the promising practices identified in different countries, and provide practical tips to further support and reinforce the work done by refugee-led organizations and refugee-led initiatives across the region.
Read for Action: the Humanitarian Book Club
https://www.readforaction.org/
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/read-connect-act-united-nations-and-university-virginia-launch-humanitarian-book-club-spur-action-help-people-need
Launched on 7 November 2022, the Humanitarian Book Club kicks off a unique, global initiative that connects book lovers and relief experts to inspire fresh ideas and real action to alleviate human suffering caused by violent conflict and the climate crisis. Created by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the University of Virginia (UVA) Humanitarian Collaborative, and funded by the UVA Environmental Resilience Institute, the book club is an online initiative bringing together readers, authors, humanitarian experts and academics through the online discussion platform Discord. Participants will debate and analyse curated books about humanitarian challenges and find ways to take meaningful action. … This new initiative is being launched as the UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, gets under way in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt. The book club’s first series of online discussions, running from 7 November to 7 December, will explore The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger, which tells the story of lives upended by climatic catastrophe.
Nuclear, Chemical and Conventional Weapons Disarmament
2021 United Nations Disarmament Yearbook
https://yearbook.unoda.org/2021
The Office for Disarmament Affairs launched the latest volume of the United Nations Disarmament Yearbook on 18 October 2022. The year 2021 saw global military expenditure increase to $2.1 trillion, the highest level in the past 30 years, heightened tensions between nuclear-weapon States and threats emanating from new technologies with potentially destabilizing effects, including in the digital space and outer space. The 2021 Disarmament Yearbook chronicles the efforts of the world community to tackle these, and other, pressing global security challenges.
Drug Control, Crime Prevention and Counter-terrorism
The Conflict in Ukraine and its Impact on Organized Crime and Security: A snapshot of key trends (UNICRI)
https://unicri.it/News/Conflict%20-Ukraine-impact-on-organized-crime-and-security
This report assesses the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for organized crime and security-related issues for neighbouring countries, with a focus on Moldova. These include: 1. Organized crime and illicit trafficking (including trafficking in persons, drugs, arms, illicit tobacco, and other goods); 2. Cybercrimes and fraud; 3. Disinformation and propaganda; and 4. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats. This study provides key recommendations to inform concerned stakeholders at the national and regional levels to identify lessons learned and guide future initiatives to mitigate risks in the above-mentioned areas.
Toolkit on the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons for Organ Removal (UNODC)
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/glo-act2/tip-for-or-toolkit.html
All forms of human trafficking tend to be hidden, but human trafficking for organ removal is especially so. Driven largely by the global organ shortage for ethical transplants, it is estimated that only 10 per cent of global needs are covered. Criminal networks profit from the desperation of patients and coerce vulnerable people into selling organs. Despite being listed as one of the forms of exploitation in the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, to date human trafficking for organ removal has received scant attention from anti-trafficking stakeholders and the international community. On 25 October 2022, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched this new toolkit, designed to encourage the proactive investigation of possible cases or red flag indicators. The toolkit focuses on organized criminal networks and the illicit financial flows stemming from them.
UNODC Updated Data Portal – Fast facts on drugs, crime, or criminal justice?
https://dataunodc.un.org/
Did you know that more than 400,000 people were killed worldwide in 2020 – and that Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest rate of intentional homicide (21 victims of intentional homicide per 100,000 people)? Or that there are about 209 million people (4 per cent of the global population aged 15-64) who used cannabis over the last twelve months? Meanwhile, 1.2 per cent of the global population used opioids and 0.7 per cent used amphetamines. These facts represent only a small subset of the more than 250,000 data points available on the Data Portal of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), now with a new, user-friendly interface that makes it easier to access data about a wide range of drugs and crime related topics. The portal, the global reference for international statistics on drugs, crime, and criminal justice, is designed to provide answers to your questions related to many of UNODC’s mandate areas. These include: drug use and treatment; drug trafficking and cultivation; drug-related crime; intentional homicide; violent and sexual crime; corruption and economic crime; prisons and prisoners; access to and functioning of justice; firearms trafficking; trafficking in persons; wildlife trafficking; and more. Data can also be found on many of the 16 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators for which UNODC is a custodian. More interested in an overview on drugs, crime, and justice statistics in your own country? Go to the Country Profiles Section, which provides a statistical snapshot of the drugs and crime situation and the functioning of the criminal justice system in a particular country. With the aim of providing the most comprehensive and high-quality data at your fingertips, UNODC will work to continuously update and develop the Data Portal.
Newsletter Archive: https://unric.org/en/unric-info-point-library-newsletter-archive