The total volume of international trade in fisheries and aquaculture products is $195 billion. Top news of the day | Friday: Ukraine, ECOSOC, food, aquaculture UN
Top news of the day in the UN and around the world: at least 11,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since February 24, 2022, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Uzbekistan elected to the UN Economic and Social Council, June 7 is World Food Safety Day, aquaculture has surpassed capture fisheries as the main source of fish and seafood products.
Civilian casualties in Ukraine
The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine continues to rise. At least 174 civilians were killed and 690 injured in May, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. This is the highest number of civilian casualties in one month since June 2023. Joyce Msuya, assistant to the UN chief for humanitarian affairs, spoke about this at a briefing at the Security Council on the situation in Ukraine. In total, since February 24, 2022, at least 11,000 civilians have been killed and more than 21,000 civilians have been injured across Ukraine. Real losses are likely much higher.
ECOSOC Elections
The UN General Assembly held elections to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Three countries competed for two places from Eastern Europe – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of the vote, Armenia and Azerbaijan became members of ECOSOC. Each of these countries received 148 votes. Uzbekistan received 185 votes and will take one of the four vacated seats from the Asia-Pacific Group from January 1, 2025. The Economic and Social Council is the main body responsible for coordination economic and social activities of the United Nations.
Food safety
Every year, more than 600 million people become ill and about 420,000 die as a result of eating food containing pathogens, toxins or chemicals. Most of these cases are preventable. June 7 is World Food Safety Day. On this Day, the UN draws attention to the problem of food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemicals, and calls on countries to take action to protect people from foodborne risks.
Fisheries and aquaculture
Ten countries of the world – China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh , Philippines, South Korea, Norway, Egypt and Chile – produce almost 90 percent of the total fish and seafood grown in controlled conditions, that is, in so-called “aquaculture”. This is stated in a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The report also found that in 2022, for the first time in history, aquaculture surpassed fishing as the main source of fish and seafood products. Total international trade in fisheries and aquaculture products is worth $195 billion. The main exporters of such products are China, Norway, Vietnam, Ecuador and Chile, the main importers are the USA, China, Japan, Spain and France.