Food prices rose two percent in October. Daily Top Stories | Friday: Ukraine, Gaza, COP29, Food UN
The main news of the day in the UN and the world: shelling of Ukraine and civilian casualties, human rights violations in the context of the conflict in Gaza, the UN Secretary General is going to Baku for COP-29, food prices.
New wave of attacks on Ukraine
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says attacks today and yesterday in the cities of Zaporizhia and Kharkiv killed and injured civilians, including children and health workers. The attacks also damaged a hospital, educational facilities and residential buildings. UN agencies and partner organizations are providing emergency assistance. Attacks in other parts of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, have left dozens of people injured.
Israel and Gaza: Human Rights
The UN Human Rights Office has published a report detailing the horrific reality faced by people in Israel and Gaza since 7 October 2023. The detailed analysis of violations covers the six-month period from November 2023 to April 2024 and addresses the killing of civilians and other violations that in many cases may amount to war crimes. The actions of Israel and Hamas are at issue. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stressed that “the violence must stop immediately, the hostages and arbitrarily detained people must be released,” and the international community must focus on delivering more humanitarian aid to Gaza.
UN chief travels to Baku
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is heading to the capital of Azerbaijan, where he will attend the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29). He will speak at the official opening ceremony of the forum, which will bring together world leaders, on Tuesday. Guterres is expected to warn participants that time is running out to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. He will call on countries to reduce their production and consumption of fossil fuels and act decisively to reduce emissions. Next Friday, the UN Secretary-General will leave Baku for Rio de Janeiro to attend the G20 meeting.
Food Prices
World food prices rose in October to their highest level in 18 months. The increase was primarily due to a 7.3 percent increase in vegetable oil prices. This was reported on Friday by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The average value of the FAO Food Price Index rose by 2 percent compared to September. However, this figure is still 20.5 percent below its peak in March 2022. Cereal prices also rose, including against the backdrop of the re-introduction of unofficial price controls in the Russian Federation and growing tensions in the Black Sea region.