The UN reminds us of the urgent need to end all existing prohibitions against women and girls in Afghanistan. Top news of the day | environment: famine, Ukraine, Afghanistan, African Union UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: the UN has identified “hot spots” that are at risk of full-scale famine, new data on Ukraine, a report on the situation in Afghanistan, as well as the UN and African Union Conference.
Report on the famine situation
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) are warning that the food situation is rapidly deteriorating in 16 hotspots around the world. In most of them, hunger is caused by armed conflict, economic shocks, extreme weather conditions and lack of financing. The authors emphasize that there is less and less time left to prevent mass famine. The six countries and territories of greatest concern are Haiti, Mali, Palestine, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
Ukraine Monthly Report
Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure increased in October, with large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries reported. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission for Ukraine reported this in its monthly report. Last month, there were three large-scale attacks on energy infrastructure, which led to emergency power outages in most regions of the country. In October, at least 148 civilians were killed and 929 injured, consistent with the high totals of the previous two months.
Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan
The already difficult humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is worsened by the massive return of refugees. This is stated in a report published today by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The country has to accept millions of people. UNDP also recalls the urgent need to lift all existing prohibitions against women, including returning them the opportunity to work and leave the house independently, and allowing girls to go to school. Nine out of ten Afghan households report resorting to negative coping strategies, including cutting back on food intake, selling assets and using loans.
UN-African Union Conference
The 9th annual African Union-United Nations conference was held at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday. The meeting participants focused on joint actions on issues related to peace, security and human rights. The issues of financing development and combating climate change, as well as the implementation of the African Strategy for Women, Peace and Security were discussed.