Most of the 40,000 dead in Gaza are women and children. Top stories of the day | Thursday: Afghanistan, Gaza, monkeypox, Azerbaijan UN
Top news of the day at the UN and around the world: 1.4 million girls in Afghanistan cannot attend school, most of the 40 thousand dead in Gaza are women and children, measures to contain a new outbreak of monkeypox, persecution of human rights activists and journalists in Azerbaijan.
Education in Afghanistan
Three years after the Taliban came to power, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where secondary and higher education is strictly prohibited for girls and women. UNESCO figures released Thursday showed that 1.4 million Afghan girls have been deliberately prevented from receiving a school education. Access to primary education has also declined sharply over that time, with 1.1 million fewer Afghan children attending primary school compared to levels recorded three years ago.
Gaza casualties
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the current round of conflict began has reached 40,000. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called for an end to the killings in the strip “once and for all” and for the release of all hostages. Citing estimates based on data from the enclave’s health authorities, Türk said an average of 130 people have been killed in Gaza every day for the past 10 months. Most of the dead, he said, were women and children. The UN Human Rights Office has documented serious violations of international humanitarian law by both the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.
Monkeypox
The World Health Organization (WHO) is urgently stepping up its support to African countries to scale up measures to contain a new outbreak of monkeypox. Following the advice of independent experts from the International Health Regulations Committee, the WHO Director-General on Wednesday declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Since the beginning of the year, more than 2,100 laboratory-confirmed cases and 13 deaths have been registered in 12 African countries.
Persecution of Azerbaijani human rights defenders
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor expressed grave concern on Thursday about the detention and prosecution of human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan. According to her, in recent months she has witnessed a wave of arrests and criminal cases against them. All human rights defenders and journalists in Azerbaijan must be able to work freely, without intimidation and harassment, the Special Rapporteur stressed.