The news that matter in Europe
The news that matter in Europe
Un equipo de abogados y arqueólogos egipcios exige que la empresa de streaming “Netflix” pague una indemnización de dos mil millones de dólares por la distorsión de la imagen de la reina Cleopatra y el Antiguo Egipto en la serie documental “Cleopatra”, la online. ..
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Ahmadis – Today, a Turkish court has released a deportation order concerning 103 members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light from seven countries. Many of them, especially in Iran, will face imprisonment and may be executed if they are sent back to their country of origin.
Human…
Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) appelle l’ONU, l’UE et l’OSCE à demander à la Turquie d’annuler l’ordre d’expulsion de 103 ahmadis Aujourd’hui, un tribunal turc a rendu un ordre d’expulsion concernant 103 membres de la religion ahmadie de paix et de lumière de sept pays. Beaucoup d’entre eux,…
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Más de dos millones de muertes y $4,3 billones en pérdidas económicas; ese es el impacto de medio siglo de fenómenos meteorológicos extremos potenciados por el calentamiento global provocado por el hombre, dijo el lunes la Organización Meteorológica Mundial (OMM). Según la OMM, los peligros relacionados con el tiempo, el clima y el agua…
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El mundo cuenta con el liderazgo y la solidaridad de las naciones del G7, dijo el jefe de la ONU el domingo, hablando con periodistas en Hiroshima, Japón, que describió como un “símbolo global de las trágicas consecuencias cuando las naciones no trabajan juntas” y abandonan el multilateralismo. . El G7,…
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In the history of the wars of the last millennium, the main platform of conflicts was Europe. But thanks to extraordinary decisions taken after the Second World War (for example, instead of continuing the confrontation, Germany and France created a structure of mutually beneficial relations –…
On April 18th the European Patients’ Rights Day is celebrated, which is the annual recurrence that celebrates patients’ and civil society organisations in their efforts to advance patients’ rights at the global and European level.
The European Patients’ Rights Day was created by the…
Vienna (Austria), 9 August 2021 – As 2021 marks the 20th Anniversary of the UN Firearms Protocol and the Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), UNODC, jointly with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), recently held a high-level side event on the margins of the 7th Biennial Meeting of States on the PoA (BMS7).
With a focus on the continued importance of the two instruments and their complementarity in today’s evolving scene of small arms and light weapons, the virtual event welcomed over 120 participants from around the world. A panel of experts took stock of previous successes and challenges in the area of small arms and provided key takeaways for the way forward in the framework of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly pinpointed the importance of the Firearms Protocol as “the only international instrument requiring States to criminalize the illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms, their parts and components, and ammunition.” She also stressed the importance of UNODC’s Global Firearms Programme (GFP) as the custodian of the Firearms Protocol and its role to support Member States in implementing this instrument, in addition to guidance in terms of legislation, criminal justice responses, and marking, among others. Indeed, in the last decade, the Programme has seen great success, training over 2,700 criminal justice practitioners from Africa and the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
The event’s co-host, ODA Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Thomas Markram, meanwhile referred to the complementarity of the two instruments, both in nature and character, and explained how they represent the “architecture of efforts” to address the nefarious consequences of the most commonly used weapons globally. Mr. Markram shared his perspective on the progress States have made to date, mentioning the vital role played by global, regional, sub-regional actors, including civil society organizations, academia experts, UN entities, and other international organizations, flagging that “arms control is not just an affair of the military and the security institutions.” While efforts have led to progress, there remains a necessity for continued commitment by States and stakeholders to implement small arms control measures overarchingly.
Experts’ discussions focused on three areas, featuring practitioners who shared their experiences with small arms control measures within the context of the two instruments: key achievements over the past 20 years in the fight against illicit small arms trafficking; key remaining challenges in countering their illicit trafficking; and linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the important role of women, youth, and civil society.
The Chair of the 8th Meeting of the Working Group on Firearms, Amb. Luis Javier Campuzano, spoke on upcoming challenges in countering the illicit trafficking of small arms, expressly the growing use of 3D printing for weapons manufacturing and how that brings about novel challenges for tracing and marking firearms. Mr. Campuzano also raised the alarm on the speedy upsurge of cryptocurrencies as a favored resource of organized criminal groups worldwide, and stressed the importance of recognizing firearms as the most significant enablers of crime. Finally, he recommended a gendered approach to all policies, analyses, and actions relating to the issue of firearms.
ACCORDING TO THE COURT, THE GERMAN CONSTITUTION PROTECTS SCIENTOLOGISTS - PRACTICE OF THE CITY OF MUNICH VIOLATES THE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE EQUAL TREATMENT GUARANTEE OF SCIENTOLOGISTS
The written judgment of the Bavarian State Administrative Court of Appeal (file no. 4 B 20.3008) in the case of a Munich Scientologist against the city of Munich is now available. The case dealt with the city E-Mobile Funding Directive, issued for the purpose of environmental protection, and the city´s refusal to provide a grant for the purchase of an E-Bike to the plaintiff, solely by reason of her adherence to Scientology.
The Bavarian State Admin Court condemned the city practice with unmistakable words as an unjustified interference in the religious freedom guarantee of Art. 4 of the German Constitution and as a violation of Art. 3 of the Constitution which prohibits unequal treatment before the law. The court stated:
„The exclusion of applicants, who feel bound by the Scientology teachings, from the circle of recipients of grants [for an E-Bike] also constitutes a violation of fundamental rights in a multiple way. It is incompatible with the freedom of religion or philosophy and does not satisfy the equal rights requirements of the Constitution.“
Bavarian State Administrative Court, 2021
As the Federal Supreme Admin Court had judged already in 2005, also the Bavarian State Admin Court confirmed that the plaintiff and generally all members of the Church of Scientology can „in any case claim the fundamental right of Art. 4 sect. (1) of the Constitution.“ Art. 4 sect. (1) of the German Constitution guarantees the inviolability of the freedom of belief or the religious and philosophic denomination. By denial of the requested grant, the City of Munich had violated this in a multiple way.
The city was not allowed to generally require the revelation of the religious or philosophical conviction and blanketly exclude Scientologists from its funding program for E-Bikes. The court found „Measures from public authorities that are aimfully directed against the practice of a freedom right protected by Art. 4 sect. (1) of the Constitution, at any rate constitute indirect interferences with a fundamental right. These prerequisites are fulfilled in the case of the exclusion of Scientology adherents from the funding program of the defendant when connected to their personal belief.“
On the prohibition of unequal treatment practices, the court found that the city´s exclusion practice violates the fundamental equal rights principles of the Constitution. The court stated: „Also for reasons of equal treatment, the exclusion of Scientology-members and -adherents from the funding program of the defendant must be considered as illegal. It violates Art. 3 sect. (1) and (3) of the Constitution“, that is to say, it violates the fundamental principle that all people are equal before the law and that they must not be subjected to disadvantages by reason of their belief or religious or philosophical conviction.
The spokesperson of the Church of Scientology of Germany was happy to comment on the judgment:
„With the above a German Court for the first time called a spade a spade. We are happy that this discriminatory city practice towards Scientologists was finally „red-carded“ which it had deserved since long. This is a victory for religious freedom for all people who are subject to disadvantages in Germany by reason of their religious belief.“
Last september 2020, Scientology had requested the UN to launch an investigation on Germany for violating religious freedom, and in fact the Special Rapporteur on FORB Ahmed Shaheed, had previously written a letter to the German government inquiring them for such discriminatory practices. While the Scientologists still have some work to do to get their rights respected by German officials, it seems that international exposure and above all, proper abidance to the law and justice system, is paying off.
Photo: Steffen Flor, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Vienna (Austria), 2 August 2021 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Siemens AG signed a funding agreement worth US$ 4 million to strengthen business integrity.
The sum represents the largest single contribution by the private sector to UNODC’s anti-corruption work. It will be dedicated to funding a new UNODC project, called Global Action for Business Integrity, which aims to prevent and fight corruption by strengthening legal frameworks, helping small businesses identify corruption risks, and involving youth, civil society, and academia in developing anti-corruption responses. The scope of the project is global with a focus on seven countries: Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The Executive Director of UNODC, Ms. Ghada Waly, said: “To recover better from the COVID-19 crisis, businesses will need to recover with integrity. Thanks to the support of Siemens AG, UNODC will be able to help private sector companies build their capacity to play a bigger role in preventing and countering corruption, in line with the political declaration adopted in June by the UN General Assembly at its special session against corruption. I commend Siemens AG for its dedication to collective anti-corruption action, and I urge more companies to follow their lead.”
Sabine Zindera, Vice President, Siemens Legal and Compliance and head of Siemens’ global Collective Action activities and the Siemens Integrity Initiative added: “The fight against corruption is a clear business case for companies. What is more, Siemens has been constantly driving Collective Action over the past decade and has with a commitment of around 120 million US-dollars and 85 projects around the world strongly supported practical implementation on the ground. This is in our view indispensable for achieving lasting change and transforming the everyday into a true level playing field. We are very much looking forward to continuing our long-standing international cooperation with UNODC who is especially through the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) ideally positioned to engage and inspire many partners for practical implementation on the ground.”
The project Global Action for Business Integrity will mobilize stakeholders from the public sector, the private sector, civil society and academia to develop common responses:
• In Brazil, the project will conduct a youth hackathon to identify solutions to improve the dialogue between public sector, private sector and civil society on business integrity.
• In Colombia, the project will target civil society and academia and build their capacity to participate in collective action against corruption.
• In Egypt, the project will implement “On the Job Training” modules on business ethics for senior university students to build a culture of integrity among young professionals.
• In Ethiopia and in Saudi Arabia, the focus of the project is on training small- and medium-sized enterprises on corruption risk assessment.
• In Malaysia, UNODC will assist national authorities in the development and implementation of regulations on the liability of legal persons and beneficial ownership transparency.
• In Uzbekistan, the project will build the capacity of the public sector and civil society organizations in the area of strengthening anti-corruption components in legislation.
The project’s implementation is guided by the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument to prevent corruption and criminalize conducts such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions and various acts of corruption in the private sector. In addition to the initiatives led in the seven focus countries, the project includes a global outreach component designed to identify good practices on business integrity and share them widely through publications and a global webinar series.
The project Global Action for Business Integrity is funded by Siemens AG under the Golden Stretch Funding Round, which builds upon the earlier three funding rounds. Siemens AG will now contribute US$ 4 million to UNODC over the next three years. Since the launch of the Siemens Integrity Initiative in 2009, Siemens AG has contributed over US$ 13.5 million to UNODC, enabling the Office to deliver nine projects in 17 countries.
Karly had just arrived in a new city, she was homeless. She had no family or social support system and battled a serious drug addiction. This is when she met her traffickers. “They took the time to get to know me and my needs in a way no one had before,” explains Karly.
Her traffickers started to take care of her and “made it feel as if this was the best my life had ever been”. “They also told me that they would keep me safe and would never let anyone hurt me again.”
Once the traffickers had Karly’s trust, they forced her to work in the sex trade. “I hated every minute of it,” Karly says, “but as crazy as it sounds, my life still felt better than before.”
The traffickers targeted her up at a time when she had completely given up on herself and on life.
Karly now works as a crisis intervention counsellor at a regional support service for victims of human trafficking. She also works closely with the anti-human trafficking unit of the local police department and accompanies them to meet with potential victims. “I ensure that the individual gets the power of choice to choose whether to talk to the police or meet with me confidentially without any pressure to make a report to the police.”
Since this approach has been taken, there has been a 93 per cent increase in victims choosing to speak to the police and a 30 per cent increase in formal statements, Karly says.
Karly supports victims in cooperation with other agencies and organizations to ensure that their basic needs are met once they have left their traffickers. “If you cannot do this, they will go back and when they go back it may become much worse.” Karly says she listens to the unique needs of each survivor.
Karly is convinced that survivors can share unique knowledge and expertise to assist with developing appropriate programmes and best practices. “I have dedicated my life to bringing awareness to domestic sex trafficking and continue to share my story globally to help educate and support our youth as well as service providers, law enforcement, health care authorities and the broader community,” concludes Karly.
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UN and government officials toured the market to meet with farmers before paying tribute to producers, particularly women, for their central role in food systems.
“Farmers are the lifeblood of our food systems”, said Ms. Mohammed. “Understanding their needs and the challenges they face helps ensure that emerging solutions are fit for purpose”, she added.
The Deputy Secretary General, joined by Agnes Kalibata, the Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, visited the stalls of women producers. They also addressed the market and welcomed two Food Systems Heroes on stage to share their stories.
The visit aimed to raise awareness of the essential, yet often unnoticed, contribution that women producers make and to highlight the urgent need to support greater resilience against shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Women farmers and ‘agripreneurs’ are often held back through a lack of resources and access to information. Supporting women with the same skills, tools and training is a failsafe way to improve food systems”, said Elizabeth Nsimadala, President of the Pan-African Farmers Organizations (PAFO).
The three-day Pre-Summit will begin on Monday, bringing together delegates from more than 100 countries in a hybrid event to deliver the latest evidence-based and scientific approaches from around the world, launch a set of new commitments through coalitions of action and mobilize new financing and partnerships.
The event will bring together youth, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, researchers, the private sector, policy leaders and ministers of agriculture, environment, health, nutrition and finance, among other key players.
The meeting will set the stage for the culminating global event in September by bringing together diverse actors from around the world to leverage the power of food systems to deliver progress on all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
23 July 2021 – A man dressed in a purple silk shirt is inspecting a truck about to leave Huapanh, a North Eastern province of Lao PDR. The truck is departing an area infamous for the cultivation of opium poppies, where this illegal crop has been a dominant source of income for generations. For years, UNODC has been working with farmers in the region on finding alternative livelihoods for them.
After a couple of days, the above truck crossed the Friendship Bridge between Lao PDR and Thailand before continuing its journey onto a container ship towards Europe, its final destination. According to the World Drug Report 2021, the truck perfectly fits the description of many illicit shipments. Large consignments of illegal goods are increasingly transported by land or water, also in response to COVID-19 related travel restrictions in place in many countries.
Mr. Savaythong Khounsavanh, however, is not worried about what the customs officers might find at the border. He represents the Vanmai Cooperative, a group of 383 farmers who started a journey four years ago that is now represented by a container truck loaded with coffee, the first of many to come. “This is our first-ever coffee export,” he adds, “after all the hard work, it feels really good to come to this stage.”
Customs and police authorities at the Friendship Bridge usually have their hands full to assess which shipments should be allowed to cross. The bridge is a preferred spot for organized crime groups moving drugs from or through Lao PDR into neighbouring Thailand. Located at the centre of one of the biggest drug economies in the world, Lao PDR is not just a major producer of opium but also an important transit country for synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals.
As a result of border closures and increasingly difficult market access for legal products due to COVID-19, “opium-cultivating areas and farmers have become even more vulnerable as the pandemic affected their livelihoods,” said Erlend Audunson Falch from the UNODC office in Lao PDR. Illegal trade channels, however, are less impacted, which could lead to opium becoming the only option for many communities. “That is why successes like this one are so important,” Mr. Erlend continued, “The Vanmai farmers are really leading by example.”
“This is a big day for us,” Mr. Savaythong explained. “We have been working for this since we planted our first coffee seedlings four years ago.” “When we started, we were very worried that we would have no buyer for our coffee,” continues Mr. Savahtyong continued, “but now I am starting to believe that this is a real future for us.”
With the support of UNODC, the Vanmai farmers have been working hard since 2016 to establish coffee as a real income alternative to opium. In 2020, they established their own cooperative and earlier this year, they signed a long-term commercial partnership agreement with the French coffee roaster Malongo. Over the last few months, the farmers have worked relentlessly to prepare the coffee for their first-ever export.
© UNICEF/Jose Vilca An older man in Peru receives a COVID-19 vaccination.
Reflecting on the past year, Mr. Akram recalled how the Council responded to the crisis, and climate and development challenges, including through drawing attention to the special needs of the world’s least developed nations.
He urged countries to build on convergence and consensus achieved to confront major tasks ahead, starting with ensuring everyone, everywhere, is protected against the virus.
“Universal and affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines is essential to defeat the virus and to revive global trade, investment and growth. We have agreed on what needs to be done. We must now do it,” he said.
ECOSOC promotes collective action for a sustainable world.
The meeting was held one day after the conclusion of its annual High Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Developing countries will need $4.3 trillion to recover from the triple crises and to realize the 17 goals by 2030.
Mr. Akram welcomed plans to create $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), a type of reserve foreign asset developed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), among other debt relief initiatives.
On climate change, he highlighted the critical need for developed countries to fulfill their commitment to provide $100 billion annually in climate finance.
“Scaled-up investment in sustainable infrastructure, an estimated requirement of $1 trillion per year, is essential also for the transition to a dynamic ‘green’ global economy,” he said, while also calling for action plans for job creation in sectors such as construction, renewable energy, transport and housing.
The ECOSOC President urged the international community to combat rising poverty and hunger through measures that include social protection and relief programmes.
Greater access to advanced technologies and innovations, particularly digital technologies, is another priority, as they are vital to achieving the SDGs and climate goals.
Mr. Akram also stressed the need to mobilize the political will to address structural and systemic barriers to equitable growth and development, namely unequal financial, tax and trade regimes.
VisualsYoung displaced people who have returned home in South Sudan are learning new engineering skills. © IOM 2021/Aleon
Hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, were forced to flee their homes over recent years following civil war and widespread insecurity in the eastern African country.
Nearly one-third of all children in Haiti are in urgent need of emergency relief © UNICEF/Manuel Moreno Gonza
UNICEF said it was deeply concerned that further violence and insecurity following the assassination could pose serious challenges to the humanitarian work of its teams on the ground, and their ability to safely reach the most vulnerable children and families.
While UNICEF has lifesaving supplies in Haiti, prolonged violence and instability could prevent the delivery and replenishment of stockpiles, including vaccines, medicine and medical supplies.
“This is the worst humanitarian crisis the country has faced over the past few years, and it’s deteriorating week after week,” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF representative in Haiti.
“Many children’s lives depend on humanitarian aid and essential items, such as vaccines, syringes, medicines and therapeutic foods. When gangs are fighting in the street and bullets are flying, it’s hard to reach the most vulnerable families with these lifesaving supplies.
“Unless humanitarian organizations are granted safe passage, thousands of affected children will continue to be left with little to no assistance”, he added.
In the first three months of 2021 alone, UNICEF said the number of admissions of severely acute malnourished children in health facilities across Haiti, increased by 26 per cent compared to last year.
Since early June, new clashes between rival armed gangs have erupted in some urban areas of the capital Port-au-Prince, which led to hundreds of houses being burned down or damaged.
Over 15,000 women and children were forced to flee their homes due to acts of violence in and around the capital, Port-au-Prince, 80 per cent of them in just the past four weeks.
This recent spike of violence comes amidst a gradual rise of COVID-19 cases in Haiti, said UNICEF. The main COVID-19 dedicated hospitals are saturated and face a shortage of oxygen, while some patients are dying because armed gang violence prevents ambulances from reaching them with oxygen and emergency treatment.
“Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere where not a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been received. It’s unacceptable”, said Mr. Maes.
“Gang violence in and around Port-au-Prince is likely to further delay the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines and make their distribution across the country more complicated. Amidst the upsurge of coronavirus cases in Haiti, any additional day without vaccine puts hundreds of lives under threat.”
UNICEF is pledging support for the distribution, transportation and storage of COVID-19 vaccines at the right temperature. In the past three years, the agency has installed more than 920 solar refrigerators in Haiti to strengthen the cold chain mainly in remote areas where electricity is unreliable. In total, UNICEF has equipped 96 per cent of all Haiti’s health institutions with solar fridges.
The agency is seeking $48.9 million this year to meet the humanitarian needs of 1.5 million people in Haiti including over 700,000 children, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and gang violence. So far, this humanitarian appeal has secured only 31 per cent of the funding it needs.
In addition to the almost four million deaths due to the coronavirus, between 119-124 million people were pushed back into poverty and chronic hunger, and the equivalent of 255 million full-time jobs were lost, the report indicates.
“The pandemic has halted, or reversed, years, or even decades of development progress. Global extreme poverty rose for the first time since 1998”, said UN Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin, during the launch.
Moreover, disruptions to essential health services have threatened years of progress in improving maternal and child health, increasing immunization coverage, and reducing communicable and non-communicable diseases. Around 90% of countries are still reporting one or more significant disruptions to essential health services.
The report also indicates that the pandemic has exposed and intensified inequalities within and between countries.
As of 17 June, around 68 vaccine shots were administered for every 100 people in Europe and Northern America – compared with fewer than two, in sub-Saharan Africa.
Millions of children risk never returning to school; while rising numbers have been forced into child marriage and child labour. With trillions of tourist dollars lost during the pandemic shutdowns, the collapse of international tourism has disproportionally impacted struggling Small Island Developing States.
“The poorest and most vulnerable continue to be at greater risk of becoming infected by the virus and have borne the brunt of the economic fallout”, highlighted Mr. Zhenmin.
While an economic recovery is under way, led by China and the United States, in many other countries, economic growth is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels before 2022 or 2023.
African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks.
The report also confirms what UN agencies such as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have been sounding the alarm over: the economic slowdown in 2020 did little to slow the climate crisis, which continues largely unabated.
Concentrations of major greenhouse gases continued to increase, while the global average temperature was about 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels, dangerously close to the 1.5°C threshold, established in the Paris Agreement.
The world fell short as well on 2020 targets to halt biodiversity loss and a reversal of the 10 million hectares of forest which was lost each year, between 2015-2020.
Equality and finance
The COVID-19 pandemic has also adversely affected progress towards gender equality. Violence against women and girls has intensified, child marriage is expected to increase, and women have suffered a disproportionate share of job losses and increased care responsibilities at home.
Meanwhile, global flows of foreign direct investment fell by 40% in 2020 compared to 2019. The document shows the pandemic has brought immense financial challenges, especially for developing countries – with a significant rise in debt distress.
“This report paints a worrying picture regarding the state of the SDGs. Yet, it also highlights stories of resilience, adaptability and innovation during the crisis, which indicate a brighter future is possible”, underscored Mr. Zhenmin.
He added that there are signs that countries are taking steps under their recovery plans, that could improve SDG action, and that the next 18 months are critical.
According to the report, to get the SDGs back on track, governments, cities, businesses and industries have to use the recovery to adopt low-carbon, resilient and inclusive development pathways that will reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, create better jobs, advance gender equality and tackle growing inequities
“We are at a critical juncture in human history. The decisions and actions we take today will have momentous consequences for future generations. Lessons learned from the pandemic will help us rise to current and future challenges”, Mr. Zhenmin urged.
The Under-Secretary General explained that the upcoming months will determine whether the COVID-19 crisis serves as a ‘much-needed wake-up call’.
“The global community, first and foremost, needs to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. This is a critical step that can truly spur a decade of action”.
The 2030 Agenda, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
At its heart are the 17 Goals, to improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
The launch of the 2021 SDG report coincides with the start of the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development on Tuesday. The event is the core UN platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.
The meeting will continue through July 15th, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This includes the three-day ministerial meeting that started today.
The ministers will discuss ways to ensure a sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19 that puts the world on track to realize the 2030 Agenda. 43 countries will also present their voluntary national reviews of their implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
The meeting will put the spotlight on nine Global Goals this year: ending poverty, zero hunger, improving health, decent work, reducing inequalities, responsible consumption and production; climate action, sustaining peace, and building partnerships.
“Handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, yet millions of people across the world lack access to a reliable, safe supply of water”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Joint Monitoring Programme report, Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 – 2020, did, however, offer some good news on universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene services (or WASH for short).
Between 2016 and 2020, it showed that access to safely managed drinking water at home, increased from 70 to 74 per cent; sanitation services went from 47 to 54 per cent; and handwashing facilities with soap and water, rose from 67 to 71 per cent.
And rather than sewer connections, last year for the first time, more people used pit latrines, septic tanks and other improved on-site sanitation to effectively contain and treat waste.
“Despite our impressive progress to date, to scale-up these lifesaving services, the alarming and growing needs continue to outstrip our ability to respond”, said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
To maintain progress, the two UN agencies underscored the need for governments to adequately support safely managed on-site sanitation, including faecal sludge.
The study also made clear that if current trends persist, by 2030 billions of children and families would be left without life-saving WASH services.
It notes that still only 81 per cent of the world’s population would have access to safe drinking water at home, leaving 1.6 billion without; just 67 per cent would have safe sanitation services, leaving 2.8 billion in the lurch; and only 78 per cent would have basic handwashing facilities, leaving 1.9 billion adrift.
“Investment in water, sanitation and hygiene must be a global priority if we are to end this pandemic and build more resilient health systems”, Tedros stressed.
The report also noted vast inequalities – with vulnerable children and families suffering the most.
At the current rate of progress, for least developed countries (LDCs) to access safely managed drinking water by 2030, the study spelled out that there would need to be a ten-fold increase.
“Even before the pandemic, millions of children and families were suffering without clean water, safe sanitation, and a place to wash their hands”, said the UNICEF chief. “The time has come to dramatically accelerate our efforts to provide every child and family with the most basic needs for their health and well-being, including fighting off infectious diseases like COVID-19.”
For the first time, the report also presented emerging national data on menstrual health.
In many countries, it showed a significant proportion of women and girls are unable to meet their menstrual health needs.
And disparities are significant among vulnerable groups, such as the poor and those with disabilities.
Offering fresh data on how social assistance spending has cushioned the unparalleled economic shock triggered by the pandemic, the UN Development Fund’s (UNDP) Mitigating Poverty assessment, revealed that in the 41 countries for which data was available, around 12 million people were prevented from falling below the poverty line, out of 15 million in danger.
While the overall mitigation impact was strong, the study also uncovered that it was largely confined to high and upper middle-income States.
Rich countries spent up to 212 times per capita more than poor nations, on social assistance.
UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner pointed out that their ability to spend more on social protection measures, “played a critical role in keeping people out of poverty”.
For low middle-income countries, the report showed that social assistance spending was insufficient to avert a surge of people becoming newly-poor, and in low-income countries it was unable to prevent any income losses at all.
“This lifeline depends on where you live”, observed the UNDP chief. “The challenge now is to expand the fiscal space to allow all countries to implement and sustain social assistance spending measures, which is proven to be a highly cost-efficient and effective way to keep people from falling into poverty”.
The authors estimated that between 117 million and 168 million people became poor during the pandemic.
Although $2.9 trillion were invested in social protection policies globally, only $379 billion were spent by developing countries.
Meanwhile, on average, high-income countries allocated $847 per capita on social protection measures, including assistance and insurance, while low and middle-income counterparts spent an average of just $124 per head.
At the same time, total per capita social protection in low-income countries alone, was as little as $4.
“The report provides some thoughts on how the pandemic impacted poor and vulnerable households in developing countries but also how important policy choices were to mitigate poverty increases”, said UNDP Chief Economist George Gray Molina.
It estimated that if applied to all poor and vulnerable households in the developing world, a temporary basic income – championed by UNDP – could have prevented the number of new extreme poor, globally.
Projections in the study illustrated that this could have been achieved by dedicating just 0.5 per cent of developing countries’ gross domestic product (GDP), spread over six months for income support-related measures.
“The bottom line, however, is that powerful social assistance programmes were out of reach for low-income countries, setting the stage for a two-track recovery from the pandemic”, the UNDP official said.
WHO experts warned on Thursday that the numbers have increased for six consecutive weeks, up by 25% last week, reaching 202,000 positive cases. Deaths also rose by 15% across 38 African countries, to nearly 3,000.
The Delta variant, initially identified in India, is now dominant in South Africa, which accounted for more than half of Africa´s cases last week. Moreover, the variant was detected in 97% of the samples sequenced in Uganda and 79% of those sequenced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The variant also seems to be fueling illness among young adults. According to WHO experts. In Uganda for example, 66% of severe illness in people younger than 45, is attributed to Delta.
“The speed and scale of Africa’s third wave is like nothing we’ve seen before. The rampant spread of more contagious variants pushes the threat to Africa up to a whole new level. More transmission means more serious illness and more deaths, so everyone must act now and boost prevention measures to stop an emergency becoming a tragedy,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO´s regional director for Africa.
The Alpha and Beta variants have been also reported in 32 and 27 countries respectively. Alpha has been detected in most countries in north, west and central Africa, while Beta is more widespread in the south. Both are considerably more transmissible than the original virus.
With rising case numbers and hospitalizations across the continent, WHO estimates that oxygen demand in Africa is now 50% greater than for the first wave peak, one year ago.
Eight vaccines have been approved for the WHO emergency use listing, however, shipments to Africa have, in effect, dried up.
“While supply challenges grind on, dose sharing can help plug the gap. We are grateful for the pledges made by our international partners, but we need urgent action on allocations. Africa must not be left languishing in the throes of its worst wave yet,” added Dr. Moeti.
Only 15 million people – a mere 1.2% of the African population – are fully vaccinated.
A masked man walking in London’s West End
Meanwhile in Europe, a ten-week decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in the 53 countries that the WHO analyses, has come to an end.
The regional director for the UN health agency, Hans Kluge, informed on Thursday that last week the number of cases rose by 10%, driven by increased mixing, travel, gatherings, and easing of social restrictions.
“This is taking place in the context of a rapidly evolving situation – a new variant of concern, the Delta variant – and in a region where despite tremendous efforts by Member States, millions remain unvaccinated”, he explained.
Mr. Kluge said that the Delta variant overtakes alpha very quickly through multiple and repeated introductions and is already translating into increased hospitalizations and deaths.
“By August, the WHO European Region will be Delta dominant”, the expert underscored.
However, by August, Europe will not be sufficiently immunized, with 63% of people currently still waiting for their first jab, and the region will still be mostly loosening restrictions, with increasing travel and gatherings, Dr. Kluge warned.
“The three conditions for a new wave of excess hospitalizations and deaths before the autumn are therefore in place: new variants, (a) deficit in vaccine uptake, increased social mixing; and there will be a new wave in the WHO European Region unless we remained disciplined”, he said.
Mr. Kluge reminded that vaccines are effective against the Delta variant: “not one dose but two doses”,
He added that delays in getting vaccinated cost lives and the economies, and the slower vaccination programmes are, the more variants will emerge.
“We see many countries doing well, but the truth is that the average vaccine coverage in the region is 24% only, and more serious, half of our elders and 40% of our health care workers are still unprotected. That’s unacceptable”, the expert said, explaining that with these figures, the pandemic is nowhere over.
“And it would be very wrong for anyone – citizens and policymakers – to assume that it is”.