WASHINGTON DC, Dec 10 (IPS) - When one in five pre-school children is stunted due to chronic undernutrition, it is clear that global diets urgently need to improve and diversify to include more nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and animal-source foods.

LIMA, Dec 10 (IPS) - "The level of injustice in the world cannot go on like this…I am not pessimistic about the future," said Gladys Acosta, president of the CEDAW Committee, in an interview with IPS in the Peruvian capital.

Dec 09 (IPS) - Plastic waste of all shapes and sizes permeates the world’s oceans. It shows up on beaches, in fish and even in Arctic sea ice. And a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine makes clear that the U.S. is a big part of the problem.

Despite significant progress since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 73 years ago, the COVID pandemic has “fed a frightening rise in inequalities”, and laid bare “many of our failures to consolidate the advances made”, said UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet, in a message marking Human Rights Day.

The UN’s Political and Peacebuilding Affairs chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, concluded a three-day visit to Afghanistan on Thursday in which she met with senior Taliban representatives, urging them not to “erase” gains made by women and girls across the country in recent years.  

Environmental degradation enables armed groups to extend their influence and manipulate resources to their advantage, the UN chief told the Security Council on Thursday, highlighting that conflict-prevention initiatives need to factor in climate risks.

Genocide “remains a very real threat” around the world, said the UN chief on Thursday, marking the UN International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide, and of the Prevention of this Crime. 

Political instability is a key factor behind new data revealed on Thursday which shows that persecution of Members of Parliament (MPs) worldwide, has reached a record high. The annual figures were released by UN partner the Inter-Parliamentary Union, on the eve of Human Rights Day, marked on 10 December.

Dec 09 (IPS) - The statistics are dire: One in three women have experienced a form of gender-based violence in their lifetime, be it sexual violence, physical violence, or child marriage. The message is clear: Women and girls deserve a safer, brighter future – free from gender-based violence.

Early laboratory data on the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the Omicron COVID-19 variant is useful, but it is still unclear how effective these will be in treating severely sick patients, a UN health agency panel said on Thursday.