News headlines in 2021, page 74

PHILADELPHIA, US, Oct 07 (IPS) - Last month, asylum-seeking families at the U.S.-Mexico border appeared to have won a victory, however temporary, in their last-ditch bid for safety in the United States. It was also a victory for evidence-based public health policy.

COVID-19 has “laid bare deep structural inequalities” everywhere, further widening a multitude of gaps, both within and between countries, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights told a major urban policy event in South Korea on Thursday.  

A single metric tonne of cotton provides jobs for five people on average, often in some of the world’s most impoverished regions; that adds up around 100 million families across the globe. 

The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the Security Council on Wednesday that Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), in the context of peacekeeping operations, are a "threat" that can "exacerbate conflict, render arms embargoes ineffective, endanger ‘blue helmets’, humanitarian workers and local populations, and complicate peace agreements."

HAMILTON, Canada, Oct 07 (IPS) - It is not uncommon for a water-centric research, policy or development organization or network to declare its long-term vision of the “water-secure world”. It reads nicely and feels great.

Differences in so-called multidimensional poverty among ethnic groups are consistently high across many countries, according to a new analysis released this Thursday. 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday urged authorities in Ethiopia to allow vital humanitarian work there to continue, following the recent decision to declare seven of the Organization’s staff persona non grata and expel them from the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending widespread use of the world’s first malaria vaccine, in what the UN health agency’s chief described on Wednesday as “an historic day” for the decades-long battle against the deadly disease. 

SAN FRANCISCO, USA, Oct 06 (IPS) - It’s bad enough that mainstream news outlets routinely call the Pentagon budget a “defense” budget. But the fact that progressives in Congress and even many antiwar activists also do the same is an indication of how deeply the mindsets of the nation’s warfare state are embedded in the political culture of the United States.

UN humanitarian agencies and their partners on Tuesday urged countries to honour their pledges to Afghanistan, as they rush to scale-up delivery of lifesaving aid ahead of the coming winter season there.