News headlines in March 2022, page 12

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 21 (IPS) - Ambassador Mathu Joyini began her role as the Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations in January 2021, becoming the first South African woman to hold the position.

Representing the African States Group, she is the Chair of the Bureau for the 2022 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). She has championed causes related to Africa's peace and security, human rights, women’s empowerment, among others.

In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), more commonly known as North Korea, human rights violations remain systematic, and the authorities’ grip on the population has “tightened”, the Human Rights Council heard on Monday.

The head of UN refugee agency UNHCR, spoke out on Monday against the “ugly reality” that some refugees fleeing across the Ukraine border, and Third Country Nationals, have been subjected to racism and discrimination.

Healthy forests are “essential” for people and the planet, the UN chief said in his message marking the International Day of Forests.

Loay Elbasyouni is a Palestinian electrical engineer on the NASA team that designed Ingenuity, an innovative robotic helicopter that landed on Mars in 2021. He talks to UN News about his journey, from a UN-run school in the Gaza strip, to the US space agency.

Foreign combatants with armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) can find it hard to return home once they decide to stop fighting. The UN Mission in the country (MONUSCO) is helping them to demobilize, and adjust to a new life.

CARACAS, Mar 18 (IPS) - Doris Martínez was a cook in a Venezuelan restaurant that closed its doors; she emigrated to Colombia, got sick from working long hours standing in front of a stove, and returned to her country where, together with her husband and children, she runs a busy fast food kiosk on a road in Valles del Tuy, near the Venezuelan capital.

MADRID, Mar 18 (IPS) - Yemen’s already dire hunger crisis is teetering on the edge of outright catastrophe, with 17.4 million people now in need of food assistance and a growing portion of the population coping with emergency levels of hunger, three UN agencies warned on 14 March 2022.

The UN is not aware of any biological weapons programme being conducted in Ukraine, the Organization’s disarmament chief told the Security Council once more on Friday, responding to fresh allegations by the Russian Federation, that it had evidence to the contrary.

Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life across all societies, the UN chief said on Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that “normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence”.