News headlines in 2022, page 225

Humanitarians must have full and unimpeded access to children arbitrarily held in detention centres in northeast Syria, a group of independent UN human rights experts said on Friday. 

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Apr 01 (IPS) - When is too much Autism awareness still not enough? This thought recurs every April as we near World Autism Day on April 2, and parents reach out to me after reading enthusiastic and well-meaning news and journal articles – which are actually harmful and hurtful.

NEW DELHI, Apr 01 (IPS) - On December 22, 2021, the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, was sent to a parliamentary standing committee for further discussion.

NEW DELHI, India, Apr 01 (IPS) - It has been a month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has now created one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times. More than 3.7 million people have left the country, in what has become the fastest exodus globally since World War II.

Efforts to help thousands of desperate residents flee the embattled Ukrainian city of Mariupol continued on Friday, as humanitarians warned that there is “no Plan B”, after weeks of constant shelling since the Russian invasion on 24 February.

KATHMANDU, Nepal, Apr 01 (IPS) - The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which will be commemorated on April 6, is a day that celebrates the positive effects that sports can have on the society.

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 01 (IPS) - When Madeleine Albright was nominated to be the first female US Secretary of State back in 1997, some apparently questioned whether “a woman could go toe-to-toe with world leaders”.

Nataliia Vladimirova fled her home in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on the first day of the Russian invasion, on 24 February, with her four-year-old daughter Oleksandra and mother-in-law. They are amongst the thousands of Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status in Portugal. She shares her heart-wrenching story of family separation and loss, with UN News.

Women and children increasingly bear the brunt of climate change, which deepens the inequalities and vulnerabilities they already face, such as poverty, violence, lack of opportunities and basic human rights. Yet women are not victims; they are survivors, innovators and solution-multipliers who deserve a real seat at the table. Two Colombian activists tell us why this is true.

UN humanitarian agencies and partners on the ground in Ukraine, were able to reach the town of Sumy, in the country’s northeast on Thursday, but access to the besieged and stricken city of Mariupol, where thousands of civilians are believed to have died amidst the brutal Russian bombardment, has yet to be given.