News headlines in March 2023

PARIS, Mar 28 (IPS) - It’s a new direction for UNESCO, getting involved in movies, so to speak. The United Nations' cultural agency and Netflix - the global streaming and production company - have partnered to “support” and “promote” Africa’s new generation of filmmakers, and the results will be revealed to the world from March 29, when six short films by young directors will be available in 190 countries via the video-on-demand platform.

BULAWAYO, Mar 28 (IPS) - With only a few months to go before national elections in Zimbabwe, press freedom advocates are raising concerns about stringent reporting conditions set by the government.

WASHINGTON DC, Mar 28 (IPS) - International family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) are critical to achieving gender equitybut U.S. investment in them is not nearly sufficient to meet the moment.

Top UN officials called for creating a new institution to help locate tens of thousands of missing Syrians and bring peace to their families, as the General Assembly debated on Tuesday the human rights situation in the country.

The UN Secretary-General on Tuesday called for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of at least 39 migrants in a fire at a processing centre on the border between Mexico and the United States.

Although no region is immune to terrorism, the situation in Africa is especially concerning, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Tuesday, underlining UN support to countries striving to “end this scourge.” 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling for emergency funding to broaden efforts to reach millions living across 11 eastern and southern African countries which have been hit hard by fast-spreading cholera outbreaks.

Urgent support is needed to prevent a slide into poverty and an increase in child labour and hand-to-mouth jobs, following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria in February, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Tuesday in new assessment reports.

The UN human rights office, OHCHRon Tuesday expressed concern over mass detentions and other measures implemented during the state of emergency in El Salvador, now in effect for a year. 

“Tragic” accounts of State-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) require action from the country’s authorities, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Tuesday.