News headlines in 2023, page 141

WASHINGTON DC, Jul 17 (IPS) - Less than half of United Nations agencies have access to information policies, according to a survey by Eye on Global Transparency.

Of 27 UN bodies surveyed, 13 have access policies. So, 14 UN agencies lack access policies. Setting a poor example, the UN Secretariat still lacks an access to information policy.

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 17 (IPS) - Just after a band of mercenaries tried to oust the government in the Maldives back in 1988, I asked a Maldivian diplomat, using a familiar military catch phrase, about the strength of his country's “standing army.”

"Standing army?", the diplomat asked with mock surprise, and remarked perhaps half-jokingly, "We don't even have a sitting army."

New data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, reveal signs of immunisation services rebounding in some countries, but coverage still falls short of pre-pandemic levels, particularly in low-income countries, putting children at grave risk of disease outbreaks.

The UN Political Affairs chief appealed on Monday for an end to the “unjustified” war in Ukraine, which this month passed the 500-day mark.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been compelled to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance in Haiti due to a lack of funding, affecting around 100,000 people, the agency reported on Monday.

Indigenous Peoples have the ancestral wisdom to guide humanity towards a more sustainable use of the Earth’s resources, yet they are systematically discriminated against and excluded, UN rights chief Volker Türk warned on Monday.

The world is “woefully off track” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the 2030 deadline, top United Nations officials said on Monday, as ministers and policy makers gathered in New York to examine how countries can get back on track and make the transformative development agenda a reality.

The journalist Evan Gershkovich should be immediately released following his arrest by Russian authorities on espionage charges in March, UN-appointed independent human rights experts said on Monday.

Polish authorities are investigating all potential sources of infection after some 29 cats were found to be infected with the influenza A virus, similar to those found in birds, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Sunday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday that he deeply regrets Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea Initiative, in effect ending a “lifeline” for hundreds of millions worldwide facing hunger and spiralling food costs.