News stories by Samira Sadeque, page 4

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 17 (IPS) - Key focuses of the upcoming 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High Level Week will be the accessibility of vaccines and a renewed plea for a global ceasefire. "I will make a strong appeal to the international community to mobilise all efforts for the global ceasefire to become a reality by the end of the year," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday. 

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 16 (IPS) - Children in Syria are facing the brutal brunt of the ongoing civil war in the country, now rendered further paralysed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and United States sanctions.

At the Sept. 15 launch of the report investigating human rights violations in Syria by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, experts warned that in addition to the already ongoing conflict, "newer forms of violence" was on the rise.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 09 (IPS) - Building inclusive and healthier food systems, and safeguarding the health of the planet will be some of the key priorities at the first-ever Food Systems Summit next year.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 04 (IPS) - While Mozambique was recently rattled by an arson attack on a local media organisation, experts say that it's only a part of a worrying pattern of continuous attacks on the media in the country.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 03 (IPS) - Qatar officials reiterated their claim on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) be held responsible for their "discrimination" against Qatari citizens, as the third day of public hearings proceeded at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation's highest court. But foreign policy experts caution that the case is not good for stability in the Persian Gulf region.

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 01 (IPS) - Large-scale intercommunal violence on civilians in the Jonglei and greater Pibor regions in South Sudan has led to the mass displacement of thousands of people who are living in the open without health care, adequate food, shelter, water or sanitation in the middle of the rainy season.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 28 (IPS) - The recent killing of 22 prisoners in Madagascar during a prison escape on Sunday, Aug. 23 has brought the extraordinary situation of the country's prisons under a spotlight. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the killings, criticising the current judicial system that has led to Madagascar's prisons holding more people awaiting trial than convicted criminals.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 21 (IPS) - >Nearly three quarters of respondents in a survey across 18 African countries have claimed that their countries' COVID-19 responses are gravely lacking in addressing the ageing population.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 17 (IPS) - With limited transport options to carry their goods to the market, lack of protective gear, and limited financial resources, family farmers across Latin America are facing grave consequences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 (IPS) - Migrant workers and refugees in Lebanon will "inevitably" suffer the most as food insecurity threatens the nation following last week's blast.