News headlines for “Human Rights Issues”, page 23
Guinea’s Path to Electoral Autocracy
- Inter Press Service

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, January 20 (IPS) - In December, the dust settled on Guinea’s first presidential election since the military took control in a 2021 coup. General Mamady Doumbouya stayed in power after receiving 87 per cent of the vote. But the outcome was never in doubt: this was no a democratic milestone; it was the culmination of Guinea’s denied transition to civilian rule.
Global Survey Finds Citizens back a World Parliament as Trust in International System Erodes
- Inter Press Service

BERLIN, Germany, January 20 (IPS) - As democracy faces pressure around the world and confidence in international law drops, a new global survey reveals that citizens in a vast majority of countries support the idea of creating a citizen-elected world parliament to deal with global issues.
Cold and dark: UN rights chief condemns Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid
- UN News

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have cut heat, electricity and water to hundreds of thousands of civilians in freezing winter conditions, prompting the UN human rights chief to denounce the strikes as “cruel” and a clear violation of international law.
Human trafficking depends on corruption at every step
- UN News

In 2011, a trafficker in Chile was convicted for recruiting economically vulnerable Peruvian citizens and arranging for them to be brought into the country – destined to become victims of sexual exploitation.
UN strongly condemns demolition of UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem
- UN News

The reported demolition underway early Tuesday of the headquarters of UN agency UNRWA by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem - apparently “under the watch of lawmakers and a member of the Government” - has prompted swift condemnation from the global body.
The UN’s Withering Vine: A US Retreat from Global Governance
- Inter Press Service

The Trump administration’s recent announcement of its withdrawal from 66 international organisations has been met with a mixture of alarm and applause. While the headline number suggests a dramatic retreat from the world stage, a closer look reveals a more nuanced, and perhaps more insidious, strategy. The move is less a wholesale abandonment of the United Nations system and more a targeted pruning of the multilateral vine, aimed at withering specific branches of global cooperation that the administration deems contrary to its interests. While the immediate financial impact may be less than feared, the long-term consequences for the UN and the rules-based international order are profound.
One Carries a Broom, the Other a Schoolbag
- Inter Press Service

SYLHET, Bangladesh, January 19 (IPS) - While other children her age prepared for school, eight-year-old Tania once began her workday. Each morning, she picked up a jharu—the household broom—and cleaned floors inside a private home. At the same time, another child of her age in that household lifted a schoolbag and left for class. One carried a broom. The other carried books.
Children and Armed Conflict Must be at the Forefront of the Global Agenda
- Inter Press Service

TOKYO, Japan, January 19 (IPS) - Thirty years ago, the groundbreaking report by Graça Machel, renowned and widely respected global advocate for women’s and children’s rights, to the United Nations General Assembly laid bare the devastating impact of armed conflict on children and shook the conscience of the world. It led to the historic decision of the General Assembly to create the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG-CAAC).
Rising hunger and displacement pose growing economic risk, UN tells Davos
- UN News

As global leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, UN agencies are warning that rising hunger and displacement are not only humanitarian emergencies but growing threats to global economic stability.
Sudan: Atrocities ‘repeated town by town’, ICC prosecutor tells UN Security Council
- UN News

Atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region are spreading from town to town in an organized campaign of violence that includes mass executions, rape and ethnic targeting, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the UN Security Council on Monday.

