
The ongoing crisis in the Middle East is exposing a central vulnerability in the global economy: the dependence on fossil fuels flowing through regions affected by conflict, a situation which is strengthening the UN’s case for a faster transition to cheaper, more resilient renewable power.

The Middle East crisis has lurched into its second month, prompting UN Secretary-General António Guterres to issue a stark warning on Thursday morning that the world is “on the edge of a wider war” with catastrophic global implications.

South Sudan is evolving into a catastrophic human rights and humanitarian crisis, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts warned on Thursday.

In conflict zones where new technologies are making landmines more dangerous, deminers must innovate at the same pace to avoid being left behind, a leading UN mines expert has told UN News.
Read the full story, “Deminers race to keep up with military technology”, on globalissues.org →

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (IPS) - Global human migration is at record-high levels, as the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly 1 in 8 people—about one billion individuals—are on the move. Many of these migrants and refugees face harsh living conditions and heightened challenges, such as poverty, insecurity, and limited access to basic services. With the number of international migrants having doubled since 1990, new findings from WHO call for expanding health systems to meet the growing scale of needs.

Relying on foreign aid is bad for Africa’s health and it must stop if the continent is to enjoy health security.
Read the full story, “It Is Time For Africa to Fund Its Health Security”, on globalissues.org →
CIVICUS discusses Italy’s restrictive immigration policies with Eleonora Celoria, a researcher at FIERI (Forum Internazionale ed Europeo di Ricerche sull’Immigrazione), a research centre on migration, and a member of the Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI), an Italian legal organisation that defends migrants’ and asylum seekers’ rights through advocacy, public awareness and strategic litigation.

UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (IPS) - UN Member States made progress toward the UN80 initiative by adopting a resolution that would implement a mandate review, which is set to pave the way to strengthen the process of mandate creation and implementation.