The UN agency has published its latest Food Price Index (FFPI) which tracks the monthly international prices of cereals, vegetable oil, dairy, meat and sugar.
The FFPI averaged 132.4 points last month, which is one per cent lower than the previous December.
However, it averaged 143.7 points last year – more than 14 per cent higher than the average value over 2021.
Guard against food insecurity
“Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years,” saidFAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.
“It is important to remain vigilant and keep a strong focus on mitigating global food insecurity given that world food prices remain at elevated levels, with many staples near record highs, and with prices of rice increasing, and still many risks associated with future supplies,” he added.
The FFPI was “notably higher” in 2022 than in 2021, which on top of large increases that year sparked “significant strains and food security concerns” for poorer food-importing countries, said FAO.
This led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to adopt a “Food Shock Window”, inspired by the agency.
World prices of wheat and maize reached record highs last year and the average value of vegetable oils hit a new record, while individual indexes for dairy and meat prices also marked their highest full-year levels since 1990.
Declines in December
The lower FFPI in December was led by a decrease in the Vegetable Price Index, which dropped 6.7 per cent from the previous month, reaching its lowest level since February 2021.
“International quotations for palm, soy, rapeseed and sunflower seed oils all declined last month, driven by subdued global import demand and prospects of seasonally rising soy oil production in South America as well as declining crude oil prices,” said FAO.
The Cereal Price Index declined by nearly two per cent over November. Ongoing harvests in the southern hemisphere boosted wheat supplies for export, while strong competition from Brazil drove down maize prices.
However, rice prices rose, largely bolstered by “Asian buying and currency appreciation against the United States dollar for exporting countries.”
Christmas boost in Europe
Last month also saw 1.2 per cent downward slide in the Meat Price Index. For example, bovine meat prices were affected by “lacklustre demand for medium-term supplies”, said FAO, whereas poultry costs were pushed down due to “more-than-adequate export supplies”.
Meanwhile, pig meat prices increased, largely supported by solid pre-Christmas demand, particularly in Europe.
The Dairy Price Index rose by 1.2 per cent in December, following five consecutive months of declines. FAO attributed this to higher international cheese prices, reflecting tightening market conditions, though international quotations for butter and milk powder declined.
The Sugar Price Index also jumped 2.4 percent from November, which was mostly due to concerns over the impact of adverse weather conditions on crop yields in India as well as sugarcane crushing delays in Thailand and Australia.
And as a growing number of European ski resorts at lower altitudes struggle to provide adequate snow cover for their early-season visitors, the WMO pointed to widely accepted peer-reviewed scientific data from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicating that the frequency of cold spells and frost days “will decrease”.
“Strong declines in glaciers, permafrost, snow cover extent, and snow seasonal duration at high latitudes/altitudes are observed and will continue in a warming world,” the IPCC said.
According to the UN agency, New Year temperatures soared above 20 degrees Celsius (C) in many European countries, even in Central Europe.
National and many local temperature records for December and January were also broken in several countries, from southern Spain to eastern and northern parts of Europe, WMO said.
Temperatures lift off in Spain
At Spain’s Bilbao airport, a reading of 25.1C on 1 January smashed the previous all-time record established 12 months earlier, by 0.7C.
And in the eastern French city of Besançon, which is usually chilly at this time of year, temperatures hit a new all-time high of 18.6 degrees on New Year’s Day, 1.8C above the previous record, dating back to January 1918.
In the German city of Dresden, the 1961 New Year’s Eve record of 17.7C was left trailing by the 19.4C reading taken on 31 December 2022, just as Poland’s Warsaw residents saw in the new year with temperatures peaking at 18.9C, a staggering 5.1C higher than the previous all-time record for January, from 1993.
Further north, in Denmark’s Lolland island, 2023 started with a new high of 12.6C, overtaking the 12.4C record set in 2005.
Highs and lows
WMO attributed the warm spell in Europe to a high-pressure zone over the Mediterranean region which encountered an Atlantic low-pressure system.
Their interaction “induced a strong south-west flux that brought warm air from north-western Africa to middle latitudes”, the UN agency explained, adding that this hotter-than-normal air “was further warmed when passing the North Atlantic, due to a higher-than-normal sea surface temperature”.
Highlighting the influence of warmer sea waters on weather patterns, the WMO noted that in the eastern North Atlantic, sea surface temperature was 1C to 2C higher than normal, and “near the coasts of Iberia, even more”.
“All this caused record-breaking heat in several European countries on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day,” WMO concluded.
In recent years, Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eastern Europe, has been impacted by climate change-related extreme weather, from intense rainfall to heat waves.
Sign of the times
The weather extremes experienced in Europe are projected to carry on increasing, the WMO warned, as it referenced recent analysis published with “high confidence” by the influential UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). “Regardless of future levels of global warming, temperatures will rise in all European areas at a rate exceeding global mean temperature changes, similar to past observations,” the IPCC said.
According to the IPCC’s regional fact sheet for Europe, “the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, including marine heatwaves, have increased in recent decades and are projected to keep increasing regardless of the greenhouse gas emissions scenario”.
The panel’s experts further warned that “critical thresholds” for the environment and humans “are projected to be exceeded for global warming of 2C and higher”.
Secretary-General António Guterres said he had learned of his passing, “with great sadness”, describing him as a “humble man of prayer and study.”
Defender of human rights
“Principled in his faith, tireless in his pursuit of peace, and determined in his defence of human rights, he was a spiritual guide to millions across the world and one of the leading academic theologians of our time.”
Ascending to the papacy following his election in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, became the first pope to step down in six centuries. The Vatican announced that the celebrated German theologian’s funeral will take place in St. Peter’s Square.
His successor, Pope Francis, told a New Year’s Eve service in the Vatican that Benedict would be fondly remembered “with emotion, we remember his person, so noble, so kind. And we feel in our hearts so much gratitude.”
Visit to UN Headquarters
In his statement, Mr. Guterres recalled the former pontiff’s 2008 visit to UN Headquarters, and his appeal for “building international relations in a way that allows every person and every people to feel they can make a difference.”
The UN chief said his “powerful calls for solidarity with marginalized people everywhere and his urgent appeals to close the widening gap between rich and poor are more relevant than ever.”
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Pope Benedict XVI Meets United Nations Staff during his visit to the United Nations Headquarters in April 2008. (File Photo).
‘Tenacious commitment to non-violence’
The Secretary-General offered his deepest condolences to all Catholics “and others around the world who were inspired by his life of prayer and tenacious commitment to non-violence and peace.”
According to news reports, Benedict’s body will be laid in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, allowing the Catholic faithful the opportunity to file past and pay their respects.
Benedict was ordained in 1951 and became archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977. Four years later he took on the powerful job of enforcer in the Vatican, defending church orthodoxy, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
When he resigned in 2013, citing his ailing health, he said that he had done so freely “for the good of the church”, and retired to live out his days in a monastery that lay within the ground of the Vatican.
Expressing deep sadness that more than 200 Rohingya – who fled military persecution in Myanmar in 2017 – have died trying to cross the Andaman Sea from Bangladesh this year, Mr. Türk said that the boats used to make the crossings are not only “overcrowded and unsafe” but also “left to drift for days on end without any help”.
Heartfelt appeal
This year alone, more than 2,400 Rohingya have attempted the sea journey.
And with no sign in sight of the crisis ending, the UN rights chief urged more countries to assist in their safekeeping.
Specifically, Mr. Türk urged States to coordinate proactive search and rescue operations, disembark Rohingya refugees on their territories, and ensure their protection.
He also called on regional and countries globally to help Bangladesh support the over one million Rohingya refugees who have sought protection there since 2017.
“An urgent solution must be found to enable the voluntary return of all Rohingya, with full respect of their dignity and human rights as full and equal citizens of Myanmar”, underscored the High Commissioner.
Turning the page to a new year
At the close of 2022, the senior UN official reflected on “the story we’d like to write for our future”.
“My hope for next year is that we lead our lives, individually and collectively, with kindness, empathy, and unity. In how we relate to each other. In our homes, neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces, [and] online”, he said in his look ahead message for 2023.
‘Story of hope and unity’
Mr. Türk reminded recalled that if human rights are not protected “in the little places”, they lack meaning anywhere.
He argued for the protection of women’s rights at home and in public, saying that women and girls must have “full equality and freedom from discrimination”.
Children’s eyes must also be opened to the mistakes of the past, so they can “write a story of hope and unity” to create a better world in which “we celebrate diversity, convinced that we are stronger together than we are apart”, added the UN right chief.
Guided by humanity
He hoped for a future of online expression, protected from hatred and disinformation with consideration for other viewpoints; respectful disagreements; and embraced diversity.
“Think of the person on the other side of the screen”, urged the High Commissioner, reminding that “there is no place for dehumanizing the other by using reductionist labels or identity politics”.
“I hope our shared humanity will be our guide”.
Unified forces
Mr. Türk regarded human rights as “the force that come in and unify us”, bringing everyone “back to the fundamentals of who we are, of human dignity and to what connects us all with each other”.
He argued that one person’s pain ultimately hurts everyone and underscored the importance of safeguarding the rights of current and future generations.
“Let’s treat our planet with the kindness and the humility it deserves. And let’s make sure that actions to safeguard our environment are grounded in the human rights of all”.
According to the senior UN official, this requires bravery and the courage to listen and speak up when others are being wronged, to live in a space in which everyone can safely exercise their rights in justice and dignity.
“As we approach the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights next year, let us strive to make the world more dignified”, concluded the High Commissioner. “A world where everyone’s rights are respected”.
Announcing the news, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it has already begun contacting communities to ensure a smooth operation.
Measles, which is preventable, remains a major health problem in Ethiopia, with several outbreaks reported in different parts of the country, the UN health agency said.
Vaccinations are planned across the nation for a total of 15.5 million youngsters aged nine to 59 months, including in hard-to-reach places affected by drought and conflict.
Integrating other interventions
In addition, and together with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, WHO is integrating in the campaign, a range of other lifesaving services.
These include COVID-19 jabs and catch-up immunizations for under-vaccinated children, screening for acute malnutrition, vitamin A drops and deworming against intestinal parasites.
On behalf of immunization partners in the country, Paul Mainuka, Acting Head of WHO Ethiopia Immunization, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Cluster, congratulated the Ministry of Health for the initiative to reduce the risk of measles outbreaks and bring ongoing eruptions to an end, “thus protecting children from preventable sickness and death caused by measles”.
“It is also commendable that the campaign is integrated with other live-saving interventions”, he added.
Measles reduction strategy
In Ethiopia, measles remains a major health problem with several outbreaks occurring in different parts of the country.
To address this, Ethiopia adopted and began implementing key strategies to reduce the burden and head towards elimination.
Measures include strengthening routine and supplementary immunizations, surveillance, and case management.
WHO has supported the campaign financially and technically, and has deployed more than 100 experts for pre-, intra- and post-campaign activities, including monitoring the quality of services.
Poor nutrition equals poor health
Nutrition-related health problems are among the top causes of morbidity and mortality in children in developing countries, including Ethiopia.
And many women there suffer from obstetric fistula – a devastating condition that impacts the health, social and economic well-being of those affected and their families.
During the vaccination campaign, medical workers also plan to help these women following childbirth and identify clubfoot in children.
These interventions will provide opportunities to receive much-needed treatment for obstetric fistula and avoid the life-long disability for children, as club foot is correctable when detected and treated early.
Meanwhile, poverty measured against national lines also surged, affecting 130 million people in Arab countries, revealed the Survey.
Excluding Libya and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, more than one-third of the region’s population is affected.
Moreover, poverty levels are expected to rise over the next two years, reaching 36 per cent of the population in 2024.
Good news in growth
Notwithstanding disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, the Survey showed an expected 3.4 per cent growth next year throughout the Arab region.
While inflation rates jumped this year to 14 per cent, they are predicted to drop to eight and 4.5 per cent, respectively, in the next two years.
Noteworthy discrepancies
Yet, despite the region’s positive growth outlook, Ahmed Moummi, lead author of the Survey, pointed to significant discrepancies among countries – which were exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
Noting that repercussions were not the same for all Arab States, he maintained that Gulf Cooperation Council countries and other oil-exporting ones will continue to benefit from higher energy prices.
At the same time, oil-importing nations will suffer from several socioeconomic challenges, including rising energy costs, food supply shortages, and drops in both tourism and international aid inflows.
“The current situation presents an opportunity for oil-exporting Arab countries to diversify their economies away from the energy sector by accumulating reserves and investing in projects that generate inclusive growth and sustainable development”, Mr. Moummi underscored.
Through its annual Survey, ESCWA provides an analysis of the latest social and economic trends in the region to help member States in developing and implementing evidence-based policies, and improving economic planning processes for sustainable and inclusive development.
It often takes considerable bravery to stand up for the rights of women. The UN, which is committed to empowering women and girls, works relentlessly with activists and organizations across the world, to protect women from abuse, support health initiatives, and improve lives.
UNAMA/Fraidoon Poya
Women living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan
August marked one year since the Taliban seized control once more, of Afghanistan, sparking widespread fears for women’s rights there, which were severely eroded during the regime’s previous time in power during the late 1990s.
Twelve months on, UN Women announced that the agency was committed to continue the struggle for women’s rights in Afghanistan, the only country in the world where girls are banned from going to high school, and effectively barred from political participation.
We marked the anniversary of Taliban rule by telling the stories of some of the women who have decided to stay in the country, even though their lives have been turned upside down.
They include Zarina*, formerly one of Afghanistan’s youngest entrepreneurs, who was forced to close her formerly thriving bakery, amid growing restrictions on women-owned businesses; Nasima*, a peacebuilder and women’s rights activists, who was forced to shut down most of her projects, but later managed to restart some initiatives; and Mahbouba Seraj, a veteran rights defender, who vowed to stay on and bear witness to what is unfolding in her country.
Ms. Seraj had a sobering message for those who think that Afghanistan is an exceptional case: “what is happening to the women of Afghanistan can happen anywhere, she said. “Roe v. Wade [the case that led to the national right to abortion in the US, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022] destroyed years of progress, taking away the rights of women over their own bodies. Women’s rights being taken away from them is happening everywhere and if we are not careful, it will happen to all the women of the world”.
*Names changed to protect identities
Unsplash/Artin Bakhan
Mahsa Amini: the inspiration for widespread Iranian protests
In November, The UN human rights office, OHCHR, condemned the response of the Iranian regime to protestors demonstrating against the government, in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in police custody in September, after being detained for wearing her hijab incorrectly, according to the so-called morality police.
Her death led to demonstrations in many Iranian cities, including protest by high-school age girls. The Iranian government responded by arresting thousands of protestors, including women, children, youth, and journalists.
On 22 November, OHCHR stated that, in just one week, more than 40 people had been killed in protests, including two teenagers, and two days later, the Human Rights Council created a fact-finding mission in relation to the demonstrations.
“It pains me to see what is happening in the country,” UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk told those attending the session which voted in favour of the mission. “The images of children killed. Of women beaten in the streets. Of people sentenced to death”.
The growing international condemnation of the Iranian crackdown was reflected in the decision by members of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on 14 December.
The CSW, which meets annually in March at UN Headquarters in New York, is described as the biggest gathering of gender equality advocates in the world.
The United States introduced the resolution, which received 29 votes in favour and eight against, with 16 countries abstaining.
The climate crisis has been shown to disproportionately affect women and girls. In the weeks leading up to International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on 6 March, we highlighted the ways in which women activists improve their local environment, and help their community to adapt to an increasingly hostile climate.
They include Mexican violinist Martha Corzo, who led and inspired a group of some 17,000 local environmental activists, devoted to protecting the remote and beautiful Sierra Gorda; a group of women in Niger who have integrated refugees and migrants in their bid to stave off desertification by creating a thriving market garden; and a mechanical engineer in Kenya who had to fight gender discrimination to develop practical and affordable energy solutions.
In May, Cameroonian activist Cécile Ndjebet’s efforts to improve the lives of those who depend on forests were recognized, when she was awarded the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award, which is chaired by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
In Cameroon, roughly 70 per cent of women live in rural areas and are dependent at least in part on harvesting wild forest products for their livelihoods. However, in some communities, women cannot own forest land, inherit it if their husband dies, or even plant trees on degraded land.
“Men generally recognize the great role women play in improving families’ living standards,” she said at the ceremony, “but it is important for them also to agree that, for women to continue to play that role, and even improve in that role, they need secure access to land and forests”.
Women in blue
UN women peacekeepers and police, continued to serve with distinction in some of the most dangerous postings in the world, facing challenges such as threats from terrorist attacks, and violence fuelled by a COVID-era surge in misinformation and disinformation, amid increasing political tensions, and deteriorating security situations.
On the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, in May, Major Winnet Zharare of Zimbabwe was presented with the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, in recognition of her work with the UN Mission in South Sudan, where she was a strong champion for gender equality and women as decision-makers and leaders.
“Her diligence and diplomatic skills quickly gained the trust of local military commanders who sought her advice on women’s rights and protection”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the ceremony. “Her approach helped UNMISS strengthen bonds with local communities and deliver on its mandate.”
In July, at a historic ceremony in South Sudan, members of the first-ever deployment of UN Peacekeepers from Liberia, including several women, were honoured with the prestigious UN Medal.
Their achievement symbolized the huge turnaround in the fortunes of Liberia, which suffered a brutal civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s, before reaching a ceasefire, monitored by the UN Mission in the country, UNMIL, which also supported humanitarian and human rights activities; and assisted in national security reform, including national police training and formation of a new, restructured military.
“Our experience of a 14-year civil war and the impact that UN peacekeepers had, is real and tangible for the people we are on the ground to serve,” said UN Police (UNPOL) officer Elfreda Dennice Stewart. “We benefited so much from peacekeepers, and it is our honour to now serve in this young nation under the iconic blue flag.”
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“Banning women from humanitarian work has immediate life-threatening consequences for all Afghans,” they insisted.
Some aid programmes have already had to stop temporarily, owing to a lack of female staff, at a time when more than 28 million people in Afghanistan need “assistance to survive” the brutal winter, economic collapse and the risk of famine, the agency principals noted.
In a joint statement that followed Saturday’s reported decree by the Taliban that Afghan women must stop working for NGOs, the top UN officials insisted female staff were “key to every aspect of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan”.
Privileged access
In particular, this was because “they have access to populations that their male colleagues cannot reach”, they explained, while also insisting that Afghan women humanitarians “save lives”.
Their work must continue, the UN and NGO principals said, as “teachers, nutrition experts, team leaders, community health workers, vaccinators, nurses, doctors, and heads of organizations”.
Backsliding on progress
Echoing the message of the UN Secretary-General that the NGO ban will undermine the work of all organizations in Afghanistan in helping its most vulnerable communities, the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Achim Steiner, said that the latest restriction would “accelerate Afghanistan’s backslide” into poverty.
The damage could take decades to reverse, the UNDP Administrator said, as he added that women’s work in Afghanistan amounted to over $1 billion in household income.
“Removing women from the public sphere of education and livelihoods could result in an immediate and significant loss to millions of Afghans in poor households that are already facing severe hardships,” he maintained.
A million women and girls face aid cuts
UN refugee agency head Filippo Grandi also condemned the Taliban decree.
“This ban must be lifted”, Mr. Grandi insisted, noting that more than 500 women staff work with his agency’s 19 NGO partners in Afghanistan, where they serve nearly one million women and girls.
“The most recent restrictions will force the UNHCR to temporarily stop critical activities in support of Afghan people, especially women and children,” he added.
The latest directive also risks pushing more families to flee across the borders as refugees, he continued, as he explained that women NGO workers across Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have been “at the forefront of efforts to find solutions for Afghans affected by four decades of conflict and persecution, including millions of refugees and internally displaced people”.
A nurse stands in the neonatal ward at a hospital in Gardez, Afghanistan.
Female staff had helped UNHCR reach over six million Afghans since August 2021, said Mr. Grandi. “With so many other restrictions on women, this new decree will have a devastating impact on Afghanistan’s population.”
According to UNHCR, some 3.4 million people are displaced inside Afghanistan, along with another 2.9 million refugees living outside the country.
Since March, Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have barred an estimated one million girls from attending high school over the past year, and on 20 December, female students learned that they could no longer go to university.
This latest order forbidding women from working in NGOs “will not only deprive them and their families of income but will also completely erase their only social life and deny them an opportunity to contribute to the country’s development,” the CEDAW experts said.
A female Afghan volunteer engaged in a UNHCR-supported education project in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
Nation jeopardised ‘for a generation’
“Their exclusion also means millions of women and girls could be left out of the humanitarian response, which is critically important to the country where about six million people are at risk of famine.”
Warning that the move would “jeopardise the entire country for generation”, the experts also called for the immediate release of women reportedly arrested during protests that were triggered by the university ban.
“With the latest ban on universities, the country is now excluding half of its population from normal schooling, creating one of the world’s biggest gender gaps,” they said.
Solutions must be found: Resident Coordinator
The UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday afternoon that the UN relief chief – along with other senior officials – would be heading to the country in the coming days in search of a solution to the crisis over women’s participation in relief work and access to education.
He said “certain activities” had already been paused, reiterating that the UN system was fully “committed to the people” of Afghanistan and to full gender equality.
Taliban leaders are being engaged already at the “highest possible level” by UN leadership on the ground there, and Mr. Alakbarov stated that an agreement had already been struck with Taliban leadership in the health sector, so that there will be “no barrier” to women continuing with their lifesaving work there.
He emphasized that delivery of health services and other vital aid, would not be possible without women staff members, and it was “practically impossible” to launch any new programmes without female participation.
With more than 28 million Afghans in need, “we need to dissolve bottlenecks to address needs as systematically as we can”, he added.
It is essential to explain the consequences of the Taliban’s restrictions on women and girls to their leadership, “and work on the solution”. He highlighted that it would be impossible, for example, to offer protection services to women, without women on staff, or reach millions of women in need, using only male workers.
The UN education and culture organisation which champions the power of sport across the world, UNESCO, tweeted that it was “deeply saddened” at his passing, and extended condolences to the Brazilian people, and the wider “football family”.
As a 17-year-old, Pelé won his first football or soccer World Cup, in 1958, going on to lift the top trophy in the game a further two times, in 1962 and 1970. He scored a world record 1,281 goals, playing in 1,363 games during his professional career, which began when he was just 15.
Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, in 1940, the football giant, nicknamed, “the Black Pearl”, and “the King”, retired from the game in 1977.
In 1999, the Santos player and Brazil’s most venerated star, was voted player of the century in a poll of previous Ballon d’Or winners – the players who win the annual global football award for being the outstanding performers that year.
Scoring for the United Nations
He devoted considerable time in retirement to supporting the UN and its work, both as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF, and as a UNESCO Champion for Sport, from 1994.
He was also appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the crucial UN Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, one of the first major global development and environment summits devoted to a more sustainable future for all.
You can hear Pelé conducting a press conference ahead of the Earth Summit, from the UN audiovisual archives, here.
At the time, the Secretary-General of the Summit, Maurice Strong, described him as not only the greatest footballer in the world, but “a universal man”, rooted in Brazil.
“His commitment to people, to the planet, really distinguish him a true citizen of our earth”, he told reporters.
UNESCO said in its tweet, that he had “worked relentlessly to promote sport as a tool for peace. He will be greatly missed.”
In a tweet, the head of UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, wrote that “we are all with the people of Brazil” tonight, “celebrating a man who made millions of kids dream across continents, and generations.”
UN Photo/Joe B. Sills
UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Goodwill Ambassador Pele (holding children) of Brazil, is greeted by children as he makes his way to Plenary Hall in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (June 1992)
UNMISS, the African Union mission, regional bloc IGAD, the so-called Troika (United States, United Kingdom, and Norway), the European Union, and the body overseeing the peace agreement signed by the warring parties in South Sudan (R-JMEC), issued a statement on Wednesday, saying they were “gravely concerned about the escalating ongoing violence, loss of life and reports of alleged use of heavy weaponry”.
News reports quoting a local official said youths from the Nuer community had attacked members of the Murle ethnic group in Greater Pibor.
The fighting began when armed youths attacked the village of Lanam, according to Greater Pibor’s information minister. He told news outlets that members of both groups suffered fatalities, with 17 Murle community members among those injured.
The information minister for Jonglei state also reportedly condemned the fighting and called on young fighters from the state, to immediately end the violence, and return home. Both senior local officials called for central Government intervention to end the violence, according to news reports.
The world’s youngest country has been mired in violence which escalated not long after gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, between Government forces led by President Salva Kiir, and fighters loyal to his rival Riek Machar.
Ultimatum
The statement from the UN and partners urged combatants and supporters “to immediately cease hostilities, exercise restraint and respect human rights.”
They called on South Sudanese leaders “to urgently intervene to stop the fighting and ensure the safety and security of civilians as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to people affected by the fighting.”
They emphasized the need to investigate and hold all perpetrators of violence to account, “including those who are instigating and inciting violence and those responsible for the abduction of women and children.”
Dialogue, not fighting
The statement also strongly encouraged national politicians and traditional leaders to persuade young fighters to stop the violence and pursue “a dialogue-based approach that focuses on restoring calm and peacefully resolving the root causes of the conflict.”
While the primary responsibility for protecting civilians lies with the national Government, UNMISS and international partners reiterated that they are ready to provide all necessary support to protect civilians in affected areas.
UN Photo/Isaac Billy
Peacekeepers serving with UNMISS, the UN mission in South Sudan, patrol Central Equatoria.
Stepping up patrols
“UNMISS is intensifying patrols in conflict hotspots and closely monitoring the situation, noting that such fighting has in the past led to significant loss of life and large-scale civilian displacement.”
The statement also noted that the “uncalled for violence” posed a serious risk to the peace and stability of all South Sudanese, and called on the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, to investigate, urging the parties to the conflict, to facilitate access.
“Every New Year is a moment of rebirth”, said António Guterres. We sweep out the ashes of the old year and prepare for a brighter day. In 2022, millions of people around the world literally swept out ashes.”
The impact on civilians, meant that over 100 million people found themselves fleeing violence, wildfires, droughts, poverty and hunger, the UN chief said.
Let’s make 2023 a year when peace is restored to our lives, our homes, and our world
“In 2023, we need peace, now more than ever. Peace with one another, through dialogue to end conflict. Peace with nature and our climate, to build a more sustainable world.”
Living with dignity
Peace was also needed inside families and homes, “so women and girls can live in dignity and safety”, added Mr. Guterres, as well as peace on streets that too often have seen violent reprisals from security forces in response to peaceful protest.
Demonstrators and whole communities, need “the full protection of human rights”, he said, and for those with religious belief, there needs to be peace in places of worship, together with greater tolerance of other faiths.
Living free from hate
There also needs to be peace online, he added, so instead of disinformation, and conspiracy theories, all societies can enjoy the Internet “free from hate speech and abuse.”
In 2023, let’s put peace at the heart of our words and actions”, said the Secretary-General.
“Together, let’s make 2023 a year when peace is restored to our lives, our homes, and our world.”
UN Photo/Mark Garten
Secretary-General António Guterres visits a refugee centre in Chișinău, in the Republic of Moldova.
At the end of 2021, when the UN climate conference (COP26) wrapped up in Glasgow, none of those present could have suspected that a war in Ukraine would throw the global economy into turmoil, convincing many nations to suspend their commitments to a low carbon economy, as they scrambled to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies, and secure fossil fuel supplies elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a host of studies pointed to the continued warming of the Earth, and the failure of humanity to lower carbon emissions, and get to grips with the existential threat of the climate emergency.
Nevertheless, the UN continued to lead on the slow, painstaking, but essential task of achieving international climate agreements, whilst putting sustained pressure on major economies to make greater efforts to cut their fossil fuel use, and support developing countries, whose citizens are bearing the brunt of the droughts, floods and extreme weather resulting from man-made climate change.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a litany of stark reports throughout the year. A January study, announcing that 2021 had joined the top seven warmest years on record, set the tone for the year.
In Summer, when record heatwaves were recorded in several European countries, the agency warned that we should get used to more to come over the next few years, whilst Africa can expect a worsening food crisis, centred on the Horn of Africa, displacing millions of people: four out of five countries on the continent are unlikely to have sustainably managed water resources by 2030.
Whilst some regions suffered from a lack of water, others were hit by catastrophic floods. In Pakistan, a national emergency was declared in August, following heavy flooding and landslides caused by monsoon rains which, at the height of the crisis, saw around a third of the country underwater. Tens of millions were displaced.
Unprecedented floods in Chad affected more than 340,000 people in August and, in October, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) declared that some 3.4 million people in west and central Africa needed aid, amid the worst floods in a decade.
In its October Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, WMO detailed record levels of the three main gases – carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, which saw the biggest year-on-year jump in concentrations in 40 years, identifying human activity as a principal factor in the changing climate.
Yet, despite all the evidence that a shift to a low-carbon economy is urgently needed, the world’s major economies responded to the energy crisis precipitated by the war in Ukraine by reopening old power plants and searching for new oil and gas suppliers.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres decried their reaction, calling it delusional, at an Austrian climate summit in June, and arguing that if they had invested in renewable energy in the past, these countries would have avoided the price instability of the fossil fuel markets.
At an energy event held in Washington DC the same month, Mr. Guterres compared the behaviour of the fossil fuel industry to the activities of major tobacco companies in the mid-twentieth century: “like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial accomplices must not escape responsibility”, he said “The argument of putting climate action aside to deal with domestic problems also rings hollow”.
Clean, healthy environment a universal human right
The July decision by the UN General Assembly to declare that access to a clean and healthy environment is a universal human right was hailed as an important milestone, building on a similar text adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2021.
Mr. Guterres said in statement that the landmark development would help to reduce environmental injustices, close protection gaps and empower people, especially those that are in vulnerable situations, including environmental human rights defenders, children, youth, women and indigenous peoples.
The importance of this move was underscored in October by Ian Fry, the first UN Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Human Rights in the context of Climate Change. Mr. Fry told UN News that the resolution is already starting to have an effect, with the European Union discussing how to incorporate it within national legislation and constitutions.
Breakthrough agreements reached at UN climate conferences
The year was punctuated by three important climate-related UN summits – the Ocean Conference in June, the COP27 Climate Conference in November, and the much-delayed COP15 Biodiversity Conference in December – which demonstrated that the organization achieves far more than simply stating the dire climate situation, and calling for change.
At each event progress was made on advancing international commitments to protect the environment, and reducing the harm and destruction caused by human activity.
The Ocean Conference saw critical issues discussed, and new ideas generated. World leaders admitted to deep alarm at the global emergency facing the Ocean, and renewed their commitment to take urgent action, cooperate at all levels, and fully achieve targets as soon as possible.
More than 6,000 participants, including 24 Heads of State and Government, and over 2,000 representatives of civil society attended the Conference, advocating for urgent and concrete actions to tackle the ocean crisis.
They stressed that science-based and innovative actions, along with international cooperation, are essential to provide the necessary solutions.
‘Loss and damage’ funding agreed, in win for developing countries
COP27, the UN Climate Conference, which was held in Egypt in November, seemed destined to end without any agreement, as talks dragged on way beyond the official end of the summit.
Nevertheless, negotiators somehow managed to not only agree on the wording of an outcome document, but also establish a funding mechanism to compensate vulnerable nations for the loss and damage caused by climate-induced disasters.
These nations have spent decades arguing for such a provision, so the inclusion was hailed as a major advance. Details on how the mechanism will work, and who will benefit, will now be worked out in the coming months.
However, little headway was made on other key issues, particularly on the phasing out of fossil fuels, and tightened language on the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Enhanced biodiversity protection promised in Montreal
After two years of delays and postponements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifteenth UN biodiversity conference, COP15, finally took place in Montreal this December, concluding with an agreement to protect 30 per cent of the planet’s lands, coastal areas, and inland waters by the end of the decade. Inger Andersen, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), described the outcome as a “first step in resetting our relationship with the natural world”.
The world’s biodiversity is in a perilous state, with around one million species facing extinction. UN experts agree that the crisis will grow, with catastrophic results for humanity, unless we interact with nature in a more sustainable way.
The deal, officially the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, includes impressive commitments, but these now need to be turned into action. This has been a major sticking point at previous biodiversity conferences, but it is hoped that a platform, launched at COP15, to help countries ramp up implementation, will help to turn the blueprint into reality.
“No country can develop – indeed survive – socially and economically with half its population excluded”, said the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“These unfathomable restrictions placed on women and girls will not only increase the suffering of all Afghans but, I fear, pose a risk beyond Afghanistan’s borders”.
He urged the de facto authorities to “respect and protect” the rights of all women and girls – to be seen, heard, and involved in all aspects of Afghanistan’s “social, political and economic life” in line with its international obligations.
Banned from work
On 24 December, the de facto authorities issued a decree banning women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This latest decree followed the suspension of university education for women and secondary schooling for girls until what they termed further notice.
“Banning women from working in NGOS will deprive them and their families of their incomes, and of their right to contribute positively to the development of their country and to the well-being of their fellow citizens”, warned the High Commissioner.
Rippling effects
NGOs and humanitarian organizations provide critical life-saving services for many people in Afghanistan, including food, water, shelter and healthcare, as well as critical programmes, such as pre- and post-natal and infant care, which are only provided by women.
Many NGOs – often staffed with women, including in leadership roles – are essential partners for the UN and other agencies in administering humanitarian and development programmes throughout the country.
“The ban will significantly impair, if not destroy, the capacity of these NGOs to deliver the essential services on which so many vulnerable Afghans depend”, lamented Mr. Türk.
“It is all the more distressing with Afghanistan in the grip of winter, when we know humanitarian needs are at their greatest and the work these NGOs do is all the more critical”.
Threat of violence
The High Commissioner also voiced deep concern that increased hardship in Afghan society is likely to increase the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence and domestic violence.
“Women and girls cannot be denied their inherent rights”, he underscored.
“Attempts by the de facto authorities to relegate them to silence and invisibility will not succeed – it will merely harm all Afghans, compound their suffering, and impede the country’s development. Such policies cannot be justified in any way”.
UNAMA/Abdul Hamed Wahidi
Women and children wait for alms in front of a Mosque in Herat City, Afghanistan .
Security Council weighs in
The Security Council also issued a statement expressing its profound concern that female employees of NGOs and international organizations are being banned from their work.
The Council stressed that the move would have “a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country, including those of the UN, and the delivery of aid and health work”, and that the restrictions “contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international community”.
The Security Council reiterated its full support to the UN Assistance Mission in the country, UNAMA, and Special Representative Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva, underscoring the importance that she carries out her mandate, including through monitoring and reporting on the situation, and continuing to engage with all relevant Afghan political actors and stakeholders.
UNHCR issued a statement explaining that two groups of survivors had been brought to shore off the coast of north-west Indonesia.
Believed to have been at sea for more than a month, the UN agency expressed relief that they are now safe in Indonesia.
After highlighting their plight, Ann Maymann, UNHCR Representative in Indonesia said, “we welcome this act of humanity by local communities and authorities in Indonesia”.
“These actions help to save human lives from certain death, ending torturous ordeals for many desperate people.”
Attending to the new arrivals
Urgent medical care has been provided to treat survivors for exhaustion and dehydration.
According to the survivors, dire conditions onboard triggered the deaths of 26 people at sea.
UNHCR, local authorities, and humanitarian partner staff are caring for those brought ashore.
“Many require urgent medical attention to stabilize their condition”, the UN agency reported. “The agency is also rushing more supplies and staff to help local communities and local authorities support those rescued.”
Deadly passage
So far this year, more than 2,000 people have taken risky sea journeys in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, during which nearly 200 have reportedly perished.
Many are Rohingya men, women and children, who fled persecution in Myanmar for Bangladesh in 2017.
Humanitarian obligation ignored
UNHCR is also working to confirm reports that one additional boat with 180 people on board is still missing at sea – with all passengers presumed dead.
All States in the region “must fulfil their legal obligations” to save people on boats in distress to avoid further misery and deaths, the UN agency insisted.
Indonesia’s commitment
Latest UN data indicates that over the past six weeks, Indonesia has helped to save 472 people from four boats.
This demonstrates “its commitment and respect of basic humanitarian principles for people who face persecution and conflict”, UNHCR said.
“Many others did not act despite numerous pleas and appeals for help”, lamented the UN refugee agency, urging other countries in the region to follow Indonesia’s example.
The 100 million figure, which includes those fleeing conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution, was announced by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in May and described by Filippo Grandi, the head of the agency, as “a record that should never have been set”.
The figure is up from some 90 million in 2021. Outbreaks of violence, or protracted conflicts, were key migration factors in many parts of the world, including Ukraine, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Syria, and Myanmar.
Thousands of desperate migrants looked to Europe as a preferred destination, putting their lives in the hands of human traffickers, and setting off on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.
All too often these journeys ended in tragedy.
IOM/Rami Ibrahim
Worsening conditions for migrants in Yemen
It has now been more than seven years since the protracted conflict began in Yemen, between a Saudi-led pro-Government coalition and Houthi rebels, together with their allies. It precipitated a humanitarian catastrophe, and has forced more than 4.3 million people to leave their homes.
In May, The UN migration agency IOM and the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid wing (ECHO), announced that they were scaling up efforts to respond to the needs of more than 325,000 displaced by the conflict, including migrants and the communities that host them.
“The situation is also getting worse for migrants in Yemen, especially women, who are living in dire conditions in Yemen with little control over their lives,” said Christa Rottensteiner, Chief of the IOM Mission in the country.
Despite the dire situation in Yemen, it remains a destination and transit point for migrants leaving countries in the Horn of Africa.
Upon arrival, travellers face perilous journeys, with many heading north, en route to Gulf countries in search of work.
They are often forced to journey across local frontlines, at risk of suffering grave human rights violations, such as detention, inhumane conditions, exploitation, and forced transfers.
In Syria, war has now been upending lives for 11 years: nearly five million children born in Syria have never known the country at peace.
More than 80,000 Syrians call the huge Za’atari camp, in Jordan, home: many of them may have to remain outside of their country for the foreseeable future.
“Prospects for return for the time being do not look promising”, said Dominik Bartsch, UNHCR Representative in the Jordanian capital Amman, in July. “We are not seeing an environment in Syria that would be conducive to returns.”
Overall, Jordan hosts around 675,000 registered refugees from Syria, and most of them live in its towns and villages among local communities: only 17 per cent live in the two main refugee camps, Za’atari and Azraq.
Rohingya continue to flee Myanmar
More than five years ago, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled their homes in Myanmar, after a military campaign of persecution. Almost a million live in the vast Cox’s Bazar camp across the border in neighbouring Bangladesh.
In March, the UN launched its latest response plan, calling for more than $881 million for the refugees, and neighbouring communities (more than half a million Bangladeshis), who are also highly reliant on aid.
This year, Rohingya continued to leave Myanmar, many attempting to cross the Andaman Sea, one of the deadliest water crossings in the world.
When more than a dozen migrants, including children, reportedly died at sea off the coast of Myanmar in May, Indrika Ratwatte, the UN refugee agency’s Asia and Pacific Director, said the tragedy demonstrated the sense of desperation being felt by Rohingya still in the country.
‘Double standard’ in treatment of Ukraine refugees
10 months on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February, and seems likely to continue into 2023, UN refugee agency figures show that, by December, more than 7.8 million Ukrainian refugees had been recorded across Europe.
Soon after the conflict began, UN agencies mobilized to provide support. UNHCR coordinated the refugee response together with sister UN agencies and partners, in support of national authorities.
In neighbouring Poland, for example, staff supported the authorities with registering refugees and providing them with accommodation and assistance.
Filippo Grandi praised European countries for their willingness to take in Ukrainians, the majority of whom sought shelter in neighbouring countries, but expressed his sorrow for the country and its citizens.
‘Ripped apart’
“Families have been senselessly ripped apart. Tragically, unless the war is stopped, the same will be true for many more,” he said.
However, this generosity of spirit was not always in evidence, when it came to some members of minority communities. In March, Mr. Grandi spoke out the discrimination, racism, and violence they faced.
Speaking on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Mr. Grandi said that the UN refugee agency had born witness “to the ugly reality, that some Black and Brown people fleeing Ukraine – and other wars and conflicts around the world – have not received the same treatment as Ukrainian refugees”.
Mr. Grandi’s concerns were echoed, in July, by González Morales, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Mr. Morales alleged that there was a double standard in the way that refugees are treated in Poland and Belarus, particularly when it comes to people of African descent, and other racial and ethnic minorities.
In Ethiopia, millions remain displaced due to the armed conflict in the Tigray region, which began on 3 November 2020 between Ethiopian national forces, Eritrean troops, Amhara forces and other militias on one side, and forces loyal to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation front on the other.
By the end of this year, a fragile internationally-brokered truce seemed to be holding with aid returning to embattled northern regions inaccessible for months, along with many returning home to rebuild their shattered lives.
Back in January, the UN refugee agency issued the stark warning that, due to deteriorating conditions, refugees in the region were struggling to get enough food, medicine, and clean water, and risked death unless the situation improved.
“The desperate situation in these camps is a stark example of the impact of the lack of access and supplies affecting millions of displaced persons and other civilians throughout the region,” said UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov.
Refugees also found themselves under direct attack: in February, for example, thousands of Eritreans were forced to flee a camp in the Afar region, after armed men stormed in, stealing belongings and killing residents.
By August, UN agencies put out an urgent appeal for funding to help more than 750,000 people seeking refuge in Ethiopia. The World Food Programme warned that, unless it received the funding, many refugees would have nothing to eat.
The number of people who died or went missing trying to reach Europe by boat doubled between 2022 and 2021, to more than 3,000. This grim statistic was released by the UNHCR in April.
“Most of the sea crossings took place in packed, unseaworthy, inflatable boats – many of which capsized or were deflated leading to loss of life,” UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists at a regular press briefing in Geneva.
This did not deter many from putting themselves at considerable risk, by trying a sea crossing. In just one attempt, in March, at least 70 migrants were reported dead or missing off the coast of Libya, the departure point for many crossings.
In August, when a boat sank off the Greek island of Karpathos in August, there were dozens of reported deaths, and in September, more than 70 bodies were recovered following a shipwreck off the coast of Syria.
Hope for a brighter future?
Amid the tragedy and difficulties faced by so many, there was at least one ray of light, reported in December.
UNHCR declared that governments around the world had pledged some $1.13 billion, a record amount, to provide a lifeline to people displaced by war, violence, and human rights violations.
“As a result of conflict, the climate emergency, and other crises, displaced people around the world face unprecedented needs,” said Mr. Grandi. “Fortunately, UNHCR’s generous donors continue to support them during these dire days, creating hope for a brighter future.”
A statement issued by Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply disturbed by the reported order of the de facto Taliban authorities” and that the UN chief “reiterates the rights of all women to participate in the workforce thus contributing to the greater good.”
According to media reports, the Taliban ordered all foreign and domestic non-governmental groups (NGOs) in Afghanistan to suspend employing women after reportedly receiving “serious complaints” about their dress code.
The statement issued on Saturday by the UN Spokesman went on to note that the United Nations and its partners, including national and international NGOs, are helping more than 28 million Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid to survive.
“The effective delivery of humanitarian assistance requires full, safe and unhindered access for all aid workers, including women. The reported ban on women working with the international community to save lives and livelihoods in Afghanistan will cause further untold hardship on the people of Afghanistan,” the statement concluded.
UN in Afghanistan to seek clarification
In a separate statement, the UN humanitarian coordination office in Afghanistan, condemned the latest round of restrictions on women’s participation and emphasized that any such order by the de facto authorities “would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as be a clear breach of humanitarian principles.”
The UN in Afghanistan went on to say that it would seek to meet with the Taliban leadership to obtain clarity on the reported order.
“Women must be enabled to play a critical role in all aspects of life, including the humanitarian response. Their participation must be both respected and safeguarded. This latest decision will only further hurt those most vulnerable, especially women and girls,” said the statement.
In addition, the UN in Afghanistan and its partners reminded the de facto authorities that “taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardizing efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country.”
“This shocking ordeal and tragedy must not continue”, said Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR’s Director for Asia and the Pacific.
“These are human beings – men, women and children”, he added.
Unraveling the situation
Reports indicate that they have been at sea in dire conditions for a month, lacking sufficient food or water, and with no efforts from any States in the region to help.
Many are women and children, with reports of up to 20 people dying on the unseaworthy vessel during the journey.
“We need to see the States in the region help save lives and not let people die”, underscored Mr. Ratwatte.
A month adrift
Since the first reports of the boat being sighted in Thai waters, UNHCR has received unverified information of the vessel being spotted near Indonesia and then subsequently off the coast of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India.
Its current location is reportedly once more back eastwards, in the Andaman sea north of Aceh.
UNHCR has repeatedly asked all countries in the region to make saving lives a priority and requested the Indian marine rescue centre earlier this week to allow for disembarkations.
“It is devastating to learn that many people have already lost their lives, including children”, added UNHCR’s Ratwatte.
Deadly year at sea
It is very difficult for UNHCR to verify the information, but if true, the number of dead and missing in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea will be recorded to nearly 200 this year alone.
All States have a responsibility to rescue those on the boat and allow them to safely disembark in the name of humanity, UNHCR spelled out.
Meanwhile, this shocking number represents around 10 per cent of the estimated 2,000 people who have taken risky sea journeys in the region since January.
“Sadly, this makes it one of the deadliest years in the seas in the region’’, lamented the UNHCR Director.
Saltwater tears
Yesterday UN-appointed independent human rights expert Tom Andrews issued a statement urging Governments to “immediately and urgently coordinate search and rescue for this boat and ensure safe disembarkation of those aboard before any further loss of life occurs”.
“While many in the world are preparing to enjoy a holiday season and ring in a new year, boats bearing desperate Rohingya men, women and young children, are setting off on perilous journeys in unseaworthy vessels”, said the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.
In his plea to all regional Governments for “a more humane regional response” to those fleeing the junta’s brutal violence, including the Rohingya, Mr. Andrews called for “an absolute moratorium on any deportations or pushbacks to Myanmar” as well as harmonized search and rescues at sea.
Hazardous journeys
This is just the latest in a series of dangerous voyages, said the UN expert.
Two weeks ago, a Vietnamese oil company vessel on its way to Myanmar rescued one sinking boat with 154 Rohingya refugees aboard.
“As they were close to Myanmar waters, they reportedly handed the group over to Myanmar authorities”, he recounted.
“It has been reported that those aboard were placed in migration detention in Myanmar and may now face criminal charges”.
And last weekend, the Sri Lankan Navy rescued a third trawler in distress, carrying 104 Rohingya, including numerous children, some unaccompanied.
“The international community must step forward and assist regional actors to provide durable solutions for the Rohingya”, said Mr. Andrews.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work.
The clear need to do much more to cut greenhouse gas emissions was again underscored throughout events in 2022, said the UN weather agency, advocating for strengthened climate change adaptation, including universal access to early warnings.
“This year we have faced several dramatic weather disasters which claimed far too many lives and livelihoods and undermined health, food, energy and water security and infrastructure”, said WMO chief Petteri Taalas.
On warmest track
While Global temperature figures for 2022 will be released in mid-January, the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, according to WMO.
While the persistence of a cooling La Niña event, now in its third year, means that 2022 will not be the warmest year on record, its cooling impact will be short-lived and not reverse the long-term warming trend caused by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
Early warnings, increasing investment in the basic global observing system and building resilience to extreme weather and climate will be among WMO priorities in 2023 – the year that the WMO community celebrates its 150th anniversary.
WMO will also promote a new way of monitoring the sinks and sources of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide by using the ground-based Global Atmosphere Watch, satellite and assimilation modelling, which allows better understanding of how key greenhouse gases behave in the atmosphere.
Climate Indicators
Greenhouse gases are just one climate indicator used to observe levels.
Sea levels, which have doubled since 1993; ocean heat content; and acidification are also at recorded highs.
A young boy stands in front of a waterhole in a drought zone in Bangladesh.
National heat tolls
Although 2022 did not break global temperature records, it topped many national heat records throughout the world.
India and Pakistan experienced soaring heat in March and April. China had the most extensive and long-lasting heatwave since national records began and the second-driest summer on record.
And parts of the northern hemisphere were exceptionally hot and dry.
A large area centred around the central-northern part of Argentina, as well as in southern Bolivia, central Chile, and most of Paraguay and Uruguay, experienced record-breaking temperatures during two consecutive heatwaves in late November and early December 2022.
“Record breaking heatwaves have been observed in China, Europe, North and South America”, the WMO chief added. “The long-lasting drought in the Horn of Africa threatens a humanitarian catastrophe
And while large parts of Europe sweltered in repeated episodes of extreme heat, the United Kingdom hit a new national record in July, when the temperature topped more than 40°C for the very first time.
Record breaking rain
In East Africa, rainfall has been below average throughout four consecutive wet seasons – the longest in 40 years – triggering a major humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people, devastating agriculture, and killing livestock, especially in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
Record breaking rain in July and August led to extensive flooding in Pakistan, which caused at least 1,700 deaths, displaced 7.9 million and affected 33 million people.
“One third of Pakistan was flooded, with major economic losses and human casualties”, reminded Mr. Taalas.
The UN biodiversity conference, COP15, is due to wrap up on 19 December. This weekend, we are looking at some of the ways that humanity is reliant on biodiversity for a healthy and thriving global ecosystem.
When a species goes extinct, it takes with it all of the physical, chemical, biological, and behavioural attributes that have been selected for that species, after having been tested and re-tested in countless evolutionary experiments over many thousands, and perhaps millions, of years of evolution.
These include designs for heating, cooling, and ventilation; for being able to move most effectively and efficiently through water or air; for producing and storing energy; for making the strongest, lightest, most biodegradable and recyclable materials; and for many, many other functions essential for life.
Nature’s value is not limited to human applications, but the loss of nature and biodiversity represents major losses to human potential as well.
Here are some examples of the ways that nature has inspired engineering solutions.
UNDP
Way of the dragonfly
Inspired by the energy efficiency of dragonfly wings, particularly at low wind speeds, Professor Akira Obata, formerly from Japan’s Nippon Bunri University, designed corrugated blades for micro-wind turbines that turn and generate electricity, at wind speeds as low as 3 kph.
Most wind turbines perform poorly when speeds are less than 10 kph; some will not turn at all. By lowering the minimum wind speed requirements, these micro-wind turbines can harness wind energy in easily accessible locations like rooftops and balconies, and not need expensive towers to capture the higher speed winds found at higher elevations.
By studying and understanding the aerodynamics of dragonfly flight, Obata was able to make inexpensive, lightweight, stable, and efficient micro-wind turbines that can be used in off-grid locations in developing countries.
What is blacker than black?
Some butterflies, birds, and spiders have evolved super black coloration achieved by a variety of complex light-trapping mechanisms that could lead to new energy-efficient designs for solar collection.
The micro and nano-structures of surfaces strongly determine their light absorptive or reflective properties. Understanding not only the composition of the pigments involved but also the fine-structure and the physics of these surfaces, may be useful in designing more energy efficient systems for heating and cooling buildings, and more productive solar energy collectors.
‘Fog basking’
Two species of beetles actively harvest water from fog with a sequence of behaviours called ‘fog basking’. Late at night, in advance of the fog that rolls in nightly in the coastal sections of the Namib desert, the beetles emerge from the sand and climb up the dunes to place themselves in the fog’s path.
Tilting their bodies forward while facing the fog, they harvest moisture on their backs, which are made of hardened forewings called elytra that cover and protect their hind wings, used for flying.
The small water droplets in the fog collect there, coalesce to form larger droplets, which, by the force of gravity, run down the smooth hydrophobic (i.e. water-repelling) surfaces to the beetles’ mouths.
Given WHO estimates that half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed environments by 2025, the specific chemistry and structure of hydrophobic surfaces found in Namib beetles has generated enormous scientific interest for their potential human applications.
Birds and fossil fuels
Gliding and soaring birds are masters of aerodynamic efficiency and their wing-tip feather design inspired engineers to add small up-turned ‘winglets’ that reduce drag caused by vortices at the tips of aircraft wings.
By copying this wing-tip design, commercial airlines have saved 10 billion gallons of fuel, reducing their CO2 emissions by 105 million tonnes per annum.
To sequester this amount of carbon, one would need to plant about 16 million hectares of trees, each year – an area larger than the territory of Norway or Japan.
Extinction is not a foregone conclusion
The wastefulness of extinction is perhaps best highlighted by the near-extinction of the humpback whale.
Over-hunting almost wiped out these gigantic creatures, among the largest to ever have lived on the planet, and the humpback population crashed to just 5,000 in 1966.
Conservation organizations and scientists prompted a huge public and political outcry and humpback whales bounced back to an estimated 80,000 today. The humpback, uniquely, has bumpy ‘tubercles’ on the front of its flippers that enable these giants to manoeuvre with extraordinary agility.
The tubercles give the whales a hydrodynamic advantage – they minimize drag, enhance their ability to stay in motion and, critical when attacking prey, allow them to turn at sharper angles. Among other applications these have inspired engineers to make some of the most efficient industrial fan blades and wind power generators. If the humpbacks had gone extinct, we might have never been able to avail ourselves of the tubercle design.
The extraordinary organisms featured above, along with the sustainable engineering designs they have inspired, present a compelling case for why we must preserve biodiversity.
The organisms that create the support systems make all life on Earth, including human life, possible: millions of species are at risk, but losing even a single species can have enormous negative consequences for humanity.
The UN biodiversity conference, COP15, is due to wrap up on 19 December. This weekend, we are looking at some of the ways that humanity is reliant on a healthy and thriving global ecosystem.
One million species are now said to be at risk of extinction, and if species losses continue to mount, ecosystem functions vital to human health and life will continue to be disrupted.
Ecosystems provide goods and services that sustain all life on this planet, including human life. While we know a great deal about how many ecosystems function, they often involve such complexity and are on a scale so vast that humanity would find it impossible to substitute for them, no matter how much money was spent in the process.
The Living Laboratory
The majority of prescribed medicines in industrialized countries are derived from natural compounds produced by animals and plants. Billions of people in the developing world rely primarily on traditional plant-based medicine for primary health care.
Many cures from nature are familiar; painkillers such as morphine from opium poppies, the antimalarial quinine from the bark from the South American cinchona tree, and the antibiotic penicillin that is produced by microscopic fungi.
Microbes discovered in the soil of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) fight heart disease by lowering cholesterol. AZT, one of the first anti-HIV/AIDS drugs, came from a large shallow-water sponge that lives in the Caribbean, and happens to be the same sponge that yielded antivirals to treat herpes and serves as the source for the first marine-derived anti-cancer drug to be licensed in the US.
Unsplash/ Hans-Jurgen-Mager
A crucial reservoir for future cures
To date, only around 1.9 million species have been identified (and in many cases barely studied). It is believed that there are millions more that are completely unknown.
Everything alive is the result of a complex “living laboratory” that has been conducting its own clinical tests since life began – approximately 3.7 billion years ago. This natural pharmaceutical library harbours myriad undiscovered cures, if only we don’t destroy them before they’re recognized.
Take the polar bear, now classified as “threatened”. As its Arctic habitat melts due to climate change, the world’s largest terrestrial predator has become an icon of the dangers posed by rising global temperatures. It might also be an icon for health. Polar bears amass huge volumes of fat before hibernating. Despite being fat to a degree that would be life-threatening to humans, they are apparently immune to Type II diabetes. They remain immobile for months, yet their bones remain unchanged. While dormant they do not urinate, yet their kidneys are undamaged. If we understood and could reproduce how bears detoxify waste while hibernating, we might be able to treat – and perhaps even prevent – the toxicity from kidney failure in humans.
Currently 13 per cent of the global population is clinically obese, and the number of Type II diabetes sufferers is predicted to rise to 700 million by 2045. Over the course of their lifetimes, 1 in 3 women over the age of 50, and 1 in 5 men will experience osteoporosis-related bone fractures. In the US alone, kidney failure kills more than 82,000 people and costs the US economy $35 million a year. Polar bears have naturally developed ‘solutions’ to these problems – Type II diabetes from obesity, osteoporosis from being immobile, and toxicity from kidney failure – all of which cause misery to millions.
Another example is from coral reefs, sometimes referred to as “rainforests of the sea” due to their high biodiversity. Among the myriad inhabitants of these reefs are cone shells, a predatory mollusc that hunts with darts that deliver 200 distinct toxic compounds.
The drug Ziconotide exactly copies one cone shell’s toxic peptide, and is not just 1,000 times more potent than morphine, but also avoids the tolerance and dependency that opioids can cause. To date, of all the 700 cone snail species, only six have been scrutinized in detail, and of the potentially thousands of unique compounds they harbour, only 100 have been studied in detail. Coral reefs and all their occupants are being destroyed at alarming rates.
Providing chemical compounds is not the only way biodiversity is crucial to our health. A surprising array of species have helped revolutionize medical knowledge. Zebrafish have been central to our knowledge of how organs, especially the heart, form; a microscopic roundworm has led to an understanding of ‘programmed cell death’ (apoptosis) which not only regulates organ growth, but which, when disrupted, can cause cancer. Fruit flies and bacterial species were principal contributors to research that mapped the human genome.
There may be undiscovered species which, like scientific laboratory animals, possess attributes rendering them particularly well suited for studying and treating human disease. Should these species be lost, their secrets will be lost with them.
What’s driving biodiversity loss?
The main factor currently driving biodiversity loss is habitat destruction—on land; in streams, rivers, and lakes; and in the oceans.
Unless we significantly reduce our use of fossil fuels, climate change alone is anticipated to threaten with extinction approximately one quarter or more of all species on land by the year 2050, surpassing even habitat loss as the biggest threat to life on land.
Species in the oceans and in fresh water are also at great risk from climate change, especially those like corals that live in ecosystems uniquely sensitive to warming temperatures, but the full extent of that risk has not yet been calculated.
Losses to biodiversity impinge on human health in numerous ways. Ecosystem disruption and the loss of biodiversity have major impacts on the emergence, transmission, and spread of many human infectious diseases. The pathogens for 60 per cent of human infectious diseases, for example malaria and COVID, are zoonotic, meaning they have entered our bodies after having lived in other animals.
The virus that causes HIV/AIDS, and which has killed over 40 million people to date, likely made the species jump from chimpanzees butchered for bushmeat in West Central Africa. All in all, there may be 10,000 zoonotic viruses capable of jumping species to us circulating silently in the wild today.
This makes the One Health approach – a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that brings together various intergovernmental agencies, governments and local and regional actors to tackle human health and environmental health together – critical to minimizing the risk of future disease spillover.
Selfishly, if the natural world is healthy, we will be too.
Planetary life insurance
A key challenge for organizations working to preserve biodiversity is to convince others – policymakers and the public in particular – that human beings and our health are fundamentally reliant on the animals, plants, and microbes we share this small planet with. We are totally dependent on the goods and services the natural world provides, and we have no other choice but to preserve it.
The World Economic Forum estimates that half of the world’s GDP ($44 trillion) depends on nature. Globally, the pharmaceutical industry’s annual revenue is $1.27 trillion, and each year healthcare in the US alone costs over $4 trillion.
In comparison, the amount of money needed to close the finance gap to conserve biodiversity is only $700 billion a year. For planetary health and life insurance, that figure is not just a bargain, it’s a necessity.
Humans cannot exist outside of nature. Protecting the plants, animals, and microbes we share our small planet with is not voluntary, for it is these organisms that create the support systems that make all life on Earth, including human life, possible.
