United Nations

Zika Could End Up Costing Latin America and the Caribbean Up To $18 Billion, UN Reports Finds

Thu, 2017-04-06 19:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CLICK HERE - REPORT - A Socio-economic Impact Assessment of the Zika Virus in Latin America and the Caribbean: with a focus on Brazil, Colombia and Suriname

un.org

6 April 2017 – In addition to the impact on public health, the tangible impact of the Zika outbreak, such as on gross domestic product (GDP), could cost the Latin American and the Caribbean region as much as $18 billion between 2015 and 2017, a new United Nations report has revealed.

The report Socio-economic impact assessment of Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has a particular focus on Brazil, Colombia and Suriname – countries that first reported the outbreak in October-November 2015.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about Zika Could End Up Costing Latin America and the Caribbean Up To $18 Billion, UN Reports Finds
Log in or register to post comments

UN: World Facing Greatest Humanitarian Crisis Since 1945

Sat, 2017-03-11 18:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis since 1945, the United Nations says, issuing a plea for help to avoid "a catastrophe", BBC News reports.

CLICK HERE - UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR, STEPHEN O’BRIEN - STATEMENT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON MISSIONS TO YEMEN, SOUTH SUDAN, SOMALIA AND KENYA AND AN UPDATE ON THE OSLO CONFERENCE ON NIGERIA AND THE LAKE CHAD REGION - March 10, 2017 (6 page .PDF file)

bbc.com - March 11, 2017

UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien said that more than 20 million people faced the threat of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria.

Unicef has already warned 1.4m children could starve to death this year.

Mr O'Brien said $4.4bn (£3.6bn) was needed by July to avert disaster.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about UN: World Facing Greatest Humanitarian Crisis Since 1945
Log in or register to post comments

7 Forgotten World Crises That Urgently Need Your Support

Sun, 2017-01-15 11:19 — Elhadj Drame

The global need for humanitarian aid has reached a level not seen since World War II. More than 128 million people in 33 countries are now affected by crises, including conflict and natural disaster.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Situation Report

Read more about 7 Forgotten World Crises That Urgently Need Your Support
Log in or register to post comments

Paris Climate Change Deal Becomes International Law

Fri, 2016-11-04 18:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(Pic: Solar Impulse/Flickr)

CLICK HERE - United Nations - Framework Convention on Climate Change - PARIS AGREEMENT - STATUS OF RATIFICATION

nytimes.com - by The Associated Press - November 4, 2016

UNITED NATIONS — The Paris Agreement to combat climate change became international law on Friday — a landmark deal about tackling global warming amid growing fears that the world is becoming hotter even faster than scientists expected.

So far, 96 countries, accounting for just over two-thirds of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, have formally joined the accord, which seeks to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). More countries are expected to come aboard in the coming weeks and months.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Paris Climate Change Deal Becomes International Law
1 comment
Log in or register to post comments

UN Suspends All Aid Convoy Movements in Syria After Airstrike

Tue, 2016-09-20 09:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Aid is strewn across the floor in Urem al-Kubra, on the western outskirts of Aleppo, after Monday’s strike on a convoy of lorries. Photograph: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images

Red Cross president says attack on UN and Red Crescent convoy delivering supplies is unacceptable violation of international law

theguardian.com - by Haroon Siddique, Julian Borger and agencies - September 20, 2016

The United Nations has suspended aid convoys in Syria after an airstrike hit a fleet of trucks carrying food to a rebel-held area near Aleppo on Monday.

The UN humanitarian aid spokesman Jens Laerke said: “As an immediate security measure, other convoy movements in Syria have been suspended for the time being, pending further assessment of the security situation.” . . .

. . . The strike on a convoy of Syrian Red Crescent trucks carrying UN-supplied food was described by the International Committee of the Red Cross as a flagrant violation of international law. It took place as a week-old ceasefire brokered by Russia and the US collapsed amid a surge of Syrian government bombing.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about UN Suspends All Aid Convoy Movements in Syria After Airstrike
Log in or register to post comments

UNOCHA: Security Council Briefing on Syria

Tue, 2015-12-22 07:19 — Kathy Gilbeaux

docs.unocha.org - New York, 21 December 2015

Madam President,

Distinguished members of the Security Council,

On behalf of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mr. Stephen O’Brien, I thank you for this opportunity to brief you on the latest developments in Syria.

Since the adoption of resolution 2139 in February 2014 and resolution 2165 in July 2014, this Council has been briefed month after month on the suffering of the Syrian people. We have repeatedly described in detail the countless and blatant violations of the basic tenets of international humanitarian and human rights law. For nearly five years, we have watched as Syria sank deeper and deeper into violence and brutality. And yet, no words can do justice to the despair and devastation that millions of Syrians experience every day.

(READ COMPLETE BRIEFING)

CLICK HERE - Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-Wha Kang: Security Council briefing on Syria (3 page .PDF file)

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Problem

Situation Report

Read more about UNOCHA: Security Council Briefing on Syria
Log in or register to post comments

Secretary-General Appoints David Nabarro of United Kingdom Special Adviser on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Fri, 2015-12-04 09:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

un.org - December 3, 2015

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of David Nabarro of the United Kingdom as Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Special Adviser will work with Member States and other relevant stakeholders to galvanize action on implementation of the Agenda, while also overseeing the Secretary-General’s special initiatives, for example, “Every Woman Every Child”.

Dr. Nabarro has more than 30 years experience in public health, nutrition and development work at the national, regional and global levels, and has held positions in non-governmental organizations, universities, national Governments and the United Nations system.

Since September 2014, he has served as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Ebola, providing strategic and policy direction for the international response. From 2005 to 2014 he was Senior Coordinator for Avian and Pandemic Influenza. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Coordinator of the Movement to Scale Up Nutrition, and since 2009 he has been the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Food Security and Nutrition, a position he will continue to hold.

Country / Region Tags:

Global

United Nations

United States

General Topic Tags:

Sustainable Development

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

G7 Health Ministers Propose Incentives For New Antibiotics, Commit Help On Ebola

Mon, 2015-10-12 14:57 — mike kraft

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WATCH by Catherine Saez, Oct, 12, 2015

(Scroll down for Ministers' Statement.)

The health ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) most developed countries have issued a declaration on antimicrobial resistance and Ebola. The governments said they would explore innovative economic incentives to promote research and development of new antibiotics, such as a global antibiotic research fund and a market entry reward mechanism.

The G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States) met from 8-9 October in Berlin and agreed to the Berlin Declaration [pdf] on Antimicrobial Resistance – Global Union for Antibiotics Research and Development (GUARD), aimed at supporting developing countries to develop national antimicrobial resistance action plans.

The G7 health ministers also issued a commitment on lessons learned from Ebola, and supported the 2005 World Health Organization International Health Regulations (IHR), insisting on the need to comply with them.

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Solutions

Situation Report

Read more about G7 Health Ministers Propose Incentives For New Antibiotics, Commit Help On Ebola
Log in or register to post comments

Ebola countries record first week with no new cases

Thu, 2015-10-08 10:05 — mike kraft

BBC Oct. 8, 2015
(Scroll down for WHO Report.)

The three West African countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic recorded their first week with no new cases since the outbreak began in March 2014.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has killed more than 11,000 people

The outbreak has so far killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

New cases have fallen sharply in 2015, but the WHO has warned that the disease could break out again.

Read complete story.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34471234?utm_source=Copy+of+October+7%2C+2015+EN&utm_campaign=10%2F8%2F2015+fr&utm_medium=email

WHO SITUATION REPORT 7 Oct. 2015

http://apps.who.int/ebola/current-situation/ebola-situation-report-7-october-2015

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags:

Problem, Solution, SitRep, or ?:

Situation Report

Read more about Ebola countries record first week with no new cases
Log in or register to post comments

Offline: A pervasive failure to learn the lessons of Ebola

Fri, 2015-09-11 17:24 — mike kraft

THE LANCET by Richard Horton Sept. 12, 2015

LONDON-- Post-Ebola reverie has given birth to a plethora of expert panels to consider what went wrong. The latest parade of global health specialists appointed to learn lessons gathered at the Wellcome Trust in London last week.
Under the auspices of the US Institute of Medicine (IOM), a Commission to “deliberate and evaluate options to strengthen global, regional, and local systems to better prepare, detect, and respond to epidemic diseases” spent 2 days amassing evidence.

There was no shortage of experience brought to bear on these important matters. Here were Margaret Chan, Jeremy Farrar, Ilona Kickbusch, David Heymann, Larry Gostin, Joy Phumaphi, Joanne Liu, and Peter Piot all wrestling with a seemingly intractable challenge. The statements offered to the Commission were arresting. But the purpose of the meeting was not to talk. It was to identify the best system for an epidemic response....
Read complete article

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2900152-X/fulltext

Country / Region Tags:

General Topic Tags: