Human Wrongs Watch

The cultivation in Afghanistan of opium poppies – the crop used to make heroin and other drugs – has increased by seven per cent this year because of continued insecurity and higher prices, a United Nations-backed survey reveals.

The United Nations human rights office called on Israel to stop attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, citing a spike in violence in recent weeks resulting in serious physical injury, property loss and damage.

‘By some measures, Bangladesh is modernizing rapidly – one in two residents now owns a cell phone. However, when it comes to basic sanitation, progress is clogged.’
While some point to obstacles of funding and a lack of political leadership, others say toilets, despite their long-established health benefits, have an image problem, adds IRIN,

Paris – Youth are hit disproportionately hard by the recession. In the first quarter of 2011, the unemployment rate for young people (aged 15 to 24) was 17.4% in the OECD rich, industrialised countries, compared with 7% for adults (aged 25 and over).

Beirut, 6 Oct., 2011 – Six months into pro-democracy protests in Syria, allegations of human rights abuses perpetrated by supporters of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime proliferate.The latest UN figures talk about 2.900 deaths.

‘In too many societies girls still face the double discrimination of being young and being female. They are pulled out of school, married early, and are more likely to be subject to violence.’

They now total 700 million people. By 2050 they will be about two billion or over 20 per cent of the world’s population. Many of them are still vibrant and essential contributors to the development and stability. Yet, they are largely excluded from the wider global and national development agendas.They are the elderly–our parents and grandparents.

Recently independent South Sudan will face chronic food shortages next year due to internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and a huge influx of returnees from the North, UN agencies have warned.

The FAO said a Rapid Crop Assessment carried out in August showed South Sudan was likely to produce 420,000-500,000MT of food this year – half the required amount.

The United Nations urged the international community to take action against mounting threats posed by climate change on the world’s urban areas, warning that climate-related events could force up to 200 million people worldwide to flee their homes by 2050.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says Syrian military and security forces have killed at least 2,700 people; but activists and human rights groups put that number as high as 5,300.