News in Brief 25 April 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Teen alcohol and nicotine use in Europe is up, WHO urges preventive measures

Smoking and drinking is on the rise among teenagers in Europe, Central Asia and Canada and girls now match or even exceed boys when it comes to substance use, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report on Thursday.

Data covering all three areas revealed that more than half of 15-year-olds experimented with alcohol, while one in five teenagers overall recently used e-cigarettes, the UN health agency said. 

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, warned that the widespread use of harmful substances among children in many countries across the European Region – and beyond – is a serious public health threat.

“Considering that the brain continues to develop well into a person’s mid-20s, adolescents need to be protected from the effects of toxic and dangerous products,” Dr Kluge insisted.

To curb alcohol, nicotine, and tobacco use among youngsters, WHO wants countries to raise taxes, restrict product availability and sales locations, and also enforce the minimum legal purchasing age.

The UN health agency has also called for all flavourings including menthol to be prohibited in nicotine and tobacco products, along with a ban on advertising across mainstream and social media platforms.

Gender therapy review shows devastating impact on kids, says top rights expert

A top UN-appointed independent rights expert has welcomed the UK’s decision to halt the routine use of puberty-blockers offered to children as part of gender transition services, amid concerns that it might disrupt brain development.

Several western European countries have reportedly reduced access to similar gender identity treatments, whose benefits were found to be “remarkably weak”, according to a review commissioned by the UK National Health Service, led by Dr. Hilary Cass. 

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, said in a statement that gender treatments had “devastating consequences” on children’s human rights.

The rights expert also noted a sharp increase in teenage girls seeking gender transition treatment in the UK between 2009 and 2016, from 15 patients to more than 1,070. 

These referrals “breached fundamental principles, such as the need to uphold the best interest of the child in all decisions that affect their lives”, the Special Rapporteur insisted, as she warned of the “extraordinarily high number of teenage girls” impacted by anxiety and depression in recent years and the need for psychological support to be made available.

Gender transition should not become “the only option that is acceptable to discuss with them”, the rights experts maintained.

Independent UN body to investigate fate of missing persons in Syria

The unknown fate of Syria’s missing persons linked to the country’s civil war is to be investigated by a new UN-backed independent rights body in Geneva, it’s been announced. 

The development follows the UN General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution on Wednesday, enabling funding for the institution’s work.

Since war erupted in Syria in 2011, national organisations have documented more than 100,000 missing persons.

UN-appointed independent rights experts and others have repeatedly called for fresh information about their whereabouts, for the sake of their families and in the hope of promoting a peaceful future for the people of Syria.

The new UN-backed body is due to start work later this year; it aims to “clarify the fate of all missing persons in Syria”, according to the Swiss Government, which has contributed to the initiative.