This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
North Gaza aid mission reveals many more infants may die from hunger
A rare aid mission to hospitals in northern Gaza has been welcomed by UN humanitarians who on Tuesday issued a fresh alert about “appalling” conditions in medical facilities where more children risk dying from hunger and dehydration.
It’s the first time in months that the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reached Kamal Adwan children’s hospital, where 10 children reportedly died from hunger and dehydration last week.
The situation in Al-Awda Hospital was even worse, the UN health agency warned, as it repeated its urgent appeal for sustained humanitarian access.
Humanitarian airdrops have been carried out in Gaza in response to the slow trickle of humanitarian aid reaching the enclave overland.
Although the UN has not participated in air operations, they have not been ruled out, said Jens Laerke, from OCHA, the aid coordination office:
“When children are starting – as the doctors are telling our colleagues – to die from starvation that should be a warning like no other; if not now, when is the time to pull the stops, break the glass, flood Gaza with the aid that it needs?”
El Niño weakens but impacts continue, says UN weather agency
The current El Niño natural weather phenomenon has a 60 per cent chance of still being with us until May, meaning that it will continue to fuel hotter land and sea temperatures, UN meteorologists said on Tuesday.
A new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) pointed out that “every month since June 2023 has set a new monthly temperature record – and 2023 was by far the warmest year on record”.
El Niño contributed to these record temperatures “but heat-trapping greenhouse gases (caused by humans) are “the main culprit”, said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
El Niño occurs on average every two to seven years and typically last nine to 12 months.
The climate pattern is associated with a warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
The UN weather agency said that the average sea surface temperature for January 2024 “was by far the highest on record for January”. This was “worrying” and could not be explained by El Niño alone, WMO said.
Drug controls: UN-backed body offers e-solutions to counter narcotics surge
Drug dealers have continued use cutting-edge digital technology and social media platforms to sell narcotics, fuelling consumption globally, a UN-backed report launched on Tuesday showed.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) study recommends responding with the same methods, running counter-narcotics campaigns on popular online platforms.
“We can see that drug trafficking is not just carried out on the dark web. Legitimate e-commerce platforms are being exploited by criminals too,” said Jallal Toufiq, INCB President.
The board’s report notes a significant decline in opium poppy cultivation and heroin production in Afghanistan since the Taliban introduced a ban.
But South Asia’s methamphetamine trafficking boom is linked to its manufacture in Afghanistan with outlets in Europe and Oceania, the INCB said.
In Colombia and Peru, data indicated a notable increase in illicit coca bush cultivation, while cocaine seizures also reached a record level in 2021 in West and Central Africa.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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