News in Brief 7 June 2024 |

This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Amid Gaza war, kids now work so families can survive: ILO

Eight months into the war in Gaza, families have been forced to adopt what humanitarians often call “negative coping strategies” just to survive, as unemployment nears a staggering 80 per cent.

For many in the Gaza Strip, this has meant sending their children out to work, despite the dangers, the UN Labour agency, ILO, said in a new report on Friday.

Here’s the International Labour Organization Director-General, Gilbert F. Houngbo, speaking in Geneva to an annual meeting of ILO Member States:

“Today Gaza is in ruins. Livelihoods are shattered and work is scarce. Labour rights have been decimated…This has been the hardest year for Palestinian workers since 1967. Never before has the situation been this bleak.”

The ILO chief condemned the Hamas-led terror attacks against Israel last October and what he called the “ensuing relentless war waged by Israel” which had caused the jobs market in Gaza to collapse.

Although not directly impacted by the war, the occupied West Bank has also been severely impacted by the crisis, with almost one in three now unemployed.

‘Unimaginable trauma’ haunts Sudan’s displaced while violence, famine threaten millions

Horrific violence and the risk of famine continue to stalk the people of Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Friday, as the Secretary-General António Guterres condemned an attack on a village south of Khartoum that is now believed to have left more than 100 dead.

In a statement, the Secretary-General spoke of the “immense suffering” of the Sudanese people after more than a year of heavy fighting, adding that Rapid Support Forces fighters had reportedly carried out the attack in Wad Al-Noura village, in Aj Jazira state.

The UN chief’s comments came as unconfirmed video images showed dozens of bodies laid out for burial in the village following the assault some 112 kilometres (70 miles) south of the capital.

According to the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, at least 35 children were killed in the attack on Wad Al-Noura. Here’s the agency’s Jill Lawler, speaking from Port Sudan:

“This is not the first attack. This has been a year of attacks, attacks on communities, attacks on livelihoods. Children has been caught in the midst of this conflict, this senseless conflict.”

In a related development, the UN migration agency said that in the west of Sudan, North Darfur’s capital El Fasher remained cut off because of “intensified fighting” between Sudan’s rival militaries. 

Some 800,000 people need urgent humanitarian assistance there, aid teams have warned.

Climate change impacts on health of pregnant women, children, older people: WHO

The climate crisis is a global health crisis, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as it urged governments everywhere to consider how to protect people from the worst impacts of our warming planet.

To help convince health authorities that the climate emergency should not be ignored, the WHO released new data on the impact of climate change at key life stages, in particular from threats including air pollution, wildfires, flooding and extreme heat.

Taking extreme heat as one example, WHO said that preterm births increase during heatwaves, while older people are more likely to suffer heart attacks or respiratory distress. 

Indirect impacts on human health from climate change include reduced crop outputs and food shortages, increased vector-borne disease and greater stress which impacts on mental health, the UN health agency also noted.

Among the solutions to help mitigate the threat posed by our warming world, the WHO suggested flexible work hours and modifying buildings for childcare, education and healthcare, with an emphasis on reducing emissions, too. 

Governments should also focus on collaborating with communities and sharing knowledge of what to do during heatwaves or other climate emergencies, the UN health agency said, including issuing public health messages during peaks in air pollution, so that people can protect themselves, or training health workers to recognize heat stress.   

Daniel Johnson, UN News.