World news in brief: UN responds to floods in Bangladesh, sports and human rights, polio vaccination in Angola
An estimated 1.4 million people have been left destitute as heavy rains lashed Sylhet and Sunamganj districts, as well as upstream areas in India.
“Our priority is to ensure that the most vulnerable families, who were already facing hardship and are now facing their lives and livelihoods being disrupted again by the floods, can meet their essential food and nutrition needs,” said Simone Parchment, UN World Food Programme.World food program) Deputy Country Director Bangladesh.
The agency’s field office in Sylhet is supporting government-led relief efforts, distributing nutritional supplement biscuits to more than 23,000 families to help them meet their immediate needs.
WFP also plans to provide cash assistance to these 23,000 households and 48,000 others it has pre-identified as part of its preparedness efforts.
According to the report, further heavy rains are forecast in the affected areas and neighboring basins in the coming days, which could worsen the flood situation.
World of sports not immune to human rights challenges: UN human rights chief
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned on Monday that despite sport’s ideals of equality and fair opportunities, athletes still face many forms of rights violations and abuses.
Speech at the United Nations Dong Nhan Quy Association Speaking in Geneva, just weeks before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mr Türk stressed that “mega-sports events” with “immense” impact such as the football World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games should serve as platforms to fight inequality.
“The world of sport is not immune to human rights challenges, including when major events are held. And some concerns are more visible than others,” said Mr. Türk.
Among these issues, Mr. Türk highlighted cases of racism or sexism, abuse, violence against women, corruption, discrimination on the basis of religion or religious dress, disability, nationality or sexual orientation and gender identity.
Mr. Türk welcomed the decision of a number of businesses in the sports world to align their operations with the United Nations. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
He said human rights policies and complaints mechanisms were increasingly being incorporated into large-scale sporting events, pointing to a case in Spain where football fans were fined for racially abusing Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior.
WHO supports vaccination campaign in Angola
In health news, the Angolan government, with the support of United Nations agencies, has launched a vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of polio and protect children from childhood polio.
Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system and can cause complete paralysis within hours. Although there is no cure for polio, it can be prevented by vaccination.
According to the World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO), supporting the Government, the main goal of the campaign is to boost immunity for children under five years old to quickly stop the transmission of the virus in the country.
The programme aims to achieve at least 95 percent vaccination coverage in all districts, identify suspected cases and raise awareness about routine vaccination.
Vaccination teams will go door to door to ensure no child is left unvaccinated and there will be permanent vaccination stations in densely populated areas.
The first round of vaccination in May 2024 successfully vaccinated more than 5.5 million children nationwide, covering the entire at-risk target group.
In the second wave of vaccination, like previous initiatives, vaccination teams will continue their efforts to go door-to-door and fixed vaccination posts will be present at health facilities, markets, churches, schools, kindergartens and other places where people gather, the WHO said.
