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Weekly Digest for 10 to 17 December 2023

   

Welcome to a brief overview of articles that appeared last week on our website.
Please don't stop here - be sure to browse the full list of articles that appeared this week.

Victoria, British Columbia

by Steve Umemoto

Steve takes the readers to a gorgeous tour of Victoria where he also met with some well-known XUNICEF colleagues.  Click here

GAZA
A family and staff of Save the Children, including four young children, have been killed in Gaza during an Israeli airstrike. ED Catherine Russell joined with a message family and friends in mourning. Would this be one of the latest victims? I am afraid not. Following the media, Israel war cabinet is preparing for a prolonged war.

At the UN, the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, with the US being one of only 10 countries voting against it. This signals increasing international isolation for the US and Israel as the crisis deepens. See analysis here.

Meanwhile, the Israel Foreign Ministry spokes person has criticized UNICEF ED for her delayed condemnation of Hamas’ gender based violence the 7th of October, see link

A powerful and heartfelt appeal to President Biden by the heads of 6 large humanitarian organizations: CARE, Mercy Corps, NRC, OXFAM, Refugee International and Save the Children. Issued on December 11, coinciding with the 77th anniversary of UNICEF, this statement echoes the views and sentiments of many other UN & international relief organizations that are guided by international humanitarian laws and human rights principles. see

James Elder of UNICEF reporting from Gaza, was interviewed on BBC. He said that a "safezone" in #Gaza will ONLY be SAFE when a ceasefire enables aid agencies to provide sufficient resources for the survival of children and families. ie: Water, Sanitation, Medical facilities, food. It's still not happening.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Narges Mohammadi, a jailed Iranian women’s rights advocate, has won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and relentless fight for social reform. While behind bars, she was awarded the prestigious prize on Friday for her efforts “to promote human rights and freedom for all”, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Read about it at this link including the readers’ comments

COP28
A day after COP28 was scheduled to end and following 24 hours of overnight negotiations, the conference ended with a surprise agreement setting out a commitment to "follow climate science to keep global warming below 1.5°C”. It also calls for countries to move to net zero by the year 2050. It marks the first time fossil fuels are explicitly addressed. The language is viewed as important progress.

THIS BLOG, YOUR BLOG
It needs you, the subscribers, to join forces and contribute with original material, be this a Feature article or a sporadic contribution. Due to a series of commitments of the small editorial team over the end of the year period, the weekly digest will pause and we say arrivederci in January 2024. Articles will continue to be posted during the weeks ahead, so make sure you check our blog from time to time at: https://xunicefnewsandviews.blogspot.com/

If you would like to share your own contribution to the blog, please send it to the the editor's email at xunicef.news.views@gmail.com. If you would like to share an article from another news magazine or social media account, send it to us with a brief note why you recommend it to be read by our members.

Gianni Murzi
Editor of the Week

Music



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