UN calls on Taliban to lift restrictions on girls’ education
The UN has called on the Taliban to lift restrictions on girls and young women going to school in Afghanistan, during the opening of the Summit on Transforming Education.
“From this platform, I call on the authorities in Afghanistan: immediately lift all restrictions on girls’ access to secondary education,” said the General secretaryAntónio Guterres, in the speech with which he opened the summit.
The situation in that country focused much of the attention of the session, in which Somaya Faruqi, activist and former captain of the Afghan national robotics team, also took part.
“While our cousins and brothers sit in class, I and millions of Afghan girls have had to put our dreams on hold. Today secondary schools are still closed. Without an education, my cousins, my friends and millions of Afghan girls fear an uncertain future and feel abandoned,” she said.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai who, in 2012, when he was 17 years old, survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban in Pakistan, for defending the right to education, described the situation as an “emergency”, not only because of what is happening in Afghanistan, but because millions of girls are deprived of going to school in other countries due to natural disasters, conflicts or the consequences of the pandemic.
Prianka Chopra and Amanda Gorman promote the Sustainable Development Goals
The UN has also drawn attention today to the delay in progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Actress Priyanka Chopra, Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, recordó that “time is running out and we are halfway to the date set to achieve these goals: the year 2030”.
“In this room are the representatives of the countries that signed the Goals in 2015. Leaders who can make that plan a reality, together with all of us,” he said.
Guterres said that we are facing a “definitive moment” and expressed hope that “we can rescue the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Rapporteur asks the United States to allow the export of spare parts for microscopes to Venezuela
A UN rapporteur asks the United States to allow the shipment to Venezuela of spare parts for electron microscopes, affirming that the sanctions that now block them are violating the rights of the Venezuelan people to health and life.
Of the 14 electron microscopes in Venezuela, manufactured by a unit of the American company Thermo Fisher Scientific, only three are still working, and the company has not been able to obtain permission from the United States to export the necessary parts.
Alena Douhan, special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures, called on the US authorities to lift the sanctions, which are legally dubious under international law, or to quickly grant the corresponding export licenses.
“Electron microscopes are the only way to detect many diseases, so they are essential for proper treatment,” Douhan said. “The US government has an obligation under international human rights law not to impair the ability of Venezuelan doctors to correctly diagnose disease. Without accurate diagnosis and treatment, people can die.”
Nearly one in five women will experience a mental disorder during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth
Moldova Population Fund/Adriana Bîzgu Edit
A pregnant woman.
Nearly one in five women will experience a mental disorder during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, according to data from the World Health Organization who just released a new guide for integrate mental health into maternal and child health services.
Among women with perinatal mental health problems, 20% will have suicidal thoughts or self-harm.
The WHO considers that ignoring mental health not only poses a risk to the general health and well-being of women, but also affects the physical and emotional development of babies.
The guide provides information to help medical teams identify symptoms and respond in ways tailored to their local and cultural context.
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General Assembly, Education, sanctions against Venezuela… Monday’s news