Local Govt Forum

WHO The World Health Organization and Global Citizen will broadcast a programme including pop star Lady Gaga (pictured) in support of healthcare workers in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic         6 April 2020 Health The World Health Organization (WHO) has teamed up with international advocacy organization Global Citizen, to launch ‘One World Together At Home”, a global television and streaming special, curated by superstar singer-songwriter Lady Gaga, to celebrate frontline health care workers around the globe in their unrelenting battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.  “The World Health Organization is committed to defeating the  coronavirus  pandemic with science and public health measures, and supporting the health workers who are on the frontlines of the response”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of  WHO , making Monday’s announcement of the event.  Global Citizen ✔ @GlblCtzn We’re excited to announce One World: ...

Ali Issa US Naval Hospital Ship Comfort arrives in New York City harbour to provide care for non-coronavirus patients freeing up beds in hospitals across the city.         6 April 2020 Human Rights Fearing a needless increase in COVID-19 deaths due to discrimination, UN independent human rights experts on Monday called for Governments to commit to racial equity and equality in their response to the pandemic. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent  said that structural discrimination could worsen inequalities surrounding access to healthcare and treatment, which could lead to a rise in disease and death rates among people of African descent. “Despite robust responses, States have not recognised the specific health risks faced by people of African descent or how racial discrimination and implicit bias and racial stereotypes may pervade policy”, chair Ahmed Reid said in a statement. UN Special Procedures ✔ @UN_SPExperts Racial equity & equali...

© UNICEF/Rehab El-Dalil Mahmoud, who has autism, is holding the letter he was asked to find at the resource room in Egypt.         2 April 2020 Human Rights The rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 coronavirus: “a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes”, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday. António Guterres’s appeal came in his message for  World Autism Awareness Day , observed annually on 2 April. António Guterres ✔ @antonioguterres People with autism have a right to education and employment on an equal basis with others. We must ensure that a long disruption caused by the # COVID19 crisis does not result in rollbacks of the rights they have worked so hard to advance. 2,271 6:12 PM - Apr 2, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 760 people are talking about this This year’s commemoration is being held as countries grapple with the pandemic, which is placing persons with autism at dispropor...

UNOCHA/Giles Clarke In Burkina Faso, the number of people facing a critical lack of food has increased.         2 April 2020 Humanitarian Aid Food insecurity levels in the Sahel region are “spiralling out of control”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday, as it expressed concerns about the potential impact on humanitarian supply chains because of restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Across the Central Sahel in Africa – encompassing Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – more than five million people face severe food insecurity ahead of the coming lean season, according to data released by  WFP  and other humanitarian partners. World Food Programme ✔ @WFP The number of food-insecure people in # BurkinaFaso is expected to triple in the next lean season. And with # COVID19 reaching Central Sahel, Burkina Faso has seen the largest number of deaths anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a crisis layered on top of a crisis. 35 8:...