Spokesman Babar Baloch said in an alert on Friday that the agency and its partners were stepping up support to help some 8,000 mainly Rohingya refugees affected by the disaster earlier this week.
“Teams have been mobilized to find shelter for the displaced while work continues to rehabilitate or repair damaged accommodation,” he said.
© UNICEF/Jimmy Kruglinski
A child diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition receives ready-made therapeutic food from her mother at a refugee nutrition center in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
“In addition to shelter, affected refugees also urgently need food and household items, as well as access to healthcare and psychosocial support.”
Cox’s Bazaar is a network of about 33 camps in Bangladesh mainly housing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar in 2017.
Extreme weather vulnerability
The camps are extremely “vulnerable to the effects of climate change and prone to natural disasters, UNHCRsays Mr Baloch, adding that Cox’s Bazaar has experienced more than 770 landslides and floods since 2017 – and more damage is expected with further rain forecasts.
To support humanitarian efforts, the UN agency has issued an urgent appeal to donors as relief efforts in the camps have been “severely hampered by acute underfunding”.
UNHCR needs $275 million for its relief efforts in Bangladesh this year, but the appeal is only 25 percent funded.
It is also crucial that pledges made at last year’s Global Refugee Forum are fulfilled to promote the self-reliance of Rohingya refugees and ease pressure on the government of Bangladesh, UNHCR emphasizes.
Independent rights expert calls for an end to the ‘normalization’ of prostitution
The UN’s independent human rights expert who combats violence against women and girls Called on Friday to unequivocally recognize prostitution as a “system of violence, exploitation and abuse”.
Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem said in her latest report to the Council for Human Rights that prostitution reduces women and girls to ‘mere commodities’ and enables a system of discrimination and violence that prevents women from achieving true equality.
“Prostitution sexualizes and racializes poverty, targeting women from marginalized backgrounds, who often lack access to protection services or viable livelihood opportunities, increasing their vulnerability to further exploitation,” Ms. Alsalem added.
Use of ‘sex work’ problematic
She emphasized that prostitution violates the physical, psychological and economic rights of the individual and can lead to torture, violations of dignity and security, among other things.
She further said it is important to use language that is consistent with international human rights law, noting that the term “sex work” can dilute the true harm of prostitution.
She also expressed concern about how men’s right to purchase sexual acts systematically normalizes violence and blurs the line between consenting sexual activity and sexual violence.
“The normalization of prostitution, including pornography, creates harmful sexual expectations for men and boys and undermines the safe and equal participation of women and girls in society,” Ms Alsalem said.
Call to action
The expert calls on states to “decriminalize prostitution for women and girls, who should be treated as victims, provide comprehensive support and exit options, as well as criminalize the purchase of sexual acts, and implement strict measures against pimping.”
Special Rapporteurs and other rights experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council are independent of any government, receive no salary for their work and serve in their individual capacities.
Zambia: more than 50,000 children at risk of ‘serious wastage’
Nearly 52,000 children under the age of five in Zambia are at risk of severe wasting – the deadliest form of malnutrition – within the next 12 months if urgent preventive measures are not taken, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.
The assessment comes as Zambia, a landlocked country in southern Africa, struggles with prolonged drought.
Children in the Western, Southern, Central and North-Western provinces – four of Zambia’s 10 regions – are at particularly high risk of malnutrition as many families are already hungry and unable to provide nutritious food, UNICEF said.
“Children suffering from malnutrition are ten times more likely to die than well-nourished children,” said Naysan Sahba, UNICEF Director of Global Communication.
“If we do not act now, there could be devastating and long-lasting consequences for the health, nutrition and development of Zambia’s youngest and most vulnerable population.”
The assessment, commissioned by the National Food and Nutrition Commission and supported by UNICEF, also found that pregnant and breastfeeding women are at risk of wasting.
The low rates of breastfeeding are also a cause for concern, the agency said, highlighting that rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life – which helps protect babies from disease – are “worryingly low in” many provinces, especially in the urban parts of the country. the capital Lusaka.
The UN agency called for immediate action to ensure food distribution and financial assistance for mothers and children, expand access to health care and improve healthcare and sanitation.
“We urgently need to expand access to nutritious and varied food, healthcare, water, hygiene and sanitation to avert a looming crisis,” Mr Sahba said.
