Tag: United Nations news

Escaping Bucha — Global Issues

Six weeks ago, life was easy for Yuliia, her husband Valerii, and their small son Artemko.

They had just moved into a new apartment in a quiet, green part of Bucha. She had a job as a hairdresser and loved nothing more than when a client left her salon looking beautiful and confident.

Everything changed one awful morning at the end of February. War – violent, loud and terrifying – roared from the north. With her neighbourhood in flames, Yuliia made the decision to flee.

She and her family, including her mother Zinaida, joined over 7.1 million (as of 1 April 2022) internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Europe’s largest country.

Violence ‘impossible to comprehend’

After four weeks on the road, they arrived in the western province of Zakarpattia, hundreds of kilometres from her shattered hometown.

When Yuliia saw the horrific pictures and videos of the slaughter and destruction in Bucha, she instantly burst into tears and remained speechless for a while. “This level of violence is impossible to comprehend,” she finally said. “That is not something you would wish on the enemy, but this is something that will never be forgiven nor forgotten.”

From her neighbours, Yuliia learned that after her family had left, their flat was taken over, and their belongings were looted. The factory where Yuliia’s mother worked was destroyed by bombs.

Even though Ukrainian authorities have regained control, people are still not allowed to come back home due to risks of mines, and other explosive remnants of war.

‘This is our home now’

Here in Zakarpattia, they can finally catch a break. Together with a hundred other IDPs, they found a temporary shelter in a school in the small town of Bushtyno. Volunteers from Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic have done their best to turn impersonal classrooms into cosy bedrooms. The sports hall has become a central warehouse for all the necessities of daily life.

“So here we are. This is our home now. We have everything we need, and kind people are helping us in every way they can,” says Yuliia. “Even though we are sleeping on mattresses on the floor now, missiles are not flying over our heads and my child is safe. This is the only thing that matters now.”

She hopes that her son will not have any memories of those terrifying weeks of fear and flight. “We do not have many personal belongings but what really breaks my heart is that we were not able to take any toys for Artemko. He loves cars and, at home, he had a lot of car toys, which he misses very much, and asks all the time when he can come back home to play with them again.

I want him just to be a child, play games and spend time with other kids. If he could have some toys or a bike, he would be really happy. And it would make me happy too.”

© IOM/Jana Wyzinska

IOM staff at the school gym in Bushtyno village where the local community stores supplies for internally displaced persons…

This article first appeared on the IOM Website

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Millet seeds, a powerful weapon against hunger — Global Issues

Subasa Mohanta is no stranger to hunger. It has been a constant in the lives of this 50-year-old farmer, her husband, and two children.

Despite 16-hour days of back-breaking work as a farmhand, carting stone to a construction site, she might still come home without enough to eat.

But in 2018, a small bag of seeds helped Subasa to transform her life.

Ms. Mohanta scattered the finger millet seeds — given to her by the Odisha Government as part of a rural programme supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) — in the fallow 0.6 hectares of land that circles her brick-and-mud house in the village of Goili in Mayurbhanj district.

In about two months, she harvested her first crop of mandia (the Odia word for ragi or finger millet). Subasa sold a part of the about 500 kilograms she harvested at 40 rupees a kilo, kept some of it to feed the hungry mouths at home, and distributed the rest among friends and family. And then she sowed the seeds of change once again on her farmland.

Mandia Maa, a symbol of hope

Over the last three years, Subasa’s story of hope, confidence and empowerment has become intertwined with the genesis and growth of the Odisha Millets Mission (OMM), a flagship programme of the regional government’s Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment.

Her days are now divided between farming her own land, plus another 3.2 hectares she has leased, and advising women in Mayurbhanj and other districts of Odisha on the best practices of millet cultivation.

She also attends to local reporters who queue up for a glimpse of Mandia Maa, a moniker she has earned for her hard work and willingness to try a new crop when few others were open to the idea.

Pancakes to health drink

The finger millet didn’t just change the fortune of the Mohantas, who have now diversified into growing other millets such as suan (little millet) and sorghum. It also made a place for itself in their diet. From mandia kakara pitha (a kind of pancake) to mandia malt (a health drink to start the day with), the family’s bowl of nutrition is also part of the OMM’s journey to success.

The millet plant’s high tolerance of heat (up to 64 degrees Celsius), drought and flood makes the crop an obvious choice for farmers in an era of climate change and depleting natural resources.

Millets require less water than rice and wheat, the two staples of the Indian diet. The short-season millets grow easily without fertilisers, making them a healthier and safer option for both the consumer and the soil. The intercropping of millets with other crops is also beneficial for soil quality: It helps keep a check on water run-off and aids soil conservation in erosion-prone areas.

“Apart from being a rich source of nutrients and a climate-resilient crop, millet can diversify the food system, support in resilience building and adaptation and enhance livelihoods for small farmers, including women, nationally and regionally,” says Bishow Parajuli, WFP Representative and Country Director in India.

Women to the fore

In Odisha, what began four years ago with the handing out of leaflets, loudspeaker announcements from vans and seed distribution among villagers by volunteers, community resource persons and officials of the agriculture department has now blossomed into a movement driven by women self-help groups.

Women, who are still seen as mostly post-harvest labour and keepers of seeds, have taken the lead in ragi processing, improving yields of millets with bio-inputs, and also running cafes and centres that serve millet-based dishes.

The humble jau (a porridge made with unpolished grain) — the most common form of millet consumption in Odisha — now enjoys the company of other traditional dishes such as bara, malpua, khaja and chakuli.

No longer ‘the food of the poor’

The seeds of change have taken root, but the way ahead is not free of challenges.

Millets are still perceived as a food of the poor and the underprivileged, an image problem that needs to be tackled through promotions, social media campaigns, and awareness messages from celebrities.

Millets needs the support of the urban consumer to find their rightful place on the shelf.

While that shift may be a few summers away, the women in Odisha’s villages and small towns are going about their millet work in full earnest. And lives are changing, grain by grain.

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Africa experiencing longest-running decline in COVID-19 infections — Global Issues

Infections have plummeted from over 308,000 cases weekly at the start of the year to less than 20,000 in the week ending 10 April. 

Around 18,000 cases and 239 deaths were recorded over the past week, representing respective declines of 29 per cent and 37 per cent when compared to the previous week. 

Record decline, no resurgence 

This low level of infection has not been seen since April 2020, WHOsaid.  The previous longest decline was between 1 August and 10 October of last year. 

Furthermore, no African country is currently witnessing COVID-19 resurgence, which is when there has been a 20 per cent increase in cases for at least two consecutive weeks, and the week-on-week rise is 30 per cent above the previous highest weekly infection peak. 

Stay the course 

Despite the decreasing infections, it is crucial that countries remain vigilant against COVID-19, said WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti. 

Nations must also maintain surveillance measures, including to swiftly detect virus variants, enhance testing and scale up vaccination. 

“With the virus still circulating, the risk of new and potentially more deadly variants emerging remains, and the pandemic control measures are pivotal to effective response to a surge in infections,” she said. 

Cold season warning 

WHO has also warned of the high risk of another wave of infections as the cold season approaches in the southern hemisphere, from June through August. 

Previous pandemic waves in Africa have coincided with lower temperatures, with people mostly remaining indoors and often in poorly ventilated spaces. 

New variants can also have an impact on the evolution of the pandemic, now in its third year.   

Recently, new sub-lineages of the Omicron variant were detected in Botswana and South Africa. Experts in these countries are conducting further research to determine whether they are more infectious or virulent. 

The variants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, have also been confirmed in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom. WHO said so far, there is “no significant epidemiological difference” between them and other known Omicron sub-lineages.  

Weigh the risks 

As infections recede in Africa, several countries have begun easing key COVID-19 measures, such as surveillance and quarantine, as well as public health measures including mask-wearing and bans on mass gatherings. 

WHO is urging governments to weigh the risks and benefits of relaxing these measures, bearing in mind the capacity of their health systems, population immunity to COVID-19, and national socio-economic priorities. 

The agency further advised that systems should be in place to quickly reinstate measures should the situation worsen.  

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