Cameroon faces worsening humanitarian emergency
Ongoing violence in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest has created a fast-growing humanitarian emergency that’s 15 times worse than it was in 2017, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
In late 2017, separatist clashes began linked to alleged discrimination against the country’s English-speaking regions.
UN Children’s Fund spokesperson Marixie Mercado explained that almost a million children have been affected in the West African nation, which until a few years ago was among the most settled and peaceful in the region.
“What began as a political crisis in the northwest and southwest regions is now a quickly deteriorating humanitarian emergency. Around 1.9 million people, about half of whom are children, are estimated to be in need, an increase of 80 per cent compared to 2018, and an almost 15-fold increase since 2017.”
With security worsening in rural and urban areas, particularly in the northwest, UN humanitarian coordination office OCHA said that human rights violations are being committed with impunity by separatists and Government forces.
For a growing number of youngsters, the situation has deprived them of an education, with thousands of schools closed amid threats by separatists seeking leverage for a political solution to the crisis.
OCHA said that lack of funding continues to be a major issue in Cameroon, with the $299 million appeal for 2019 only 41 per cent funded.
US-China trade war is a ‘lose-lose’ situation for them and the world, warn UN economists
The trade tariff spat between China and the United States has been a “lose-lose” situation for both countries and the wider world, and it is likely to deteriorate unless a deal is reached, UN economists said on Tuesday.
According to data from the first six months of the year, most of the cost of higher US tariffs on China has been passed down to US consumers and firms that import parts and components from the Asian giant.
But the US-initiated measures – put in place in the middle of last year - have also hit China, costing it $35 billion, UNCTAD says.
Its firms have seen exports of targeted products fall by a quarter, with other competitors – notably Taiwan, Mexico, the European Union and Viet Nam stepping in.
Korea, Canada and India also benefited, with “substantial” gains ranging from $900 million to $1.5 billion.
Other South East Asian countries scooped up the remainder of the tariff-hit products, UNCTAD found, while noting that African countries saw only “minimal” benefits from the trade war.
Internet use and access is improving, but digital gender gap is growing: ITU
And finally, to the world of the internet, where latest UN data shows that while more people have access to the world wide web, fewer women are using it than men.
According to ITU, the International Telecommunications Union, more action is needed to address this digital gender gap.
Barriers are cultural, financial and educational, and they affect poorer countries most, ITU’s Susan Teltscher told journalists in Geneva:
“Men have more access to education, to literacy, to income, that allows them to actually buy the service. There’s less men in rural areas where we have less internet access than in urban areas, so they have access to internet because they may be in a job or in other public areas, more access than women, and that’s also reason why they can use it.”
Today, 48 per cent of all women use the internet, compared with 58 per cent of men.
More men than women go online in every region of the world except the Americas, where the ratio is about the same.
While internet use in developed countries is close to 90 per cent, in some African countries, it is below 30 per cent.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
