This is the news in brief from the United Nations.

Philippines/Maria Ressa conviction: top rights expert condemns new court ruling

The decision by a Philippines court to uphold the conviction of campaigning journalist Maria Ressa should be reassessed by the newly elected government, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, said on Thursday.

Ms. Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work defending freedom of expression as a co-founder of the independent news outlet Rappler, was convicted of “cyber libel” in 2020.

It followed the publication of an article on alleged corruption involving the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines.

The ruling against Ms. Ressa by the Court of Appeal earlier this month also applied to another writer associated with the article, Reynaldo Santos Jr.

His prison sentence was increased by several months, along with Ms. Ressa’s, to more than six years and eight months.

Ms. Khan said that she was deeply concerned by recent developments in the Philippines to silence investigative journalism, and called on newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s government to withdraw the charges against Ms. Ressa.

Climate financing could play key role in Africa’s economic future

Many African countries which are still over-reliant on exporting raw commodities need to transform their economies  urgently, if they’re to lift themselves out of recession, UN economists said on Thursday.

According to the UN trade and development body UNCTAD, fewer than half of all African countries have successfully diversified their raw exports into high-value manufactured goods, which provide protection against fluctuating prices on international markets.

The UN agency also insisted that many African governments are doing too little to promote jobs in digitalisation and hi-tech sectors, which are essential to promoting investment and value in national economies.

Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, insisted that financing for climate adaptation and resilience across Africa could play a key role in future-proofing the continent.

But major obstacles remain in the way of many developing countries in Africa getting access to cheap loans from the international monetary system, she noted:

“The countries can do a lot themselves, but the international framework is not conducive, you know, and will hit them again, and limit their fiscal space and their financing space, so it is very difficult to do all the things that they have to do.”

Africa sees jump in diseases passing from animals to people in last decade

Staying with Africa, where there’s been a sharp rise in the number of diseases passing from animals to people in the last decade, the UN health agency, WHO said on Thursday.

According to the World Health Organization, the threat for Africa is “severe”, after new data analysis revealed a 63 per cent increase in the number of animal-to-human outbreaks on the continent from 2012 to 2022, compared to the previous 10 years.

With more on these zoonotic diseases, as they’re also known, here’s WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti:

“One in every three confirmed public health events in the past decade was a zoonotic disease outbreak, with a significant spike in 2019 and 2020, when these diseases accounted for half of all public health events. A deeper dive reveals that Ebola and similar haemorrhagic fevers constitute nearly 70 per cent of these outbreaks. The remainder include, among others, Monkeypox, Dengue fever, anthrax and plague.”

Rising urbanisation, which has encroached on natural habitats, is likely responsible for this increase in the animal-to-human disease spike, along with a growing demand for food, which has led to faster road, rail and air links from remote to built-up areas.

To keep populations safe, Dr Moeti urged greater cooperation among human, animal and environmental health experts, working in collaboration with affected communities.

Just as important are reliable surveillance and response measures, the WHO official insisted, so that medics can detect the diseases and quell any potential spread.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.