Law and Crime Prevention

Somalia continues to suffer chronic humanitarian crises, with recurring cycles of floods and drought, compounded in 2020 by desert locusts and COVID-19.
UNSOM

Somalia at a critical juncture, as federal, state leaders, meet to break election impasse

20 August 2020
Africa

With elections slated for November delayed due to COVID-19, Somalia is at a critical juncture, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Thursday, pressing federal and state leaders to agree on voting modalities, and bolster the capacity of forces which are meant to assume full control of national security, next year.

A girl stands in a camp for displaced people, in Mogadishu, the capital. She was attacked and beaten following a food distribution (file).
© UNICEF/Kate Holt

Somalia: Draft law a ‘major setback’ for victims of sexual violence

11 August 2020
Africa

The UN official working to end rape during wartime is urging authorities in Somalia to scrap a proposed law that allows for child marriage, among other “very disturbing provisions”.

A boy stands in a disadvantaged neighbourhood of Ahvaz, Iran. The country is among those being subjected to international sanctions, despite the ravages of COVID-19.
© UNICEF

COVID-19: Lift sanctions ‘bringing suffering and death’, urge UN rights experts

7 August 2020

A group of UN independent human rights experts have called on countries to lift – or at the very least, ease – sanctions to allow affected nations and communities access to vital supplies to fight against the global coronavirus pandemic.

In Nepal, a young girl transports agricultural goods along a 65 km mountain path. When children engage in work that is not appropriate for their age, this is child labour.
FAO/Franco Mattioli

Convention on worst forms of child labour receives universal ratification

4 August 2020
Global

All 187 countries that are members of the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) have now ratified a convention to protect children from the worst forms of child labour, including slavery, prostitution and trafficking.