Wednesday’s Daily Brief: Fear rampant in Burundi, WHO on nutrition, Hurricane Dorian latest, Cyberbullying poll, Bachelet, one year on

A recap of Wednesday’s main stories: UN rights experts warn ‘climate of fear’ rampant in Burundi; New health report on proper nutrition; One in three young people say they’ve been bullied online; and UN’s top rights official on world’s crises

‘Climate of fear everywhere’ in Burundi, warn rights experts

A “climate of fear” exists “everywhere” in Burundi ahead of elections in 2020, that’s from UN-appointed rights investigators on Wednesday, highlighting killings, arbitrary arrests and the torture of political opponents of the Government.

Unveiling its third report, the Commission of inquiry on Burundi alleged that serious rights violations— “including crimes against humanity”—have continued to take place in the Great Lakes State since May last year—its latest investigating period.

Speaking in Geneva, panel expert Françoise Hampson insisted that youth activists known as “Imbonerakure” who are linked to President Pierre Nkurunziza’s ruling party, were responsible for much of the abuse: “They are present everywhere, and they are able to intimidate, terrify”, she noted.  

In their report, the investigators also compared the situation in Burundi with the UN’s framework of analysis for atrocity crimes and found that eight common risk factors for criminal atrocities were present.

3.7 million lives could be saved by 2025, through better nutrition

If health services boost their focus on how to eat better, 3.7 million lives could be saved by the year 2025. That’s according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest report on ways of improving nutrition, released on Wednesday.

The report, Essential Nutrition Actions: mainstreaming nutrition throughout the life course, stresses the role of primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage.

Read our full story here.

Seretary General pledges UN solidarity with Bahamian people

Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in the northern Bahamas, the Secretary-General remains “deeply concerned for the tens of thousands of people affected in the Grand Bahamas and Abaco.”

In a statement attributable his spokesman, Stephan Dujarric, Secretary-General António Guterres offered his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the disaster, wishing a speedy recovery to those injured.

More on the story, here.

A third of young people polled by UN, report being a victim of online bullying

Around one-in-three young people across 30 countries say they have been bullied online, while one-in-five report that they have skipped school because of it.

Those are some the key findings in a new poll released on Wednesday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Special Representative on Violence against Children.

Speaking out anonymously through the youth engagement tool, U-Report, almost three-quarters of young people said social networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, are the most common place for online bullying.

Click here for our coverage.

Human rights are everyone’s business, amid relentless crises around world: UN’s Bachelet

The relentless outbreak of crises around the world – from the fires in the Amazon to “carnage” in Syria and demonstrations in Hong Kong, Russia, Indonesian Papua and elsewhere - risk pushing the world “further and further away from global solutions to global problems”, the UN’s top rights official said on Wednesday.

Briefing journalists one year since she took office, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, appealed for greater international cooperation.

In our increasingly interconnected world, human rights violations in one part of the planet can have serious repercussions on another, she maintained.

Get out full coverage here.

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