This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

3.6 million children unable to go to school in Ethiopia, warns Education Cannot Wait

In Ethiopia, a staggering 3.6 million children are unable to go to school, as the country’s people continue to face one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades.

In an alert, the UN’s Education Cannot Wait fund said that the number has risen by half a million in the last six months.

Conflict in the regions of Afar, Amhara and Tigray has interrupted youngsters’ education, along with ongoing violence in parts of Oromia, the UN fund explained.

But other “crippling” emergencies are also to blame for the education crisis, including climate change, malnutrition and displacement.

These problems are happening amid the worst drought in over four decades, with more than 24 million people affected, said Education Cannot Wait.

It added that the number of second-year primary school students who can read dropped from 25 per cent in 2018 to 13 per cent in 2021, as a result of the multiple crises in Ethiopia.

MPs ‘in danger’ across the world – but some good news too, IPU says in new report

A record number of Members of Parliament have been in danger across the world this year, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU, said on Thursday.

Latest data from the IPU shows that 739 parliamentarians from 44 countries experienced attacks on their fundamental rights – that’s a 10 per cent increase on 2021.

The most common violations were attacks on MPs’ freedom of expression, followed by the suspension or loss of their parliamentary mandate.

Threats and acts of intimidation were the third most common violations, followed by a lack of a fair trial and other unfair proceedings.

An IPU Committee noted a “significant increase” in human rights violations against parliamentarians in the Middle East and North Africa region, up 31 per cent, compared with last year.

Many new cases concerned human rights violations suffered by Tunisian MPs following the dissolution of the Parliament in March 2022 by President Saied, the IPU panel said.

Countries held the line against malaria cases and deaths in 2021: WHO

More positive news now, that the impact of malaria remained almost stable last year, after a worrying rise in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ninety-five per cent of the malaria burden is in Africa, but according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), countries responded to the spike in cases and deaths in 2020 by increasing support for malaria prevention, testing and treatment services last year.

WHO’s latest World Malaria Report indicates that an estimated 619,000 people died from malaria in 2021, compared to 625,000 in 2020; this is still tens of thousands more than before the virus struck, however.

The UN health agency also expressed concern about the waning efficacy of “core malaria control tools”, especially insecticide treated bednets, which need to be replaced more often.

Equally worrying is the changing behaviour of mosquitos, “which appear to be biting early before people go to bed”, WHO said. It also noted that the winged insects have begun “resting outdoors, thereby evading exposure to insecticides”.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.