NEWS

Following the conviction of a former ISIL member by a German court, the Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh / ISIL (UNITAD), Christian Ritscher, told the Security Council that “we can now envision a new landscape in which those who believe themselves out of reach of justice are held accountable in a court of law.” UNIFEED

At a press conference in Ouagadougou, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Burkina Faso is in the “grips of not one but several major, intersecting crises” adding that the management of these crises could have “repercussions for peace and security and human rights for millions of people in the country, in the region and beyond.” OHCHR

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) has become a member of both the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and ITA Expansion (ITA II), making it the first least developed country to join these agreements. WTO

A total of 274 million people worldwide will need emergency aid and protection in 2022, a 17 per cent increase compared to last year, UN Humanitarians said on Thursday. UNTV CH

Secretary-General António Guterres said, “travel restrictions that isolate any one country or region are not only deeply unfair and punitive, they are ineffective,” and called for the use of alternative instruments to avoid “travel apartheid.” UNIFEED

WHO chief Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said, “Today, the nations of the world have made a strong statement that health security is too important to be left to chance, or goodwill, or shifting geopolitical currents, or vested interests." WHO

On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet visited Dori, where she met with community and religious leaders, local government officials and people displaced due to the effects of armed conflict and climate change. OHCHR

A new two-year US$ 6.2 million joint programme on Women, Peace and Protection (WPP) was launched in Mogadishu Tuesday (30 Nov) by the Government of Somalia and the United Nations. UNSOM

The World Food Programme (WFP) said a catastrophe is looming as a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions unfolds in Afghanistan. WFP

In a consensus decision aimed at protecting the world from future infectious diseases crises, the World Health Assembly (WHA) agreed to kickstart a global process to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. WHO