"PESTS"

Nearing the conclusion of a sometimes fractious two-week meeting, nations of the world today agreed on a historic package of measures deemed critical to addressing the dangerous loss of biodiversity and restoring natural ecosystems.UN BIODIVERSITY

Briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

The World Bank Group said on Tuesday that governments should avoid restricting food exports which could exacerbate food price increases. Instead, governments should support the most vulnerable consumers facing high food costs and help food producers cope with high input costs. WORLD BANK

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said hunger remains at unprecedented levels in Afghanistan with more than half of the population acutely food insecure. FAO

Ministers and high-level delegates from across Asia and the Pacific met Thursday with a focus on improving nutrition, lives and livelihoods in the wake of the global pandemic, while taking aim at ongoing climate and severe weather-related threats, and tackling diseases and pests that are affecting crops and livestock in the world’s most populous region. Improved ecosystem responses in the Pacific Islands is another key topic. FAO

Tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous strain on health care waste management systems around the world, threatening human and environmental health and exposing a dire need to improve waste management practices, according to a new WHO report. WHO

In Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, governments are looking at ways to halt migration and encourage young people to stay in their home countries, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In El Salvador, a rural development programme is having positive results, encouraging young people to take up careers in agriculture. IFAD

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is deeply concerned about escalating violence in Sudan’s Darfur region, which has displaced thousands in November, including across the border into neighboring Chad. UNHCR

In 2019 Kenya saw the worst Desert Locust invasion of the last 70 years. Crops and pastures were hit by the ravenous pest putting at risk food security and nutrition of thousands of people in the country. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) quickly intervened to support the Government of Kenya’s response on survey and control measures. FAO

A UN Spokesperson said that the UN along with its partners on the ground are “gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation” in the Grand Sud, Madagascar. UNIFEED