Human Welfare

Half of human trafficking victims in Nigeria in 2020 were children, Chervine Oftadeh, an official of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC) said in Benin on Tuesday, January 19, 2020. Ghada Fathi Waly, Director-General/Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Oftadeh, an Associate Expert, said his declaration was informed by a baseline assessment ...

Front Line Defenders (FLD), a human rights organisation, has urged the authorities in the Philippines to immediately cease the investigation and drop all charges against Windel Bolinget, an indigenous rights defender charged in a murder case. The FLD believes that he is being targeted solely as a result of his work in the defence of human rights. Windel Bolinget They ...

The law firm of Ntephe, Smith and Wills (NSW) has called for channeling of gas flare and oil pollution fines to ameliorate adverse effects of oil and gas production on host communities. Mr. Iniruo Wills It advocated a reform that would prioritise giving adequate compensations to the victims of oil and gas exploration-related pollution as a condition for collecting fines ...

Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has commended the International Criminal Court (ICC) for concluding a decade-long preliminary investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed by Boko Haram and the Nigerian security forces, to pave way for full investigation to commence. Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) The ICC Office of ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a highly negative impact on the living and working conditions of refugees and migrants reveals a new World Health Organisation (WHO) study, launched on Friday, December 18, 2020 on International Migrants Day. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images Over 30,000 refugees and ...

A top official of U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil, has confirmed the death of a staff member of the company in a fire incident at the ExxonMobil Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT) in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. ExxonMobil offices The incident occurred on Dec. 13, the official, Mr Ozemoya Okordion, confirmed in an interview in Ibeno on Tuesday, December 16, 2020. The ...

The global number of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) climbed above 80 million at the middle of this year, according to an estimate by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees The increase came, in spite of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call to silence arms around the world while the world fights the COVID-19 ...

More than one billion people could live in extreme poverty by 2030 due to the long-term effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a UN study released on Thursday, December 3, 2020. UNDP Administrator, Mr. Achim Steiner That figure could be reached if the recovery is protracted and the economic crisis persists, pushing an additional 207 million people into ...

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 it was facing a funding gap of $180 million for Zimbabwe’s humanitarian assistance programme. Emmerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe WFP Zimbabwe Representative and Country Director, Francesca Erdelmann, said this year had been particularly tough for the donor community due to the impact of COVID-19. “For our portfolio in ...

The African Peoples Tribunal organised in Lagos by Friends of the Earth Africa (FoEA) ended on Friday November 27, 2020, with a call on governments of 10 African countries to urgently ensure that the human rights of freedom of speech, expression, and association of citizens and persons who brought cases of abuses before the tribunal are respected and protected. Nnimmo ...