Citizens for Justice and Peace
Nearly four environmental defenders killed every week in 2017
05-Feb-2018
The Guardian reported that the killing of those who defended their land or the environment “continued unabated in 2017,” with new data indicating that nearly four people were murdered every week across the world due to conflicts involving mining, plantations, poaching, and infrastructure projects. This figure has increased four times since the first time data was gathered…
Rwanda becomes first low-income nation to provide universal eye care
01-Feb-2018
According to the Guardian, “Rwanda has become the first low-income country to provide universal eye care for its 12 million population.” Rwanda’s government has tied up with Vision For a Nation (VFAN) “to train more than 3,000 eye care nurses” in 502 local healthcare centres; they prescribe spectacles, and refer patients with serious eye conditions to…
Greenpeace: 550 million in India living in hazardous pollutant levels
30-Jan-2018
According to a new Greenpeace India report, around 550 million people live in areas where annual PM10 levels exceeded national standards in 2016. PM10 is particulate matter with a diameter of ten microns or under, The Hindu reported. The report analysed air quality in 280 cities, and found that the majority of people living there–550…
New law permits roads to pass through Amazon rain forest in Peru
24-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that Peru’s congress has passed a law that would permit roads to be constructed in the most remote and unspoiled region of its Amazon rainforest, an area abundant in mahogany trees and “a haven for isolated indigenous groups”. The area includes four national parks, and could impact five reserves that are home to indigenous…
Uganda blood shortage nearing “crisis level”
19-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that there is a “critical shortage of blood” in Uganda, a situation that is impacting healthcare services and threatening patients’ lives. The health ministry’s blood bank in Kampala, “which stores and distributes supplies to hospitals, is practically empty.” The blood bank only has 150 units of blood left, which is not sufficient to fulfil…
New York City to divest $5 billion in fossil fuel investments, sue oil companies
12-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that New York City officials are aiming to divest the city’s pension funds from fossil fuel companies within the next five years, saying this would be “among the most significant divestment efforts in the world to date”. According to the Guardian, the city’s five, $189 billion pension funds have fossil fuel investments amounting to…
Study: Over 25% of land will dry up if Paris climate goals aren’t achieved
10-Jan-2018
An article published on the United Nations’ Climate Change website spotlights a new study in Nature Climate Change, which indicates that “over a quarter of the world’s land will significantly dry up if the earth’s temperature rises by two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the next three decades, the upper limit for the global average temperature…
NASA study finds proof chemicals ban helped ozone hole recovery
08-Jan-2018
NASA said in announcement that measurements indicating that “the decline in chlorine” due to a worldwide ban manmade chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has led to around 20% less ozone depletion “during the Antarctic winter than there was in 2005”. According to NASA, CFCs are “long-lived chemical compounds that eventually rise into the stratosphere,” where they break down…
US Attorney General reinitiates “harmful” war on drugs
06-Jan-2018
Human Rights Watch (HRW) advocacy director Jasmine L. Tyler, in a report titled ‘US Revives its Harmful Drug War’, wrote about how United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions is “reviving the US government’s out-of-date, ineffective, and counterproductive war on drugs.” Citing a report about Sessions reversing a marijuana policy from President Barack Obama’s administration, Tyler noted that…
Ebola survivors to sue Sierra Leone over missing funds
06-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that two Ebola survivors are suing Sierra Leone’s government, alleging that “a lack of government accountability allowed the disappearance of almost a third of the money that came into the country during the early months” of 2014’s Ebola outbreak. The survivors’ case alleges that this infringed upon survivors’ rights to life and health, according…
Rohingya newborns vulnerable to disease in refugee camps
06-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that more than 48,000 children will be born this year in the crowded refugee camps that are home to those of the Rohingya minority who have fled Myanmar. According to Save the Children, around 130 live births are expected daily in these camps in 2018, and newborns are at the risk of being malnourished,…
Suicide: Risk Factors, Warning Signs and Coping Mechanisms Community Resources
06-Jan-2018
When thinking of some of the most extreme things that can happen to “life”, one often thinks of death. Even though it is an important aspect of life, we refrain from talking about it. The fact is that one cannot fully live life without considering the possibility of death. However, talking about death, how and…
Gaza health system verging on collapse in electricity crisis
05-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that the World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that Gaza hospitals will “face an almost total power blackout” by February’s end unless funds are available to ensure the functioning of emergency generators. According to the Guardian, Gaza’s “ongoing electricity crisis…has left hospitals reliant on emergency generators for up to 20 hours a day,” with…
No One Killed Our Farmers Farm labourers die after inhaling highly toxic fumes while spraying crops
23-Dec-2017
The curious case of pesticide related farmer deaths in Eastern Maharashtra just got murkier. While 18 farmers have died and 800 others have been admitted to hospitals across Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Amravati, Nagpur and Bhandara districts, it has now come to light that most of these deaths were preventable. The farmers died from poisoning due…
Over 110 million people displaced due to weather events between 2012-16
22-Dec-2017
United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released its Frontiers 2017 report earlier this month at the United Nations Environment Assembly. According to the report, 41 million were displaced due to conflict between 2012 and 2016. Meanwhile, 117 million people were displaced due to “weather-related disasters” in that same period. For example, the report notes that, since…