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World Hand Hygiene Day – hand cleaning at the core of disease prevention

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water flows over two joined hands - World Hand Hygiene Day
©Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

This World Hand Hygiene Day, we interviewed Ana Paola Coutinho Rehse, Technical Officer for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control at WHO/Europe, to find out about the importance of hand hygiene and what the campaign hopes to achieve.

In our daily lives, we do so much with our hands. They are tools for creativity and for expressing ourselves, and a means for providing care and doing good. But hands can also be centres for germs and can easily spread infectious diseases to others – including vulnerable patients being treated in health facilities.

1. Why is hand hygiene important?

Hand hygiene is a key protective measure against infectious diseases and helps prevent further transmission. As we have seen recently, hand cleaning is at the heart of our emergency responses to many infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and hepatitis, and it continues to be a vital tool for infection prevention and control (IPC) everywhere.

Even now, during the Ukraine war, good hygiene, including hand hygiene, is proving vital for the safe care of refugees and the treatment of those that have been injured in the war. Maintaining good hand hygiene therefore needs to be part of all our routines, at all times.

2. Can you tell us about the theme for this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day?

WHO has been promoting World Hand Hygiene Day since 2009. This year, the theme is “Unite for safety: clean your hands”, and it encourages health-care facilities to develop quality and safety climates or cultures that value hand hygiene and IPC. It recognizes that people at all levels in these organizations have a role to play in working together to influence this culture, through spreading knowledge, leading by example and supporting clean hand behaviours.

3. Who can take part in this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day campaign?

Anyone is welcome to get involved in the campaign. It is primarily aimed at health workers, but embraces all those who can influence hand hygiene improvement through a culture of safety and quality, such as sector leaders, managers, senior clinical staff, patient organizations, quality and safety managers, IPC practitioners, etc.

4. Why is hand hygiene in health-care facilities so important?

Every year, hundreds of millions of patients are affected by health care-associated infections, leading to the death of 1 in 10 infected patients. Hand hygiene is one of the most critical and proven measures to reduce this avoidable harm. The key message from World Hand Hygiene Day is that people at all levels need to believe in the importance of hand hygiene and IPC to prevent these infections from happening and to save lives.

5. What does a “quality and safety climate that values hand hygiene” look like?

This can mean many different things, but can generally be outlined as efforts that prioritize high compliance with best practices in hand hygiene.

At the institutional level, this should include the allocation of resources for hand hygiene training programmes, supplies and infrastructure; clear messages of support for hand hygiene from leaders within the institution; hand hygiene benchmarks or targets; and hand hygiene champions.

At the individual level, the aim is to ensure that health workers identify hand hygiene as a priority that reflects their commitment to safeguarding the health of their patients. It can also be demonstrated by partnering with patients and patient organizations to co-develop improvement initiatives, and through leading by example as role models. And, of course, hand hygiene should be seen as a core measure that everyone takes for their health protection.

6. How can health facilities demonstrate that they are on track or have achieved such a climate/culture?

Monitoring and then sharing data on hand hygiene compliance with health workers, leaders and the public demonstrates to the whole community that the service is accountable and committed to creating a clean, safe environment that provides quality care. Additionally, health workers should feel assured that they are free to speak out about hand hygiene standards without fear of recrimination, and should also feel actively encouraged to contribute to solutions. A culture of sharing and learning is key to all of this.

7. What are some things that those working in health care can be doing?

Everybody can contribute to a climate of safety and quality:

  • Facility managers can ensure adequate facilities are in place to clean hands.
  • Health workers can lead by example and encourage others to clean their hands.
  • Those in charge of quality and safety in health care can work with IPC focal points to support improvement efforts.
  • IPC practitioners can engage health workers to be part of new initiatives.
  • Policy-makers can prioritize resources, trainings and programmes on hand hygiene as part of IPC.
  • All people who use health care can get involved in local hand hygiene campaigns and activities.

8. How can I find out more about World Hand Hygiene Day?

To find out more, visit the World Hand Hygiene Day webpage below. It includes downloadable posters in different languages for a range of key health-care audiences, as well as videos and other resources that you can use and share. Over 7000 hospitals from across the WHO European Region have registered to take part in this year’s campaign, so you are also very welcome to join us to spread the message of “Unite for safety: clean your hands”.

UN: reverse ‘precipitous drop’ in tourism sector

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United Nations News
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UN meets to help reverse ‘precipitous drop’ in tourism

As part of the “long journey” to recover from the ravages of COVID-19, UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid highlighted on Wednesday the need to build a more sustainable, resilient, and responsible global tourism sector. The COVID-19 pandemic ground the entire tourism sector to a halt, dealing a “devastating blow to the global economy,” he told the first-ever High-Level Thematic Debate on Sustainable Tourism.

“In 2019, prior to the pandemic, tourism contributed $3.5 trillion to global GDP. The precipitous drop during the pandemic is estimated to have cost up to 120 million jobs”.

Communal role

Though easy to sum up the devastation in numbers, capturing the overall toll on people, communities and services, is much harder, particularly for many small island States and least developed countries, which remain heavily reliant on tourism to fuel public spending.

Looking beyond the numbers, tourism plays a deeply human role: “Travel and tourism connect and unite us…builds bridges and facilitates inter-cultural exchanges…[and] fosters peace and solidarity across continents and borders,” said Mr. Shahid.

Creative tourism

From “travel bubbles” to digital tours, vaccine passports and “resilient corridors”, imaginative efforts were made to help tourism weather two years of COVID.

“As the pandemic wanes, the tourism sector is rebounding”, he said, speaking to “the human need to connect, to explore, to experience”.

“However, as it rebounds, it is important that we reflect on its future direction”.

Challenges ahead

While acknowledging the economic importance of tourism, the Assembly president warned that we must also contend with the harm it inflicts on the planet, such as carbon emissions; oceans brimming with plastics; and the human toll on ecosystems and wildlife.

“We know that many of the communities and historic sites around the world that are beloved by tourists are climate and disaster prone and need support to build resilience,” he added.

According to the UN Environment Programme’s Green Economy Report, a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario predicts that by 2050, tourism will generate an increase of 154 per cent in energy consumption, for the sector, 131 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions, 152 per cent in water consumption, and 251 per cent in solid waste disposal.

“We cannot allow this to continue. We must not reboot global tourism in a business-as-usual manner, we must be more ambitious than that, more responsible than that,” underscored Mr. Shahid.

‘Time for bold action’

Throughout the discussions, the UN official encouraged participants to address their commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and enhance the inclusion and empowerment of women, youth, indigenous and other marginalized communities

“Today, I call on all stakeholders to seize every opportunity to transform the tourism sector, and to target a more sustainable, inclusive and responsible approach,” he said.

“Now is the time for bold action and all ideas are welcome”. UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi

Via rickshaw, tourists explore the historical Chandni Chowk market in Delhi, India.

Invest in tourism

World Tourism Organization (WTO) chief Zurab Pololikashvili noted that the current energy crisis contributes to the vulnerability of the tourism sector, while maintaining that investments in tourism are also investments in peace.

He said tourism was particularly important to the livelihoods of women, youth and rural communities, and championed the need for a fresh, sustainable balance between the short-term demands of tourists and the longer-term needs of communities.

The WTO official stressed that tourism can drive positive change, and lauded the diverse sectors that have participated in the “landmark” conversation about sustainability.

Supporting the sector

The Director of the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, Sameh Wahba, spoke of inclusive, resilient sustainable cities and communities.

He said that as tourism employs 10 per cent of the global workforce, it offers important opportunities for women, rural communities and small businesses.

Mr. Wahba advocated support for nations to promote sustainable tourism to benefit poor communities and preserve culture, heritage and the environment.

Assisting the SDGs

Deputy UN chief Amina Mohammed observed that “tourism is in turmoil,” largely from the COVID pandemic, but also from conflict settings, including Ukraine.

Insisting that sustainability remain at the core of tourism, she advocated for the sector to be transformed into a positive force in implementing the SDGs.

Standing with Ukraine: Commission announces new aid worth €200 million for displaced people

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European Commission
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Commission announces new aid worth €200 million for displaced people
Commission announces new aid worth €200 million for displaced people

Today, the Commission is announcing a new aid package of €200 million to support displaced people in Ukraine, in the context of the International Donor’s Conference convened jointly by Poland and Sweden.

President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today we came together with a clear purpose: to support the brave people of Ukraine, who fight the aggressor and stand up for their freedom. We are now in the 10th week of Russia’s brutal invasion. 10 weeks during which the European Union stood firmly by Ukraine. Today, the European Union answered the call, once more, to support Ukraine. On behalf of the European Commission, I pledged 200 million euros for Ukraine. And last month, during a pledging event, raised 9.1 billion euros for Ukrainians inside and outside Ukraine. We know that more will be needed. And we will continue to stand up for Ukraine.”

Background

Close to 8 million people, two-third of whom are children, have been internally displaced since the beginning of Putin’s war in Ukraine. More than 5.3 million have left Ukraine to seek shelter in the EU and neighbouring countries.

The European Union has been supporting the Ukrainian people from the very beginning of  Russia’s brutal invasion.

We are mobilising the EU’s economic power, with series of sanctions designed to drain the resources used by Putin to finance his war.

On the other hand, we have already channelled around €4 billion in macro-financial assistance, humanitarian aid and support to Member States welcoming refugees from Ukraine.

Last month, the European Commission convened with Canada a global pledging event, which raised €9.1 billion in support for people fleeing the bombs inside and outside Ukraine.

Now, the European Commission stands ready to help rebuild the country after the war. Yesterday, President von der Leyen proposed to start working on an ambitious recovery package. It should bring the massive investment needed to rebuild, implement reforms and make Ukraine an attractive place for investments

Ukraine war: Reports reveal women are stepping up, impact on education

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Newsroom
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Ukraine war: Reports reveal women are stepping up, impact on education
The war in Ukraine is having a disproportionate impact on women and minorities, who are facing immense hardship when it comes to health, safety, and access to food, according to a UN-backed report focused on the changing gender dynamics of the conflict. 
The study by UN Women and the international humanitarian organization CARE, is based on surveys and interviews with people in 19 regions in Ukraine, conducted between 2 and 6 April. 

Women are increasingly becoming heads of households and leaders in their communities as men are conscripted into the fighting, now in its third month. 

Address different needs 

However, women remain largely excluded from formal decision-making processes related to humanitarian efforts, peace-making, and other areas that directly impact their lives. 

“It’s critical that the humanitarian response in Ukraine takes into account and addresses the different needs of women and girls, men and boys, including those that are furthest left behind,” said Sima Bahous, Executive Director at UN Women. 

The Rapid Gender Analysis found the war’s impacts are particularly disproportionate for internally displaced people and marginalized groups, such as female-headed households, the Roma community, people with disabilities, and persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex or asexual (LGBTQIA+). 

Many Roma reported experiencing severe discrimination, both in their daily struggle and in access to humanitarian aid. 

Unpaid care burden 

Gender roles are also changing. While many men have become unemployed or have been called up to serve in the armed forces, women have taken on new roles and multiple jobs to make up for lost household income.  

Women’s unpaid care burden has increased significantly, due to the Russian invasion, with schools closed, as well as high demand for volunteer work, and the absence of men at the front. 

Women and girls also highlighted poor access to healthcare services, especially for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), and pregnant, expecting, and new mothers. They also spoke of rising fears of GBV, and lack of food, especially for those in heavy conflict areas. 

Many respondents mentioned challenges and barriers they face in accessing humanitarian aid and services, and around 50 per cent of both women and men indicated that mental health was a main area of life impacted by the war. 

Make room for women 

The report contains several recommendations for governments, the international community, and others, such as prioritizing women and young people in leadership roles, and share decision-making responsibilities equally. 

Priority also should be given to sexual and reproductive health, and to maternal, newborn, and child healthcare, including the clinical care of sexual assault survivors. 

‘Decimation’ marks tragic end to school year 

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) continues to highlight how the war is having a dramatic impact on the lives and futures of Ukraine’s children. 

“The start of the academic year in Ukraine was one of hope and promise for children following COVID-19 disruptions,” said Murat Sahin, the agency’s Representative to Ukraine. 

“Instead, hundreds of children have been killed, and the school year ends amid the closure of classrooms due to war and the decimation of educational facilities.” 

Education under fire 

Since Russia’s invasion, hundreds of schools across the country are reported to have been hit due to use of heavy artillery, airstrikes, and other explosive weapons. Others are being used as information centres, shelters, supply hubs, or for military purposes. 

At least one in six UNICEF-supported schools in the east of the country have been damaged or destroyed, including the only “Safe School” in Mariupol. 

The “Safe Schools” programme was established with the education ministry, primarily in response to attacks on kindergartens and schools in the Donbas region, where armed conflict has simmered since Russian-backed separatists took charge in some areas in 2014. 

© UNICEF/Adrian Holerga

A nine-year-old Ukrainian girl holds a drawing of her family as she sits in a learning hub with her mother and cat (in blue basket) in Romania.

A safe space for children 

UNICEF said being in classrooms was critical for children affected by crisis, as it provides a safe space and a semblance of normality, and also ensures that they do not miss out on learning. 

“Ensuring access to education can be the difference between a sense of hope or despair for millions of children,” Mr. Sahin added. “This is crucial for their future and that of all Ukraine.” 

Amid the conflict, UNICEF and partners are working to provide as many children as possible with safe and appropriate learning opportunities. 

An online education programme for grades 5-11, developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to reach more than 80,000 students displaced in Ukraine. 

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, children have been forced to seek shelter and safety in metro stations. UNICEF-supported volunteers have set up spaces in these locations where teachers, psychologists and sports instructors play and engage children on a regular basis. 

Other initiatives include an ongoing digital campaign to educate children about explosive ordnance risk, which has reached eight million users online, while a new online kindergarten platform regularly receives hundreds of thousands of views. 

Millions of youngsters have also fled Ukraine for other countries. UNICEF is supporting governments and municipalities to include these children in their national school systems, along with alternative education pathways such as digital learning. 

Ukrainian Post stamps with a Russian ship: how to buy not fake ones

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News desk
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The postage stamp “Russian warship” has become a bestseller of “Ukrposhta” (Ukrainian Post). A week later, less than 300,000 were left of the millionth edition, people stood in lines for several days to buy it. Now, stamps are hunted at flea markets, sold on the Internet and fakes are made. The price already reaches UAH 8,000 per brand. According to philatelists, such a stir around the domestic stamp is the first time in the history of Ukraine. And all past collections with military equipment were left practically without attention. Anton Drannik and Vesti.ua figured out how to distinguish a fake, which series is most valued and whether new editions will repeat the success of the “ship”.

Million on stamps

The excitement around the brands does not fall. Officially, Ukrposhta announced that it would not print additional editions of the “Russian warship”, which became the first stamp issued by Ukraine in wartime. The excitement was so great that at the end of the circulation in the central office of “Ukrposhta” in Kyiv, stamps with the “ship” were sold literally by the piece. It was possible to buy a block of six stamps only according to the “lists”, and no more than one in hand. How these lists were formed is still a mystery to many.

In general, from the first day, the campaign for the sale of stamps was overgrown with various scandals. Employees of “Ukrposhta” were accused of deliberately holding stamps for “their own”.

“We could have done everything differently. Because now we see that those close to us piled up these stamps in batches. And then it turned out that the stamps suddenly ran out. I don’t believe in it! Take even the banal throughput of post offices. Count: six stamps and at least five minutes per customer. They couldn’t just run out of stamps in three days. It’s not real! Therefore, I’m sure that they were held back, ”complains a philatelist from Kyiv Alexandra Movchun.

Nevertheless, all this plays into the hands of philatelists, as well as those lucky ones who managed to purchase a couple of stamps. According to Ukrposhta, by Friday, April 22, about 750,000 marks were sold. Another 100 thousand were put up in the online store, of which 60 thousand have already been sold. The remaining amount – 40 thousand marks – will be available for sale only after the end of the war. And according to Ukrposhta’s calculations, the company has already earned more than $1 million on stamps. And he doesn’t plan to stop there.

Ukrposhta announced the release of a new stamp “Russian Warship” in quantity of 5 million copies, as well as a stamp dedicated to the An-225 Mriya aircraft, which the state plans to rebuild after being destroyed by Russian invaders.

Flea market under fire

As Alexander Romanenko, a philatelist from Odessa, said, after Ukrposhta stopped selling stamps, a real hunt for them began at local flea markets. “I want to say right away: investing in these brands is something! During my time, one person lost a block for UAH 7,000, and in half an hour – for UAH 7,500. And then the shelling began, and literally under the explosions, when I I was about to leave, a man came up to me and bought a block from me for UAH 8,000,” Oleksandr says.

Note that the stamps with the Russian ship, although they look almost the same, have their own differences. For example, today the most expensive brand is the W series – for international shipments. On the Violity collectors platform, a block of such stamps costs an average of UAH 8,000. The stamps of the F series are priced a little cheaper today.

“I don’t know how it happened that people are willing to pay that kind of money for these stamps,” says the philatelist. However, according to him, when prices rise so rapidly, a collapse in prices will inevitably follow. “The release of new brands can serve as a trigger for this. But so far, the latest auctions show that brands are confidently holding prices and even going up,” he confirmed.

At the same time, according to Alexandra Movchun, the brand should still become cheaper. “The price of a stamp depends on the circulation. The smaller the circulation, the more expensive it is. It has always been like this and will always be like that. A million is a very large circulation. Insanely large! To be honest, I don’t remember such a circulation in Ukraine at all. USSR, when stamps were issued in millions. And now they are at zero price. They are sold for 1 hryvnia, and it is not always possible to sell them, despite the fact that 50-60 years have passed. Therefore, I think that the stamp with the ship will become cheaper. And significantly” , – says Alexandra Movchun.

Note that envelopes from the same series are also of interest and are traded at $20-25. On eBay, such stamps even offered several thousand dollars. Recall that the initial price of the stamps was UAH 23 for the F series and UAH 44 for the W series.

Beware: fakes!

However, these are not the only stamps that are valued by philatelists. But such a stir in the history of Ukraine is the first time. “If you take this stamp, this has never happened. During the war years, more than 20 military-themed stamps were issued, and it cannot be said that they were in great demand,” says Alexandra Movchun.

On one of тхе collectors’ sites, we found several offers at once, in which the owners of entire collections of stamps from the USSR offer to exchange them for one block of stamps with a ship. In general, as Alexandra Movchun says, there is no particular interest in other Ukrainian brands today. Only those that were released to support philatelists with a circulation of 400-500 pieces remain in the price.

Judging by the information on the websites of collectors, the most expensive vintage block is sold at a price of about UAH 23,000. The block of stamps “Gold of the Scythians” is estimated at 12 thousand UAH, and the sheet of postage stamps “Biathlon Team. Golden Relay Race” – 5.7 thousand UAH. Another valuable stamp is “Prince Volodymyr the Great” for 3.8 thousand hryvnias. The remaining brands are traded in the range from UAH 80 to UAH 1.5 thousand.

Philatelists hope that the boom with the “Russian Warship” stamp will revive interest in Ukrainian stamps. “But so far I hardly believe it. Future circulations have been announced in the amount of 5 million pieces. This is generally space! Be that as it may, the current hype is no longer caused by interest in brands, but by a banal desire to make money. Therefore, as soon as all those who stuffed his pockets with these stamps, they will be sold, the price will fall. And with it the hype,” summed up Alexandra Movchun.

In addition, as Alexander Romanenko says, these stamps have already been chosen by scammers. Therefore, in order not to fall for their bait, you need to shine through the ultraviolet before buying. “Real stamps should shimmer very beautifully,” said the philatelist.

Scientology says World Press Freedom Day must protect media but also religion from biased hurtful lies

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Newsdesk
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What is Freedom of Religion booklet - created by Church of Scientology
What is Freedom of Religion booklet - created by Church of Scientology

World Press Freedom Day must protect media but also religion from hurtful lies – Charter on Journalistic Ethics in Relation to Respect for Religion or Belief

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, May 5, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Freedom of Expression, Thought, Opinion and Information, needless to say, are fundamental rights to be protected by all citizens and all institutions. What should not be protected is the right to “willfully lie” or spreading hurtful rumors violating presumption of innocence. While everyone can do mistakes, when done, the reporters and publishers must be respectful of the right of those damaged by the lies, to have their truth published with the same strenght the lie was promoted by those who promoted it and relayed it.

On World Press Freedom Day May 3, the Church of Scientology emphasizes that with freedom must come responsibility.

As the Washington Post stated in a recent article, we live in “a media environment that thrives on conflict.” But when that conflict marginalizes people because of their religion, the consequences can be dire and so Scientology members are strong defenders.

For example in Europe, the Federation of Journalists”, is member of the Ethical Journalism Network, which according to its website, aims “to strengthen the craft of journalism and to promote for the public benefit high ethical standards in media through education, training and publication of useful research.”

They have been running the campaign #MediaAgainstHate throughout Europe, which they have led in a coalition of civil society organisations. Adding to these efforts, even if independently, the Church of Scientology International published a booklet (with a special target public being journalists) to clarify religious freedom and its ramifications in today’s troubled world, and to assist journalists, mainstream and freelancers, in a fair and factual reporting.

Media outlets and journalists are in generating a broad and general understanding of the religious diversity and the freedom of religion and belief and at the same time, provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this right worldwide. It is with this in mind that the Church created the Scientology Religious Freedom website and its religious freedom blog, which promote responsible coverage of religion, religious beliefs and practices, and adherents.

For example, the Scientology Religious Freedom Blog covered two recent studies that found nearly 60 percent of print articles and just under half of all television clips in the British media associate Muslims with terrorism or extremism. But it is not only Muslims who suffer from slanted and biased media coverage. Hate crimes against Christians in 2020 rose 70 percent over the previous year in Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Sweden, and one factor was found to be “a high level of religious illiteracy” among journalists. Such rise on hate crimes motivated on the basis of religion, can also be evidenced by the recent 45 pages report published by the Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance of the European Parliament, led by MEPs Carlo Fidanza and Peter van Dalen entitled “The EU and Freedom of Religion or Belief 2017-2021”.

In India, mainline as well as social media is being blamed for anti-Muslim violence.

And this is not just a recent phenomenon. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has documented how media “served as an important tool to win over the majority of the German public who had not supported Adolf Hitler and to push forward the Nazis’ radical program, which required the acquiescence, support, or participation of broad sectors of the population.”

The Church of Scientology publishes the booklet “What is Freedom of Religion,” which can be downloaded from the website. The Church does so because a vital component in preserving this fundamental human right is ensuring an understanding of the right to freedom of religion or belief and its meaning under universal human rights principles and international human rights law.

The booklet is designed to inform the public regarding the detailed and complex nature of the right to freedom of religion for believers and religious organizations of every faith and none.

Charter on Journalistic Ethics in Relation to Respect for Religion or Belief

An important feature of this booklet, and one particularly relevant to United Nations World Press Freedom Day, is the “Charter on Journalistic Ethics in Relation to Respect for Religion or Belief.” This is a journalistic code for the coverage of religion. The code is based on the principle that journalists “are accountable for the social and political consequences of their actions and have a duty to maintain the highest ethical and professional standards.” The standards the charter puts forward are based on broadly accepted human rights codes and instruments referred to in the booklet.

In the mention charter says: “Journalists are accountable for the social and political consequences of their actions and have a duty to maintain the highest ethical and professional standards. Journalists shall scrupulously endeavor to report the truth; respect the right of the public to know the truth; ensure that any information they disseminate is fair and objective; promptly and prominently correct any material inaccuracies; and afford the right of reply in appropriate instances. The media [43] is responsible for any material released through it.”

The charter goes as deep as proposing that “A responsible media avoids discriminatory or denigrating references to religious beliefs and spiritual values. A responsible media does not refer to religions or religious institutions in a prejudicial, biased or pejorative context; when religious references are essential to the reported matter or facilitate understanding, they are made accurately, fairly, impartially and respectfully. A responsible media refrains from reinterpreting, misinterpreting, analyzing, assessing or examining religious beliefs or the expression of these beliefs. Instead, it maintains a strict duty of neutrality and objectivity—accepting what the religion puts forward as its true beliefs without disapproval, contempt, condescension, bias or ridicule.”

It is the responsibility of those who cherish freedom to ensure fair and accurate reporting of religion. Religious liberty has been likened to a canary in the coal mine—one we ignore at our own peril. Because when religious freedom is ignored, stifled or attacked it predicts the loss of other human rights.

From its beginnings, the Church of Scientology has recognized that freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. In a world where conflicts are often traceable to intolerance of others’ religious beliefs and practices, the Church has, for more than fifty years, made the preservation of religious liberty an overriding concern.

The Church of Scientology publishes daily blogs on this website to help create a better understanding of the freedom of religion and belief and provide news on religious freedom and issues affecting this freedom around the world. “Interaction with news and especially with non-biased journalists is key to the common task of creating a higher understanding and respect of the religious diversity we have in 21st century. Journalists can not do that job alone, and this is why we cooperate more and more with them in Europe” said Ivan Arjona, the President of the European Office of the Church of Scientology for Public Affairs and Human Rights.

The Founder of the Scientology religion is L. Ron Hubbard and Mr. David Miscavige is the religion’s ecclesiastical leader.

Interaction with news and especially with non-biased journalists is key to the common task of creating a higher understanding and respect of the religious diversity we have in 21st century”—

IVAN ARJONA PELADO

Tiangong orbital complex

By
Gaston de Persigny
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China announced the successful completion of the initial stage of the creation of the Tiangong orbital complex

The relevant department announced that they had achieved all the goals during the tests of key technologies, the engineering part had been implemented, and now it is possible to start construction.

The functioning of the main module “Tianhe” continues in the normal mode, the carriers for the project are also able to perform the upcoming tasks.

The launch of the Tianhe module for the future Tiangong station into orbit took place on 04/29/2021. During the year, two teams of astronauts, three specialists each, flew to the module, three space trucks and a couple of manned spacecraft flew to the module.

The Chinese side says that a full-fledged station can be built in orbit this year. Six more flights will take place to dock two laboratory modules to the base one.

The Tiangong station weighing about 90 tons will operate at a distance of 400 kilometers from the earth’s surface.

Photo: © Shujianyang / CC BY-SA 4.0

Better prevention and targeting of root causes needed to combat food crises

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officialinstitutions
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Better prevention and targeting of root causes needed to combat food crises
The number of people facing acute food insecurity, requiring urgent life-saving food assistance and livelihood support, continues to grow at an alarming rate, according to a joint UN report released on Wednesday.
 
“Acute hunger is soaring to unprecedented levels and the global situation just keeps on getting worse,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). 

The annual report from the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) – an international alliance of the UN, European Union (EU), governmental and non-governmental agencies – shines a light on the urgency of tackling root causes rather than just responding to emergencies after the fact.

Acute hunger is soaring to unprecedented levels – WFP chief

Most in need

The report focuses on countries and territories where the severity of the food crisis is outstripping local resources and capacities. 

It reveals that some 193 million people in 53 countries or territories experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels (IPC/CH Phase 3-5) in 2021, representing an increase of nearly 40 million people compared with 2020’s already record numbers.

Of those, 570,000 people in Ethiopia, southern Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen, were classified in the most severe phase of acute food insecurity, “catastrophe” phase 5, and required urgent action to avert widespread collapse of livelihoods, starvation and death. 

When looking at the same 39 countries or territories featured in all editions of the report, the number of people facing Phase 3 levels or above, nearly doubled between 2016 and 2021, rising unabatedly each year since 2018.

“The results of this year’s Global Report further demonstrate the need to collectively address acute food insecurity at the global level across humanitarian, development and peace context,” said QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

© FAO/Sonia Nguyen.

Conflict remains the main driver of acute food insecurity.

Root causes

From conflict to environmental and climate crises, and economic to health crises with poverty and inequality as undelaying causes, these worrying trends are the result of multiple drivers feeding into one another.

Weather extremes have crippled over 23 million people in eight countries/territories, an increase from 15.7 million in 15 countries/territories.

And economic shocks have affected over 30 million people in 21 countries/territories, down from over 40 million people in 17 countries/territories in 2020 – mainly due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Conflict main driver

However, conflict remains the main driver of food insecurity, having pushed 139 million in 24 countries/territories into acute food insecurity – up from around 99 million in 23 countries/territories in in 2020.

“Conflict, the climate crisis, COVID-19 and surging food and fuel costs have created a perfect storm,” said Mr. Beasley.

“Millions of people in dozens of countries are being driven to the edge of starvation,” he added appealing for “urgently need emergency funding to pull them back from the brink and turn this global crisis around before it’s too late”. 

Ukraine repercussions

While the analysis predates Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the report finds that the war has already exposed the interconnected nature and fragility of global food systems, with serious consequences for global food and nutrition security.

Countries already coping with high levels of acute hunger are particularly vulnerable to the risks created by the war in Eastern Europe, notably due to their high dependency on imports of food and agricultural inputs and vulnerability to global food price shocks, notes the report. 

“The tragic link between conflict and food insecurity is once again evident and alarming,” said Mr. QU.

“While the international community has courageously stepped up to the calls for urgent famine prevention and mitigation action, resource mobilization to efficiently tackle the root causes of food crises due to, among others, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, global hotspots and the war in Ukraine, still struggles to match the growing needs”.

A paradigm shift 

The report’s findings demonstrate the need for a greater prioritization of smallholder agriculture as a frontline humanitarian response.

Furthermore, it advocates for promoting structural changes to current external financing, to reduce humanitarian assistance over time through longer-term development investments, which can help tackle the root causes of hunger.

In parallel, humanitarian assistance must be provided more efficiently and sustainably. 

“The situation calls out for at-scale action to move towards integrated approaches to prevention, anticipation, and better targeting to sustainably address the root causes of food crises, including structural rural poverty, marginalization, population growth and fragile food systems,” said the Global Network founding members, in a joint statement with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank.

Long disappearance of the moon from the sky in the XII century – the reason

By
Gaston de Persigny
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0

The moon disappeared from view in May 1110. The unusual phenomenon greatly puzzled eyewitnesses and continued to baffle astronomers for centuries.

It was believed that the disappearance of the moon was the result of an eclipse. The British astronomer George Frederick Chambers wrote about this mystery in his 1899 book The History of Eclipses. About 800 years after this happened, Chambers set the date for the eclipse as May 5, during the reign of Henry I.

“It all happened before midnight,” Chambers wrote, “and it was obvious that this was a case of a “black” eclipse, when the moon becomes completely invisible.”

But was it really so?

A more likely version was that the cause of the phenomenon was the eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland.

When Hekla erupted around October 15, 1104, sulfur-rich particles were released into the stratosphere. For many years this event was thought to be the catalyst for the apparent disappearance of the Moon.

A Scientific Reports study by a team from the University of Geneva in Switzerland has uncovered new information about the moon’s “location”. To find out if the Hekla eruption was the sole cause of the disappearance, the researchers analyzed ice cores from Iceland and Antarctica and eventually determined that the date of the eruption did not coincide with the schedule for the absence of the moon in 1110.

To find the true source, researchers combed medieval records for any mention of a “dark lunar eclipse”. And then they came across an entry in 1110 from the Peterborough Chronicles: “The moon was so extinguished that no light, no disk, or anything at all could be seen.”

The team suggests that the main cause was most likely a cluster of volcanic eruptions between 1108 and 1110, rather than the 1104 Hekla eruption.

One of these eruptions occurred in 1108 in Honshu, Japan. A diary entry by a Japanese statesman, discovered by researchers and cited in Scientific Reports, states that the eruption of the Asama volcano on the island of Honshu began in late August 1108 and continued until October.

In addition to the “eclipse”, the eruptions of 1108–1110 led to a number of social consequences in Europe, especially in agriculture. The researchers’ work revealed many descriptions of severe weather, crop failure and famine compared to other years with similar volcanic events.

EU Digital COVID Certificate: committee backs one-year extension to ensure free movement

By
European Parliament
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0
EU Digital COVID certificate
EU Digital COVID certificate © European Parliament

On Thursday, the Civil Liberties Committee endorsed proposals to keep the EU Digital COVID Certificate framework in place for another year.

To ensure that EU citizens can benefit from their right to free movement regardless of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs approved two reports to prolong the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) scheme -set to expire on 30 June- for another 12 months. The reports were adopted with 48 in favour, 16 against and 0 abstaining.

Along with extending the validity of the EUDCC scheme until 30 June 2023, the changes also enable member states to grant test certificates based on new types of antigen assay tests.

Review after six months

MEPs amended the proposals to stress that member states should avoid additional restrictions on the freedom of movement for EUDCC holders, unless absolutely necessary. If restrictions are needed, they should be limited and proportionate, based on the latest scientific advice from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the EU Health Security Committee.

They also ask the Commission to assess if the EUDCC scheme is necessary and proportionate six months after its extension. MEPs want to shorten the period of application of the Regulation as soon as the epidemiological situation allows.

Background

The creation of the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) was adopted In June 2021 to facilitate free movement in Europe during the pandemic, for a limited period of 12 months.


Quote

Rapporteur Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, ES) said: “A year ago, we put in place the EU Digital COVID certificate so that unilateral national restrictions would not endanger the right to free movement and equality. We wanted to prevent discrimination between countries of origin, and we wanted this regulation to be time-limited. However, we can only get rid of it once the pandemic is over. Since it is not over yet, we are extending the validity of the scheme, and asking experts to evaluate the situation in six months’ time. Now, people are again travelling across borders in Europe, which shows that the regulation is working.”


Next steps

The decision of the Civil Liberties Committee to open negotiations with the Council on the legislative proposal will be announced at the opening of next week’s plenary session in Strasbourg. If there is an objection, the decision will be put to the vote on Thursday, 5 May.

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