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UN Women/Pathumporn Thongking A healthcare worker checks the temperature of a patient at a hospital in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand.         1 August 2020 Expressing “appreciation for  WHO  and partners’ COVID-19 pandemic response efforts”, the emergency committee convened by the UN health agency’s chief,  made it clear  that there is not yet an end in sight to the public health crisis that has so far infected more than 17 million and killed over 650,000 people. The committee convened by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), held its fourth meeting on 31 July. Sustained effort needed In  its statement  following the meeting, published on Saturday, it highlighted the “anticipated lengthy duration” of the pandemic, noting “the importance of sustained community, national, regional, and global response efforts.”   After a

© UNHCR/Alissa Everett Samrawit, a 20-year-old Eritrean asylum-seeker braids her friend's hair at the UNHCR Emergency Transit Centre in Gashora, Rwanda.         30 July 2020 Law and Crime Prevention The UN commemorated  World Day against Human Trafficking  on Thursday spotlighting the essential – but often overlooked - role of first responders who identify the millions of victims worldwide, helping them secure justice, and rebuild their lives. “These are the people who work in different sectors - identifying, supporting, counselling and seeking justice for victims of trafficking, and challenging the impunity of the traffickers,” UN  Secretary-General António Guterres   said in his message  on the Day, which is observed annually each 30 July. ‘True shift’ needed Their role has only become more important in the context of  COVID-19 , particularly as travel restrictions have forced new dangers upon victims, who ar