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detained in DPRK OCHA/David Ohana (FILE PHOTO) A cyclist in Wonsan City, in DPRK.         28 July 2020 Human Rights Women forcibly returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are subjected to torture, ill treatment, sexual abuse, and other violations, according to  a report  published  on Tuesday  by the UN Human Rights office. The study is based on 100 first-hand accounts by North Korean women who said they were beaten or suffered other individual or collective punishment while in detention between 2009 and 2019. The women eventually managed to escape the DPRK, more commonly known as North Korea, and gave detailed interviews to staff from the UN rights office,  OHCHR . Heartbreaking stories “It is heartbreaking to read these stories of women who fled their country looking to make ends meet, but who ended up being punished. These are women who have often been the victims of exploitation and trafficking

29 July 2020 Author: Keiichiro Kobayashi, Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research As COVID-19 cases began to mount in Japan in February, it became clear that the government needed to respond with strong policy measures. It was crucial to increase testing capacity and adopt isolation measures to contain the virus and allow economic activity to resume quickly. The Japanese government needed to set and clearly announce a timeline and numerical targets for testing capacity and medical care provision.  Some of these ideas have been incorporated in the government’s  Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2020 , published on 17 July 2020. The major challenge Japan currently faces is its extremely limited testing capacity compared with other advanced countries. Japan’s polymerase chain reaction testing capacity is only 32,000 tests per day (as of 12 July), compared to 400,000 in the United States and 160,000 in Germany. Japan needs to systematically increase its cap

© UNICEF/Claudia Berger A sample of gold taken from a mine.         15 July 2020 The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard reports of serious exploitation and abuse of children and indigenous communities in Venezuela, where mining for gold and other minerals is booming. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that Venezuelan authorities had failed to investigate crimes linked to the industry, in the region of Arco Minero del Orinoco, including extortion, amputation and miners being buried alive. Criminal groups exercise control over a large number of mining operations there, where children as young as nine have been seen working, according to the  report  from Ms. Bachelet’s office,  OHCHR . This is despite the “considerable” presence of the Venezuelan military, whose commanders were allegedly paid off via a “system of corruption and bribery” – all made possible by exploiting unskilled and sometimes barefoot workers, fo

ILO/KB Mpofu Martha Maocha runs a detergent manufacturing company but has recently started making hand sanitising gel which protects against COVID-19.         24 July 2020 The coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse to clamp down on fundamental freedoms, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reminded authorities in Zimbabwe on Friday. OHCHR  spokesperson Liz Throssell, speaking to journalists in Geneva, expressed concern over allegations suggesting that Zimbabwean authorities may be using the  COVID-19  crisis as a pretext to stifle freedom of expression and peaceful assembly on the streets. Targeting health workers Amid a deteriorating economy, she said it was clear that COVID-19 has added greatly to the challenges Zimbabwe faces, and placed a further burden on an already struggling health sector. She said the human rights office was concerned over reports of “police using force to disperse and arrest nurses an

© FAO/Max Valencia The Lo Valledor main wholesale market in Chile continues to provide the public during the COVID-19 pandemic with all the protective measures for them and the community.         23 July 2020 Health COVID-19 cases worldwide have surpassed 15 million, and nearly 620,000 deaths. On Thursday, the World Health Organization ( WHO ) urged people everywhere to play a part in preventing further spread of the disease, warning that there will be no return to “the old normal”. Most cases, or 10 million, were in just 10 countries, with the United States, Brazil and India accounting for nearly half. On Thursday afternoon, the US passed the milestone of four million infections. Life-and-death decisions “We’re asking everyone to treat the decisions about where they go, what they do, and who they meet with, as life-and-death decisions – because they are”,  said   WHO  chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking from Gene