World Elder Abuse Awareness Day – 15 June 2020
Verbal and online abuse violating human rights of older persons must be stamped out – UN Expert
GENEVA (12 June 2020) – The newly appointed UN Independent Expert* on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler, urges all governments and the international community to exercise global solidarity and step up action to effectively prevent and protect older persons from physical and psychological abuse, including neglect. She made the following statement ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on 15 June:
"While older persons have become more visible in the COVID-19 outbreak, their voices, opinions and concerns remain unheard. With the number of older persons dying in homes, hospitals and institutions growing exponentially all over the world, it is disheartening to continue to read cruel and dehumanising language on social media referring to older persons. Verbal abuse clearly occurs in contexts when older persons face old age discrimination ('ageism').
Verbal and derogatory online abuse have profound negative effects on the human rights of older persons. Negative and sometimes unfounded comments severely impact their physical and mental health, promote negative images or in the worst cases lead to violence, abuse and neglect of older persons.
Consider for GENDER SPECIFICITY in Europe – Basic Needs, Human Rights, Gender Equality & Empowerment, Social Justice
Reimagining European Philanthropy
By Michael Conway, Karen Hadem, and Nina Probst – June 12, 2020
We are facing an irreversible humanitarian and economic crisis that will permanently change our world. As societies around the world near a standstill, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the preexisting vulnerabilities and inequalities of our social systems. Although governments have put a sweeping range of policies and programs in place to combat the pandemic’s impact on public health and the economy, the scale of the challenge requires more.
The coronavirus crisis has mobilized an unprecedented response by the philanthropic community. Our analysis identified combined commitments by European philanthropy of more than €1.1 billion by May 2020, most geared toward emergency relief to the healthcare crisis as well as general support for struggling nonprofit partners. Now, with the number of acute cases of COVID-19 going down, focus is shifting to the secondary effects of the crisis on the other programmatic areas of foundations.
By Heba Aly, Director
8 June 2020 – There is a moment at the start of every major crisis when you think: “This is going to change everything.” COVID-19 was no exception.
“In humanitarian response, there will be a ‘before’ and ‘after’ COVID-19,” Ed Schenkenberg van Mierop, executive director of the think tank HERE-Geneva, wrote in late March.
But as the crisis born of this global pandemic has evolved, some of the promises of deep transformation in a humanitarian aid sector that has long resisted reform have proven overly optimistic – at least so far.
Here are 13 ways the pandemic may change the future of humanitarianism – and the forces of resistance that may get in the way.
Gender inequalities may grow more acute, with girls particularly vulnerable to exploitation in agriculture and domestic work.
12 June 2020 - NEW YORK/GENEVA (ILO News) – Millions more children risk being pushed into child labour as a result of the COVID-19 crisis , which could lead to the first rise in child labour after 20 years of progress, according to a new brief from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF.
According to COVID-19 and child labour: A time of crisis, a time to act , child labour decreased by 94 million since 2000, but that gain is now at risk.
Global estimates in 2017 showed that 152 million children were in child labour worldwide.
Children already in child labour may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions, the report says. More of them may be forced into the worst forms of labour, which causes significant harm to their health and safety.
