Heavy rains hit the Indian districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj and further upstream, leaving an estimated 1.4 million people in dire straits.
“Our first priority is ensuring that the most vulnerable families, who were already facing hardship and whose lives and livelihoods are once again being upended by the floods, can meet their basic food and nutrition needs,” said Simone Parchment, Deputy Representative of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh.
The agency’s field office in Sylhet is supporting the government-led relief effort, distributing fortified biscuits to over 23,000 households to meet their immediate needs.
WFP will also provide cash assistance to these 23,000 households and an additional 48,000 previously identified households as part of its preparedness efforts.
Further heavy rainfall is expected in the affected areas and adjacent catchment areas over the next few days, which may worsen the flood situation, according to reports.
Sports not immune to human rights issues: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Despite sport’s ideals of equality and fair opportunities, athletes face various forms of rights violations and abuse, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Monday.
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva just weeks before the 2024 Paris Olympics, Turku said “mega sporting events” with their “enormous” influence, such as the FIFA World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics, should serve as platforms for campaigning against inequality.
“The sporting world, including the hosting of major events, is not immune to human rights abuses, and some issues of concern are more visible than others,” Turk said.
Among these issues, Turk highlighted racist and sexist incidents, abuse, violence against women, corruption, discrimination based on religion or religious dress, disability, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Turk welcomed the decision by some companies in the sports world to align their operations with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
He pointed to the case in Spain where football fans were punished for racist abuse directed at Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, and said human rights policies and grievance mechanisms were increasingly being incorporated into major sporting events.
WHO supports vaccination campaign in Angola
In health news, Angolan authorities, with the support of UN agencies, have launched a vaccination campaign to curb the spread of polio and protect children from polio.
Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours. There is no cure for polio, but it can be prevented by vaccination.
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), which is supporting the government, said the campaign’s main goal is to boost immunity among children under the age of five and quickly contain the spread of the virus in the country.
The programme aims to achieve at least 95 per cent vaccination coverage in all districts, identify suspected cases and create awareness about routine vaccination.
Vaccination teams will go door-to-door to ensure that no child goes unvaccinated, and fixed vaccination centres will also be set up in densely populated areas.
The first round of the vaccination campaign, which took place in May 2024, successfully vaccinated over 5.5 million children across the country, covering the entire at-risk target groups.
According to WHO, in the second round of the vaccination campaign, as in previous efforts, vaccination teams will continue to go door-to-door and set up fixed bases in health facilities, markets, churches, schools, nurseries and other population centers.
