13 November 2025
After slamming into the island
nation on 9 November with winds of around 185 kilometres per
hour (or 115 miles per hour) leaving at least six dead,
Super Typhoon Fung-wong hit homes, schools and access to
health services across 16 regions, UNICEF reported on
Thursday.
The archipelago has already been exhausted
by multiple climate-related and geophysical shocks this
year. Just days ago, more than 200 people died in the
Typhoon Kalmaegi disaster.
From one crisis to
another
“Children and their families are barely
climbing out of one crisis before another strikes, pushing
them back to zero,” said UNICEF Philippines Representative
Kyungsun Kim.
The agency is carrying out joint
assessments with the authorities and partners to determine
the highest needs.
In addition to providing
life-saving support, UNICEF prioritises child-centred
climate policies, climate-resilient social services and
mobilising climate financing to safeguard communities from
natural shocks.
UN launches first refugee-led green
fund to restore land and cut carbon
The UN refugee
agency, UNHCR, has launched the Refugee
Environmental Protection Fund, the first major
refugee-led initiative using carbon finance to tackle
deforestation, promote clean energy and create green
jobs.
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The new fund will start projects in Uganda and
Rwanda, aiming over the next decade to restore more than
100,000 hectares of land and bring clean energy access to 1
million people.
Seeded in Uganda and Rwanda
In
Uganda’s Bidibidi and Kyangwali settlements, activities
will include reforestation, seedling production and the
rollout of cleaner cooking technologies, expected to cut
over 200,000 tonnes of CO each year and create thousands
of jobs for refugees and host communities.
In
Rwanda’s Kigeme camp, the project will rehabilitate
degraded hillsides, promote safer cooking for 15,000 people
and support sustainable livelihoods through nursery
management and soil conservation.
Revenues from
verified carbon credits will be reinvested in local
environmental projects, ensuring communities share the
benefits.
“Refugees often live on the front lines of
extreme weather,” said Siddhartha Sinha, UNHCR’s Head of
Innovative Financing. “This fund helps them protect the
land they depend on.”
Expansion is already being
explored in Brazil and Bangladesh, linking environmental
recovery with long-term community resilience.
Daily
fight for survival for people with disabilities in
Myanmar
Soldiers loyal to Myanmar’s military junta
have reportedly executed, tortured and sexually assaulted
persons with disabilities, trapping many in a daily fight
for survival, according to a new
report issued by the independent UN human rights expert
for Myanmar.
Since seizing power in 2021, Myanmar’s
military has ruled by force, violently targeting opposition,
protests, ethnic minorities, and especially persons with
disabilities, said
Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews on
Thursday.
Burned alive
“Dozens of persons
with disabilities have been burned alive in their own homes
as junta forces carried out campaigns of mass arson
throughout the country,” he added.
Deep-rooted
religious and cultural beliefs continue to perpetuate the
isolation and disenfranchisement of people with disabilities
in Myanmar, leaving them trapped in a vicious cycle of
repression and discrimination, underscored the
report.
“The widespread belief that impairments
result from misdeeds in a past life not only fuels
discrimination but is also internalised by persons with
disabilities, leading many to withdraw from community life
out of shame and an erosion of personal dignity”, said Mr.
Andrews.
Nevertheless, a remarkable network of
organisations, many led by persons with disabilities,
continue to work against all odds to provide essential
services and defend the rights of persons with
disabilities.
“As a distracted world fixes its
attention on other crises and conflicts, the situation of
persons with disabilities in Myanmar has truly become a
hidden crisis within a forgotten humanitarian
catastrophe,” said the independent expert.
“It is
critical that the world pay attention.”
Independent
experts and Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human
Rights Council to report on specific human rights
issues. They serve in a personal capacity and are not UN
staff.
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