By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that ten years of humanitarian crisis and hostilities in Syria have had a profound effect on the situation of most of the children in the country.
A recent statement from UNICEF notes that about 90 percent of children are in need of humanitarian assistance – a figure that represents a 20 percent increase in the past year alone. The children have been impacted by violence, displacement, severed family ties and lack of access to vital services caused by the massive physical devastation of the country.
The situation in northern Syria is particularly alarming, UNICEF notes. Millions of children are displaced, with many families having fled violence several times. Families are also forced to pay the price for a worsening economy and rising food insecurity. All these challenges are further exacerbated by the ongoing Covid-19 health emergency.
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People “wanted to celebrate not the anniversary of the war” 10 years after its beginning, but “everything is gone wrong on the anniversary of peace and reconciliation”. International sanctions and the US Caesar Act “have made the situation worse.”
“Diesel fuel has not been delivered for quite some time. Very few people got a hundred litres, until they ran out of supplies,” Mgr Abu Khazen said. “Now they have also stopped providing cooking gas, and people have to wait up to 60 days.”
Drivers “have to wait up to two days at a petrol station just to get 20 litres, leaving their car waiting to refuel. Long lines - even hours - are necessary to buy some subsidised bread.”
KUCHING: The Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling allowing non-Muslims to use the word ‘Allah’ has affirmed the feelings, sentiments, and appreciation of the true meaning of the word for all, especially among Sarawakian Bumiputera, said Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak (YPS) chief executive Datu Aloysius J Dris.
“Salute to our judicial system and process in determining the meaning of the word ‘Allah’. There is no winning or losing in this issue. It just affirms perceptions and sentiments, especially of the people here in Sarawak regardless of their religion.
“To begin with, the usage of the word ‘Allah’ used by Christians has never been an issue in Sarawak as many native people in both Sarawak and Sabah have been using Bahasa Malaysia in church and during worship,” he said in a statement yesterday.
By Robin Gomes
The Holy See is convinced that the advancement of sustainable peace and security in the world depends much on the promotion of equal respect and advancement of men and women in and by media. Monsignor Janusz Urbanczyk, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and specialized institutions in Vienna, Austria, made the observation on Tuesday at a meeting on “Media Freedom and Gender Equality”, sponsored by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The event was held a day after the celebration of International Women Day, 8 March.
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