The fact that
humanity has to
clarify that any lives
matter, should
be concern
enough
Categories
Caring ~
Tag: Humanitarian
Categories
Humanity
As far as the eye can see, we observe divisiveness, separation and isolation. Fear is the greatest enemy; the father of all suffering, and love is the only cure for humanity’s great afflictions. Anyone who looks deeply and honestly at the world today is surely confronted with the grisly realities of human life on earth; realities from which most people try to remain unattached. The pain of humanity’s most maltreated victims echoes deep within each of us, in the form of our shame or ignorance. Those who suffer are always there, pleading for help, and the voice of reason within each of us tells us to reach out and help. We must not ignore this voice, for it is the very anchor of conscience in the turbulent seas of suffering, which suggests there may still be something noble in the human soul. Listening to this voice is the last, thin thread that gives us hope that we are, in fact, not beasts.
There are too many problems in the world to enumerate: government abuses, genocide, starvation, human trafficking, slavery, economic and currency manipulation, usury, false shortages, resource hoarding, unjust wars, class warfare, arms proliferation, the molecular pollution of the biosphere, corruption, child labor, sexual slavery, rape and vicious crimes against women and children. In the context of extreme injustice, some of the problems we face, are trivial by comparison. It is easy to believe that the large and distant distant problems do not apply to us, but make no mistake, we are only momentarily in the eye of the hurricane, from which no one can escape through vain indifference.
So what is the state of the human family at large?
The realities of human suffering are utterly monstrous. Even the “first-world” so-called bastions of prosperity, justice and law, are rife with corruption hidden in plain sight, which has been carefully crafted by the unwitting populace’s hidden masters. Orwellian times of universal deceit are upon us, where many an injustice, is presented as solution and gift. It seems that everywhere you look, you see the same tyranny wearing different costumes; some more transparent than others, but underneath, it is the same dark and selfish spirit.
The overt and subtle crimes committed against people around the world are enough to send us desperately searching for the solid ground of meaning and sanity in an insane world, for malevolence and apathy of ‘sane’ people is the truest form of insanity. What do we do when the world seemingly lacks the wisdom to live in the grace and peace, choosing instead to exist in a state of dis-ease? How can we break free from the chains which shackle each soul through the binding links of fear, greed and indifference? There is no problem that greater consciousness and compassion, enjoined with positive resolve of will cannot solve. The voice of reason tells us, that while great horrors exist in the world, we are all one, and there is still hope through love. Love and respect changes everything.
Rabbi Haim of Romshishok often began his talks with the following story:
I once ascended to the firmaments. I first went to see Hell and the sight was horrifying. Row after row of tables were laden with platters of sumptuous food, yet the people seated around the tables were pale and emaciated, moaning in hunger. As I came closer, I understood their predicament.
Every person held a full spoon, but both arms were splinted with wooden slats so he could not bend either elbow to bring the food to his mouth. It broke my heart to hear the tortured groans of these poor people as they held their food so near but could not consume it.
Next I went to visit Heaven. I was surprised to see the same setting I had witnessed in Hell-row after row of long tables laden with food. But in contrast to Hell, the people here in Heaven were sitting contentedly talking with each other, obviously sated from their sumptuous meal.
As I came closer, I was amazed to discover that here, too, each person had his arms splinted on wooden slats that prevented him from bending his elbows. How, then, did they manage to eat?
As I watched, a man picked up his spoon and dug it into the dish before him. Then he stretched across the table and fed the person across from him! The recipient of this kindness thanked him and returned the favor by leaning across the table to feed his benefactor.
I suddenly understood. Heaven and Hell offer the same circumstances and conditions. The critical difference is in the way the people treat each other.
I ran back to Hell to share this solution with the poor souls trapped there. I whispered in the ear of one starving man, “You do not have to go hungry. Use your spoon to feed your neighbor, and he will surely return the favor and feed you.”
“You expect me to feed the detestable man sitting across the table?” said the man angrily. “I would rather starve than give him the pleasure of eating!”
I then understood God’s wisdom in choosing who is worthy to go to Heaven and who deserves to go to Hell.1
There are many worlds we can create. One world is nothing short of hell on earth. It is a place where the unlimited creativity of humanity has been bridled and abducted by fear, creating a real-life nightmare of cruelty and indifference so chilling that death itself has become a welcomed and kind benefactor. The other world is a world held in your hands. You and those who love peace are the keepers of the bright torch of hope, and the guardians of its tendril flames that burn in the hearts of every soul throughout the world, no matter how oppressed and downtrodden. Those who see the world through the lens of love are the true visionaries. They carry the vision for all who yearn in their deepest sinews, that all children would live in a world of limitless possibilities, where each soul could reach the heights of their potential to unconditionally love, and to be loved unconditionally. The only difference between these two worlds, that will ever exist – “is you”! Share this with someone
Categories
Wisdom
βThe Rotary Foundation is not to build monuments of brick and stone. If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal mindsβ¦we are engraving on those tablets something that will brighten all eternity.β β Arch C. Klumph, December 1928
#AceNewsReport – June.30: The cease-fire could calm a war that has destabilized Africaβs second most populous country and threatened to do the same in the wider Horn of Africa, where Ethiopia has been seen as a key security ally for the West. It comes as the country awaits the results of national elections that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed promoted as the centerpiece of reforms that won him the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
TIGRAY: Ethiopiaβs Government Declares Immediate, Unilateral Ceasefire in Its Region on Monday as its people face worst famine crisis in a decade as the second horseman of the apocalypse rears its ugly head and today sporadic fighting has continues β¦
FILE β In this Thursday, May 6, 2021 file photo, the city of Mekele is seen through a bullet hole in a stairway window of the Ayder Referral Hospital, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Ethiopiaβs government said in a statement carried by state media Monday, June 28, 2021, that it has βpositively acceptedβ a call for an immediate, unilateral cease-fire in its Tigray region after nearly eight months of deadly conflict. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Abiyβs transformation from making peace to waging war has appalled many observers since the fighting in Tigray erupted in November. Since then, the world has struggled to access much of the region and investigate growing allegations of atrocities including gang rapes and forced starvation.
Ethiopiaβs statement was carried by state media shortly after the Tigray interim administration, appointed by the federal government, fled the regional capital, Mekele, and called for a cease-fire on humanitarian grounds so that desperately needed aid can be delivered. Meanwhile, Mekele residents cheered the arrival of Tigray forces.
The cease-fire βwill enable farmers to till their land, aid groups to operate without any military movement around and engage with remnants (of Tigrayβs former ruling party) who seek peace,β Ethiopiaβs statement said, adding that efforts to bring Tigrayβs former leaders to justice continue.
Ethiopia said the cease-fire will last until the end of the crucial planting season in Tigray. The seasonβs end comes in September. The government ordered all federal and regional authorities to respect the cease-fire β crucial as authorities and fighters from the neighboring Amhara region have been accused of atrocities in western Tigray.
βThe government has the responsibility to find a political solution to the problem,β the head of the interim administration, Abraham Belay, said in calling for the cease-fire, adding that some elements within Tigrayβs former ruling party are willing to engage with the federal government.
There was no immediate comment from the Tigray fighters, with whom Ethiopia had rejected talks. And there was no immediate comment from neighboring Eritrea, whose soldiers have been accused by Tigray residents of some of the worst atrocities in the war.
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict as Ethiopian and allied forces pursue Tigrayβs former leaders and their supporters, and as humanitarian groups plead for more access to the region of 6 million people.
The region in recent days has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict. International pressure on Ethiopia spiked again last week after a military airstrike on a busy market in Tigray killed more than 60 people.
Amid the upheaval on Monday, the United Nations childrenβs agency said Ethiopian soldiers entered its office in Mekele and dismantled satellite communications equipment, an act it said violated the world bodyβs immunity. UNICEF last week warned that at least 33,000 severely malnourished children face βimminent risk of deathβ without more aid reaching Tigrayβs people.
Joint UN-Government Tigray mission highlights humanitarian needs and path forward
Photo: WFP/ Kristen Nelsonhttps://www.wfp.org/news/joint-un-government-tigray-mission-highlights-humanitarian-needs-and-path-forward
ADDIS ABABA/ROME – Today, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, Catherine Sozi, and the Federal Minister of Peace of the Government of Ethiopia, Muferihat Kamil, completed a joint visit to Mekelle in Ethiopiaβs Tigray Region, aiming to highlight the need for strong partnership to rapidly scale up a Government-led collective response to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of people in Ethiopiaβs Tigray Region.
Mr. Beasley commended the emergency food assistance that the Government and partners have already provided to the people of Tigray since the onset of the crisis, reaching almost 1.7 million people with emergency food distributions. 26,000 Eritrean refugees residing in two camps have also received food and nutrition assistance.
βBut we must do more, together, to meet the needs of the population,β said Mr. Beasley, noting with concern that, βLatest preliminary estimates indicate that 2.5 to 3 million people in the region require emergency food assistance. Reports indicate that the nutrition situation requires greater attention, with young children and pregnant and lactating mothers the most vulnerable.β
Minister Muferihat indicated that the Government of Ethiopia has welcomed recent positive engagements with the Government by senior UN officials, including the Under-Secretary General for Safety and Security, the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme.
βTo ensure that humanitarian assistance in Tigray can be expanded and intensified without delay, the Government is moving with urgency to approve requests for international staff movements into and within Tigray, β said the Minister, adding that, βSeveral such requests have been approved over the past few days and the process of rapid and streamlined approvals will continue. The Government will also review visa requests for international humanitarian staff with urgency and priority. Communication capability for UN and humanitarian partners with significant operations in Tigray will be enhanced.β
Confirming the critical importance of enhanced operational presence and communication capability to allow UN agencies and humanitarian partners to scale up humanitarian interventions in Tigray, Ms. Sozi said, βThese recent and anticipated developments related to staff movement approvals and communication capability will allow international agencies to design and manage operations safely and responsibly, in close partnership with the Government. This is a tremendous step forward.β
Mr. Beasley announced that WFP has accepted a request from the Government to augment the transportation capacity of the Government and partners to deliver humanitarian assistance into and within Tigray. WFP has also agreed to provide emergency food relief assistance to up to 1 million people in Tigray and launch a blanket supplementary feeding intervention to assist up to 875,000 nutritionally vulnerable children and pregnant and lactating mothers.
SOURCES: The Associated Press, Cara Anna/WPF/
#AceNewsDesk report β¦β¦β¦Published: Jun.30: 2021:
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#AceNewsReport – May.21: Working alongside its partners, WFP is providing cash support which will benefit both people who now need assistance for the first time and people who were already receiving WFP assistance but have had to leave their belongings behind and go and stay with friends or family elsewhere:
WFP Report: Provides immediate support to families caught up in Gaza emergency: For people who have lost or fled their homes, one of the most pressing needs at the moment is food. The quickest and most effective way we can provide support is with cash, in the form of e-vouchers. Food is available for the time being and many local shops are still open, including those we have already contracted for our regular e-voucher support,β said WFP Representative and Country Director in Palestine Samer AbdelJaber.
Photo: AFP
However, the closure of crossings into Gaza may soon cause a dearth of commodities, including food, and push up food prices. Prices of fresh produce are already on the rise as farmers are unable to reach their land.
WFP is currently working with partners to scale up coordination, establish protocols and determine emergency food assistance needs for people seeking safety in the United Nations shelters. WFPβs cash-based voucher electronic platform is also being used by other humanitarian agencies to provide non-food and other basic assistance to affected people.
WFP is also providing technical assistance to assess humanitarian needs in Gaza and is supporting β through the WFP-led logistics efforts β the coordination of humanitarian cargo that may need to enter the area if borders remain closed.
βPeople in Gaza have already been living on the edge and many families struggle to put food on the table. Their situation has deteriorated even further over the past year due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions,β says WFP Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Corinne Fleischer. βThe majority of the population cannot withstand further shocks and the current situation could unleash a crisis that could spill into the entire region.β
In Gaza, WFP regularly supports around 260,000 people through cash-based transfers or cash assistance for food, direct food rations, and livelihood support projects. More than two-thirds of Gazaβs population of two million were already suffering from food insecurity before the current escalation of conflict.
Poverty and unemployment, the two key drivers of food insecurity in the region, were already high prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent deterioration in security conditions. More than half of Gazaβs population live in poverty β 53 percent β and unemployment is at 45 percent.
WFP requires an additional US$31.8 million to be able to continue providing regular food assistance to more than 435,000 vulnerable people in Gaza and the West Bank for the next six months. To respond to the current emergency, WFP urgently requires US$14 million to be able to provide emergency assistance over the coming three months for 160,000 affected people in Gaza and 60,000 people in the West Bank. The number of people in need may increase further.
The ongoing military escalation has caused significant suffering and destruction. WFP appeals for an immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities in Gaza and Israel.
# # #
The United Nations World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. We are the worldβs largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
#AceNewsDesk report β¦β¦Published: May.21: 2021:
Editor says #AceNewsDesk reports by https://t.me/acenewsdaily and all our posts, also links can be found at here for Twitter and Live Feeds https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/ and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com
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