# 54
Sunday, 8 December 2019- edited by Ilaria
Saltarelli, Laura Harth and Angelica
Russomando | | |
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40
million people victims of modern
slavery
On
the occasion of International Day for the
Abolition of Slavery on December 2, the International Labor
Organization announced that around the world,
40.3 million people were victims of "modern
slavery", which implies situations of exploitation
that a person cannot refuse or leave due to
threats, violence and abuse of power. 24.9 million
were victims of forced labor and 15.4 million
forced marriages. Out of the 24.9 million people
trapped in forced labour, 16 million people are
exploited in the private sector such as domestic
work, construction or agriculture; 4.8 million
persons in forced sexual exploitation, and 4
million persons in forced labour imposed by state
authorities. In addition, 150 million children are
subjected to forced labor. Women and girls
represent 99% of the sex industry and 58% in other
sectors.One of the Sustainable Development Goals
aims to eradicate slavery in all its forms by
2030.
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China
and EU: “Strategic Partners” No More
Axel
Berkofsky for Institute for Security and
Development Policy, December 2019- China has since
March 2019, been labelled as the EU’s “systemic
rival” as stipulated in the “EU-China- A Strategic
Outlook”, a document which outlines some of
achievements and many of the shortcomings of
EU-China relations and cooperation. Gone are the
days, or so it seems, when Brussels’ policymakers
boasted about their “strategic partnership” with
Bejing, their “mutual understanding”, “common
interests” and “sectoral dialogues” all of which
created the instrumental basis to adopt joint
policies and resolve problems through strong
bilateral trade and an investment
agenda.
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Global
Humanitarian Overview 2020
A
record 168 million people worldwide will need help
and protection in crises spanning more than 50
countries in 2020, the UN’s emergency relief chief
has said, in an appeal for nearly $ 29 billion in
humanitarian aid from donors.
Climatic
shocks, large infectious disease outbreaks and
intensifying, protracted conflicts, have resulted
in global needs increasing by some 22 million
people in the past year, Mark Lowcock told
journalists in Geneva, at the launch of the UN
humanitarian affairs coordination office’s
(OCHA) Global
Humanitarian Interview :“In
2020, nearly 168 million people worldwide will
need humanitarian assistance and protection,” he
said. “That represents about one person in 45 on
the planet. It is the highest figure in
decades.”
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World
Bank adopts $ 1 billion-plus annual China leading
plan over US objections
CNBC,
5 December 2019-US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin
stated China is too wealthy for such international
aid when it is lending hundreds of billions of
dollars of its own to poor countries through its
Belt and Road infrastructure drive. Senate Finance
Committee Chairman Charles Grassley added that
“The World Bank, using American tax dollars,
should not be lending to wealthy countries that
violate the human rights of their citizens and
attempt to dominate weaker countries either
militarily or economically”.
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In
the UN, China users threats and cajolery to
promote its worldview
Some
countries are pushing back
Gady
Epstein for The Economist, 7 December 2019-
Despite its veto-wielding power in the United
Nations, China has long been reluctant to stick
its neck out. It has been 20 years since it last
stood alone in exercising that right. But in the
UN’s backrooms, the country’s diplomats are
showing greater willingness to flex muscle, and
their Western counterparts to fight back. Not
since the cold war has the organization become
such a battleground for competing visions of the
international order.
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