A UN peacekeeper stands guard at a polling station in the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui during the second round of legislative elections in 2021. The fragile political and economic situation in the country has called for a more joined-up approach between humanitarian and peacekeeping actors. (Credit: UN photo)

🌉 Lessons in bridging the humanitarian, development, and peace divide. When a conflict erupts or disaster strikes, humanitarian aid actors are often the first to step onto the scene. But how can these emergency responses be better matched with long-term development and peacebuilding efforts? A new educational initiative led by the OECD and the UN aims to help bridge the divide between aid and development workers and peacebuilders.

People overwhelmingly support a global agreement to tackle plastic pollution, according to a global survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released on Tuesday. The poll, conducted on 20,000 people across 28 countries by the French-based polling company Ipsos, also showed that 75 per cent of respondents wanted single-use plastics to be banned.

The study comes as countries begin talks on an international treaty on plastics. Three proposals differing on how tough and how broad the agreement should be are on the table, making it unclear what the deal will look like. For the moment, over 180 governments have publicly expressed support for a treaty whatsoever. UN human rights experts David Boyd and Marcos Orellana urged countries yesterday to kickstart negotiations for a binding plastics treaty that includes human rights standards, such as people’s right to know what chemicals are added to plastics.

People evacuated from Donbass are seen at a temporary accommodation center at the Mechta children's health resort., 18 February, 2022. (Photo: Keystone/TASS/Sergei Karpukhin)

🇺🇦 How Ukraine missed the opportunity to get its people back in the Donbass. Russian President Vladimir Putin's recognition of the two self-proclaimed republics opens up a time of great uncertainty, with the possibility of a major conflict. But these territories were already alienated from Kiev. How did we come to this?, asks Dr. Anna Matveeva, visiting senior research fellow at King's College in London and expert in Russian and Eurasian affairs.