Officials from various UN agencies on Tuesday expressed their condemnation and grave concern over the Israeli army's destruction of water supply and sewage facilities, further endangering children in the besieged enclave where the infectious poliovirus has been found.
James Elder, spokesman of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said the Israeli attacks against water facilities demonstrate a blatant disregard for children's rights and will accelerate the spread of diseases and other health concerns.
"That report that many of you will have seen of one of the main water facilities in Rafah being blown up is of course abhorrent and again demonstrates a flagrant disregard for children's rights. It is yet another grim reminder on these assaults on families who are already in desperate need of water. Without it, already vulnerable children or families, they're likely to be forced again, increasingly, to resort to unsafe water, so putting them in all those risks that we see time and time again, day after day in Gaza, dehydration, malnutrition, diseases," he said.
In addition to the destruction of water supply facilities, five major sewage treatment facilities in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), exacerbating the spread of various diseases.
The Gaza health ministry also declared a polio epidemic in the region on July 29.
On July 26, the World Health Organization announced that it would provide over 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza.
However, the ongoing conflict has greatly hindered the delivery of vaccines, and the lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip has also made the storage of vaccines a problem.
According to Ahmed al-Fara, a pediatrician at Nasser Hospital in Gaza, power outages due to a lack of fuel to generate electricity would mean refrigerators where the vaccines are stored would not be operational.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier called for parties to the conflict to ensure aid trucks are able to transport the vaccines.
"We need, again, a ceasefire. [That would be] the best, but at least cleared and safe roads, safe access. Otherwise, the vaccines would be sitting as many other trucks are across the border, either on the Rafah side or at the other checkpoints either inside or just inside or outside Gaza, with not much help," Lindmeier said.
Bombing of Gaza water facilities further endangers children as disease spreads
Bombing of Gaza water facilities further endangers children as disease spreads
A potential trade deal between United States and China, the world's two largest economies, could benefit not only the two sides but also the global economy as a whole, said renowned British entrepreneur Martin Sorrell on Tuesday.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sideline of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sorrell, the Founder and Executive Chairman of the digital advertising and marketing services provider S4 Capital, shared his perspective on the evolving global economic landscape.
He said that the world is facing slower economic growth and highlighted the U.S. and China as key players for driving global economic expansion.
"You look at the world in a different way. You focus on where the growth is. So where's the growth going to be? The U.S. is going to be strong. The U.S. economy, S and P 500 Earnings this year will be up 11 percent, that's the forecast; next year, 7 percent. That's the biggest determinant of advertising growth is corporate profitability be strong, so the U.S. will be strong. Asia, very strong. If you're big in China, like Apple or Tesla, or indeed LV, you want to be bigger; If you are small in China or underweight, you probably want to be bigger. So with that one caveat, China is obviously remains really important," said Sorrell.
Donald Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, has repeatedly vowed to implement additional tariffs on a broad range of trading partners, including China.
Noting that the combined GDP of the U.S. and China has reached 46 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for over 40 percent of the global total of 106 trillion U.S. dollars, Sorrell suggested that Trump's business instincts could lead him to negotiate a trade deal with China, benefiting both countries and the global economy.
"The U.S. is 28 trillion [U.S. dollars]; China, 18 trillion out of 106 [trillion], so 46 [trillion], by far the biggest part of the world economy. I think Europe is about 18 [trillion] as a whole, but no individual countries like this. So that's the most important issue. There seems to be a bit of delay in relation in considering Chinese tariffs, may be going first on Canada and Mexico rather than China. So maybe we'll see, maybe there is the hope of a deal. And I hope there will be a deal, because I think it will be good for the world, and for obviously, for both economists, they would if it happens. President Trump wrote the book, the Art of the Deal, and he's a negotiator, and he wants to do the best financially for America, and financially for America maybe a deal with China in trade is the best thing," he said.
In terms of China's economic outlook, Sorrell said he expects the Chinese economy to strengthen, adding that he thinks China will shift its trade policy to focus more on the markets that take up nearly 60 percent of the global GDP.
"My view is that it is a multipolar world. And the Americans, I can say this as British, the Americans and indeed the British have got to understand that the plates are shifting, that the Global South, the BRICS, the Next 11 are becoming more important. I look forward to a world which will be not dominated by the West, the hegemonic West, or the U.S., but more balanced and more nuanced. And I think that's what we have to get used to. I expect the Chinese economy to strengthen. China was going to alter its trade policy to emphasize that 60 trillion that is outside China and the U.S. I said it was 46 [trillion]. the world is 106. So there's 60 trillion of GDP in Latin America, in Africa, in Europe, in Asia Pacific that China can develop," said Sorrell.
Potential China-US trade deal could benefit world economy: British entrepreneur