MANKIND, We failed in love, in peace, and in building a secure and balanced life!

Happy Year for Earth, better luck for mankind.

RUBA AYYASH

The Earth completes its cycle successfully, but we humans are spinning in vicious cycles of failure.

We failed in love, in peace, and in building a secure and balanced life, so that 2024 will bear witness to the greatest human failures despite all the technological, technical and material progress, between the consolidation of wars and the expansion of tragedies to millions.

In its latest statement issued at the end of the year, UNICEF says that 2024 could be the worst year for children in conflict!

PIXNIO 43911 1920x1440 1 — Photo by Guy Lawson, USAID on Pixnio

She says one in six children now live in conflict zones and are exposed to violations of their rights, including killing, injury, dropping out of school and losing life-saving vaccines.

According to the World Bank report, some 700 million people, or 8.5 percent of the world’s population, live in extreme poverty, with a daily income of less than $2.15. Forty-four percent of the world’s population, about half of the world’s population, lives on less than $6.85 a day, the poverty line in middle- to high-income countries. Progress in reducing global poverty has slowed dramatically.

According to UN statistics, more than 735 million people suffer from chronic hunger in 2024, as a result of conflict and climate change.

It has been an interesting year as global military spending has increased to more than $2.4 trillion, while humanitarian aid is dwindling in return. Wars, which have become one of the most effective projects that generate profits for political elites and arms companies, have left behind disasters that the world is unable to contain.

According to UNHCR, the number of forcibly displaced people around the world exceeded 110 million in 2024, the highest number ever recorded. Infectious diseases have also worsened in conflict zones such as Yemen, Sudan and the Gaza Strip, with collapsing health systems unable to cope with crises. As for war deaths, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates that the number of civilian deaths in armed conflict increased by 15 percent compared to the previous year.

Are these our proud human achievements? Famine, increased displacement, and high rates of extreme poverty. There is no clean water, bread is difficult to secure, and basic services have collapsed in many parts of the world.

Are these our proud human achievements? Erasing Gaza from the map, the West Bank that has become hostage between the jaws of Israel on the one hand and the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on the other, which are fighting over the crumbs of the cake, and look like drowning on a straw!

The collapse of the sovereignty of the countries of the region from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq, where regional and international powers are fighting at the expense of man and his livelihood, so that the individual remains a victim of major interests and ambitions.

Were these our human achievements? To witness new Sykes-Picot and San Remo in the region, re-dividing them for the benefit of the “occupations.” Were these our human achievements, between dead and body parts, wounded and intellectual damage, destruction of the educational and health system and infrastructure in countries? The increase in tents and the bombing of villages and cities.

Were these our human achievements, laws that restrict and degrade women in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, and then the terrifying statements and ideas spread to Syria? The appetite of horrorists may later open up in the rest of the country.

We stand helpless before ourselves and our impressive human achievements. Perhaps we, each in his own small surroundings, were part of this great failure. So, as we congratulate the Earth on its success in completing its cycle, we must whisper to ourselves: Happy Year for Earth, better luck for mankind.

women carrying the national flag of ukraine during a peaceful protest — Photo by Nati on Pexels.com

31-12-2024

RUBA AYYASH: Multimedia Journalist @ Sky News Arabia ; Master’s in Journalism, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates

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