Civil aviation organization ICAO said that figures for the first quarter of 2024 indicate that airlines will maintain the return to profitability recorded in 2023.
“The commitment of Member States to align their responses to the pandemic with the guidance developed by the ICAO Council has been crucial for the resumption of their air services,” said Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano.
“The implementation of ICAO’s post-pandemic guidance is now equally crucial to ensure the resilience and sustainability of this recovery. »
The agency forecasts traffic growth of around 3% from 2019 levels, and perhaps 4% if the pace of recovery accelerates on roads that have not yet returned to pre-levels. the pandemic.
“The ambitious targets agreed by governments for the decarbonization of air transport by 2050 support the environmental sustainability of the recovery and future development of the global air transport network,” said ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar.
The analysis indicates that air traffic on most routes had already reached or exceeded pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023.
Fly high
The main regional routes that exceeded the 2019 mark at the end of last year were travel within Europe; Europe to/from North America, Middle East, Southwest Asia and Africa; North America to/from Latin America and the Caribbean, Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific; Middle East to/from Southwest Asia and Africa.
Most Asian international routes, with the exception of those serving Southwest Asia, continue to have significantly lower traffic levels in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
UN human rights chief slams Ghana's family values bill 'deeply troubling'
On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights describes a parliamentary bill in Ghana, which introduces new criminal sanctions against LGBTQ+ citizens as “deeply disturbing,” urging lawmakers to halt its adoption.
Volker Türk said the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill 2024 would expand the criminalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and queer people “simply because they are who they are.” The bill also “threatens perceived allies of LGBTQ+ people with criminal sanctions,” he warned.
Live without discrimination
“I ask that the bill not become law. I urge the Ghanaian government to take steps to ensure that everyone can live free from violence, stigma and discrimination, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Mr. Türk.
“Consensual same-sex relations should never be criminalized. »
He expressed deep concern that the bill criminalizes the legitimate work of human rights defenders, teachers, medical professionals, landlords and people seeking health care.
“The bill is contrary to the Constitution of Ghana and freely entered into regional and international human rights obligations and commitments, including leaving no one behind in the implementation of the law. Sustainable development agenda for 2030“, declared the High Commissioner.
Mr. Türk stressed that the bill is corrosive and will have a negative impact on society as a whole.
He reformulated that of his office (OHCHR) commitment to work with the Government of Ghana and its national partners to ensure that it meets its human rights commitments and obligations.
Russia's decade-long occupation of Crimea marked by widespread violations
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine released a new report on Wednesday documenting serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.
The violations persisted during a decade of occupation by Russian forces, with Moscow illegally imposing citizenship requirements, laws and institutions “in all spheres of life, suppressing opposition and dissent”, it said. the mission in a press release.
The report reveals Russian efforts to restrict civic space and limit fundamental freedoms. Crimean Tatar leaders, seen as opposed to the occupation or Russian policies, were particularly hard hit.
Tatars who fled the peninsula were unable to return, while many Russians were resettled in Crimea in an attempt to change the region's demographics.
“Dark omen”
“Over the past decade, we have documented efforts by the Russian Federation to impose the Russian language, culture and institutional framework in Crimea, while taking steps to erase the rich cultural, linguistic and religious heritage of the peninsula”, declared the head of the mission. Danielle Bell.
Any opposition faces harsh reprisals, the report says, with some facing rights violations, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture.
The findings are “not only alarming, but also a grim harbinger of the devastating and lasting impact that Russian occupation could have on other occupied regions of Ukraine,” Ms. Bell said.
