Disaster risk reduction

This incident is far from isolated in Nepal, a Himalayan nation where road accidents claim hundreds of lives annually. Poor infrastructure, overloaded vehicles, and inadequate enforcement of safety regulations are perennial issues.

If the country maintains low infection levels through the year, Nepal will join the small group of nations that have defeated one of the world’s deadliest parasitic diseases as a public-health threat.

The report also shed light on child mortality rates, which are closely linked to water quality and sanitation.

Humanitarian assistance has declined sharply amid global funding shortfalls, leaving millions more exposed.

The agency emphasises that sovereign ratings have so far remained resilient, but this could change as climate shocks translate into sustained output losses, fiscal weakening, or political instability.

Horton’s final plea is therefore both scientific and moral: acknowledge the scale of the last disaster, confront the uncomfortable truths about how we live on this planet, and act before the next inevitable outbreak becomes the one we cannot contain.

Fortify Rights recommends that Bangladesh immediately close Bhasan Char, allow voluntary relocation to the mainland, grant all Rohingya freedom of movement and the right to work, and ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention. It also calls on the UN to prioritise human rights monitoring over access, and on the international community to support accountability for crimes in Myanmar.

The poor of Delhi and beyond are not just breathing polluted air – they are breathing the consequences of delayed justice. Blue skies remain a distant dream while painful breaths define their daily reality.