May 2019 — Page 4 of 15 — Human Rights & Charity

‘Huge’ stakes, ‘daunting’ job to tackle gender-based violence, UNICEF chief tells ground-breaking conference

In a ground-breaking collaboration, the Governments of Norway, Iraq, Somalia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together with UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is taking on the global SGBV challenge.

The conference yielded a total of $363 million in pledges from 21 countries for 2019, 2020 and beyond, including $226.2 million to be spent on priorities this year alone.

The devastating violence is not inevitable and those gathered over the two-day conference, agreed that it can be prevented.

UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore advocated for “safer interventions across all sectors of humanitarian response” with a “more central role for local women’s organizations”, and new innovations to “end this epidemic”.

She flagged sexual abuse and exploitation; early marriage and pregnancy; physical violence; and intimidation and harassment, saying that “for millions of girls trapped within humanitarian emergencies, these are not distant nightmares – these are daily realities” that put women at “a double disadvantage in the uncertainty of an emergency”.

“From frontline service providers…to the highest levels of government. To UN agencies and NGOs”, she warned, “the stakes are huge – and the job is daunting”.

But she also spoke of their strength and determination “to move past the violence that’s been inflicted on them” by going to school, finding a job and supporting “other women and girls who have endured the same hardships”.

“Though they have experienced terrible injustices, what they’ve endured does not define them”, she asserted. “Their determination does”.

Act against ‘abhorrent phenomenon’

Throughout his many visits to war-torn countries, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock has witnessed the unimaginable suffering of civilians and gross violations of international law.

“Sexual and gender-based violence is no longer a hidden horror”, he told the participants. “It is out in the open and there really is no excuse for inaction in the face of this abhorrent phenomenon in humanitarian crises”.

Pointing out that “survivors and people at-risk all over the world need material and tangible support close to where they live”, Mr. Lowcock expressed his hope that “grass-roots women’s organizations and others working on the front lines” would receive more funding for their vital work.

While the humanitarian response to SGBV has improved in recent years, much work remains, particularly refocusing prevention and response needs to include those affected.

“The international community must do more to support survivors and people at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, and to end the impunity that fuels this global pandemic,” said Natalia Kanem Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“With rising needs outpacing current resources, more and longer-term funding, including for women’s organizations, is needed to build a more effective response”, she stated. “We look forward to increased political will and financial pledges to deliver for women and girls and all survivors, to strengthen prevention, and to protect all those at risk”.

Tackle the problem ‘from all sides’

ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord said that “addressing sexual violence is not a humanitarian issue”.

“It is a societal issue that demands urgent effort to address the root causes of sexual and gender-based violence, and this work must be led by States”, he spelled out, adding that “we have to tackle this problem from all sides”.

Norway’s Foreign Minister, Ine Eriksen Soreide, called for “increased political and financial support” for the “often overlooked, underfunded” problem, saying “This has to stop”.

For its part, the UAE “firmly committed” to building on the Conference’s momentum, “translating the ideas discussed into action”, said UAE State Minister Zaki Nusseibeh.

The Conference comes at a critical moment for Somalia as its first dedicated legislation to combat SGBV has been proposed to the federal parliament.

“The passage of this crucial bill…shows our government’s commitment to provide justice for survivors of sexual violence,” said Women and Human Rights Development Minister, Deqa Yasin.

Funding the commitment

This $363 million raised will be used to fund UN, ICRC/International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, non-governmental organization and civil society mechanisms, including local actors and women’s groups engaged in SGBV prevention and response.

This is in addition to the unearmarked, or core funding, to humanitarian partners who work to prevent and respond to sexual and GBV, to the Central Emergency Response Fund and to Country-based Pooled Funds.

Hundreds of commitments were also made related to standards and legal frameworks, operational support, SGBV prevention and response services, leadership and coordination, and others which are specific to country contexts and areas of work.

He died so I could live: UN peacekeeper pays tribute to fallen colleague

On Friday, Private Chitete’s brave and selfless action was commemorated at a ceremony held at UN headquarters in New York, when his family received the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage,” the UN’s highest peacekeeping award, on his behalf.

Speaking exclusively to UN News’s Stella Vuzo on Friday, Tanzanian UN peacekeeper Corporal Omary recalled the deadly outcome of November 14, 2018. Along with Private Chitete, and other soldiers attached to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), he had been part of a military operation to dislodge armed fighters of the ADF militia in the east of the country, who had been attacking civilians and disrupting the UN’s efforts to halt the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.

“We received instructions to go to Naru camp in Kididiwe (eastern DRC). It was a joint operation with peacekeepers from Malawi. There was heavy fighting… I was shot in the leg. Thankfully for me, I was near Private Chitete, and he tied my leg with a bandage.”

Private Chitete administered lifesaving first-aid, and dragged Corporal Omary, who was pinned down and exposed to enemy fire, away to a less dangerous area: in doing so, he was shot and killed.

“Honestly, I feel bad,” said Corporal Omary, “because he was a fellow peacekeeper, and we were working together to carry out our duties. I wish it hadn’t ended that way, but it’s God’s will and I pray for him.”

Thanks to the actions of Private Chitete, described by UN chief António Guterres as “a true hero,” the peacekeepers were successful in dislodging the militia fighters from their stronghold, enabling the UN to continue working to eradicate Ebola from the region. “He personally made a difference,” said the Secretary-General, at a special ceremony in New York where the award was presented, “a profound one.”

For Corporal Omary, the experience has led him to reflect on his own role as a peacekeeper, and the importance of the often dangerous work that he and his colleagues carry out every day: “I have learned a lot: patience, collaboration, and to diligently carry out the responsibilities bestowed upon me by my country. The UN should continue aiding peacekeepers, give them support and highlight the good work that they do.”

Friday’s Daily Brief: Honouring fallen peacekeepers, action against gender-based violence; LGBT rights in Kenya, Rohingya water crisis

UN hails peacekeepers who ‘paid the ultimate price’

Ever since the UN deployed the first of its 72 peacekeeping missions back in 1948, more than 3,800 peacekeepers have lost their lives, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, at a wreath laying ceremony in honour of those “brave men and women” who serve.

Speaking of “the true cost of peacekeeping”, the UN chief called for a moment of silence for those who “paid the ultimate price” to protect others and “to give war-torn countries a chance for peace and hope”.

“Today, in 14 missions around the world, our peacekeepers serve heroically to preserve peace and stability”, he said, adding that they also “face grave threats”.

Read our full story here.

Ground-breaking conference aims to tackle gender-based violence in humanitarian crises

One-in-three girls or women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, and “the risk multiplies” during a conflict or natural disaster, the Executive Director of UNICEF told delegates attending the first-ever “Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Humanitarian Crises Conference” on Friday, in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

The conference yielded a total of $363 million in pledges from 21 countries for 2019, 2020 and beyond, including $226.2 million to be spent on priorities this year alone.

Ms. Fore spelled out that although “they have experienced terrible injustices, what they’ve endured does not define them…their determination does”. More on the Conference here.

Kenyan High Court ruling on same-sex relations ‘sends dangerous signal’: rights chief

A Kenyan High Court ruling which upholds a colonial-era ban on consensual, same sex relations between adults, sends a “dangerous signal” to society and is “inherently discriminatory”, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in a statement issued on Friday.

Human rights defenders have long argued that these provisions breach Kenya’s human rights obligations, said the High Commissioner, and contribute to violence and discrimination against members of Kenya’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community.

“Criminalizing acts targeting certain individuals based on who they are and whom they love is inherently discriminatory”, she said. “It also sends a dangerous signal to broader society and encourages hostility and even violence against LGBT individuals”.

Noting that LGBT activists in Kenya have fought hard to secure their rights , he said: “My message to the people of Kenya is to fight on for greater equality for all, and never give up. The United Nations stands with you and joins you in your demands for dignity, equal rights and fair treatment.”

Emergency funds needed to save 600,000 malnourished children in Afghanistan

Unless seven million dollars in funding is found within weeks, Afghani children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, UNICEF said on Friday.

Speaking in Geneva, UN Children’s Fund spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, likened the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country to “one of the worst disasters on earth”.

And he warned that increased violence and last year’s severe drought have left hundreds of thousands of under-fives, critically vulnerable in the west and north of the country.

Go here for the full story.

UN health agency applauds Brazilian compensation bid from tobacco giants

The Brazilian Government’s offer to tackle tobacco giants to recover the cost of caring for people who’ve fallen ill from smoking – or exposure to tobacco smoke – has been applauded by the UN health agency.

In a statement, the World Health Organization (WHO) cited the authorities in saying that public health spending triggered by tobacco consumption in Brazil amounts to billions of dollars annually.

Moreover, it warned that the so-called “tobacco epidemic” was still one of the biggest public health threats in the world, killing more than seven million people a year.

Water shortages rise for Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh camps

Water shortages in Bangladesh have reached critical levels for 140,000 Rohingya refugees living on the country’s Teknaf Peninsula.

UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday that it was expecting to begin delivering water by truck within 10 to 12 days, and put in new projects that will help the region cope with longer dry seasons.

“Because of the changing weather patterns, we’ve had more six months of longer dry season without sufficient rainfall resulting now in critical cuts in the daily supply of water to refugees” explained UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic.

Trucking water to them and host communities will cost some $60,000 a month, according to UNHCR, which has warned that its humanitarian appeal for more than 900,000 people is only one-fifth funded so far this year.

Listen to, or download our audio News In Brief for 24 May, on SoundCloud:

UN honours peacekeepers who ‘paid the ultimate price’, for the sake of others

The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned –Secretary-General Hammarskjöld

“Today, in 14 missions around the world, our peacekeepers serve heroically to preserve peace and stability”, he said, adding that they also “face grave threats”.

He noted that UN missions in Mali, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Lebanon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo “are among the most dangerous that we have ever undertaken”, saying that “last year we lost 98 military, police and civilian peacekeepers from 36 countries”.

“We ask much of our peacekeepers”, Mr. Guterres said. “In return, we must continue to do all we can to ensure they are as safe as possible”.

“Today, we honour the memory” of the peacekeepers who did not return home, and “recommit ourselves to carrying forward their mission for a better future”.

Honouring 119 fallen heroes

Following the wreath laying, the UN chief honoured 119 brave men and women with the Dag Hammarskjold medal.

“Fifty-eight years ago, Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash in the Congo while trying to broker a peace agreement to end the conflict in the country”, said Mr. Guterres, calling the former UN chief “a tireless and fearless champion of peace” who took “robust action when needed”.

Today’s honourees were military and police personnel, international civil servants, national staff and UN Volunteers from 38 countries who served in 12 different UN peace operations around the world.

“Hailing from different backgrounds, our fallen heroes were united in their efforts to help the UN attain its most important objective – to save further generations from the scourge of war”, said Mr. Guterres. “The medal we posthumously honour them with, bears the name of Secretary-General Hammarskjöld”.

It is also inscribed with the fallen hero’s name, “forever linking them in our hearts and in our memories”, said the UN chief.

Mr. Guterres quoted Secretary-General Hammarskjöld in saying: “The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.”

“Today, as we honour our fallen colleagues with the Dag Hammarskjöld medal, let us also honour them by living up to his call to never abandon the pursuit of peace”, he stressed.

“I offer my highest tribute to those we remember here today, and my sincerest condolences to their loved ones left behind”, he concluded, asking for a moment of silence.

A ‘true’ hero lost

In a special event as part of the commemorations, the UN chief paid tribute to the late Private Chancy Chitete of Malawi, who was hit by enemy fire while protecting and administering lifesaving first aid to his wounded Tanzanian comrade, Corporal Omary.

Private Chitete became only the second winner of the UN’s highest peacekeeping award, the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” which was established in 2014 for uniformed and civilian personnel who meet the criteria, and named after the late UN peacekeeper Captain Diagne – the first posthumous recipient of the award – who saved hundreds of lives in Rwanda in 1994, before being killed.

“The world does not have many true heroes”, said the UN chief, but Private Chitete, who was serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), was “indeed one of them”.

In November last year, while conducting an operation to stop armed attacks which were disrupting the Ebola response in local towns, peacekeepers came under heavy fire. As bullets were flying, Private Chitete dragged Corporal Omary back to an area “of greater safety”, Mr. Guterres recounted. “Both were evacuated for medical treatment. Corporal Omary survived. Private Chitete did not”.

“Private Chitete’s selfless heroism and sacrifice helped the peacekeepers achieve their objective and dislodge the militia from its stronghold and that was vital for the Ebola response to go on”, he commended. “He personally made a difference. A profound one”.

The ceremony marked the first time the award has been conferred since its initial presentation to the family of Captain Diagne in 2016, said the Secretary-General, adding: “We could not have found a more deserving recipient”.

Around 600,000 Afghan children face death through malnutrition without emergency funds: UNICEF

Speaking in Geneva, UN Children’s Fund spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, likened the humanitarian situation in the war-torn country to “one of the worst disasters on earth”.

And he warned that increased violence and last year’s severe drought have left hundreds of thousands of under-fives, critically vulnerable across the country.

“There are two million children in the country which suffer from acute malnutrition, among them 600,000 children that suffer from severe acute malnutrition,” he said. “A child that suffers from acute severe malnutrition is a child that needs urgent treatment, otherwise he might die.”

While Afghanistan’s nutrition crisis is mirrored in many other trouble-spots around the world – from South Sudan to Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the UNICEF Spokesperson underlined the dangers, if funding is not found soon.

“We are the sole provider of treatment for severe acute malnutrition,” Mr. Boulierac said, noting that the number of youngsters suffering from the condition had remained “stagnant” for years. “If we don’t have money to buy this treatment, the severely acute malnourished will not get it.”

The development comes amid ongoing insecurity linked to four decades of conflict in Afghanistan, where UNICEF distributes supplies to health facilities across all 34 provinces.

According to the agency, 3.8 million children need protection and assistance this year, while nearly 289,000 people were displaced by violence in 2018. In addition, one in three children has experienced psychological distress, linked to the “constant risk” of death or injury, UNICEF believes.

Existing funding shortages have meant that fewer than one in two of the most vulnerable children received life-saving help in UN-supported health clinics across Afghanistan in 2018.

“This year in 2019, we would like to reach 60 per cent (of children) – not even 100 per cent – but we cannot,” Mr. Boulierac explained, “and it is extremely worrying. If we do not get $7 million dollars in three weeks, 1,300 facilities all over the country will not get this treatment.”

To meet Afghanistan’s essential nutrition requirements in 2019, UNICEF needs $26 million, but it has so far only received half of this amount.

“We cannot tell you how many children will die; but we can tell you that a child with severe acute malnutrition is 11 times more likely to die than their healthy peers,” he explained, noting that malnutrition reduces people’s resistance to disease.

This is a particular concern in Afghanistan, where only one in two children has been vaccinated, the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Energy of African youth ‘propelling’ new development era as UN ties bear fruit

That’s according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message on Saturday to mark international Africa Day. Earlier this year, the UN chief was in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where he spent time with schoolgirls from 34 different African nations, who were learning to code.

“They were not only developing their skills; they were challenging gender stereotypes and embracing the inclusive digital technology that will be critical to take the continent towards a low carbon, climate resilient future”, he said.

“The boundless energy and optimism of Africa’s young people are propelling the continent into a new era of sustainable development”, he added through the implementation of the African Union’s “visionary” Agenda 2063 for the continent, which is aligned closely with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, agreed by all the world’s nations in 2015.

Africa Day marks the 56th anniversary of the founding of the AU: “Since I assumed office in 2017”, said Mr. Guterres, “I have prioritized the strategic partnership between the United Nations and the African Union. I am proud to say there has been a quantum leap in our cooperation, from the institutionalization of the annual United Nations-African Union Conferences, to the new joint AU-UN Frameworks on peace and security and sustainable development, and the Joint Declaration on cooperation for African Union-led peace support operations.

“We are providing strong support to AU initiatives on prevention and mediation, including ‘Silencing the Guns by 2020’ and the African Women Leaders Network”, said the UN chief.

With the mutual focus on ending poverty, he said the UN and AU were “working closely together on mainstreaming the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 in national development plans and cooperating on unlocking new opportunities from the African Continental Free Trade Area.”

He concluded saying that the renewed emphasis on the UN-AU strategic partnership “is already producing results. Let us build on these strong foundations to make our cooperation more effective, efficient and mutually-reinforcing, based on the principles of African ownership, mutual respect, complementarity and interdependence.”

Thursday’s Daily Brief: Safeguarding civilians, strengthening Ebola response in DR Congo, marking Fistula Day, updates on CAR and Syria

Better safeguards to protect civilians amidst deteriorating compliance

Marking 20 years since the UN Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres told the chamber on Thursday that while safeguards were stronger, “compliance has deteriorated”.

“We are rightly critical when assessing the state of the protection of civilians, for there is great cause of concern”, he said.

The UN chief walked members through 20 years of progress, saying that a “culture of protection” had indeed “taken root” that encompasses a comprehensive framework based on international law, and becoming one of the peace and security body’s “core issues”.
Read our full story here.

‘No time to lose’ in addressing DR Congo’s deadly Ebola virus, says new UN response coordinator

With the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s worst ever Ebola outbreak now in its tenth month, the UN on Thursday announced measures to strengthen its response, with the Organization’s newly appointed Emergency Coordinator (EERC) declaring there is “no time to lose”.

Amidst a surge in new cases, the epidemic has claimed more than 1,200 lives and threatens to spread to other provinces in the east, as well as neighbouring countries. A third of those infected have been children; a higher proportion than during previous outbreaks.

“The Ebola response is working in an operating environment of unprecedented complexity for a public health emergency”, said EERC David Gressly, adding that “insecurity and political protests have led to periodic disruptions in our efforts to fight the disease.” Go here for the full story.

Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women globally

Marking the International Day to end Fistula on Thursday, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) cited UN data in pointing out that although the injury has largely been eliminated in developed countries, more than two million women and girls still suffer from the painful and disfiguring condition.

Hundreds of thousands of women and girls worldwide continue to “face devastating social stigma” of this almost entirely preventable condition, including “shame, isolation and segregation”, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said in a statement.

According to the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, obstetric fistula is one of the most serious injuries that can occur during childbirth, leaving a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, caused by prolonged, obstructed labour, without treatment. Here’s our take on the day.

UN mission condemns attack that takes over 50 lives in Central African Republic

An attack in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Tuesday, which reportedly left more than 50 dead, has been condemned by the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, MINUSCA.

News reports said that not far from the Chadian border, an armed group attacked several villages in the Ooham-Pende Prefecture.
Since 2012, the country has been plagued by fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and mainly Muslim Séléka rebels.

In February, the Government signed a deal with more than a dozen militias aimed to stabilize the country in which thousands of civilians have been killed and two out of three people in CAR have become dependent on humanitarian aid.

A joint mission by MINUSCA, the Central African Government and the African Union – as well as the Economic Community of Central African States – is expected to be deployed to the affected areas at the weekend, “to defuse tensions, assist victims and displaced persons and reassure communities”, said UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric on Thursday.

Respect the International Humanitarian Law obligations protecting civilians

The UN remains deeply alarmed by ongoing reports of airstrikes, artillery shelling and clashes in and around the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, it said on Thursday, noting that since late April, 100 people have died and repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure has increased the number of displaced.

Over the past 48 hours alone, dozens of casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure has been reported in Idlib and Hama governorates, as well as in northern and northeastern Aleppo. Attacks are also reported in some government-controlled areas.
Some 201,000 people are now reported to have been displaced due to violence between 1-16 May, bringing the total number of displaced people from northern Hama and southern Idlib since 1 April to 240,000.

The UN continues to call on the parties to respect the obligations under International Humanitarian Law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to recommit fully to the ceasefire arrangements agreed between Russia and Turkey in September.

Amnesty bill on table for rights violators in El Salvador, warns UN rights chief

The UN human rights chief on Thursday warned that a draft justice and reconciliation bill making its way through the legislature in El Salvador could result in de facto amnesty for serious human rights violators.

High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said that if passed as it stands, the Transitional and Restorative Justice for National Reconciliation bill, “will unduly benefit” those who were “directly responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes” during the country’s long civil war of the 1980s and 1990s.

Crimes included “extrajudicial executions of children, women and the elderly, enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence and other serious violations of international law,” the High Commissioner said. 

She said the bill would also result in “impunity for the masterminds and military leaders who ordered such crimes or failed to adopt measures to prevent or stop them.”

Listen to, or download our audio News In Brief for 23 May, on SoundCloud:

‘Great cause of concern’ UN chief tells Security Council, surveying 'bleak' state of civilian protection

“We are rightly critical when assessing the state of the protection of civilians, for there is great cause of concern”, he said.

Also, in the plus column, he credited deploying specialist advisors in peace operations and reinforcing humanitarian agencies’ work to strengthen child protection and help shield all civilians from “loathsome acts of sexual violence in conflict”.

Mr. Guterres added that monitoring and reporting grave violations against children in conflicts and engaging with warring parties “has led to the demobilization and reintegration of thousands of children”.

Moreover, he continued, Security Council resolutions on the protection of medical care in armed conflict and on conflict and hunger “have given important focus and urgency to these issues”.

Security Council-mandated UN peace operation successes:

South Sudan – nearly 200,000 internally displaced people currently shelter in protection of civilians’ sites.
Central African Republic – the UN mission supports local peace and ceasefire agreements that are monitored by civilian and military components.
Afghanistan – recording UN civilian casualty figures has led to the adoption of measures by pro-Government forces to minimize harm.
Syria – Millions of civilians receive cross-border humanitarian assistance.
From Cambodia to the former Yugoslavia, war criminals have been tried and convicted.

Civilians: ‘Vast majority’ of casualties

Despite these advances, grave human suffering is still being caused by armed conflicts and lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and “civilians continue to make up the vast majority of casualties”, Mr. Guterres flagged.

In 2018, UN records revealed that more than 22,800 civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen were killed or injured.

2018 – another year of violence and displacement

Some 1.4 million people newly displaced across international borders.
Around 5.2 million people internally displaced.
705 attacks against healthcare workers and facilities in eight conflicts, killing 451 and injuring 860, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Close to 370 aid workers kidnapped, wounded or killed.

And a new wave of shelling and airstrikes against hospitals, schools, markets and camps for displaced people in northwest Syria’s Idleb has killed and wounded civilians, causing widespread panic.

Mr. Guterres spelled out that in all conflicts, “when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90 per cent of those killed and injured were civilians”.

What’s more, persistent violence against humanitarian and medical workers and facilities along with widespread access constraints continue to jeopardize civilians in need.

“Chief among our challenges is enhancing and ensuring respect and compliance for international humanitarian law in the conduct of hostilities” bemoaned Mr. Guterres.

“In many cases, our information suggests that respect for those bodies of law is at best questionable”, he stated, while in others “we have witnessed blatant violations”.

He stressed the need for better accountability by closing the gap between serious violation allegations, their investigation and prosecution.

To do this, the Secretary-General cited his own report on the issue. First, he urged that clear national policy frameworks be established to protect civilians in armed conflict; secondly, that humanitarian organizations engage with non-State armed groups to negotiate safe and timely humanitarian access; and finally, that accountability be ensured for serious violations.

“We also need action at the global and multilateral levels” Mr. Guterres said, signaling that the Council must be “more consistent” and comprehensive in addressing protection concerns “within and across different conflicts”.

The UN chief also said that Member States, UN actors and civil society must sustain implementation.

“For, as bleak as the current state of protection is, there is considerable scope for improvement if we each do our utmost to promote and implement the rules that bind us to preserve humanity in war”, Mr. Guterres said.

ICRC to Council: Support humanitarian law

For his part, Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), acknowledged that while political consensus is difficult, “we ask you [the Council] to be clearer in your support for the respect of international humanitarian law – and in stating and following through on the simple truth that no one is above the law and no civilian can be excluded from protection”.

Chairing the meeting, Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said that the 20th anniversary commemoration should serve as a reminder not only of our political commitments, but also, of “our duties to implement those commitments”.

Recalling the UN Charter’s mission to ensure the primacy of human safety and security she underscored: “We cannot afford to let our people down”.

End ‘shame, isolation and segregation’ of fistula sufferers, urges UN reproductive health chief

Marking the International Day on 23 May to end the almost entirely preventable condition, the head of the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said that sufferers continue to “face devastating social stigma”.

“Shame, isolation and segregation are among the indignities faced by the hundreds of thousands of women and girls worldwide who suffer from obstetric fistula”, said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s Executive Director, in a statement issued on Thursday.

Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious injuries that can occur during childbirth, leaving a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, caused by prolonged, obstructed labour, without treatment.

It’s estimated that some 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop worldwide every year, but most occur among women living in poverty in cultures where a woman’s status and self-esteem may depend almost entirely on marriage and her ability to bear children.

“The girls and women afflicted by the condition, which is preventable and largely treatable, are often plagued by chronic incontinence” Dr. Kanem underlined. Sufferers often enduring depression, social isolation and deepening poverty, while many women live with the condition for years, because they cannot afford treatment.

The average cost – including surgery, post-operative care and rehabilitation support – is around $300 per patient. Persistence of fistula “is a sign that health systems are failing to meet women’s essential needs”, Dr. Kanem added.

New lease of life

Every year, some 3,000 Tanzanian women develop obstetric fistula, according to estimates by Comprehensive Community-Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), an NGO that is one of the country’s largest providers of disability and rehabilitation services.

Between 2009 and 2011, UNFPA partnered with CCBRT to conduct a pilot study on obstetric fistula. They found that high transportation and accommodation costs prevented many fistula-afflicted women from seeking treatment. 

With financial support from UNFPA, CCBRT launched a network of fistula ambassadors, in which ‘ambassadors’ in rural communities identify affected women and help to get them treatment.

No woman or girl should be deprived of dignity, hopes, dreams

Calling for more investment and support to eliminate the condition, the UNFPA chief said that “their inability to receive prompt medical treatment not only deprives them of their health and dignity” but is also “a violation of their human rights”.

UNFPA leads the Campaign to End Fistula. Since 2003, the UN agency has supported over 100,000 fistula repair surgeries, and campaign partners have supported thousands more, enabling women and girls in more than 55 countries across Africa, Asia, the Arab region and Latin America to regain hope and rebuild their lives.

“It is time for the world to heed the call made by United Nations Member States in the 2018 United Nations Resolution on Ending Fistula in which they committed to eradicating the condition within a decade. Yet, achieving this goal requires increased investments, innovations and partnerships”, said Dr. Kanem.

The prevention and treatment of obstetric fistula contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3, of the SDGs, dedicated to ensuring healthy lives; in this case, improving maternal health.

DR Congo: ‘No time to lose’ says newly appointed UN Ebola response coordinator

Up to the middle of this month, the number of cases, according to UN figures, stood at 1,847 (1,759 confirmed and 88 probable). In total, there have been 1,223 deaths (1,135 confirmed and 88 probable) and 487 people have survived the deadly virus.

“The Ebola response is working in an operating environment of unprecedented complexity for a public health emergency—insecurity and political protests have led to periodic disruptions in our efforts to fight the disease,” said EERC David Gressly, who also serves as the deputy chief of the UN Stabilization Mission for the DRC, MONUSCO.

Although the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have supported the Government and Congolese efforts to contain the virus in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces, ongoing insecurity and community mistrust continue to hamper access. This hinders the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Health Ministry from detecting, treating and vaccinating sick people, ultimately leading to more intense Ebola transmission.

The increasingly complex environment has prompted the UN, in partnership with the Government and others, to strengthen its political engagement and operational support to negotiate better access to communities; increase support for humanitarian coordination; and bolster preparedness and readiness planning for the Goma region, and neighbouring countries.

For its part, WHO is adapting public health strategies to identify and treat people as quickly as possible; expanding vaccination to encompass more people; and redoubling efforts to stem health facility transmissions.

The heart of the matter

Pointing out that “an enhanced UN-wide response is required to overcome these operating constraints”, Mr. Gressly underscored that “this includes moving senior leadership and operational decision making to the epicenter of the epidemic in Butembo”, where Secretary-General António Guterres has established a strengthened coordination and support mechanism.

Additional UN measures will bolster the critical work of NGOs and agencies on the ground, including UNICEF, which is leading community engagement activities; providing psychosocial interventions; and helping to prevent infection through water, sanitation and hygiene services.

Additionally, strengthened financial planning and reporting will be accelerated to ensure the sustainable and predictable funding required wage a strategic Ebola response plan.

“This system-wide and international support is exactly what WHO has been calling for”, said Ibrahima Socé Fall, the UN health agency’s Assistant Director-General of Emergency Response. Acknowledging that the outbreak response must be “owned by the local population”, he was heartened that the new approach reflects what has been asked for, namely “better security for patients and health workers, wider access to vaccination, and a more humane face to the response”.

Dr. Fall has been in Butembo since the end of March, working alongside the WHO Ebola Incident Manager, Dr. Michel Yao. In the capital Kinshasa, WHO has appointed Dr. Peter Graaff to coordinate with partners there. WHO will also continue to coordinate public health interventions that are being implemented by other UN partners.

As EERC, Mr. Gressly will work closely with WHO as it continues to underpin the Government’s response by leading all health operations and technical support activities.

Month: May 2019