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Month: June 2019

'Act now with ambition and urgency' to tackle the world’s ‘grave climate emergency’, UN chief urges UAE meeting

“Climate disruption is happening now, and it is happening to all of us”, he warned. “It is progressing even faster than the world’s top scientists have predicted”.

The UN chief lamented that it is “outpacing our efforts to address it” with each week bringing “new climate-related devastation” from floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and superstorms.

Because of climate change, “all around the world, people are losing their homes and being forced to migrate”, he informed the meeting, adding that the situation “will only get worse unless we act now with ambition and urgency”.

Just last week, reports surfaced that “Himalayan glaciers are melting at double the rate since the turn of this century”, threatening water supplies throughout Central, South and East Asia, according to Mr. Guterres.

Moreover, he pointed out that “Arctic permafrost is melting decades earlier than even worst-case scenarios”, threatening to unlock vast amounts of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

“It is plain to me that we have no time to lose,” Mr. Guterres said.  “Sadly, it is not yet plain to all the decision makers that run our world.” 
Even more worrying, he continued, “is that many countries are not even keeping pace with their promises under the Paris Agreement.”

Keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees at the end of the century will require “rapid and far-reaching transitions” in how we manage land, energy, industry, buildings, transport and cities, he stressed. “That is why I am convening the Climate Action Summit in September.” 

The Abu Dhabi meeting, which is in preparation for the September Summit, aims to take stock of progress across all the areas that the Summit is looking to promote, from industrial transition to nature-based solutions to climate finance for both mitigation and adaptation.

Climate disruption is happening now, and it is happening to all of us — UN chief

“The Climate Action Summit is an opportunity for political, business and civil society leaders to set an example”, flagged the UN chief, “and here in Abu Dhabi, we are pointing the right direction”.

“Our Summit must be open, inclusive and honest, and the work we take forward must be effective, just and fair – for those on the frontlines of the crisis today and especially for the generations to come”, the Secretary-General concluded.

Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment said: “We are here today, in a region known for its hydrocarbon economy … and yet, through forward-thinking policies, we have now made solar the cheapest source of power.”

Keeping cool in the face of climate change

From the cold chain systems that maintain uninterrupted refrigeration during the  delivery of food and vaccines, to protection from extreme heat waves globally – access to cooling is a fundamental issue of equity, and as temperatures hit record levels, for some, it can mean the difference between life and death. 

UN News asked Rachel Kyte why she is so passionate about cooling.

What is sustainable cooling?

Cooling is essential to human health and prosperity. As the world rapidly urbanizes, warms and populations grow, cooling is an urgent development challenge that has important ramifications for our climate. It requires fast action to protect the most vulnerable, and is vital for economic productivity by allowing workers, farmers and students to work in comfortable environments.

Yet as cooling needs rise, we must meet these challenges in an energy-efficient way, or the risks to life, health and the planet will be significant. At the same time, they provide equally important business opportunities for companies or entrepreneurs who can design and produce hyper-efficient cooling devices at affordable prices for this rapidly growing market.

Why is this such an important issue?

SEforALL’s “Chilling Prospects: Providing Sustainable Cooling for All” report shows there are more than 1.1 billion people globally who face immediate risks from lack of access to cooling. 
 
These risks are issues of both development and climate change, as they pose problems for the health, safety, and productivity of populations across the world – especially countries in Asia and Africa where access gaps are the largest. This challenge offers business and entrepreneurs the opportunity of major new consumer markets which require super-efficient, affordable technologies to meet their cooling needs.

How does cooling relate to the global goals? 

Sustainable cooling creates a direct intersection between three internationally agreed goals: the Paris Agreement; the Sustainable Development Goals; and the Montreal Protocol’s Kigali Amendment – with one of the key goals of the amendment to limit consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent greenhouse gas used widely in air conditioners and refrigerators.

As all countries have agreed to these goals, creating a national, hyper-efficient cooling plan that doesn’t risk a rise in emissions or peak energy demand will be critical to deliver sustainable cooling for all and meet global goals. 

A clean energy transition is already underway globally that can provide affordable, safe and sustainable energy for all. We must now incorporate cooling for all needs within this transition, while keeping us on track to reach our global climate and energy goals.

Where in the world do people find it most difficult to access cooling?

Based on the “Chilling Prospects” analysis, of the 1.1 billion people who lack access globally, 470 million people are in poor rural areas without access to safe food and medicines, and 630 million people are in hotter, urban slums with little or no cooling to protect them against extreme heatwaves.  

Nine countries have the biggest populations facing significant cooling risks. These countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America include: India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, China, Mozambique and Sudan.  
 
With global temperatures only set to rise, providing these populations with access to sustainable cooling will be critical to ensuring their safety. 

To what extent does cooling contribute to global warming – especially in developed countries where air conditioning machines are widely used to cool high summer temperatures?

It is estimated that cooling is now responsible for about 10% of global warming and growing rapidly. Future choices about refrigerants, the efficiency of cooling technologies, and how cooling is powered will have a significant impact on achieving the Paris Climate Agreement. Previous research indicates that by 2050, work hour losses by country due to excessive heat and lack of access to cooling are expected to be more than 2% and a high as 12%. 

With the destructive effects of climate change now being widely felt, government policy-makers, business leaders, investors and civil society must increase access to sustainable cooling solutions for all through benchmarking progress, access to cooling initiatives to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations from intensifying global heat and national cooling plans from government.
 

World Pride underscores that all people are born ‘free and equal’ in dignity and human rights

Their signs brought to life UDHR’s stirring words: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security” and “Act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”.

Among other things, the United Nations inter-agency group combats homophobia, biphobia and transphobia throughout the UN system. 

According to UN-GLOBE secretary Gabe Scelta, this year’s celebration is “especially important” because it marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which for many represent the beginning of the fight for equality and nondiscrimination for  lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, “which we are still challenged with today”. 

“As a transgender person marching under the banner of UN-GLOBE”, he said “it means our LGBTQI family, especially those facing discrimination all over the world, might see someone like me, someone like themselves, living openly and happily, and feel some hope for the future.” 

Mr. Scelta underscored: “Our community faces unparalleled discrimination and violence all over the world, especially directed towards those with intersectional identities”, including trans women of color, black and latinx trans women.

He pointed out that extremely high rates of depression and suicide are experienced “in epidemic proportions” as a natural response to the pressures of being a minority, especially for young people. 

“Seeing people like us living our lives with joy, with love and support from friends, allies, and workplaces can be a lifeline”, underscored Mr. Scelta.

All staff in New York were invited by the UN Staff Union and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to march with UN-GLOBE in celebration of World Pride. 

And next week in Geneva, Kate Gilmore, Deputy High Commissioner of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director of International Trade Centre (ITC) will be walking in solidarity as UN-GLOBE marches in the parade there. 

Not everyone is celebrating

While the atmosphere of the day was one of exuberance and pride, the World Bank pointed out that despite advances over the past two decades, LGBTI people continue to face widespread exclusion, discrimination and violence in many countries.

To date, about one-third of UN Member States continue to criminalize homosexuality and there is a deeply entrenched stigma against them that not only negatively impact LGBTI people, but also the communities and economies in which they live, according to the World Bank.

Tackling this plight is especially difficult because a lack of legal protections perpetuate the struggle.

Another major barrier is the absence of data on the lives of LGBTI people, which the World Bank says puts in jeopardy the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and countries’ commitment to the principle of “leaving no one behind” in the effort to end poverty and inequality.

Create conditions for ‘harmony between humankind and nature’, UN chief says on sidelines of G20 in Japan

“We need to rescue the planet” he spelled out. 

At a Trilateral Meeting on climate change during the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, are from left to right: Jean-Yves Le Drian, Foreign Minister of France, Wang Yi, Foreign Minister of China and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, 29 June 2019., by UN Japan/Ichiro Mae

Mr. Guterres expressed his gratitude to both countries not only for their “climate action” but for their multilateral approach to climate change, which he said was “absolutely essential” to the success of the 2018 UN climate conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, last December.

However, he noted that the recently concluded UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Bonn was not a success, saying that the realities on the ground today are “even more difficult” because of “political failing in some areas of the world”. 

“We need a boost in political will” asserted the UN chief. “I very much count on the determination of both China and France, both with the Paris Agreement, both with climate action and with multilateralism, to allow for our capacity to overcome the present difficulties”.

Looking ahead

The Secretary-General spoke about the upcoming Climate Action Summit, which he is hosting in New York this September, “to raise ambition, to make sure that we are able to commit clearly to implement the decision that was taken in Paris for $100 billion per year” to boost the developing world’s capacity for mitigation and adaptation.

At the same time, he hopes that the resources can be used to reform and replenish the Green Climate Fund, a mechanism he described as “essential for the finance of climate action”. 

We need a boost in political will — UN chief

Mr. Guterres informed the meeting that the UN Secretariat is “working very closely with the UNFCCC and IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], whose recent recent report he called  “a red alert”,  but also saw as  “a strong stimulus for action”. 

“We do believe that it’s necessary to limit the growth of temperature at the end of the century to 1.5 degrees”, which “requires carbon neutrality midcentury…[and] an enhanced effort with the nationally determined contributions that will be reviewed in 2020” said the UN chief.

Acknowledging “the difficulties and the problems each country has”, he expressed his gratitude to both France and China for their determination, “to increase, ambition and to make sure that the political will of the international community, in a multilateral way, will match the enormous challenge that we are facing”. 

“I very much count on the determination of your two countries to make sure that the Summit is a success, that the review of the nationally determined contributions will be a success, and that others that are more reluctant, that are more problematic, in the end will feel that they are involved”, concluded the Secretary-General.

Friday’s Daily Brief: More climate action says Guterres, migrant children dangers, Ebola fight, record-setting weather

Amidst ‘high political tension’, UN chief appeals to G20 leaders for stronger commitment to climate action, economic cooperation 

The annual G20 summit of leaders from the largest and fastest-growing economies, got underway on Friday in Osaka, Japan, against a backdrop of what UN Secretary-General António Guterres described as “a moment of high political tension”.

 “We have global warming, but we have also global political warming, and this can be seen in relation to trade and technology conflicts, it can be seen in relation to situations in several parts of the world, namely the Gulf”, he told reporters before addressing the summit, referring to recent attacks on oil tankers around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which have heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. 

Find our full story here – and play or download the Secretary-General’s full remarks on SoundCloud:  

One migrant child reported dead or missing every day, UN calls for more protection

Around 1,600 children were reported dead or missing between 2014 and 2018 – an average of almost one every day – but many more go unrecorded, a new UN report revealed on Friday.

“Fatal Journeys 4”, from the International Organization for Migration’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, highlights the need for better data on migrant deaths and disappearances, particularly for children; one of the most vulnerable groups of migrants.

Read our complete story here.

Ebola fight ongoing, amid evidence of ‘several massacres’ in DR Congo

The vital work of tracing people infected with deadly Ebola virus disease in north-east Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is progressing, despite evidence of “several” massacres in the affected area earlier this month, the UN said on Friday.

In an update on the situation in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, nearly 11 months after the outbreak began, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 2,284 cases of infection so far, and 1,540 deaths.

At the same time, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, announced that a “robust” probe found that 117 people had been killed in “several massacres” involving multiple villages in gold-rich Ituri, between 10 and 13 June.

Full update on the situation in DRC here.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response on SoundCloud:

Earth set to experience its five warmest years on record

While it’s perhaps no surprise to hear that the last five years may soon be announced as the warmest on record, UN experts have warned that higher concentrations of CO2 and other gases, will also fuel global over-heating for generations to come. The announcement by the World Meteorological Organization comes ahead of the Abu Dhabi Climate Meeting this weekend.

Its objective is to take stock of progress made by countries to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and galvanize initiatives, in advance of September’s Climate Action Summit in New York, called by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. According to WMO, global temperatures have risen to close to 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial period, and time is running out to keep it to well under 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

Listen to or download our audio News In Brief for 28 June on SoundCloud:  

 

Ebola fight ongoing amid evidence of ‘several massacres’ in DR Congo’s Ituri province

In an update on the situation in Ituri and North Kivu provinces, nearly 11 months after the outbreak began, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 2,284 cases of infection so far, and 1,540 deaths.

At the same time, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, announced that a “robust” probe found that 117 people had been killed in “several massacres” involving multiple villages in gold-rich Ituri, between 10 and 13 June.

Victims beheaded in scorched-earth policy to prevent returns

“The investigative team confirmed that at least 94 people had been killed in Djugu territory and 23 in Mahagi territory, including an as yet undetermined number of women and children,” OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado said. “Some of the victims were beheaded. Homes and warehouses were burned down after being looted. The ferocity and scorched-earth nature of the attacks suggests the assailants intended to prevent survivors from being able to return to their villages.”

Most of the victims belonged to the Hema community, while the remainder were Alur people, Ms. Hurtado said. The attackers were reportedly from the Lendu community, she added, her comments echoing an earlier alert from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, that thousands of people displaced by violence had arrived in Uganda this month, with an average of 311 people crossing the border daily, double the number for May.

Despite the insecurity, WHO insisted that frontline workers were doing all they can to tackle Ebola in north-east DRC.

“We had 637 people who survived the disease, and I think this is important”, said Dr. Ibrahima Soce Fall, WHO Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response.

Briefing journalists in Geneva, he noted that around 90 people are currently receiving treatment for Ebola virus disease infection, while new cases have dropped from 106 two weeks ago, to 79 last week.

Towns seeing only ‘sporadic’ infections, rural areas a serious concern

Major urban centres of Butembo and Katwa were now seeing only “sporadic” cases of infection, thanks to full access, Dr. Fall explained, before cautioning that in Beni, a large town in North Kivu, Ebola had claimed nine lives since Monday.

Contact tracing there and other preventative work was slowed earlier this week, he added, amid attacks by taxi drivers who were upset about the death of a colleague who sought help too late.

Turning to remote areas, Dr. Fall confirmed that the “very volatile” security situation had complicated the WHO’s work to tackle “a new hotspot” in Mabalako and Mandima.

“The outbreak started there last year and spread to other regions,” he said, “so it’s important to break the vicious cycle, to contain very quickly the situation in Mabalako and Mandima, where we have more than 55 per cent of the cases coming from.”

For the first time in the current outbreak, Ebola has also reached small forest-based villages such as Alima, where access is “more challenging”, thanks to the presence of armed groups from DRC and neighbouring Uganda, Dr. Fall said.

“You cannot just say, ‘I have access, I can go,’” he explained. “You have to negotiate, you have to assess,” conscious that the “risk is still important, because as you know, with Ebola, you only need one case to start spreading or one high-risk contact not followed, transfers the disease”.

‘No transmission’ in Uganda

Asked about the infection threat in Uganda, where three people with Ebola died earlier this month after arriving from DRC, the WHO official insisted “there has been no transmission” of the virus.

More than 1,200 people with potential links to the deceased have been vaccinated in Uganda, he continued, noting that some 5,000 frontline healthworkers had already received the jab before the disease was declared in the country on 11 June.

This is in addition to the 150,000 people vaccinated against Ebola in DRC.

“Over 68 million people have been screened at the border to make sure that they are not moving with the disease,” Dr. Fall said. “And we have identified so far 19 cases at the border level that were detected since the beginning of the outbreak; 19.”

Despite this high level of preparedness at the border, Dr. Fall insisted that there were many more “unofficial” crossings, which meant that the risk of Ebola transmission remained high among DRC’s regional neighbours, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.

Faced with this threat, he called for sustained international support for the campaign against Ebola.

WHO’s current funding needs are $98 million in DRC, of which $43.6 million has been received.

The budget to prevent transmission in Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda is almost $70 million for the last 12 months – a 40 per cent funding gap remains.

“We need to continue investing…in preparedness, because the risk is still there,” Dr. Fall said. “Since the beginning of the year we didn’t get any financing for preparedness in neighbouring countries. It’s really important to continue to invest in preparedness.”

Strawberries and child support; a Thai partnership

But that changed following the birth of her third child, Monluck, and the introduction of a nationwide child support grant worth just under US$20 per month. “I was so happy when I heard this news,” Mhee says. “Before, I didn’t have money to take my children to see doctors.”

The grant, for which 117,000 children from low-income families have been registered, was introduced by the Thai government following advocacy carried out by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

Read more here about how vulnerable families in Thailand are benefitting from child support payments.

The ‘core’ of the Sustainable Development Goals

It is an example of the type of partnerships that United Nations agencies are building with governments as part of a global push to realize the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to eradicate poverty, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity while protecting the planet.

“Partnerships are at the core of the sustainable development goals,” said Deidre Boyd, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Thailand, the UN’s most senior official in the country. “The goals are so ambitious, that it is clear everyone has to be involved.”

In Thailand, an upper middle-income country which “has dealt with many of the major issues of poverty and access to health services,” Ms Boyd said, “our role as the UN is to really strengthen the partnerships with people and organizations in Thailand to achieve the SDGs.”

5 things you need to know about Partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals

What are they, and why are they needed?

In 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that aims to end poverty, tackle inequalities and combat climate change. Governments, civil society, scientists, academia and the private sector need to come together to achieve the sustainable development goals and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 looks at how best that can be achieved.

While most of the goals focus on specific sectors, for example, health, hunger, decent work, climate and many more, SDG 17 reflects a holistic approach to implementing for the 2030 Agenda. It cuts across all the other goals and includes 19 targets that span finance, technology, capacity-building, trade and systemic issues, which focus on policy and institutional coherence.

That sounds ambitious?

It is, and the UN has said that the world should be doing better. “Despite some advances in certain areas in 2017, more needs to be done to accelerate progress. All stakeholders will have to intensify and focus their efforts on the areas where progress has been slow,” the UN Secretary-General António Guterres wrote in a recent report

The UN has also emphasized that countries should focus on partnership efforts that support the SDGs and which help to fill existing gaps in SDG implementation, be it ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education, or that all forms of discrimination against all women and girls are ended.

So, what does this mean in practice?

It means a lot of work going on behind the scenes, which, while not necessarily headline-grabbing, could have a profound effect on positive progress towards the goals. For example, measures to improve the capacity of national governments for tax and other revenue collection means those governments should have more money to spend on providing basic services like health and education. Partnerships to boost communications technology should result in more people in developing countries getting access to the internet. And working to “significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020”, as the goal explains, should bring more prosperity to some of the world’s poorest countries. “

The sharing of expertise and knowledge, including data, is also highlighted in SDG 17. In June 2019, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), launched a partnership to collect and provide data on electronic waste (for example, discarded television sets, mobile phones and computers and end-of-life batteries) which it describes as “the fastest growing part of the world’s domestic waste stream.” The idea is to use the data to help track progress towards global e-waste legislation and recycling goals.

 

How does this impact individuals?

The UN believes, “we are all in this together”, and that “change begins with you”, and encourages individuals to get involved in the SDGs generally by making small changes to their lifestyles, for example turning off lights to save electricity. On a partnerships level it suggests engaging, or partnering, with local and national authorities to participate in initiatives that don’t harm people or the planet.

And the UN suggests mentoring young people at work, adding that “it’s a thoughtful, inspiring and a powerful way to guide someone towards a better future.” The UN has even produced a guide showing how “lazy people” can get involved.

Aren’t partnerships already happening?

Yes, the United Nations has always worked in partnership with national governments, development partners, civil society, and the corporate world, as well as individuals, and SDG 17 is all about strengthening those partnerships and making sure they are more productive in terms of reaching the ambitious targets set out in the 16 other goals.

What is SDG 17?

Sustainable development goal 17 seeks to strengthen global partnerships to support and achieve the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda, bringing together national governments, the international community, civil society, the private sector and other actors.

Amidst ‘high political tension’, UN chief appeals to G20 leaders for stronger commitment to climate action, economic cooperation 

“We have global warming, but we have also global political warming, and this can be seen in relation to trade and technology conflicts, it can be seen in relation to situations in several parts of the world, namely the Gulf”, he told reporters before addressing the summit, referring to recent attacks on oil tankers around the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which have heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. 

UN Japan/Takashi Okano | Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the media at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. (28 June 2019) 

Turning to “uncertainties about the global economy”, he pointed to trade conflicts, high debt levels, potentially unstable financial markets and the risk of global growth slowdown. 

In the UN chief’s view, it “will be very difficult to have a breakthrough in relation to some of the most difficult challenges that the international community is facing”. 

‘Rescue the planet’ 

The Secretary-General spotlighted the urgency of addressing climate change as a main priority.  

Painting a picture of “heat waves in Europe, drought in Africa, storms happening also in Africa and the Caribbean” and a “multiplication” more intense, more frequent natural disasters “with worsening humanitarian consequences” he repeated his passionate refrain that “climate change is running faster than what we are”. 

“All the analyses that can be made show the situation, in practical terms, is worse than what we could have forecasted, and the political will has been failing”, he said, calling it “a paradox that needs to be addressed”. 

Avowing his belief in climate science, Mr. Guterres cited the landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of last October, which spells out that by the end of the 21st Century, temperatures must not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius  above pre-industrial levels.

This necessitates the world reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, which requires more ambition by governments and others.

He spoke about the UN’s September Climate Action Summit in New York where he will appeal to world leaders for a stronger commitment for climate action, including by “putting a price on carbon, ending subsidies to fossil fuels, [and] not accepting the idea that we still have an acceleration of the construction of coal power plants”, all of which are “absolutely essential to rescue the planet”.

2030 Agenda 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is another main challenge where “we are lagging behind”, according to the UN chief. 

Countries need to do more, mobilizing their own internal resources, improving their governance, reducing corruption, implementing the rule of law — UN chief

“If we project the different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the evolution since the beginning until now to 2030, we will be more or less at midway of what the international community has determined when the Agenda 2030 was approved”, he said, arguing the need to accelerate resource mobilization. “Countries need to do more, mobilizing their own internal resources, improving their governance, reducing corruption, implementing the rule of law”. 

Mr. Guterres highlighted that G20 nations represent 80 per cent of climate change emissions and appealed for a stronger commitment to international financial and economic cooperation. 

Iran, China, US and the digital economy 

After delivering his prepared text, the UN chief took questions on a variety of subjects, including rising tensions between the United States and Iran, where he reiterated his support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

“I have always believed and will go on believing that the JCPOA is a very important instrument…and it was a factor of stability, and that it will be very important to preserve it”, he stated. “Obviously, it is essential to de-escalate the situation in the Gulf” to avoid a confrontation that “the world couldn’t afford”.

When asked to what extent the UN chief held President Trump responsible for disagreements among the G20 leaders, he stressed the importance of dialogue between the presidents of China and the US, saying theirs was “probably the most relevant bilateral meeting that will take place”.

On the digital economy, the UN chief spoke of the recently concluded high-level panel on the digital cooperation, noting the “huge impact” that it – along with artificial intelligence – will have on the global economy.

“We will see a massive destruction of jobs and the massive creation of jobs, but the jobs will be different,” he said, adding that there must be “a strong commitment” by countries to guarantee the education, social protection and job creation needed to “minimize the negative impacts” and “optimize the positive contributions of the fourth industrial revolution”.

Listen to or download the Secretary-General’s full remarks on SoundCloud: 

 

One migrant child reported dead or missing every day, UN calls for more protection

“Fatal Journeys 4”, from the International Organization for Migration’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC), in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, highlights the need for better data on migrant deaths and disappearances, particularly for children; one of the most vulnerable groups of migrants.

“The lack of data on the ages, characteristics and vulnerabilities of missing migrant children creates serious protection gaps”, said Frank Laczko, Director of the Centre. “It makes it very difficult to create programs and policies designed to protect them.”

IOM/Mohammed
Rohingya refugees fleeing conflict and persecution in Myanmar.

Two-thirds of Mediterranean victims still not found

Over the period covered by the report (2014 to 2018), IOM reported that, of the total of 32,000 migrant deaths, over half – some 17,900 – died or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea. The remains of almost two-thirds of these victims, have not been recovered.

Rohingya fleeing conflict and persecution in Myanmar, made up the vast majority of deaths recorded during migration flows in South-East Asia over the reporting period – 1,723 of the 2,200 migration-related deaths in the region – and the widely reported passage of migrants across the United States-Mexico border has seen an increasing number of deaths every year since 2014, totalling 1,907 over the five-year period.

The report was published just days after a shocking picture of a drowned Central American migrant and his infant daughter on the banks of the river dividing Mexico and the United States, was seen around the world. The head of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, described the photograph as “a searing image that should shake each of us to our core”, and issued an appeal for countries to do more to protect vulnerable migrants.

More regional breakdowns are available on IOM’s Missing Migrant Project Website.

 IOM’s focus on children is part of a wide-ranging call for better data and protection for migrant children, involving UNICEF and other agencies, including the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

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