• English

Month: June 2019

Syria’s Idlib ‘on the brink’ of a nightmare, humanitarian chiefs warn, launching global solidarity campaign

In a direct video address to launch a worldwide campaign in solidarity with civilians trapped there, dubbed #TheWorldIsWatching, the humanitarian leaders said that they face the constant threat of violence. “Too many have died already” and “even wars have laws” they declared, in the face of multiple attacks by Government forces and their allies on hospitals, schools and markets, together with fierce resistance from extremist fighters that have gained control of much of the territory.

“Idlib is on the brink of a humanitarian nightmare unlike anything we have seen this century”, they warn.

UN relief chief and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, said that “our worst fears are materializing…Yet again innocent civilians are paying the price for the political failure to stop the violence and do what is demanded under international law – to protect all civilians.

A huge influx of civilians – many displaced by fighting during urban offensives in places such as Aleppo and eastern Ghouta – has seen the northwestern Governorate double in population since 2015.

At least 330,000 have been forced to seek shelter elsewhere within the region, during the huge uptick in violence of the past two months. Many of them have nowhere left to run.

“Our campaign expresses solidarity with the families under attack and tells everyone that we are watching and witnessing what is happening”, said OCHA chief Lowcock.

‘Universal principles and values must prevail’: Rochdi

With more than 300 civilians have been killed in the so-called de-escalation area in northwestern Syria since the latest Government offensive, including many women and children, said the Senior Humanitarian Adviser on Syria, Najat Rochdi.

During a Syria Humanitarian Taskforce meeting in Geneva on Thursday, she noted the ambulance that had been hit by aerial bombardment just last week, and the death of three medical workers, who had been attempting to rescue a female patient who also died, while they were trying to reach a local hospital.

“Everything needs to be done to protect civilians”, she said. “Universal principles and values must prevail when so many innocent lives are at stake.”

In Rukban camp on the Jordanian border, she said around 27,000 displaced civilians still lacked the most basic services, in dire need of assistance. “We continue to call for humanitarian access to Rukban to be able to deliver life-saving aid and to assist those who would like to leave”, she added.

UN envoy urges Russia and Turkey to ‘stablize’ Idlib

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, on Thursday urged the Security Council to “work at the highest level to stabilize the situation in Idleb” as the guarantors of the de-confliction zone in and around Idlib, set up last September.

Gier Pedersen told the Council that both countries “have reassured me that they remain committed” to the Memorandum of Understanding and had set up a working group.

“We must see this assurance reflected on the ground” said the Envoy, adding that he hoped Syria would be a main item for discussion at this weekend’s G20 Summit of nations, taking place in Japan.

“We hope that Russia and the United States can build on recent talks and deepen their dialogue at the highest level too”, he said, noting that five international armies were still present in war-torn Syria, making the need for a nationwide ceasefire critical.

Mr. Pedersen also highlighted the “significant presence” of terrorist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham inside the de-escalation area as another major drawback: “Its attacks must cease. But all due protection must be afforded to the up to three million civilians in Idlib.

“Undoubtedly, there is no easy solution for Idlib. But the only way to find one, is for hostilities to stop, and for key stakeholders to engage in a cooperative approach towards countering terrorism – an approach that safeguards the protection of civilians.”

‘Words must never be met with violence’ urges UN, following Taliban threat to journalists  

Noting that “words must never be met with violence”, Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), called on the threat to be rescinded, adding that “the only acceptable challenge to words is to advance a better argument”.  

Mr. Yamamoto underlined that “international humanitarian law – which applies to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the Taliban – prohibits attacks against civilians at any time and in any place”.  

And affirming that media workers are also civilians, he highlighted the importance of protecting their “fundamental rights to operate in an environment free from any threat, intimidation or undue pressure by any outside entity, including governments”.  

The UNAMA’s chief’s statement, in response to the public threats by Taliban to turn media outlets into military targets, highlighted two fundamental principles: that freedom of the press is critical, and that civilians should never be deliberately targeted with violence. 

In the context of repeated threats by the Taliban, Mr. Yamamoto said that “press freedom in Afghanistan is earned at an unbearable cost”. The United Nations recognizes that Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work. Official figures from cultural agency UNESCO’s observatory of killed journalists, shows that 16 died last year, and four so far this year. 

The most recent UN report on protection of civilians during conflict in Afghanistan, shows that over 3,800 civilian women, children and men were killed over the 12-month reporting period.  

Congratulating Afghanistan’s media workers for their reporting and continuing with their   duties in the face of escalating threats, Mr. Yamamoto added that the UN “remains steadfast in collaborating with national and international partners to protect journalists and to fight against impunity”.  

He also reiterated the UN’s support to the Afghan government, “consistent with its international human rights obligations, to implement measures that improve journalist safety and that foster an open media, where no voice is silenced through fear.” 

A new presidential election is scheduled for 28 September, which will be a “key moment to reaffirm the legitimacy of Afghanistan’s democratic political structure”, Mr. Yamamoto told the Security Council last week.  

Last Wednesday, UNAMA’s chief told the UN Security Council he was “encouraged” by signs of progress during international mediation efforts which could lead to a lasting political settlement between the Afghan Government and the fundamentalist Taliban movement, which controlled the country prior to the 2001 invasion by coalition forces.   

Thursday’s Daily Brief: dire living conditions in Idlib, migrants at US southern border, end in sight for trachoma, Human Rights Council

Syria’s Idlib ‘on the brink’ of a nightmare urge humanitarian chiefs, launching global solidarity campaign

The heads of 11 global humanitarian organizations warned on Thursday that the embattled rebel-held province of Idlib in Syria, stands on the brink of disaster, with three million civilian lives at risk, including one million children.

In a direct video address to launch a worldwide campaign in solidarity with civilians trapped there, dubbed #TheWorldIsWatching, the humanitarian leaders said that they face the constant threat of violence. “Too many have died already” and “even wars have laws” they declared, in the face of multiple attacks by Government forces and their allies on hospitals, schools and markets, together with fierce resistance from extremist fighters that have gained control of much of the territory.

Find our full story here.

After Rio Grande drownings, UNICEF chief highlights ‘dire’ detention centres on US-Mexico border

The shocking image of a drowned Central American migrant and his infant daughter on the banks of the river dividing Mexico and the United States, continues to evoke strong reactions, the latest from the head of the UN Children’s Fund.

“The heart-rending photo published just yesterday showing the lifeless bodies of Salvadoran toddler Valeria and her father Oscar on the bank of the Rio Grande is a stark reminder of the perils facing migrants trying to reach the US,” said Henrietta Fore. “It is a searing image that should shake each of us to our core.”

Read our complete story here.

Hundreds of millions of people no longer at risk of blindness infection trachoma: WHO

A disease that’s responsible for causing blindness in millions of people – trachoma – has moved a step closer to elimination, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The bacterial infection is present in 44 countries and can be painful and debilitating in its later stages, often affecting the most disadvantaged people worldwide.

Latest data from WHO shows that the number of people at risk from trachoma has fallen from 1.5 billion in 2002 to just over 142 million in 2019, a 91 per cent reduction.

This has been made possible by sustained and generous donations of antibiotics from health partners, according to WHO, which has praised the efforts of hundreds of thousands of frontline workers and volunteers who brave the weather, bad roads, insecurity and yet deliver treatment to mostly rural communities.

UN panel appeals to Mexico to release two men held in arbitrary detention for years

UN-appointed independent rights experts have called on Mexican authorities to free two men who have been held in pre-trial detention for well over a decade and allegedly tortured. The appeal from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is for the unconditional release of Daniel García, a former public official, and Reyes Alpízar, a trade union adviser.

They were denied a fair trial after being detained without an arrest warrant, according to the UN panel, which said that there was “no evidence” that reports of torture involving electric shocks, burns and injections had been investigated. Thursday’s statement by the Working Group follows official communications to the Government of Mexico in 2017 and 2018.

New global approach needed to eliminate violence against women and girls, says UN rights expert

“A new system-wide global approach is necessary to eliminate violence against women and girls,” said Dubravka Šimonović, the UN independent human rights expert on violence against women, in a report presented on Thursday to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

She proposed the establishment of a platform for cooperation between international and regional independent women’s human rights mechanisms to address the mounting push-back movements against women’s rights, adding it would demonstrate support for popular movements, such as #MeToo and #NiUnaMenos.

As the world approaches 25-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action in 2020, she said there is now an urgent need to address the significant implementation gap, and to accelerate the full incorporation and implementation of international, regional and national instruments on gender equality and violence against women.

“As we look to the future and, in order to address the chilling impact that violence has on women, I believe that urgent action must be taken, not only by States, but also by non-State actors, as well as international organisations and independent monitoring mechanisms to collect data on violence and femicide against women and to focus on their prevention.

 

Listen to or download our audio News In Brief for 27 June on SoundCloud:  

After Rio Grande tragedy, UNICEF chief highlights ‘dire’ detention centres on US-Mexico border

“The heart-rending photo published just yesterday showing the lifeless bodies of Salvadoran toddler Valeria and her father Oscar on the bank of the Rio Grande is a stark reminder of the perils facing migrants trying to reach the US,” said Henrietta Fore. “It is a searing image that should shake each of us to our core.”

In a strongly worded appeal to countries of origin, transit and destination to do more to protect vulnerable migrants, the UNICEF Executive Director spotlighted in particular the “dire” Government border shelter facilities on the US-Mexico border.

These centres cause lasting harm to youngsters in need of help, Ms. Fore said.

© UNICEF/Balam-ha Carrillo
In Tijuana, Mexico, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore meets with a young mother and her child who fled their home town in Mexico after facing extortion threats. (June 2019)

‘Toxic stress’ of holding centres causes irreparable harm

“Recent reports coming from some of these facilities are grim”, she insisted. “Children should not be in unsafe environments that can cause toxic stress and irreparable harm to their health and development.”

In comments that followed Tuesday’s resignation of the acting head of the US border protection agency, amid reports that migrant children lacked basic necessities, including soap and toothbrushes, at a centre in Texas, the UNICEF top official added: “It’s hard to fathom this happening in a country with such a rich history as a champion for children in need around the world, particularly for those uprooted from their homes and communities by crisis.”

Gang violence and poverty made us flee, say detainees in Mexico

Describing her encounter this week with Central American migrant families at a migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, Ms. Fore explained that some youngsters had already been traumatized either in their home country or en route to the US border.

“None wanted to leave their countries, but all felt they had no choice because of the threat of gang violence or oppressive poverty…This is a dire situation requiring urgent action and funding to provide children and families with essential services and support.”

While UNICEF is working to give migrant children better access to protection, education and other services “wherever they may be in the region”, Ms. Fore urged national authorities to follow suit, to ensure their rights, protection, wellbeing and dignity.

“No one country can do it alone,” she urged. “Addressing the root causes of forced migration and the needs of uprooted children require serious commitment, resolve and resources.”

UN Photo/Manuel Elias
Press briefing by the President of the General Assembly, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés. (27 June 2019)

General Assembly President stresses importance of Global migration pact

Commenting on the tragic father-daughter deaths in the Rio Grande,  the President of the General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa, said “we cannot have more people die because they decide to migrate.” 

Talking to reporters in New York, Espinosa said, “that’s precisely why member states came together and crafted the Global Compact on Migration. That is precisely why we have a very strong international framework on human rights. It so happens that people on the move are human beings, and as such they are entitled to have their fundamental rights respected.”

If the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals are reached, “it would be the biggest service and the biggest preventive strategy to dangerous and unsafe migration”, she said, noting that the Compact, formally endorsed by the General Assembly last December, establishes “a framework for orderly, safe, and regular migration.”

Turning to the situation of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and other countries in the region, Espinosa said this was a “symptom of the crisis” and stressed “the only outlet for Venezuela is a true negotiation with all parties involved.”

Madagascar villagers learn dangers of outdoor defecation

©WSSCC/Hiroyuki Saito | Madagascar is among the poorest countries in the world. (May 2019) 

“The latrines in the village are not well maintained,” offered another participant, “so many of us go to the outskirts of the village to finish our business.”

The village is Andoharanovelona, 60 kilometers south of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar – one of the world’s poorest countries – where the UN estimates that some 11.3 million people defecate in the open.

The conversation in the village is led by a team of four sanitation practitioners working with a local non-governmental organization known as Miarintsoa.

Eugène Rasamoelina, the head of Miarintsoa, asks the participants how often the latrines are used and whether three latrines are enough for all 65 residents. At first, they are too shy to respond, mumbling that this is none of their concern. But Mr Rasamoelina persists and they reluctantly acknowledge that, in fact, they rarely use the latrines at all and instead defecate on the ground, a practice known as open defecation.

Careful to ensure the villagers are comfortable continuing the conversation, Mr Rasamoelina takes out a bag of sawdust and asks them to sprinkle its contents on a drawing of the village sketched into the dusty ground to indicate where they defecate. Eucalyptus trees and a pond at the outskirts of the village are soon covered with piles of wood particles, with a few piles placed inside the village, as well.

©WSSCC/Hiroyuki Saito | Piles of sawdust on a village map mark where people in Andoharanovelona in Madagascar defecated in open areas. (May 2019) ​​​​

As they take a long, hard look at the sawdust piles, Eugène Rasamoelina raises the issue of flies and their role in oral-fecal transmission “Flies can transfer fecal material to the food and then to the mouth,” he explains, and a startling revelation comes over the village dwellers. “That’s why I was feeling sick,” said one, “I didn’t realize the danger to our children.”

In the “community triggering” approach employed by Eugène and his team, practitioners serve merely as facilitators. Their role is not to pressure community members to stop open defecation immediately but rather to give them the power to make well-informed decisions and to lead their own initiatives to  transform their villages.

“When we visit villages that practice open defecation, our main message is how human excrement can contaminate or pollute human beings,” he says. 

According to the World Bank, 77 per cent of the Malagasy population, some 24 million people, is estimated to live on less than US$1.90 a day, which places Madagascar among the poorest countries in the world. Open defecation is often related to poverty.

With the support of the Global Sanitation Fund, managed by the UN’s Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), community triggering is being used by 18 implementing partner organizations across Madagascar with the goal of eliminating open defecation.  As of December 2018, more than 17,000 villages have been declared open defecation free and 3.74 million people use improved latrines.

Villagers are recommended to clean up or transform open defecation sites into playgrounds or other public gathering places to stop the contamination and transmission of disease.

Any new latrines need to be fly-proof to prevent excrement being passed between people and animals and all people are encouraged to practice good hygiene by washing their hands after using a latrine.

WSSCC’s Sue Coates, says that stopping open defecation is not a final stop for the communities, but just the beginning of a series of life improvements.

“After working hard to make their own villages free from open defecation,” says Ms Coates, “communities become increasingly resilient and willing to continue sanitation improvements. And they’re better-positioned to tackle other issues such as menstrual hygiene management, health, nutrition and economic growth.”

What is the WSSCC?

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council’s (WSSCC) work contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6, target 2, with far-reaching impacts on related SDG targets for health, education, women’s empowerment, reducing inequality, improved urban spaces and climate change mitigation.

WSSCC is a global organization that UN Member States voted to establish in 1990. It advocates for improved sanitation and hygiene for the most vulnerable and marginalized people around the world.

‘Summon the spirit of San Francisco’, says General Assembly President on UN Charter anniversary

To mark the occasion, a special event took place in the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York, on Tuesday, which also served as an opportunity to launch activities commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Organization, which will be celebrated next year.

In her opening address, María Fernanda Espinosa, President of the General Assembly, reminded delegates that the Charter, when it was signed in 1945, carried the “hopes of a world tired by war”. While it is easy to see the Charter as an “idealistic endeavour from another time”, she said, its founders were not dreamers, but hard-headed leaders who “weighed the downside of compromise against the benefits of cooperation and the heavy cost of war.”

Today, she continued, “we can summon the spirit of San Francisco”, which was on show at the signing of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, and just a few weeks later, at the signing of the historic Paris Agreement on confronting the global climate crisis. That spirit is needed now “more than ever”, she added.

The General Assembly President was followed by Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond, Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination and the senior UN official responsible for organizing the commemoration of the UN’s 75th anniversary next year.

Mr. Hochschild referred to a Tweet posted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday morning, declaring that, 74 years on, the Charter “still represents the best path we have for securing global peace, development and human rights.”

The reason it was still necessary to take to Twitter and invoke the Charter, said Mr. Hochschild, was due to a loss of collective memory of the suffering that made global cooperation so compelling to the diplomats who came together on America’s west coast, back in 1945.

Referring to the planned 2020 celebrations of the Charter, Mr. Hochschild said that we are at a “defining moment in the history of our institution, of humanity, and how we deal with this, will impact on the welfare of our children, our grandchildren, and of course on the planet, our only home.”

The Secretary-General, he continued, believes a “forward-looking, inclusive youth-driven global dialogue” is the best way to celebrate the anniversary of the UN, and a shared vision of the future.

The opening remarks by the senior UN officials were followed by a symbolic signing of a copy of the Charter, by representatives of the original?? Member States in the room, as well as non-member States which received a standing invitation to participate as observers, at the birth of the General Assembly.

A display of the text of the Preamble to the Charter in all six official languages, was installed at UN Headquarters on Tuesday, and will remain in place, as an expression of renewed commitment to the Charter ahead of the 75th anniversary.

Only four women were among the 850 international delegates who signed the charter. For this episode of UN Gender Focus, Paulina Greer spoke to three researchers who are helping to uncover women’s contribution to the origins of the UN

 

 

Peace in the Gulf ‘at a critical juncture’ says DiCarlo, urging continuation of Iran nuclear deal

This is especially true at time when both countries continue their diplomatic war of words over recent attacks around the crucial oil shipping lanes of the Gulf, said Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, describing events as “a reminder that we are at a critical juncture.” 

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the US and the European Union – sets out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring restrictions placed on Iran’s nuclear programme, while paving the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against Iran. 

Ms. DiCarlo described it as the result of “12 years of intense diplomatic efforts and technical negotiations”, regarded by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as a major success of “multilateralism, nuclear non-proliferation, dialogue and diplomacy.” 

With the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stating in its latest report that Iran is abiding by its commitments, she said the UN chief was concerned at the US decision in May, not to extend waivers so that Iran can continuing trading oil, and other waivers directly relating to the JCPOA. The US withdrew from the deal just over a year ago, but some oil buyers were allowed to keep taking limited volumes. 

US actions “may impede the ability of Iran and other Member States to implement certain of its provisions”, said the Political Affairs chief, adding that Mr. Guterres also regretted Iran’s announcement this May, that it would not commit to the agreed limits on enriched uranium, unless other JCPOA signatories agreed to work round the increased US sanctions, within 60 days. 

Iran raised the stakes higher by announcing last week it would pass it’s agreed limits on enriched uranium by 27 June: “Such actions are not in the interests of the participants of the Plan and may not help preserve it’, she said. “The Secretary-General encourages Iran to continue implementing all its nuclear-related commitments despite the considerable challenges it faces.” 

Ms DiCarlo said the UN chief welcomed initiatives from other countries – including all the Security Council Permanent Members to save the deal, “which should be given full effect as a matter or priority.” 

“It is essential that the Plan continues to work for all its participants, including by delivering tangible economic benefits to the Iranian people”, she added.  

Ballistic missiles, arms to Yemen, inconclusive thus far 

Turning to provisions in the JCPOA, Ms. DiCarlo said there were “divergent views” from Member States over whether Iran had breached the agreement in various test firing and test flights, since December. 

With reference to ballistic missiles deployed by Houthi rebels in Yemen, against Saudi Arabia, she said that some components analyzed by the UN showed it was likely they had been supplied from outside Yemen, after 2015. Regarding other military hardware and explosives, she said the Secretariat was “confident” that some arms analyzed from the battlefield, showed they were of “Iranian manufacture” but it was impossible to tell if they were transferred after Iran had committed to the deal. 

Iran, US, EU weigh in 

Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi told the Council that “the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and re-imposition of sanctions” had rendered the deal “almost fully ineffective…Iran alone cannot, shall not and will not take all of the burdens anymore, to preserve the JCPOA”, he declared. 

With the European powers working hard to save the deal and the Iranian 60-day deadline to them of 8 July looming, The UN Ambassador for the European Union, Joao Vale de Almeida, warned that there was “no credible, peaceful alternative”. 

Jonathan Cohen, acting US Ambassador, said the Iran’s “defiance of the Security Council and its reckless behaviour threatening peace and security globally must not be downplayed in the name of preserving a deal that doesn’t fully cut off Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.” 

Wednesday's Daily Brief: migration tragedy in the Rio Grande, drugs report, Torture Victims Day

Tragic image of drowned father and child in Rio Grande spurs migration debate

The drowning of a father and his toddler daughter in the Rio Grande is a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy that countries should do all in their power to prevent happening in the future, the head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Wednesday.

Filippo Grandi’s comments about Oscar Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria follow the publication of a photograph showing them lying face down in the shallows of the river that separates Mexico from the United States. They had come from El Salvador and according to reports, were carried away by strong currents in the fast-flowing river on Sunday.

In a statement, High Commissioner Grandi said that their deaths represented “a failure to address the violence and desperation” that pushes people to take dangerous journeys in search of a life of safety and dignity.

A lack of safe pathways for migrants forces them to risk their lives, he said, before adding that UNHCR has suggested ways that the United States can improve and strengthen processing of asylum-seekers, including conditions in detention.

UN should lead criminal investigation into Khashoggi killing, says rights investigator

All members of the global community – the United Nations included – should do more to protect human rights defenders and dissidents, Special Rapporteur Agnès Callamard said on Wednesday, as she repeated her call for an international probe into the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Presenting her report into the Saudi dissident’s killing last October in Istanbul, the UN-appointed independent rights expert told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that there was credible evidence supporting an additional investigation into the role of high officials in the kingdom, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The evidence gathered by the inquiry suggests that the killing of Mr. Khashoggi constituted an extrajudicial execution, and enforced disappearance, and possibly an act of torture, for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible. There are numerous theories as to the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggi’s death, but none leads other than to the responsibility of the State.”

Highlighting that Mr. Khashoggi’s premeditated execution reflected an increasing global phenomenon, the Special Rapporteur insisted that if the international community ignored this fundamental rights abuse, it risked threatening all other human rights.

In response to her claims, Abdulaziz Alwasil, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said that she had not acted within the terms of her mandate, and neither had she carried out her work professionally.

Two-thirds of global drug deaths now from opioids: UN drugs report

Opioids, which include both heroin and legal pain relievers, were responsible for around two-thirds of drug-related deaths in 2017, a new UN report revealed on Wednesday. The number for global opioid users contained within the World Drug Report, some 585,000 people, is more than double the previous estimate.

The study from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), also shows that the negative health consequences associated with drugs are more severe and widespread than previously thought, with around 35 million people suffering from drug use disorders and requiring treatment services.

Read our full coverage here.

South Sudan peace ‘hangs in the balance’

Peace between government and opposition forces in South Sudan “hangs in the balance,” but there is an overwhelming desire from people in the eastern African country for an end to the five-year long conflict there; that’s according to David Shearer, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan. 

Speaking to UN News in New York, Mr. Shearer said that it was up to the country’s leaders to ensure the people’s desire for peace is fulfilled. Daniel Dickinson spoke to Mr. Shearer and began by asking him for the latest on the revitalized peace deal which was agreed late last year. Listen here:

Humanitarian situation deteriorates in Central Mali

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Wednesday that intercommunal violence and floods in the Mopti region, in central Mali, are aggravating an already precarious humanitarian situation for over 50,000 internally displaced people.

There are also concerns that the increasing number of displaced people in Mopti may overwhelm existing response resources, as over 210,000 people are facing food insecurity and only 2 per cent of people have access to safe drinking water.

The UN, along with its humanitarian partners and the Government, are working to address the most urgent needs of the more than 120,000 displaced people currently registered in the country.Meanwhile, the UN peacekeeping mission in-country, MINUSMA, has enhanced its presence in the Mopti region to better protect civilians from attacks.

Vile act of torture prohibited ‘under all circumstances’, UN chief affirms on International Day to support victims

While the prohibition of torture is “absolute, under all circumstances”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres bemoaned the fact that “this core principle is undermined every day” – in detention centres, prisons, police stations, psychiatric institutions and other places where captor can prey on captive.

This was part of his message for the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on Wednesday, describing the despicable act, as a vicious attempt to break a person’s will. 

Find our full story here.

Tackle ‘tsunami of hatred’ across the world urges Guterres, to counter anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance

The “multi-headed monster” of intolerance, has created a visible and violent “tsunami of hatred” that is gathering speed across the world, said Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday. The UN chief was speaking at an event organized by the President of the General Assembly in New York on the Challenges of Teaching Tolerance and Respect in the Digital Age.

He told those gathered he had recently viewed an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage called “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away”.

Read our full coverage of the event here.

 

Listen to or download our audio News In Brief for 26 June on SoundCloud:  

Vile act of torture prohibited ‘under all circumstances’, UN chief affirms on International Day to support victims

This was part of his message for the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on Wednesday, describing the despicable act, as a vicious attempt to break a person’s will. 

The United Nations has long condemned torture as one of the vilest acts perpetrated by humankind, saying that it seeks to “annihilate the victim’s personality” and denies the inherent dignity of the human being. Despite its absolute prohibition under international law, torture persist in all regions of the world and is often uses around national and border security.

Moreover, its pervasive consequences often go beyond the isolated act on an individual; and can be transmitted down through generations, leading to cycles of violence and revenge.

Currently ratified by 166 States, the UN chief said he was “encouraged that we are moving towards universal ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture”, which aligns national laws and practices with the Convention to move the prohibition of torture from principle to practice.

“Torture usually happens behind closed doors”, Mr. Guterres said. “It is therefore crucial for independent international and national human rights mechanisms to open those doors”.

He explained that the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture “does exactly that”, by visiting prisons and other institutions and interviewing detainees, officials, law enforcement personnel and medical staff every year, in close partnership with national preventive mechanisms.

“In all our work, we must support victims and ensure respect for their right to rehabilitation and redress”, the UN chief stressed, noting that “this victim-centred approach guides the UN Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture”, which assists nearly 50,000 victims annually, in some 80 countries.

Moreover, he said it has also helped in understanding better the different dimensions of torture, including the use of sexual and gender-based violence, and the specific assistance that different kinds of survivors of torture need.

“On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I urge all States to end impunity for perpetrators and eradicate these reprehensible acts that defy our common humanity.

Tackle ‘tsunami of hatred’ across the world urges Guterres, to counter anti-Semitism, racism and intolerance

The UN chief was speaking at an event organized by the President of the General Assembly in New York on the Challenges of Teaching Tolerance and Respect in the Digital Age.

Combating Antisemitism and OtherForms of Racism and Hate, by UN Photo/Manuel Elias

He told those gathered he had recently viewed an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage called “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away”.

“It is an apt title”, said the UN chief, noting that the Holocaust was “indeed not long ago – only as far back as a single average human lifespan”, and certainly “not far away – it happened at the heart of Europe, and it remains at the centre of our awareness as we fight anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance today”.

Mr. Guterres recounted a study that revealed a 13 per cent rise in violent anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, compared to the year before, and observed that attacks on synagogues, graveyards and individuals in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, “continue to make many Jews feel insecure”.

Pointing to assaults on synagogues, massacres at mosques and bombings at churches he maintained that “this age-old hatred is showing grim staying power”.

And refugees and migrants continue to face hostility as “white supremacists and neo-Nazis are emboldened by elections showing the appeal of their racist messages”, continued the UN chief, flagging that in today’s digital realm, “we have new vectors of venom, algorithms that accelerate the spread of bigotry, and new platforms where far-flung extremists can find each other and spur each other on”.

An acute moment

While the UN “fights these ills as a matter of our very identity, founded as we were in response to genocide”, he acknowledged that “today we have reached an acute moment in this struggle”.

Mr. Guterres spoke of the recently launched UN system-wide strategy to combat hate speech, which “if left unopposed can erode democratic values, social stability and peace”. 

We need to treat hate speech as we treat every malicious act: By condemning it and refusing to amplify it – UN chief

“We need to treat hate speech as we treat every malicious act: By condemning it and refusing to amplify it” to incite discrimination, hostility and violence, he spelled out.

The UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations is also finalizing an Action Plan on what more the Organization can do to support the safety and sanctity of religious sites.

“Our efforts need to step up most urgently in the digital space, where hatred is thriving”, he underscored, watchful that social media “provides a conduit for hatred on an enormous scale, with virtually no cost and no accountability, making them particularly appealing to those with evil intent”.

Moreover, it is being used to “polarize societies and demonize people, often targeting women, minorities and the most vulnerable”. 

On remedying the situation, he signaled that a new report of the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation urges social media to respond to concerns about the “growing threat to safety and human rights”, and that the Christchurch Call spurs governments and technology companies to tackle online extremism. 

Mr. Guterres pushed for an investment in social cohesion so all of society “can feel that their identities are respected and that they have a stake in the future”, saying that UN offers a platform to discuss the way forward.

Staring into gun barrel, Rabbi recounts hate attack

One rabbi from California drove home the brutal impact of the hate permeating societies globally, recounting how a gunman appeared in his synagogue in late April. Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein described how the attacker fired on his congregation inside the Chabad of Poway, near San Diego, killing one woman and injuring three others before fleeing the scene and being apprehended two miles away.

With his own hands still heavily bandaged from being shot during the attack, the rabbi spoke passionately from the General Assembly podium about how that day he stood in the lobby about to read a prayer to memorialize the last day of Passover when he suddenly heard “the thundering sound of gunshots”.

“I saw in the lobby of our synagogue, a house of worship, a home where children come to celebrate…this terrorist standing in the lobby, holding an AR-15 and I am looking down the barrel of it”, he recounted.

“I turned around to grab the children” he continued, “and the terrorist takes aim and shoots at me, blowing off my fingers”.

The Rabbi managed to pull the children to safety, including his four-year-old-granddaughter, who cried “why are you bleeding?”.

When he returned to find that the terrorist had been pushed out, the Rabbi stood on a chair, and pronounced: “God has spared us. Do not let this moment define us. It will not consume us”.

He emphasized at Wednesday’s event that each of us have to be seen as human beings, “not by our colour of our skin, not by our language, we are all children of God”.

Hateful attacks: ‘No surprise’

In her opening statement General Assembly President María Espinosa said it had been a year of “despicable” attacks based on hatred, noting that “sadly, they come as no surprise”.

“What is frightening now is that it is no longer confined to extremist groups” but has become “part of a broader surge in intolerance, racism and xenophobia mainstreamed”, she lamented.

Ms. Espinosa recalled that the Assembly had met several times already this year to “discuss hate speech, nationalist populism and supremacist ideologies, and attacks against Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews; against people of all faiths and none”.

“We must redouble our efforts to ensure that…the seeds of hate do not find fertile ground”, she stated, encouraging education to address intolerance and combat falsehood and disinformation.

But, she underscored, “we must not see education as a vaccination that gives you immunity for life”, saying that it is part of an equation that also includes changing mindsets, standing up for values and “taking a stand against intolerance”.

“And we must also extend our vigilance to the internet and social media”, Ms. Espinosa continued, calling them “powerful tools” that can be used to “spread hatred and distort reality”.

Watch the UN’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, talk about hate speech:

 

Get help now

Send a message with a description of your problem and possible ways of assistance and we will contact you as soon as we consider your problem.

    [recaptcha class:captcha]