• English

FROM THE FIELD: Turning waste into a business in the slums of Yaoundé, Cameroon

Gamel Djouelde and his colleague are two of 60 young men who were trained and work with Tam Tam waste management in Melen. Every morning at 6 AM, they start collecting garbage in the community., by UN-Habitat/Kirsten Milhahn

For the past 20 years, a young man from the slums of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, has been running a local waste collection service that has had a transformative impact on the community around him. The residential area of Melen, like most teeming city’s informal settlements, is not connected to the public garbage disposal system.

Through the Tam Tam Mobile, nearly every morning at 6 a.m., a team of young men from Melen make their way through the community. At the end of their shift, they unload their full carts at a municipal waste collection point outside the slum.

The Tam Tam Mobile initiative is supported by UN-Habitat, the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Read more here about this unique initiative.

Economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions stall growth in Latin America and Caribbean region, UN says

Launching the Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2019 at a press conference in Santiago, Chile, ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena pointed to “less momentum from world economic activity and global trade; greater volatility and financial fragility; questioning of the multilateral system; and an increase in geopolitical tensions” as the reasons driving the downward-looking forecast. 

According to the report, an unfavorable international scenario will spark a drop in the region’s growth to 0.5 per cent this year – lower than the 0.9 per cent registered in 2018. 

Likewise, low internal growth is attributed to a lack of momentum in investments and exports as well as a fall in public spending and private consumption. 

Compared to previous years, the 2019 slowdown will affect 21 of the 33 countries in the region.  

On average, South America is expected to grow by 0.2 per cent, Central America 2.9 per cent and the Caribbean 2.1 per cent. 

The 2019 Survey cited restricted fiscal space that is fueled by insufficient income levels to cover spending that translates into deficits and debt increases in recent years.  

Moreover, growing foreign exchange volatility and greater depreciation will limit central banks in the region to deepen policies to stimulate aggregate demand.  

Additionally, structural conditions accentuate external vulnerability and do not help to spur growth – as the export structure focused mainly on primary goods and falling trend in productivity. 

According to ECLAC, policy space needs to be expanded to tackle the slowdown and contribute to economic growth, with measures in the fiscal and monetary areas, as well as in investment and productivity. 

In the fiscal arena, the survey cites the need to reduce tax evasion and illicit financial flows; promote taxes related to the digital economy, environment and public health; and realign tax expenditures toward productive investment. 

Structural changes 

The second part of the Economic Survey 2019 analyzes the structural changes in international finance subsequent to the 2007-2008 global crisis – from a regional perspective. 

The report suggests that the bond market has gained relative importance with respect to the banking system and that levels of concentration, interconnectivity and pro-cyclicality have intensified. In addition, global debt registers record low levels of 320 per cent of gross domestic product in a context of growth. 

To tackle these challenges, the report recommends expanding and standardizing of vulnerability indicators.  

It also advocates advancing toward broader and more homogeneous macro-prudential regulation to encompass not only the formal banking sector but also all financial agents, including the so-called “shadow banking system”, in which groups of financial intermediaries facilitate in creating credit across the global financial system. 

Migration and the climate crisis: the UN’s search for solutions

Dina Ionesco is the head of the Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division at the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), which has been at the forefront of efforts to study the links between migration, the environment and climate.

As she explained to UN News, we are now living in an era where catastrophic climate-related events are linked to human activity, and this is likely to have a major impact on the way that we decide to migrate, and settle:

“The Atlas of Environmental Migration, which gives examples dating as far back as 45,000 years ago, shows that environmental changes and natural disasters have played a role in how the population is distributed on our planet throughout history.”

“However, it is highly likely that undesirable environmental changes directly created by, or amplified by, climate change, will extensively change the patterns of human settlement. Future degradation of land used for agriculture and farming, the disruption of fragile ecosystems and the depletion of precious natural resources like fresh water will directly impact people’s lives and homes.”

The climate crisis is already having an effect: according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 17.2 million people had to leave their homes last year, because of disasters that negatively affected their lives. Slow changes in the environment, such as ocean acidification, desertification and coastal erosion, are also directly impacting people’s livelihoods and their capacity to survive in their places of origin.

As Ms. Ionesco explains, there is a strong possibility that more people will migrate in search of better opportunities, as living conditions get worse in their places of origin:

“There are predictions for the twenty-first century indicating that even more people will have to move as a result of these adverse climate impacts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the main UN authority on climate science, has repeatedly said that the changes brought on by the climate crisis will influence migration patterns. The World Bank has put forward projections for internal climate migration amounting to 143 million people by 2050 in three regions of the world, if no climate action is taken.”

“However, our level of awareness and understanding of how environmental factors affect migration, and how they also interact with other migration drivers such as demographic, political and economic conditions, has also changed. With enhanced knowledge, there is more incentive to act urgently, be prepared and respond.”

The Global Compact for Migration: a roadmap for governments

In the past decade, there has been a growing political awareness of the issues around environmental migration, and increasing acceptance that this is a global challenge.

Herders take their animals to drink water in Niger., by FAO/Giulio Napolitano

As a result, many states have signed up to landmark agreements, such as the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Global Compact for Migration, which, says, Ms. Ionesco, marks a clear way forward for governments to address the issue of climate and migration.

“The Compact contains many references to environmental migration including a whole section on measures to address environmental and climate challenges: it is the first time that a comprehensive vision has been laid out, showing how states can handle – now and in the future – the impacts of climate change, disasters and environmental degradation on international migration.”

“Our analysis of the Compact highlights the priorities of states, when it comes to addressing environmental migration. Their primary concern is to “minimize the adverse drivers and structural factors that compel people to leave their country of origin”, in particular the “natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change, and environmental degradation”.

“In other words, the main priority is to find solutions that allow people to stay in their homes and give them the means to adapt to changing environmental conditions. This approach aims to avoid instances of desperate migration and its associated tragedies.”

“However, where climate change impacts are too intense, another priority put forward in the Compact is to “enhance availability and flexibility of pathways for regular migration”. States are thus looking at solutions for people to be able to migrate safely and through regular channels, and at solutions for those already on the move.

“A last resort measure is to conduct planned relocations of population – this means organizing the relocation of entire villages and communities away from areas bearing the brunt of climate change impacts.”

“Humanitarian assistance and protection for those on the move already, are also tools states can use. Finally, states highlight that relevant data and knowledge are key to guide the decision-making process. Without knowing more and analyzing better, policies run the risk of missing their targets and fade into irrelevance.”

A range of solutions to a complex problem

Responding to the challenges of environmental migration in a way that benefits both countries and communities, including migrants and refugees, is a complex process, says Ms. Ionesco, involving many different actors.

Rohingya refugees make their way down a footpath during a heavy monsoon downpour in Kutupalong refugee settlement, Cox’s Bazar district. 2018., by © UNHCR/David Azia

Solutions can range from tweaking migration practices, such as visa regimes, to developing human rights-based protection measures. Most importantly, they involve a coordinated approach from national governments, bringing together experts from different walks of life:

“There is no one single solution to respond to the challenge of environmental migration, but there are many solutions that tackle different aspects of this complex equation. Nothing meaningful can ever be achieved without the strong involvement of civil society actors and the communities themselves who very often know what is best for them and their ways of life.”

I also think that we need to stop discourses that focus only on migrants as victims of tragedy. The bigger picture is certainly bleak at times, but we need to remember that migrants demonstrate everyday their resilience and capacity to survive and thrive in difficult situations.

Greater investment in family-friendly policies critical to support breastfeeding – UNICEF

“The health, social and economic benefits of breastfeeding – for mother and child – are well-established and accepted throughout the world”, according to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “Yet, nearly 60 per cent of the world’s infants are missing out on the recommended six months of exclusive breastfeeding”. 

From supporting healthy brain development in babies and young children, protecting infants against infection, decreasing the risk of obesity and disease, reducing healthcare costs and protecting nursing mothers against ovarian cancer and breast cancer, the benefits are widespread. 

“We need far greater investment in paid parental leave and breastfeeding support across all workplaces to increase breastfeeding rates globally”, Ms. Fore underscored. 

Kicking off World Breastfeeding Week 

From 1 to 7 August each year, World Breastfeeding Week highlights the critical importance of nursing for children across the globe.  

This year, the commemoration is accompanied by a fact sheet with new data from the 2019 Global Breastfeeding Scorecard, which revealed, among other things, that only four out of 10 babies in 2018 were exclusively breastfed. 

Babies in rural areas were breastfed more than for their urban counterparts and at 23.9 per cent, upper-middle-income countries had the lowest breastfeeding rates.  

Breastfeeding at work  

UNICEF recommends regular lactation breaks during working hours to accommodate breastfeeding or expressing breastmilk, along with a supportive environment, which includes facilities that enable mothers to continue breastfeeding for six months, followed by age-appropriate complementary breastfeeding. 

However, working women lack adequate support. 

Worldwide, only 40 per cent of women with newborns have basic maternity benefits at their workplace. And in some African countries, only 15 per cent of mothers with newborns have any benefits at all to support continued breastfeeding. 

Paid parental leave 

While standards in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Maternity Protection Convention 2000 include at least 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, it recommends at least 18 weeks, as well as workplace support for breastfeeding families. And yet, only 12 per cent of countries worldwide provide sufficient paid maternity leave.  

UNICEF’s latest brief on family-friendly policy calls for at least six months of paid leave for all parents combined, of which 18 weeks should be reserved for mothers. Governments and businesses should strive for at least nine months of combined paid leave. 

Longer maternity leave means higher chances of breastfeeding. 

A recent study found that women with six months or more maternity leave were at least 30 per cent more likely to maintain any breastfeeding for at least the first six months. Increasing breastfeeding could prevent 823,000 annual deaths in children under five and 20,000 annual deaths from breast cancer.  

However, in 2018, only 43 per cent of babies worldwide were breastfed within the first hour of life.  

Immediate skin-to-skin contact and early breastfeeding keeps a baby warm, builds his or her immune system, promotes bonding, boosts a mother’s milk supply and increases the chances for continued exclusive breastfeeding, the UN Children’s Fund said.  

And the benefits do not end there. Breastmilk is more than just food for babies, it is also a potent medicine for disease prevention that is tailored to the needs of each child – with the ‘first milk’, called colostrum, so rich in antibodies that it protects babies from disease and death. 

Moreover, optimal breastfeeding would reduce global healthcare costs by an estimated $300 billion.  

Wednesday’s Daily Brief: World Breastfeeding Week kickoff, Second Ebola death on DR Congo’s eastern border, UN chief lauds climate activist Thunberg, Afghan bus attack, and outgoing UN agriculture chief hands over reigns

World Breastfeeding Week 2019 to spotlight importance of family-friendly policies  

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world.  

It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. 

This year, WHO is working with UNICEF and partners to promote the importance of family-friendly policies to enable breastfeeding and help parents nurture and bond with their children in early life, when it matters most.  

This includes enacting paid maternity leave for a minimum of 18 weeks, and paid paternity leave to encourage shared responsibility of caring for their children on an equal basis. 

Find out more here. 

UN working ‘intensively’ to stop Ebola in eastern DR Congo, following second case in major border town 

Senior UN officials tasked with controlling the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have responded to Tuesday’s confirmation of a second case of Ebola in Goma, a major trading town in the vast country’s restive east, near the border with neighbouring Rwanda. 

On Wednesday, David Gressley, the UN Ebola Emergency Response Coordinator, and Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response at the World Health Organization (WHO), released a joint statement announcing that they are “working intensively” to halt any further spread. 

Surveillance is being stepped up at all entry and exit points in the area, but more needs to be done to eradicate Ebola, the officials said, calling for a “strong, resilient health system” to avoid a resurgence of the disease in DRC. 

Read our full report here. 

UN chief welcomes Greta Thunberg’s decision to sail to Climate Action Summit 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted on Wednesday that he is looking forward to meeting internationally renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg when she arrives in New York for the Climate Action Summit that will take place at UN Headquarters in September. 

The UN chief wrote that Ms. Thunberg, and her generation, have “grasped the urgency of the climate crisis better than many others”, and that “it’s time we listen”. 

The Summit will bring together governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other international organizations to develop ambitious solutions to the climate crisis. 

Ms. Thunberg announced on Monday that she will be sailing across the Atlantic on the sixty-foot racing boat Malizia II in mid-August, and will continue on to Chile for the COP25 Climate Conference in Santiago, which will take place in December. 

UN chief ‘strongly condemns’ bus attack in Afghanistan 

UN Secretary-General António Guterres  has strongly condemned an attack on a bus traveling along the Kandahar-Herat Highway in Afghanistan, in a statement released Wednesday morning. 

According to news reports, dozens of civilians, mainly women and children, were killed after the bus hit a roadside bomb. 

The Secretary-General reiterated that “international humanitarian law explicitly prohibits indiscriminate attacks and attacks directed against civilians and appeals to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan to uphold their obligations to protect civilians”. 

The UN chief also expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Afghanistan and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. 

Outgoing UN agriculture agency chief hands over reigns 

The social protection programmes and public policies fundamental to reducing hunger must be improved, the outgoing chief of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) José Graziano da Silva said at a handover ceremony marking his last day at the UN agency’s helm. 

On 1 August 2019 the new Director-General, China’s Qu Dongyu will take over until 31 July 2023, when his term expires.  

Mr. Graziano da Silva has spotlighted FAO’s role in improving the “lives of vulnerable people” by providing technical capacity, especially to developing countries.  

“I have no doubt that Dr. Qu has a lot to offer to FAO in terms of knowledge and his experience,” he said. 

 

Listen to or download our audio News in Brief for 31 July on SoundCloud: 

 

UN working ‘intensively’ to stop Ebola in eastern DR Congo, following second case in major border town

On Wednesday, David Gressley, the UN Ebola Emergency Response Coordinator, and Dr. Ibrahima Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General for Emergency Response at the World Health Organization (WHO), released a joint statement announcing that they are “working intensively” to halt any further spread.

Surveillance is being stepped up at all entry and exit points in the area, but more needs to be done to eradicate Ebola, the officials said, calling for a “strong, resilient health system” to avoid a resurgence of the disease in DRC.

The senior officials stated that there is no evidence that the second case in Goma is linked to the first confirmed case. The first concerned a pastor who travelled to Goma from Butembo in North Kivu. The second is a miner who had been working in Ituri. The disease is centred in both provinces.

The reports of the second case of Ebola come a day after the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said that it needs to trip its budget to tackle the complex crisis, which is complicated by ongoing conflict, and an outbreak of measles.

On Friday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that, over the next six months, it is planning to scale up and double food assistance to people affected by the disease, in preparation for a potential further escalation of the epidemic.

The WFP support is for 440,000 “Ebola-affected” people in DRC, which includes contacts of victims and their families, as well as confirmed and suspected cases.

Senior UN officials mark one year since Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC

The discovery of this new case comes just ahead of the marking tomorrow, 1 August, of one year since the Government of the DRC declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in North Kivu province. Two weeks ago, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern.

“This latest case in such a dense population center underscores the very real risk of further disease transmission, perhaps beyond the country’s borders, and the very urgent need for a strengthened global response and increased donor investment,” said top officials from the WFP, WHO, UNICEF and the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In the last year, there have been more than 2,600 confirmed cases, including more than 1,800 deaths in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces. Almost one in three ‘cases’ is a child. Every single ‘case’ is someone who has gone through an unimaginable ordeal. More than 770 have survived.

“The disease is relentless and devastating,” said a joint statement from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, and WFP Executive Director David Beasley.  

“The challenges to stopping further transmission are indeed considerable. But none are insurmountable. And none can be an excuse for not getting the job done. The United Nations and partners are continuing to ramp up the response in support of the Government and to further bolster joint action, the UN leaders said.

Efforts carried out by UN and parters to support Government-led response

  • Over 170,000 people vaccinated;
  • 1,300 people treated with investigational therapies across 14 treatment and transit centres;
  • 77 million screenings of national and international travelers;
  • 20,000 contacts visited daily to ensure they do not also become sick;
  • 3,000 samples tested in 8 laboratories every week;
  • More than 10,000 handwashing sites installed in critical locations;
  • More than 2,000 community engagement workers operating in affected – areas listening to concerns, gaining trust, and mobilizing local action;
  • Over 440,000 patients and contacts provided with food assistance, crucial to limiting movement among people who could spread the disease; and
  • Daily meals provided to 25,000 schoolchildren in Ebola-affected areas to help build trust within communities.

Full statement here.

Monday’s Daily Brief: Children in armed conflict, Ebola in DR Congo, human rights in Bahrain, and two International Days

New UN report shows record numbers of children killed, maimed in conflict

A new UN report has found that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in armed conflict; the year saw the highest number killed or hurt since the United Nations began monitoring the violation.

In the 20 conflict situations monitored in the 2018 edition of the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, released Tuesday, more than 12,000 children were killed or maimed over that year.

A “disheartened” Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was “particularly appalled” by the unprecedented numbers of grave violations committed against children.

Children continued to be used in combat, particularly in Somalia, Nigeria and Syria: some 7,000 have been drawn into frontline fighting roles around the world during 2018. They also continued to be abducted, to be used in hostilities or for sexual violence: more than half of the 2,500 reported cases were in Somalia.

Read about it here.

Conflict, climate change among factors that increase ‘desperation that enables human trafficking to flourish’, says UN chief

To mark the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that “human trafficking is a heinous crime that affects every region of the world” – especially women and children.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), some 72 per cent of detected victims are women and girls, and the percentage of child victims has more than doubled from 2004 to 2016.

“Most detected victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation; victims are also trafficked for forced labour, recruitment as child soldiers and other forms of exploitation and abuse”, Mr. Guterres said in his message on the Day, marked annually on 30 July.

Here’s our story.

UNICEF budget must triple to fight DRC Ebola outbreak

Updating the press on the deadly Ebola outbreak in the north-east region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jerome Pfaffmann, a Health Specialist for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the agency would have to triple its budget to respond to the crisis.

The spokesperson underlined the complexity of the outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which are facing a public health emergency and a humanitarian crisis at the same time – including conflict and a major measles outbreak.

UNICEF has already vaccinated more than 40,000 children against measles and plans to put in place a programme to address acute humanitarian and social needs.

Execution of Bahrainis condemned by UN human rights office, amid allegations of unfair trial

The execution of two Bahraini citizens on Friday has been strongly condemned by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement released on Tuesday.

The executions took place despite concerns of Michelle Bachelet, the UN rights chief, that the men’s confessions were obtained under torture, and that they were denied due process and guarantees of a fair trial.

The two men were tried in a mass hearing with 58 other defendants and convicted on charges of terrorism.

A UN spokesperson said the High Commissioner is “very concerned” about the fate of other detainees at risk of imminent execution on death row in Bahrain and has called on the Bahraini Government to halt all pending executions.

Spread some kindness, on International Day of Friendship

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is encouraging us all to brighten someone’s day, and spread a bit of kindness, on the UN’s International Day of Friendship.

The call is part of UNICEF’s campaign to end violence in and around schools where, worldwide, around half of all students aged between 13 and 15, have reported experiencing some form of violence.

The campaign includes a short video featuring K-pop superstars BTS singing their hit single “Answer: Love Myself”, showing young people confronting school violence.

 

 

Listen to or download our audio News in Brief for 30 July on SoundCloud: 

‘Do something’; UN relief chief urges Security Council action to stop the Syrian carnage unfolding ‘in front of your eyes’

“On 26 July, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) identified at least 450 civilians who have been killed since late April – including more than a hundred in the last two weeks alone”, Mark Lowcock, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs reminded Council members.

Many hundreds more have been injured, over 440,000 displaced and dozens of civilians killed or injured by shelling of the Security Council-listed terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the non-State armed groups associated with them.

He recounted the story of a surgeon at Idlib Central Hospital who said that while he lives at the top of the building, the patients are in the lower floors and basement, because that is where it is safest.

Days before speaking to the doctor, “a bomb landing 50 meters away blew out all the glass and windows of his room”, Mr. Lowcock relayed.

“A day or so before that, another bomb had hit a gynecological facility 200 metres away”, he said, explaining that the hospital is in a deconflicted area, which was established through a Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and Turkey to separate pro-Government forces and militant opposition fighters.

Tracking information

Mr. Lowcock responded to a series of questions posed by the Council on 18 July, beginning with how OHCHR gets it information.

In addition to direct or verified sources, which are “triangulated, reviewed and confirmed”, he informed the members that “our teams on the ground tell us what they see” – as do partners.

“Testimony comes from those closest to the source, who are assessed by the UN as credible”, he continued. “We use imagery, including satellite imagery, or geotagged and time stamped pictures of medical facilities, that have been analyzed and assessed by the UN”.

The humanitarian chief added: “We see videos, of explosions, destroyed buildings, scorched bodies and screaming children”.

And there are other sources, including media, humanitarian partners and UN agencies like the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

“Then of course there is the testimony of the people of Idlib themselves”, he asserted. “I spoke yesterday by video link to two groups of displaced people in different parts of Idlib”, who said they “are being bombed every day by the Russians and the regime”.

When asked what they needed, the response was clear: “We just want the bombing to stop” because “we are afraid” and “just want to live in peace.”

Mr. Lowcock maintained that many of the millions of children aged eight to 12 had been “forced to flee with their families”.

“I asked if any of them go to school”, he said. “No. It’s not safe. They hit our schools”, was the response.

“We all know exactly what has been happening for the last three months” in Idlib, the humanitarian chief underscored. “There is no shortage of information”.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock updates the Security Council on the situation in Syria. (30 July 2019), by UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Deconfliction system

Mr. Lowcock then told the Council that through the deconfliction system, humanitarian agencies provide OCHA with information to identify “static civilian locations or humanitarian movements”, whose coordinates are then shared with International Coalition Forces, Turkey and Russia.

Whether that information is being used to protect civilian facilities or to target them is “an extremely important question”, he stressed, adding his conclusion that currently, “deconfliction is not proving effective in helping to protect those who utilize the system”.

“I have asked my team to meet again with the humanitarian organizations who would like their activities to be deconflicted to update them on the current situation and determine again whether we should continue to provide information to the parties on new sites or humanitarian movements”, he stated.

Healthcare facilities

Turning to a 16 July letter saying that terrorist groups took over 119 mostly-unnamed hospitals in Idlib, therefore, they can no longer be considered healthcare centres or even civilian objects, the humanitarian chief negated the claims, as well as another accusation in the letter stating that there is no ambulance network left in the province.

His fourth point on whether the UN would pass information about attacks on civilians and civilian objects to the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism and Commission of Inquiry, he said “the answer is yes, we will do that, subject only to the proviso that those giving us sensitive information consent to it being passed on”.

Humanitarian work

The OCHA head spoke at length about the important humanitarian work being carried out and the needs that lie ahead.

 “Some recent reports have claimed that UN humanitarian assistance reaches only those in areas not controlled by the Government”, he argued. “That is untrue”.

Most UN assistance goes to Government-controlled areas.

“Significant gaps in access still remain”, he said, noting his concern for 24,000 people in Rukban and calling “again” for access to reach them.

Significant gaps in access still remain – UN Emergency Relief Coordinator 

“I also call on all Member States to de-escalate growing tensions along the borders in the northeast and avoid any actions that may cause further displacement, casualties and suffering.

And on Idlib, he enlightened the Council that this month, “cross-border aid aims to reach some 1.2 million people”, adding that “in the current circumstances, there is no other way to provide adequate support to the three million civilians who are in the area”.

“You in this Security Council have ignored all the previous pleas you have heard”, Mr. Lowcock spelled out. “You know what is happening and you have done nothing for 90 days as the carnage continues in front of your eyes”.

“Are you going to…do something about it?”, asked the UN humanitarian chief.

‘Answer the call of Afghans’ to reduce impact of conflict, UN urges all parties amid increase in civilian airstrike deaths

The mid-year report from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented  3,812 civilian casualties (1,366 deaths and 2,446 injured) in the first half of 2019. 

While the number of civilians killed and injured is 27 per cent down from the same period in 2018 – the year that saw record high numbers of recorded civilian casualties – the UN noted “disturbing patterns”, such as the 27 per cent increase in civilian deaths in the second quarter of 2019 compared with the first. 

Aerial operations from January through June killed and injured 519 people – 150 of which were child casualties (89 deaths and 61 injured) – a 39 per cent increase in civilian casualties from airstrikes compared to the same period last year, according to UNAMA.  

UNAMA attributed 83 per cent of the civilian casualties resulting from aerial operations to International Military Forces, nine per cent to the Afghan Air Force, and the remaining eight per cent to undetermined pro-Government forces (PGFs). 

At the same time, the UN Mission attributed 52 per cent of all civilian casualties to anti-Government elements, with 38 per cent attributed to Taliban, 11 per cent to Daesh/Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), and three per cent to unidentified anti-Government elements. 

The UN said that it supports the demand for all parties to reduce civilian casualties to zero, made in the joint declaration by Afghan participants earlier this month in Doha, Qatar at the Intra-Afghan Dialogue. 

“Everyone heard the message loud and clear from Afghan delegates in the Doha talks – ‘reduce civilian casualties to zero!’” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.  

“We urge all parties to heed this imperative, to answer the call of Afghans for immediate steps to be taken to reduce the terrible harm being inflicted,” added Mr. Yamamoto, who is also Head of UNAMA. 

UNAMA
Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Jan to Jun 2019).

Conflict continues to severely impact women and children  

According to UNAMA, women continue to be disproportionately impacted by the armed conflict in Afghanistan. Up to 30 June 2019, fighting caused 430 women casualties – 144 deaths and 286 injured – a decrease of 22 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. 

Child casualties represented almost one-third of the overall total of civilian casualties, with 327 deaths and 880 injured. Children continue to comprise the vast majority – 84 per cent– of all civilian casualties from explosive remnants of war. 

“Parties to the conflict may give differing explanations for recent trends, each designed to justify their own military tactics,” said Richard Bennett, UNAMA’s human rights chief.  

“The fact remains that only a determined effort to avoid civilian harm, not just by abiding by international humanitarian law but also by reducing the intensity of the fighting, will decrease the suffering of civilian Afghans.”  

New UN report shows record number of children killed and maimed in conflict

In the 20 conflict situations monitored in the 2018 edition of the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, released Tuesday, more than 12,000 children were killed or maimed that year.

A ‘disheartened’ Secretary-General António Guterres said that he was “particularly appalled” by the unprecedented numbers of grave violations committed against children.

Children continue to be used in combat, particularly in Somalia, Nigeria and Syria: some 7,000 have been drawn into frontline fighting roles around the world, during 2018. They also continue to be abducted, to be used in hostilities or for sexual violence: more than half of the 2,500 reported cases were in Somalia.

Some 933 cases of sexual violence against boys and girls were reported, but this is believed to be an under-estimate, due to lack of access, stigma and fear of reprisals.

Attacks on schools and hospitals have decreased overall, but have intensified in some conflict situations, such as Afghanistan and Syria, which has seen the highest number of such attacks since the beginning of the conflict in the country.

Mali provides the most serious example of children being deprived of access to education, and the military use of schools: 827 schools in Mali closed at the end of December 2018, denying some 244,00 children access to education.

“It is immensely sad that children continue to be disproportionately affected by armed conflict, and it is horrific to see them killed and maimed as a result of hostilities”, said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba. “Parties to conflict must protect children and put in place tangible measures to end and prevent these violations”.

Detention and release of children involved in conflict

Rather than being seen as victims of recruitment, thousands of children around the world were detained for their actual or alleged association with armed groups in 2018: in Syria and Iraq, the majority of children deprived of their liberty are under the age of five.

The report calls on nations to work with the UN to help relocate foreign children and women actually or allegedly affiliated with extremist groups, with the best interests of the child as the primary consideration.

The number of children benefiting from release and reintegration support, however, rose in 2018 to 13,600 (up from 12,000 in 2017). The report recommends increased resources and funding to meet the growing needs, as more children are separated from armed groups.

Peace remains the best protection for children affected by armed conflict António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Three Action Plans to end and prevent violations, and protect children, have been signed, following engagement with parties to conflicts in 2018. The countries involved were the Central African Republic, where two armed groups signed up to Action Plans; and Syria, where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to a deal.

Progress on increased child protection, and ending child recruitment, has also been made in Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In his statement, the Secretary-General reminded all parties to conflict of their responsibility to protect children, adding that they must “refrain from directing attacks against civilians, including children”, and reiterating that “peace remains the best protection for children affected by armed conflict”.

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]