May 2021 — Page 2 of 11 — Human Rights & Charity

UN chief underlines need to step up COVID-19 vaccine production, equitable distribution

Participating in the Global Solutions Summit 2021, the UN chief stressed the need to defeat the virus through doubling the number of doses produced and ensuring their fair distribution among countries.

Scale-up production

“It is absolutely essential to double the production of vaccines, and there are different mechanisms that are needed for that…but we absolutely must have an equitable distribution, and we are far from having it”, he said.

“We have seen vaccine nationalism, hoarding of vaccines, many countries buying three or four times the volume of their population. And on the other hand, we see enormous difficulty in supplying vaccines to the Global South. And this is a tragedy that we need to avoid at all cost”.

Earlier this week, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) described the ongoing vaccine crisis as “a scandalous inequity”. When asked his opinion about the situation, the Secretary-General responded, “it’s exactly that”.

Risk of inequity

Just 10 countries have received 75 per cent of all vaccines administered so far, he said, while 0.3 per cent have gone to lower-income nations, with the African continent receiving just one per cent.

The Secretary-General highlighted the risk inequity poses in the face of a virus that spreads and mutates, noting “this is a race against time”.

He warned that either vaccination becomes much quicker and more equitable, and thus able to prevent “a possible dramatic mutation” that is immune to vaccines, or countries which have inoculated their populations “might discover that those vaccines will serve no purpose because the mutations in the Global South will undermine the vaccination campaign in the Global North.”

Fully support COVAX

At the recent G20 Health Summit, vaccine producers committed to delivering one billion doses to poorer countries. While welcoming the development, the Secretary-General said it was far from enough.

Mr. Guterres stressed the need to fully fund and supply the global vaccine equity initiative, COVAX. He noted that one of its main manufacturers, the Serum Institute of India, has had to cut back supply due to the surge in cases in the country, while deliveries from other contractors have been later than expected.

He urged countries to channel their excess vaccines through COVAX, “instead of a geo-strategic competition, with several powerful countries giving vaccines to their friends, or trying to compete with each other to see who gains more influence, thanks to the vaccines”.

The Secretary-General also reiterated his proposal for a G20-led Task Force that would work with pharmaceutical companies, and other stakeholders, on providing vaccines for all people, everywhere.

Thousands in Goma evacuated amid fears of further volcanic eruption

Speaking at a UN news briefing in Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that “thousands of residents from Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are displaced and on the move after an order from the authorities to evacuate areas that are at risk by further volcanic eruptions of Mount Nyiragongo”.

“The first eruption on 22 May killed over 30 people and the Goma Volcanological Observatory has warned that the risk of a new eruption is real”, he added.

People ‘moving in all directions’

Five days after the eruption, the Governor of North Kivu ordered people in ten districts of Goma – a city of some 670,000 inhabitants – to evacuate as a precautionary measure.

As strong tremors reached up to a 4.9 magnitude on the Richter scale, there are concerns that they could cause more lava to escape from the many cracks in the mountain.

“It is not known exactly how many have now left the city, but approximately 400,000 people are potentially affected by the evacuation order”, Mr. Laerke reported, adding that “large traffic jams were observed yesterday on the main exit roads from Goma, people are moving in all directions, mostly on foot, carrying what they can, but also in cars, and on boats”.  

Wake of destruction

The first eruption of lava, ash and gas destroyed houses, schools and health structures, affected water and electricity supply systems and cut off roads.

Until now, the humanitarian focus has been on people directly affected by the volcanic eruption and neighbourhoods in Goma that are without access to water.

“This crisis is happening against the backdrop of a situation of already high needs in North Kivu”, explained the spokesperson.

“Forty-four per cent of the 5 million internally displaced persons in the DRC are in North Kivu, where also 33 per cent of the population is severely food insecure”.

Rippling affect

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, the Government of Rwanda is proactively caring for displaced Congolese people.

“As of yesterday evening, some 4,000 people have arrived from the DRC to Rwanda due to the volcanic activity and more are coming”, said Babar Baloch, UNHCR’s spokesperson.

“They are currently in two main locations: Rugerero, which hosts more than 3,000 people and Busa Sanana, which has nearly 700, 682”.

Before last weekend, Mount Nyiragongo’s last major eruption was in 2002, which killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless.

Its deadliest surge happened in 1977, when it took the lives of more than 600 people.

Grave concerns over 'dire' and deteriorating situation in war-torn Tigray region

In an alert, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, said that it was aware of “gross violations”, including gender-based violence in the war-torn north.

Vile attacks

“The situation of women and adolescent girls in Tigray and border areas of Amhara and Afar remains dire”, said UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem. “We see alarming levels of sexual violence, and thousands of women lack access to health and protection services.”

In a related development, the Office of the High Commissioner for refugee agency (UNHCR) condemned the reported abduction of “at least several hundred” youths from camps for displaced people in Tigray earlier this week.

This echoed prior comments by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, Catherine Sozi, who condemned the reported arbitrary arrests, beatings and ill-treatment by soldiers of more than 200 people during night-time military raids on internal displacement camps in the region on Monday.

Ms. Sozi noted that the affected sites of Tsehaye and Adi Wonfito in Shire town were home to 12,000 internally displaced persons in total.

Trauma and distress

“The situation is traumatic and distressing, not only for the relatives of the missing, but for all the displaced communities residing in Shire”, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva, adding that the agency was in contact with the Ethiopian authorities on the issue. “It is crucial that all parties to the conflict recognize the civilian and humanitarian character of these sites hosting displaced people”.

Fighting began in Tigray on 4 November last year between national Government forces and regional power brokers loyal to the former national ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Needs are growing

Some parts of the war-torn region have remained accessible but overall, “grave” needs are outstripping capacity, with most rural areas “cut from communications and electricity”, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The Central Area – which is the most populated, with some 1.8 million people –remains largely inaccessible, Ms. Sozi’s team noted.

If nothing is done to improve aid access immediately, UN humanitarians believe that there is a high risk of mass severe acute malnutrition looming in the next few months.

Characterizing the situation as “complex and unpredictable”, OCHA said that civilians, who continue to bear the brunt of the conflict, have been forced to move to towns including Shire, Axum and Adwa.

“The main road between Adigrat and Axum was blocked from 10 to 22 April due to hostilities, impacting several humanitarian convoys, including emergency food aid, as well as the provision of medical supplies to Axum and Adwa Hospitals”, the UN humanitarian body reported.

Release call

In her appeal for the immediate release of those arbitrarily arrested from Shire’s displacement camps, Ms. Sozi said that serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law must be promptly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.
“We, along with our partners, are ready to engage with military commanders to ensure the protection of civilians”, the Humanitarian Coordinator said on Thursday.

COVID-19: Pharmaceutical companies urged to support knowledge-sharing platform

Speaking during his latest briefing from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pushed for more developers to support the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), the voluntary platform for sharing scientific knowledge, data and intellectual property.

“We’re holding the door open for pharmaceutical companies that have become household names, although too few households have benefited from the life-saving tools they have developed”, he said.

“They control the IP that can save lives today, end this pandemic soon and prevent future epidemics from spiraling out of control and undermining health, economies and national security”.

Vaccine inequity unacceptable

C-TAP was established a year ago by the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, and more than 40 Heads of State, together with WHO.

President Alvarado Quesado, who also addressed journalists, underlined the need to protect everyone, everywhere.

“It is not acceptable that more than 50 per cent of the globally available vaccines were used in only five countries that account for 50 per cent of global GDP. Shamefully, low-income countries have received only 0.3 [per cent] of the world’s doses”, he said.

Tedros explained that contributing to C-TAP will allow qualified producers across the world to manufacture products against COVID-19.

If fully functional, it could lead to increased supply for countries and the global vaccine solidarity initiative, COVAX.

Study into COVID-19 origins ‘poisoned by politics’

Investigations into the origins of COVID-19 are being “poisoned by politics”, a senior WHO official said on Friday.

Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director, was responding to a journalist’s question regarding a lack of progress on the launch of a second phase following an international expert mission to China in January.

Preliminary results, announced in February, found the novel coronavirus was “extremely unlikely” to have come from a lab, but perhaps jumped from animals to humans.

Dr. Ryan noted that there have been increased media reports about the investigation in recent days “with terribly little actual news, or evidence, or new material”, which he found disturbing.

“We would, though, like for everyone out there to separate, if they can, the politics of this issue from the science. This whole process is being poisoned by politics”, he said.

Dr. Ryan added that countries and entities are free to pursue their own theories of origin.

“Putting WHO in a position like it has been put in is very unfair to the science we are trying to carry out. And it puts us as an organization, frankly in an impossible position to deliver the answers that the world wants”, he said.

“So, we would ask that we separate the science from the politics and let us get on with finding the answers that we need in a proper, positive atmosphere where we can find the science to drive the solutions, through a process that is driven by solidarity, as Dr. Tedros always says”.

UN rights chief calls for inclusive peace process to end Palestine occupation

In comments to the Human Rights Council in Geneva – which stopped short of supporting a call for an international probe into the escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel – Ms. Bachelet condemned indiscriminate rocket attacks by Gaza’s de facto authority Hamas, which claimed 10 lives in Israel, and strikes inside the enclave by Israeli Security Forces that left 242 dead.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights also welcomed the 21 May ceasefire but warned that it was only “a matter of time” until the next flare-up, unless the root causes of this latest escalation were addressed.

War crimes question

Addressing the issue of possible war crimes, Ms. Bachelet reminded the Council’s 47 Member States that Israeli airstrikes in densely populated areas had “resulted in a high level of civilian fatalities and injuries as well as the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure”.

Such attacks may constitute war crimes ‘if found to be indiscriminate and disproportionate in their impact on civilians and civilian objects”, the High Commissioner explained via video link to the Geneva-based forum, meeting in special session at the request of Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The “heavy rocket barrage towards Israel” by Hamas and other armed groups also constituted “a clear violation of international humanitarian law”, Ms. Bachelet said.

Also addressing the Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, repeated his call for the latest escalation – the most serious since 2014 – to be investigated by the International Criminal Court.

‘Open-air prison’

Describing Gaza as “the world’s largest open-air prison”, Mr. Lynk added that the enclave was nothing more than a “tiny sliver of land, holding more than two million people under occupation, cut off from the outside world by a comprehensive and illegal air, sea and land blockade”.

Israel alone had the authority to determine “who and what enters and leaves the (Gaza) Strip”, insisted the Special Rapporteur, who is independent of the UN and answers to the 47 Member States of the Human Rights Council.

“When intensive violence revisits the Palestinians in Gaza, as it regularly does, there is no escape. That this medieval restriction on basic freedoms has gone on for 14 years, and counting, is a harrowing stain on our humanity.”

Israel would not end its occupation “without decisive international action” that is grounded in the framework of rights, the independent rights expert continued.

He insisted that Israel’s “occupation has become as entrenched and as sustainable as it has because the international community has never imposed a meaningful cost on Israel for acting as an acquisitive and defiant occupying power”.

Human cost

Highlighting the human cost of the recent escalation, the Special Rapporteur pointed to the killing of Dr Ayman Abu Alouf, head of internal medicine at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical centre.

“He was killed last week by an Israeli missile strike on his apartment building along with 12 members of his extended family, including his parents, his wife, and his 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter”, said Mr. Lynk.

“Dr. Abu Alouf was also in charge of the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged Gaza during the past several months. The valiant but badly under-equipped health care staff that he has left behind have vowed to redouble their efforts to fight the pandemic in his memory.”

Outside Gaza, the rights expert also noted how occupied East Jerusalem had also witnessed intense confrontations between Palestinians and Israelis over access to Al Aqsa Mosque to pray, during the last days of the holy month of Ramadan.

There had also been “a sustained campaign” by Israeli settler organizations to continue to evict Palestinian families from their homes in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, which Mr. Lynk described as the “ember” that started the latest violence.

West Bank fragmentation

Echoing the High Commissioner’s concerns over violence in the occupied West Bank, the Special Rapporteur also noted that demonstrations since 10 May at events in Gaza and in East Jerusalem had led to 27 Palestinians being killed by Israeli security forces and 6,800 injured.

“The 2.7 million Palestinians on the West Bank live in 167 fragmented islands of land, separated from the world and each other by Israeli checkpoints, walls, settlements and settler-only roads,” said Mr. Lynk. “Their collective future is being devoured before their eyes by the 240 Israeli settlements expanding on their lands.”

Justified defence

Defending its actions, Israel’s delegation justified attacks on Gaza, claiming that more than 4,400 rockets had been fired “at Israeli civilians” by Hamas over a 10-day period beginning 10 May.

The Israeli ambassador insisted that Hamas had fired rockets “indiscriminately, targeting civilians, to kill as many innocent people as possible. Israel takes all steps to adhere to the principles of distinction, proportionality, and necessity. We do so not only because of our obligations under the Law of Armed Conflict but also because it is our moral duty to protect innocent lives.”

Israel-Palestine: Political solution only way to end ‘senseless’ cycles of violence

Ambassadors met in person in New York as a fragile cessation of hostilities continues to hold, following 11 days of deadly conflict this month which engulfed the Occupied Palestinian Territory and several cities across Israel.

“These recent events have made clear once again the costs of perpetual conflict and lost hope”, said Mr Wennesland, officially the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

He spoke via teleconference from Jerusalem, and shortly after the UN and partners announced a $95 million flash appeal to support people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Political and humanitarian response

Mr Wennesland stressed the need for the sides to return to the negotiating table, though warning against a “business as usual” approach.

“At the end, it is the lack of the proverbial ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ – of a political horizon – after decades of conflict, that kills hope and provides space for those not interested in sustainable peace. ”, he said.

“Only through negotiations that end the occupation and create a viable two-State solution, on the basis of UN resolutions, international law and mutual agreements, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, can we hope to bring a definitive end to these senseless and costly cycles of violence.”

‘Hell on Earth’

The latest conflict between Israel and armed groups in Gaza was among the most intense hostilities witnessed in years.

Mr Wennesland reported that Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets from Gaza, a significant number of which were intercepted by Israel’s air defense system, Iron Dome, while Israel carried out over 1,500 strikes against what it said were militant targets.

The UN estimates more than 250 Palestinians were killed, including whole families, with 66 children among the victims. In Israel, 13 people were killed: nine civilians, two of them children, as well as three foreigners and a soldier.

Relentless airstrikes forced some 70,000 people in Gaza to seek refuge in schools run by the UN agency which assists the Palestinian people, UNRWA.

Staff who ventured out daily amid the fighting to help them described the period as “hell on earth”, said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, speaking from its headquarters in East Jerusalem.

Strengthen UN agency

Mr. Lazzarini was in Gaza earlier this week. He said practically everyone he met reported feeling terrified and traumatized.

“I met parents who, every night, asked themselves whether to have all their children sleep near them or to spread them around the house”, he said. “Should they all die together? Or should they try to save some by scattering them?”

Mr. Lazzarini stated that until there is a political solution to the conflict, only a strong UNRWA can bring “a sense of normality” into the lives of Palestinians. He underscored the need for reliable and sufficient funding for its work in delivering essential services, such as education.

The UN and partners said at least 57 schools, nine hospitals and 19 primary health care centres were either partially or completely damaged in the fighting, which occurred as Gaza’s embattled health system was dealing with the burden of COVID-19.

Building back Gaza

The $95 million appeal, launched in Jerusalem on Thursday, targets one million people over the next three months, in the areas of protection, health, water and sanitation, education and food security.

Speaking to journalists in New York, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, noted that while buildings can be repaired, the concern is over how repeated conflicts impact the psycho-social well-being of Gazans, particularly children.

“But while the immediate needs on the ground have been outlined in the flash appeal launched today…all of us need to ensure that we are not repeating the mistakes that keep bringing us back to having to rebuild Gaza”, she said

Boost investments in nature to combat climate, biodiversity and land degradation crises

The State of Finance for Nature report calls for scaling up funding from the current level of $133 billion, most of which comes from public sources, to a total investment of $8.1 trillion, by 2050.

Save nature now

Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said biodiversity loss is already costing the global economy 10 percent of its output each year.

“If we do not sufficiently finance nature-based solutions, we will impact the capacities of countries to make progress on other vital areas such as education, health and employment”, she added. “If we do not save nature now, we will not be able to achieve sustainable development.”

The UN agency has produced the report alongside the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative, hosted by German development agency GIZ in collaboration with Vivid Economics.

To overcome the gap, the partners call for Governments, financial institutions and businesses to put nature at the centre of economic decision-making going forward.

This requires building back more sustainably from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other measures, such as repurposing agricultural and fossil fuel subsidies and creating other economic and regulatory incentives.

Private capital critical

Although investing in nature supports the health of all beings, improves quality of life, and creates jobs, it accounts for just 2.5 per cent of projected economic stimulus spending in the wake of the pandemic. Therefore, private capital will have to be increased to close the investment gap.

Solutions such as the management, conservation and restoration of forests, will alone require some $203 billion in total annual expenditure globally. The report suggests coupling investments in restoration with financing for conservation, as an example.

The private sector has already developed several initiatives, but the authors stressed the need for companies and institutions to commit to boost finance and investment, in nature-based solutions.

UN chief appeals to business leaders to help quell ‘a tsunami of suffering’ caused by COVID

“This is indeed much more than a health crisis. It’s a social crisis and an economic crisis, with dramatic long-term consequences for livelihoods, businesses, and for economies”, he said to a virtual roundtable event – part of the UN’s global campaign, #OnlyTogether – hosted jointly with the IKEA Foundation and Purpose – the social mobilisation organization which partners with the Department of Global Communications leading the UN Verified initiative, to combat misinformation.

The UN chief recognized the many lives that have been saved: “To have you leading this meeting is a guarantee of success because what our partnership has always represented is indeed the very symbol of the values we represent”.

Vaccine equity to prevent ‘further havoc’

Having delivered safe and effective vaccines in record time, science has shone a light for some parts of the world.

However, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) authorization for 13 vaccines and the “incredible success” of rollouts in more than 170 countries, Mr. Guterres bemoaned “a large and growing vaccine gap between rich and poor countries”.

“Just ten countries have administered more than 75 per cent of all vaccine doses. In poorer countries, even health workers and people with underlying conditions cannot access them”, he said, adding, “this is not only unjust, it’s self-defeating and dangerous – to everyone”.

Fast, equitable vaccination is the only way “to prevent new and more dangerous variants from emerging and wreaking further havoc”, in rich and poor countries alike, said Mr. Guterres.

Global vaccination plan

He said a global vaccination plan was needed, beginning with a G20 Task Force comprised of countries with vaccine production and manufacturing capacities, the WHO and Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) partners, as well as international financial institutions. 

“I am ready to mobilize the entire United Nations System to support this effort, but we need political will to move forward”, he said.

To this end, Mr. Guterres highlighted that the private sector could leverage its influence and expertise, use its communication channels to share accurate information and donate its service and resources, to encourage innoculation.

While this sector has been “central to every breakthrough” throughout the pandemic, he reminded that it achieved this by collaborating with countries, communities and the public sectors.

“By working together, we can vaccinate the world, end the pandemic, and kick-start a strong recovery”, the Secretary-General concluded.

Surge in South Asia threatens COVAX initiative

In a further development, WHO, GAVI the vaccine alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) issued a joint statement warning against “patchy achievements made so far”.

While cases of COVID-19 are declining in some countries, South Asia is suffering a traumatic surge. And because vaccine access is important to stem the tide, “we must focus on ensuring countries who have not benefitted from these life-saving tools do so now, and with urgency”, the statement said.

Although COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, has proven itself time and again, the harrowing surge in India has severely impacted its supply to the point that by the end of June it will face a 190-million-dose shortfall.

Up against ‘catastrophic’ consequences

Although more vaccine doses will be available later this year, the statement said, “if we do not address the current, urgent shortfall the consequences could be catastrophic”.

At the World Health Assembly last Friday, governments recognized the political and financial urgency of supporting COVAX with doses and dollars.

“It is now imperative…to secure full funding for COVAX and more vaccines – right now – for lower income countries at the Advance Market Commitment Summit on 2 June”, read the statement.

Ambitious solutions

For COVAX to deliver on the promise of global equitable access, the partners called for the immediate funding of the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), the mechanism that allows COVAX to provide doses to lower income economies; sharing of doses; and freeing up of supply chains by removing trade barriers, export control measures, and other restrictive barriers.

“Now more than ever, at the peak of the pandemic, we need ambitious, global solutions. When it comes to worldwide vaccine distribution, COVAX is the only initiative capable of rising to the challenge of this moment”, the statement spelled out.

While understandable that some countries wish to inoculate all their citizens, by donating vaccines to COVAX alongside domestic vaccination programmes, at-risk populations globally can be protected, which is “instrumental to ending the acute phase of the pandemic, curbing the rise and threat of variants, and accelerating a return to normality”.

Since COVAX was established in mid-2020, it has had the support and resources of 192 of the world’s economies, enabling it to deliver an unprecedented global rollout.

“It’s time to finish the job”, the statement concluded.

Up to 400,000 could be displaced by new Goma eruption in DR Congo, warns UNICEF

Mercifully slow-moving lava spewed from the huge crater of Mount Nyiragongo last Saturday, causing thousands to flee Goma, a city of around two million. At least 32 people died as a direct result of the eruption, including three children, while 40 people have been reported as missing, said UNICEF.

The agency said in a statement it welcomes the DRC Government’s “dedicated efforts” to protect people living in the Red Zone of eastern Goma from risks associated with further eruptions, and is warning of the potential that children would be at greater risk from further mass evacuation.

“Whenever large groups of people are displaced in a short period of time, the dangers to children increase”, warned UNICEF Representative in the DRC Edouard Beigbeder. “We must be alert to immediate risks for children on the move, including protection issues, nutrition and health risks, including waterborne disease and especially the spread of cholera.”

New exodus

Thousands of those feeling Goma from the threat, are heading to the nearby town of Sake – 25 km northwest of the city – an area prone to cholera outbreaks where at least 19 suspected cases have been recorded in the last two weeks.

“With an increased danger of a cholera epidemic, we are appealing for urgent international assistance to avert what threatens to be a catastrophe for children,” added Mr. Beigbeder.

Thousands of people fled Goma following the 22 May eruption, many of whom have headed to Sake.

An order by the authorities on Thursday that residents of the ten neighbourhoods in the east of Goma known as the Red Zone must immediately vacate their homes has seen a further mass exodus, said UNICEF. The Zone is thought to be the part of the city most at risk from more lava spewing forth.

Many of those fleeing on Thursday travelled on foot, carrying mattresses and cooking utensils, while others escaped by car or on motorbikes.

Families being reunited

Nearly 1,000 children who were separated from their parents amid the chaos following Saturday’s eruption, have now been identified, with UNICEF helping to reunite nearly 700 children with their families.

An additional 142 children have been placed in transitional foster families, while 78 are in transit accommodation centers. “Tragically more than 170 families are still looking for lost children. UNICEF is now concerned that the chaos of the latest evacuations will result in more children being separated from their families”, said the press release.

Response ramps up

In response to the crisis, UNICEF is arranging the delivery of essential non-food items – such as jerry cans and tarpaulins in addition to providing vitally important Water and Sanitation (WASH) equipment.

Steps have also been taken to establish a Volcano Information Centre (VIC), accessible through toll-free SMS system, which has played a crucial role in addressing misinformation surrounding the eruption and has so far been used by more than 5,200 people.

Needs Assessments have also been conducted in all UNICEF’s main programme areas – including WASH, Child Protection, Education, Healthcare, Community for Development and Nutrition – all vitally important aid contributions in the DRC that remain critically underfunded.

The agency said it was working closely with the Government of the DRC, especially in the areas of Health and Nutrition.

UN salutes ‘dedication and bravery’ of peacekeepers; recognizes contributions of youth toward peace

“From CAR to DRC to Lebanon, our peacekeepers work with youth to reduce violence and sustain peace, including through Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration and Community violence reduction programmes”, Secretary-General António Guterres said.

And young peacekeepers bring new ideas, hope and energy to UN operations by effectively engaging with local populations, and contributing to improved overall performance and mandate delivery.

“We salute the dedication and bravery of all our peacekeepers – women and men, the young and the slightly older – and we remain grateful for their service and sacrifice”, underscored the UN chief. “They deserve our full support, and we must continue to work together to do all that we can to improve their safety and security and give them the tools to succeed”.

Celebrated annually on 29 May, Peacekeepers Day offers a chance to pay tribute to the invaluable contribution that uniformed and civilian personnel make to the work of the Organization and to honour those who have sacrificed their lives in the process.

Forever in their debt

Previously, the Secretary-General had lain a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial to honour the more than 4,000 women and men who since 1948 have lost their lives while serving under the blue flag.

Malicious acts, accidents and fatal illnesses – including COVID-19 – had all taken their toll on uniformed and civilian peacekeepers over the past year, he explained.

Offering his condolences to their families and friends, the UN chief said: “We are forever in their debt”.

“Their ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten, and they will always be in our hearts”, he promised.

Honouring fallen heroes

After a moment of silence, the UN chief conducted the traditional Dag Hammarskjöld Medal Ceremony, posthumously awarding the 129 blue helmets who lost their lives while serving under the UN flag last year and this January.

“The challenges and threats faced by our peacekeepers are immense”, he said. “They work hard every day to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable, while facing the dual threats of violence and a global pandemic”. 

Despite COVID-19, across all UN missions, peacekeepers have not only continued to “deliver their core tasks” but are also assisting national and community efforts to fight the virus.

“I am proud of the work they have done”, said Mr. Guterres.

Top Military Gender Advocate

Having recently completed her deployment with the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which concluded last December, the UN chief awarded Major Steplyne Nyaboga of Kenya the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.

While serving in Darfur, Major Nyaboga witnessed countless women suffer during armed conflict, subject to displacement, sexual violence and political marginalization.

“Their voices were often not heard. They needed a champion. They found one in Major Nyaboga”, said the Secretary-General.

Rolling up her sleeves

Across UNAMID, Major Nyaboga introduced new perspectives and increased awareness of crucial issues affecting women and children while also helping to strengthen engagement with local communities.

To protect displaced women in Zalingei, she promoted joint patrols along farmlands to enable them to tend to their fields in peace and also trained nearly 95 per cent of the mission’s military contingent on critical protection issues, including sexual and gender-based violence.

“Her enthusiastic hands-on approach made a profound difference for her colleagues and for the people of Darfur. Her efforts, commitment and passion represent an example for us all”, said the UN chief.

Accepting the award, Major Nyaboga said, “I am so elated that our efforts in serving humanity have impact and didn’t go unnoticed”.

Since 2016, the accolade has recognized an individual military peacekeeper who has promoted the principles of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security in UN peace operations.

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