August 2021 — Page 2 of 14 — Human Rights & Charity

The ‘energy patriots’ bringing electricity to Indonesia’s remote villages

But a recently launched UN-led initiative could change that, thanks to a group of Indonesians dubbed “energy patriots” who have been tasked to boost the use of clean energy resources, with the goal of improving access to healthcare, education and economic development in rural villages.

29-year-old environmentalist Ristifah is one of 23 energy patriots who will be working closely with villagers as part of the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) clean energy project The five-year initiative aims to instal solar panels in some of the remotest islands of Indonesia.

Growing up in a rural village, Ristifah experienced coping with a limited electricity supply first-hand; “We only had three hours of electricity a day”.

With limitations on when they could charge their phones and access the internet, Ristifah and her peers felt cut off from developments across the rest of Indonesia.

Now, Ristifah and her colleagues will be spending a year living in their assigned villages to prepare the infrastructure for solar energy generation. Their tasks include helping the community to determine electricity tariffs, liaising with contractors, recruiting operators and technicians, and helping the local renewable energy service providers to manage new power plants.

SDG7: Clean and Affordable Energy

Sustainable Development Goal 7 calls for access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Progress on this Goal is being made, with encouraging signs that energy is becoming more sustainable and widely available.
However, 789 million people – predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa – are living without access to electricity, and hundreds of millions more only have access to very limited or unreliable electricity.
It is estimated that only 28 per cent of health facilities have access to reliable electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, yet energy is critically needed to keep people connected at home and to run life-saving equipment in hospitals.

An urgent need for clean energy

Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, urgently needs clean energy capacity: the blistering pace of economic development over the past decade has lifted millions out of poverty, but it has also dramatically increased the demand for energy.

The government has pledged to phase out all coal-fired power stations by 2055, but some 30 million people out of the country’s population or around 267 million do not have adequate access to electricity.

Ristafah and her colleagues will oversee the installation of 1.2 MW off-grid solar- power plants, which will provide electricity for around 20,000 people in remote villages; although that is only a fraction of Indonesia’s total unmet needs, the programme serves as a blueprint for rural development that goes beyond basic socio-economic support.

‘I dream of the day when the houses sparkle with lights’

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago nation, with 17,000 islands sprawled across three different time zones, many of which are out of reach of the national electricity grid.

Ristifah will be assigned to a coastal fishing village of Muna, in southeastern Sulawesi Province. Like most island villages, Muna is heavily dependent on fuel-fired generators for its electricity. Such generators are often inadequate for communities’ needs, and the toxic fumes they spew that can harm the environment and cause health issues including respiratory illnesses and cancer.

A more consistent rural electricity supply could open opportunities for greater economic development and help people in remote villages like Muna to lead healthier lives.

Ristifah bears the heavy responsibility of ensuring the success of the project, but it’s one she’s keen to embrace: she will move 1,500 km away from her home on Indonesia’s most populous island of Java, to take up her post as Muna’s energy facilitator. But she says that the chance to make a difference in the lives of her compatriots makes that sacrifice worthwhile.

“I hope to inspire more girls to achieve higher education,” she said. “I dream of the day when the houses sparkle with lights that the community installed, and children can have a better future.”

Those sparkling lights will help to lessen inequalities between Indonesians across the country according to the UN Resident Coordinator in Indonesia Valerie Julliand

“The difference in the pace of development between urban and rural areas has often been stark, in large part due to discrepancies in access to power,” said Ms. Julliand says, adding that the work undertaken by the energy patriots will “ensure communities have a say in how important infrastructure projects that affect their lives are developed. They can go a long way towards addressing urban-rural inequality.”

Promoting the adoption of sustainable energy sources is a key component of the UN-backed Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy aims to accelerate access to electricity in poorer countries whilst improving energy efficiency and renewable sources of power.

Verania Andria, Senior Advisor for UNDP’s Sustainable Energy Strategic Programme in Indonesia, said that the project drives home the “importance of our principle of leaving no behind as Indonesia makes great strides towards economic development,” adding that the “energy patriots show us that we can implement inclusive and sustainable rural energy development projects that could be replicated in rural communities around the world.”

ACCESS to energy

UNDP’s four-year Accelerating Clean Energy to Reduce Inequality (ACCESS) Project, which receives financial support from the Korean International Cooperation Agency, has supported 23 young people in joining the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia’s clean energy programme.
They are among 100 the Ministry is helping to train in partnership with a local NGO. Each will be deployed for 12 months at a time in villages across the breadth of the archipelago.

Reaffirm commitment to ban nuclear tests, UN chief says in message for International Day

The UN chief made the appeal in his message for the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, observed on Sunday, 29 August.

The date marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, the largest of its kind in the former Soviet Union, where more than 450 nuclear devices were exploded over four decades.

Terrible consequences

Mr. Guterres said nuclear tests caused enormous human suffering and environmental damage.

“They had terrible consequences on the health of people living in affected areas. Many were relocated from their ancestral lands, disrupting their lives and livelihoods. Pristine environments and ecosystems were destroyed, which will take decades, if not centuries, to heal.”

The closure of the Semipalatinsk test site signaled the end of the era of unrestrained nuclear testing, said Mr. Guterres. Soon afterwards, countries began negotiating the CTBT.

The treaty bans all explosive nuclear weapons tests anywhere, by any country, he added, effectively “putting a brake on the nuclear arms race and providing a powerful barrier to the development of new nuclear weapons.”

No excuse

The CTBT was adopted in 1996 and has been signed by 185 countries, and ratified by 170, including three nuclear weapon States. However, it must be signed and ratified by 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries before it can enter into force.

Even though the world has witnessed the gradual development of a norm against nuclear testing in the three decades since the closure of the Semipalatinsk site, Mr. Guterres lamented that the full potential of the CTBT has not been realized.

Despite its near universal acceptance by countries, it has yet to enter into force.

“I once again urge those states that have not yet ratified the treaty to do so without delay. Eight States whose ratifications are necessary for the Treaty to enter into force have a special responsibility. At the same time, all States should maintain or implement moratoria on nuclear explosions,” he said.

“The International Day Against Nuclear Tests is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to outlaw all nuclear tests, by anyone, anywhere. There is no excuse to delay achieving this goal.”

Tokyo Paralympics: leaping towards a more inclusive society

After losing her right leg in a car accident as a Japanese high school student, Kaede Maegawa was grateful when her friends offered her support. Yet, she sometimes felt that she wouldn’t be capable of doing anything on her own.

In order to regain her confidence, she asked her friends and teachers to let her try do things on her own. This started her on the road to becoming an elite athlete, and a competitor at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Ms. Maegawa shares her story during SDG Zone at Tokyo panel discussion, in which three inspirational Paralympians talk about the power of sport to expand horizons, and what the Paralympic values – courage, determination inspiration, and equality, mean to them.

Ms. Maegawa, who competes in the long jump, is joined by renowned Sierra Leonean table-tennis para-athlete George Wyndham, and Miki Matheson, three-times Paralympic gold medalist in ice sledge speed racing.

Breaking barriers with technology

Innovations featured in the Paralympics can eventually help all disabled people, explains Ken Endo, CEO of the technology company Xiborg, in a conversation highlighting technology, design, and initiatives that are making sport more accessible and enjoyable for all.

Mr. Endo leads a project to make a running-specific prosthesis called “blade” available for all, not only for athletes, and is working to break down various barriers, especially in developing countries, exploring how locally available materials can be used to develop blades and increase the number of people using prostheses.

The panel also features Lucy Meyer, Spokesperson for the Special Olympics-UNICEF USA Partnership, for young people with disabilities, and a five-times gold medal swimmer in the Special Olympics.

Ms. Meyer, who also has cerebral palsy, says that doctors told her parents that she wouldn’t be able to sit up or swallow but “we are so happy to report that the doctors were very wrong!”

She is very active in Special Olympics programme which enables children with and without disabilities to compete together in team sports. “It’s important to me that everyone accepts and includes everyone, but especially people with disabilities, because we are no different.”

Looking to the future

The last session of the SDG Zone at Tokyo looks at what sport can bring to the next generation, and how it can help societies to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and improve.

South Sudanese Olympic athlete Abraham Guem, recounts the many challenges he, his team and the team’s host city of Maebashi have faced during the pandemic, with the unexpected upside that, because of the postponement of the Games, he was able to spend more time in Maebashi than expected, building links and making friends with local people.

The mayor of Maebashi, Ryu Yamamoto testifies to the positive experience of hosting the South Sudanese athletes, and believes the city is changed as a result. “Everyone must have felt encouraged to see these young people, from such a distant place in Africa, absorbed in intensive practice”.

Looking towards Paris 2024, Roxana Maracineanu, the French Minister of Sport, and an Olympic medal-winning swimmer, shared her hope that the path towards the next Olympic and Paralympic Games will foster stronger collaboration between sports movements, sport education at schools, and various sectors to enable everyone to leverage the power of sport to improve the world.

The SDG Zone at Tokyo

SDG Media Zone brings together world leaders, influencers, activists, experts, content creators and media partners to highlight actions and solutions in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The SDG ZONE at TOKYO is organized by the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC), the United Nations Information Centre Tokyo (UNIC Tokyo), and the Asahi Shimbun Company, a founding member of the SDG Media Compact.
It is the first of the SDG Media Zone series to be organized fully by a DGC country office.
The first half of the online discussion was held between 28 and 30 July, timed with the Olympic Games.

UN entities condemn 'abhorrent' terrorist attack at Kabul airport

The Islamic State in Khorosan Province (ISKP) has claimed responsibility for the deadly explosions which occurred on Thursday evening, local time, amid ongoing evacuations from the country in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

More than 160 people, including 13 United States troops, were killed, according to media reports.

Threat to peace

The Security Council issued a statement condemning the attack in the strongest terms.

“The members of the Security Council reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security,” it said. “Deliberately targeting civilians and personnel assisting in the evacuation of civilians is especially abhorrent and must be condemned.”

Ambassadors expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and wished a speedy and full recovery to the injured.

Stay and deliver

In condemning the attack, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) underlined the Organization’s commitment to stay and deliver, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told journalists in New York.

“The UN has been working for the people of Afghanistan for decades and the Mission stressed that we will remain and do everything for the people of Afghanistan who have suffered so much,” he said.

The Deputy UN Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, saluted medical NGOs who are responding to civilians wounded in the attack, including children.

He also reiterated the UN’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan, and called for their immediate protection.

Concern for children

The Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan, Hervé Ludovic De Lys, also joined UN officials condemning the attack.

“We call on all parties to ensure women and children are protected, at all times,” he said in a statement issued on Friday.

UNICEF is deeply concerned about children’s safety, and the rise in grave violations against them in recent weeks, he added.

“With increased conflict and insecurity, children in Afghanistan have already paid a devastating price. More than 550 children were killed and over 1,400 injured since the start of 2021.”

‘Hideous assault’ on civilians

The terrorist attack “was a horrendous move by ISIL Khorasan”, said Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the UN human rights office, OHCHR, speaking in Geneva on Friday during the bi-weekly briefing by UN agencies.

“It was clearly calculated to kill and maim as many people as possible: civilians, children, women, fathers, mothers, as well as Taliban and foreign forces protecting the airport,” he told journalists.

“It was an attack specifically designed to cause carnage and it has caused carnage. This was a hideous assault on desperate civilians and we hope those responsible are caught and brought to justice as soon as possible.”

Regional plan for Afghan refugees

Meanwhile, around 500,000 new Afghan refugees are expected in the region by the end of the year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday.

UNHCR presented its Regional Preparedness and Emergency Plan for Afghan Refugees, appealing to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to those seeking to escape the intensifying crisis.

The half a million number is “a worst-case scenario”, the agency said.

Emergency preparation

Based on an analysis of ongoing social, economic, political and the security situation, “the purpose of the figures is to enable us to plan and preposition important assistance so that urgent interventions can be scaled up quickly, efficiently as possible and if needed”, said Kelly Clements, UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner.

The plan is seeking $299 million to support the activities of UN agencies this year, including UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as partner NGOs.

“This is about contingency planning. It is not the actual response”, said Ms. Clements. “Increased and immediate funding will allow us to preposition core relief items and be ready for emergency interventions”.

She emphasized that significant movements across borders are not yet taking place, and that the greatest needs remain inside the country, where the impacts of the conflict have been compounded by a severe drought and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, also joined the call for funding.

“At the beginning of this year, we estimated that around 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance,” said Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, Director of its Coordination Division.

She warned that needs have increased, compounded by conflict, drought and COVID-19, adding that “flexible funding” must be scaled up urgently as resources are being stretched and winter is approaching.

FAO supporting livelihoods

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for scaling up humanitarian assistance in the country, which continues to be hit hard by an ever-worsening drought that threatens more than seven million people who depend on agriculture or livestock for their income.

As of this month, FAO has provided livelihood and cash assistance to almost one million people across 26 out of the country’s 34 provinces,

More than 20,000 households were reached in the last two weeks alone, and FAO plans to assist 250,000 vulnerable farming families during the upcoming winter wheat season.

The agency further reports that its Drought Response Plan for Afghanistan currently faces an $18 million shortfall.

UNDP trains farmers

Relatedly, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and partners this week continued training Afghan farmers who will help their counterparts adopt better planting practices.

UNDP continues to be active in all regions, supporting essential services, small infrastructure and livelihoods for the most vulnerable citizens.

The agency’s projects are ongoing and will be scaled up where safety and operational conditions allow because “the Afghan people need development and humanitarian support more than ever.”

More children than ever before live as migrants or refugees, outside their birth countries – UNICEF

The report, Uncertain Pathways, found that over the course of the year, there were almost 15 million new displacements or 41,000 each day, and that boys outnumber girls.

‘Gender skews’ routes and experiences

Gender plays a pivotal role in a child’s decision to leave home and continues to shape their experiences and vulnerabilities throughout their journey, the report revealed.

Today “close to 60 million girls and boys have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced within their own countries”, said Verena Knaus, UNICEF’s Global Lead for Migration and Displacement, who was speaking in Geneva at the report launch.

She pointed out that the number jumped almost 10 million more than 2015, when UNICEF published the report Children Uprooted.

Ms. Knaus stated that while there is much policy debate over labels such as whether a child is a migrant or a refugee, “we know surprisingly little about how migration and flight is experienced differently by gender”.

“Gender skews certain migration routes and experiences”, she said, pointing out that in 2020, “nine in ten unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Europe were boys”, more than half of whom came from Afghanistan, Morocco and Syria.

She noted that Afghanistan is number one on the list of the top 10 countries of origin – with the largest number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Europe.

While we know that many more Afghan boys have migrated across borders than girls, the UNICEF official highlighted the gender imbalance.

“Where are the Afghan girls? Where and how can Afghan girls seek international protection, today and in the future?”, she said.

Gendered migration-specific risks

The report also describes how migration decision making is gendered.

Ms. Knaus said that girls and boys may be motivated to move for different reasons, “boys are often expected to assume the role of bread winner, while girls may migrate as a strategy to delay early marriage or conflict-related sexual violence”.

Migration-specific risks are also gendered with girls outnumbering boys by four to three as victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, while boys are often trafficked for forced labour.

The report highlights how existing gender gaps in education are further exacerbated in humanitarian settings, with displaced girls more likely to be out of school than boys.

“In camp settings, girls are 2.5 times more likely to be out of school than boys”, said Ms. Knaus.

Address ‘blind spots’

The report calls for Governments to address “blind spots” through greater coordination and investment in gender-specific data, disaggregation and standardization.

It also urges a move away from one-size-fits-all approaches and to prioritize interventions that are tailored to gender-specific risks, needs and drivers of children on the move.

The response must not just be “gender-responsive but “gender transformative” to address the deeply ingrained inequalities between girls and boys when it comes to access to international protection and the opportunities that migration offers, the UNICEF official said.

WHO ‘exploring all options’ to get medical supplies into Afghanistan

“We have only a few days of supplies left and we’re exploring all options to bring more medicines into the country,” said Dr. Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director with the WHO Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), speaking during the bi-weekly briefing by UN agencies.

Pakistan is supporting efforts to fly in humanitarian supplies, and most likely through the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, he said, with the first flight hopefully leaving in the coming days.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is also establishing a “humanitarian airbridge”, with flights also expected to take off soon.

Getting off the ground

Prior to the attack, WHO had planned three airlifts of trauma kits, emergency health kits, essential medicines and supplies for hospitals and health centres in Afghanistan, but the items remained grounded due to security and operational issues at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The blasts on Thursday targeted Afghans fleeing the country and military personnel securing the facility. More than 160 people were killed, according to media reports. The Islamic State in Khorosan Province (ISKP) has claimed responsibility.

The UN condemned the attack, and has stressed the critical importance of the airport for facilitating the entry of aid workers and humanitarian relief. Although around 97 per cent of the roughly 2,200 health facilities in Afghanistan are functioning, they are running short of supplies to treat people affected by conflict, displacement, drought, malnutrition, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because of security concerns and several other operational considerations, Kabul airport is not going to be an option for the next week at least,” said Dr. Brennan.

“One of the challenges we have in Afghanistan right now is there’s no Civil Aviation Authority functioning. But we are working with the Pakistanis, particularly in the context of Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, because they can work with contacts on the ground to ensure that all the necessary steps to land an aircraft, to land a cargo aircraft, can be put in place”.

He added that insurance costs for bringing an aircraft into Afghanistan have “skyrocketed” overnight, reaching prices never seen before.

“We’re trying to jump through that hoop at the moment,” said Dr. Brennan. “Once we can address that, we will hopefully be airborne in the next 48 to 72 hours”.

Treating attack victims

The terrorist attack has accelerated tensions and volatility in a country where nearly half the population, or 18 million people, were already dependent on humanitarian relief even before the Taliban seized power. An ongoing UN appeal for $1.3 billion is less than 40 per cent funded.

Asked about the impact the attack had on hospitals in Kabul, Dr. Brennan reported that a WHO partner, the Italian NGO Emergency, which runs a trauma hospital in the city, has been “overwhelmed” in treating victims, who reportedly number more than 200.

“Of course, getting access to supplies is urgent, and we understand that they’ve got great pressure on their supplies right now. So our proposed air shipment in the next couple of days will be bringing in more trauma kits,” he said.

Concern for women and children

The UN continues to underline its commitment to stay in Afghanistan. More than 100 international staff, and around 3,000 national colleagues, remain in the country.

WHO, which has some 700 personnel located in all 34 provinces nationwide, is especially concerned about the health needs of women and children.

The agency fears a rollback in progress made over the past two decades, which saw maternal mortality rates drop by roughly 60 per cent and child mortality by around 50 per cent.

Even though Afghanistan falls short of international standards in availability of doctors and nurses for its population, thousands of health professionals were also trained during this period, including women doctors, nurses and midwives.

Health worker ‘brain drain’

“Already we’re hearing that some female health workers are not attending work, and that there has been a decline in the attendance of women and children at some facilities,” said Dr. Brennan.

“This again highlights the need to ensure the availability of medical supplies to support female health workers in their work, and to encourage families to bring their mothers, females, girls, and children, to seek health care when they need it”.

Asked why women health workers were reluctant to go to work, Dr. Brennan said WHO assumed they were being cautious as the agency had not received any reports about physical or other restrictions blocking women from their jobs.

Thousands of Afghans have been fleeing abroad since the Taliban took over, and Dr. Brennan noted that health workers are also part of this “enormous brain drain”.

UN commitment to stay

Looking ahead, WHO will be working with donors, partners and the Afghan health authorities in the coming weeks to ensure continued support for the country’s health system.

“For the past week or so, the eyes of the world have been focused on that major air operation at Kabul airport. But once that evacuation mission ends the enormous humanitarian needs will continue and our work will then enter a new phase which will bring complexities on a scale that we have not seen before,” said Dr. Brennan.

“In spite of these challenges, WHO and the UN will be there for the people of Afghanistan.”

Vaccine inequity causes ‘dangerous divergence’ in COVID survival rates – UN agency heads

The heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) met with the leaders of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), Africa CDC, Gavi and UNICEF to rapidly scale-up vaccines in low- and lower middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.

“These countries, the majority of which are in Africa, simply cannot access sufficient vaccine to meet even the global goals of 10 per cent coverage in all countries by September and 40 per cent by end 2021, let alone the African Union’s goal of 70 per cent in 2022”, the UN officials said.

Vaccine inequity

A crisis of vaccine inequity is driving a “dangerous divergence” in COVID-19 survival rates and in the global economy, the agency heads stated, expressing gratitude for “the important work” of AVAT and COVAX in trying to address the “unacceptable situation”.

However, they warned, “effectively tackling this acute vaccine supply shortage in low- and lower middle-income countries, and fully enabling AVAT and COVAX, requires the urgent cooperation of vaccine manufacturers, vaccine-producing countries, and countries that have already achieved high vaccination rates”.

Reaching targets

To ensure that all countries achieve the global goals of at least 10 per cent coverage by September, and 40 per cent by the end of the year, the top UN Officials called on countries that have contracted high volumes of vaccines to “swap near-term delivery schedules with COVAX and AVAT”.

They also advised vaccine manufacturers to “immediately prioritize and fulfill” their contracts to COVAX and AVAT, and to provide regular, clear supply forecasts.

Moreover, the UN agency chiefs urged G7 industrialized nations and all dose-sharing countries to “fulfill their pledges urgently” with enhanced pipeline visibility, product shelf life and support for ancillary supplies – as barely 10 per cent of the nearly 900 million committed doses have yet to be shipped.

“We call on all countries to eliminate export restrictions and any other trade barriers on COVID-19 vaccines and the inputs involved in their production”, the statement continued.

World’s health ‘at stake’

In parallel, the UN agencies are intensifying their work with COVAX and AVAT to tackle persistent vaccine delivery, manufacturing and trade issues, notably in Africa.

They are mobilizing grants and concessional financing to support this work.

“We will also explore financing mechanisms to cover future vaccine needs as requested by AVAT…[and] advocate for better supply forecasts and investments to increase country preparedness and absorptive capacity”, they assured.

The UN agency heads upheld that they would also continue to enhance data, identify gaps and improve transparency in the supply and use of all COVID-19 tools.

“The time for action is now. The course of the pandemic – and the health of the world – are at stake”, the statement concluded.

Trials of former Spanish judge lack independence, impartiality: landmark case

Former Judge Baltasar Garzón of the Spanish National Court was suspended in 2010 and criminally prosecuted and tried in 2012 for alleged willful abuse of power in two cases of major political significance at the national level.

In the first case, Mr. Garzón assumed jurisdiction to investigate enforced disappearances during the Civil War and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

Judges should be able to interpret and apply the law without fear of being punished – UN Human Rights Committee member

Trough the second case, called Gürtel, he tried a political corruption scandal during which the former judge decided to monitor communications between defendants and their representatives.

Mr. Garzón was acquitted in the Franco proceedings but was convicted of willful abuse of power in the Gürtel case and disbarred from office for 11 years.

The Committee emphasized that even if the former judge had committed a judicial error in both cases, it should have been corrected by a review before a higher court and not through the criminal prosecution.

First-ever ruling against a State

In 2016, Mr. Garzón filed a complaint against Spain before the UN Human Rights Committee – the body of independent experts charged with monitoring signatory States’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The former judge alleged that he suffered multiple human rights violations during both two trials.

The decision is the first time that the Committee has ruled and condemned a State for the use of criminal law against a judge in the course of his or her duties, thus establishing new jurisprudence.

“Judges should be able to interpret and apply the law without fear of being punished or judged for the content of their decisions”, Committee member José Santos Pais concluded. “This is essential to preserve judicial independence”.

Decisions ‘did not constitute serious misconduct’

In the Franco proceedings, the Committee specified that Mr. Garzón’s decisions “were at least a plausible legal interpretation, the appropriateness of which was reviewed on appeal, without it being concluded that such decisions constituted misconduct or incompetence that could justify his inability to perform his duties”.

Of the Gürtel case, the Committee considered that “the interpretation of Mr. Garzón, which was shared by other judges and the Public Prosecutor, even if, as claimed by the State, it was erroneous, did not constitute serious misconduct or incompetence that could justify his criminal conviction”.

Right to impartial tribunal ‘violated’

Mr. Pais noted that the right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal takes on special relevance in the case of judges, as it “ensures that they can carry out their judicial duties without undue interference or obstruction, protecting them against arbitrary criminal or disciplinary proceedings”.

The Committee concluded that Mr. Garzón’s right to be tried by an impartial tribunal was violated.

The Committee highlighted that some of the Supreme Court judges who tried him intervened in both cases, despite Mr Garzón’s request that they be recused; the trials were conducted simultaneously; the oral trials in the two cases took place five days apart; and the judgements were issued 18 days apart.

The members also criticized the fact that Mr. Garzón did not have access to a second instance to appeal, given that he was tried on only once by the Supreme Court, Spain’s highest judicial body.

In the Gürtel case, the Committee underlined that the conviction for willful abuse of power against Garzón was “arbitrary and unforeseeable” as it was not based on sufficiently explicit, clear and precise legal provisions.

Article 15 of the Covenant establishes the principle of legality and predictability, i.e. that no one can be convicted for acts that were not sufficiently explicitly foreseen at the time they were committed.

Pioneering report continues to help children survive conflict

Through her seminal report ‘The impact of war on children’, Graça Machel urged the international community to take concrete action to protect children from the scourge of war and called on the UN and the global community to act to protect children

“The international community heeded the call and took action based on Machel’s recommendations, with the General Assembly establishing the Office of the SRSG on children and armed conflict (OSRSG-CAAC), and the Security Council establishing a coordinated UN monitoring and reporting mechanism to continue to track the impact of war on children”, Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Virginia Gamba, UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict said in a joint statement.

They noted that the verifications include more than 104,100 children killed and maimed, 93,000 children recruited and used in fighting and support roles, 25,700 children abducted, and another 14,200 child victims of sexual violence.

Last year’s violations

In 2020, the UN verified a total of 26,425 violations against children in conflict situations, the statement said, adding that it corresponds to “72 violations occurring every single day or three violations every hour”.

It was also the seventh year in a row with at least 20,000 verified violations.
“These are only the cases that can be verified through the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, established in 2005 to systematically document the most egregious violations against children in conflict zones. The true figures are undoubtedly much higher”, the UN officials reminded.

More than statistics

These horrific numbers signify more than mere statistics, the UN agency chiefs pointed out, “they represent young lives that have been lost or otherwise devastated by horrifying trauma and suffering. Indeed, many children suffer from more than one grave violation”.

Last year, the UN verified that about 10 per cent of the nearly 20,000 affected children were victims of two or more grave violations.

Progress amidst abuses

Despite this disturbing trend, significant progress has been made since the report was released to protect children from conflict, including global measures and strategies to help keep children safe, such as the Paris Principles aimed to prevent the recruitment and use of children in armed forces and groups.

“In addition, the UN continues to work directly with families and communities to reduce children’s vulnerabilities and provide them with the support they need to recover from war”, the statement continued, pointing out that over the years, the UN and its partners have worked relentlessly to secure the release of thousands of children associated with armed forces and armed groups, including 12,643 children in 2020, and provide them with appropriate care and reintegration services.

Across conflict situations, SRSG-CAAC has supported UN engagement with all parties to conflict to enter into written timebound commitments to end and prevent violations.

Action Plans

Protect children from the impact of war.
Prevent grave violations from occurring.
Release children associated with armed forces and armed groups and reintegrate them in their communities.
Protect children from sexual violence.
Protect schools and hospitals.
Hold perpetrators accountable.

And through its programmatic presence, UNICEF, together other partners has assisted in identifying entry points for engagement with commanders from armed forces and groups to negotiate concrete measures to protect children.

A pointing needle

Nevertheless, grave rights violations continue with a widespread and appalling disregard for the rights and wellbeing of children by parties to conflict, the UN officials warned.

They called “unacceptable” that just 18 of the 61 parties to conflict listed in the annexes of the 2021 Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict have a joint Action Plan or similar commitments with the UN to prevent grave rights violations against children.

“All parties listed should agree and adhere to an Action Plan to protect children and to put in place measures to prevent violations against children from occurring in the first place”, they stressed.

The statement concluded with a quote from Ms. Machel: “The impact of conflict on children is everyone’s responsibility, and it must be everyone’s concern”.

African countries commit to ending all forms of polio

Vaccine-derived poliovirus is a weakened strain of the virus that has changed over time and behaves more like the naturally occurring poliovirus.

At a dedicated meeting on polio, Governments from the WHO African Region committed to ending all remaining forms of polio and presented a scorecard to track progress towards its eradication.

Since 2018, 23 countries in the region have experienced outbreaks and more than half of the global 1071 cVDPV cases were recorded in Africa.

Cases increased last year partly because of disruptions to polio vaccination campaigns caused by COVID-19, according to WHO.

Tools and tactics to stop outbreaks

Countries at the meeting discussed how they will begin implementing the new Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) 2022-2026 Strategy, which was launched in June to urgently stop the spread of cVDPVs.

Tactics and tools include advancing the speed and quality of outbreak response, such as through the rapid deployment of WHO surge staff; improving polio vaccine uptake by integrating polio campaigns to reach children who have never been vaccinated; and broadening the rollout of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), a new tool that could more sustainably end outbreaks of the most prevalent type 2 cVDPV.

To date, six countries in Africa have rolled out this vaccine with close to 40 million children vaccinated and no concerns for safety noted.

Tracking success

Ministers have also committed to regularly reviewing progress via the scorecard, which will track the timely implementation of high-quality polio outbreak response, introduce the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) for broader use and transition polio assets into national health systems in a strategic, phased approach.

“Our success in ending wild poliovirus in the region shows what is possible when we work together with urgency”, said WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti.

Since July 2020, almost 100 million African children have been vaccinated against polio.

While COVID-19 threatened this success, Dr. Moeti argued that it was possible to “overcome the final hurdles. We have the know-how, but it must be backed by committed resources to reach all under-vaccinated communities”.

Continuing progress

Also discussed at the meeting supporting immunization and disease surveillance once polio is eradicated, which will be achieved by transitioning polio infrastructure into countries’ health systems.

The polio programme has a history of supporting the response to emerging health threats in the region, including Ebola and COVID-19, and half of polio surge staff are currently helping countries with COVID-19 surveillance, contact tracing and community engagement.

Dr. Tunji Funsho, chair of Rotary’s National PolioPlus Committee, Nigeria called for increased political and financial commitment by Governments and partners to “not only curb outbreaks swiftly, but to also scale up vaccination coverage and give children lasting protection against this preventable disease”.