March 2022 — Page 4 of 17 — Human Rights & Charity

Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territory is ‘apartheid’: UN rights expert

The UN Special Rapporteur’s report echoes recent findings by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations who analized Israel’s 55-year occupation of the Palestinian Territory.

“There is today in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 a deeply discriminatory dual legal and political system, that privileges the 700,000 Israeli Jewish settlers living in the 300 illegal Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank,” said Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.

‘Open-air prison’

Mentioning the lack of rights of people living in the same vicinity, but separated by walls, checkpoints and roads, Mr. Link acknowledged that “there are more than three million Palestinians living under an oppressive rule of institutional discrimination and without a path to a genuine Palestinian state that the world has long promised, is their right”.

“Another two million Palestinians live in Gaza, described regularly as an ‘open-air prison’, without adequate access to power, water or health, with a collapsing economy and with no ability to freely travel to the rest of Palestine or the outside world”, he added.

He ran through the internationally-understood legal definition of apartheid – the system of institutionalized racial segregation practiced in South Africa prior to its dismantling in the early 1990s.

Israel, he said, conforms to the definition as a “political regime which so intentionally and clearly prioritizes fundamental political, legal and social rights to one group over another, within the same geographic unit on the basis of one’s racial-national-ethnic identity”.

Crime against humanity

“Apartheid is not, sadly, a phenomenon confined to the history books on southern Africa,” Mr. Lynk said, in his report to the Human Rights Council.

“The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court came into law after the collapse of the old South Africa. It is a forward-looking legal instrument which prohibits apartheid as a crime against humanity today and into the future, wherever it may exist.”

The independent rights expert added that Israel’s military rule in the occupied Palestinian territory has been deliberately built with the “intention of enduring facts on the ground to demographically engineer a permanent, and illegal, Israeli sovereign claim over occupied territory, while confining Palestinians in smaller and more confined reserves of disconnected land”.

Apartheid is not, sadly, a phenomenon confined to the history books on southern Africa – UN rights expert Michael Lynk

He also mentioned that leading international figures – including former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, and former Israeli Attorney General Michael Ben-Yair – have also all described Israel’s occupation, as apartheid.

International community’s responsibility

Citing inhumane acts, arbitrary and extra-judicial killings, torture, the denial of fundamental rights, an abysmal child mortality rate, collective punishment, an abusive military court system, and home demolitions, Mr. Lynk said the international community bears much responsibility for the present situation.

“For more than 40 years, the UN Security Council and General Assembly have stated in hundreds of resolutions that Israel’s annexation of occupied territory is unlawful, its construction of hundreds of Jewish settlements are illegal, and its denial of Palestinian self-determination breaches international law,” he added.

Highlighting that no accountability had ever followed, the Special Rapporteur concluded, “if the international community had truly acted on its resolutions 40 or 30 years ago, we would not be talking about apartheid today.”

Mr. Link called on the international community to come up with an imaginative list of effective accountability measures to bring the Israeli occupation “and its apartheid practices” in the occupied Palestinian territory, to a complete end.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what’s known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff, and do not receive a salary for their work, and serve in their own individual capacity.

UN alarm over mounting Ukraine casualties, amid desperate scenes in Mariupol

More than 3.7 million people have fled the country, but “some 13 million people are estimated to be stranded in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, as well as lack of resources and information on where to find safety and accommodation,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Representative in Ukraine.

Fearing for their lives

Speaking from Lviv, Ms. Billing added that millions of Ukrainians “live in constant fear of indiscriminate shelling and heavy bombardment”, amid the systematic pounding of cities, towns, hospitals, schools and shelters that has forced them to shelter in bunkers, day and night.

With long-established roots in assisting Ukraine, UNHCR’s current focus inside the country is to provide immediate relief to those fleeing the war, by providing protection, shelter, emergency cash and in-kind assistance.

UNHCR teams and local partners have been deployed at border points, in transit and reception centres, too.

The UN has continued to push to reach populations at greatest risk “in eastern Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk oblast, as well as in the south, Kherson and Kiev”, the UNHCR official explained.

“They are blocked in these areas that are encircled or where the roads are now inaccessible, due to mines and, for example, burnt-out vehicles. This has been one of the reasons why it’s so difficult to get to Mariupol.”

Echoing that dire assessment, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) explained that the country’s food supply chain was “broken”. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said that existing systems that feed tens of millions trapped inside Ukraine were “falling apart, (with) trucks and trains destroyed, airports bombed, bridges fallen, supermarkets emptied, and warehouses drained”.

Encircled, running out of water

WFP also warned that situation is more desperate than ever in the southern city of Mariupol which has been subject to constant Russian shelling.

“The encircled city of Mariupol is running out of its last reserves of food and water,” said Mr. Phiri. “No humanitarian aid has been allowed into the city since it was encircled on 24 February. The only way to reach Mariupol is through humanitarian convoys which until now have not made it through.”

All the while the civilian death toll continues to rise, said the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner.

“The overwhelming damage and destruction is being done by weapons – explosive weapons – with wide impact areas,” she said, speaking from Uzhhorod in the west.

“The attacks are happening on a daily basis and this is what the civilian population is suffering from, because they are being used in populated areas.”

Cluster munitions’ use confirmed

Ms. Bogner said that the death toll and human suffering in cities, towns and villages across Ukraine was increasing “day after day” and that the indiscriminate nature of the attacks – in which the use of cluster munitions by Russian forces has been confirmed, and potentially by Ukrainian forces also – were potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Since Russian armed forces launched their attacks on 24 February, at least 1,035 civilians have been killed and at least 1,650 injured, The UN rights office official said, adding the caveat that the figure “is likely much higher in locations that have seen intense fighting, in particular Mariupol and Volnovakha…If we look at Mariupol, clearly the number of deaths of civilian casualties there is significantly higher.

“We are trying to look into the scale, we have”, adding that they are get more information “on mass graves that are there.”

Since February the UN and partners have delivered over 2,700 tonnes of food and medical supplies and over 1,100 tonnes of water, sanitation and hygiene items.

Relief distribution

People on the move have also received essential advice via hotlines, and another 5,500 tonnes of supplies are already being distributed or are on the way.

Pushing further east to conflict-affected regions, or oblasts, is a particular priority, said Rob Holden, World Health Organization (WHO) Incident Manager for Ukraine, speaking from Dnipro.

“WHO, along with certain colleagues from OCHA, arrived in Dnipro about 48 hours ago to further strengthen and build an operational capability in sort of the central east of the country. The purposes of us doing that is very much to get closer to the people who are in greatest need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”

The UN has launched two coordinated UN emergency appeals calling for $1.7 billion to help people across Ukraine and beyond. Within Ukraine, $1.1 billion is needed to meet escalating humanitarian needs of more than six million people affected and displaced by military operations over the next three months. The appeal is currently around 40 per cent funded.

Outside the country, more than $550 million is required to help Ukrainians who have fled across borders, principally to Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

Human rights crackdowns in Libya having ‘a seriously chilling effect’

Members of the Internal Security Agency (ISA) of the internationally-recognized Government in Tripoli, and State-affiliated armed groups, have, in recent months, arbitrarily detained some human rights defenders and civil society activists, Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told a media briefing in Geneva.

Under the pretence of protecting “Libyan and Islamic values”, she said, they have “subjected them to torture, verbal harassment and intimidation.”

Social media videos

Ms. Throssell recounted that between November and now, OHCHR had learned that seven 19 to 29 year-old men had been arbitrarily arrested and detained by the ISA in the capital, Tripoli.

“The ISA has since posted videos of the seven men on Facebook, in which they seemingly confess to being ‘atheist, areligious, secular and feminist,’ and to using social media to propagate atheism and contempt for religion,” said Ms. Throssell.

She told journalists that OHCHR, has received allegations that the confessions were obtained by coercion, raising serious concerns regarding the use of torture, “which is absolutely prohibited”.

“These confessions also implicate several other men and women, many of whom have now gone into hiding after receiving death threats,” added the spokesperson.

Moreover, the Facebook videos have sparked a wave of hate speech, against human rights defenders.

“In fact, a list of activists has been circulating on social media with calls to prosecute those on it, as apostates under Sharia law and sentence them to death”, if found guilty, she flagged.

‘Stop aggressive campaign’

Meanwhile on 13 March, the Tanweer Movement – a prominent social campaign for gender equality and social and cultural rights – was dissolvedits board of directors have fled overseas fearing for their safety, Ms. Throssell said.

And other civil society groups, including the Libyan Rational Dialogue, and Al-Baraka, are being targeted with online hate speech and threats.

“We call on the Libyan authorities to immediately stop this aggressive campaign against Libyans exercising and defending their human rights, and to immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained, while also ensuring the protection of those named in coerced ‘confessions’,” said the UN official.

‘Democratic space is critical’

She underscored that the Libyan authorities should also launch “prompt and effective investigations” into the alleged human rights violations, including allegations of torture.

Furthermore, she continued, they should hold all alleged perpetrators to account, including ISA members.

“A safe, open, and democratic space is critical for Libya, and it cannot be built without full respect for freedom of expression and association,” concluded the OHCHR spokesperson.

Ethiopia: Guterres welcomes Tigray humanitarian ceasefire agreement

“The conflict in Ethiopia has caused terrible suffering for millions of people across Afar, Amhara, Tigray, Benishangul Gumz and Oromia”, said UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, in a statement issued on behalf of Secretary General António Guterres.

‘Positive developments’

“These positive developments must now translate into immediate improvements on the ground”, the statement continued.

Conflict erupted in Tigray in November 2020 between federal troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The war spilled over into the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar, killing thousands of civilians, and displacing millions across northern Ethiopia, and into neighbouring Sudan.

All parties to the conflict are responsible for multiple grave rights abuses, according to UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.

The northern region has not received any aid deliveries by road since last December, due to the ongoing fighting. The Ethiopian Government declared the cessation of hostilities on Thursday, saying that it was to allow aid to reach stricken civilians.

Hours later, Tigrayan authorities issued a statement saying that they would do everything possible, to make the humanitarian ceasefire, a success.

Aid supplies essential

Many aid activities remain reduced or suspended in Tigray, UN humanitarians reported last week, when fewer than 7,000 people received food assistance – an extremely small fraction of the 870,000 who UN colleagues are trying to help each week.

Humanitarian partners warn that less than 10 per cent of the required quantity of seeds have managed to make their way Tigray before the start of the planting season, which is only a month away.

Some medical and nutrition supplies have continued to be flown into the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, in recent months, and in neighbouring Afar, an estimated 200,000 men, women and children displaced by the fighting, remain in areas that the UN and partners cannot reach, due to ongoing insecurity issues.

In accessible parts of Afar, more than 112,000 people have received food assistance since late February, the UN reported last week.

Take ‘necessary steps’ towards lasting ceasefire

Mr. Guterres in his statement, reiterated his call for the restoration of public services in Tigray, “including banking, electricity and telecommunications, and calls for all sides to proactively enable and facilitate the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian assistance across all affected areas.”

The Secretary-General urged all parties fighting in the north, “to build on this encouraging development to take the necessary steps towards a long-term ceasefire.”

Call for unity in Security Council over latest DPR Korea missile test

“The unity of the Security Council in this matter is essential to ease tensions, overcome the diplomatic impasse and avoid a negative action-reaction cycle,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

She also underscored the UN’s commitment to working with all parties towards the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, while urging Pyongyang to “reset the course to dialogue” and build on previous diplomatic efforts.

Escalation of tensions

Ms. DiCarlo said that, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the State news outlet of DPRK, more commonly known as North Korea, the country launched a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile – the so-called Hwasong 17 – on 24 March, from the city of Sunan.

It covered 1,090 km and reached a height of around 6,200 kilometres, making impact in the sea within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the launch that same day, describing it as a flagrant breach of the country’s own 2018 moratorium on ballistic missile tests, and of relevant Security Council resolutions.

He said it also risks triggering a significant escalation of tensions in the region and beyond.

‘Serious risk’ to civil aviation

Recalling the last time North Korea conducted a similar intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test was in November 2017, Ms. DiCarlo told the Council that the country has nonetheless conducted numerous other missile tests in 2022 alone.

According to the Government’s public statements, the launches involved, among other things, a test of so-called hypersonic weapons, railway-borne missiles, an intermediate range ballistic missile and tests of systems related to the development of so-called military reconnaissance satellites.

Council resolution 2397 (2017) reaffirms the organ’s decision that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shall not conduct any further launches using ballistic missile technology.

Ms. DiCarlo noted that Pyongyang did not issue any airspace or maritime safety notifications for any of the recent launches, adding that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has repeatedly informed the country that unannounced missile launches represent a “serious risk to international civil aviation.”

‘Defying repeated demands’

Outlining additional information that points to a significant uptick in nuclear programmes activities in the DPRK, Ms. DiCarlo told the Council that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported “ongoing indications consistent with the operation of the 5-megawatt reactor at the Yongyon site.”

At the same time, satellite imagery analysis indicates there was renewed activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, for the first time since the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea announced its closure and dismantlement, in 2018.

“In pursuing its nuclear capability and ballistic missile programmes, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is defying the repeated demands of the Council to cease such activities,” she stressed.

She added that the UN stands ready to work with all parties towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

It is also ready to assist people in need in North Korea, whose vulnerability has likely increased since the country began its self-imposed isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

UN rights experts voice alarm over Northern Ireland professor’s safety after ‘vicious’ online attacks

In a press release issued by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, the group of four Human Rights Council-appointed special rapporteurs said that Professor Colin Harvey, the former Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and a member of civic nationalist group, Ireland’s Future, has been targeted by a “vicious online campaign”, connected with his work as a leading academic at Queens University, Belfast.

Smears and threats

“His academic credibility has come under attack, and he received hundreds of smears and threats from politicians, journalists and other social media users. His personal security has also been threatened”.

Much of his work focuses on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland, which remains part of the UK, following the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union, and the arrangements that have been made to maintain a frictionless border with the EU, in compliance with the landmark peace deal of 1998 known as the Good Friday Agreement – which mostly ended the period of paramilitary violence known as “the Troubles”.

“The threats seek to discredit his academic standing by making baseless claims he is connected with paramilitary groups or equating his ideas with Nazism,” the experts said.

The UN experts are particularly concerned that the threats are taking place as the public debate over the constitutional crisis facing Northern Ireland, becomes more extreme.

Growing risk of physical harm

Previous physical attacks on leading human rights figures were preceded by campaigns of vilification. “We believe the campaign against Colin Harvey may constitute incitement of national hatred, putting him at risk of physical harm,” the experts said.

They warned that smear campaigns and threats of physical attack against academics could have dire consequences for academic freedom in a country.

Threat to academic freedom

“When attacks are made against legitimate academic work, it deals a blow to democracy, progress and development,” the experts said. “Debate becomes stifled and other academics consider self-censoring or begin to shy away from meaningful debate.”

The experts expressed concern that some influential figures in the country were fueling conspiracy theories about Professor Harvey. “When those in authority take part in smear campaigns, they legitimize attacks from other members of society,” they said.

“Fomenting a narrative that a person is untrustworthy because of their national identity or viewpoint, can have dire consequences, not only on that individual, but on all those who hold similar beliefs or hail from similar backgrounds.

Constructive dialogue

“Northern Ireland knows better than most, the value of conciliation and mutual understanding”, the experts said, calling for discourse in the media and among public officials and private citizens online, “to be held in a constructive and meaningful manner, to preserve peace, security and academic freedom in Northern Ireland.”

Guterres strongly condemns DPR Korea long-range ballistic missile launch

In a statement, issued by his Spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres called the move “another breach” of DPRK’s 2018 self-imposed moratorium that is in “clear violation of Security Council resolutions.”

North Korea has reportedly conducted 13 weapons launches this year, prompting concern in the United States, that leader Kim Jong-Un, is determined to make progress on developing weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads to the US mainland.

South Korean and Japanese flight data indicated that the long-range missile flew higher and longer (670 miles, or 1,080 km) than any of North Korea’s previous tests before crashing into the sea west of Japan, according to news reports.

Japanese authorities reportedly indicated that it appeared to involve a “new type” of ballistic missile.

Significant escalation risks

Although North Korea had announced that it put its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and nuclear tests on hold, the country has since defended their use as weapons of self-defence.

“The launch of the long-range missile risks a significant escalation of tensions in the region,” the top UN official said, urging the DPRK to “desist from taking any further counter-productive actions.”

Mr. Guterres concluded his statement by reaffirming the UN’s commitment to working with all parties “in seeking a peaceful diplomatic solution for the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Ukraine war fueling global economic downturn as growth projections slide

“The main headline is a downgrading of the projection for global growth this year,” said Richard Kozul-Wright, Director, UNCTAD Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, speaking in Geneva.

“We anticipated back in September of last year that the global economy would grow by around 3.6 per cent. We expect it to grow by 2.6 per cent this year and of course, the main contributing factor to that, is the war in Ukraine.”

Trillion-dollar debt

With inflation on the rise and developing countries already weighed down by a $1 trillion debt burden to pay back to creditors, the UN body decried the inadequate financial measures already taken to help them withstand exchange rate instability, rising interest rates and soaring food and fuel prices.

Wholesale multilateral fiscal reform – possibly on the scale and ambition of the US Marshall Plan that shouldered Western Europe following the Second World War – is urgently needed to improve the financial liquidity of developing countries to prevent them – and even middle-income countries – from potentially going under, UNCTAD insisted, as it appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Emergency measures call

“There is a rapidly worsening outlook for the world’s economy and to think that this year, the year after two years of crisis with COVID-19, the average rate of growth of the world economy will be 2.6 per cent, down from 5.5 per cent last year, and down from the projections that were made in the last quarter of 2021,” said Rebeca Grynspan, UNCTAD Secretary-General.

In particular, Ms. Grynspan called for “emergency measures from the IMF and World Bank”, namely the activation of rapid funding instruments which IMF can provide to help countries with looming balance of payments problems.

“Conditions are worsening for everybody,” continued the UNCTAD chief, noting how the climate crisis has played its part, along with successive droughts in the Horn of Africa, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Even relatively wealthy countries that are struggling with multiple cost-of-living pressures, have already sought help from the international system to keep them afloat.

“Pakistan went back (to the IMF) at the end of last year,” said Mr. Kozul-Wright. “Sri Lanka has now gone to the IMF to organise a programme. Egypt, which was already under a programme, has gone back to the IMF to renegotiate. And these are countries – these are not least developed countries, these are middle-income countries that are under very serious economic and in some cases political pressure, as a consequence of the shocks that they now face.”

Importer woes

But it is the world’s poorest, import-dependent countries that will be worst-hit by the global economic downturn, UNCTAD insisted.

“The brunt is being carried by the developing countries because of the rise in prices of food, of energy and fertilisers that is very steep and also the financial stretch under which the developing countries are already under,” said Ms. Grynspan.

Although “all regions of the global economy will be adversely affected by this crisis”, Mr. Kozul-Wright, suggested that “high commodity exporters” were likely to do well from a rise in prices. “But the European Union will see a fairly significant downgrade in its growth performance this year…so will parts of central and southern Asia as well,” he said.

UNCTAD’s policy recommendations include the need for global financial reform to allow developing countries the economic space for “reasonable growth” so that they can service potentially crippling debt levels.

“Debt servicing in 2020 for developing countries excluding China was already $1 trillion, that was the kind of financial pressure that developing countries are in,” Mr. Richard Kozul-Wright said.

“We know and we have argued in the past that the initiatives from the G20, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative is welcome, we welcomed it, but it was clearly insufficient, it provided something of the order of $11 billion for the countries that were eligible.”

WHO publishes first-ever country estimates on unintended pregnancy, abortion

With partner organisation the Guttmacher Institute, the WHO said that the results would allow health authorities to better understand family planning needs in their countries, including contraception and abortion care.

According to the data – which represent the first such exercise at a country level – unintended pregnancy and abortion rates vary widely, even within the same region.

Significant variations

The greatest variations are in Latin America, where unintended pregnancy rates ranged from 41 to 107 per 1,000 women, and in sub-Saharan Africa, where the range was 49 to 145 women per 1,000.

Even in regions with low unintended pregnancy rates, it is still hugely important to invest in giving women and girls the information they need to choose whether they want to have children, said the Guttmacher Institute’s Jonathan Bearak, whose study appears in the journal, BMJ Global Health.

Essential health coverage

“Sexual and reproductive health and rights are an essential part of universal health coverage and are required to end discrimination against women and girls,” the WHO said.

These disparities are not shaped purely by income-level. In Europe, for example, most countries with higher unintended pregnancy rates than the regional average, are classified as high-income, while the two countries with the lowest estimates are in the middle-income category.

This finding reflects how barriers to accessing and using effective sexual and reproductive healthcare, exist in all settings, not just those where resources are scarce.

Abortion bans, ineffective

“The proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion – as great as 68%, even among countries that completely prohibited abortion – illustrates the strength of the desire of millions of women and adolescents to avoid unplanned childbearing”, said Mr. Bearak.

While the estimates go a long way in increasing the quality of evidence available, there remains a pressing need for more and better data.

Fair investment

These country-level estimates highlight the importance of equitable investment in comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare, and will further inform countries working to implement WHO’s new guidelines for quality abortion services.

“For good health, people in countries around the world need access to a comprehensive package of sexuality education, accurate family planning information and services, as well as quality abortion care,” said Dr Bela Ganatra, who leads WHO’s Prevention of Unsafe Abortion unit.

“This research aims to support countries as they work to strengthen the lifesaving services they provide for sexual and reproductive health and improve health outcomes – especially for women and girls.”

Ukraine: General Assembly passes resolution demanding aid access, by large majority

During its 11th Emergency Special Session, 193 Member States adopted a resolution – drafted by Ukraine and 90 co-sponsors entitled Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine – with 140 votes in favour, five against – Russia, Syria, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea), Eritrea and Belarus – and 38 others abstaining.

At the end of a second morning of deliberations on competing draft resolutions addressing Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis, 67 States voted not to take action and vote on a second text penned by South Africa, Humanitarian situation emanating out of the conflict in Ukraine, which made no reference to Russia or its role originating the conflict.

Despite that, 50 countries gathered in the General Assembly Hall, did favour moving to a vote on the Russian-backed South African draft, and 36 abstained, but the resolution did not garner enough support to proceed to a full vote.

Humanitarian focus, top priority

Speaking before the vote, South African Ambassador Mathu Joyini explained that despite the success of the Ukraine-sponsored draft, her country it put forward its draft with the focus that the humanitarian situation be the immediate priority.

“Unfortunately, instead of placing the humanitarian crisis and our response at the centre of our deliberations, the political divisions in the Assembly suggest that perhaps, in the minds of some delegations, the humanitarian response is secondary to geopolitical objectives,” she said.

While neither the context that gave rise to the crisis nor international law should be ignored, they should not divert our focus from what we should be doing, namely, “working as a global community to end the war”.

‘Blood of Ukrainian children’

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya spoke passionately against the South African draft, as having “inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or course of actions,” which he maintained, only bolstered a commonly-held sceptical view of “how the General Assembly is already perceived by the peoples of the world.”

In a forceful speech, he said Ukraine had had nothing to do with the text, written without any cross-regional consultations, and “promoted unliterally by one country.”

Mr. Kyslytsya made the analogy of a “child dying in your arms and instead of administering to him the proper medicine…you opt for a placebo.”

“Will you opt for it? Will you leave the dying child with no chance whatsoever? Just because…[it] was so easy to get and to swallow?”
The Ukrainian Ambassador described the failed resolution as like “fresh paint on the mouldy rotten structure of the Assembly, where the paint isn’t actually paint but the blood of Ukrainian children, women and defenders.

“Let’s spare the Assembly from this shame”, he said. “Let’s prove that the Assembly is still a solid structure and we are the United Nations that have been wise enough to avert imminent disaster”, urging all delegations to reject South Africa’s proposal.