May 2022 — Page 3 of 15 — Human Rights & Charity

UNICEF urges leaders to keep schools safe following deadly Texas shooting

At least 19 children and two teachers were killed on Tuesday when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in the small city of Uvalde, Texas, located near the border with Mexico.

How many more?

Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s Executive Director, said there have already been “horrific attacks” this year on schools in Afghanistan, Ukraine, the US, West Africa and beyond.

“Tragedy after tragedy, shooting after shooting, young life after young life: how many more children will die before government leaders act to keep children and their schools safe? Because until they do, these horrors will continue,” she said in a statement.

Ms. Russell emphasized that outside of their homes, school is the one place where children should feel safest.

She noted that in addition to the lives lost, “many more children, teachers and school staff who witnessed the carnage will bear the emotional and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.”

Shock and sadness

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was deeply shocked and saddened by “the heinous mass shooting”, saying it was particularly heart-wrenching that most of the victims are children.

Mr. Guterres has extended his heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and to the entire community, his Spokesperson said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed expressed her outrage in a post on Twitter.

“When children go to school, they should only be concerned about learning,” she wrote. “Children should not go to school fearing for their lives!”

Ms. Mohammed said her heartfelt prayers are with the families, classmates and teachers who are mourning this “devastating loss”.

UN rights chief Bachelet holds ‘valuable’ meeting with China’s President Xi

In a tweet on Wednesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Bachelet, indicated that she had been able to “discuss directly” important issues via videolink with the country’s premier, without providing further information about her talking points.

Personal mission

“I have been committed to undertaking this visit, the first visit by a UN Human Rights High Commissioner to China in 17 years, because for me, it is a priority to engage with the Government of China directly…on human rights issues, domestic, regional and global,” Ms. Bachelet said, in comments shared by her Office, OHCHR.

She added: “For development, peace and security to be sustainable – locally and across borders – human rights have to be at the core.”

In opening remarks to President Xi, the UN rights chief also stressed that China had “a crucial role to play within multilateral institutions in confronting many of the challenges facing the world currently”, comments echoed in an address to students at Guangzhou University.

These challenges included “threats to international peace and security, instability in the global economic system, inequality, climate change and more”, Ms. Bachelet explained, adding that she looked forward “to deepening our discussions on these and other issues”.

As with other countries, the High Commissioner also offered China technical assistance to “accompany efforts to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights, justice and the rule of law for all without exception”.

Xinjiang spotlight

The development came as Ms. Bachelet prepared to visit the western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Wednesday, where UN-appointed independent rights experts have raised serious concerns about the alleged detention and forced labour of Muslim Uyghurs.

China has strongly denied the allegations over its treatment of the Uyghur minority, hundreds of thousands of whom who have been reportedly held in so-called re-education” facilities or forcibly transferred to factories in Xinjiang or other Chinese provinces.

Student solutions

Also on Wednesday – halfway into her six-day mission to China – the UN rights chief delivered a lecture to students at Guangzhou University.

At a time of “uncertainty and unpredictability”, a “human rights education is so crucial” for everyone, Ms. Bachelet insisted.

It offered the opportunity to shape “our own social, economic, cultural and political reality”, she continued, adding that it provided “concrete solutions to the challenges people face”.

Despite numerous global threats, from COVID-19 to climate change, conflict and growing inequalities, the High Commissioner told her audience that “the tremendous power of youth” was one of several “beacons of hope”.

“A fundamental ingredient for youth to be able to play that role is an open civic space where they can voice their opinions and seek change,” Ms. Bachelet said, adding that she had been inspired by youth activist movements who had challenged “discrimination, injustice and inequalities”.

She added: “Young people are influencing debates of national and international importance and prompting social change – including by demanding a seat at the table and holding governments and businesses to account for their inaction.”

Echoing the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights and Our Common Agenda blueprint for multilateral action, which underlines how young people must have the opportunity to take part in discussions that affect them, Ms. Bachelet highlighted the need for “an open civic space where they can voice their opinions and seek change”.

Returning to the topic of the inalienable right to participate in open dialogue, she also added: “When various sectors of society are brought into discussions, are included in debate, it allows for a deeper understanding of the issues. With different voices at the table, States can better identify gaps in laws and policies, to make sure they are more just.”

Upon arriving in Guangzhou on Monday where she was greeted by Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Ms. Bachelet told journalists that she expected to discuss “some very important and sensitive issues” over the course of her visit, to help to “build confidence”.

She is scheduled to hold a press conference at the end of her six-day mission.

‘Don’t work for climate wreckers’ UN chief tells graduates, in push to a renewable energy future

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was delivering the commencement address at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, one of the oldest and most prestigious Catholic universities in the United States, close to New York City.

He told graduates that they needed to be the generation that succeeds in meeting the aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of ending extreme poverty and hunger, reducing inequality, and developing new tech that can “end disease and suffering.”

“You will succeed in replacing hatred and division with reason, civil discourse, and peaceful dialogue. You will succeed in building bridges of trust among people – and recognize the inherent dignity and rights we share as human beings. You will succeed in balancing the scales of power for women and girls, so they can build better futures for themselves and for us all.”

Above all, he said, the graduates who had battled through the impediments thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic, needed to be the generation that addresses the “planetary emergency of climate change.”

‘Dead end’

Investing in fossil fuels is now “a dead end – economically and environmentally. No amount of greenwashing or spin can change that. So, we must put them on notice: Accountability is coming for those who liquidate our future.”

The UN chief said it was time for them to take action, and choose careers wisely, thanks to the benefit of their higher education.

“So my message to you is simple: don’t work for climate-wreckers. Use your talents to drive us towards a renewable future. Thanks to Seton Hall, you have the tools and the talents you need.”

He told the graduates they now had a “priceless opportunity to give back, and be the ‘servant leaders’ that our world needs.”

They were heading into “a world brimming with peril”, he warned, with wars and divisions on a scale, not seen in decades.

Crying out for solutions

“Each challenge is another sign that our world is deeply fractured. As I tell world leaders across my travels, these wounds will not heal themselves. They cry out for international solutions.

Only a multilateral approach can help build a better and more peaceful future, said Mr. Guterres: “Building a better, more peaceful future requires collaboration and trust, which are sorely lacking in today’s world.”

It now falls to you, he told his young audience, to “use what you have learned here to do something about it. To live up to your motto, and in the face of peril, go forward in building a better future.”

Throughout history, he said, “humanity has shown that we are capable of great things. But only when we work together. Only when we overcome differences and work in the same direction, with the same aim – to lift all people up, not only those born to wealth and advantage.”

He emphasized the virtues of goodwill, tolerance and respect, calling on the newly minted graduates to invest in being global citizens: “Be useful. Be mindful. Be kind. Be bold. Be generous with your talents.”

Tedros re-elected to lead the World Health Organization

First elected in 2017, his re-election by secret ballot, was confirmed during the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He was the sole candidate.

The vote was the culmination of an election process that began in April 2021 when Member States were invited to submit proposals for candidates for the post of Director-General. The WHO Executive Board, meeting in January of this year, nominated Dr Tedros to stand for a second term.

His re-election was met with wide and loud applause from ministers and others at the Assembly in Geneva. According to news reports he received 155 out of 160 votes cast, although he did not win the support of his native Ethiopia, due to opposing views over the Tigray conflict.

The WHO chief’s new mandate officially commences on 16 August. A Director-General can be re-appointed once, in accordance with World Health Assembly rules and procedures.

‘Humbled and honoured’

In a tweet following the vote, Tedros said that he was “humbled and honoured” by the vote of confidence, adding that he was “deeply grateful for the trust and confidence of Member States.”

“I thank all health workers and my WHO colleagues around the world”, he continued saying he was looking forward to “continuing our journey together.”

In remarks after the vote, he said his re-election was a vote of confidence in the whole WHO adding: “this is for the whole team.”

He acknowledged the pressure and attacks from “many quarters” during the pandemic, saying that despite the insults and attacks, he and the organization always kept an open mind and did not take it personally.

“We have to focus on promoting health…number two, we have to focus on primary healthcare” and thirdly, he cited the importance of emergency preparedness and response, being dependent on the first two priorities.

Transformation

During his first term, Tedros instituted a wide-ranging transformation of the WHO, the agency said in a press release, “aimed at increasing the Organization’s efficiency driving impact at country level to promote healthier lives, protect more people in emergencies and increase equitable access to health.”

Tedros guided WHO’s response to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, where he sometimes faced criticism, most notably, from former United States President, Donald Trump, who took the decision to withdraw the US from the WHO – a move since reversed.

The WHO chief also steered the response to outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and led the agency dealing with the health impacts of multiple other humanitarian crises, most recently the war in Ukraine.

Ministerial career

Before first being appointed WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for Ethiopia between 2012 and 2016 and as Minister of Health prior to that, from 2005.

He had also served as chair of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; as chair of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership Board; and as co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

Time is short for Sudan to resolve political crisis, Mission chief warns

“The crisis facing Sudan is entirely homegrown and can only be resolved by the Sudanese,” Volker Perthes, who is also Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), told Council members.

Envoys of the trilateral mechanism facilitating intra-Sudan talks – the United Nations, the African Union and regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) – have stressed that it is up to the Sudanese, particularly the authorities, to create an environment conducive to the success of any negotiations.

Detainees released

Outlining developments since March, he said authorities have released 86 detainees across the country, including high profile officials affiliated with the work of the Dismantling Committee and activists from the Resistance Committees.

Violence by security forces against protestors also appears to have decreased overall, although violations still occur.

At least 111 people reportedly remain in detention in Khartoum, Port Sudan and elsewhere. On 21 May, another protestor was killed by security forces, bringing the number of those reportedly killed to 96.

To build trust, accountability needed

“If the authorities want to build trust, it is essential that those responsible for violence against protesters be held to account,” he stressed.

A growing number of Sudanese parties and eminent national figures have come forward with initiatives to solve the political crisis, he said, while several political coalitions have formed new alliances around common positions.

Against this backdrop, he said the trilateral mechanism held initial talks with key components of Sudanese society and politics throughout April, among them, political parties and coalitions, representatives from resistance committees, youth, the military, armed groups, Sufi religious leaders, women’s groups and academics.

He said the aim was to canvass the views of the stakeholders on the substance and format of a Sudanese-led and owned process of talks.

While almost all have shown willingness to engage with facilitation efforts, some key stakeholders continue to reject face-to-face talks with other counterparts or prefer to participate indirectly.

Charting a way out

“Forging shared understandings around these issues will help chart the way out of the crisis and address the institutional vacuum after the coup,” he said.

On the security front, he said recent events in West Darfur, including the destruction and displacement in Kerenik and violence in Geneina between 22 and 26 April, have again exposed deficits in the State’s ability to provide security and protection for civilians.

The Permanent Ceasefire Committee, chaired by UNITAMS, has launched an investigation into possible ceasefire violations, following the submission of formal complaints by the parties.

In Darfur, high risk of violence

“The risk of a new outbreak of violence remains high,” he cautioned. Ultimately, protection of civilians requires that the causes of conflict are addressed, including issues of decades-long marginalization, land issues and the return of internally displaced persons and refugees.

In the meantime, physical protection must be a priority for the Sudanese authorities and for the local/state governments in Darfur.

18 million face acute hunger

He said food prices in April jumped 15 per cent compared to March and remain 250 per cent higher than respective prices in 2021. The combined effects of political instability, economic crisis, poor harvests and global supply shocks are having a “disastrous” impact on inflation.

The number of Sudanese facing acute hunger is projected to double to 18 million by September.

Noting that most Sudanese stakeholders realize that the geopolitical environment is becoming more challenging, and the international gaze is deflected from Sudan, he said: “Too much is at stake, too many hopes and aspirations impacted”. He urged the Sudanese to seize this opportunity to make progress.

Africa provides a ‘home for hope’, despite new challenges: Guterres

“Africa is a home for hope,” said Secretary-General António Guterres, citing the continent’s “growing and vibrant youth population”.

And with initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Decade of Women’s Financial and Economic Inclusion, and the African Union’s (AU) bold Agenda 2063 set of game-changing proposals, the “prospects on the horizon are bright”, he declared.

Obstacles to success

However, the top UN official reminded that there are “multiple challenges preventing Africa from reaching its full potential”.

He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on African economies along with climate change, unresolved conflicts, and a severe food crisis.

And the war in Ukraine is exacerbating challenges, “creating a perfect storm for developing countries, especially in Africa”.

“This crisis is resulting in soaring costs for food, energy and fertilizer with devastating consequences on nutrition and food systems, while making it even more difficult for the continent to mobilize the financial resources needed to invest in its people,” the Secretary-General detailed.

Day to remember

Africa Day marks the 1963 founding of the Organization of African Unity, now known as the AU, and provides an annual opportunity to reflect on the challenges and achievements of the continent.

Among African nations, UN entities have long played key roles in promulgating the fundamental values of the Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

From peace and security to social and economic development and regional integration, the United Nations has proven itself an indispensable partner.

Standing in solidarity

With 2022 designated the Year of Nutrition by the AU, the Secretary-General urged the world to “join together in solidarity with all Africans to strengthen food security and put nutrition within reach of every person”.

“We must also intensify our efforts to end the pandemic, reform the global financial system, stop climate change and silence the guns across all conflicts,” he added.

The UN chief concluded by pledging the Organization’s continued support in “standing proudly with Africans as we work to deliver on the promise of a prosperous and peaceful Africa”.

World’s richest countries damaging child health worldwide: UNICEF

“Not only are the majority of rich countries failing to provide healthy environments for children within their borders, they are also contributing to the destruction of children’s environments in other parts of the world,” said Gunilla Olsson, Director of the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti.

Urgent policy shift

The latest Innocenti Report Card 17: Places and Spaces compares how 39 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union (EU) impact children’s environments.

Indicators include exposure to harmful pollutants, such as toxic air, pesticides, damp and lead; access to light, green spaces and safe roads; and countries’ contributions to the climate crisis, resource consumption, and e-waste dumping.

The report states that if the entire world consumed resources at the rate of OECD and EU countries, the equivalent of 3.3 earths would be needed to keep up with consumption levels.

If it were at the rate at which people in Canada, Luxembourg and the United States do, at least five earths would be needed, according to the report.

Not in your own backyard

While Spain, Ireland and Portugal feature at the overall top of the list, all OECD and EU countries are failing to provide healthy environments for all children across all indicators.

Based on CO2 emissions, e-waste and overall resource consumption per capita, Australia, Belgium, Canada and the United States are among other wealthy countries that rank low on creating a healthy environment for children within and beyond their borders.

Meanwhile, Finland, Iceland and Norway are among those that provide healthier environments for their country’s children but disproportionately contribute to destroying the global environment.

“In some cases we are seeing countries providing relatively healthy environments for children at home while being among the top contributors to pollutants that are destroying children’s environments abroad,” attested Gunilla Olsson, Director of UNICEF Office of Research

In contrast, the least wealthy OECD and EU countries in Latin America and Europe, have a much lower impact on the wider world.

Harmful exposures

Over 20 million children in this group, have elevated levels of lead – one of the most dangerous environmental toxic substances – in their blood.

In Iceland, Latvia, Portugal and the United Kingdom, one in five children is exposed to damp and mould at home; while in Cyprus, Hungary and Turkey, that number rises to more than one in four.

Many children are breathing toxic air both in and outside of their homes.

More than one in 12 children in Belgium, Czech Republic, Israel and Poland and are exposed to high pesticide pollution, which has been linked with cancer – including childhood leukaemia – and can harm vital body systems.

“We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to create better places and spaces for children to thrive,” Ms. Olsson said.

Improve children’s environments

Children in poor families tend to face greater exposure to environmental harm –entrenching and amplifying existing disadvantages and inequities.

“Mounting waste, harmful pollutants and exhausted natural resources are taking a toll on our children’s physical and mental health and threatening our planet’s sustainability,” said the UNICEF official.

As such, UNICEF has urged national, regional, and local governments to improve children’s environments by reducing waste, air and water pollution, and ensuring high-quality housing and neighbourhoods.

Children’s voices count

Governments and businesses must immediately honour their commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. And climate adaptation should also be at the forefront of action across various sectors – from education to infrastructure.

Child-sensitive environmental policies must ensure that children’s needs are built into decision making and that their perspectives are considered when designing policies that will disproportionately affect future generations.

UNICEF’s report outlines that although children are the main stakeholders of the future and will face today’s environmental problems for the longest time, they are the least able to influence the course of events.

“We must pursue policies and practices that safeguard the natural environment upon which children and young people depend the most,” Ms. Olsson said.

Deputy UN chief praises resilience of Bali students in face of disaster threats

Thankfully, the alarm that prompted them to evacuate, was just a practice drill, but by following the planned evacuation route, students said they felt confident they could respond quickly and calmly in any real emergency.

“I will tell my parents, my family, and I will try my best to keep them safe,” fourth grade student, Ni Putu Anika Desintha Pradnyan Dewi, told UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed after the earthquake and tsunami drill.

Telling the world

The Deputy Secretary-General, who is in Bali ahead of the Stakeholder Forum of the seventh Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) on Wednesday, in turn promised that when she got back to UN Headquarters, she would “tell students in New York City, about the leadership Balinese students demonstrated, during the drill”, and how resilient students are overall in Bali.

Building the resilience of communities and nations is a central focus of the GPDRR, the world’s foremost gathering on reducing disaster risk.

For host nation Indonesia, which straddles the volatile Pacific Rim of Fire with its shifting tectonic plates, resilience is a national imperative.

Indonesia recorded more than 3,000 disasters across its 17,000 islands in 2021, the equivalent of eight disasters per day. Earthquake and tsunamis pose a particularly grave threat to Indonesia.

In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami killed some 230,000 people, most of them in the country’s western Aceh province. And as recently as 2018, the Palu earthquake and tsunami killed more than 4,300 in Sulawesi.

But the COVID-19 crisis has dwarfed those disasters. Its socioeconomic fallout disproportionally disadvantages young people, women and girls; as well as indigenous people and other vulnerable populations most of risk of being left behind.

Disasters touching ‘every aspect of life’

That is especially evident on Bali, where the pandemic-driven downturn in tourism led to widespread loss of livelihoods and food insecurity.

“The pandemic’s impacts serve as a reminder of how disasters touch every aspect of life, from health to education, to work and livelihoods, to gender equality, to nutrition, to peace and security,” the UN deputy chief told an audience of local officials and community leaders in Bali.

“Indeed, disasters pose a major threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. They have the potential, in minutes and hours, to wipe away the results of years and decades of development work.”

Although tsunamis and earthquakes can be devastating, most of the disasters that caused 665 fatalities in Indonesia in 2021 and displaced more than eight million, were floods and other extreme weather events, such as landslides, and forest and land fires.

The increasing frequency and severity of such events is just one consequence of the global climate emergency.

Disappearing mangroves

Shrinking mangrove forests, are one of the less reported drivers – and results – of climate change. Mangroves can sequester four times the amount of carbon as rainforests. But they also serve as a last line of defence against tsunamis.

In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, field studies in several affected countries indicated that mangrove forests had played a crucial role in saving human lives and property.

But around the world, mangroves are under threat. Areas of mangrove coverage decreased by just over a million hectares, between 1990 and 2020, according to the UN’s food agency, FAO.

Trees for the future

In Bali, the UN Deputy Secretary-General joined scores of students to plant mangrove trees near the provincial capital Denparsar, as part of a broader UNDRR-backed Indonesian Government initiative that aims to plant 10 million mangrove trees across all 34 of the country’s provinces.

“You are already leaders,” she told the Indonesian students leading the local tree-planting initiative near Denpasar, “so teach those coming behind you, teach those ahead of you, especially leaders who have not quite done what they should do with the environment, so they can meet the Paris Agreement, so that they can meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Zimbabwean peacekeeper wins UN gender advocate award

Commending Military Observer Major Winnet Zharare, 39, as “a role model and a trailblazer”, Secretary-General António Guterres, will present her with the award on Thursday during a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

‘Building trust, advocating for peace’

Throughout her 17 month assignment with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Major Zharare advocated for gender parity and women’s participation, within her own ranks, among local military counterparts, and in host communities.

As the Chief Military Information Officer in the UNMISS Bentiu field office, she helped ensure that patrols included both women and men to improve protection and build trust between host communities and the Mission.  

The Major also contributed to an increase in gender-aggregated data so that issues raised by local women and girls would be fully recognized and given their due importance.

“Through her service, she has demonstrated the invaluable role that women play in building trust, advocating for change and forging peace,” said the UN chief.  

Building a legacy

Major Zharare advocated for gender parity and women’s participation in a traditionally male-dominated environment that has often excluded women from decision-making,

She also encouraged local civilian and military authorities and community representatives to involve women in UN meetings.

Her diligence and diplomatic skills quickly gained her the trust of local military commanders who would systematically reach out to her on issues of women’s protection and rights.  

During her patrols and numerous community engagement initiatives, the well-regarded UN peacekeeper also successfully encouraged men and women to work together in farming and constructing dikes around Bentiu town to alleviate food shortages and prevent further displacement.

Commitment and perseverance

Created in 2016, the UN “Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” recognizes the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of landmark resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

“Her example shows how we will all gain with more women at the decision-making table, and gender parity in peace operations,” Mr. Guterres said.

Expressing her gratitude and pride, Major Zharare said that being selected “motivates her to maintain her course towards gender equality”.

Climbing the ladder

At home in Mhondoro, Zimbabwe, the UN peacekeeper’s parents raised their seven children without gender stereotyping.

“My parents gave us equal opportunities with my brothers, so I believe that equal opportunities should be given to both men and women in all aspects of life,” Major Zharare said.

From 2015 to 2019, she worked as a Protocol Officer before being nominated to serve in UNMISS as a Military Observer in Bentiu, in roles that included Chief Information Officer, Training Officer and Gender Focal Point.  

When her tour of duty there ended in April, she returned to serve in her home country.

Before joining UN peacekeeping, her military career began in 2006 as a Second Lieutenant and later an Infantry Platoon Commander, where she doubled as a matron, in Mutare.  

International community urged to support new administration in Somalia

James Swan, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) urged both the authorities and the international community to capitalize on this “moment of opportunity”.

Spirit of collaboration

“We call on Somali leaders to work together in a spirit of collaboration and national purpose. We call on Somalia’s international friends and partners, including those on this Council, to offer constructive support and encouragement,” he said.

Somalia’s electoral process wrapped up on 15 May when parliamentarians voted in Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s 10th President.

The presidential election was held following what Mr. Swan called “an unduly protracted and contentious process” for choosing the legislature.

Shortcomings and violence

While welcoming the successful poll, Mr. Swan also pointed to some of the shortcomings.

The Somali people did not have the chance to vote for the House of the People in a “one-person-one-vote” election, and only 21 per cent of the elected Members of Parliament (MPs) were women, despite a 30 per cent quota.

He added that many irregularities in the selection of MPs were noted throughout the process, which was repeatedly marred by violence, with numerous civilian casualties recorded.

Presidential priorities

Underlining the UN’s readiness to work with the new Government, Mr. Swan said he has heard directly from President Mohamud about his immediate goals, which include national reconciliation, improving relations between the central Government and federal states, and addressing the security threat from the militant group al-Shabaab.

Other priorities are finishing the constitutional review and judicial reforms, completing election-related laws, ensuring compliance and international requirements for debt relief, and focusing on the dire drought marring the region.

“We believe this is an appropriate list of initial priorities and look forward to learning more details as the new leadership takes charge and as a new Prime Minister and cabinet are named in the coming weeks,” said Mr. Swan.

Dire humanitarian situation

Turning to the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia, the UN envoy reported that the number of people affected by drought has risen to 6.1 million.

“The country faces a heightened risk of localized famine in six communities if food prices continue to rise and humanitarian assistance is not sustained,” he warned.

Despite a scale-up in humanitarian operations, a $1.45 billion appeal for this year is only 15 per cent funded. Furthermore, donors have to deliver on pledges and commitments made last month at a high-level event in Geneva focused on humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa.

“Without immediate receipt of funding to expand humanitarian operations, we face the prospect of significant loss of life in the period ahead,” he told ambassadors.

“Even as we focus now on saving lives and averting famine, there is also a need to increase resilience, development, and climate responses so that those affected by recurring crises can adapt and thrive in the future.”

Al-Shabaab resurgent

Mr. Swan also addressed the security situation which remains “highly volatile”. Deadly Al-Shabaab attacks in March and April appeared to be an effort to disrupt the final phases of the electoral process.

He commended the Somali security forces and their counterparts from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) “who safeguarded the electoral process and bore the brunt of Al-Shabaab’s deadly attacks then and after.”

Earlier this month, the group carried out a complex assault on an ATMIS base in the Middle Shabelle region, killing several peacekeepers from Burundi.

AU representative Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira said attacks like these indicate a resurgent Al-Shabaab “which will continue to pose multiple challenges to both Somalia and ATMIS, pointing to the urgent need for a robust and adequate response to them.”

He underlined the vital need to scale-up air support with transport and attack helicopters, as well as adequate offensive weapons, for both ATMIS and the Somali security forces.

The AU mission was established last month and follows on from an earlier operation known as AMISOM