May 2023 — Page 3 of 13 — Human Rights & Charity

Ukraine: Power loss at nuclear plant underscores ‘highly vulnerable’ safety situation

This marked the seventh time that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant had been completely disconnected from the national electricity grid since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion 15 months ago, the agency said, noting that the facility was forced to run on emergency diesel generators once again.

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The plant’s only remaining external 750 kilovolt power line had been cut around 5:30am, local time, and re-connected after more than five hours, according to IAEA experts located at the facility.

‘We’re playing with fire’

Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation demonstrated “the highly vulnerable nuclear safety and security situation” at the plant, which has come under shelling during the conflict.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, this simply can’t go on. We’re playing with fire. We must act now to avoid the very real danger of a nuclear accident in Europe, with its associated consequences for the public and the environment.”

The ZNPP was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of the war and is still being operated by Ukrainian personnel.

Most staff live in the nearby town of Enerhodar. On Friday, the IAEA reported that a location close to the town came under artillery fire earlier that day.

Intense negotiations continue

Mr. Grossi said he continues to engage in intense negotiations with all parties to secure the protection of the nuclear plant, stressing that “I will not stop until this has been achieved.”

He explained that the ZNPP does not have any operational back-up power lines since the last one functioning had been damaged in March, which has still not been repaired.

“For more than two and a half months, this major nuclear power plant has only had one functioning external power line. This is an unprecedented and uniquely risky situation. Defence-in-depth – which is fundamental to nuclear safety – has been severely undermined at the ZNPP,” he said.

Still awaiting access

He called for greater efforts to restore the back-up power lines, while also reiterating the need for the IAEA team on site to gain access to the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP), located nearby.

The ZTPP has an open switchyard through which back-up power has been provided to the nuclear plant in the past. Access has yet to be granted despite reassurances by the Russian state nuclear company, Rosatom.

Following the off-site power cut on Monday, all the nuclear plant’s 20 diesel generators started operating. However, 12 were later switched off, leaving eight running, which is sufficient to operate all systems safely.

The IAEA said its experts at the site were informed that there is enough diesel fuel for 23 days, adding that after the 750 kilovolt line was restored, the diesel generators were gradually turned off.

Ceasefire in Sudan could ‘pave the way’ to peace talks

“Lives and infrastructure are being destroyed, and the security situation is impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid,” said Volker Perthes, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, briefing the Security Council on Monday about recent developments.

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Five weeks since the eruption of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April, the conflict had shown no signs of slowing down despite repeated declarations of ceasefire by both sides, said Mr. Perthes, who also heads the UN mission in the country, UNITAMS.

If honoured, the pending week-long renewable ceasefire should ease aid deliveries to millions in need and “pave the way for peace talks”, he told the Council.

Civilians paying steep price

However, he raised myriad grave concerns about serious human rights violations, rampant looting, and a flood of weapons throughout the country.

In addition, he said the growing ethnicization of the conflict risks engulfing the country in a prolonged conflict, with implications for the region, calling on both parties to return to dialogue in the interest of Sudan and its people.

Civilians have paid a heavy price for this “senseless violence”, he said, noting the more than 700 reported deaths, including 190 children, another 6,000 injured, and many more missing. The violence displaced more than one million people; more than 840,000 fled to safer areas while another 250,000 have crossed the borders, and nearly 8,000 of the displaced population are pregnant women.

‘Serious human rights violations’

The fighting throughout the country has resulted in “serious human rights abuses and violations” of international humanitarian law and undermined the protection of civilians.

“These violations must be investigated, and the perpetrators brought to justice,” he said. “The UN family continues to monitor and advocate for an end to all violations.”

In Khartoum, Darfur, and elsewhere, the warring parties continue fighting without regard for the laws and norms of war, he said, pointing to destroyed or damaged homes, shops, places of worship, and water and electricity installations, alongside a collapsing health sector, with more than two-thirds of hospitals closed, many healthcare workers killed, and medical supplies running low.

Appalled by reports of sexual violence against women and girls, he said the UN is following up to verify these cases. He also raised concerns of rampant looting and enforced disappearances, and that children continue to be vulnerable to recruitment and use as soldiers, sexual violence, and abduction.

Criminality is compounded by the release of thousands of prisoners and the increasing spread of small arms, he warned.

Spiralling ethnic violence

In El Geneina in West Darfur, clashes between the parties spiralled into ethnic violence on 24 April. Tribal militias joined the fight and civilians took up arms to defend themselves, he said.

Homes, markets, and hospitals were ransacked and burned, and UN premises looted. More than 450 civilians were reportedly killed, and another 700 were injured. On 12 May, renewed violence reportedly led to at least another 280 deaths and tens of thousands displaced to Chad, he said.

Worrying signs of tribal mobilization are also being reported in South Kordofan as well as the Blue Nile region, he warned.

While blame is circulating that the UN did not foresee the conflict, he said the responsibility for the fighting rests with those currently waging it.

“The fighting parties’ decision to fight out their differences on the ground instead of through dialogue is devastating Sudan,” he said.

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Volker Perthes, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), briefs Security Council members on the situation in the country.

Cost of war

Commending efforts led by Saudi Arabia and the United States, he said the SAF and RSF signed the Declaration of Commitments in Jeddah on 11 May, representing an “important step” that commits to respecting international humanitarian law and allow humanitarian access.

Through a hub in Port Sudan, UNITAMS has supported UN Country Team efforts and humanitarian partners to restore the flow of aid supplies into and within the country, he said.

But, additional funding is urgently needed, he said, noting that the revised humanitarian response plan launched on 17 May, requesting $2.6 billion dollars to reach 18 million people, has ballooned from $15 million before the fighting.

“As the talks advance, a diverse array of civil and political stakeholders must play their role,” he said. “Ultimately, only a credible civilian-led transition can chart lasting peace in Sudan.”

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Refugee crisis

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Raouf Mazou, on Monday, urged increased international support and attention for displaced people from Sudan, including refugees, refugee returnees, and host communities.

Without a concrete and immediate solution, more people are expected to flee from Sudan seeking safety, he cautioned.

Mr. Mazou visited a recent refugee site in Borota, Chad, only a few kilometres from the Sudan border, where 25,000 Sudanese arrived a week ago as the fighting intensified.

“Almost 90 per cent of new arrivals are women and children,” he said, noting that many people have been sheltering under trees in makeshift shelters with very limited services and minimal resources

“As the rainy season approaches, we urgently need to relocate new arrivals to the nearest refugee camps,” he said.

Humanitarian needs are growing

UN agencies have been scrambling to provide assistance to those in need, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has so far reached nearly 450,000 people with food and nutrition support since its distributions resumed on 3 May, and plans are in place to start distributions in Wadi Halfa in Northern State to more than 9,000 people who are fleeing to Egypt.

The UN food agency is also planning to assess the needs of 500,000 men, women and children who are currently trapped in Khartoum, he said, adding that the assessment “should start in the coming days if the security situation allows us to do that”.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners are providing access to clean water and sanitation, as well as hygiene in key locations, helping to deliver some 235,000 litres of clean water to health-care facilities in North Darfur and provided clean water to some 40,000 people in East Darfur in the Elneem camp for internally displaced people.

At the same time, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has provided fuel for four maternity hospitals in Khartoum to ensure life-saving health services are available for women and girls who need, Mr. Dujarric said.

Learn more about what the UN is doing to help the Sudanese people here.

World must be ready to respond to next pandemic: WHO chief

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was delivering his report to the 76th World Health Assembly, the UN agency’s decision-making body, which is meeting this week.

Threat still remains

“The end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency is not the end of COVID-19 as a global health threat,” Tedros told Member States.

“The threat of another variant emerging that causes new surges of disease and death remains, and the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains.”

WHO

Furthermore, in the face of overlapping and converging crises, “pandemics are far from the only threat we face”, he added, underscoring the need for effective global mechanisms that address and respond to emergencies of all kinds.

“When the next pandemic comes knocking – and it will – we must be ready to answer decisively, collectively, and equitably,” he advised. 

Health targets impacted

Tedros said COVID-19 had significant implications for health-related targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have a deadline of 2030.

The pandemic also affected progress towards the Triple Billion targets, announced at the 2017 World Health Assembly.

The five-year initiative calls for ensuring one billion more people have universal health coverage, a billion more are better protected from health emergencies, and another billion more enjoy better health and wellbeing.

Action on SDGs

Tedros reported that countries have made progress on universal health coverage, with some 477 million people now benefitting. However, he warned that if current trends continue, fewer than half the world’s people will be covered by the end of the decade, “meaning we must at least double the pace”.

COVID-19 also showed that eight billion people – basically everyone on the planet – need to be better protected in emergencies.

“The pandemic has blown us off course, but it has shown us why the SDGs must remain our north star, and why we must pursue them with the same urgency and determination with which we countered the pandemic,” he said.

Promoting health, preventing disease

Tedros also highlighted several achievements that have been made over the past year in what he called the “five Ps”: promoting, providing, protecting, powering, and performing for health.

Countries have taken action to promote health by preventing disease and addressing their root causes, for example. Between 2017 and 2022, 133 governments increased or introduced a new tax on products that harm health, such as tobacco and sugary drinks.

“We also see encouraging progress in eliminating industrially-produced trans-fat from the global food supply,” he said. “Many countries have also made impressive progress in reducing salt intake, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease.”

Stamp out polio

On protection, Tedros noted that with the end of COVID-19 and mpox as global public health emergencies, only polio now remains.

Following an all-time low of five wild poliovirus cases in 2021, numbers increased last year, with 20 cases in Pakistan, two in Afghanistan, and eight in Mozambique.

He stressed that WHO and partners “remain steadfastly committed to finishing the job of consigning polio to history”.

The Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

New pandemic accord

Tedros concluded his remarks by urging countries to “pick up the pace of progress” on the Triple Billion and health-related SDG targets.

He called for urgent and constructive negotiations on the new global pandemic accord and the International Health Regulations (IHR), the treaty that governs preparedness and response to health emergencies, “so the world will never again have to face the devastation of a pandemic like COVID-19”.

He also asked countries to support a 20 per cent increase in their contributions to support the work of WHO.

Ghana peacekeeper named UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year

Captain Cecilia Erzuah, 32, who has served in Abyei since March last year, as the Commander of the Ghana Engagement Platoon, will receive the award from Secretary-General António Guterres during a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers this Thursday, said the Department of Peace Operations in a press release.

Abyei is a disputed and resource-rich area between Sudan and South Sudan, which is claimed by both sides. The Security Council authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force there in 2011, as tensions rose ahead of South Sudan’s formal declaration of independence.

UNISFA works to strengthen the capacity of police service, in support of the 2011 agreement, and facilitates the delivery of humanitarian aid, the free movement of aid workers, and provides protection for civilians under threat.

‘Leading the way’

Created in 2016, the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award recognizes the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

“Resolution 1325 reminds us that our women peacekeepers are not only supporting global peace and security. They are leading the way. By every measure, Captain Cecilia Erzuah of Ghana is one of those leaders,” said Secretary-General António Guterres.

“On every front, Captain Erzuah’s work has set the standard for ensuring that the needs and concerns of women are reflected across our peacekeeping operations.”

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UNISFA’s Ghanaian Engagement Platoon Commander, Captain Cecilia Erzuah, has been named the UN’s Military Gender Advocate of the Year for 2022.

‘An award for all of us’

Captain Erzuah expressed her gratitude for being selected to receive the prize which she called “an award for all of us,” referring to her platoon members.

An advocate for gender equality and community engagement, Capt. Erzuah made sure that her 22-strong platoon, composed equally of men and women, conducted regular patrols and outreach to local leaders as well as women’s and youth groups, to better understand and address community concerns and needs.

Together with civilian UN colleagues, she has also hosted discussions on domestic violence, gender equality and childcare, resulting in an increase in the number of women enlisted in Community Protection Committees, which were initially male dominated.

The engagement with community members led to improved early warning about threats of violence against civilians and broader security issues.

Monthly walks

The monthly market walks she initiated with her battalion also contributed to building strong and enduring relationships between traders, local residents and the UN.

In January this year, following a spike in community violence in Majbong, a village in southeast Abyei, Captain Erzuah’s platoon stepped up its presence, regularly checking on the plight of displaced people in the volatile area and enabling the Mission to provide necessary support.

Community members, who had sought sanctuary from the fighting in the surrounding bush, gradually began returning to their homes in the village and women reported feeling much safer. “The mixed patrols are…boosting the confidence of members of the community to go about daily activities safely,” said Deng Paul Mankuol, a traditional chief in Majbong.

Captain Erzuah is the first Ghanaian peacekeeper, and the first recipient from a contingent or a unit, to receive this prestigious award.

Ghana is currently the largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the United Nations with 375 now deployed.

Extreme weather caused two million deaths, cost $4 trillion over last 50 years

According to WMO, weather, climate and water-related hazards caused close to 12,000 disasters between 1970 and 2021. Developing countries were hit hardest, seeing nine in 10 deaths and 60 per cent of economic losses from climate shocks and extreme weather.

WMO

WMO said that Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States suffered a “disproportionately” high cost in relation to the size of their economies.

“The most vulnerable communities unfortunately bear the brunt of weather, climate and water-related hazards,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Staggering inequalities

In Least Developed Countries, WMO reported that several disasters over the past half-century had caused economic losses of up to 30 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In Small Island Developing States, one in five disasters had an impact “equivalent to more than five per cent” of GDP, with some disasters wiping out countries’ entire GDP.

Asia saw the highest death toll due to extreme weather, climate and water-related events over the past 50 years, with close to one million deaths – more than half in Bangladesh alone.

In Africa, WMO said that droughts accounted for 95 per cent of the reported 733,585 climate disaster deaths.

Early warnings save lives

WMO stressed however that improved early warnings and coordinated disaster management have helped mitigate the deadly impact of disasters. “Early warnings save lives,” Mr. Taalas insisted.

The UN agency also noted that recorded deaths for 2020 and 2021 were lower than the previous decade’s average.

Pointing to the example of last week’s severe cyclonic storm Mocha, which caused devastation in Myanmar’s and Bangladesh’s coastal areas and hit “the poorest of the poor”, Mr. Taalas recalled that similar weather disasters in the past caused “death tolls of tens and even hundreds of thousands” in both countries.

“Thanks to early warnings and disaster management these catastrophic mortality rates are now thankfully history,” the WMO chief said.

‘Low-hanging fruit’

The agency had previously shown that just 24 hours’ notice prior to an impending weather hazard can cut the ensuing damage by 30 per cent, calling early warnings the “low-hanging fruit” of climate change adaptation because of their tenfold return on investment.

WMO issued its new findings on the human and economic cost of weather-induced disasters for its quadrennial World Meteorological Congress, which opened on Monday in Geneva with a focus on implementing the UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative.

Leave no one behind

The initiative aims to ensure that early warning services reach everyone on Earth by the end of 2027. It was launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm al-Sheikh in November last year.

Currently, only half of the world is covered by early warning systems, with Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries left far behind.

Earlier this year, the UN chief brought together agency heads and partners to fast-track the Early Warnings for All initiative into action.

A first set of 30 particularly at-risk countries – nearly half of them in Africa – have been identified for the roll-out of the initiative in 2023.

Progress on human health ‘in peril’, warns UN chief

Secretary-General António Guterres was addressing the annual opening of the World Health Assembly, the decision making body of the WHO, and said that the agency was born out of a spirit of cooperation, leading to dramatic improvements in human health.

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“Global life expectancy – up over 50 percent; Infant mortality – down sixty percent in 30 years; smallpox – eradicated; And polio on the verge of extinction.

But progress is in peril. War and conflict threaten millions. The health of billions is endangered by the climate crisis.”

He said COVID-19 had stalled and even reversed, the steady improvements in public health, and led to backsliding on the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

‘We can return to the path of progress’

“But this is not inevitable”, he continued. We can return to the path of progress. We can realize our ambitions for health and wellbeing for all. But only if the world works together. If we cooperate, despite the tensions straining relations between nations.”

He said promoting public health long-term, meant strengthening the independence, authority and financing of the WHO, “which stands at the heart of our international effort” and must have a key coordinating role in fighting the next pandemic.

As international negotiations continue for a new pandemic plan of action, “it is vital to prepare for the health threats to come – from new pandemics to climate dangers – so that we prevent where we can, and respond fast and effectively where we cannot”, the UN chief said.

No carrying on as before: Tedros

Reinforcing that message in his introductory speech to the Assembly, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the world’s emergence from the dark tunnel of COVID-19, was “not just the end of a bad dream from which we have woken. We cannot simply carry on as we did before.”

The painful lessons of the pandemic must be understood, he said.

“Chief among those lessons is that we can only face shared threats with a shared response.”

Similar to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the pandemic accord under negotiation, “must be a historic agreement to make a paradigm shift in global health security, recognising that our fates are interwoven”, he added.

“This is the moment for us to write a new chapter in global health history, together; to chart a new path forward, together; to make the world safer for our children and grandchildren, together.

New disease protection network launched

The Assembly opened as WHO and partners launched a new global network to help protect people everywhere from infection disease threats, through the power of pathogen genomics.

The International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) will provide a platform to connect countries and regions, improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples, using data to drive public health decision-making, and sharing that information more broadly, said WHO in a press release.

Pathogen genomics analyzes the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to understand how infectious they are, how deadly they are, and how they spread.

The IPSN will have a Secretariat hosted by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, with an ambitious goal, “that can also play a vital role in health security: to give every country access to pathogen genomic sequencing and analytics as part of its public health system,” said Tedros.

“As was so clearly demonstrated to us during the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is stronger when it stands together to fight shared health threats”, he said.

Advocating for sustainable water ‘gamechangers’, Kőrösi goes West

That was the message from the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, on an official visit to Salt Lake City in Utah, where he met with top state officials, students and academics, and local community members.

“There are commonalities because the entire world is in a water crisis, which is ignited by climate change and changing our water cycle,” Mr. Kőrösi said in a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson.

Climate migrants

“I don’t want to scare anyone, but unless we solve the water management crisis, in the coming 60 to 70 years, hundreds of millions of people will have to move,” he added.

The senior UN official urged support for a global water information system, created as part of the UN system. A new study published in Science magazine on Thursday showed that climate change was a key factor in the shrinkage of more than half the world’s lakes and reservoirs since the 1990s.

This is one of the nine gamechangers agreed to at the UN Water Conference held in New York in March, which also includes:

Integrating water and climate policy at national and global levels
An early warning-for-all system
Decoupling agriculture, energy production and water
Valuing water accurately
A global water education network
Support for transboundary cooperation
Creating a unified water architecture managed by a Special Envoy with an independent scientific advisory panel
A follow-up to the UN Water Conference.

General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi admires the beauty of a waterfall in Provo, Utah, during his official visit to the state.

Colorado River and Great Salt Lake

The President made the ask after meeting with water experts from the Utah Department of Natural Resources. He was informed that Utah is now in its 23rd year of drought because of climate change, with significant consequences for the Colorado River and Great Salt Lake; the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

And while higher air temperatures have brought with it more precipitation, the heat also means there is more evaporation, and more runoff, as parched land is simply unable to absorb the water.

Historic floods

Drought-stricken Utah is currently facing flooding after an historic amount of rain and snow during early spring.

Complicating matters further is that the management of the Colorado River system is firmly anchored in the Colorado River Compact of 1922, giving rights to two countries and seven states, and stipulating water levels that – due to climate change and overuse – are no longer possible.

Local officials said that they are focused on “balanced solutions that are long-term,” with discussions touching on agriculture use, water treatment and reuse, and promotion of water conservation through legislative and public information means.

Sustainable development peaks

While in Utah, Mr. Kőrösi also focused on sustainable development on mountains, which is a topic highlighted in a 2022 Secretary-General report on that topic and the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development.

One of the challenges highlighted by representatives from rural communities was the lack of social development and inclusion, heightened by shutdowns and cut-offs enforced during the COVID pandemic.

“Everyone needs to be considered in policies,” said Alitha Thompson, a 36-year-old non-traditional student at Utah Valley University, who lives in a rural community of Gunnison Valley, about 1.5 hours outside the University.

“Just because you’re different doesn’t make you wrong. Everyone’s voice needs to be heard,” said Ms. Thompson, who because she didn’t have daycare that day, brought the youngest of her five children to the meeting with the President.

She said that about one-third of Utah’s population lives in mountain areas; some of the communities suffer levels of poverty more commonly experienced in developing countries.

200 Marathons Later: A Water Activist’s Epic Journey to the UN

G7 nations, ‘central to climate action’ says Guterres, calling for global reset

The G7, which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union, is meeting in the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, a place which Secretary-General António Guterres described, as a “testament to the human spirit”.

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“Whenever I visit, I am inspired by the courage and resilience of the Hibakusha”, he said, referring to the survivors of that dreadful act of war. “The United Nations stands with them. We will never stop pushing for a world free of nuclear weapons.”

Haves and have-nots

Mr. Guterres said his message to the G7 leaders was clear and simple: “while the economic picture is uncertain everywhere, rich countries cannot ignore the fact that more than half the world – the vast majority of countries – are suffering through a deep financial crisis.”

He reiterated his view first expressed in an official visit to Jamaica last week, that the problems facing developing countries had three dimensions; moral, power-related, and practical.

Elaborating on the “systemic and unjust bias” in the global economic and financial system; the outdatedness of the global financial architecture; and the fact that even within the current rules, developing economies had been let down and sold short; the UN chief said the G7 had a duty now to act.

Redistribution of power

He said the financial system created by the Breton Woods realignment post World War Two, had simply “failed to fulfil its core function as a global safety net”, in the face of the economic shocks from COVID, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He said the time had come to fix the Breton Woods system, and reform the UN Security Council.

“This is essentially a question of redistributing power in line with the realities of today’s world.”

He said the G7 can no longer be a bystander: “In our multipolar world, as geopolitical divisions grow, no country or group of countries, can stand by as billions of people struggle with the basics of food, water, education, healthcare and jobs.”

UN Photo/Ichiro Mae

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres meets with Fumio Kishida, the Prime Minister of Japan, at the G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023.

‘Clearly off track’

Highlighting the perils of overlooking the pace of climate change, he outlined the specific areas where the world’s richest were central to the success of climate action.

The current projections show humankind heading for a temperature rise of 2.8°C by the end of this century, he told journalists, and the next five years are likely to be the hottest ever, according to latest figures from the UN weather agency, WMO.

He said the G7, with it’s huge economic and financial clout, was “central to climate action”, which is working, “but not enough and we are clearly off track”.

“Our Acceleration Agenda aims to make up for lost time. It calls for all G7 countries to reach net zero as close as possible to 2040, and for emerging economies to do so as close as possible to 2050.”

A Climate Solidarity Pact calls for the G7 to mobilize resources to support less well-off economies in accelerating decarbonization, to stay within the 1.5° limit on heating, compared with pre-industrial levels.

UN Photo/Ichiro Mae

Secretary-General António Guterres joins world leaders paying respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.

Phase out coal

“This requires faster timelines to phase out fossil fuels and ramp up renewables. It means putting a price on carbon and ending fossil fuel subsidies. I call on the G7 to phase out coal completely by 2030”, the UN chief said.

But he also made a call for climate justice, on behalf of the countries who have done the least to cause the crisis, but are suffering the most.

“We must ramp up adaptation and early warning systems to help communities on the front lines…It’s high time for developed countries to provide the promised $100 billion per year”, he added.

And he also reiterated that the Loss and Damage Fund agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh, during COP27 last year, “must be operationalized.”

Plenty abuzz on World Bee Day

Planting awareness

Ziad Sa’ad has a degree in media and communications, but has always been a farmer and beekeeper in Al Qurnah, Iraq.

“Our community has a relationship with our land that is hard to describe; our fathers and grandfathers were also farmers,” he said. “Our work and life cycle on these farms are interdependent.”

Ziad Sa’ad, a beekeeper from Basra, Iraq, is raising awareness among his community on the importance of safety at work.

Planting awareness on the importance of farms in the predominantly poor area was his goal. So, he set up Facebook and WhatsApp groups on beekeeping and farming, and with occupational safety and health training from the International Labour Organization (ILO), he is spreading the word on social media and transferring the knowledge to local farmers.

“Our work in agriculture promotes economic opportunities, security and self-reliance,” he said. “It allows us to be independent.”

Supporting beekeepers

Gulhayo Khaydarova, from Durmon, Uzbekistan, has been in beekeeping for 14 years, and the honey her bees produce, is famous throughout the village. She said the traditions and secrets of beekeeping are passed down from generation to generation.

But, last winter’s plummeting temperatures killed off most of her bees. Even the most experienced beekeepers can suffer this loss.

To compensate for her losses, the UN food agency (FAO) provided her family with modern beekeeping equipment and 20 new hives.

Today, she has increased honey production, providing a more sustainable livelihood for her household.

UNDP Guatemala/Carolina Trutmann

Nearly 75 per cent of the world’s crops producing fruits and seeds for human use depend, at least in part, on pollinators.

Breaking gender barriers

“Bees are extremely intelligent insects,” said Ligia Elena Moreno Veliz, from La Fé, Venezuela. Once afraid of the pollinators, through an FAO scholarship, she now runs a thriving business specializing in queen bee breeding and is passing on knowledge to others.

She also broke a glass ceiling. Today, while only four of the community’s 30 beekeepers are women, the taboo is now gone, she said.

Meanwhile, climate change is worrisome, she added. Climate instability, inconsistency in tree blooms and pollution cause bees to have new patterns of behaviour, adapting to the changes in flowering times.

To address this challenge, Ligia Elena and her co-workers have planted new trees to attract bees again.

“Beekeeping is my way of life,” she said. “It is the livelihood of my family and an activity that I hope my daughters will continue to do in the future.”

Once afraid of bees, Ligia Elena now treasures these creatures that have given her a livelihood for the last 17 years, a livelihood that began with an FAO programme in her village.

Honey proud

Betty Ayikoru, from Arua district in Uganda, is mother of four, a farmer, local councillor, and a beekeeper.

“That’s how I make a living,” she said.

She works with Honey Pride Arua, a social enterprise founded by Sam Aderubo and supported by the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

Like many others, her life has improved thanks to skills training, and the sustainable market provided by the business.

Now, more than 1,700 farmers keep their bees in apiaries and at harvest time, they sell to Honey Pride.

“By engaging farmers, we are giving them alternative employment,” Mr. Aderubo said. “If beekeeping is taken to a level where farmers understand it as a business, it’s going to improve their livelihoods.”

Uganda:Taking Pride in Honey Business | Global Focus | United Nations Story

Bee biosecurity

Ensuring bee health is a goal of the UN food agency, especially in light of threats against them, including unsustainable agriculture, pesticide abuse, and intensive monoculture production.

Pollination is essential for the maintenance of plant biodiversity, the survival of the world’s ecosystems, with about 75 percent of crops – which produce fruits and other seeds for human consumption – depending, at least in part, on pollinators, including bees, FAO said.

Pollinator-friendly practices include crop rotation and diversity, reducing the use of pesticides, and restoring and protecting their habitat. Even the adoption of precision agriculture tools and innovation can protect bees, the agency said.

To help to better protect the pollinators, the agency hosted and co-organized on Thursday the second International Symposium on Biosecurity in Beekeeping, bringing participants up to date on the latest developments in bee biosecurity and the initiatives that the international organizations involved are applying in different areas of the world to ensure bee health.

A beekeeper in Madagascar tends to his beehive using techniques learned through climate adaptation training.

Celebrating bees worldwide

“World Bee Day has contributed significantly to raising awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators and to promoting international cooperation to protect them,” said Nataša Pirc Musar, President of the Republic of Slovenia.

Her country initiated the establishment of a World Bee Day in 2016 at an FAO regional conference for Europe and co-created more than 300 pollinator projects with partners on all continents, she said.

For its part, the UN marked World Bee Day with an FAO-hosted global ceremony emphasizing the importance of these hard-working pollinators.

Under the theme of pollinator-friendly agricultural production, the event drew attention to the threats endangering these insects and the need to address them.

On Monday, an event at UN Headquarters will showcase best practices and innovative projects with a view to raising awareness of bees’ contributions to environmental and social resilience.

“Protecting bees and other pollinators is essential to guarantee agricultural production, food security, ecosystems restoration, and plant health,” FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said.

As beekeeper Ms. Moreno Veliz said, “bees are extremely intelligent insects. They are beautiful animals.”

UNDP/Priscilla Mora Flores

The National University of Costa Rica estimates that 65 per cent of the plants on the planet require pollinators, and of these, the most important are bees.

What do you know about bees?

Take FAO’s quiz right here and find out more below:

FAO plays a leading role in facilitating and coordinating the International Pollinators Initiative and is committed to promoting policies that support biological plant pest control and limit pesticide use through the Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture, aiming to build greater habitat diversity in agricultural and urban environments.
Three out of four crops across the globe producing fruits or seeds for human use as food depend, at least in part, on pollinators.
Safeguarding bees safeguards biodiversity, as most pollinators are wild, including over 20 000 species of bees.
Pollinator-dependent food products contribute to healthy diets and nutrition.
Improving pollinator density and diversity boosts crop yields – pollinators affect 35 per cent of global agricultural land, supporting the production of 87 of the leading food crops worldwide.
Nearly 75 per cent of the world’s crops producing fruits and seeds for human use depend, at least in part, on pollinators.

Trafficking in the Sahel: Guns, gas, and gold

In the first of a series of features exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel, UN News takes a closer look at what’s behind the growth of the phenomenon.

A tangled trafficking web has been woven across the Sahel, which spans almost 6,000 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and is home to more than 300 million people, in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal.

The Sahel is described by the UN as a region in crisis: those living there are prey to chronic insecurity, climate shocks, conflict, coups, and the rise of criminal and terrorist networks. UN agencies expect that more than 37 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2023, about 3 million more than in 2022.

Food insecurity is affecting millions of people in Burkina Faso.

Unravelling security

Security has long been an issue in the region, but the situation markedly degraded in 2011, following the NATO-led military intervention in Libya, which led to the ongoing destabilization of the country.

The ensuing chaos, and porous borders stymied efforts to stem illicit flows, and traffickers transporting looted Libyan firearms rode into the Sahel on the coattails of insurgency and the spread of terrorism.

Armed groups now control swathes of Libya, which has become a trafficking hub. The terrorist threat has worsened, with the notorious Islamic State (ISIL) group entering the region in 2015, according to the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee’s Executive Directorate (CTED).

MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko

The G5 Sahel Force headquarters was destroyed by a terrorist attack in 2018 in Mopti, Mali.

Markets across the Sahel can be found openly selling a wide range of contraband goods, from fake medicines to AK-style assault rifles. Trafficking medication is often deadly, estimated to kill 500,000 sub-Saharan Africans every year; in just one case, 70 Gambian children died in 2022 after ingesting smuggled cough syrup. Fuel is another commodity trafficked by the main players – terrorist groups, criminal networks, and local militias.

Closing corridors of crime

In order to fight trafficking and other evolving threats, a group of countries in the region – Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Chad – formed, with the support of the UN, the Joint Force of the Group of Five for the Sahel (G5 Sahel).

Meanwhile, cross-border cooperation and crackdowns on corruption are on the rise. National authorities have seized tons of contraband, and judicial measures have dismantled networks. Partnerships, such as the newly signed Côte d’Ivoire-Nigeria agreement, are tackling the illegal drug trade.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is a leading player in efforts to bolster security by stopping trafficking attempts.

In 2020, for example, KAFO II, a UNODC-INTERPOL operation, successfully choked off a Sahel-bound terrorist supply route, with officers seizing a bounty of trafficked spoils: 50 firearms, 40,593 dynamite sticks, 6,162 ammunition rounds, 1,473 kilograms of cannabis and khat, 2,263 boxes of contraband drugs, and 60,000 litres of fuel.

Sting operations such as KAFO II provide valuable insights into trafficking’s increasingly complex and interwoven nature, demonstrating the importance of connecting the dots between crime cases involving firearms and terrorists across different countries, and taking a regional approach.

An international police operation coordinated by INTERPOL in 2022 targeting the movement of illicit firearms in Central and West Africa has led to some 120 arrests and the seizure of firearms, gold, drugs, fake medication, wildlife products, and cash.

Corruption crackdown

These insights are backed up in a raft of new UNODC reports, mapping out the actors, enablers, routes, and scope of trafficking, reveal common threads amongst the instability and chaos, and provide recommendations for action.

One of those threads is corruption, and the reports call for judicial action to be bolstered. The prison system also needs to be engaged, as detention facilities can become “a university for criminals” to broaden their networks.

“Organized crime is feeding on the vulnerabilities and also undermining stability and development in the Sahel,” says François Patuel, head of the UNODC Research and Awareness Unit. “Combining efforts and taking a regional approach will lead to success in addressing organized crime in the region.”

Crisis poses ‘global threat’

Fighting organized crime is a central pillar in the wider battle to deal with the security crisis in the region, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres poses a global threat.

“If nothing is done, the effects of terrorism, violent extremism, and organized crime will be felt far beyond the region and the African continent,” Mr. Guterres warned in 2022. “We must rethink our collective approach and show creativity, going beyond existing efforts.”

How the UN supports people of the Sahel

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has provided direct support to the G5 Sahel Force to operationalize and implement measures to reduce civilian harm and respond to violations.
UNODC routinely joins national and global partners, including INTERPOL, to choke supply routes.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) crisis response plan aims at reaching almost 2 million affected people while addressing the structural causes of instability, with a specific focus on cross-border fragility.
WHO launched an emergency appeal to fund health projects in the region in 2022, and works with 350 health partners in six countries.
The UN Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) provides direction for on-the-ground efforts in 10 countries.
The UN Support Plan for Sahel continues to foster coherence and coordination for greater efficiency and results delivery related to the UNISS framework, in line with Security Council resolution 2391.

The UN works at building food security, which in turn, builds climate security in Mali.