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Tag: UN

  • Drought in Africa threatens millions of children — UN

    As many as 40 million children are “one disease” from catastrophe as the Horn of Africa and Sahel experience the worst drought in four decades, according to UNICEF.The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned that children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions “could die in devastating numbers unless urgent support is provided.”

    That’s as the number of drought-stricken people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia — without access to adequate supplies of water — rose from 9.5 million to 16.2 million in the space of just five months, according to the relief agency.

    “When water either isn’t available or is unsafe, the risks to children multiply exponentially,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, millions of children are just one disease away from catastrophe,” she added.

    Twin threat of drought and conflict

    UNICEF said drought and conflict in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria were driving up water insecurity, resulting in 40 million children facing high to extremely high levels of water vulnerability.

    According to UNICEF’s figures, 2.8 million children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions are already suffering from severe acute malnutrition, meaning that they are at risk of dying from waterborne diseases at a rate 11 times higher than well-nourished children.

    Nearly two-thirds of children affected are under the age of 5. The organization said that as natural water sources dried up, the knock-on effect was significant increases in the price of water. In parts of Kenya prices had risen by as much as 400% while in parts of Somalia increases of up to 85% were reported.

    The worst drought in decades

    Climate change and extreme weather events have increased natural disasters over the past 50 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

    The rainy season for much of sub-Saharan Africa is April through June. Not enough rain fell during that period.

    This year would be the third consecutive year where the East African and Horn of Africa regions have not received enough rain.

    Although droughts are common in this region, they have become more severe. There is growing scientific evidence that climate change has exacerbated the effects of droughts.

    Source: Deutsche Welle

  • Climate change : Leaders make a fifth attempt to pass UN Oceans Treaty

    More discussions to protect the world‘s oceans from overexploitation will take place later when world leaders gather at the UN in New York.

    Despite ten years of discussions, the UN High Seas Treaty is still not in force.

    By 2030, 30% of the oceans in the globe would be protected if they were to be adopted.

    Aiming to safeguard marine life from overfishing and other human activities, campaigners seek to achieve this.

    Two-thirds of the world’s oceans are currently considered international waters, which means all countries have a right to fish, ship, and do research there. But only 1.2% of these high seas, as they are referred to, are protected.

    This leaves the marine life living there at risk of exploitation from the increasing threats of climate change, overfishing, and shipping traffic.

    And with ecosystems on the high seas poorly documented, there is concern among conservationists that creatures could become extinct before they are discovered.

    Research published earlier this year, and funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, suggests that between 10% and 15% of marine species are already at risk of extinction.

    The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has said at previous negotiations that the “traditional fragmented nature of ocean governance” has prevented the effective protection of the high seas.

    Men walk amongst tuna laid out at market in JapanLEISA TYLER/ GETTY IMAGES

    The treaty would place parts of the world’s oceans into a network of Marine Protected Areas. Environmental impact assessments would be carried out before allowing commercial activities like deep-sea mining to go ahead.

    Deep-sea mining is when minerals are taken from the sea bed that is 200m or more below the surface. These minerals include cobalt which is used for electronics, but the process could also be toxic for marine life, according to the IUCN.

    As of March 2022, the International Seabed Authority, which regulates these activities, had issued 31 contracts to explore the deep sea for minerals.

    Countries are also looking to include measures in the treaty that give developing and landlocked nations more equal access to Marine Genetic Resources (MGR).

    MGR is biological materials from plants and animals in the ocean that can have benefits for society such as pharmaceuticals, industrial processes, and food.

    But progress has been slow due to Covid-19 preventing countries’ meetings. Disagreement over what should be included in the legal treaty also delayed it.

    Some nations such as Russia and Iceland want fisheries to be excluded.

    In March, countries agreed to have a final fifth session to try and sign the Treaty – with a deadline set for the end of the year.

    Should this not happen, an EU spokesperson told the BBC it was still committed to the issue: “The EU will insist on the quick continuation of the negotiations.”

    “Action is needed to ensure the conservation and the sustainable use of the Ocean for current and future generations,” they added.

    At the end of the last round of failed negotiations, conference president Rena Lee said: “I believe that with continued commitment, determination and dedication, we will be able to build bridges and close the remaining gaps.”

    Protecting the world’s oceans is also important for human populations as so many people rely on the seas for food, income, and leisure activities.

    It is estimated that global marine ecosystems are worth more than £41 trillion, according to researchers at Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

  • Zaporizhzhia nuclear workers: Russians are holding us at gunpoint

    Russian troops are using the captured Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station as a military camp, and employees there have told the BBC that they are being held at gunpoint.

    Since early March, occupying forces have been in control of the location, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Ukrainian technicians continue to run it, nevertheless.

    Moscow has recently been accused of using the plant “as a shield” while its troops launch rockets from there towards nearby locations.

    And on Thursday, more shelling was reported – and the head of the UN issued a new warning about fighting near the nuclear site “leading to disaster”.

    Now two workers have told the BBC about the daily threat of kidnap, as well as their fears of either “radioactive contamination of the wider region” or a nuclear catastrophe.

    The southern city of Nikopol is one of the most dangerous vantage points in Ukraine.

    On the banks of the Dnipro River, it’s possible to see the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant 10 miles across the water.

    It’s a place that has seen heavy shelling over the past couple of weeks, with up to 120 rockets being reported in a single night.

    They come from the direction of Enerhodar, the city where the plant is situated.

    In turn, Enerhodar – and the power station – have also come under heavy fire.

    The UN’s nuclear watchdog claims there’s a “real risk of nuclear disaster” unless the fighting stops and inspectors are allowed access.

    Ukraine and Russia blame each other. The picture is murky, but the risks are crystal clear.

    “My working day is a constant stress,” says Svitlana, who’s contacting us over text.

    She and fellow worker Mykola can only use Russian Sim cards now and the signal is very limited. We’re not using their real names for their safety.

    “I can’t work like I used to,” says Svitlana. “The last week I haven’t even been able to come to my workplace – it’s dangerous.

    “On Saturday, there was the shelling of the nitrogen-oxygen station, which caused a fire. By some miracle, the people working there survived.”

    Another Enerhodar resident tells us that shop and pharmacy prices are now four times higher than in the territory that Ukraine still controls, as well as there is a shortage of doctors. Most ATMs are closed, too.

    Svitlana has worked at the plant for many years and says shells have been landing close to it every day.

    “The psychological situation is difficult,” she adds. “Soldiers are walking everywhere with weapons and everyone is actually kept at gunpoint.”

    Russia is accused of basing about 500 soldiers there. Recent footage has shown military vehicles being driven inside, and Svitlana is in no doubt it’s being used as a base.

    “Every day they drive back and forth in their military vehicles,” she says.

    “They positioned their military equipment right at the station buildings, to make it impossible for Ukrainian armed forces to strike.”

    A text comes in from Mykola: “The staff is now hostages of the Russians,” it reads.

    “They turned off the internet, left only landline phones, and food is available only in one single dining room. They turned the others into their bases.”

    Ukraine is concerned Russia has started shelling the area it occupies to try to create a false narrative, such as: “Ukraine is attacking you – so better vote to join Russia so we can take root and protect you.”

    Moscow-installed politicians for the Zaporizhzhia region have just signed an order for a referendum to be held soon. Russia has staged sham votes in the past, such as with Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

    Mykola continues: “Access to all roofs is prohibited, they made their observation points there. The training building also became their barracks.

    “Now, more and more often, staff are kidnapped just when leaving the shift at the security gate.”

    It’s not known why the kidnapping takes place – but residents paint a picture of intimidation as Russians look to lay down law.

    Svitlana and Mykola also describe
    by the Russians – but they say the staff is still able to monitor the reactor properly.

  • Somalia Drought : About 1 million people displaced

    The number of people displaced by the record-breaking drought in Somalia has topped one million, with the United Nations warning of widespread famine if emergency needs are not soon met.

    The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said that during the month of July another 83,000 people were forced to flee their homes because of the drought, with the worst displacement coming in the Bay, Banadir and Gedo regions.

    Ishaku Mshelia, the deputy emergency coordinator for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, told VOA via telephone Wednesday that people are migrating in search of food and other assistance.

    He said the FAO is trying to help.

    “Our ability as [a] humanitarian community is to be able to reach the affected people in their communities and provide the services that they need so that they … don’t feel pushed to migrate,” Mshelia said. “Unfortunately, previous droughts, what we have seen is that a lot of mortalities have been reported where people that, unfortunately, died on their way to open areas in search of assistance.”

    FAO Somalia said it needs $130 million to fully fund its famine prevention plan, designed to help about a million people in rural areas.

    A statement issued by the FAO on Wednesday said that if the funding gap is not addressed, widespread famine may be inevitable.

    Drought-related malnutrition has killed 500 children, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund, UNICEF.

    Authorities in Somalia’s Gedo region also confirmed to VOA more than 50 deaths of children due to suspected drought-related illnesses. The deaths were reported in the towns of Bardere and Beledhawo, which border Kenya.

    Ali Yusuf Abdullahi, the Gedo regional administration spokesman, said that the region is witnessing a “catastrophic” situation due to drought.

    He said that people are fleeing in search of a better life and have gathered in major towns including Dolow, near the Ethiopian border.

    As of today, Abdullahi said, Dolow has received more than 50,000 displaced people and there are people who are coming from the Ethiopian side who were affected by the drought there and settling in IDP camps in Dolow. He said the town administrators are doing their best to provide relief, but that is not enough.

    Somalia’s federal government declared the three-year drought a national emergency last year. The drought, Somalia’s worst in more than 40 years, has affected more than 7 million people.

    According to the Somali prime minister‘s office, the drought has also killed more than two million livestock.

  • Israel-Gaza: Ceasefire holds overnight after days of violence

    A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants was held overnight, following three days of violence.

    Isolated weapons fire from both sides in the minutes before and just after the Sunday night deadline failed to derail the Egypt-brokered truce.

    At least 44 people have died in the most serious flare-up since an 11-day conflict in May 2021.

    US and United Nations leaders urged both sides to continue to observe the ceasefire.

    In a statement, US President Joe Biden praised the truce and called on all parties “to fully implement [it] and to ensure fuel and humanitarian supplies are flowing into Gaza”.

    He also urged reports of civilian casualties to be investigated in a timely manner.

    The ceasefire was mediated by Egypt – which has acted as an intermediary between Israel and Gaza in the past – over the course of Sunday.

    But as it came into effect late on Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed it was striking Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) targets in Gaza in response to rockets fired just before. Israeli media also reported some isolated rocket fire from Gaza minutes after the deadline.

    But no further violence was reported as the night wore on.

    The latest violence began with Israeli attacks on sites in the Gaza Strip, which its military said were in response to threats from a militant group. It followed days of tensions after Israel arrested a senior PIJ member in the occupied West Bank.

    By Sunday evening, the Palestinian health ministry said that 15 children had been confirmed among the 44 deaths recorded in the latest violence. Gaza’s health ministry has blamed “Israeli aggression” for the deaths of Palestinians and for the more than 300 people wounded.

    Israel accused PIJ militants of accidentally causing at least some of the deaths inside Gaza – claiming on Saturday that the group fired a stray rocket killing multiple children in Jabalia.

    Concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where health officials warned that hospitals only had enough fuel to run generators for another two days, led to the ceasefire deal being agreed upon.

    “We appreciate the Egyptian efforts that had been exerted to end the Israeli aggression against our people,” PIJ spokesman Tareq Selmi said.

    Israel said that it “maintains the right to respond strongly” if the ceasefire is violated.

    The latest conflict closely follows Israel’s arrest of Bassem Saadi, reported to be the head of PIJ in the West Bank, a week ago.

    He was held in the Jenin area as part of an ongoing series of arrest operations after a wave of attacks by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians that left 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians dead. Two of the attackers came from the Jenin district.

    Large crowds gathered on Sunday for the funerals of those killed in strikes on Rafah, in the south of the territory, including senior PIJ commander Khaled Mansour – the second top militant to have died. Demonstrations in support of Gaza have also been held in the West Bank city of Nablus.

    PIJ, which is one of the strongest militant groups operating in Gaza, is backed by Iran and has its headquarters in the Syrian capital Damascus.

    It has been responsible for many attacks, including rocket fire and shootings against Israel.

    In November 2019, Israel and PIJ fought a five-day conflict following the killing by Israel of a PIJ commander who Israel said had been planning an imminent attack. The violence left 34 Palestinians dead and 111 injured, while 63 Israelis needed medical treatment.

    Israel said 25 of the Palestinians killed were militants, including those hit preparing to launch rockets.

    Source: bbc.com

  • One blunder can lead to a nuclear catastrophe-UN chief warns

    The Secretary-General warned the world had been “lucky” to avoid global nuclear war

    The world is one misstep from devastating nuclear war and in peril not seen since the Cold War, the UN Secretary General has warned.

    “We have been extraordinarily lucky so far,” Antonio Guterres said.

    Amid rising global tensions, “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation”, he added.

    His remarks came at the opening of a conference for countries signed up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    The 1968 deal was introduced after the Cuban missile crisis, an event often portrayed as the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The treaty was designed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to more countries and to pursue the ultimate goal of complete nuclear disarmament.

    Almost every nation on Earth is signed up to the NPT, including the five biggest nuclear powers. But among the handful of states never to sign are four known or suspected to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan.

    Secretary General Guterres said the “luck” the world had enjoyed so far in avoiding a nuclear catastrophe may not last – and urged the world to renew a push towards eliminating all such weapons.

    “Luck is not a strategy. Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear conflict,” he said.

    And he warned that those international tensions were “reaching new highs” – pointing specifically to the invasion of Ukraine, tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East as examples.

    Russia was widely accused of escalating tensions when days after his invasion of Ukraine in February, President Vladimir Putin put Russia’s substantial nuclear forces on high alert.

    He also threatened anyone standing in Russia’s way with consequences “you have never seen in your history”. Russia’s nuclear strategy includes the use of nuclear weapons if the state’s existence is under threat.

    On Monday, Mr. Putin wrote to the same non-proliferation conference Mr. Guterres opened, declaring that “there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed”.

    But Russia still found itself criticized at the NPT conference.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned what he called Russia’s sabre-rattling – and pointed out that Ukraine had handed over its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in 1994, after receiving assurances of its future security from Russia and others.

    “What message does this send to any country around the world that may think that it needs to have nuclear weapons – to protect, to defend, to deter aggression against its sovereignty and independence?” he asked. “The worst possible message”.

    Today, some 13,000 nuclear weapons are thought to remain in service in the arsenals of the nine nuclear-armed states – far lower than the estimated 60,000 stockpiled during the peak of the mid-1980s.

    Source: bbc.com

  • First ship carrying Ukrainian grain heading into Turkish waters

    Our correspondent Alex Rossi has the latest update, which is that it’s heading into Turkish waters.

    It will dock in Istanbul, where it will be checked by officials from the UN, Turkey, Russia, and Ukraine.

    The checks are part of an agreement brokered by Turkey and the UN, which proved a rare diplomatic breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    The Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni will head to Lebanon after passing through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait.

    It is carrying 26,527 tonnes of corn.

    The United Nations has warned of the risk of multiple famines this year as the war in Ukraine has heavily dented food supplies.

    Source: skynews.com

  • Ukraine war: UN and Red Cross invited to investigate deaths of prisoners of war, Russia says

    Ukraine war: UN and Red Cross invited to investigate deaths of prisoners of war, Russia says.

    Russia has invited the United Nations and the Red Cross to investigate the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

    The prisoners were being held by Moscow-backed separatists at a jail in the town of Olenivka, in eastern Donetsk, when it was hit by rockets early on Friday.

    Russia’s defense ministry said 50 prisoners were killed and another 73 were injured, adding that it wanted to act “in the interest of conducting an objective investigation” into the attack.

    It claims Ukrainian soldiers had used a US-made high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) to target the prison.

    Ministry spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said “all political, criminal and moral responsibility” rested with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “his criminal regime and Washington who supports them”.

    But Ukraine said Russian artillery had been behind the attack, using it to hide the mistreatment of prisoners.

    Mr. Zelenskyy said: “It was a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

    Source: bbc.com

     

  • U.N. cutting food rations in Sahel amid ‘alarming’ food insecurity

    Up to 18 million people in Africa’s drought-stricken Sahel region will face severe food insecurity over the next three months, the United Nations warned Friday.

    A spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), Tomson Phiri, told a regular press briefing in Geneva that the organization was facing a “severe shortage of funds” to help these people.

    “The needs are very high, but resources are low,” he said, which has forced the agency to reduce the food aid rations it distributes in some countries in the region.

    In Chad, for example, low funding levels have forced WFP to reduce emergency rations for IDPs and refugees by 50 percent since June 2021. If donors do not provide more funds, WFP will also have to stop providing cash assistance in early July in some parts of the country.

    According to projections by the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), up to 18 million people in the Sahel region will face severe food insecurity over the next three months, “the highest number since 2014.

    This situation is the result of a combination of factors, according to the UN, which cites conflict, the Covid pandemic, drought and rising food prices.

    “In the Sahel, 7.7 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from malnutrition. 1.8 million of them are severely malnourished and if aid operations are not intensified, this number could reach 2.4 million by the end of the year,” said an Ocha spokesman, Jens Laerke.

    “The situation has reached alarming levels in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, where people will experience emergency levels of food insecurity during the lean season between June and August,” he added.

    The “lean season” is the period when the previous year’s crops are consumed while the current year’s crops are not yet harvested.

    The United Nations has released $30 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund to help the affected communities.

    Source: Africa news

  • UN peacekeepers warn of fresh rebel violence ahead of vote

    Major Ashif is tense as he watches from the turret of his armoured vehicle as the muddy road in front of him slowly unwinds.

    His is the lead vehicle in a UN escort shepherding a convoy through northwest Central African Republic (CAR), one of the world’s poorest and most violent countries and the thick undergrowth on either side of the road is perfect for an ambush.

    And, in line with the CAR’s tortured history, those likely to carry out any attack are members of an armed group that has signed up to a peace deal.

    The militia calls itself the 3R, from the words in French meaning “Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation”.

    One of the most powerful rebel groups in the country, the 3R claims to defend the Fulani — a cattle-herding community also called the Peul.

    In February last year, the 3R’s chief, Sidiki Abass, joined the heads of 13 other armed groups to sign an accord in Khartoum on ending the country’s endemic violence.

    Risk of Conflict

    But with presidential and legislative elections looming on December 27, the army and the UN force MINUSCA that supports the beleaguered government are bracing for a possible flareup.

    In June, MINUSCA carried out a wide-ranging operation to root out 3R rebels from bases in the northwest.

    Several hundred militiamen scattered into the bush, where they have continued to mount attacks on the security forces and carry out ransom kidnappings of traders.

    Ahead of the vote, Abass has raised the stakes, declaring a ban on security forces and electoral teams from entering “his” territory.

    “Last year, I could travel by road by myself, but this is impossible now because of the poor security,” said a judge who was travelling with the convoy that day.

    The CAR has had negligible peace since it gained independence from France in 1960.

    It plunged once more into bloodshed in 2013, when the Seleka, a rebel coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority, toppled then-president Francois Bozize, a Christian.

    In 2016, after France intervened militarily to quell sectarian massacres, elections were won overwhelmingly by Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking re-election in December.

    But Touadera’s reach is small. Militias still control two-thirds of the territory, typically claiming to defend the interests of a given ethnic or religious group.

    Ethnic violence

    The 3R was born in 2015 to defend the Fulani, who are Muslim, from a Christian militia called the anti-balaka.

    But the convoy’s trip through the northwestern landscape provides telling clues of a more ancient conflict.

    The road through the bush eventually leads to a rocky, valleyed region.

    Here, the semi-nomadic Fulani and sedentary farmers have squabbled for years over the use of land to graze herds.

    All along the roadside lie the empty, ruined homes of farmers, many of them also Muslims, who have fled to neighbouring Cameroon.

    The 3R imposes heavy taxes on Fulani herders in exchange for their declared protection.

    “We have a mutual arrangement,” said a 3R leader who gave his name as General Bobo, at their stronghold in Koui, more than 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the capital Bangui.

    “If you are four brothers, two join the movement and two look after the cattle.”

    The group have used the income to buy grenade- and rocket-launchers, US-made M16 assault rifles, mines and improvised explosive devices.

    Mobile foe

    The 800 Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the region are involved in a high-risk game of cat and mouse with a group that, from generations of herding, knows every nook and cranny.

    Their knowledge of the bush “is better than anyone’s,” said a senior MINUSCA officer. “They move at night and lay low during the day.”

    The UN troops have to make do with untrustworthy local informants, rifles without telescopic sights and vehicles battered by the CAR’s poor roads.

    Added to this is a dispiriting sense that the military are powerless to haul the country out of a political and social quagmire.

    Despair is also felt within the Fulani community.

    Sabi Mandjo, the descendant of a line of Fulani princes who represents the community in distant Bangui, said many recruitments to 3R were “forced.”

    “The Fulani are fed up but don’t know where to go or what to do,” he said.

    Sedentary farmers in the northwest, for their part, feel they are chaff caught up in the CAR’s whirlwind of violence.

    Asha Salamatou is president of a women’s association in Bocaranga, a town just outside Koui.

    A Christian married to a Muslim, she has repeatedly tried to mediate to end the violence, sometimes at the risk of her life, but inevitably in vain.

    “It’s alway the same — we are the ones who pay the price,” she said. “All we want is to live in peace.”

    Source: africanews.com

  • Coronavirus: Weve all gone down together, we should rise together – President to UN Assembly

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is calling on global leaders to rally together in a collective effort in finding solutions such as vaccines to the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    According to the President, the whole world finds itself affected by the pandemic and therefore needs an all hands-on deck approach in bringing the globe back on its feet.

    “The lessons are clear: we all fell together and looked into the abyss together. Even as we closed our borders and shut airports, the reality dawned on all of us that we had to rely on each other to be able to get out of the trouble we were in. We have all gone down together, we should all rise together,” he told the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

    The President who made his address via a virtual presentation said, “If the answer to this pandemic lies in finding a vaccine, that vaccine should be made available to the whole world.

    “If the answer to this pandemic lies in finding a vaccine, that vaccine should be made available to the whole world; rich and poor alike, developed and developing, all races and all beliefs. The virus has taught us that we are all at risk, and there is no special protection for the rich or a particular class. For as long as the virus exists, whatever medical solutions that might be found should be made available for all in aid of our common humanity,” the president said.

    The president while assessing the financial impacts of the pandemic on the economies of developing countries, called for a restructuring of the global financing architecture to enable access to fresh capital by developing nations.

    According to him, this is an immediate necessity to prevent the erosion of the gains chalked by developing economies as well as maintaining and growing the standard of living of their citizens above dangerous levels.

    The 75th United Nations General Assembly held unlike previous sessions have some world leaders making their presentations from their home countries.

    This has been as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak which has caused the closure of borders and have resulted in the slowdown of global activities.

    Watch the president’s address below:

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • UN raises alert on war crimes in north-east DR Congo

    The UN says widespread killings, rapes and other barbaric acts by militia in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    It follows months of escalating ethnic violence in the province of Ituri.

    The UN says nearly 300 people were killed and nearly 40 raped between November and April – mainly by fighters linked to the Codeco rebel group, who are drawn from the Lendu community.

    Earlier the UN said at least 38 people had been killed in Ituri and neighbouring North Kivu in attacks by another armed group, the Allied Democratic Forces.

    Source: bbc.com

  • 3 UN peacekeepers killed in Mali

    Three Chadian UN peacekeepers were killed and four injured in an attack on a UN convoy in northern Mali, a peacekeeping mission there said late Sunday.

    In a statement, the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission for Mali (MINUSMA) said the incident took place near Aguelhok in the Kidal region.

    Kidal is the former stronghold of separatist rebels in Mali. But several militant groups are active in the north despite a 2015 peace agreement between the Malian government and Tuareg rebel groups.

    Mahamat Saleh Annadif, head of the mission, condemned the attack against civilians and UN operations in the West African country.

    “We will have to combine all efforts to identify and apprehend those responsible for these terrorist acts,” Annadif said.

    ”The Secretary-General expresses his deep condolences to the families of the victims, as well as the Government and people of Chad. He wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said in a separate statement.

    ”The Secretary-General reaffirms that such cowardly acts will not deter the United Nations from its resolve to continue supporting the people and Government of Mali in their pursuit of peace and stability,” he added.

    No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but similar attacks are usually claimed by militias linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

    Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, suffers from the presence of several terror groups, and French, Malian, and UN peacekeepers carry out counter-terrorism operations there.

    Tensions erupted in Mali in 2012 following a failed coup and a Tuareg rebellion that ultimately allowed al-Qaeda-linked militant groups to take over the northern half of the country. In 2015, a peace deal was signed between the government and some insurgent groups.

    Political and community disputes continue to fuel tensions in the West African nation, thus undermining the implementation of the peace agreement.

    Source: aa.com.tr

  • UN Security Council expected to hold first coronavirus talks Thursday

    The UN Security Council will on Thursday hold its first meeting on the coronavirus pandemic by video conference after weeks of divisions among its five permanent members, diplomats said Monday.

    Last week, exasperated by the back-and-forth that has paralyzed the council, including between China and the United States, nine of the 10 non-permanent members formally requested a meeting featuring a presentation by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

    “Meeting confirmed for Thursday,” one diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. It was to be held behind closed doors at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).

    It’s not yet clear what form the meeting will take, or what could be accomplished: will the member nations show unity in the fact of a global crisis and a willingness to cooperate, or proceed with a settling of scores?

    The New York-based Security Council has been teleworking since March 12 as the new coronavirus spreads rapidly in the city.

    Last week, the UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution calling for “international cooperation” and “multilateralism” in the fight against COVID-19, the first text to come out of the world body since the outbreak began.

    Russia has tried to oppose the text, but only four other countries backed its parallel draft.

    The United States has long demanded that any meeting or text specify that the virus first emerged in China, to Beijing’s consternation.

    Diplomats said Monday that opposition to holding a council meeting was coming from the Chinese and the Russians.

    Moscow and Beijing say they only believe the council should consider the pandemic when they are talking about a country experiencing conflict, the diplomats said.

    According to several diplomats, France been trying since last week to organize a video conference with leaders of the five permanent member countries to try to iron out differences, and would prefer that is done before a meeting of the 15-member council.

    Along with France, the permanent members are Britain, China, Russia and the US.

    The nine countries that requested the meeting are Germany, which spearheaded the effort, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, Indonesia, Niger, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.

    The final non-permanent member, South Africa, did not support the move, saying the council’s remit was peace and security, not health and economic issues.

    For those nine countries, it’s “really irresponsible to block” a council meeting and to “paralyze” the institution since the start of the crisis, a diplomat from one of them said.

    Source: France24

  • Coronavirus pandemic puts WHO back in hot seat

    The UN’s health agency has faced criticism in the past for overreacting and for moving too slowly in fighting epidemics, but it has rarely faced as much scrutiny as with the Coronavirus pandemic.

    The World Health Organization was deemed too alarmist when it faced the H1N1 epidemic in 2009 but five years later it was accused of dragging its feet in declaring an emergency over the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, which would go on to kill more than 11,000 people.

    After that debacle, the WHO reformed and created a rapid response unit that has since helped to tackle two Ebola outbreaks in Democratic Republic of Congo.

    And yet, the organisation is once again under fire, with critics saying it did not react quickly or strongly enough to the new Coronavirus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year.

    The agency has been accused of delaying sounding the alarm for fear of offending Beijing, for waiting too long to declare the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic and for failing to coordinate a coherent international response.

    Also, a consensus appears to be emerging on the need to close down public spaces to limit the spread but the WHO has given little guidance on these measures.

    “WHO remains surprisingly silent and absent in all of these pragmatic questions,” Antoine Flahault, head of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva, wrote in The Lancet medical review, asking: “Is there any orchestra conductor?”

    ‘Enemy of humanity’

    However, other commentators have praised WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his team for giving sound guidance, instead criticising countries for failing to heed the advice.

    Devi Sridhar, a professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said the WHO’s reaction was “hard to fault”, adding that countries like South Korea that followed the advice to test, trace and contain have done better than others.

    One of the central planks of criticism is that the WHO waited until March 11, when nearly 120,000 cases had already been registered, to declare the outbreak a pandemic — a move that truly hit the accelerator on global efforts to rein in the virus.

    By that time, the virus, dubbed an “enemy of humanity” by Tedros, had already taken hold in Europe, which soon overtook Asia as the epicentre of the outbreak.

    With a dearth of tests, shortages of protective gear for health workers and vital medical equipment like ventilators, health systems even in wealthy nations have been pushed to the breaking point.

    In a bid to halt the spread of a pandemic that has already claimed more than 18,000 lives, more than 2.5 billion people worldwide are now largely confined to their homes and economies have largely ground to a halt, threatening a global recession.

    China conundrum

    Despite the chaos, and evidence that Chinese officials hid the crisis for weeks and stifled doctors trying to sound the alarm, the WHO has praised Beijing for its early response.

    Joseph Amon, a professor of global health at Drexel University in the United States, told AFP it was a “clear mistake and set an early tone by WHO that the epidemic was perhaps not as severe and that the initial response was adequate”.

    China told the WHO about an unknown form of pneumonia circulating in Wuhan on December 31, 2019.

    Experts say that if the world had learnt of the problem weeks earlier it could probably have been reined in.

    “If we had known about it then, then that could have made a huge difference,” Roland Kao, an epidemiologist at the University of Edinburgh, told AFP.

    But while experts agree there was certainly much to criticise in China’s initial response, many say the WHO was right to highlight what the country got right, including quickly sharing the genetic sequencing of the virus and taking dramatic lockdown measures to slow the spread.

    “To alienate China early in the process by pointing out mistakes would have been a mistake,” Ann Lindstrand, in charge of WHO’s expanded immunisation programme, told AFP, saying Beijing’s cooperation was crucial.

    “Tedros did the right thing.”

    Tedros himself has dismissed claims that he and WHO have bowed to Chinese pressure, stressing the collaborative relationship the agency has with its members.

    Some say the COVID-19 pandemic has actually revealed the opposite problem — states need to feel pressure from the WHO but the agency simply does not have the power.

    “Dr Tedros and WHO are working hard to conduct the orchestra, but the players are not cooperating,” said Suerie Moon, the co-director of the Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre.

    Source: France24

  • UN Security Council calls for ‘lasting ceasefire’ in Libya

    The UN Security Council on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for a “lasting ceasefire” in war-torn Libya, where a fragile truce has been in place since January.

    The text, drafted by Britain, was approved by 14 votes out of 15, with Russia abstaining.

    It was subject to weeks of wrangling, reflecting deep international divisions over Libya despite world leaders recently agreeing to end all foreign interference in the country and to uphold a weapons embargo.

    The resolution affirmed “the need for a lasting ceasefire in Libya at the earliest opportunity, without pre-conditions.”

    It also expressed “concern over the growing involvement of mercenaries in Libya.”

    Russia had pushed to replace the word “mercenaries” with “foreign terrorist fighters,” but was unsuccessful.

    Libya, Africa’s most oil-rich nation, has been mired in chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

    Since April 2019, the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) has fought back against an offensive by military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

    A fragile ceasefire was established on January 12 and at an international summit in Berlin a week later, world leaders agreed to end all foreign interference in Libya and to uphold a weapons embargo.

    But there are still near-daily clashes near Tripoli and arms continue to flow into the country.

    Moscow is accused of sending several thousand mercenaries from the private Russian security company Wagner to support Haftar, who controls much of the south and east of Libya. Russia denies any involvement.

    During negotiations, the United States demanded the Wagner group be clearly identified in the text, diplomats told AFP, before accepting the sole mention of “mercenaries.”

    The deputy US ambassador to the UN, Cherith Norman Chalet, lamented after the vote that the Council was not united.

    “It’s also very unfortunate that foreign mercenaries, including from the Kremlin-linked Wagner group, are making an inclusive political solution harder to achieve,” she said.

    Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia, said his country abstained because of doubts in Moscow about the possibility of enforcing the resolution when the warring parties had not yet agreed to the terms of the ceasefire.

    More talks on horizon

    The resolution called for continued negotiations by the joint military commission set up in January between the two sides, with the goal of achieving a “permanent ceasefire.”

    This would include a monitoring system, a separation of forces and confidence-building measures.

    The commission’s Geneva meeting ended Saturday without a resolution, but the UN proposed resuming talks from February 18.

    The resolution also called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to submit proposals for monitoring the ceasefire “as soon as possible, when a ceasefire is agreed by the Libyan parties.”

    It also called on regional organizations, “notably the African Union, League of Arab States and European Union” to collaborate in order to “support the UN” in its search for a political solution and supervision of a ceasefire.

    More than 1,000 people have died in the clashes between Haftar and the GNA, while another 140,000 have been displaced, according to the UN.

    Source: France24