The first UN aid convoy to reach the vicinity of the battered eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar, since the Russian invasion began nearly a year ago, arrived on Friday morning, providing support for more than 800 civilians in need.
The United Kingdom’s plans to offer limited immunity from prosecution to those accused of crimes during Northern Ireland’s “Troubles” have been called into question by UN rights chief Volker Türk.
The UN Secretary-General said on Wednesday that he did not believe that there was an opportunity yet, to organise “a serious peace negotiation” between the warring parties in Ukraine, nearly a year on from Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The world’s collective priority for the Occupied Palestinian Territory must be reversing the negative trajectory that marked 2022 as one of the deadliest years in recent memory, the senior UN official in the region told the Security Council on Wednesday.
The UN on Wednesday said that it aims to increase the number of inter-agency convoys providing aid to parts of Ukraine “close to the frontlines”, in support of work being carried out by local organisations and volunteers.
In Our Common Agenda, the Secretary-General has called for enhanced investment in prevention and peacebuilding. This call reflects the recognition that investment in conflict resolution, prevention and peacebuilding is cost-effective.
Two billion people live in countries affected by conflict. Wars drive 80 per cent of all humanitarian needs. In 2021, the economic impact of armed conflict increased by 27 per cent, reaching $559.3 billion. It has been estimated that a scaled-up system for preventive action would save the world between $5 billion and $70 billion every year, which could be re-invested in reducing poverty and improving the wellbeing of populations. Investing in prevention is one of the most cost-effective ways to secure development gains and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The year 2023 marks a new beginning for the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA).
The Department is leading the development of a New Agenda for Peace. Our new Strategic Plan comes at a pivotal time and sets out a vision and priorities until 2026. It looks at how DPPA is contributing to lessen tensions and changing the trajectory of conflicts.
The Plan is ambitious yet realistic: we have refined our goals and strategic objectives while signaling continuity of focus and mandates. The Plan reflects the progress we have made in recent years to consolidate our structures, balancing crisis response and diplomacy with longer-term prevention and peacebuilding engagement. It also clearly sets out the need for prioritization and emphasis on impact where it matters: on the ground. The Strategic Plan further articulates our lead role in devising and coordinating political strategy across the UN system.
The achievement of the new Strategic Plan is dependent on the availability of sufficient, predictable and sustained resources.
In the next cycle, rising inflation will continue to affect the regular budget. ODA allocations will continue to drop with significant impact for peacebuilding, conflict prevention and resolution. Resources for conflict prevention are shrinking even as crises multiply.
In an environment characterized by crisis, demand for DPPA engagement is projected to increase. Global developments also force us to become more creative, flexible and dynamic in responding to incipient signs of violence and providing our expertise in mediation, peacemaking, electoral assistance, and other areas, as requested. Work in all of these areas is funded by the Multi-Year Appeal (MYA).
In the current financial context, the MYA, our main fundraising tool, is more important than ever. MYA funding supports both core and non-core capacities, making it indispensable to DPPA as it delivers on its mandate. It funds core support in the form of augmented capacities at Headquarters and in the field (e.g., staff, travel), while also allowing us to be more operational, facilitating deployments and activities around the world at short notice. On average, one-third of DPPA’s staffing capacities and more than 90 per cent of its travel needs are funded through the MYA.
Under its new Multi-Year Appeal, DPPA is requesting $170 million
to cover its needs and operations until 2026.
Highlights of activities and capacities funded by the MYA with $1 million:
The four thematic windows have dedicated earmarked funding to maximize efficiency and impact.
The booster effect of the MYA can be expressed in three ways:
Out of $170 million requested, 70 per cent of the MYA funding is unearmarked to grant DPPA the flexibility to deploy rapidly and in response to acute needs.
The MYA is also an INCUBATOR OF IDEAS and increasingly invests in new areas, such as
innovation and new technologies and expanding the interlinkages between climate change and
peace and security challenges.
An underfunded MYA could limit DPPA’s operational reach, translating into reduced capacity to deliver under the new Strategic Plan for 2023-2026.
The Multi-Year Appeal embodies our conviction that peace is priceless, and that peace is possible.
More than a year after the military coup in Sudan, political parties began talks this month aimed at restoring a civilian-led transition, which the UN has hailed as an important step towards peace and democracy.
Following the latest meeting of rival military leaders in Sirte, Libya, the head of the UN Mission in the country (UNSMIL) has called upon the national authorities to recommit to fully supporting the implementation of Libya’s 2020 ceasefire agreement.
Some 50 women and girls in Burkina Faso who were abducted last week while looking for food must be released immediately, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Addressing the Security Council on Tuesday, Ilze Brands Kehris, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, expressed concern about restrictions to freedom of religion in Ukraine, including territory under Russian control.
The UN Secretary-General has strongly condemned Russia’s attack on a large residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro at the weekend that has left at least 40 civilians dead, including three children, and at least 75 injured, with those figures likely to rise, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country.
Warring parties in Yemen should take advantage of the current absence of major fighting and use it to advance their talks towards peace, the top UN official in the country said on Monday in his latest briefing to the Security Council.
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UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL ROSEMARY A. DICARLO’S
REMARKS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
UKRAINE
New York, 13 January 2023
Mr. President,
The war in Ukraine is approaching its one-year anniversary, with no end in sight to the fighting or the suffering.
Throughout the holiday season, the forces of the Russian Federation continued their strikes on key Ukrainian cities. Too many Ukrainians spent what is normally a festive period in bomb shelters. Far from celebrating, countless families across the country were mourning the loss of loved ones.
On the morning of 29 December, Russian forces launched more Ukraine-wide attacks targeting regions including Dnipro, Kherson, Kirovohrad, and Kyiv. Multiple strikes were reported in the cites of Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Zhytomyr, as well as Kyiv.
Two days later, on New Year’s Eve, Ukraine's all administrative regions were again under air raid warnings.
The attacks have continued in the new year despite the announcement of a possible cessation of hostilities over Orthodox Christmas, a holy period for both Russians and Ukrainians.
On 6 January, an emergency worker was killed in an attack on a fire station in the city of Kherson. The next day, several regions in the east and south of Ukraine were shelled.
Ground fighting has intensified, especially in the Donetsk region. In areas of active hostilities such as Bakhmut and Soledar, relentless battles, including street fighting, pose a great threat to the remaining civilian population.
In Bakhmut alone, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented 22 civilians killed and 72 injured since early December.
Following the most recent fighting, OHCHR has verified 18,096 civilian casualties since Russia’s invasion of 24 February 2022. This total includes 6,952 people killed and 11,144 injured. The actual figures are likely considerably higher.
Mr. President,
The war has forced millions to flee their homes. We commend the generosity of the countries hosting some 7.9 million people who sought protection in Europe. We encourage further efforts to ensure equitable access to rights and services for refugees in national systems.
In Ukraine some 5.91 million people, 65 per cent of them women and girls, are internally displaced.
Fuelling the displacement is the purposeful, systematic targeting of critical civilian infrastructure, including energy and healthcare facilities.
Following a request from Ukraine to the Secretary General, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a sector-specific damage assessment in collaboration with the World Bank.
The assessment, which aims at identifying the most critical needs for restoration of damaged energy infrastructure, is currently underway, with 90 per cent of the data collection completed.
The number of recorded attacks on healthcare facilities last year was the highest in the world. There were 745 incidents as of 4 January.
In the most affected regions in the east and south of the country, reportedly 15 per cent of facilities are either partially or completely non-functional, and up to 50 per cent in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.
Mr. President,
Inevitably, the war is also leaving invisible scars. According to the World Health Organization, nearly a quarter of the population is reportedly at risk of developing a mental health condition because of this war.
The destruction and closing of schools will also have a lasting impact on children and young people. An estimated 5.7 million school-aged children have been directly affected, including 3.6 million due to the closure of educational institutions early in the conflict.
In recent months, aid organizations have continued efforts to expand life-saving operations to previously inaccessible areas, including in Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
As of 5 January, humanitarian partners have provided food to almost 9 million people. The same number of people have received critical healthcare support across the country.
Around 7.3 million people have been assisted with access to clean water and hygiene products. Over 3 million people uprooted by the war or those whose houses have been damaged have received emergency shelter or critical household items.
In response to the energy crisis, humanitarian partners have distributed hundreds of generators to make sure critical services like hospitals and schools, as well as centres hosting those displaced, can continue operating.
In all, since 24 February of last year almost 14 million people have received assistance from over 740 partners. This includes 1 million people in areas not under the control of the Government of Ukraine.
But the humanitarian response is hampered by severe access constraints, particularly in areas in the east under Russian control. In line with international humanitarian law, parties must facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need.
Mr. President,
OHCHR continues to document allegations of grave human rights violations and to support efforts towards accountability.
Since 24 February, OHCHR has documented over 90 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, falling into two categories:
the majority as a method of torture and ill-treatment in detention, predominantly affecting men;
and sexual violence involving rape, including gang rape, of women and girls in areas under Russian control.
It is imperative that all perpetrators of human rights violations are held accountable.
On the question of accountability, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court continues its work in Ukraine, where it has maintained a presence since May 2022.
As the Prosecutor has indicated in his briefings to the Council, the alleged targeting of civilian objects and the unlawful transfer and deportation of civilians, including children, from Ukraine to the Russian Federation, are the investigative priorities of his Office.
Mr. President,
On a positive note, we welcome the ongoing contacts and commitment of the parties to continue exchanges of prisoners of war, most recently on Sunday involving 50 Ukrainian and 50 Russian captives.
We are encouraged by the meeting hosted in Türkiye on 11 January between the Russian and Ukrainian ombudspersons on this issue.
Despite the challenging context, the Black Sea Grain Initiative continues to make a difference, including by helping bring global food prices down. The Food and Agriculture Organization now reports a continued decline of its Food Price Index.
More than 17 million metric tons of foodstuffs have now been moved under the Initiative, reaching, or on the way to, some 43 countries.
Roughly 20 per cent of this total is for countries categorized by the World Bank as low-income or lower-middle-income economies.
The United Nations also continues its engagement with all stakeholders to remove remaining obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports, including ammonia. These exports are key to keep prices down and mitigate food insecurity, and we urge all concerned to work to that end.
Mr. President,
As the Secretary-General has made clear, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law.
It has created a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, traumatized a generation of children, and accelerated the global food and energy crises. And yet, this grave damage could pale in comparison with the consequences of a prolonged conflict.
I said at the outset of my statement that there is no sign of an end to the fighting. The logic that prevails is a military one, with very little, if any, room for dialogue right now.
But all wars end, and so too will this one. Ukraine, Russia, the world cannot afford for this war to continue. The Secretary-General is ready to assist the parties to end this senseless, unjustified conflict, on the basis of the United Nations Charter and international law.
Thank you, Mr. President
The UN Security Council must be unified in opposing Taliban policies to erode the fundamental human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, the UN’s Special Representative there said on Friday.
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears its one year anniversary, the head of UN Political and Peacebuilding Affairs updated the Security Council on Friday, noting that the fighting and suffering continues “with no end in sight”.
The rule of law forms the bedrock of all international cooperation and the ability of multilateralism to operate effectively, Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday, describing it as “foundational” to the whole United Nations.
There are plentiful opportunities ahead for peacebuilding in Colombia, the head of the UN Verification Mission in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday.
Although West Africa and the Sahel continues to face unprecedented security challenges, it is still “a land of immense opportunities”, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Tuesday.
