“Fifteen million children in Yemen are asking you to save their lives” the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the 15 members of the Security Council on Wednesday, in an impassioned plea for action to end four years of fighting which has left at least 7,300 children killed or seriously injured.
This Tuesday, we cover: the UN chief in New Zealand’s Christchurch calls for end to hate speech; how a healthy lifestyle can prevent dementia; updates on fighting in Libya and Yemen; the human rights of detainees in Lebanon and people affected by leprosy in Brazil.
The UN team set up to monitor the ceasefire agreement between warring parties in Yemen has formally verified the pullout of armed Ansar Allah, or Houthi forces, from port zones in the country that are crucial to the flow of humanitarian aid, describing cooperation they have received so far as “very good.”
Growing instances of religious-based violence in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka have prompted two United Nations Special Advisers to call for an end to “hateful attacks” directed towards the country’s Muslim minority.
Senior UN officials, including Secretary-General António Guterres have voiced their outrage at a deadly attack on a Catholic church in the north of Burkina Faso on Sunday, during which six people were reportedly killed by gunmen.
Speaking to media in the New Zealand capital Auckland on Sunday, alongside New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his solidarity with the victims and families of the March Christchurch mosque attacks, which killed 51 people, and praised Ms. Arden’s leadership in the aftermath of the killings.
Speaking to media in the New Zealand capital Auckland on Sunday, alongside New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his solidarity with the victims and families of the March Christchurch mosque attacks, which killed 51 people, and praised Ms. Ardern’s leadership in the aftermath of the killings.
Alarmed by the “strikingly high number” of human rights defenders being killed, harassed and threatened in Colombia, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in the country on Friday, called on authorities to “make a significant effort” to “tackle the endemic impunity” surrounding these cases.
This Week in DPPA aims to keep you abreast of developments and events on the agenda of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, at UN HQ and in the field, and especially those that sometimes "fly under the radar".
HeadquartersClimate Change and Security in the Pacific IraqAnti-Domestic Violence Law in Iraq
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Minorities and Human Rights Film Festival in Tikrit
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The decision by a large armed group based in north-east Nigeria to release nearly 900 youngsters has been welcomed by UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, which has warned that those freed will need long-term help if they are to lead a normal life in the future.
On Thursday, we cover: a tragic attack against an ambulance in Libya; six new advocates for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals; a call for a change in political culture in Cambodia; and how Swine Fever in China is affecting global food prices.
An attack on an ambulance in Tripoli on Wednesday that has critically injured the head of emergency services in Libya’s war-torn capital, along with two paramedics, has been strongly condemned by UN humanitarians.
The arrest and transfer of three men in Libya who are wanted on war crimes charges – including the son of former ruler Muammar Gadaffi - would “send a strong and necessary message” to victims, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Now in its tenth month, the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has claimed more than a thousand lives, prompting Secretary-General António Guterres to throw the support of “the whole United Nations system” into stemming the spread of the deadly virus.
Repeated and increasingly sophisticated armed attacks in the Sahel and food shortages linked to last year’s severe drought, have reached unprecedented levels, putting the future of a “whole generation” at stake, three top UN humanitarian officials said on Wednesday.
A new programme aimed at improving the tracking of suspected terrorists, using state-of-the-art software, was launched by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) on Tuesday.
Better training for peacekeepers being deployed to increasingly hostile environments is a “necessary and strategic” investment which can also save lives, the UN Secretary-General told Security Council members on Tuesday.
UN chief António Guterres has said that he’s following “with great concern” intensifying clashes in north-western Syria that have claimed yet more civilian lives and displaced thousands in recent days.
The UN human rights chief on Monday welcomed Cameroon’s willingness to cooperate over finding workable solutions to “major human rights and humanitarian crises”, caused by months of serious unrest and violence across the west and north of the country.
The lives of 115 colleagues who lost their lives between the beginning of last year and the end of March, serving the United Nations, were honoured on Monday at the annual Memorial Service for Fallen Staff, in New York.
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, is following with “deep concern” the latest developments across the Gaza-Israeli border and urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint. Over the weekend, hundreds of rockets were launched from the Occupied Palestinian Territory into southern Israel, and Israel retaliated with hundreds of airstrikes and tank fire.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, is “deeply concerned by yet another dangerous escalation in Gaza and the tragic loss of life”. According to news reports, approximately 200 rockets were fired on Saturday from the Occupied Palestinian Territory towards Israel, and various Israeli airstrikes and tank fire were carried out in retaliation.
"I am deeply concerned by yet another dangerous escalation in Gaza and the tragic loss of life. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of all those who were killed, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
The United Nations is working with Egypt and all sides to calm the situation. I call on all parties to immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months. Those...
“The militia forbade me to cry otherwise they would behead me” - the sombre words of a ten-year-old girl caught up in the years’ long conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one story which features in a new UN photo exhibition in the United States, called Caught in Conflict.
This Friday, we cover: a worrying food crisis in the Democratic Republic of North Korea; attacks against civilians in DR Congo; outrage after the execution of child offenders in Iran; concerns over a super cereal distributed by the World Food Programme; and post-electoral violence in Benin.
This Thursday, top stories includes: the celebrations of World Press Freedom Day and World Tuna Day, events for inter-cultural dialogue in Azerbaijan and for Global Goals awards in Germany, and updates from Syria, Somalia and Mali.
The UN has said it is “gravely concerned” over reports of a worsening humanitarian situation facing civilians across northwest Syria, with rising casualties, and “waves of displacement” due to intensifying conflict.
With another day of mass protests taking place across Venezuela, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Wednesday it was “extremely worried by reports of the excessive use of force” by security forces, loyal to President Nicolás Maduro, a day after an opposition-led uprising appeared to stall.
With murderous attacks against religious institutions on the rise, leaders across the world need to do more to end “political opportunism” and policies which allow hate speech and violent extremism to flourish, said the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on Wednesday.
