The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Wednesday urgently called for an immediate return to negotiations, the release of hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli military assault exacerbates human suffering amid rising regional tensions.
Violence against children in the central Sahel region of Africa surged dramatically in the last quarter of 2023, skyrocketing by 70 per cent over the previous three months, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Wednesday.
UN Member States have been deploying “Blue Helmets” (or peacekeepers) since 1948, so on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, marked annually on 29 May, we’re spotlighting operations over the decades, from monitoring buffer zones in Asia to escorting aid trucks into Israeli exclaves in the Middle East.
In 1948, the United Nations took a pivotal step by deploying peacekeepers to support countries in their journey toward peace. Since then, more than two million people – military, police and civilians – have served in over 70 peacekeeping missions around the world, offering assistance amidst ongoing conflicts or their aftermath.
Madam President,
Thank you for hosting today’s open debate.
Excellencies,
We know that women bear the brunt of the global rollback of human rights.
And we know that violence against women in its cruelest forms is a feature of virtually all wars.
I recently traveled to Afghanistan, where the plight of women is a crying example of the ground lost in human rights.
Afghan women and girls are systematically denied their rights and dignity in many areas of life, including education.
Women I met in Kabul told me of their aspirations and dreams: the same education afforded to men, equal employment opportunities and freedom to choose their futures.
They look to the global community to support them in realizing their rights -- so that they can contribute to their country’s future.
Of course, Afghanistan is not the only place where women face barriers to participating as equals in politics, peacemaking, public life and employment.
Commitments on gender equality are being ignored, if not reversed, in many regions.
In A New Agenda for Peace, the Secretary-General called for addressing the structural inequalities standing in the way of the full realization of women’s indivisible human rights. He called for dismantling patriarchal power structures.
This means many things: it means equal access to representation, legal protections, physical autonomy, safety, economic opportunity, education, and healthcare.
Ultimately, it comes down to a simple vision – of overcoming obstacles that deny the full contribution of women.
Armed conflict exacerbates structural obstacles to women’s full equality. Institutional failure or collapse, impunity, and insecurity expose women to aggravated risks.
More than half of the recorded incidents of political violence against women worldwide take place in conflict-affected countries.
Doing away with structural gender inequalities is a matter of equity and right.
But it is also a powerful means to improve the chances of success of peace and political processes.
Our special political missions have strived to promote women’s rights and their meaningful participation in these processes.
In Yemen, for example, community mediation efforts undertaken by Yemeni women, often with the aim of releasing prisoners or achieving local ceasefires, have bolstered the UN’s ongoing work to relaunch high-level, formal negotiations and put an end to almost ten years of conflict.
Madam President,
The Women, Peace and Security Agenda can only be successfully realized through national action.
Over one hundred countries from all regions have developed national action plans to implement Security Council resolution 1325. This is commendable. But more countries must join this call.
Member States can make a difference by committing to specific and targeted measures to advance women’s leadership – including as mediators.
In UN-led peace processes, we ensure that women are robustly represented. Thirty percent of the Syria Constitutional Committee, for example, is female. And women make up 43 percent of our own mediation teams.
In peace processes led by others and to which the UN provides some support, the percentage is often not so high. In such cases, we encourage increased representation of women.
Madam President,
Young people deserve the opportunity to shape their future.
They are not “adults in the making”. They are full human beings with hopes, aspirations, ideas and energy to contribute right now.
The Secretary-General’s third report on Youth, Peace and Security puts forward recommendations to foster urgently needed progress on youth inclusion.
It stresses that youth must be allowed to safely participate in peace processes and electoral activities.
But the report also compels us not to ignore young people’s growing mistrust in governance institutions and electoral processes.
According to UNDP, 82 per cent of young people across 65 countries state that electoral violence hinders their participation. One can understand why – but it is still a distressing statistic.
And as stated in the Secretary-General’s report, the engagement of youth in peace processes continues to be minimal. This is a missed opportunity.
By practically encouraging youth to engage in politics and peacemaking, governments can increase solidarity between different generations and rebuild trust in institutions.
National Action Plans for Youth, Peace and Security are instrumental in institutionalizing the meaningful participation of youth and involve youth in decision making about their futures.
But they require dedicated resources and capacities.
This year, in line with DPPA’s Youth, Peace and Security strategy, we are allocating resources from the Peacebuilding Fund to support the National Action Plans initiated by several countries.
Regional efforts have the potential to catalyze national actions.
The African Union was the first regional organization to establish a framework for youth, peace and security and appoint Youth Ambassadors in addition to its Youth Envoy.
The UN recently supported the Arab Regional Youth, Peace and Security strategy launched by the League of Arab States. With the help of artificial intelligence, young peacebuilders from 14 Arab countries were able to develop an action plan for their region.
Our special political missions are also doing their part to enhance youth civic engagement. In Libya, for example, our mission engages with youth representatives to ensure they play a role in building consensus on the legal framework for national elections.
Environmental peacebuilding is another area in which young people are demanding a role.
Young women are often at the frontlines of coping with scarce resources and defending the environment. This is linked to gendered social roles around caregiving and sourcing water and food.
Young women’s and men’s roles as environmental defenders, community leaders, activists, mobilizers, and peacebuilders must be recognized and advanced.
In conclusion, Madam President,
There are no quick fixes to entrenched power politics, patriarchal attitudes, or unequal social structures.
Transformative changes rely on national action, involving all segments of society.
In many places, they also rely on international support.
Through its meetings and decisions, the Council can reinforce that women, along with men, are responsible for building peace and prosperity in their societies.
That without women leaders, peace cannot be sustained.
That gender equality and realizing the aspirations of young people are essential for sustainable peace and security around the world.
This Council can also help promote recognition of young people as important agents of change. I welcome the Council’s efforts to more regularly invite women, civil society, and youth to brief the Council.
Madam President,
The Women, Peace and Security and Youth, Peace and Security Agendas offer us not just a vision, but a roadmap.
We all need to do more to make the transformative vision of these agendas a reality.
Thank you.
As fighting continues in Gaza, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday that he was “heartbroken” by images of people killed and injured in airstrikes on Sunday that hit tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah.
An Indian peacekeeper deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who helped establish networks for local people to voice their security and humanitarian concerns, is the winner of the 2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, announced on Tuesday.
Gender equality and the aspirations of young people are crucial for ensuring sustainable peace and security, the UN’s top political and peacebuilding official told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Amid further reported bombardment of Gaza overnight into Tuesday, UN and partner organizations have expressed deep concern over the “inhuman” detention of suspected Palestinian fighters in the enclave by Israeli authorities, alleging treatment so poor that some had to have limbs amputated “due to prolonged shackling”.
Dozens of people are believed to have died in an Israeli overnight attack on a camp for displaced Gazans in Rafah in the south of the enclave, the latest gruesome development in more than seven months of war between the Israeli military and Palestinian fighters, UN humanitarians said on Monday.
Senior UN officials have condemned Israeli air strikes on Sunday that hit a camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza, reportedly claiming over 35 Palestinian lives, including women and children.
An attack by Russian armed forces on a busy shopping centre in Kharkiv on Saturday reportedly killed at least four people and injured around 40. Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, strongly condemned the strike and called for civilians to be protected.
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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called for an end to renewed violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where reports have emerged of attacks against the minority Muslim Rohingya community, including beheadings and the razing of homes.
The humanitarian situation for some 800,000 civilians in El Fasher, Sudan, and surrounding areas in North Darfur continues to deteriorate amid ongoing clashes between rival military forces, the UN reported on Friday.
The United Nations Security Council on Friday strongly condemned rising attacks on humanitarian workers and UN personnel, urging all conflict parties to ensure their safety and access.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday issued new provisional measures that order Israel to immediately end military operations in Rafah in southern Gaza and to open the governate’s border crossing for urgent aid deliveries.
From 23-24 May, the African Union & UN Secretariat Task Teams convened their 1st meeting on UN SCR2719...
The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine on Thursday said she was “deeply disturbed” at the relentless attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv which have been continuing virtually non-stop for nearly two weeks.
Living conditions in Gaza continue to deteriorate, with reports of an increase in diarrhoea and suspected cases of Hepatitis A, UN humanitarians warned on Thursday.
Peace is the key to unlocking Africa’s future and for strengthening the continent’s voice and influence in building peace globally, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Thursday.
Hostilities across Gaza reportedly continued on Wednesday, fuelling already alarming aid access problems and dire food insecurity as the main entrance routes for relief convoys remained closed or too dangerous to access, UN aid workers warned.
Haiti’s health system is now “on the verge of collapse” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Haiti Bruno Maes warned on Wednesday, amidst an alarming decrease in the number of hospitals still functioning in the violence-wracked Caribbean nation.
The UN expressed new concerns on Tuesday over a rise in displacement and humanitarian needs in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region amid “relentless” Russian air and ground attacks.
As bombardments by the Israeli military reportedly continued overnight across Gaza, along with ground incursions and heavy fighting, the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on Tuesday for staff and patients at besieged Al-Awda Hospital in the north of the enclave.
The plight of civilians affected by war in 2023 was “resoundingly dire”, as the world witnessed horrors not only in Gaza and southern Israel but also the intense suffering of populations in other crisis hotspots around the globe, senior UN officials said on Tuesday.
At least 810,000 people have fled Rafah in just two weeks, UN humanitarians said on Monday amid reports of ongoing Israeli military operations in the southern city and in the north of Gaza.
The establishment of a multinational security support mission for Haiti is moving closer as the Caribbean nation continues to face a crisis of violence and insecurity caused by entrenched criminal gang activity.
Arrest warrants are being sought for the leaders of Hamas and Israel for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war in Gaza, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday.
Gaza stands at “yet another precipice of further catastrophe” as the latest round of hostage negotiations in Cairo failed to reach an agreement, a senior UN official warned the Security Council on Monday.
For the second time in less than a month, the UN Security Council failed to adopt a Russian-sponsored draft resolution aimed at preventing an arms race in outer space. This follows Russia’s veto of a text co-led by the US and Japan in April.
The establishment of a Multinational Security Support mission for Haiti is moving closer as the Caribbean nation continues to face a crisis of violence and insecurity caused by entrenched criminal gang activity.
