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This Week in DPPA: 22 - 28 August 2020

 

22 - 28 August 2020

This Week in DPPA is a brief roundup of political and peacebuilding events and developments at UNHQ and around the world.

COVID-19

Interview with the Resident Coordinator in Chad
In the video series “Building Peace During the Pandemic”, Violet Kakyomya, UN Resident Coordinator in Chad, spoke with Marc-André Franche, Chief, Financing for Peacebuilding Branch, Peacebuilding Support Office, about peacebuilding dynamics in Chad and bordering countries. Ms. Kakyomya explained how the security situation in Chad has been adversely affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has led to the displacement of thousands of people. Many young women and men are in a vulnerable condition as their livelihoods have been impacted due to border closures. The UN Country Team is working closely with the government authorities to support Chad in its peacebuilding efforts. Ms. Kakyomya commended the efforts of some 200 ‘listening groups’ in the Niger-Chad border area who work with communities on the matters of mediation and peacebuilding and how rapidly these groups incorporated the Covid-19 prevention activities in their work. She also highlighted the role of the civil society organizations who mobilized efforts to sensitize the public on measures for protecting themselves against the corona virus by circulating information through various mediums.
Watch here

For up-to-date information on COVID-19 and its impact, please visit:   
WHO website  
UN coronavirus website 

 

Security Council

Mladenov: “There is a moral imperative to end all militant activity in Gaza”
Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov on 25 August briefed the Security Council on the Middle East Peace Process. “Recently, the security situation in Gaza has also deteriorated; a trend which soon may become irreversible,” Mr. Mladenov said. “There is a moral imperative to end all militant activity in Gaza, restore Palestinian national unity and lift Israeli closures,” the Special Coordinator concluded.
Read his full remarks here
Read more in UN News


 

 

Hennis-Plasschaert: "An electoral reset could open a new and important chapter for Iraq”
Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on 26 August briefed the Council on the situation in Iraq and the work of UNAMI in the country. “Restoring public trust is hard work. And within that context, free and fair elections will prove crucial. An electoral reset’ could open a new and important chapter for Iraq. But for this to happen, the elections must be credible,” Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert said. On corruption, the Special Representative noted that: “it continues to steal desperately needed resources from the everyday Iraqi, eroding investor confidence. Crucially, this scourge of corruption also drives many of Iraq’s security issues.”
Read her full remarks here
Read more in UN News

 

Women, Peace and Security

New web page on inclusive mediation
Our Gender, Peace and Security Unit launched a new web page dedicated to inclusive and gender responsive mediation this week. It offers resources and guidance on gender and inclusive mediation, and presents examples of the Department’s work to promote the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, focusing, for example, on the valuable work carried out by DPPA’s gender advisers in the field. It also provides a comprehensive list of reading material and information on the normative background of the WPS agenda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gabon

Special Representative meets with the Foreign Minister
François Louncény Fall, Special Representative and Head of UNOCA, on 25 August met with Foreign Minister Pacôme Moubelet Boubeya of Gabon. They discussed issues of common interest, including the sociopolitical and security situation in Central Africa and COVID-19.

 

Iraq

Accountability for human rights violations during peaceful protests is key
Despite promising steps by the current Government of Iraq concerning human rights violations and abuses committed in the context of recent demonstrations, accountability remains elusive, according to a UN report released on 27 August. The report details actions and omissions in handling the massive protests that took place between October 2019 and April 2020, highlights the human rights violations and abuses, calls for immediate action to achieve justice, recommends protection measures for demonstrators and urges redress for victims.
Read more here


Syria

Press conference with the Special Envoy
Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen held a press conference in Geneva on 27 August. The topic was the third session of the Constitutional Committee Small Body, that gathered in Geneva this week. Four members of the Committee tested positive for COVID-19, and the meeting was therefore postponed for a couple of days. The meetings resumed on 27 August.
Watch here

 

Colombia

Special Representative briefed 40 community radio stations on the Peace Agreement
At the invitation of Colombia’s Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Special Representative and Head of the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, took part on 26 August in a program broadcast by 40 municipal radio stations in the department of Antioquia, northwestern Colombia. The Special Representative gave an assessment of the implementation of the Peace Agreement. The radio stations reach nearly 1 million people in that part of the country, where there is no traditional or social media coverage. "For the United Nations, it is very important to be able to send our message to the communities living in remote areas about the advances and challenges in the implementation of the Peace Agreement," Ruiz Massieu said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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