The UN Human Rights High Commissioner has urged Belarus and Poland to urgently resolve the burgeoning migrant crisis on their mutual border, where thousands of people have gathered in an attempt to enter the European Union (EU).
The UN Human Rights High Commissioner has urged Belarus and Poland to urgently resolve the burgeoning migrant crisis on their mutual border, where thousands of people have gathered in an attempt to enter the European Union (EU).
This year’s UN Woman Police Offer of the Year Award was officially handed over to Superintendent Sangya Malla on Tuesday, for her groundbreaking work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – one of the highlights of the annual Police Week celebrations taking place at UN Headquarters in New York.
Diversity should be viewed as a powerful benefit, rather than a threat, particularly in countries experiencing conflict, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday, during a Security Council debate focused on the issue of inclusion.
Dakar, 9 November 2021 - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mahamat ANNADIF, expresses his solidarity and offers his sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the Government and the people of Niger following the death of more than twenty children caused by a fire on November 8 in a school in Maradi, in the south of Niger.
The...
The Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) is pleased to present its Third Quarterly Report under the Multi-Year Appeal (MYA) covering the period from 1 July to 30 September 2021. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, DPPA was able to respond to opportunities, take risks and meet demand for preventive diplomacy, mediation, conflict resolution and peacebuilding – our core work. For more information, please contact DPPA’s Donor Relations Team at: dppa-donorrelations@un.org
Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has forced at least 11,000 people to flee to neighbouring Uganda since Sunday night, representing the largest refugee influx in a single day for more than a year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday.
A year-long conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia has reached “disastrous proportions”, the UN political chief told the Security Council on Monday, warning of “grave uncertainty” surrounding the future of the country and stability of the whole Horn of Africa region.
Mr. President,
Thank you for this opportunity to brief the Security Council on the situation in Ethiopia. And I welcome today the participation of President Olusegun Obasanjo, African Union High Representative for the Horn of Africa.
Mr. President,
The year-long conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia has reached disastrous proportions. The fighting places the future of the country and its people, as well as the stability of the wider Horn of Africa region, in grave uncertainty.
In recent days, Tigrayan forces have advanced southwards towards Addis Ababa, acting in coordination with the Oromo Liberation Army. The Government of Ethiopia has declared a nationwide state of emergency and has stated it is fighting “an existential war”. Elsewhere, insecurity in the Oromia region continues to worsen, while the situation in parts of the Benishangul-Gumuz region remains tense.
There has been much speculation regarding how this crisis will unfold over the coming weeks. In a country of over 110 million people, over 90 different ethnic groups and 80 languages, no one can predict what continued fighting and insecurity will bring. But let me be clear: What is certain is that the risk of Ethiopia descending into a widening civil war is only too real. That would bring about a humanitarian catastrophe and consume the future of such an important country.
The political repercussions of intensifying violence in the wider region would be immense, compounding the many crises besetting the Horn of Africa.
Just in northern Ethiopia today, more than 7 million people need humanitarian assistance. Efforts to mobilize assistance in Tigray, where more than 5 million people need food and an estimated 400,000 people are living in famine-like conditions, continue to be undermined by an inability to move cash, fuel and supplies into the region. No aid trucks have reached Mekelle since 18 October amid continued airstrikes.
United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights have remained suspended since airstrikes on 22 October forced a flight to return to Addis Ababa. We have been unable to move fuel into Tigray since August. While some emergency supplies have been moved, it has been four months since the last major shipment of medicines and health supplies into Tigray.
Lack of access means that humanitarian organizations have had to scale back core, life-saving activities, including water trucking, food distributions, mobile clinics and support for acutely malnourished children and mothers.
Needs and protection concerns are also rapidly escalating in the Amhara and Afar regions, with large numbers of people fleeing from their homes as the fighting continues to expand.
Let us recall that this expanding crisis is happening in a country that was already grappling with enormous humanitarian challenges, including local conflicts, flooding, drought and infectious disease outbreaks. While needs are most acute in the north, across Ethiopia as a whole, more than 20 million people are estimated to need some form of humanitarian support. More than 5 million people are internally displaced.
Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths traveled to Ethiopia over the weekend to review Ethiopia’s increasing needs and plan for a greater humanitarian response should the fighting continue as is feared. Unfettered access to conflict areas remains key.
Mr. President,
Last week, the report of the joint OHCHR-Ethiopian Human Rights Commission investigation into the conflict in Tigray, which covered the period between November 2020 and June 2021, shed light on the horrific suffering civilians have endured.
The report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that all parties to the conflict – including the Ethiopian National Defence Force, Eritrean Defence Force, Amhara Special Forces and allied militia on one side and Tigrayan forces on the other – committed violations of international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, to include attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, indiscriminate attacks resulting in civilian casualties and extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, sexual and gender-based violence and forced displacement.
The report states that war crimes and crimes against humanity may have been committed. It also outlines steps that should be taken to ensure accountability for these acts. High Commissioner Bachelet highlighted in her remarks last week that incidents of serious human rights violations have continued.
More recently, incidents of hate speech and targeting of ethnic groups have increased at an alarming rate. In this regard the Security Council’s call on 5 November for refraining from inflammatory speech and incitement to violence is welcome and timely.
Mr. President,
There must be an immediate cessation of hostilities. This has been the call of the Secretary-General, African Union Commission Chair Faki, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh, the leader of Ethiopia’s key neighbour Kenya President Ururu Kenyatta, and the UN Security Council.
They have also called for negotiation of a lasting ceasefire and for the creation of conditions for an inclusive Ethiopian dialogue to resolve the crisis and create the foundation for peace and stability throughout the country.
The Secretary-General has been in frequent contact with Prime Minister Abiy, urging restraint and dialogue and offering his good offices. Further, the Secretary-General has offered President Obasanjo the full support of the United Nations to his efforts to resolve the conflict. UN colleagues on the ground continue to urge all sides to this conflict to show restraint and provide unfettered access to vulnerable populations.
Mr. President,
The recently concluded elections in Ethiopia demonstrated the people’s commitment to the democratic process. At the ceremony to mark his new mandate last month, Prime Minister Abiy spoke of his Government’s commitment to resolve the ongoing challenges and his intention to launch a national dialogue. The urgency for such an inclusive initiative has never been greater.
Mr. President,
In closing, let me stress that the UN is steadfastly committed to stay and deliver in Ethiopia in support of all the people of the country. We continue our work there, including thanks to the dedication of our Ethiopian national staff, who must be provided full protection by national authorities, regardless of their background.
Ethiopia, a founding member of the United Nations, needs our support. We urge Ethiopians to come together to build a shared, prosperous future before it is too late.
Thank you.
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to join you for this year’s United Nations Police Week.
I would like to start by commending you and your colleagues for your continued dedication to protecting the communities we serve, particularly during a crisis as complex as the COVID-19 pandemic.
UN Police has been an integral part of the UN’s peace and security work since the first time it was deployed, over 60 years ago. Though your role has evolved significantly in scope and scale, UN Police remains as vital today as it was then.
An aspect of this evolution is how UN policing now increasingly supports the work of special political missions. While these missions are civilian in character and do not have embedded formed police units, they are often requested to provide specialized support to national authorities in areas such as reforming national security institutions and law enforcement. To deliver on these mandates, we have greatly benefited from the expertise provided by UN Police – and in particular from the deployment of police advisers to our missions.
Today, in environments as challenging as Libya and Somalia, UN Police is supporting the work of our missions in a variety of ways: by helping advance respect for human rights in national justice, police and corrections systems; by advising governments on transitional justice and reconciliation issues; and by providing inputs on police-related aspects of peace processes and transitional roadmaps.
In Haiti, for example, our Police and Corrections Advisers have provided important support to the Haitian National Police in areas such as the reduction of gang violence, gender-responsive protection in affected communities, and respect for human rights. They have also assisted the Haitian National Police to improve its diversity, helping increase the percentage of women officers in new graduating classes from 5 to 20 percent.
In Somalia, UNSOM police advisers are supporting the implementation of the New Policing Model, which provides an organizational framework for policing at the national and federated member state level. This is a fundamental part of our mandate to help strengthen federal institutions in the country, and of the blueprint for sustaining peace in Somalia.
Similarly, in Libya, UNSMIL Police, in collaboration with the Libyan Ministry of Interior, have created the first Model Police Station in Tripoli. The police station is now ready to serve a community of approximately 300,000 people – and will serve as a model for other police stations around the country in its rights-based approach.
Colleagues,
The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic remains a major challenge for us. The pandemic continues to exacerbate vulnerabilities in the communities we serve, and has made the delivery of our mandates more difficult. I remain concerned about its socio-economic impact, and how rising poverty, inequality and marginalization may fuel tensions and potentially violence.
This is why the UN’s robust response to the pandemic has been so vital. Our missions and country teams reacted quickly in order to support host governments in their efforts to fight the virus, and are now helping them to build back better in a sustainable manner.
UN Police is an important part of this response. Across our missions, you have helped Member States address the impact of the pandemic – from advising host countries on how to limit the spread of the virus in correctional facilities to helping strengthen human rights-based policing during states of emergency.
I also want to highlight the important role of the Standing Police Capacity in this area, particularly in its support to Member States in non-mission settings, such as in Angola, Maldives and Zambia.
Colleagues,
Before concluding, I would like to briefly speak about how the UN is currently responding to the converging global threats we see today.
Last year, during the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted an ambitious Declaration that recognized the magnitude of current challenges, the urgent need for collective solutions, and the centrality of the United Nations in addressing these challenges.
In response to the UN75 Declaration, on 10 September, the Secretary-General presented his report on “Our Common Agenda”. The report offers an ambitious vision: a renewed, more inclusive and networked multilateralism at the international level; new social contracts that address exclusion and inequalities at the domestic level; more solidarity towards current and future generations; and a United Nations that is fit for a new era.
On the peace and security front, this comprehensive agenda includes important commitments: a new Agenda for Peace that puts prevention and violence reduction at its centre; a new vision for rule of law assistance to Member States; a concerted effort to enhance women’s participation in decision-making and their involvement in security policies.
Delivering on these commitments will be a significant undertaking. It will require all of us to work together, building on our respective strengths. I look forward to the support of UN Police to this agenda, and to your continuing cooperation with DPPA. I wish you fruitful meetings for the remainder of the UN Police Week.
Out now! Season 2 | Episode 14 | She Stands For Peace | Click here: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has condemned “in the strongest terms” the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, following a drone attack overnight on Sunday, aimed on his house in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.
The Members of the United Nations Security Council expressed “deep concern” about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia.
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New York, 6 November 2021
The climate crisis is a peace and security crisis. It intensifies conflict over natural resources, inflating food prices and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Today, around one in every five people is living in an area affected by fragility, conflict or violence. The assault on our planet is driving instability, displacement and confrontation, and making...
A Nepalese peacekeeper serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was on Friday named the recipient of the UN Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.
A Nepali peacekeeper serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was on Friday named the recipient of the UN Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.
International calls for the restoration of democratic government in Sudan continued on Friday, as the Human Rights Council met in special session in Geneva to discuss the recent military coup.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR) to spare no effort in investigating the “unacceptable attack” earlier this week by the presidential guard against a vehicle from the UN mission in the country, MINUSCA.
New York, 5 November 2021
On World Tsunami Awareness Day, we call on countries, international bodies, and civil society to increase understanding about the threat and share innovative approaches to reduce risks.
We can build on progress achieved – ranging from better outreach to tsunami-exposed communities around the world, to the inclusion of...
A stark warning for the people of Afghanistan has been issued by UN migration agency chief António Vitorino who on Thursday said that ongoing conflict, grinding poverty and climate-related emergencies, have pushed the country to the brink of collapse.
At least 8 children have reportedly been killed or injured in escalating violence in Yemen in the past five days.
All parties involved in the escalating conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray must stop fighting immediately, or else risk pushing the region’s catastrophic humanitarian situation “over the edge”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said on Wednesday.
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is extremely concerned by the escalation of violence in Ethiopia and the recent declaration of a state of emergency.
A deadly attack on a military hospital in the Afghan capital, is a reminder that health facilities should never be a target, the UN’s Deputy Spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Ten unarmed Egyptian peacekeepers from the UN Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) were shot and wounded on Monday.
Multiple mediation efforts are underway in Sudan one week after the military seized power, UN Special Representative for the country, Volker Perthes, told journalists in New York on Monday.
New York, 2 November 2021
Last year, according to UNESCO, 62 journalists were killed just for doing their jobs.
Many lost their lives to conflict. But in recent years, the number of media workers killed while investigating corruption, trafficking, and other human rights violations, has risen.
Almost 9 out of 10...
Out now! Season 2 | Episode 13 | She Stands For Peace | Click here: https://unoau.unmissions.org/podcast-series-she-stands-peace...
New York, 31 October 2021
Cities are hubs of innovation and human ingenuity — and potential centres for transformative action to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and build a zero-carbon, climate-resilient and socially just world.
The theme of this year’s World Cities Day, ‘Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience’, comes at a time when...
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Acting unanimously on Friday, the Security Council adopted a unique resolution strongly condemning attacks against schools, children and teachers and urging conflict parties to immediately safeguard the right to education.
The UN Special Representative for Mali told the Security Council on Friday that despite collective efforts, “the reality is that the security situation has deteriorated and the crisis is deepening”, across the northwest African nation.
The deputy UN chief on Thursday emphasized the “vital importance” of peace and security in Africa, thanking ambassadors in the Security Council for helping the UN shine a spotlight on the issue, and how all Member States can work with the African Union and other regional and sub-regional groups, to make lives more secure across the continent.
Although the outcome of the latest meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was “a disappointment”, members must continue their vital work, the UN Special Envoy for the country said in a briefing to the Security Council on Wednesday.
The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations told the Security Council on Wednesday that he was encouraged by a thaw in relations between South Sudan and Sudan, now that both have established national committees on the question of Abyei, the disputed oil-rich border territory claimed by both countries.
