Since the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21, there have been concerns for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers living in the country: in the immediate aftermath, there were reports of refugees being targeted and forced from their homes by angry mobs threatening reprisals for the Easter Sunday attacks which targeted Christian churches, as well as upscale hotels.
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".
New York“No military solution to the conflict in Syria”
Senior Leadership TravelAssistant Secretary-General Jenča visits KosovoFrom 26 – 28 May, Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča visited Kosovo to meet with local stakeholders. In Pristina, the ASG met with the Kosovo Assembly President and the Minister of Local Government and Administration. He met with woman leaders to hear more about their work on gender equality, violence against woman and implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on woman, peace and security. In Gracanica monestary, he discussed the importance of dialogue, tolerance, reconciliation, and protection of religious sites with Bishop Teodosije.
UN AU office inks partnership with think tank |
Guinea-BissauCommunity outreach programme to remote parts of Guinea-Bissau
Great LakesSpecial Envoy participates at Presidential inauguration in South Africa
Central AfricaHigh-level roundtable on human rights in Central Africa
AfghanistanGrave concern about accounts of Taliban ill-treatment of detainees
IraqTraining on national and international fair trial rights
|
Subscribe to This Week in DPPA by clicking here:
For Email Marketing you can trust.
Contact DPPA at dppa@un.org
Amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis still unfolding in Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has gained access to the rebel-held northern district of Nihm, for the first time since the war between Houthis and the Saudi-backed Government coalition escalated in 2015.
A marked escalation in fighting has put tens of thousands of children in northwest Syria at “imminent risk of injury, death and displacement”, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) chief warned on Thursday.
With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a “strong and united Europe” standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, said UN chief António Guterres in Germany on Thursday.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday that much greater protection for educational facilities was needed across Afghanistan where attacks against schools have increased three-fold in just one year. The call coincides with the third International Conference on Safe Schools, taking place this week in Mallorca, Spain.
Although the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to make headway thanks to the determination of health workers on the ground, insecurity is still hampering the response, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. This has led the UN to establish a new coordination structure in the hopes that access to at-risk areas can be improved.
After eight years of deadly air strikes and terrorist attacks that have left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead and millions of others injured, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller asked the Security Council on Tuesday, the hard-hitting question: “Can’t this Council take any concrete action when attacks on schools and hospitals have become a war tactic that no longer sparks outrage”?
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis welcomes the Cabinet’s endorsement of the 2019 draft State budget and hopes that following a thorough review by the Parliament it will be adopted as quickly as possible. “The adoption of the 2019 budget creates an opportunity to take initial measures to reduce the deficit. It is also an opportunity to start introducing necessary reforms in a politically -, economically - and socially-sustainable way as a part of the broader effort...
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis welcomes the Cabinet’s endorsement of the 2019 draft State budget and hopes that following a thorough review by the Parliament it will be adopted as quickly as possible. “The adoption of the 2019 budget creates an opportunity to take initial measures to reduce the deficit. It is also an opportunity to start introducing necessary reforms in a politically -, economically - and socially-sustainable way as a part of the broader effort...
Nowhere is safe in Yemen, the head of the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF said, after an attack in the city of Taiz claimed the lives of 12 civilians, including seven youngsters – the latest victims of the country’s more than four-year war.
The town of Kitchanga, in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), hosts the highest concentration of internally displaced people in the country, and has been one of the regions most affected by clashes between local communities, made up of Tutsis and Hutus, especially in terms of accessing land. Today, however, thanks to a UN initiative, many disputes over land in Kitchanga are resolved through dialogue instead of violence, and families can cultivate, rent and make a profit from their land.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed “grave concern” on Sunday over “credible accounts” it has been given that Taliban militants have been mistreating prisoners, which in some cases “may amount to torture”.
But for the selfless bravery of the UN ‘blue helmet’ who dragged him to safety during a firefight against Congolese militiamen, it is unlikely that Corporal Ali Khamis Omary would be alive to tell the tale. The man who saved him, Malawian peacekeeper Chancy Chitete, was not so lucky.
Friday's main stories include: Honouring UN peacekeepers; landmark conference to combat sexual and gender-based violence in crises; Kenya upholds LGBT ban; UNICEF’s plea for Afghani children; Brazil’s bid to compensate tobacco smokers; Water shortages in Bangladesh
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".
New York“Libya is on verge of descending into a civil war”, SRSG Salame tells Security Council Senior Leadership TravelAssistant Secretary-General Jenča visits Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey for high-level meetings African UnionUNOAU Newsletter
|
AfghanistanWe must seize this opportunity for peace, say Helmand community leaders On 22 May, Richard Bennett, human rights chief at UNAMA, visited the Pul-i-Charki Prison outside Kabul. He met with prison authorities and prisoners, both male and female. Monitoring detention facilities is essential for preventing ill-treatment of prisoners and improving their conditions.
|
Subscribe to This Week in DPPA by clicking here:
For Email Marketing you can trust.
Contact DPPA at dppa@un.org
Ever since the UN deployed the first of its 72 peacekeeping missions back in 1948, more than 3,800 peacekeepers have lost their lives, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Friday, at a wreath laying ceremony in honour of those “brave men and women” who serve.
In Afghanistan, children suffering from the most serious form of malnutrition may die, unless $7 million in funding is found within weeks, UNICEF said on Friday.
Thursday’s main stories include: Better safeguards to protect civilians in conflict; UN ramps up coordination to beat Ebola in DR Congo; Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women; UN mission condemns attack in Central African Republic
Thursday’s main stories include: Better safeguards to protect civilians in conflict; UN ramps up coordination to beat Ebola in DR Congo; Obstetric fistula continues to afflict women; UN chief strongly condemns attack in Central African Republic
Marking 20 years since the UN Security Council added the protection of civilians to its agenda, Secretary-General António Guterres told the chamber on Thursday that while safeguards were stronger, “compliance has deteriorated”.
Despite Somalia’s persistent security threats, recurrent political crises, capacity constraints and the difficulties in navigating political obstacles to its reform agenda, the Horn of Africa country remains on a “positive trajectory,” the UN Security Council was told on Wednesday.
Today's top stories include: boosting profits at work by hiring more women leaders; saving biodiversity to beat climate change; General Assembly condemns UK over Chagos Islands; just a month of funding left for Gaza; celebrating malaria-free Algeria and Argentina; and justice experts dicuss how best to fight hate crime.
The head of the UN relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) warned on Wednesday that despite weathering a “truly existential crisis” over funding last year, money to continue operations this year in the Gaza Strip will only last until mid-June.
Mr. President,
UNSOM began the new year facing a security crisis as a result of the mortar attack on the UN compound on 1 January, and a political crisis as a result of the expulsion of SRSG Nicholas Haysom on the same day.
The two incidents severely disrupted mandate implementation of the Mission’s engagement with the Federal Government of Somalia and mandate implementation. They also elevated the security risk level for UN personnel and left our staff deeply...
Mr. President,
UNSOM began the new year facing a security crisis as a result of the mortar attack on the UN compound on 1 January, and a political crisis as a result of the expulsion of SRSG Nicholas Haysom on the same day.
The two incidents severely disrupted mandate implementation of the Mission’s engagement with the Federal Government of Somalia and mandate implementation. They also elevated the security risk level for UN personnel and left our staff deeply...
Iraq’s democratic transition – weighed down by political infighting, weak institutions, corruption, and the constant threat of ISIL – needs more international support, “lots of time and lots of hard work,” the top United Nations official in the country said on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s stories include: Libya facing “permanent division”, regional war; Africa event highlights forcible displacement; terrorists’ children ‘secretly detained’ in Syria; Venezuelans need protection; global trade tensions rise.
The damage done to Libya will already take “years to mend” but unless fighting around the capital Tripoli stops, the country risks “descending into a civil war which could lead to the permanent division of the country”.
This Monday, headline stories include: WFP mulls “last resort” aid suspension in Yemen; highest UN peacekeeping award to be given on Friday; busy pollinators are focus of World Bee Day; Ebola threat still “very high”.
On 19 May 2019, during late night hours, a water control station in the Jabal al-Hasawna – southwestern Libya, was deliberately shut down cutting off water supply from the Great Man-Made River (GMMR) to Tripoli and some cities in the western and middle areas of Libya.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Maria Ribeiro, condemns in the strongest terms this act that aims to deprive hundreds of thousands of already embattled Libyans of safe drinking water. “Such attacks against...
The UN emergency food relief agency said on Monday that without full access and “freedom to decide” who receives lifesaving aid, in Houthi rebel-controlled areas of Yemen, it could be forced to implement a “phased suspension”.
In recognition of his “brave and selfless” action under fire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ̶ saving the life of a fellow ‘blue helmet’ and helping his colleagues repel an armed group ̶ the late Malawian soldier Chancy Chitete, will be honoured with the UN’s highest peacekeeping award this coming Friday, by the UN Secretary-General.
It’s an overcast morning, in South Sudan’s capital Juba, and growling thunder announces the start of some light rain. Standing in the drizzle in his military police uniform, is Colonel Channy Vongvannak, the commander of the Cambodian Force Military Police at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
