UN Daily News Issue DH/6583 Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Transcription

1 For updates and alerts, visit UN NEWS CENTRE at UN Daily News Issue DH/6583 Tuesday, In the headlines: First UN report on children in Syria s civil war paints picture of unspeakable horrors Central Africa Republic: UN scales up efforts to assist children impacted by conflict New UN airlift ships food from Iraq to 30,000 Syrians cut off on land by civil war IKEA sustainable lighting initiative seeks to brighten lives of refugees in UN camps Ban pledges UN commitment to advancing gender equality, women s empowerment Unmet humanitarian needs could threaten Yemen s progress, stability UN official UN team assessing food needs of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan s Kordofan province United Arab Emirates to host meeting ahead of UN chief s climate summit Thailand: amid complex elections, Ban calls for dialogue to bridge political differences First UN report on children in Syria s civil war paints picture of unspeakable horrors 4 February - Syrian children have been subjected to unspeakable suffering in the nearly three years of civil war, with the Government and allied militia responsible for countless killings, maiming and torture, and the opposition for recruiting youngsters for combat and using terror tactics in civilian areas, according to the first United Nations report on the issue. Violations must come to an end now, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in the report, which was released yesterday to the Security Council. I therefore urge all parties to the conflict to take, without delay, all measures to protect and uphold the rights of all children in Syria. Syrian children shelter in the doorway of a house, amid gunfire and shelling, in a city affected by the conflict. Photo: UNICEF/NYHQ /Alessio Romenzi The report, covering the period from 1 March 2011 to 15 November 2013, lists a raft of horrors that Syria s children have suffered since the opposition first sought to oust President Bashar al-assad, ranging from direct commission of abuse, including sexual violence, to more general violation of their rights from school closures and denial of access to humanitarian aid. The present report highlights that use of weaponry and military tactics that are disproportionate and indiscriminate by Government forces and associated militias has resulted in countless killings and the maiming of children, and has obstructed children s access to education and health services, Mr. Ban writes. Government forces have also been responsible for the arrest, arbitrary detention, ill treatment and torture of children. Armed opposition groups have been responsible for the recruitment and use of children both in combat and support roles, as well as for conducting military operations, including using terror tactics, in civilian-populated areas, leading to civilian casualties, including children. The report spotlights the disappearance of many children, notes that all parties to the conflict have seriously hampered the For information media - not an official record

2 UN Daily News delivery of humanitarian assistance in areas most affected by the fighting, and warns that children have experienced a high level of distress as a result of witnessing the killing and injuring of members of their families and peers, or of being separated from their family and/or displaced. Detailing the detention of children as young as 11 years old for alleged association with armed groups by Government forces in large-scale arrest campaigns, the reports says they were ill-treated and tortured to extract confessions or humiliate them or pressure a relative to surrender or confess. Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shock, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives, the report says. Reports indicate that children were also suspended from walls or ceilings by their wrists or other limbs, were forced to put their head, neck and legs through a tire while being beaten, and were tied to a board and beaten. The report cites a 16-year-old boy as saying he witnessed his 14-year-old male friend being sexually assaulted and then killed, and notes other allegations that boys and in a few instances girls were raped. The 16-year-old said children and adults were beaten with metal bars, their fingernails pulled out, their fingers cut. Or they were beaten with a hammer in the back, sometimes until death, he added. Allegations of sexual violence by opposition groups were also received, but the UN was unable to further investigate them due to lack of access, the report says. It adds that opposition forces recruited and used both in support roles and for combat, while Government forces used children as human shields. It notes that during the first two years of the conflict, most killings and maiming of children were attributed to Government forces, but mainly due to increased access to heavy weapons and the use of terror tactics opposition groups increasingly engaged in such acts in Armed opposition groups also engaged in the summary execution of children, it says, reporting that lack of access, including for security reasons, prevented the UN from systematic documentation. Schools and hospitals have been disproportionally targeted by all parties, with indications that Government forces were the main perpetrators of attacks against hospitals and other health-care infrastructure, mainly opposition-run makeshift health facilities and of threats and attacks against medical personnel, according to the report. Injured opposition fighters and civilians, including children, admitted to Government hospitals in perceived pro-opposition areas in Aleppo, Dar a, Homs and Idlib governorates were reportedly exposed to arrest, detention, ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture by civilian doctors, and/or elements of Government forces, it says. The UN also received reports on instances where opposition groups denied medical treatment to injured pro-government fighters, or misused ambulances, including to cross Government checkpoints. In his list of recommendations, Mr. Ban calls on all sides to stop all grave violations against children cited in the report, end all indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian areas, including terror tactics, airstrikes, chemical weapons and heavy artillery, allow unimpeded humanitarian access, and immediately release abducted women and children.

3 UN Daily News Central Africa Republic: UN scales up efforts to assist children impacted by conflict 4 February - Amid continued fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) and partners are setting up temporary classrooms for more than 20,000 children in the capital, Bangui, and in the north-west of the country, with more on the way. Many schools had been destroyed, and in times of conflict children really needed some form of normality in their lives, spokesperson Patrick McCormick said in a briefing in Geneva. Being back in class gave children a sense of a return to normalcy, stability, and hope for the future, he added, while the UN agency works with the Government to get permanent schools functioning again. A woman at Bangui Airport in Central African Republic waits on line at a WFP distribution centre. Photo: WFP UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, who spent four days in January, has said that children in the CAR are in desperate need of protection and support. They are under assault and being killed in brutal, senseless communal violence, and there is an almost total absence of protection for children, Mr. Lake told a meeting of the agency s Board today. For the sake of the children, for the sake of the whole country, we all must urgently scale up our work there. The Director of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response at the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Richard Brennan, is currently in CAR to see first-hand the crisis and assess the agency s needs there. The risk of trauma and infections are usually the most serious issues in a conflict situation, said spokesperson Glenn Thomas. Meanwhile, food stocks in Bangui are running very low with enough supplies to feed people for just a few more days, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said. Only 120 tonnes of cereals remain in WFP s stocks in Bangui on 30 January and are estimated to last about one week. A convoy of 43 trucks carrying nearly 1,200 metric tons of cereals has been stuck at the border with Cameroon for the past three weeks, blocked by insecure roads and a lack of customs officer, Elisabeth Byrs told the journalists. An armed escort from the African Mission for Central Africa (MISCA) is expected to reach the town of Garoua-Boulai on the Cameroonian side of the border to assist the trucks, and be back in Bangui by Friday. WFP is also preparing to start airlifting food via a Boeing 747 from Douala, Cameroon, but given the substantial increase in costs, the plan is a last-resort measure, Ms. Byrs said. The price of transporting the estimated 2,000 metric tons of mostly rice by air would be $2 million, roughly five times more expensive than transportation by road, she added. The humanitarian response for CAR is already underfunded. Donors have pledged just $60 million, or 11 per cent, of the $551 million the UN and its humanitarian partners requested to provide relief and protection to 1.9 million people across the country over the next three months, said spokesperson Jens Laerke for the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The crisis in the CAR which began when the mostly Muslim Séléka rebels launched attacks a year ago has since taken on increasingly sectarian overtones, with violence displacing more than 825,000 people.

4 UN Daily News New UN airlift ships food from Iraq to 30,000 Syrians cut off on land by civil war Recent assessments show that almost half the population inside Syria is having trouble getting enough food. Photo: WFP/Dina Elkassaby 4 February - The United Nations today began a new airlift from Iraq to feed nearly 30,000 displaced people in a conflict-torn region of northeast Syria where road access has been cut off for over six months and no significant relief deliveries have arrived overland since last May. The airlift comes as the UN World Food Programme (WFP) faces in Syria what is currently its most complex emergency globally, with challenges ranging from bureaucratic delays, insecurity on roads, the closure of major highways, and sieges imposed on civilians trapped in over 40 locations across the country due to the civil war. It is tragic to see the most vulnerable Syrians going hungry and paying the heavy price for a political conflict with no end in sight, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said as her agency s airlift started from Erbil, in Iraq s Kurdish region, to Qamishli, in Syria s Al Hassakeh Governorate. We call upon all parties to provide us with continuous and unimpeded access across the country. WFP should be able to reach all those who need food assistance all the time. At WFP-chartered flight landed at Qamishli today with 40 metric tons of mixed food including rice, pasta, bulgur, wheat flour, canned food, pulses, salt, vegetable oil and sugar, the first of 10 flights that will deliver over 400 metric tons of WFP food and other items mainly clothes, detergent and soap for the UN Children s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration. WFP airlifted food from Erbil to Qamishli in December for more than 62,000 people. Overall, WFP dispatched in January enough food for 3.6 million people in Syria, short of its target of 4.25 million people as the governorates of Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Rural Aleppo and Al-Hassakeh were inaccessible. The closure of the Daraa- Damascus highway has also affected the dispatch of food to parts of Daraa, Quneitra, Damascus and Rural Damascus. Security has deteriorated in Al Hassakeh Governorate in the last few weeks, displacing large numbers of people. Recently, around 7,500 people fled clashes that erupted in rural areas to Qamishli city while others fled towards the Iraqi border. The road to political stability and confidence building in Syria starts with an important step: ensuring no one dies because of a lack of food or medicine or from the cold when humanitarian workers are nearby but are not allowed in Ms. Cousin said of the three-year-old civil war. Syrians must have their most basic needs met. As hunger in Syria grows, WFP is appealing for over $2 billion to assist more than 7 million Syrians in urgent need of food aid in These include 4.25 million people inside Syria and over 2.9 million refugees in neighbouring countries.

5 UN Daily News IKEA sustainable lighting initiative seeks to brighten lives of refugees in UN camps 4 February - The IKEA Foundation has launched a two-month campaign to raise funds to provide solar-powered lighting and other renewable energy technologies in refugee camps run by the United Nations through the sale of light bulbs in its stores around the world. For every one of the company s LEDARE brand LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs sold from 3 February until 29 March, the IKEA Foundation will donate 1 to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The funds raised through the Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign will help to provide solar-powered street lights, indoor solar lanterns, and other renewable energy technologies such as fuel-efficient cooking stoves in camps in countries such as Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia and Jordan. Solar lantern in use by a refugee woman and a girl. Photo: UNHCR/S. Nambu In 2013, over 2 million people became refugees a near 20-year record. With each new humanitarian emergency, the support of the private sector becomes more vital and more urgent, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a news release on the initiative. This campaign represents a new, unique chapter in our relationship with the IKEA Foundation, UNHCR s largest private sector partner. Together, we hope to be able to transform the lives of many refugees. Today, there are nearly 10.5 million refugees globally, around half of which are children, according to UNHCR. Some refugees have no choice but to live in refugee camps, where an absence or lack of light after sunset can have a devastating effect on safety and security. Simple activities such as going to the toilet, collecting water or returning to the shelter can become difficult and dangerous, particularly for women and girls, the agency pointed out. The improvements funded by the campaign will make each refugee camp a safer and more suitable home for refugee children and their families, it noted, adding that the campaign will also fund improved primary education. The IKEA Foundation has partnered with UNHCR since 2010, helping to provide shelter, care and education to families and children within refugee camps and surrounding communities. The Foundation has to date committed 73 million in support to the UN agency. The Foundation s Chief Executive Officer, Per Heggenes, said the campaign will help bring lights and renewable energy into the streets and homes of refugee camps, so UNHCR can help build a better everyday life for refugee children and families.

6 UN Daily News Ban pledges UN commitment to advancing gender equality, women s empowerment Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second right) with from left: Phumzile Mlambo- Ngcuka, the Executive Director of UN Women, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton. Photo: UN Women gender equality. 4 February - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today pledged to root for women everywhere ahead of his departure for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, while stressing the need for the United Nations and its partners to lay the groundwork to enable all women to enjoy their rights and be empowered. We are at a key moment, Mr. Ban said at a photo-op with former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), ahead of their meeting at UN Headquarters. He noted that 2015 will be crucial for the future of development and the future of women s rights. Next year marks the target date for the achievement of the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals, which contain specific benchmarks for Countries are also working toward the adoption of global development agenda beyond 2015, as well as on securing a global climate change agreement by the end of next year also marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark Beijing World Conference on Women. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is considered the key global policy document on gender equality, addressing critical areas such as women and poverty, violence against women and the human rights of women. There has been a great deal of progress since then, but too many women still face far too much discrimination and violence, said Mr. Ban, adding that the UN family looks forward to continuing to work closely with Ms. Clinton for sustainable development and opportunities for all the world s women and girls. The UN chief is set to leave New York today for Russia, where he will attend the opening ceremony on Friday of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. The Games, he said, show the power of sport to unite people regardless of gender or sexual orientation. This year s Games will also showcase progress for women, who will be competing for the first time in the ski jump. You will not see me at the top of the jump, the Secretary-General said, while adding that he will be rooting for women athletes to jump high and leap far. We have a responsibility to make a jump and [lay] the ground first so that they can jump Let s work together to make this world better for all, including women and girls. This week UN Women is hosting a number of events on gender equality on the margins of the current meeting of the working group tasked with preparing a proposal on the Sustainable Development Goals called for by Member States at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The overall issues to be discussed by the group include oceans and seas, forests, biodiversity, conflict prevention, postconflict peacebuilding and the promotion of durable peace, and rule of law and governance and promoting equality.

7 UN Daily News Unmet humanitarian needs could threaten Yemen s progress, stability UN official 4 February - While Yemen has made good progress in its political transition, the country will not enjoy stability unless the humanitarian needs of its people are met, a senior United Nations relief official warned today. There will be no stability in Yemen if more than half of the population is waking up in the morning without the possibility to have food; is living below the line of poverty, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told a news conference in Geneva. What does it mean, then, to organize elections or have any political process if people are still suffering from humanitarian needs? Children in Al-Mazrak IDP camp in Haradh, northern Yemen. Photo: OCHA Political stability must go hand in hand with development, he stated, noting that the country has suffered a series of internal conflicts in recent years, which have led to insecurity and a lack of development. More than half of the population of 25 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 13 million who do not have access to safe drinking water. There are also close to 250,000 registered refugees and close to 400,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). In addition, Yemen has the second highest rate of malnutrition in the world, after Afghanistan, with some 1 million children five years and younger suffering from this condition, while 50 per cent of children under the age of five have stunted growth. Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed acknowledged that Yemen has had a fairly successful political process, having just concluded a national dialogue the only country among those that underwent the Arab Spring pro-democracy movement to have done so. However, to ensure that the gains made so far in the transition are not jeopardized, it is vital that they translate into tangible changes in the lives of Yemen s people, and that the international community stand by them in this process. The UN and its partners have appealed for $592 million to carry out its development activities in Yemen this year. We do have an opportunity today as an international community to stabilize Yemen, and that s an opportunity we should not miss, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed stressed.

8 UN Daily News UN team assessing food needs of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan s Kordofan province A teenager displaced by recent violence washes clothes in a basin at the compound of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which has become a makeshift camp for many. Photo: UNHCR/K. McKinsey 4 February - A team from the United Nations emergency food agency is in Sudan s West Kordofan state to assess the needs of civilians fleeing the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) had provided one month of emergency food rations to 7,489 South Sudanese who have fled to South Kordofan and White Nile states, spokesperson Elisabeth Byrs told journalists in Geneva. The agency is appealing for $58 million for its operations in South Sudan, which are only 30 per cent funded so far, Ms. Byrs said. An estimated 10,000 people have also crossed into Sudan s South and West Kordofan states, which are themselves facing armed violence, according to figures reported last month by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Wrapping up his two-day visit to the country yesterday, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous stressed that there could be no other solution to the crisis than a political solution. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and 825,000 have been driven from their homes since fighting erupted between President Salva Kiir s forces and those of former deputy president Riek Machar in mid-december. Both sides signed a ceasefire agreement mediated by the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa last month, and Mr. Ladsous reiterated the importance of adhering to that accord. In a meeting with President Salva Kiir, Mr. Ladsous had conveyed the UN s total support for the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) mediation process which had led to the agreement signed on 23 January for cessation of hostilities. He added that seeing thousands of people alive at the UN peacekeeping mission s base in Tomping was a clear indicator that UNMISS had made the right decision in opening its gates to civilians, even though living conditions were difficult. Over 80,000 civilians are currently protected by UNMISS at eight of its compounds throughout the country, according to figures provided today by the Mission, including 43,000 civilians in Juba alone.

9 UN Daily News United Arab Emirates to host meeting ahead of UN chief s climate summit Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) meets with Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change of the United Arab Emirates. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras 4 February - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Minister of State and Special Envoy for Energy and Climate Change, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, have announced that the Gulf country will host a high-level meeting in May to generate momentum for concrete actions to be taken at a climate summit Mr. Ban will convene four months later in New York. The summit will take place at Headquarters on 23 September, one day before the General Assembly begins its annual high-level debate. The Secretary-General has invited leaders of Government, business, finance and civil society to bring bold announcements and actions to address climate change. The summit will focus on solutions that demonstrate how early action can result in substantial economic benefits. The special two-day meeting hosted by the UAE will be held on 4 and 5 May and will be called the Abu Dhabi Ascent after its host city. It will bring ministers as well as business, finance, and civil society leaders together to develop a range of proposals for action and determine how their countries, businesses and organizations may become more involved in various initiatives so that partnerships can be broadened and deepened to deliver concrete action at the summit. Welcoming the UAE s offer to host the meeting, Mr. Ban said the event will be a critical milepost on the way that will help build the momentum for a successful climate summit. I look forward to working with all leaders to ensure that the summit catalyzes major steps on the ground and towards an ambitious global climate agreement, said the Secretary-General, who met with Minister Sultan Al Jaber on Monday in New York. The Minister of State said his country is at the forefront of international efforts to mitigate climate change. As a key mitigation strategy, the UAE has made significant investments to develop and deploy clean energy technologies globally, he added. The high-level meeting in Abu Dhabi will be integral in encouraging and enhancing commitments from the public-private sectors and ensuring the summit in New York is a success, he said. Thailand: amid complex elections, Ban calls for dialogue to bridge political differences 4 February - Concerned that some Thai people were unable to vote after national elections were reportedly disrupted by protests over the weekend, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue, and underscored that any actions that undermine democratic processes cannot be condoned. While he recognizes the complexity of the situation and that some chose not to participate in the election, the Secretary-General is concerned that a number of Thai people were not able to exercise their right to vote, said a note to correspondents issued by Mr. Ban s spokesperson last evening. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. UN Photo Noting that the UN chief is closely following the developments in Thailand, the note reiterated Mr. Ban s call for political differences to be solved through dialogue and in the best interest of the Thai people.

10 UN Daily News Any action that undermines democratic processes and hinder the democratic right of the Thai people cannot be condoned, said the note, adding that the Secretary-General encourages all Thais and political leaders in particular to move towards a political solution based on dialogue, compromise and respect for democratic principles. The UN Daily News is prepared at UN Headquarters in New York by the News Services Section of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information (DPI)