Holland’s outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag will facilitate, coordinate, monitor and verify aid consignments to the embittered enclave, in line with a recent Security Council resolution. She will also establish a mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief shipments through States that are not party to the conflict. She is expected to take up the assignment…
Sitting in a small, windowless room in a government building in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed loops another audio tape onto the dilapidated machine and presses a few buttons. He’s beginning a time-intensive process to digitize some seven decades of unique historical recordings belonging to the government-run Radio Mogadishu. One down, a couple…
In actions taken late evening on Friday, the 193-member General Assembly also adopted nearly $50 million in additional funding for decisions taken by the Human Rights Council, UN’s primary forum on human rights matters. It also decided to establish the Peacebuilding Account, a dedicated multi-year special account, as a modality to finance the Peacebuilding Fund….
In an interview with UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming on the sidelines of SDG Summit 2023 held at UN Headquarters in New York in September, Ms. Portman discussed combatting violence against women and reframing masculinity to be less aggressive and more empathetic towards gender issues. Melissa Fleming: The UN 2023 Gender Snapshot report painted a…
“Starvation must never be a means or result of warfare,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said, responding to an alarming food security report released on Thursday that confirmed repeated warnings of catastrophic hunger levels in the besieged enclave amid ongoing fighting. In a tweet, Mr. Türk urged Israel to act immediately to ensure that all…
The warning came as WHO reported more than five million dengue infections and 5,000 deaths from the disease worldwide this year. Briefing journalists at the UN in Geneva, Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO Team Lead on Arboviruses, said that the threat required “the maximal attention and response from all levels” of the UN health agency…
At least 14 people were killed and 25 injured after a gunman opened fire in what some media called the worst shooting in the country’s history. The gunman, reportedly a student at the university, also killed himself. UN chief António Guerres was shocked and saddened by the incident, his Spokesperson said in a statement issued later on…
Mr. Guterres was speaking at a press briefing at UN Headquarters shortly after the resolution was adopted. There has been no significant change in the way the war has been unfolding in Gaza, he said, with no effective protection of civilians. Israeli bombardment continues while Hamas and other factions continue to fire rockets into the…
Pramila Patten, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, called for the immediate, safe, and unconditional release of all those who remain in captivity. Ms. Patten met this week with the mother of one of the young women taken hostage who expressed the pain, despair and helplessness that families are facing as they…
Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council, Geir Pedersen, UN Special Envoy for Syria, noted that though there have been some diplomatic breakthroughs none led to tangible changes on the ground for civilians. He also raised the alarm over the impact on the region of the devastating Israel-Palestine crisis. On top of killings, injuries, displacement, abduction…
