Tag: United Nations

Highlights:
– Peace Bell
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– UNIFIL
– Ukraine
– Security Council/Afternoon
– Syria/Security Council
– South Sudan
– Afghanistan
– Myanmar
– Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
– South-South Cooperation
– Financial Contribution

PEACE BELL
The Secretary-General this morning rang in the 80th session of the General Assembly by ringing the Peace Bell at UN Headquarters.
He warned that today, peace is under siege. Conflicts are multiplying. Civilians are suffering. Human rights and international law are being trampled.
He said that we must act to silence the guns and amplify diplomacy.
Mr. Guterres said that the Peace Bell reminds us that even the smallest contributions can forge something enduring. Even in a fractured world, we can come together to let peace ring, he said.

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that heavy strikes continue across Gaza City, hitting buildings, houses and tents, and further adding to the already devastating toll on civilians. Over a span of 24 hours – by yesterday at 2 p.m. local time – colleagues monitoring population movements counted almost 11,000 people moving from northern Gaza southwards.
Along those displacement routes, our teams are stationed at three points, providing direct support or referral services to children who have been injured, orphaned or separated from their caregivers.
While multiple sites providing services have had to suspend operations or relocate, we are helping humanitarian partners keep community kitchens open, distribute clean water, and provide healthcare to people in Gaza city and elsewhere across the Strip.
Yesterday, a UN team successfully delivered fuel to a series of critical service providers in Gaza City. This included hospitals and other health facilities, as well as installations supporting water pumping, trucking and desalination, and the management of solid waste.
OCHA says that the humanitarian community remains committed to serving people in need wherever they are, based on what they need, and regardless of whether parties have labelled the area they’re sheltering in as “dangerous,” “humanitarian” or otherwise.
In a statement today, UNICEF reported that over 10,000 children in Gaza City have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the past two months alone. The agency warned that if disconnected from their treatment, there is a high risk some of the 2,400 children currently being treated for severe acute malnutrition in the area could starve to death.

U.N.I.F.I.L.
In southern Lebanon, following request from the Government of Lebanon, UNIFIL deminers started humanitarian demining in two minefields this week, near Blida and Maroun ar-Ra’s. Together, these minefields spread across 18,000 square metres. Such operations are crucial in minimizing risks to civilians who live in or visit areas close to the Blue Line. 
As part of the Mission’s ongoing efforts to build capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces, UNIFIL Maritime Task Force ships started hosting Lebanese Navy officers this week for maritime operations. In another training activity this week, Lebanese Army personnel learned about detecting and handling unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices and other landmines.   
UNIFIL peacekeepers yesterday discovered an unauthorized sub-munition and a 120mm grenade in Sector East.
Earlier this week peacekeepers found a weapons cache in Sector East, containing an artillery canon, sub-munitions, aviation bombs and explosives. All of them were referred to the Lebanese Armed Forces. 
UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to observe daily Israel Defense Forces military activities in the area of operations. Yesterday, they observed 71 Israel Defense Forces vehicles moving near Aarab el Louaize. They also reported direct fire across the Blue Line from Israeli positions, impacting in Markaba and Houla in Sector East.

Whenever a new cancer patient entered her office in the U.S., Dr. May Abdel-Wahab knew she could probably save their life. Now, as Director of the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), she delivers hope to patients in places where treatment has until now been unavailable.

“So much can be done to treat cancer, but too many people in the developing world have no access to care. It’s unthinkable. It’s unfair.”

With global cancer cases expected to mount in the next two decades, the IAEA is equipping low- and middle income countries with training and radiotherapy to help more people survive the disease. In this episode, Dr. May Abdel-Wahab reflects on the outlook for cancer outcomes around the world, the challenges of anchoring new treatment centres, and shares how her upbringing taught her to see the world as one human family.

Ms. DiCarlo stressed, “Any action that undermines mediation and dialogue weakens confidence in the very mechanisms we depend on for conflict resolution. Preserving the integrity of negotiation channels is crucial to fostering trust and safeguarding the norms that underpin diplomacy.”

She further warned, “The Israeli attack on Doha potentially opens a new and perilous chapter in this devastating conflict, seriously threatening regional peace and stability.”

Highlights:
– Occupied Palestinian Territory
– Gaza
– Ukraine
– Haiti
– Afghanistan
– Sudan
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Burkina Faso and Nigeria
– Nepal
– Health
– Financial Contribution

OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
Turning to the situation in Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the Israeli military reportedly hit more buildings in Gaza City today. Families gathered in the open after being warned that one of those buildings would be hit. While the Israeli military had instructed them to move south to Khan Younis, OCHA says many of them were unsure where to go next.
Since yesterday, the entire city has been under a blanket displacement order. Issuing displacement orders does not absolve parties to a conflict of their responsibilities to protect civilians in the conduct of their hostilities.
Today and yesterday, our colleagues tracking the movement of people in Gaza recorded more than 10,000 displacements from northern to southern areas, mostly in the direction of Khan Younis. People are using any means possible, including donkey carts.
As some families flee, many others are unable to do so because of health and safety concerns or high transportation costs.
Today, several primary healthcare centres and outpatient therapeutic feeding programs in Gaza City had to suspend services amid ongoing strikes. And the UN Population Fund warns that some 55,000 women are having to navigate pregnancy and childbirth amid perilous and traumatic conditions. Midwives continue to provide care, often under fire and with only the light of a mobile phone.
OCHA reiterates that under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must always be protected and should never be a target.  Civilian sites must also never be used to shield military operations.

GAZA
The Humanitarian Country Team in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which brings together UN agencies and more than 200 NGOs, today said that we are witnessing a dangerous escalation in Gaza city, where Israeli forces have stepped up their operations and ordered everyone to move south.
The team says that nearly one million people are now left with no safe or viable options – neither the north nor the south offers safety.
Leaving northern Gaza means paying prohibitive costs for transport and safe passage, navigating roads that are barely passable, finding a place to sleep either in the open air or in overcrowded displacement sites, and continued struggles to secure food, water, medical care, and shelter.
The Humanitarian Country Team adds that amid ongoing Israeli impediments, the current levels of humanitarian support are wholly insufficient.
Humanitarian access must be expanded and sustained to include direct routes to both the north and the south.

UKRAINE
The Secretary-General is following with great concern the reports that Russian military drones entered Poland overnight, in violation of Poland’s airspace, resulting in damage to residential areas in the country.
The incident, which reportedly took place during another large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine, again underlines the regional impact and real risk of expansion of this devastating conflict. There is an urgent need for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire and for a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine – one that fully upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty, its independence and its territorial integrity, in line with the Charter of the United Nations, international law and relevant UN resolutions. 

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Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated on Baerbock’s election — which holds added significance as she became only the fifth woman in history to be elected to this important role.

Addressing the General Assembly, Guterres said, “The United Nations provides the place. The Charter provides the tools. And the Pact for the Future, adopted last September, provided a shot in the arm for the multilateral system and the values that have defined this organization from day one.”

“The Pact reminds us that, eight decades on, we can and must continue rising above division and working together. To make our world a better, more peaceful and prosperous place for all,” he added.

The Secretary-General called on all Member States to “summon the same resolve and spirit of determination that brought delegates to San Francisco in 1945.”

“Let’s live up to their vision — and most importantly, to the expectations and hopes of today’s people around the world,” he concluded.