Uncategorized Archives - Page 37 of 184

INTERVIEW: ‘Climate of division’ creating more challenging environment for UN peacekeeping

·December 18, 2023·7 min read

The 10-year-old mission in Mali, MINUSMA is currently winding down ahead of its end of December deadline to leave. In his speech to the UN General Assembly in September this year, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombohe, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, called for the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, to...

UN General Assembly votes by large majority for immediate humanitarian ceasefire during emergency session

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·December 17, 2023·16 min read

Video of the Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly. Member States adopted a resolution, demanding an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and well as “ensuring humanitarian access”. It passed with a large majority of 153 in favour and 10 against, with 23 abstentions...

World News in Brief: Kyiv under attack, Sudan peace talks, progress on hunger in Europe

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·December 17, 2023·4 min read

That’s according to UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York who said critical infrastructure in at least four of the capital’s 10 districts have been damaged, including homes, a hospital and a kindergarten. “Water and electricity systems were also hit, but authorities managed to quickly restore these vital supplies”,...

South Sudan: No basis for free and fair 2024 elections, warns Haysom

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·December 17, 2023·1 min read

Briefing ambassadors at the UN Security Council, Nicholas Haysom outlined key conditions required by April 2024 for moving ahead, according to the agreed timeline. All in the details These include a new permanent constitutional framework; voter registration details; an election security plan; well trained, equipped, and unified security forces; and...

UN workers delivering aid to Gaza hospital describe ‘bloodbath’ in overflowing emergency department

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·December 17, 2023·1 min read

According to the team, Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, limited to no pain management is available at the hospital, and the emergency department is so full that workers must take care not to step on patients on the floor. Al-Shifa Hospital, formerly the most important...

Over 700 a day dying from small arms fire; main ‘weapons of choice’ for criminals and terrorists

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·December 16, 2023·1 min read

That’s according to Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who briefed the Security Council on Friday, quoting the latest figures available. “This is more than 700 people a day, or one person dying from small arms every two minutes”, she said. She added that “small arms and light weapons...

‘Illegal betting is the number one factor fuelling corruption in sports’, UN conference hears

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·December 16, 2023·3 min read

The discussions at the international anti-corruption conference, convened in Atlanta by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), held between 11 and 15 December, built on the ground-breaking Global Report on Corruption in Sport, produced by the UNODC in 2021, which pointed to a dramatic increase in illegal betting, fuelled by the...

Gaza: UN welcomes Kerem Shalom border crossing announcement

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·December 16, 2023·2 min read

Until the Hamas-led terror attacks of 7 October and Israel’s full-scale military response which has devastated much of the enclave, the crossing from Israel was the main route for commercial goods into Gaza. Until now, limited humanitarian aid has only been allowed to pass through the Rafah crossing with Egypt,...

Global Refugee Forum ends with bold pledges, solutions for displaced

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·December 16, 2023·3 min read

Speaking at the closing of the Global Refugee Forum, the Secretary-General said that protection and help for these most vulnerable of people, was “an obligation shared by all of humanity”. He was speaking after three days of intensive activity geared to finding solutions and building partnerships, which saw pledges from multiple...

Draw inspiration from human rights advocates worldwide, urges Guterres

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·December 15, 2023·1 min read

Speaking at the awards ceremony of the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2023, Mr. Guterres stressed that rights defenders themselves were in need of greater protection. “The world needs leaders of countries, corporations, political parties, religious and civil organizations and beyond, to speak out against antisemitism,...

World News in Brief: Abused Afghan women face prison, UNICEF global alert, deadly mpox resurfaces in DRC

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·December 15, 2023·3 min read

That’s just one of the shocking findings of a new report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which found that instead of filing a formal complaint, many survivors prefer seeking redress through “traditional dispute resolution mechanisms” within the community for fear of the de facto authorities – including “fear...

‘Desperate, hungry, terrified’: Gazans stopping aid trucks in search of food

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·December 15, 2023·3 min read

Speaking later in the day at UN Headquarters, the deputy head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), confirmed that following a food assessment, around half of all Gazans “are starving”, with no idea where their next meal is coming from. Briefing journalists in Geneva uon his return from Rafah...