When the parents of an injured five-year-old boy told Dr. Fai’zah A. Salim that he fell off a ladder, she was not convinced and suspected otherwise. Trained by UNFPA in the Central Sulawesi capital city of Palu to identify both physical and psychological signs of domestic violence, she referred the...
That’s the message from the group of eight experts, including Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, who urged Greece on Wednesday to investigate alleged violations against asylum-seekers. They said that they were “particularly concerned” by the failure of the country’s security personnel and coast guard to...
According to UNICEF, nearly 300 confirmed cases were reported in the first six months of 2023, almost matching the total number documented over 2022 and close to three times the number in 2021. “The stories we are hearing from UNICEF staff and partners on the ground are shocking and unacceptable,”...
Eleven people were killed and another 40 were injured, including a staff member with the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, said Dorothee Klaus, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, citing reports. Two schools operated by the agency sustained damage, and more than 2,000 people were forced to flee in search...
“We’re urgently appealing for all States to refrain from forcibly returning any individuals originating from the regions in Burkina Faso where there is an ongoing crisis,” said Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR Director of International Protection. Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Tan highlighted “killings, forced disappearances, torture and kidnappings”, while in several instances,...
“This deterioration is taking place alongside ongoing unilateral steps that undermine a two-State solution, the absence of a peace process and the continuing economic challenges facing Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority (PA),” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, briefing ambassadors. “It is critical that all parties take urgent...
Briefing the Security Council, Prosecutor Karim Khan, said that the mandate of his office, pursuant to resolution 1593 referring the situation in Darfur to the Court in 2005, was clear. “[Our mandate is] ongoing with respect to crimes within our jurisdiction, the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war...
“Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations in a crowded refugee camp were the worst violence in the West Bank in many years,” said António Guterres, referring to the two-day-long military assault in Jenin, which began on Monday morning, involving the use of airstrikes and missiles fired from drones. According to the...
Speaking to the Council’s annual meeting in Geneva on protecting the rights of women and girls, the UN High Commissioner said it was an urgent task, and there needed to be zero-tolerance of gender-based violence. He highlighted the alarming reality that female human rights defenders, women journalists, and those in...
The UN chief expressed deep concern at the extreme vulnerability faced by the Haitian people – especially women and girls – because of brutally violent and “predatory” armed gangs, like those encircling the capital, blocking main roads and controlling access to water, food, health care. “I condemn in the strongest possible...
“The tendency of family courts to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases, especially where mothers and/or children have brought forward credible allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive control, physical or sexual abuse is unacceptable,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in...
With more than 42 million children displaced worldwide and increasing exposure to multiple forms of violence, the Office of the Special Representative on Violence against Children co-launched a new brief, Protecting the Rights of Children on the Move in Times of Crisis, which draws on past lessons, and outlines key...