Secretary-General António Guterres credited the more than 80 per cent of those who cross borders in a safe and orderly fashion as powerful drivers of “economic growth, dynamism, and understanding”.
“But unregulated migration along increasingly perilous routes – the cruel realm of traffickers – continues to extract a terrible cost”, he continued in his message marking the day.
Deaths and disappearances
Over the past eight years, at least 51,000 migrants have died, and thousands of others gone missing, said the top UN official.
“Behind each number is a human being – a sister, brother, daughter, son, mother, or father”, he said, reminding that “migrant rights are human rights”.
“They must be respected without discrimination – and irrespective of whether their movement is forced, voluntary, or formally authorized”.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets South Sudanese refugees who are awaiting relocation in Imvepi Camp, in Uganda.
‘Do everything possible’
Mr. Guterres urged the world to “do everything possible” to prevent their loss of life – as a humanitarian imperative and a moral and legal obligation.
And he pushed for search and rescue efforts, medical care, expanded and diversified rights-based pathways for migration, and greater international investments in countries of origin “to ensure migration is a choice, not a necessity”.
“There is no migration crisis; there is a crisis of solidarity”, the Secretary-General concluded. “Today and every day, let us safeguard our common humanity and secure the rights and dignity of all”.
Realize basic rights
For his part, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert F. Houngbo, shone a light on protecting the rights of the world’s 169 million migrant workers.
“The international community must do better to ensure… [that they] are able to realize their basic human and labour rights”, he spelled out in his message for the day.
Leaving them unable to exercise basic rights renders migrant workers “invisible, vulnerable and undervalued for their contributions to society”, pointed out the most senior ILO official.
Vulnerabilities
And when intersecting with race, ethnicity, and gender, they become even more vulnerable to various forms of discrimination.
Mr. Houngbo flagged that migrants do not only go missing on high-risk and desperate journeys.
“Many migrant domestic, agricultural and other workers are isolated and out of reach of those who could protect them”, with the undocumented particularly at risk of abuse.
Make fair labour migration a reality
Fair labour migration
Meanwhile, ILO supports governments, employers and workers to make fair labour migration a reality.
Like all employees, migrant workers are entitled to labour standards and international human rights protections, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, non-discrimination, and safe and healthy working environments, upheld the ILO chief.
They should also be entitled to social protection, development and recognition.
To make these rights a reality, Mr. Houngbo stressed the key importance of fair recruitment, including eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers, which can help eradicate human trafficking and forced labour.
“Access to decent work is a key strategy to realize migrants’ development potential and contribution to society”, he said.
“We must recognize that injustices suffered by migrant workers are injustices to us all. We must do better”.
‘Cornerstone of development’
Meanwhile, in his message, the head of the International Migration Organization (IMO), António Vitorino, described migrants as “being a cornerstone of development and progress”.
“We can’t let the politicization of migration, hostility and divisive narratives divert us from the values that matter most”, he urged.
Regardless of what compels people to move, “their rights must be respected”, underscored the IMO chief.
Message from the Director General on International Migrants Day
The UN biodiversity conference, COP15, is due to wrap up on 19 December. This weekend, we are looking at some of the ways that humanity is reliant on a healthy and thriving global ecosystem.
One million species are now said to be at risk of extinction, and if species losses continue to mount, ecosystem functions vital to human health and life will continue to be disrupted.
Ecosystems provide goods and services that sustain all life on this planet, including human life. While we know a great deal about how many ecosystems function, they often involve such complexity and are on a scale so vast that humanity would find it impossible to substitute for them, no matter how much money was spent in the process.
The Living Laboratory
The majority of prescribed medicines in industrialized countries are derived from natural compounds produced by animals and plants. Billions of people in the developing world rely primarily on traditional plant-based medicine for primary health care.
Many cures from nature are familiar; painkillers such as morphine from opium poppies, the antimalarial quinine from the bark from the South American cinchona tree, and the antibiotic penicillin that is produced by microscopic fungi.
Microbes discovered in the soil of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) fight heart disease by lowering cholesterol. AZT, one of the first anti-HIV/AIDS drugs, came from a large shallow-water sponge that lives in the Caribbean, and happens to be the same sponge that yielded antivirals to treat herpes and serves as the source for the first marine-derived anti-cancer drug to be licensed in the US.
Unsplash/ Hans-Jurgen-Mager
A crucial reservoir for future cures
To date, only around 1.9 million species have been identified (and in many cases barely studied). It is believed that there are millions more that are completely unknown.
Everything alive is the result of a complex “living laboratory” that has been conducting its own clinical tests since life began – approximately 3.7 billion years ago. This natural pharmaceutical library harbours myriad undiscovered cures, if only we don’t destroy them before they’re recognized.
Take the polar bear, now classified as “threatened”. As its Arctic habitat melts due to climate change, the world’s largest terrestrial predator has become an icon of the dangers posed by rising global temperatures. It might also be an icon for health. Polar bears amass huge volumes of fat before hibernating. Despite being fat to a degree that would be life-threatening to humans, they are apparently immune to Type II diabetes. They remain immobile for months, yet their bones remain unchanged. While dormant they do not urinate, yet their kidneys are undamaged. If we understood and could reproduce how bears detoxify waste while hibernating, we might be able to treat – and perhaps even prevent – the toxicity from kidney failure in humans.
Currently 13 per cent of the global population is clinically obese, and the number of Type II diabetes sufferers is predicted to rise to 700 million by 2045. Over the course of their lifetimes, 1 in 3 women over the age of 50, and 1 in 5 men will experience osteoporosis-related bone fractures. In the US alone, kidney failure kills more than 82,000 people and costs the US economy $35 million a year. Polar bears have naturally developed ‘solutions’ to these problems – Type II diabetes from obesity, osteoporosis from being immobile, and toxicity from kidney failure – all of which cause misery to millions.
Another example is from coral reefs, sometimes referred to as “rainforests of the sea” due to their high biodiversity. Among the myriad inhabitants of these reefs are cone shells, a predatory mollusc that hunts with darts that deliver 200 distinct toxic compounds.
The drug Ziconotide exactly copies one cone shell’s toxic peptide, and is not just 1,000 times more potent than morphine, but also avoids the tolerance and dependency that opioids can cause. To date, of all the 700 cone snail species, only six have been scrutinized in detail, and of the potentially thousands of unique compounds they harbour, only 100 have been studied in detail. Coral reefs and all their occupants are being destroyed at alarming rates.
Providing chemical compounds is not the only way biodiversity is crucial to our health. A surprising array of species have helped revolutionize medical knowledge. Zebrafish have been central to our knowledge of how organs, especially the heart, form; a microscopic roundworm has led to an understanding of ‘programmed cell death’ (apoptosis) which not only regulates organ growth, but which, when disrupted, can cause cancer. Fruit flies and bacterial species were principal contributors to research that mapped the human genome.
There may be undiscovered species which, like scientific laboratory animals, possess attributes rendering them particularly well suited for studying and treating human disease. Should these species be lost, their secrets will be lost with them.
What’s driving biodiversity loss?
The main factor currently driving biodiversity loss is habitat destruction—on land; in streams, rivers, and lakes; and in the oceans.
Unless we significantly reduce our use of fossil fuels, climate change alone is anticipated to threaten with extinction approximately one quarter or more of all species on land by the year 2050, surpassing even habitat loss as the biggest threat to life on land.
Species in the oceans and in fresh water are also at great risk from climate change, especially those like corals that live in ecosystems uniquely sensitive to warming temperatures, but the full extent of that risk has not yet been calculated.
Losses to biodiversity impinge on human health in numerous ways. Ecosystem disruption and the loss of biodiversity have major impacts on the emergence, transmission, and spread of many human infectious diseases. The pathogens for 60 per cent of human infectious diseases, for example malaria and COVID, are zoonotic, meaning they have entered our bodies after having lived in other animals.
The virus that causes HIV/AIDS, and which has killed over 40 million people to date, likely made the species jump from chimpanzees butchered for bushmeat in West Central Africa. All in all, there may be 10,000 zoonotic viruses capable of jumping species to us circulating silently in the wild today.
This makes the One Health approach – a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that brings together various intergovernmental agencies, governments and local and regional actors to tackle human health and environmental health together – critical to minimizing the risk of future disease spillover.
Selfishly, if the natural world is healthy, we will be too.
Planetary life insurance
A key challenge for organizations working to preserve biodiversity is to convince others – policymakers and the public in particular – that human beings and our health are fundamentally reliant on the animals, plants, and microbes we share this small planet with. We are totally dependent on the goods and services the natural world provides, and we have no other choice but to preserve it.
The World Economic Forum estimates that half of the world’s GDP ($44 trillion) depends on nature. Globally, the pharmaceutical industry’s annual revenue is $1.27 trillion, and each year healthcare in the US alone costs over $4 trillion.
In comparison, the amount of money needed to close the finance gap to conserve biodiversity is only $700 billion a year. For planetary health and life insurance, that figure is not just a bargain, it’s a necessity.
Humans cannot exist outside of nature. Protecting the plants, animals, and microbes we share our small planet with is not voluntary, for it is these organisms that create the support systems that make all life on Earth, including human life, possible.
The Organization has long advocated for indigenous peoples, who are the inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment.
A benefit for all
Preserving their languages is not only important for them, but for all humanity, said the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi.
“With each indigenous language that goes extinct, so too goes the thought: the culture, tradition and knowledge it bears. That matters because we are in dire need of a radical transformation in the way we relate to our environment,” he said.
Indigenous people make up less than six per cent of the global population but speak more than 4,000 of the world’s roughly 6,700 languages, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Alarm bells ringing
However, conservative estimates indicate that more than half of all languages will become extinct by the end of this century.
Mr. Kőrösi recently returned from the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and left convinced that “if we are to successfully protect nature, we must listen to indigenous peoples, and we must do so in their own languages.”
Indigenous peoples are guardians to almost 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, he said, citing data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Yet every two weeks, an indigenous language dies,” he remarked. “This should ring our alarms.”
The General Assembly President urged countries to work with indigenous communities to safeguard their rights, such as access to education and resources in their native languages, and to ensure that they and their knowledge are not exploited.
“And perhaps most importantly, meaningfully consult indigenous peoples, engaging with them in every stage of decision-making processes,” he advised.
More than words
During the launch, indigenous persons and UN Ambassadors – sometimes one and the same – made the case for protection and preservation.
Language is more than just words, said Mexican Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente, speaking on behalf of the 22-member Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples.
“It is at the essence of the identity of its speakers and the collective soul of its peoples. Languages embody the history, culture and traditions of people, and they are dying at an alarming rate,” he warned.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres of Colombia addresses UN General Assembly members at the launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
Cultural identity and wisdom
Leonor Zalabata Torres, an Arhuaco woman and Colombia’s UN Ambassador, drew applause for her address, delivered partly in Ika, one of 65 indigenous languages spoken in her homeland.
“Language is the expression of wisdom and cultural identity, and the instrument that gives meaning to our daily reality that we inherited from our ancestors,” she said, switching to Spanish.
“Unfortunately, linguistic diversity is at risk, and this has been caused by the dramatic reduction of the use and the accelerated replacement of indigenous languages by the languages of the majority societies.”
Ms. Zalabata Torres reported that the Colombian government has underlined its commitment to implementing the 10-year plan on indigenous languages, which is centred around pillars that include strengthening, recognition, documentation and revitalization.
Language and self-determination
For Arctic indigenous communities, language is critical to political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual rights, said representative Aluki Kotierk.
“In fact, every time an indigenous person utters a word in an indigenous language, it is an act of self-determination,” she added.
However, Ms. Kotierk said native tongues and dialects “are in various levels of vitality”.
She envisions a time where Arctic indigenous peoples “can stand taller in their own homelands with dignity, knowing that they can function in all aspects of their lives, in their own language, receiving essential public services in the areas of health, justice, and education.”
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
Ms. Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, Indigenous peoples’ representative of the Socio-Cultural Region of Africa, addresses the UN General Assembly at the launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.
Towards linguistic justice
Mariam Wallet Med Aboubakrine, a doctor from Mali, advocates for indigenous peoples in Africa, particularly the Tuareg.
She urged countries “to deliver linguistic cultural justice to indigenous peoples”, which will only contribute to reconciliation and lasting peace.
She expressed hope that the International Decade will culminate with the adoption of a UN Convention “so that every indigenous woman can cradle and comfort her baby in her language; every indigenous child can play in their language; every young person and adult can express themselves and work in security in their language, including in digital spaces, and to ensure that every elder can transmit their experience in their language.”
These punishments began after Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada last month ordered judges to uphold aspects of Islamic law.
“We call on the de facto authorities to immediately establish a moratorium on the death penalty, prohibit flogging and other physical punishments that constitute torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and guarantee a fair trial and due process in accordance with international standards,” the experts said in a statement.
Women overwhelmingly targeted
Since 18 November, more than 100 men and women have reportedly been publicly whipped in several Afghan provinces, including Takhar, Logar, Laghman, Parwan and Kabul.
The floggings took place in stadiums in the presence of Taliban officials and the public.
Each person received between 20 and 100 lashes for alleged crimes such as theft, “illegitimate” relationships, or violating social behaviour codes.
“While criminalisation of relationships outside of wedlock seem gender-neutral, in practice, punishment is overwhelmingly directed against women and girls,” said the experts.
Officials witness execution
Last week, Taliban authorities carried out what is believed to be the first public execution since they seized power in August 2021.
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, described it as a “deeply disturbing” development.
The man put to death had been charged with murder, and was shot by the father of his victim, according to media reports.
The execution took place on 7 December in a crowded stadium in Farah province, located in southwestern Afghanistan.
Senior Taliban officials, including the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief Justice, were in attendance.
‘Distasteful and undignified’
The UN experts said public floggings and executions began after the Supreme Leader on 13 November ordered the judiciary to implement Hudood (crimes against God) and Qisas (retribution in kind) punishments.
“Public floggings and public executions violate universal principles prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.,” they stated.
“The public spectacle of these punishments make them especially distasteful and undignified,” they added.
Fair trial doubts
The experts recalled that Afghanistan is a party to a UN covenant that prohibits torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment
“We are additionally raising doubts about the fairness of the trials preceding these punishments, which appear not to satisfy basic fair trial guarantees,” their statement continued.
“International human rights law prohibits the implementation of such cruel sentences, especially the death penalty, following trials that apparently do not offer the required fair trial guarantees,” they said.
About UN experts
The 10 experts who issued the statement were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.
Among them are several Special Rapporteurs, whose mandates cover the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, or issues such as discrimination against women and girls.
Experts appointed by the Council are independent of any government or organization, work on a voluntary basis, and operate in their individual capacity.
They are not UN staff and are not paid for their work.
Mr. Bauer believes that Haiti is facing an unprecedented crisis, which could get even worse. For this reason, he says, there is no time to waste.
“It’s difficult to believe that a mere two hours’ flight from Miami, a staggering 4.7 million people – half of Haiti’s population – are in the throes of a food crisis. In the Cité Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, 19,000 people are suffering in the ‘catastrophe’ level on the global scale for measuring food insecurity.
In the 1980s, I used to visit Haiti on family trips; my mother fled to the US in the 1960s and I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC. The country was very poor then but able to feed itself. Now as I witness its struggle, coordinating the World Food Programme’s response, I cannot deny feeling affected on a deeply personal level.
I speak Creole. I grew up eating djon djon rice and joumou soup. I’ve always been acutely aware of Haiti’s rich history.
UNDP Haiti/Borja Lopetegui Gonzalez
‘A succession of disasters’
In the 1990s there was a series of coups and a trade embargo; people risked their lives to leave on boats. Free market policies ruined Haiti’s smallholder farmers and left the country heavily reliant on food imports. A succession of disasters followed, including the 2010 earthquake and cholera outbreak, hurricane Matthew in 2016, and the Southern earthquake of 2021.
Things are now at a breaking point. This crisis will not pass – it needs renewed and robust humanitarian assistance.
I am often asked why things are in fact so bad, so close to my family’s adopted home. I answer that Haiti is starving because gangs have taken control of ports and roads. This cut off communities from both the farms that feed them and from essential humanitarian aid. In the past year, food and fuel prices have skyrocketed.
In September, protests and widespread looting erupted. Roadblocks brought the country to a standstill, what Haitians call a peyi lok (lockdown). The peyi lok that began on 12 September felt a lot like the ones that occurred worldwide during the early months of the Covid pandemic – except that people were now forced to stay home by fear and violence, rather than by a dangerous disease.
Armed groups had seized the main fuel import terminal, blocking flows of diesel, the economy’s lifeblood. Humanitarians also came under attack; two of WFP’s warehouses were looted, depriving thousands of essential food assistance. For WFP staff, making it to the office meant navigating roadblocks and weathering threats.
During the peyi lok, panic-buying broke out. Supermarkets shelves grew thinner as the days went by. I recently met a group of women in Cité Soleil as they waited for much-needed food from WFP. They said work is hard to come by, that they simply can’t afford to buy the food they need. They were drinking rainwater, they said. For dinner, they sometimes boil water and add salt because there’s simply nothing else to eat. As we talked, shots rang out and bullets flew overhead. Sadly, the people of Haiti have become conditioned to violence and hunger.
Against this backdrop, WFP and its partners have provided food to over 1 million Haitians this year – including over 100,000 people since the lockdown. The only safe way to get in and out of Port-au-Prince is by air. The WFP-managed UN Humanitarian Air Service has helped ferry vital cargo for the cholera response. But while emergency rations and airlifts will keep people alive, they won’t offer a future.
Armed groups are no longer in control of the Varrreux fuel Terminal but still hold swathes of the city. Their stranglehold on Haitian society must stop. The UN sanctions that placed on those who support them are a step in the right direction. But humanitarian work in Haiti needs a change of tack.
WFP Haiti/Theresa Piorr
Helping Haiti to feed its people
Above all, we must help Haitian farmers feed their own people. WFP is working with 75 farming cooperatives to provide meals to schoolchildren.
Thanks to this programme, on any given school day, 100,000 children receive a locally-sourced school meal. But social unrest is keeping children away from schools and farmers from markets. The peyi lok must end, so that rebuilding Haiti’s shattered food systems can resume.
What Haiti is experiencing now is not merely a bout of instability that will subside as part of some regular cycle the world is inured to. Haiti is experiencing a crisis on an unprecedented scale that can only worsen – unless we act fast and with greater urgency from us all.”
The evidence, collected in 16 peer-reviewed studies, shows that peacekeepers – or ‘blue helmets’ as the moniker goes – significantly reduce civilian casualties, shorten conflicts, and help make peace agreements stick.
In fact, the majority of UN Peacekeeping missions succeed in their primary goal, ultimately stabilizing societies and ending war.
“If we look systematically across the record – most of the time peacekeeping works.” That’s the verdict of Professor Lise Howard of Georgetown University, in Washington D.C. Her recent book Power in Peacekeeping is based on extensive field research across different UN peacekeeping missions.
Significant success
“If we look at the completed missions since the end of the Cold War, two thirds of the time, peacekeepers have been successful at implementing their mandates and departing,” Professor Howard says in an interview with UN Video.
“That’s not to say that in all of those cases, everything is perfect in the countries. But it is to say that they’re no longer at war.”
“Peacekeepers reduce the likelihood that civil wars will recur,” she continues. “They also help to achieve peace agreements. Where there’s a promise of peacekeepers, we are more likely to see a peace agreement and peace agreements that stick.”
UN Photo/GJ
Millions of lives saved
Above all, UN peacekeepers save lives: Professor Howard says that millions of lives have been spared since the creation of peacekeeping in 1948.
The concept of using soldiers, not to fight wars, but to help keep the peace, was born during negotiations in the Middle East in 1948, when the newly-founded state of Israel was in conflict with its neighbours.
One of peacekeeping’s main creators was Dr. Ralph Bunche, an American diplomat who was a senior official with the UN.
“This idea was an innovation in human history – that troops would deploy impartially, so they would not take sides. They would deploy with the consent of the belligerents, so the belligerents would actually ask peacekeepers to help them implement peace agreements.”
For helping negotiate an armistice between Egypt and Israel in 1948, Dr. Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950.
UN Photo/M. Grant
Case study: Namibia
One of Professor Howard’s case studies is Namibia. In 1989, a UN Peacekeeping mission helped end a civil war and supported the first free and fair elections in the country’s history. That was far from an easy task.
“Namibia is a country that has experienced tremendous hardship,” Professor Howard says. “It’s had multiple colonial rulers. It had a genocide. It’s been victim of a regional war, of civil war. But surprisingly Namibia has not fallen victim to this tremendously difficult history.”
Today, Namibia is a stable, upper-middle-income country, with a functioning democratic system – an extraordinary achievement, given that historical background.
The UN mission in Namibia was innovative for its time. 40 per cent of its personnel were women. And Professor Howard argues that UN peacekeeping is most effective, when it is not simply relying on force of arms.
Power of persuasion
“The main form of power they exercised was persuasion. Peacekeepers were there to help reform the political system. Nobody had ever voted in an election before. Peacekeepers were helping to inform citizens of their rights and what it means to elect their own leaders.”
In the complex missions in civil wars, peacekeepers are not only monitoring cease-fire lines, they are also helping to rebuild the basic institutions of the State.
They help demobilize troops. They help reform judicial and economic systems, so that when disputes arise, people don’t have to resort again to violence, to resolve them.
Another key task is protecting civilian lives. During the civil war in South Sudan, UN peacekeepers opened their compounds to hundreds of thousands, providing sanctuary amid intense violence.
Sexual Abuse
There have been times when UN peacekeepers have caused immense harm to civilians – the very opposite of protecting them. A small minority has sexually exploited and abused vulnerable citizens.
The UN has taken measures to prevent peacekeepers from committing acts of sexual violence. Entire battalions have been sent home and there are mechanisms to make sure that victims feel safe to report peacekeeper sexual abuse and exploitation.
The UN has also raised more than $4 million to support victims of sexual abuse and exploitation in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Haiti and Liberia. The Trust Fund helps Member States assist victims and children born of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Case study: Lebanon
The UN mission in Lebanon is another example of peacekeeping succeeding by using other means than military force. The mission, called UNIFIL, is in a highly volatile area, near the border between Israel and Lebanon. On one side, are the Israeli Defense Forces. On the other, Hezbollah and other armed actors.
One of UNIFIL’s main tasks is to help preserve the peace and diffuse tensions between the Israeli Defense Forces and the Lebanese Army. But, Professor Howard says, the primary form of power that peacekeepers use today, is inducement.
“UN peacekeepers help to keep the peace, not because anyone fears them, but they do see the advantage of having UN peacekeepers inducing people to move toward peace.”
Professor Howard observed peacekeepers in Lebanon first-hand during her field research.
Foot patrols
“In southern Lebanon we often see peacekeepers patrolling on foot. They walk around the local communities. They visit the markets. They talk to people. They’ll talk to the imam. They’ll talk to other local leaders. They’ll set up a medical clinic or provide dentistry services. They also provide a lot of employment in southern Lebanon.”
In other words, UN peacekeepers provide a conduit for talks and for the reduction of tensions. They get to know the local communities and they also provide services. They demonstrate the advantages of peace and stability.
Moving from war to peace
Professor Howard argues that UN peacekeeping is most successful when using persuasion and inducement, rather than direct military force. But whatever the theory behind the success, the data from extensive, systematic studies, shows that the UN’s peacekeeping missions are effective most of the time.
“If we look systematically across the cases, peacekeepers are helping people, in their everyday lives, move from a situation where there’s war and violent conflict to a situation where there is more peace.”
Mr. Guterres has strongly condemned the attacks, which occurred on 29 and 30 November in the villages of Kishishe and Bambo, located in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province, in the volatile eastern part of the country
At least 131 civilians were killed, including 17 women and 12 children, and eight others were injured.
Support for investigations
“The Secretary-General expresses his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wishes a swift recovery to the injured,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday.
“He welcomes the decision of the Congolese authorities to investigate these incidents with a view to bringing those found responsible to justice.”
Meanwhile, the UN’s human rights office in the DRC, and its peacekeeping operation there, MONUSCO, will continue to support the Government in these efforts.
End hostilities now
“The Secretary-General urges the M23 and all other armed groups immediately cease hostilities and disarm unconditionally,” the statement continued.
Mr. Guterres also called on all parties to facilitate humanitarian access to affected communities and to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law.
He also underlined the UN’s ongoing commitment to support the Congolese Government and people in their efforts to bring about peace and stability in the east of the country.
The attacks are the latest in a series of violence inflicted on civilians by armed groups in eastern DRC.
MONUSCO chief Bintou Keita briefed the UN Security Council in New York on Friday.
She told ambassadors that the security situation in eastern DRC “has deteriorated dramatically” in the past weeks.
Moreover, the high levels of resistance to treatment are reported in bacteria frequently causing bloodstream infections in hospitals the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report states, based on 2020 data from 87 countries.
“Antimicrobial resistance undermines modern medicine and puts millions of lives at risk”, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Tracking resistance
Within the context of national testing coverage, the report, for the first time, analyses antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates, tracking trends in 27 countries since 2017.
It reveals high levels of bacteria resistance, frequently causing life-threatening bloodstream infections in hospitals, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp, which require treatment with last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems.
However, eight per cent of those infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae were resistant to carbapenems, increasing the risk of death.
A doctor reviews a sample at a microbiology laboratory in a teaching hospital in Nigeria.
Drugs rendered ineffective
Bacterial infections are becoming increasingly resistant to treatments, with over 60 per cent of Neisseria gonorrhoea infections, a common sexually transmitted disease, showing resistance to ciprofloxacin, one of the most widely used oral antibacterials.
And over 20 per cent of E.coli isolates, the most common pathogen in urinary tract infections, were resistant to ampicillin and co-trimoxazole, first-line drugs, as well as second-line treatments known as fluoroquinolones.
Deeper dive needed
Although most antimicrobial resistance trends have remained stable over the past four years, bloodstream infections due to resistant E.coli,Salmonella, and gonorrhoea infections, have jumped by at least 15 per cent compared to 2017 rates.
More research is needed to discover why AMR has increased and the extent to which infections are related to hospitalizations and antibiotic treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic also meant that several countries were unable to report data for 2020.
We must scale up microbiology testing – WHO chief
“To truly understand the extent of the global threat and mount an effective public health response to AMR, we must scale up microbiology testing and provide quality-assured data across all countries, not just wealthier ones”, pressed Tedros.
‘Bug-drug’ combos
New analyses show that countries with lower testing coverage – mostly low and middle-income countries (LMICs) – are more likely to report significantly higher AMR rates for so-called “bug-drug” combinations.
This may be partly because only a limited number of referral hospitals in many LMICs provide data for the GLASS report.
These hospitals often care for the sickest patients who may have received previous antibiotic treatment.
Meanwhile, in terms of antibiotic consumption, 65 per cent of 27 reporting countries met WHO’s target of ensuring that at least 60 per cent of antimicrobials are first or second-line treatments.
These ‘ACCESS’ antibiotics are effective in a wide range of infections with a relatively low risk of creating resistance.
However, insufficient testing coverage and weak laboratory capacity, particularly in LMICs, make AMR rates difficult to interpret.
Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is a main driver of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Moving forward
WHO will follow a two-pronged approach to overcome this critical gap, by gathering short-term evidence through surveys and creating long-term capacity building for routine surveillance.
This will entail national AMR prevalence surveys to generate a baseline of data, and enable tracking trends for policy development, intervention monitoring and increasing quality-assured laboratories to report data throughout all levels of health systems.
Responding to antimicrobial resistance trends requires high country-level commitment to boost surveillance and provide quality data as well as action by all people and communities, said WHO.
By strengthening standardized data collection, the next phase of GLASS will underpin quality data-driven action to stem the emergence and spread of AMR and protect antimicrobial medicines for future generations.
Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, concluded an 11-day visit to the country on Friday, where she met with government officials, UN agencies, civil society representatives, faith-based leaders, diplomats, and local boys and girls.
She commended a recent law that requires social media platforms and internet service providers to step up efforts to counter sexual abuse of young people.
System for crime detection
Ms. Singhateh also was encouraged by good practices, such as the operation of a centre which provides one-stop medical, psychiatric and social welfare services, but highlighted the need for more action.
“The Philippines must set up a robust system for detection of crimes, complaint handling and enhancing capacities of officials and social workers involved in child protection, to provide meaningful support and rehabilitation to victims and survivors,” she said.
The rights expert urged the government and stakeholders to ramp up efforts to combat child trafficking, child marriage, the sale of children through illegal adoption, sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism, as well as teenage pregnancy.
Support vulnerable children
She noted, for example, that explicit legal provision is lacking in the laws to penalise the sexual exploitation of children within the travel and tourism industry.
“Officials in this sector do not appear to have adequate information on the issues, scope and manifestations of sexual exploitation in the context of travel and tourism, they will require extensive training and sensitisation on this issue,” she said in a statement.
Pointing to gaps and challenges, Ms Singhateh has recommended development of a centralised accurate disaggregated data on incidences, and cases of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
She added that greater attention must be given to the issue of sexual exploitation in the context of tourism and transactional sex.
The authorities also were urged to scale up support to vulnerable groups, including children with disabilities and those from indigenous, ethnic and minority communities.
“It is important to allocate adequate resources and adopt a child-centred, trauma-informed, age and gender-sensitive approach to mitigate amplified risks to vulnerable children,” she said.
About UN Rapporteurs
Special Rapporteurs like Ms. Singhateh are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
These experts are mandated to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.
They are independent of any government or organization, operate in their individual capacity, and are neither UN staff nor are they paid for their work.
Ms. Singhateh will present a report of her findings and recommendations to the Council in March.
Speaking in Geneva, after returning from a four-day tour of war-ravaged Ukraine this week, Volker Türk confirmed that he had been forced to take shelter in a bunker during a shelling attack.
His experience was what Ukrainians and UN colleagues, encountered “on a regular basis”, the High Commissioner said, before insisting that he read nothing more into the incident, other than the fact that “it is a war that needs to stop”.
Message of hope
Quoting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly 74 years ago to prevent the horror of two world wars from being repeated, Mr. Türk insisted that it was the “disregard and contempt for human rights” that “have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind”.
In a message of hope, he continued that “even where the challenges seem intractable, if the leaders in politics and society would only centre their responses on human rights, the solutions will be always within sight”.
Sudan and Haiti in spotlight
This was true in Sudan, the head of OHCHR said, “where civil society, led particularly by women and young people – have changed the equation on the ground, challenged society to move and evolve for the better, with more liberties”.
Emphasising the need to focus on other crises than those which dominate the headlines, Mr. Türk explained that the desperate situation in Haiti “cannot be ignored”.
Armed gangs, “reportedly supported by economic and political elites, control more than 60 per cent of the capital”, Port-au-Prince, the UN rights chief said.
This catastrophic status quo has continued, despite the fact that 4.7 million face acute hunger, and that 1,448 people have been killed, 1,145 injured and 1,005 kidnapped by gangs since the beginning of the year.
“Remember that behind each of these numbers are entire families and communities that are torn apart by the violence,” said Mr. Türk, who added that sexual violence is also used by gangs “to instill fear and exert control over the population” according to the Human Rights Service of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH).
“The root causes of the crisis, especially social inequalities, rampant corruption, collusion between powerful elites and gang leaders, and endemic impunity, must be addressed,” he said, adding that it was “unconscionable” that people benefited from the suffering of Haitians.
To all those who would threaten Haiti’s peace, security and stability, the High Commissioner maintained that Security Council sanctions and the arms embargo against Haiti’s “elites” who reportedly support its gangs, “send a very strong message” to them that such actions must stop.
People are protesting on the streets of Port-au-Prince in crisis-torn Haiti.
Yemen plea
On Yemen, where violence between the government and Houthi-backed forces flared more than seven years ago, Mr. Türk explained that although large-scale hostilities and airstrikes had “generally stopped”, reports of civilian casualties had not, “especially of children near the frontlines due to landmines and other explosive remnants of war”.
Afghan exclusion
On Afghanistan, the High Commissioner rounded on the de facto authorities’ decision to carry out lashings and executions in public, and the “systematic exclusion” of women and girls from virtually all aspects of life (which) is unparalleled in this world”.
Such actions were “in flagrant violation” of Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations, Mr. Türk continued, before urging the Taliban to establish an immediate moratorium on future executions and to abolish the death penalty.
Mozambique’s most vulnerable
On Mozambique, where civilians continue to be displaced, killed and subjected to sexual attacks by extremist militia, five years after the start of the conflict in Cabo Delgado, Mr. Türk insisted that the conflict could only be resolved by addressing its root causes.
This will require “protecting economic and social rights, preserving civic space, ensuring access to justice and prioritising young people and women in socio-economic development and decision-making, including – and that’s very important in this context – on the use of natural resources that directly affect their lives,” the UN rights chief said.
Displaced people from Cabo Delgado receive food assistance in Nampula Province, Mozambique.
Somalia strife
The situation in Somalia was another distressing human rights emergency that needed all the world’s attention, Mr. Türk continued.
After the worst drought there in decades and extremist attacks, the country “faces a humanitarian catastrophe”, he said. At the same time, UN rights officers have documented a steep rise in civilian casualties – “76 per cent of which are attributed to Al-Shabab” extremist militia, the High Commissioner said.
According to UN human rights office data, 672 people have been killed in Somalia and 1,082 injured from January to November, a worrying 51 per cent higher than during the same period last year.
“Serious human rights concerns also include the arrest and detention of journalists, hindering freedom of expression, fostering self-censorship and aggravating pre-existing human rights vulnerabilities,” the UN rights chief said. “Protecting human rights is a key component of humanitarian action.”
Conflict and drought have led to food shortages in many parts of Somalia.
Personal engagement with China
Asked about China, which rejected the findings of a hard-hitting UN rights office report on the treatment of minorities in Xinjiang this summer, the High Commissioner insisted that it had highlighted “very serious human rights concerns”.
“My focus is on following up on the recommendations that are contained in the report and for me it is also very key; of course we will – and I will personally continue engaging with the authorities,” Mr. Türk said, adding that “hope springs eternal for changes”.
To mark the 75th year of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Mr. Türk announced a year-long campaign “to recall the consensus this Declaration envisaged”.
The initiative will be coordinated by the Office of the High Commissioner with partners and involve activities, actions and “ways to renew people’s awareness of and commitment to human rights, especially among young people”.
One of the aims is “to rekindle the spirit, impulse and vitality that forged the UDHR 75 years ago and to rejuvenate a worldwide consensus on human rights – one that unifies us in the face of so many challenges”, Mr. Türk explained.
“Over the past weeks, the security situation in eastern DRC has deteriorated dramatically”, said Special Representative Bintou Keita, noting that since October, the M23 rebel group had resumed hostilities and extended its control in North Kivu province.
Bolstering support
In response, MONUSCO has continued to provide operational, logistical, and tactical support both to the Congolese armed forces and national police in confronting M23 and other armed groups.
Robust patrols have been conducted in and around Goma to protect civilians and deter M23 from advancing further towards the city, she said.
And the Mission added more community alert networks in vulnerable areas.
Heinous crimes
The MONUSCO chief described “gravely concerning” allegations of human rights abuses by M23 combatants in Kishishe and Bambo, Rutshuru territory, and in North Kivu, in which at least 102 men, 17 women and 12 children were “either shot dead or killed by bladed weapons”.
Moreover, she continued, M23 combatants raped at least 22 women, destroyed four schools and occupied two others.
“I call on this Council to condemn these crimes with the utmost severity…[and] demand the immediate release of the survivors that were prevented from leaving the area by the M23”, she underscored.
“Those responsible for these and other atrocities against the civilian population must be prosecuted nationally or internationally”.
Crimes impact UN operations
The deteriorating security situation also poses risks for MONUSCO operations.
The senior UN official referred to an armed attack on the Mission’s base in Minembwe, South Kivu, that took the life of a peacekeeper in September.
“I condemn this attack, the perpetrators of which must be prosecuted with the greatest firmness”, she spelled out.
MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti
M23 fighters head towards Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ongoing humanitarian crisis
Ms. Keita cited armed groups as a major reason why DRC hosts the highest number of internally displaced persons in Africa.
“An estimated additional 370,000 people have been uprooted and forced from their homes in the latest round of hostilities, involving the M23”, she continued, adding that inter-communal violence in the western provinces have also led to the displacement of over 50,000, mostly women and children.
“In this dangerous environment, and despite persistent access constraints…humanitarian actors continue to deliver indispensable aid and lifesaving services”, the MONUSCO chief continued, urging partners to “actively continue supporting” the Humanitarian Response and North Kivu response plans.
Diplomacy at work
The senior UN official updated on intensified regional initiatives supporting the Luanda Roadmap as well as progress made in the context of the Nairobi Process.
“Since April 2022, the Mission has provided political, technical, and logistical support to the joint DRC-Kenya Secretariat” to hold consultations between the Government and Congolese armed groups, she said.
Mini Summit
Ms. Keita informed the ambassadors of a Mini Summit held last month in Luanda, during which an agreement was made on measures to address the situation in eastern DRC that envisions an operational role for MONUSCO, in coordination with the East African Community (EAC) Regional Force and the ad hoc verification mechanism.
“First and foremost, the M23 must cease all hostilities and withdraw from occupied areas in accordance with the roadmap set out in the Final Communiqué of the Luanda Mini Summit”, she said, adding that the DRC Government had formally requested MONUSCO’s involvement in implementing the communiqué.
“I reiterate the Mission’s readiness to leverage the capabilities at its disposal in support of the regional peace initiatives underway…[and] look forward to engaging further with the DRC Government and regional partners to define the Mission’s role in efforts to translate the decisions taken in the framework of the Luanda and Nairobi into reality on the ground”, she concluded.
“States have the primary obligation for preventing genocide, but religious and community leaders, civil society, the private sector and the media – including social media platforms, play an essential role,” he said.
Re-examine failure to prevent
For the Secretary-General, the International Day is an opportunity to remember and pay tribute to the victims and survivors of genocides across the world.
“It is a day to reexamine our collective failure to prevent this crime in the past, and to redouble prevention efforts for the present and the future,” he added.
Yet, more than 70 years after the international community adopted a convention on genocide prevention and punishment, “the threat of genocide remains present in many places around the world,” he warned.
‘Early warning signs’ increasing
“Discrimination and hate speech, the early warning signs of genocide, are on the rise everywhere,” he said.
“We must do more to promote strong political leadership and resolute action against these dangerous trends. We must do more to live up to our commitment to liberate humanity from the scourge of genocide.”
Prevention and elimination
Mr. Guterres recalled that last month he visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh.
He met survivors of horrors committed during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, whose moving testimony was a forceful reminder of the individual suffering, pain and horror of genocide and atrocity crimes.
“I call on every Member State to take concrete steps to protect communities at risk, including minorities, and address discrimination and persecution,” said Mr. Guterres.
“On this International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide, I urge all stakeholders to use all means at their disposal to prevent and end this crime.”
The power of sports
The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Nderitu, also underscored the need for global action.
She addressed a commemorative event in New York that examined the role of sports in atrocity prevention.
Ms. Nderitu said history has shown the dangers of hate speech, and its impact if left unchallenged.
“Hate speech can be both an indicator of risk and a trigger of the atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.
“We saw this in the lead up to the Holocaust, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and in Srebrenica where the narrative of ‘the other’ was used to dehumanize and vilify, contributing to exclusion, stigmatization, discrimination, isolation, hate crimes and in the most serious instances atrocity crimes, including genocide.”
GAME PLAN against hate
The event also saw the launch a Plan of Action to counter Hate Speech through engagement with sports.
Known as the GAME PLAN, it is the result of two years of consultations by the Special Adviser and a Working Group composed of representatives from major sports leagues in the United States and beyond.
The initiative has its genesis in the Eradicate Hate Global Summit organized by community leaders in the US city of Pittsburgh following the October 2018 assault on the Tree of Life Synagogue – the deadliest antisemitic attack in the nation’s history.
One of the co-chairs of the UN-Summit Sport Working Group is Michele Rosenthal, a former head of community affairs for the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, whose two brothers were killed in the attack.
UN General Assembly President, Csaba Kőrösi, who also addressed the event, highlighted how sports can help to make the world a better place.
“In sports everyone speaks the same language, across boundaries, cultures and religions,” he said. “Sports can develop a sense of understanding and awareness of diversity, it can combat stereotypes and hate speech.”
As the Russian invasion erodes the security of Ukrainians across the country, the risk to women and girls is two-fold. “There’s no doubt that no one feels safe because of Russia’s war against Ukraine,” says Ms. Kit, “And women and girls have become even less protected from gender-based violence. Rape—usually gang rape—sexual torture, forced nudity, and other forms of abuse have been documented by journalists, human rights organizations and law enforcement agencies.”
The true scale of this violence is not yet known, Ms. Kit adds, but what’s clear is that its impacts will be lasting: “We will have to work with the consequences of conflict-related sexual violence for many years to come.”
At the same time, women are still contending with the endemic violence of their own society. “Cases of domestic or sexual violence against women, in particular in public places, haven’t disappeared,” she notes. “People who were abusive and violent within the family continue to commit acts of violence.”
The ongoing conflict has made progress that much harder, emphasizes Ms. Kit: “It’s difficult to move forward in the fight against violence against women when you live in a state of war and fight for your life and the lives of your children every day.”
Bridging the gaps
Starting her law career in 2007, Ms. Kit saw a critical gap in legal assistance for survivors of domestic violence. “There were not many lawyers willing to work with such cases, because these are often latent crimes,” she says. Domestic violence is typically considered a private matter, and the legal system tends to shift responsibility for handling such cases onto the victims themselves.
Ms. Kit set out to change this. “I want myself, as well as other women and girls in Ukraine, to feel safe and to know that if their rights are violated, they [will] receive effective protection, without prejudice, discrimination, or stigma,” she says.
In 2017, she took a major step towards this goal with the founding of JurFem. The organization’s recent work has been shaped by the unfolding crisis: collaborating with partners to ensure conflict-related sexual violence survivors receive protection and support from law enforcement and service providers. They’ve also been providing legal assistance directly to survivors, launching a legal aid hotline in April.
“It is possible to change our approach to investigating cases related to sexual violence only through experience and practice,” Ms. Kit says. Even the strongest legal protections can’t convince police or judges to believe a survivor. But by communicating with law enforcement agencies and the courts, “JurFem lawyers can break existing stereotypes and ensure access to justice for the victims.”
Though her own advocacy work relies on her legal training and decades of experience, Ms. Kit emphasizes that you don’t need special skills or knowledge to get involved in a cause: “Each and every one of us should work to change something for the better.”
What activism does require, she says, is community and care: “unite, enlist the support of like-minded people and forces,” she advises. “Take care of your safety and mental health and do what you feel is right, take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of others.”
“Today, it’s especially hard to imagine a world without gender-based violence,” says Ms. Kit. “After all, if we weren’t able to prevent this war, would we be able to eradicate gender-based violence?”
She does believe that we can reduce its prevalence by creating better response mechanisms and bringing perpetrators to justice. And she believes in a better future for Ukrainian women and girls: “Justice must be restored,” she says, “so this never happens again.”
In his message, Mr. Guterres noted that greater public-private sector collaboration is needed, in order to develop strategies that benefit persons with disabilities, who should also be involved in their development.
The UN chief pointed to the UN’s internal efforts to make the Organization more accessible to persons with disabilities, describing the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy as a road map to achieving this aim.
“From headquarters to the field”, he said, “we are working to assess, address and promote digital accessibility and lead by example on disability inclusion”.
Innovation and technology, he continued, can be powerful tools for inclusion, enhancing access to information, education, and lifelong learning, opening new avenues for persons with disabilities to participate in the workforce and society at large on an equal basis.
Breaking barriers, one brushstroke at a time
The United Nations estimates that 15 percent of all people – one in seven – has a disability. Understanding is key to ensuring that these more than one billion people lead fulfilling lives where they are fully integrated into a society that respects their rights and benefits from their contributions.
A newly released UN documentary illustrates this vision of integration, through the eyes of two South Korean artists with disabilities, and reveals a new perspective on the true meaning of inclusion, in today’s diverse world.
“Breaking Barriers One Brushstroke at a Time” takes viewers inside the homes and lives of the artists, who communicate through their paintings and, in the process, teach audiences to listen with their eyes.
Far more than an exercise in social development, the works of these artists with autism carry intrinsic artistic value, and have been exhibited at the Seoul Arts Center, the largest and most prestigious venue of its kind in the country.
Through interviews with the families and intimate glimpses of the lives and loves of two artists, Hansol Kim and Hyeshin Park, the documentary tells a specific story of struggle that also has universal themes: finding our voice in a world that doesn’t listen, expressing truths that rise above the noise, and coming of age by accepting who we are and what we have to contribute to society.
With a temperate pace and imaginative sensibility, “Breaking Barriers” shows that inspiration is everywhere, disability is a matter of perspective, and that all of us share a common humanity that can be captured and comprehended through art.
“Many persons with disabilities die earlier, some up to 20 years earlier, and more are at risk – double the risk – of developing a range of health conditions compared to the general population,” said Darryl Barrett, WHO’s Technical Lead for Sensory Functions, Disability and Rehabilitation, briefing reporters in Geneva.
The Global report on health equity, published just ahead of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, demonstrates that while some progress has been made in recent years, systemic and persistent health inequities continue, and many persons with disabilities face an increased risk of developing chronic conditions and higher risks.
“It’s a significant reason for these early deaths because of poor quality health services”, noted Mr. Barrett. “There’s also a higher incidence of diseases such as tuberculosis, diabetes, stroke, sexually transmitted infections, and cardiovascular problems among persons with disabilities.”
Poor health services
“Health systems should be alleviating the challenges that people with disabilities face, not adding to them,” said WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This report shines a light on the inequities that people with disabilities face in trying to access the care they need.
“WHO is committed to supporting countries with the guidance and tools they need to ensure all people with disabilities have access to quality health services.”
Many of the differences in health outcomes cannot be explained by the underlying health condition or impairment, said WHO, but by avoidable and unjust factors such as inaccessible public health interventions, or too little consideration given to persons with disabilities during health emergencies planning.
1.3 billion with ‘significant disability’
“This report also has new global prevalence estimates for significant disability, and that is at about 16 per cent of the population, or at today’s rate, 1.3 billion persons with significant disability“, noted Mr. Barrett. “So that equates to about one in six of us.”
With an estimated 80 per cent of persons with disabilities living in low and middle-income countries where health services are limited, addressing health inequities could be challenging. Yet even with limited resources, much can be achieved, said WHO.
Take action
The report recommends 40 actions for governments to take, from addressing physical infrastructure to training of health workers.
“The attitude and competency of health workers, for example, can be quite negative and have an impact on the health outcomes of persons with disabilities”, said Mr. Barrett.
WHO stresses the need for urgent action to address the inequities: “When governments are looking at training their health workforce, it’s important that they include disability as part of that training and education so that the workforce is confident and competent to be able to deal with what it needs to deal with”, emphasized Mr. Barrett.
The report shows that investing in a disability-inclusive health sector is cost-effective. WHO calculates that governments could expect a return of about $10 for every dollar invested on disability-inclusive noncommunicable disease prevention and care.
In its new report, What works to prevent online violence against children, WHO focuses on ways of curbing the grooming of youngsters via the Internet, sexual image abuse – and cyber aggression and harassment in the form of cyberbullying, cyberstalking, hacking and identity theft.
What works also showcases strategies and best practices to better protect children.
“Our children spend more and more time online; as such, it is our duty to make the online environment safe”, noted Etienne Krug, Director of the WHO Department of Social Determinants of Health.
Collective action essential
The report highlights the importance of implementing educational programmes directed at children and parents to prevent online violence.
Studies have shown their effectiveness in reducing levels of victimization, curbing abusers, and associated risk behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse.
“This new document provides for the first time a clear direction for action by governments, donors and other development partners, showing that we must address online and offline violence together if we are to be effective”, added Mr. Krug.
Wide-ranging strategies
The report recommends implementing school-based educational programmes, promoting interaction among youth, and engaging parents.
It also underscores the importance of training young people in assertiveness, empathy, problem-solving, emotion management and seeking help, among other skills.
WHO pointed out that educational programmes are more successful with multiple and varied delivery formats such as videos, games, posters, infographics and guided discussions.
What works, argues that comprehensive forms of sex education can reduce physical and sexual aggression – particularly in dating online, reducing partner violence, and tackling homophobic bullying.
The effectiveness of sex education has been confirmed in countries across the whole development spectrum.
‘Stranger danger’ overemphasized
Improvements must be made in several areas, according to the report.
Given the overlap of problems and solutions, more violence prevention programmes are needed to address the problem, together with offline violence prevention.
As strangers are not the sole or even the predominant offenders online, less emphasis should be placed on stranger danger.
Instead, more attention should be paid to acquaintances and peers, as they are responsible for a majority of offences.
Given that looking for romance and intimacy online are major sources of vulnerability, the report spotlights the need to emphasize healthy relationship skills.
UNICEF are collaborating with tech companies to make digital products safer for children.
Harnessing the good
From fostering learning to developing personal and professional skills, and expressing creativity, the internet offers a great deal to children and young people, the report is careful to stress.
However, governments must find the right balance between developing digital opportunities and protecting users from harm.
The UN health agency is committed to contributing to better understanding all forms of violence against children and helping to guide the international response.
As part of its public health approach, WHO currently aids in supporting data collection on violence against children; researching factors that can increase or decrease violence; implementing and evaluating interventions; and scaling up evidence-based interventions, such as those illustrated in INSPIRE: Seven strategies for Ending Violence Against Children.
“The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality”, Volker Türk added, calling for the suspension of all executions and a return to a moratorium on death penalty.
Dealing out death
On Wednesday, a military court sentenced at least seven university students to death.
“Military courts have consistently failed to uphold any degree of transparency contrary to the most basic due process or fair trial guarantees”, underscored Mr. Türk.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, reports revealed that as many as four additional death sentences were being issued against youth activists.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) is currently seeking clarification on those cases.
No justice
In July, the military carried out four State executions – the first in approximately 30 years.
Despite calls from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to desist, a former lawmaker, a democracy activist, and two others, were put to death.
Close to 1,700 detainees out of the nearly 16,500 who have been arrested for opposing last year’s military’s coup have been tried and convicted in secret by ad hoc tribunals, sometimes lasting just minutes.
They have frequently been denied access to lawyers or their families and none have been acquitted.
The latest convictions would bring the total number of people sentenced to capital punishment since 1 February 2021 to 139 individuals.
Unaligned with ASEAN
Mr. Türk reminded that the military’s actions are not in keeping with the ASEAN peace plan, known as the five-point consensus – that includes the “immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar” – which the regional bloc had re-committed to upholding last month during the ASEAN summit.
At the summit, Secretary-General António Guterres had warned that the political, security, human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar was “sliding ever deeper into catastrophe”, condemning the escalating violence, disproportionate use of force, and “appalling human rights situation” in the country.
“By resorting to use death sentences as a political tool to crush opposition, the military confirms its disdain for the efforts by ASEAN and the international community at large to end violence and create the conditions for a political dialogue to lead Myanmar out of a human rights crisis created by the military” the UN human rights chief spelled out.
Forced evictions
At the same time, the Myanmar military is forcibly evicting over 50,000 people from informal settlements and systematically destroying homes in what two UN-appointed independent human rights experts called a fundamental violation of core human rights obligations.
Without providing alternative housing or land, last month more than 40,000 residents living in informal settlements throughout Mingaladon, a township in northern Yangon, were evicted – with most given only a few days to dismantle the homes that they had lived in for decades.
After receiving eviction notices, the lack of options swayed some residents to remain while two reportedly committed suicide out of desperation.
“Forced evictions from Mingaladon are only part of the story. Violent arbitrary housing demolitions continue across the country”, the Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said in a statement.
UNHCR/Roger Arnold
Rohingya Muslims forced from Myanmar flee to Bangladesh.
‘Scorched earth’ policy
According to the experts, not only those living in informal settlements in Myanmar’s cities were subjected to forced evictions and housing demolitions.
“Homes continued to be systematically destroyed, bombed and burned down in orchestrated attacks on villages by the Myanmar security forces and junta-backed militias”, they said.
Since the military coup last year, more than 38,000 houses have been destroyed, triggering the widespread displacement of over 1.1 million people.
On 23 November, 95 of 130 houses in the Kyunhla Township were burned down when the Myanmar military set fire to the settlement.
These incidents follow patterns of violence used against Rohingya villages during genocidal attacks in 2017.
“The policies of scorched earth in Myanmar are widespread and follow a systematic pattern,” the experts said.
Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work.
After its latest official visit to the country, the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine expressed deep concern that threats to the rights and lives of youngsters were “constantly multiplying”.
Schools have been destroyed or demolished after nine months of war, while ensuring access to education has also proved very difficult in areas where Russian troops have withdrawn, such as Kharkiv and Kherson, the commissioners said.
Energy crimes focus
The fact-finding mission’s three Commissioners also explained that they had “devoted significant attention” to the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine – in particular, its energy and transportation grids.
“Both are preconditions for accessing rights, and civilian infrastructure is protected by international humanitarian law,” the Commissioners said in a statement, at a time of plummeting winter temperatures that have heightened concerns for Ukraine’s most vulnerable.
“The Commission intends to examine this issue in detail and will return to it in its report to the Human Rights Council next March,” said investigators Erik Møse of Norway (Chair), Jasminka Džumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Pablo de Greiff of Colombia.
Help for war victims
Turning to the issue of reparations, Mr. de Greiff said that “some immediate steps” could be taken by the Ukrainian government to help victims of the war “without exempting the Russian Federation from its responsibility”.
All those affected by the conflict “have needs that require immediate attention”, the Commissioner said.
Measures that Kyiv could take included establishing a “victims’ registry”, to make it simpler to access support services, including mental health and psychosocial support to those exposed to violence, including displaced persons.
Investigation continues
“Consistent with our mandate, we will continue to investigate violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and related crimes, and, where possible, seek to identify those responsible”
Latest UN data on confirmed civilian casualties since Russia’s invasion on 24 February indicates more than 16,630 in total: 6,557 killed and 10,074 injured, but the real figures are likely to be significantly higher, due to restrictions on access to war zones.
Rescue workers search a building damaged by missiles in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia towns bombarded
While the humanitarian situation in Kherson has been receiving extensive coverage, dozens of towns on both sides of the frontline in Zaporizhzhia have been shelled daily during the past weeks, according to NGOs on the ground, said the UN Spokesperson on Friday briefing journalists in New York.
“People in these towns face tremendous challenges accessing gas, water and electricity in their homes”, said Stéphane Dujarric.
Most living in the Donetsk region also face extremely limited access to heating, water, health and education services, he added.
“Over the past couple of days, our humanitarian colleagues have received reports from local authorities of civilians killed and injured on both sides of the front line. Yesterday, several schools in both Ukrainian and Russian-controlled parts of the region were reportedly hit.”
He said with temperatures plummeting, heating is a life-threatening issue, and on the Russian-controlled side, including the city of Donetsk, families cannot heat their homes as the centralized heating system has been knocked out. Water is also limited to a few days per week for a few hours.
The UN has distributed hundreds of generators to hospitals, schools and heating points across Ukraine for people cut off from utilities, said Mr. Dujarric.
“The UN has also provided winter supplies and services, heating appliances and house repairs to over 630,000 people. Most of this work can only take place in areas under Government control and humanitarian access to the other parts of the country remains a huge challenge.”
The Southeast Asia waterway is one of the deadliest in the world and more than 1,900 people have already made the journey since January – six times more than in 2020.
‘Grave risks’ at sea
“UNHCR warns that attempts at these journeys are exposing people to grave risks and fatal consequences, said UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo. “Tragically, 119 people have been reported dead or missing on these journeys, this year alone.”
Most of those risking their lives are Rohingya refugees, who fled Myanmar in their hundreds of thousands in 2017, to escape military persecution.
In an appeal for help from Governments in the region, UNHCR said that the most recent arrivals included more than 200 people in North Aceh, Indonesia, where the authorities allowed them to disembark and provided shelter. Ms. Mantoo said the agency welcomed and appreciated their efforts.
UN support
Refugees who safely disembarked on the Indonesian coast from the two boats, a fortnight ago, are currently hosted, somewhat ironically, in a former immigration office in Lhokseumawe.
UNHCR, with UN migration agency, IOM and partners, is on the ground, the Spokesperson said.
“We are working closely with the local authorities to help support the refugees, including through registration, providing for their basic needs and working to ensure secure and adequate accommodation for the two groups.”
Many more adrift
UNHCR has also received unverified reports of more boats with desperate individuals, adrift at sea, who require life-saving rescue and attention, she said.
With increasing levels of desperation and vulnerability forcing more refugees to make these deadly journeys, UNHCR and humanitarian partners continue to stress the need for increased regional and international cooperation to save lives and share responsibility.
Indonesia currently hosts nearly 13,000 refugees and asylum-seekers mostly from Afghanistan, Somalia and Myanmar and should not be alone in rescuing and disembarking people adrift at sea, Ms. Mantoo added.
“It is imperative that States in the region uphold their commitments made in 2005 under the Bali Process to collectively find solutions for these desperate journeys”.
In 2016, Asia-Pacific governments pledged to do more to prevent people dying on such journeys, after 5,000 men, women and children were abandoned by people-smugglers in the Andaman Sea, and left adrift, starving and sick, for months.
Claudine* looks across a sweeping valley high above the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. The lushness of the tropical vegetation, the cool fresh air and the low-hanging clouds are in stark contrast to the dusty, hot and suffocating backstreets of Petionville, lower down the valley, where four years ago she was the victim of sexual abuse which changed her life.
“At the time, I was 16 years old and living with my cousin and her husband,” she said. “I looked after their children, like they were my own.” Claudine should have been at school but after her mother and grandmother died had no other option but to become a domestic worker in her cousin’s house. It was there that she was sexually assaulted by her cousin’s husband.
“I didn’t know what to do but a friend did report the incident to the police, but nothing was done to find the man.”
A refuge from abuse
A year after her daughter was born, Claudine was taken to a refuge for abused minors, many of whom like her were caring for newborns. The refuge, where she has lived now for three years, is run by Rapha House, an organization which is committed to ending the trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.
Nahomy Augustin is a project coordinator for the international NGO in Haiti. “Many of the young women here are the victims of extreme poverty and insecurity, to the extent that the lack of basic services and opportunities that they have access to means that they become vulnerable to abuse,” she said.
The refuge, which is located in an intentionally inconspicuous building, in a tranquil neighbourhood above Port-au-Prince, supports the young women in the recovery from their traumatic experiences. “We take a holistic approach,” said Nahomy Augustin, “and provide a range of services, including medical and psychological care, accommodation and legal advice as well as family mediation.”
The aim is to help each young woman to return to her family within a year as long as it is safe, but many like Claudine stay longer. The refuge can currently accommodate 24 young women as well as their babies, but a new centre is being built which can provide care to up to 80 people.
The Spotlight Initiative, in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is supporting this and other refuges for women in Haiti.
Rape as a weapon
Geraldine Alferis is a gender-based violence expert at UNICEF. “Haiti, and especially the capital Port-au-Prince, is experiencing a surge in gang violence. Thousands of girls and women are being displaced, which makes them very vulnerable to abuse,” she said.
In July, the United Nations said that rival gangs in the Cite Soleil neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince were adopting the “systematic use of rape against women and girls as a weapon of war.”
“Gang rape is a particularly tragic occurrence and so we work to ensure that the survivors get the help they need,” said Geraldine Alferis.
The Spotlight Initiative in Haiti focuses on ending domestic violence, rape, incest, sexual harassment, physical and psychological violence, as well as other restrictions on the freedoms and rights of women and girls. It also aims to provide holistic care to women and girls who are survivors of violence.
On a visit to the refuge, the UN Resident Coordinator in Haiti, Ulrika Richardson, said “it was chilling to hear the stories of these young women and girls,” adding that “I also sensed hope and recognized the importance of the services to which they have access.”
“I am proud of the Spotlight Initiative and the much-needed assistance it is providing along with our local partners, but what I heard on this visit is a stark reminder of the urgency to tackle the root causes of sexual violence.”
At the refuge above Port-au-Prince, the survivors like Claudine are able to study, taking school classes that many missed out on when they were younger. They can also take practical classes to learn skills like sewing or soap-making, which can enable them to make a small amount of money, a first important step towards building their independence.
“Going to school is very important,” said Claudine. “If you are working for a family like I did, it is not enough just to receive food and have a bed. You must be given the opportunity to study and make a life for yourself.”
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