It’s not quite rags to riches, but No Nation Fashion has come a long way from its beginnings in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021, when it was launched as way for people in transit centres to improve their sewing skills.
Those involved graduated from creating reusable masks, providing protection against COVID-19, to designing unique items of clothing, and accessories. The sewing corners became fashion studios, and, by the end of the year, a No Nation Fashion show was held at Sarajevo City Hall, to mark International Migrants Day.
The beneficiaries of the project are migrants and members of the local and wider community, such as: local fashion brands and designers, artists, craftspeople, private sector, media, and volunteers.
This year, the initiative made it all the way to one of the most prestigious fashion events of the year, New York Fashion Week, for a special event involving No Nation Fashion, the International Fashion Academy, and students from Ohio’s Kent State University.
The No Nation Fashion collection was the product of the creative collaboration of migrants and the Bosnian fashion industry, under the creative direction of Aleksandra Lovrić, a renowned national designer.
The three outfits presented at the event, were designed to reflect the journey of migrants, from the earliest nomad way of life; to resilience and the ability to rebuild and adapt; and inclusion, through social and cultural integration at their destinations.
“We are very excited that No Nation Fashion brand made it all the way to New York – a city that is famous for art, fashion as well as cultural diversity,” said Laura Lungarotti, IOM Chief of Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “This reminds us that migration and inclusion of diversity can produce beauty and opportunities for all.”
The Mission of No Nation Fashion is to build a brand and a social enterprise that promotes the inclusion of migrants in host communities, and actively participates in making societies more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable.
Following its New York success, the initiatives will continue to support migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with talented individuals from different parts of the world sharing their knowledge, skills and culture to create wearable artworks.
Tackling this scourge was the theme of a recent UN event held during the opening session of the General Assembly, at which senior officials called for measures to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes.
“I followed him into the house. I didn’t know he was going to rape me.” At just 13 years old, Mariama (not her real name) was sexually assaulted by a neighbour when she returned home from school: Nine months later, still a child herself, she became a mother. “At 16, I have a daughter who is almost one and a half years old.”
Around 17 per cent of women in the Comoros have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence in their lives, and more than 30 per cent of girls are married while they are still children.
Most cases of violence are reported by young girls, says Said Ahamed Said, from the Comoros Ministry of Health: “Last year we received 173 reports of sexual violence, of which 162 were against young girls under age 17.”
But, given the social norms in The Comoros, and women’s economic vulnerability, the official figures are believed to be just the tip of the iceberg.
It is considered taboo for a woman to report violence and, as long as she still shares the home with the man involved, she will rarely come forward.
“The woman often don’t have a source of income, and when a man divorces a woman, he doesn’t take care of the children anymore”, explained Mr. Said. “There are no social services to manage such cases, nor places where they can find shelter”.
UNDP Comoros/James Stapley
People living on the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean are needing to adapt to climate change.
Listening and protecting
Despite the challenges, the UN is committed to ending all forms of violence against women and girls in the Comoros.
The UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, has set up a toll-free hotline that survivors can call for help and information about receiving medical and legal assistance, and supports the Listening and Protection Service for Children and Women Victims of Violence, in the capital city, Moroni.
The Service also provides midwifery and contraceptive services, post-rape care and screenings for sexually-transmitted infections, as well as referrals to hospitals. Since 2021 a psychologist has also been deployed to help women and girls who have been left to take care of their families alone.
Since the Service began, around 17 years ago, awareness of the issue of sexual violence has grown in The Comoros, says Mr. Said, and women and girls are more likely to report attacks than they were before it opened.
After her attack Mariama, determined to seek help and justice, received medical and legal assistance from the centre, and staff supported her as the case made its way through the courts after the man’s arrest.
UNFPA Comoros/Melvis Kimbi
A counsellor at the Listening and Protection Service for Children and Women Victims of Violence speaks with a victim of sexual violence in Moroni, the capital city of The Comoros.
‘Most perpetrators never face responsibility’
The sense of urgency in ensuring accountability for sexual violence was stressed at a recent side event to the 77th UN General Assembly, which emphasized the need to focus on survivors’ needs and rights above all.
“The survivor-centred approach we promote is about listening to survivors, treating them with dignity, and advocating for a response centred on their needs and wishes,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.
“Very few have access to justice, and most perpetrators never face responsibility for their crimes. Such impunity silences the survivors and emboldens the perpetrators.”
Ms. Kanem described sexual violence as a “global emergency that demands our full commitment, collaboration and mobilization.”
“Sexual violence is not inevitable,” she said. “We cannot allow it to become normalized in any way”.
Short-lived justice
For Mariama, justice was frustratingly short lived: Her rapist was released after serving just one year in jail. “I still see him in our neighbourhood, but I always stay away or change my route. If he tries to talk to me, I will not answer,” she said.
Although she fears being attacked again, she is defiant. “My focus now is my education: I want to become a lawyer.”
Mariama wants to stand up for herself and for others, especially her daughter. “I want her to be able to better defend herself, and other young girls who may suffer any form of abuse.”
Special Representative Bintou Keita told the UN Security Council that following a resurgence of the M23 rebel movement, confidence in the UN mission, known by its French acronym, MONUSCO, has deteriorated.
‘Hatred, hostility and violence’
Violent demonstrations and serious incidents have caused the death of several dozen protesters and four mission staff, she said, strongly condemning “acts of incitement to hatred, hostility and violence.”
In late July, protesters attacked and looted MONUSCO facilities, accusing its peacekeepers of being ineffective in fighting armed groups.
According to news reports, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi has instructed his Government to reassess the transition plan to expedite the mission’s departure.
Ms. Keita, who also heads the mission, stated that the UN is fully prepared to work with the Government to this end.
Violence against civilians
Meanwhile, the MONUSCO chief expressed concern that “armed groups continue to pose a significant threat and to commit violence against civilians” in country’s restive east, particularly the M23, Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), and Mai-Mai militias.
“This insecurity fuels human rights violations and has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation,” she warned, noting that currently, some 27 million people need humanitarian assistance.
“A clear indicator of the deteriorating situation is the increase in the number of displaced people since January 2022, which has brought the total number of displaced people to 5.5 million – the largest caseload in Africa”.
Ms. Keita applauded the humanitarian community’s commitment to “stay, deliver, and scale up its operations,” and stressed that to do so would require long-term engagement with communities along with predictable funding.
Security
MONUSCO maintains “a robust posture” and remains fully mobilized to address the persistent insecurity created by armed groups in the country’s east, she continued.
Moreover, it is providing operational, logistical, and tactical support in fighting all armed groups and continues to prioritize resource allocations to support the protection of civilians.
In addition to the efforts of MONUSCO and the national security forces, regional initiatives are also underway to stabilize eastern DRC and ease regional tensions.
However, the senior UN official upheld that these initiatives require consistent international support.
Peacefully elections
The Special Representative said that progress has been made towards 2023 elections, set for next December, particularly regarding inclusion and registration.
However, she also noted some “important challenges,” including in achieving broad consensus on different aspects of the electoral process and offered MONUSCO’s good offices to facilitate dialogue for a “transparent, inclusive, peaceful process” within the constitutional timeline.
Before concluding, Ms. Keita welcomed President Tshisekedi’s stance against hate speech during his address to the General Assembly.
She lauded the country’s efforts to curb inter-community tensions, particularly in the country’s east and encouraged the DRC to continue its efforts to fight racism and xenophobia
The draft resolution, circulated by the United States and Albania, was supported by ten of the fifteen members of the Council, with Russia voting against it. Four members abstained, Brazil, China, Gabon and India.
The draft described the so-called referendums held by Russia in the four regions of Ukraine which Moscow now regards as sovereign territory – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya – as illegal and an attempt to modify Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
Withdraw now
It called on all States, international organisations, and agencies not to recognize the Russian annexation declaration, and called on Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces” from Ukrainian territory.
Due to Russia’s veto, following a new procedure adopted in the UN General Assembly in April, the Assembly must now meet automatically within ten days for the 193-member body to scrutinize and comment on the vote. Any use of the veto by any of the Council’s five permanent members triggers a meeting.
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the annexation plan as a violation of international law, warning that it marked a “dangerous escalation” in the seven-month war that began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
“The Charter is clear”, said the UN chief. “Any annexation of a State’s territory by another State resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter”.
Speaking before the vote, United States Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that the referendums were a “sham”, predetermined in Moscow, “held behind the barrel of Russian guns.”
UN Photo/Laura Jarriel
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States addresses the UN Security Council meeting on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
Defending sacred principles: US
“We all have an interest in defending the sacred principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, in defending peace in our modern world”, she told ambassadors.
“All of us understand the implications for our own borders, our own economies and our own countries, if these principles are tossed aside.
“It’s about our collective security, our collective responsibility to maintain international peace and security…This is what this body is here to do”, she said.
UN Photo/Laura Jarriel
Ambassador Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia of the Russian Federation addresses the UN Security Council meeting on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.
‘No turning back’: Russia
Responding for Russia, Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, accused the drafters of the resolution of a “low grade provocation”, to force his country to use its veto.
“Such openly hostile actions on the part of the West, are a refusal to engage and cooperate within the Council, a refusal of practices and experience gained over many years.”
He said there had been “overwhelming” support from residents in the four regions that Russia now claims. “The residents of these regions do not want to return to Ukraine. They have made an informed and free choice, in favour of our country.”
He said that the outcome of the so-called referendums had been recognized by international observers, and now, after being endorsed by the Russian Parliament, and by presidential decrees, “there will be no turning back, as today’s draft resolution would try to impose.”
‘Urgent’ need to address fallout from Nord Stream pipeline leaks
Security Council members stayed in the chamber on Friday afternoon in New York, to discuss this week’s Nord Stream pipeline explosions, which the NATO military alliance and others, believe may be an act of sabotage.
Earlier in the day, President Putin accused the West of being responsible for damaging the Russian-built undersea natural gas pipelines – a charge strongly rejected by the United States and allies.
Briefing ambassadors on the UN’s behalf, the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said that while the causes of the four leaks were being investigated, “it is equally urgent to address the consequences of these leaks.”
DESA’s Navid Hanif, said the UN was in no position to or confirm any of the reported details relating to the leaks detected on Monday. They Nord Steam 1 and 2 pipelines have been at the centre of the European energy supply crisis stemming from Russia’s February invasion, and neither are in operation pumping gas to European nations at this time.
Mr. Hanif said were three main impacts of the leaks, beginning with increased pressure on global energy markets.
“The incident can exacerbate the high price volatility on the energy markets in Europe and around the world”, he said, adding that the potential harm to the environment was another matter of concern.
Methane danger
The discharge of hundred of millions of cubic metres of gas, “would result in hundreds of thousands of tonnes of methane emissions”, he said, a gas which has “80 times the planet-warming potency of carbon dioxide”.
Finally, he said the pipeline explosions also made “manifestly clear” just how vulnerable critical energy infrastructure is, during such times of global crisis.
He said it showed just how important it was to move to a “clean, resilient, sustainable energy system, while ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all.”
Finally, he told the Council that any attack on civilian infrastructure is unacceptable, and the incident must not be allowed to further increase tensions amid an escalating war.
“There is no sugar, I have to take a taxi very far away to buy one kilogramme of sugar,” one woman explains in frustration, at a market in Kairouan, a town several hours drive south of the capital, Tunis.
“The prices are going up! Poor people can no longer afford anything. It is like the world is on fire,” another woman explains, as she opens her purse to pay for a bagful of tomatoes, jumbled together on a wooden cart by the side of the road.
Surprise appeal
Nodding his head in agreement, the stallholder takes her money and makes an astonishing, if discreet, appeal. “Please, make it easier for us to migrate across the sea, so we can leave,” he says.
Although the elderly customer scoffs at the idea – “He wants to drown! He wants to drown!” – for many younger Tunisians, leaving the country in search of work and security is a frequent topic of conversation.
This is despite the fact that many thousands of people have died trying to cross the Central Mediterranean Sea from North African nations to Europe on unsafe boats in recent years, and regular TV news reports that announce yet another missing person – or family – at sea.
UN News/Daniel Johnson
In Tunis, Tunisia, a local newspaper says that there will be a sugar delivery soon in the country.
Migration pressures
“I think what the crisis in Ukraine has brought up again, is the hard choices that people have to make on a daily basis, because people forced to flee their homes, people forced to flee their country, are not taking that decision lightly,” says Safa Msehli, spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
For many Tunisians, it remains a challenge to source basic staples, although more than 85,000 metric tonnes of Ukrainian wheat have arrived in Tunisian ports in the two months since the Black Sea Grain Initiative kicked into action, its Joint Coordination Centre in Odesa, said on Thursday.
Since 1 August, 240 vessels have sailed from Ukrainian ports with some 5.4 million metric tons of grain and other foodstuffs.
Spreading the load
At an enormous mill in the Tunisian capital, there’s an abundance of flour, as workers stand under a conveyor belt which transports an apparently endless supply of semolina, packaged up into large, heavy-duty plastic sacks.
As the bags start to fall, the men grab them in turns and load them into a large flat-bed lorry until it is full, their faces covered in fine white flour.
The scene is industrious, but the mill is not nearly as busy as it should be, thanks in no small part to the impact of the Ukraine conflict on cutting grain exports from Black Sea, and its role in accentuating existing economic uncertainty.
“Now, we are not in crisis, the crisis is always happening,” says Redissi Radhouane, the chief mill operator at La Compagnie Tunisienne de Semoulerie. “When we look for the wheat, we don’t find any. The wheat is not abundant like before.”
UN News/Daniel Johnson
Redissi Radhouane is the chief mill operator at La Compagnie Tunisienne de Semoulerie flour mill in Tunis, Tunisia.
‘It’s like hunting without bullets’
At a wholesaler’s outlet in Mornag, a town on the outskirts of Tunis, customer Samia Zwabi knows all about the shortages and rising prices.
She explains to UN News that she has to borrow money or buy goods on credit for her grocery store, assuming she can find them in the first place. Like many parents, the fact that it’s the start of the school year is an additional concern.
Half capacity
“We are working at half capacity,” says Samia Zwabi, who reels off a wishlist that includes milk, sugar, cooking oil and fruit juice. “When a client comes, he can’t get all the basics. Clients ask for something I don’t have. We have no options. We need to be able to work to feed our kids.”
Echoing that message, wholesaler Walid Khalfawi’s main headache is the lack of available cooking oil, as his bare storerooms indicate. Another growing worry is the number of customers who pay on credit, he tells us, as he waves a thick wad of handwritten IOU chits.
“If a grocery owner comes here for cooking oil and finds it, he’ll automatically buy pasta, tomatoes, couscous and other products,” says the married father-of-three. “If he doesn’t find it, he won’t buy anything…It’s like going into the forest to hunt with your rifle but you have no bullets. What can you do?”
UN News/Daniel Johnson
Wholesaler Walid Khalfawi talks with UN News at local grocery store in Tunis, Tunisia.
Sole breadwinner
From her modest single-storey home in the city of Kairouan, Najwa Selmi supports her family making traditional handmade bread patties known as “tabouna”, twice in the morning and once in the evening.
The process is laborious and time-consuming, a batch of eight flat rolls taking around 15 minutes to knock into shape from semolina flour, water, yeast and a drop of olive oil.
Once prepared, Najwa wets the surface of the soft patties and slaps them into the inside of a concrete oven that’s been stoked with firewood outside. She grimaces in pain as she removes them with her scorched hands, once she’s satisfied that they’re cooked.
The bread is delicious and Najwa has loyal customers, but it is not easy getting hold of a regular supply of flour, she tells us.
UN News/Ahmed Ellali
Najwa Selmi, at home with her daughter, demonstrates to a UNTV film crew how to make traditional ‘tabouna’ bread.
Classroom blues
“My youngest daughter will start school soon and I haven’t bought her anything yet, no bag, no books, no school stationery, no clothes,” she says. “If for any reason I had to stop working …or if I got sick, we do not know what the future holds, my family will be hungry, what will they eat?
“From where will they get the money? We do not have another alternative source of income.”
In the bustling Tunis neighbourhood of Ettadhamen, bakery owner Mohamed Lounissi is open about the stresses and challenges of keeping his business afloat, thanks to chronic shortages of flour caused by the war in Ukraine.
“For us, it’s a big problem, if I order eight tonnes, they only give me one tonne. They say you need to wait and then when I tell them I can’t work and I might close, they say, ‘Ok, close, it is not our business!’”
Essential oils
For olive grove and cereal farmer Inès Massoudi, the Russian invasion of Ukraine this February is just the latest in a series of problems that are beyond her control, coming after five years of failed rains and two years of economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In particular, she worries that everything she needs for her 50-hectare holding in Beja is now more expensive – and more scarce – than before the war.
Never mind having to pay for more expensive grain for planting, without pesticides to treat common wheat fungus, along with fertilizer to promote growth – a key Russian export before the war – Inès’s harvest could be down by as much as 60 per cent.
“My farm is part of the world and it feels it when something happens outside,” she says of her 50-hectare holding, where olive trees stretch away into the distance in a green haze.
Ahead of the upcoming planting season, “everybody is hesitating”, Inès continues, “because the cost of planting the wheat today is the equivalent of a car, or a new apartment…There is also the crisis in Ukraine that made the cereal prices increase, along with the prices of agrochemicals and fertilizers which have become very expensive.”
UN News/Daniel Johnson
Inès Massoudi (back to camera) is olive grove and cereal farmer who owns a 50-hectare holding in Beja, Tunisia.
Feeling the heat
Back in Tunis, in the bustling Ettadhamen neighourhood, baker Mohamed Lounissi accepts that he is struggling. “It is a daily challenge,” he explains:
“There are no goods and raw material at all; it is (all) too little: no flour, no sugar, oil is not available all the time, everything is not available all the time, along with the price increase, the prices have increased terrifically, they are big increases.”
Standing in front of a sweltering bread oven that he worries he might lose his livelihood, unless he can repay his mortgage, Mohamed concedes that the stress of running a business in the current situation is getting to him. “If I don’t get the raw material I can’t work and I feel that I have a big responsibility in terms of paying the workers.”
In an outdoor storeroom, Mohamed shows us his meagre supply of wheat flour – a small pile of sacks barely reaching knee-height. He carefully locks the door on leaving, quietly chiding himself for not doing so earlier.
Getting hold of the precious ingredient “is a big problem”, he says. “If I order eight tonnes, they only give me one tonne. They say you need to wait and then when I tell them I can’t work and I might close, they say, ‘Ok, close, it is not our business!’”
UN News/Daniel Johnson
A customer chats with UN News at a Tunis neighbourhood bakery in Ettadhamen.
In a statement on Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it was time for Government forces and their allies, together with Houthi rebels and their international backers, to “choose peace for good.”
The hiatus since 2 April, has been twice renewed, providing the longest period of relative calm since the beginning of the intensified conflict, in 2015, Mr. Guterres said. In a statement calling for the truce to be expanded earlier this month, the Security Council said casualties were down 60 per cent since it began.
“I strongly urge the Yemeni parties not only to renew but also to expand the truce’s terms and duration, in line with the proposal presented to them by my Special Envoy, Hans Grundberg.”
In a tweet on Thursday, Mr. Grundberg said he had held “intense discussions” in the capital this week, and said renewal and expansion was a “humanitarian imperative and a political necessity.”
‘Tangible benefits’
The UN chief said the truce had “delivered tangible benefits and much needed relief to the Yemeni people, including a significant reduction in violence and civilian casualties countrywide”.
It has also allowed an increase in fuel deliveries via the main Red Sea port of Hudaydah, and the resumption of international flights to and from the Houthi-controlled airport in the capital, Sa’ana, for the first time in nearly six years.
“Yet more needs to be done to achieve its full implementation, including reaching an agreement on the reopening of roads in Taiz”, in the south, and other governorates, the Secretary-General added.
Beginning to pay civil service salaries, would further improve the day-to-day life of ordinary Yemenis, said, proposing progress “long-term political, economic and military issues”, which “would signal a significant shift towards finding lasting solutions.”
Seize the day
Mr. Guterres strongly urged all those involved in the long-running conflict, to “seize this opportunity.”
“This is the moment to build on the gains achieved and embark on a path towards the resumption of an inclusive and comprehensive political process, to reach a negotiated settlement to end the conflict. The United Nations will spare no efforts to support the parties in this endeavour.”
IOM/Rami Ibrahim
An IOM worker distributes aid kits to newly displaced communities in Ma’rib, Yemen.
While more people have been made aware of systemic racism and concrete steps have been taken in some countries, the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights called on States to demonstrate greater political will to accelerate action.
“There have been some initiatives in different countries to address racism, but for the most part they are piecemeal. They fall short of the comprehensive evidence-based approaches needed to dismantle the entrenched structural, institutional and societal racism that has existed for centuries, and continues to inflict deep harm today,” said Nada Al-Nashif, who will present the report to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday.
The report describes international, national and local initiatives that have been taken, towards ending the scourge of racism.
These include an Executive Order from the White House on advancing effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices in federal law enforcement agencies; an Anti-Racism Data Act in British Columbia, Canada; measures to evaluate ethnic profiling by police in Sweden; and census data collection to self-identify people of African descent in Argentina.
The European Commission has issued guidance on collecting and using data based on racial or ethnic origin; formal apologies issued, memorialization, revisiting public spaces, and research, to assess links to enslavement and colonialism in several countries.
‘Barometer for success’
The report notes that poor outcomes continue for people of African descent in many countries, notably in accessing health and adequate food, education, social protection, and justice – while poverty, enforced disappearance and violence continues.
It highlights “continuing…allegations of discriminatory treatment, unlawful deportations, excessive use of force, and deaths of African migrants and migrants of African descent by law enforcement officials”
“The barometer for success must be positive change in the lived experiences of people of African descent,” continued Ms. Al-Nashif.
“States need to listen to people of African descent, meaningfully involve them and take genuine steps to act upon their concerns.”
Higher death rates
Where available, recent data still points to disproportionately high death rates faced by people of African descent, at the hands of law enforcement, in different countries.
“Families of African descent continued to report the immense challenges, barriers and protracted processes they faced in their pursuit of truth and justice for the deaths of their relatives”, the report says.
It details seven cases of police-related deaths of people of African descent, namely George Floyd and Breonna Taylor (US); Adama Traoré (France); Luana Barbosa dos Reis Santos and João Pedro Matos Pinto (Brazil); Kevin Clarke (UK) and Janner [Hanner] García Palomino (Colombia).
While noting some progress towards accountability in a few of these emblematic cases, “unfortunately, not a single case has yet been brought to a full conclusion, with those families still seeking truth, justice and guarantees of non-repetition, and the prosecution and sanction of all those responsible,” the report says.
Ms. Al-Nashif called on States to “redouble efforts to ensure accountability and redress wherever deaths of Africans and people of African descent have occurred in the context of law enforcement, and take measures to confront legacies that perpetuate and sustain systemic racism”.
