According to UNICEF, nearly 300 confirmed cases were reported in the first six months of 2023, almost matching the total number documented over 2022 and close to three times the number in 2021.
“The stories we are hearing from UNICEF staff and partners on the ground are shocking and unacceptable,” Gary Conille, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a news release.
“The growing trend in kidnappings and abductions is extremely worrisome, threatening both the people of Haiti and those who have come to help,” he added.
In most instances, children and women are forcefully taken by armed groups and used for financial or tactical gains. The victims who manage to return home grapple with deep physical and psychological scars, possibly for many years.
Women and children are not bargaining chips
The overall situation in Haiti is catastrophic. Today, an estimated 5.2 million people, or close to half of the entire population, require humanitarian assistance, including almost three million children.
Children find themselves in the crossfire, or directly targeted, and women and girls face extreme sexual violence, as armed groups terrorize the population in their fight for territory and control, mainly in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and also in other regions.
“Women and children are not commodities. They are not bargaining chips. And they must never be exposed to such unimaginable violence,” Mr. Conille said, calling for the immediate release and safe return of all those who have been kidnapped.
Health system on verge of collapse
On top of crime and violence, reports indicate that local healthcare systems are teetering on the brink of collapse amid a resurgence of cholera and severe malnutrition.
The increase in violence, looting, road blockades, and the pervasive presence of armed groups severely obstruct humanitarian efforts, making it difficult to deliver much-needed aid to affected communities, UNICEF said, noting that as months go by, it adds an increasing layer of fear and complexity to an already challenging environment for those delivering life-saving aid.
The assassination of the President of Haiti in 2021 plunged the country into a deep political crisis, which has been exacerbated by an unprecedented breakdown in security.
Armed criminal gangs are said to be “imposing a regime of terror” and violence in most parts of Port-au-Prince, severely impacting the humanitarian, human rights and socio-economic situation in a country already hit hard by poverty, disease and disasters.
Commitment to support those in need
The UN agency added that it stands steadfast in its commitment to deliver critical aid and support for Haiti’s children who have been impacted by these traumatic events.
Beyond its initial crisis response, UNICEF supports the children and victims of the crimes, and working alongside partners, provides life-saving assistance, ensuring access to medical care, psychosocial support, and safe spaces where children can begin the process of healing and recovery.
“I have witnessed the remarkable resilience of Haitian children, women and families as they face seemingly insurmountable challenges, refusing to surrender,” said Mr. Conille.
“However, their bravery is being met with increasing, unthinkable terror. It must stop now.”
Every hour, 11 children die of AIDS, so finding them and offering treatment is as critical as ever, according to the UN entity UNAIDS, which released a new report about how imams, pastors, and priests are reaching those most in need. While three quarters of adults living with HIV are on treatment, only half of children are, the agency reported.
There are still 1.7 million children around the world living with HIV, and they are particularly vulnerable, said Stuart Kean, author of the Compendium of Promising Practices on the Role of African Faith Community Interventions to End Paediatric and Adolescent HIV, co-published by UNAIDS and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
“If they’re born with HIV, then 50 per cent of them will die by the age of two,” he told UN News. “If they don’t and if they are not found and put on treatment, 80 per cent of them will die by the age of five, so there’s much greater urgency to find these hidden children.”
Promising practices
The new compendium documents 41 promising practices that provide evidence of the core roles that faith communities have played. This includes significant strides in identifying undiagnosed children living with HIV, improving continuity of treatment, supporting adolescents to access psychosocial support, care, and treatment, and enabling peer support groups to empower children and adolescents living with HIV.
“This report shows how vital is the role of faith-based organisations in helping children living with HIV to access life-saving treatment, in advocating in support of their needs, and in tackling stigma,” Jacek Tyszko, Senior Programme Advisor at UNAIDS told UN News. “It demonstrates too the approaches that have been most effective, so that they can be scaled up. It’s a report that will help save lives.”
Zambian influencers
“If you want to find women, go to their places of worship,” said Gibstar Makangila, head of a Zambia-based non-governmental organisation, Circle of Hope.
Since a new community-outreach model unrolled across Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka, in 2018, faith leaders have helped to reach 60,000 people across the country who were not receiving antiretroviral treatment, or ART, he said.
“As a faith community, we are the bridge between the community and health services,” he told UN News. “It is the most influential group in sub-Saharan Africa.”
When social media spread mis- and disinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, Circle of Hope consulted faith leaders, the “real influencers”, he said. After convincing their congregants of the benefits, vaccination rates in Zambia soared, to 75 per cent from 34 per cent within six months.
Now, these imams, pastors, and priests are now playing a key role in making sure no one is left behind in the global bid to rid the world of HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS.
Abstinence and condoms
Contrary to anti-condom or anti-gay myths about religions, faith leaders are driving advocacy efforts to tackle the stigma and discrimination of those living with HIV and advocating for abstinence or at least prevention, including condom use, Mr. Makangila said.
They also readily direct congregants to projects for adolescents and to community health posts, set up as discreet unbranded stalls in markets. Now, 130 community health posts across the country, offer, with Ministry of Health and PEPFAR support, free services, from condoms to on-site treatment. Targeted programmes are also reaching teenagers, he said.
“I’ve seen this result thousands of times in people who would be dead without treatment,” Mr. Makangila said, adding that “the best is yet to come”, with health posts being planned for Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe.
Baby baskets in Nigeria
A new baby is a celebration, commonly in marked in Nigeria in places of worship, where a pregnant congregant typically receives a baby shower basket chock full of goodies, from blankets to diapers.
Now, these welcome baskets include information on HIV testing and support services from local health-care providers, Mr. Kean explained.
Building on a successful trial, the Catholic Caritas Foundation implemented this “congregational approach” in Benue state demonstrating the effectiveness of using on-site confidential testing in such congregational settings as churches.
United Nations
SDG 3
Across Nigeria, this approach has already reached thousands. From April 2018 to March 2019 alone, 22,197 children under age 15 were referred for HIV testing, 21,142 of them were tested, and 106 new HIV-positive children were identified and linked to treatment.
Eswatini: Community action
The faith-based organisation Shiselweni Home Based Care in Eswatini launched an intervention involving community members visiting people who may be living with HIV, referring them to testing facilities and, if testing positive, supporting them to start and adhere to ART medication.
The latest trend indicates a dramatic 71.4 per cent decline in overall client mortality, from approximately one in three clients in 2007 and one in 10 in 2011.
Religious leaders and faith-based organisations like Circle of Hope in Zambia have also enrolled as “Faith Paediatric Champions”, who advocate to governments and community members for all children and adolescents to be supported to access HIV care and treatment.
Race to end AIDS
However, the global response to end AIDS in children continues to be inadequate, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima and John Nkengasong, US Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, said in the new report.
“The work of faith communities in addressing the challenge of HIV in children has been highly effective,” they wrote. “In that work of practical delivery, faith communities, and faith-based organisations have also reminded the world of a deeper lesson: to truly embrace those who are most vulnerable and excluded, caring, compassion, and love are essential.”
In a message to mark the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Mr. Guterres urged the international community to learn from the “nuclear cataclysm” that befell the Japanese city on 6 August 1945.
Pending the total elimination of all nuclear weapons, Mr. Guterres appealed to the international community to speak as one, as outlined in his New Agenda for Peace. Launched in July this year, the Agenda calls on Member States to urgently recommit to pursuing a world free of nuclear weapons and to reinforce the global norms against their use and proliferation.
“States possessing nuclear weapons must commit to never use them,” he insisted, as he stressed the UN’s commitment to continue working to strengthen global rules on disarmament and non-proliferation, notably the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
NPT talks are taking place at the UN in the Austrian capital until 11 August, where Ms. Nakamitsu reiterated her warning to the forum that not “since the depths of the Cold War” has the risk of a nuclear weapon being used so high – just as the rules-based order intended to prevent their use has never been “so fragile”.
“This is, to a large extent, because of the volatile times in which we live,” Ms. Nakamitsu continued, pointing to the “existential” threat facing the world today, which is the result of “the highest level of geopolitical competition, rising tensions and deepening divisions among major powers in decades”.
Trillion dollar question
Coupled with rising global tensions is a record level of world military expenditure which reportedly reached a $2,240 billion in 2022.
This situation has led to an increased emphasis on nuclear weapons, “through modernization programmes, expanded doctrines, allegations of growing stockpiles and most alarmingly…threats to use them”, explained the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
“The fact that in the last 12 months nuclear weapons have openly been used as tools of coercion should worry us all,” she added.
The 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) is one of the only international agreements signed by both nuclear and non-nuclear states, aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and furthering the goal of nuclear disarmament.
After entering into force in 1970, 191 states have since become party to the treaty – the most signatories of any arms limitation agreement.
Bold goals
The treaty centres on the idea that non-nuclear States agree to never acquire weapons and nuclear-weapons states in exchange agree to share the benefits of the technology, whilst pursuing efforts towards disarmament and elimination of nuclear arsenals.
In addition to the Vienna talks now under way and which come ahead of the NPT’s five-yearly review in 2026, countries have also exchanged on disarmament and non-proliferation issues at the UN’s Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in the past week.
In recent days – and despite ongoing concerns that the Conference remains deadlocked by geopolitical developments – the forum’s 65 Member States heard briefings from the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the battlefield.
The aim of such discussions is to establish a mechanism that allows for regular multilateral dialogue and the inclusion of the views of countries that are not actively involved in the development of artificial intelligence, to ensure the responsible development and deployment of AI in the military domain.
The Conference on Disarmament – which was established in 1979 – is not formally a UN body but reports annually, or more frequently as appropriate, to the UN General Assembly.
Its remit reflects the Organization’s conviction that disarmament and non-proliferation remain indispensable tools to create a security environment that is favourable to human development, as enshrined in the UN Charter.
Ms. Mohammed on Friday wrapped up a week of development-focused meetings with Government officials in the vast South American country with a stop in Belém, capital of the northern state of Pará, gateway to Brazil’s lower Amazon region.
During roundtable discussions about the future of the Amazon region with representatives of civil society and the private sector, the UN deputy chief exchanged views on the region’s plurality and how to integrate voices from Amazonians in global climate governance.
In a meeting on Brazil’s efforts towards zero deforestation with environment and climate Minister Marina Silva, the Deputy Secretary-General stressed that safeguarding the Amazon and conserving its biodiversity is necessary for the region and the world.
“We agree: the world needs bold leadership and more solidarity to stop the war on nature,” Ms. Mohammed said on Twitter.
These meetings came one day after the Deputy Secretary-General engaged in Belém with a diverse group of Amazonian youth representatives and quilombolas – inhabitants of historical settlements of people of African origin who resisted slavery.
‘The United Nations will carry your voice’
While in Para Ms. Mohammed visited indigenous land in Munduruku and spent time with the Mapuera indigenous tribe.
“I am here to hear you, to see you, to feel you, for those things that you asked for, and those things that are your rights,” she told members of the community.
She added, “I am visiting Brazil, but to visit Brazil without visiting the Amazon, is to not visit Brazil.”
Ms. Mohammed noted that she had heard what people had told her during the visit and that she would “take that voice to Brasília, to Belém, to New York, to the world.”
“You asked for transport, you asked for technology, you asked for land, you asked for basic services. These are not a favor, these are your rights,” said the Deputy-Secretary-General.
“And so, the United Nations will carry your voice, will amplify what we hear, what we see, and we stand by you, with those who are working in Brazil, who are working in Santarém, who are working in Belém, so that one day we will actualize those rights,” she stated.
On the first two days of her trip to the country, the Deputy Secretary-General and her delegation had several meetings with the federal Government in Brasilia.
She commended the Government’s efforts to strengthen the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and discussed the importance of raising ambition at the global stage for the 2030 Agenda, climate action, and reforming of the international financial system.
Extreme weather between October and November of 2020, highlighted the vulnerability of the inhabitants of the city of Huế in central Viet Nam to flooding.
City resident Nguyễn Văn Tia told UN News how his family was impacted by the flooding and has benefited from the FloodAdaptVN programme coordinated by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).
“During the 2020 floods, the water rose very quickly. Within a few hours, my house was flooded by up to half a metre. All the homes in the neighbourhood were full of water. We tried to keep property and people safe by relocating the elderly and children to higher floors where there were tables and chairs for them to sit on. We suffered great damage like collapsed houses and the loss of possessions.
After 2020, we experienced floods again but now local people in this region are very active when storms and flooding occur. In our ward, a team for storm and flood prevention was established.
Together with the local authorities, the team distributes life-saving equipment like boats, life jackets, and outboard motors. Families that live in lower areas can relocate to higher buildings to avoid flood and storm impacts.
Prevention measures
Residents are very aware of flood risks now. As soon as a flood warning comes in, we evacuate. We also help each other and evacuate the most vulnerable people first.
The team also reminds everyone to protect their houses. Two years ago, my son built a highly elevated house for us to live in. If he would not have done that, I would have added an attic to the house we lived in before. Because of the elevated foundation compared to 1999, the water in my house did not rise nearly as high in more recent flooding occurrences.
Nobody in our area lost their life in the 2020 floods. We were warned in time by local media, as well as by mass media such as television broadcasts. It enabled us to prepare for the flood risk in advance. Afterwards, we cleaned up the surrounding environment to prevent waterborne diseases to keep people from falling sick, or even dying.
The UN agency has issued its latest Food Price Index (FPI), which tracks the monthly international prices of cereals, vegetable oil, dairy, meat and sugar.
The Index averaged 123.9 points in July, up 1.3 per cent from June, driven by an increase in vegetable oil and rice prices.
End of a lifeline
FAO’s Vegetable Oil Price Index registered a 12.1 per cent jump in July after seven months of consecutive declines.
Sunflower oil prices rebounded by 15 per cent due to uncertainties sparked by Russia’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Initiative on grain and fertilizer exports.
The UN-brokered deal, together with a parallel accord between the UN and Russia, provided a lifeline for hundreds of millions worldwide facing hunger and spiralling food costs, including in countries such as Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
Wheat prices rise
The Cereal Price Index declined by 0.5 per cent in June. This was largely the result of two factors: a nearly five per cent drop in coarse grain quotations due to increased seasonal supplies of maize from Argentina and Brazil, and potentially higher-than-anticipated production in the United States.
However, wheat prices rose for the first time in nine months due to uncertainty over exports from Ukraine and continued dry conditions in North America.
Meanwhile, rice prices increased by 2.8 per cent in July and by almost 20 per cent over the past year after India prohibited exports. FAO warned that the move “raises substantial food security concerns for a large swathe of the world population, especially those that are most poor and who dedicate a larger share of their incomes to purchase food”.
The Sugar Price Index declined by nearly four per cent, the result of good progress in Brazil’s sugarcane harvest, improved rains across most growing areas in India, and subdued demand from Indonesia and China, the world’s top importers.
There was also a 0.4 per cent slide in the Dairy Price Index, which is more than 20 per cent below the July 2022 value. Similarly, meat prices dropped 0.3 per cent since June.
Latest data from IOM’s displacement matrix indicates that the clash between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries has uprooted a staggering number of people, with more than 926,000 seeking refuge abroad and a total of 3.02 million internally displaced.
According to IOM’s latest humanitarian situation update, individuals have been forced to leave all of Sudan’s 18 states. Those with the highest proportions of displaced people are River Nile (15 per cent), North (11 per cent), North Darfur (9 per cent) and White Nile (9 per cent).
IOM field teams have reported that the majority of internally displaced individuals, 71 per cent, originated from Khartoum State.
The UN organization emphasized that the current estimate of displacements over the past 108 days surpasses the total recorded for the previous four years. But it also noted that access to many areas remains impossible because of the fighting, meaning that current assessments have been based on preliminary reports or estimates.
Shelter across borders
A total of 926,841 people have now sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Sudanese nationals accounted for more than two-thirds of these arrivals, while foreign nationals and returnees made up the remaining third, IOM said.
To mark 100 days since the start of the conflict on 24 July, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that it was “time for all parties to this conflict to immediately end this tragic war”, amid growing concerns for refugees fleeing Sudan. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, conditions have been “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the looming rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries harder.
Echoing those concerns, the IOM also warned on Wednesday that the rains pose a significant risk of flooding and could exacerbate the already fragile conditions.
Horrors of war
Since mid-April, the conflict between Sudan’s armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has caused displacement, death, injury and an unfolding humanitarian crisis. Reports of looting, attacks on public institutions and the occupation of private homes continue in the capital Khartoum, while clashes persist in four out of the five Darfur states.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported cases of infectious diseases and other illness among displaced populations who have sought shelter in hard-to-reach locations, where health services are limited. The UN agency also reported that more than 50 health facilities have been attacked.
Although the WHO is supporting health services both in Sudan and bordering countries, the organization warned that the health crisis has impacted the entire region. And as efforts continue to bring about an end to the fighting, humanitarians fear that the situation could worsen for already vulnerable civilians caught up in the conflict.
The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the efforts to unconstitutionally change the legitimate government of the Republic of Niger on 26 July 2023.
Earlier this week, the demand to release the President of Niger was voiced by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Late on Wednesday, a group of Nigerien military officers made a television announcement declaring a coup, after members of the president’s own guard detained him inside his offices in the capital city of Niamey. According to news reports, the attempted coup did not have the backing of the entire military, but the head of the army announced that he supported the move.
In their statement, the Security Council members expressed concern over the negative impact of unconstitutional changes of government in the region, increase in terrorist activities and the dire socio-economic situation. They also underlined their regret over the developments in Niger, which undermine efforts at consolidating the institutions of governance and peace in that country.
Support to international formats
The Council expressed support for the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations and welcomed their statements reaffirming their opposition to any seizure of power by unconstitutional means, as well as the calls to the forces involved to refrain from violence, hand over power and return to their barracks.
Reiterating support for efforts to reverse unconstitutional government changes, the Council backed ECOWAS and the AU in strengthening governance and normative frameworks. In solidarity with the people of Niger, the Council emphasized the importance of protecting civilians and providing humanitarian assistance during this challenging time.
During the visit, Ms. Triggs mentioned that one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean happened just over a month ago.
Protecting refugee rights
“The Pylos tragedy and the other devastating tragedies in the Mediterranean underscore the primacy of saving lives and protecting the rights of people forced to flee. This was my message to the authorities,” she said.
She emphasized the criticality of safeguarding access to territory and asylum, ensuring a predictable and well-coordinated search-and-rescue system, and the need for responsibility-sharing and solidarity measures among States.
Ms. Triggs also raised concern about reports of summary forced returns, stressing the urgency of effective investigations and measures for prevention and remediation.
Noting that Greece and other countries at the external borders of the European Union (EU) face significant pressures in responding to irregular movements, she reiterated “the need to move towards a border and asylum management system that works for all States, while ensuring that those who seek asylum can access it and refugees are protected.”
Safe pathways for refugees
Beyond the EU, she advocated for addressing the root causes and drivers of displacement through a routes-based approach and providing robust assistance to countries of origin and transit.
Ms. Triggs cited the establishment of the National Emergency Response Mechanism for Unaccompanied Minors as a best practice for the protection of children, and the relocation of unaccompanied children from Greece to various countries across Europe, as an example of responsibility-sharing in action.
She also highlighted the need for safe pathways and schemes for refugees and migrants to offer alternatives to the perilous journeys they often undertake.
Integration efforts in Greece
During her time in Greece, Triggs also visited a refugee centre and heard directly from asylum-seekers hosted there.
While efforts have been made to improve conditions, the centre remains a highly securitized environment, leading to difficulties for asylum-seekers and refugees, particularly in accessing crucial services like healthcare and psychological support.
Ms. Triggs also met with civil society organizations, discussing the essential services they provide and the difficulties they have.
She conveyed UNHCR‘s “praise for the dedication and hard work of NGOs in Greece” and renewed the agency’s commitment to support civil society in its activities for the protection of refugees.
While appreciating Greece’s efforts to enhance refugee integration in line with its National Integration Strategy, which enable 68,000 refugees to contribute to the communities hosting them, Triggs urged that these initiatives continue.
Such efforts include providing access to employment, addressing skills gaps, and streamlining documentation and procedural requirements for refugees.
Nicole Kouassi, UN Acting Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, was speaking from the capital, Niamey, just hours after the general whose troops seized the democratically elected president, declared that he was assuming control of the country.
On behalf of UN agencies on the ground, she echoed the Secretary-General’s condemnation of Wednesday’s coup against President Mohamed Bazoum, who reportedly remains in detention at his home.
A ‘difficult situation’
Ms. Kouassi expressed concern over the current “difficult situation” in Niger, where 4.3 million people, mainly women and children, were already dependent on aid prior to the power grab.
Some 3.3 million are facing food insecurity, while a $534 million appeal is just over 30 per cent funded, she said, calling for greater support.
The UN and international aid groups have not stopped delivering amid the crisis. However, UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flights have been temporarily suspended because the air space is closed, along with the territorial borders.
“All the humanitarian partners and development partners remain engaged and committed to supporting the vulnerable population of Niger who are affected by a combination of climate issues, economic and security shocks in the context of very high humanitarian and development needs,” she said.
Response never stopped
Jean-Noel Gentile, Country Director for the World Food Programme (WFP) affirmed that “humanitarian response continues on the ground and has never stopped”.
WFP is providing both cash assistance and food assistance in Niger and will continuously assess the situation to ensure its staff and partners can safely access people in need.
“Only if security is an issue, we will temporarily possibly suspend certain operations in certain areas. But this is not currently the case,” he said.
Border closure impacts
The crisis could potentially affect the humanitarian response in the wider region, which continues to face impacts from conflict, drought, insecurity and other challenges.
Mr. Gentile said WFP recently established a logistics hub in Niamey as a transit point for hard-to-reach areas in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, which are only accessible through Niger.
The agency has also been facilitating delivery of humanitarian aid to Chad, which is now hosting hundreds of thousands fleeing the conflict in Sudan, “so the closure of the borders will temporarily suspend this vital cross-border logistics support.” As a result, WFP is examining the possibility of alternative routes.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has not witnessed “any particular movements” related to the coup, said Emmanuel Gignac, Deputy Representative in Niger.
UNHCR monitors regular movements of internally displaced people in Niger, or refugee flows from Burkina Faso, Mali and northwest Nigeria.
No warning signs
Ms. Kouassi was asked if UN agencies were in contact with the military, but she said no, stressing that they do not have political mandates.
Journalists asked if there were any warning signs ahead of the coup, or if the UN officials had seen personnel from the Russian private military company Wagner Group in Niger. Ms. Kouassi answered no to both questions.
“No early signs were noticed,” she said. “We woke up in the morning and we were faced with the situation. And as of now, no sign of Wagner from the UN perspective.”
Briefing the Security Council, Lt. Gen. Mohan Subramanian, Force Commander of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) recalled when dykes collapsed in Unity State in October 2022, leading to flash floods not seen in nearly six decades, displacing over 170,000 people to the provincial capital Bentiu.
If left unaddressed the floods could have led to the death of over 40,000 IDPs (internally-displaced persons) he said, adding that the breach was detected by a dyke monitoring patrol.
“Even heavy engineering equipment could not reach the breach, but UNMISS personnel – civilian and military – and the local community stood there, in a human chain; reached the breach, filled sandbags and closed the breach,” he said.
Their actions saved at least 40,000 lives, Lt. Gen. Subramanian added.
He also described practical aspects of the UNMISS protection mandate, which includes engagement with the Government and national forces, including joint deployments in potential conflict areas; short and long-term patrols; and when required, deployment of quick reaction forces to protect those in need.
Damaging disinformation
Lt. Gen. Otávio Rodrigues De Miranda Filho, Force Commander of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), told ambassadors that the Mission’s primary concern is the country’s weak justice system and lack of capacity of its security forces.
The level of impunity is too high, he said, adding that illegal armed groups often target civilians and the most vulnerable in a “cycle of retaliatory violence.”
He said it was vital to raise the issue of protection with political leaders, establish safe civilian spaces, deploy air assets and conduct joint operations with national forces, where possible.
The Force Commander also described evolving new threats, especially the spread of disinformation, which has endangered civilians and also provoked attacks against peacekeepers.
Manipulation through the information domain has eroded support, making it much more difficult to carry out patrols in the protection of civilians, he said, adding, “we must understand that we are going to operate in a hostile environment with a high possibility of armed confrontation.”
Enabling dialogue
Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said that at present, there is no clear imminent physical threat to civilians, and the Force’s focus is on prevention.
That is best achieved through robust deployment across the area of operation, situational awareness, and dialogue and engagement with the parties to the conflict, he said, noting the establishment of a tripartite forum.
This is the only venue where Lebanese and Israeli forces can meet and address security concerns.
“The forum is the cornerstone of UNIFIL’s coordination and liaison mechanisms and a vital platform for de-confliction, confidence-building and conflict-prevention between the parties which remain technically at war,” he said.
He also highlighted UNIFIL’s liaison branch of unarmed observers, who are deployed north and south of the Blue Line and maintain regular contact with the Israel Defense Forces and Lebanese Armed Forces on the ground.
About the Missions
UNMISS was established by the Security Council in 2011, following South Sudan’s independence from Sudan, to help maintain peace and stability at the time when the young nation faced significant internal conflicts and humanitarian challenges. As of June 2022, the Mission’s total personnel – civil and uniformed – numbered 17,954, including 13,221 troops and 1,468 police.
MONUSCO, which stands for UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was established by the Security Council in 2010, to help address the complex and ongoing conflicts in the DRC and to help stabilize the region. It is one of the largest and most complex peacekeeping operations in the world. Its total personnel, as of February, stands at 17,753, including 12,379 troops, 1,597 police, and 330 staff officers.
Established in 1978, UNIFIL’s primary mandate is to ensure peace and security along the Blue Line, the delineation of the Israel-Lebanon border. It also supports humanitarian assistance to those in need. As of November 2022, the Mission is composed of about 10,000 military and 800 civilian personnel.
His message marked the 70th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement that ended the hostilities and established a demilitarized zone, about 240 kilometres long and 4 kilometres wide, as a buffer.
The conflict however never officially ended because the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Republic of Korea – more commonly known as North and South Korea, respectively – failed to reach agreement over a formal peace treaty.
Divided peninsula
Mr. Guterres noted that the Korean Peninsula remains divided and amidst rising geopolitical tensions, increased nuclear risk and eroding respect for international norms, the threat of escalation is growing.
“We need a surge in diplomacy for peace,” he highlighted, urging the parties to resume regular diplomatic contacts and nurture an environment conducive to dialogue.
“Our goals remain clear: sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
UN steadfast partner
The Secretary-General further stressed that “the United Nations is your steadfast partner as we strive to realize the vision of a Korean Peninsula in which all can enjoy peace, prosperity, and human rights.”
He said he looked forward to UN personnel and the international community returning to the DPRK capital, Pyongyang, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This collective return will critically contribute to better supporting the people, strengthen relations, and fortify communication channels,” he said.
The UN agency added that there have been more than 2,500 severe violations of children’s rights – an average of more than one an hour – in a country where 14 million youngsters need aid relief.
“As we reach more than 100 days since the conflict in Sudan escalated, we know that it is taking an absolutely horrific toll on children and on families,” UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told UN News.
Deadly health concerns
Echoing those concerns, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that nearly 300 displaced children have died from measles and malnutrition in White Nile State.
“It is time for all parties to this conflict to immediately end this tragic war,” said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, amid rising concern for the more than 740,000 refugees who have now fled Sudan to neighbouring countries.
According to UNHCR, conditions are “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries harder.
Children fend for themselves
To date, more than 3.3 million people have been displaced within Sudan and across its borders, including to Egypt, where UNHCR said that most children continue to arrive without their parents.
“For every child killed or injured we know that many more have been displaced from their homes, their lacking access to essential services,” UNICEF said in a statement, which underscored the need for safe, unimpeded access to children and families so that they can receive the support they need.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting – notably by the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body, the League of Arab States and the UN – clashes involving the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) milita have continued across multiple fronts.
Lending his support for much-needed peaceful dialogue, UNHCR chief Grandi said that people must be allowed to leave conflict areas to find safety, whether within or outside the country, and be protected “from all forms of violence”.
To date, the UN response inside Sudan is only 23 per cent funded. Both UNHCR and UNICEF have urgently appealed for more donor support to assist vulnerable populations who have endured three months of fighting, concentrated around the capital Khartoum, but spreading far into restive Darfur and other regions.
Corinna Hawkes the Director of the FAO Division of Food Systems and Food Safety says a holistic and sustainable approach is needed that considers economic, social, and environmental factors, and that brings people together, to ensure nutritious food and sustainable livelihoods for all.
Corinna Hawkes: The agrifood system is everything that is connected to food and agriculture. What we eat as well as the way that food is sold, distributed and processed. It also includes how food is grown or harvested on land, at sea, and other non-food products, such as fuel and fibre. All these processes involve a whole host of activities, investments, and decisions.
Corinna Hawkes, Director of Food Systems and Food Safety Division at FAO.
An agrifood system pulls together all of this into an interconnected system; for example, if we want to grow fruits and vegetables for people to eat healthier, we have to think not just about growing the vegetables, but also about how they are delivered to people.
Agrifood systems are also a space for solutions including for climate change, biodiversity loss, malnutrition, chronic diseases, unsafe food, poverty and to counter a lack of urban sustainability. Agrifood systems are the solution to the world’s most important challenges.
Why does the world need to transform agrifood systems?
Right now, the power to provide those solutions is not there. The agrifood system is sick. The way it is designed and functions means that it is weak, worn out and lacks resilience.
So, the frustration and the challenge here, is that the potential power of the agrifood system to provide these solutions is lost until we transform it to make it stronger.
Some of the major challenges include the way food is grown and produced is contributing to climate change, which in turn weakens the agrifood system.
What is an example of a current major challenge in agrifood systems?
One thing we have done is to take too much diversity out of the system which includes everything from what is on our plates all the way back to the farm. So, we need to bring that diversity back.
Over the last decades there has been a specialization in producing certain key commodity crops. This was a great idea from the perspective of productivity and efficiency; it cheapens food, it means you can trade the food, and it reduces the cost of production. It is important we produce these crops efficiently.
But what we have seen is that reducing diversity too much reduces the resilience of the system. And we have seen with recent conflicts how reliance on certain key producers further weakens resilience.
Diversity is also good for biodiversity and the environment, as well as nutritionally for consumers.
In Senegal, new farming approaches are being introduced to counter the impacts of climate change.
There are many ways to transform agrifood systems. The most important way is to bring all the systems together which necessiates bringing people together.
One of the major challenges is that different people are trying to fix biodiversity, nutrition or food safety, while others are trying to fix poverty and the livelihoods of agricultural producers.
We need to come work together in the system and figure out how to provide these solutions. This way we will begin to see that the agrifood system may appear to be a problem because it is weak, but it actually is something really powerful.
What good practices are being advanced right now?
I am really excited about some of the initiatives that are taking place at the subnational, urban and city levels. There is so much energy in large and small cities where local authorities and multiple stakeholders are really taking action.
They are improving market infrastructure so that people are more able to access food, so that food is safe and loss and waste is reduced.
So, we are beginning to see these important connections being made, and that is happening in hundreds of cities around the world.
What can we expect from the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment?
What I am hoping to see from the Stocktaking meeting two years after the UN Food Systems Summit is that governments and many other stakeholders will come together to honestly discuss the challenges and to share their successes and their challenges in making change.
I would like to see a sense of solidarity between governments and other stakeholders who can agree that they will do better together if they share experiences and good practices to overcome challenges.
The ideal outcome of the summit is that the momentum created will continue and that the commitment to change will not just stay as a commitment but will lead to actions on the ground to really bring change.
Over the past week, Russia has carried out aerial attacks on Odesa and two other port cities, Chornomorsk and Mykolaiv, since terminating the landmark Black Sea Initiative on grain and fertilizer exports.
International media reported that at least one person was killed and more than 20 wounded in Sunday’s attack, which damaged significant cultural sites in Odesa, including the Transfiguration Cathedral, the first and foremost Orthodox church in the city.
The Cathedral was founded in 1794 and is located in the Historic Centre of Odesa, which was in January inscribed on the World Heritage List maintained by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Mr. Guterres also expressed concern about the war’s increasing threat to Ukrainian culture and heritage. UNESCO has verified damage to 270 cultural sites, including 116 religious sites, since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022.
“The Secretary-General urges the Russian Federation to immediately cease attacks against cultural property protected by widely ratified international normative instruments. The Secretary-General also continues to urge immediate cessation of all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the statement concluded.
‘Outrageous destruction’
UNESCO was deeply dismayed by the “brazen attack”, which it condemned in the strongest terms. A mission will be deployed to Odesa in the coming days to conduct a preliminary assessment of damages.
The agency said this “act of hostility” follows other recent attacks that impacted cultural heritage in areas of Lviv and Odesa that are protected under the World Heritage Convention.
“This outrageous destruction marks an escalation of violence against cultural heritage of Ukraine,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General. She urged Russia “to take meaningful action” to comply with its obligations under international law, including with regard to the protection of cultural property during armed conflict.
Furthermore, the attacks contradict recent statements by Russian authorities concerning precautions taken to spare World Heritage sites in Ukraine, including their buffer zones, the agency said, adding that intentional destruction of cultural sites may amount to a war crime.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay (2nd left) visited a church during her mission to Ukraine in April 2023.
Protecting cultural institutions
In response to the war, UNESCO is working to promote the protection of cultural institutions in Ukraine, along with other actions such as denouncing violence against journalists and supporting the maintenance of education.
Ms. Azoulay was in Odesa in April where she met with World Heritage site managers and stakeholders from the cultural sector. She took stock of emergency actions by UNESCO to protect cultural heritage threatened by the conflict.
Speaking at the time, she said nearly $7 billion will be required over the next decade to rebuild the cultural sector in Ukraine.
Lisa Singh, who is the UN Resident Coordinator in Mauritius and Seychelles, was speaking ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit +2 which is taking place in Italy from 24 to 26 July.
“This is a particularly compelling time to be the Resident Coordinator for a small island state like Mauritius. Since my arrival here in 2022, I have experienced examples of extreme weather conditions such as flooding and cyclones on the one hand and water shortages on the other.
This visible effect of climate change combined with our geographical remoteness, small scale of economies, and high import costs have grave consequences for our island’s food security. It has gained greater momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine war-related supply and commodity shocks, raising strong preoccupations with food security as a key to the sustainable economic transformation agenda.
UN Mauritius
Lisa Singh, Resident Coordinator in Mauritius and Seychelles, meets a group of young people.
Food systems have emerged not only as an agricultural challenge but as a game-changer to catalyse results across multiple SDGs. The upcoming event in Italy provides an opportunity for the two countries to focus on the way forward to accelerate the transformative power of food systems.
Food production must be viewed across sectors and not in isolation. Water and energy are direct inputs at all stages of the food value chain, while natural resources, ecosystems, and their services underpin the security of these inputs. Agriculture accounts for 30 per cent of water use in Mauritius alone. Globally, one third of the world’s available energy is consumed by the food production value chain.
UN Mauritius
The livelihood of artisanal fishers like Nazma has been significantly affected by climate change.
Taking holisitic approach
Addressing water scarcity and investing in renewable energy is critical to food security. Mauritius imports three quarters of its energy with renewable energy, accounting for 24 per cent of its current energy mix. It imports over 77 per cent of its food requirements with households under strain as food prices on staple goods such as bread, black lentils, powdered milk, and cooking oil continue to rise. Our reliance on imports such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, technology, and equipment leave it vulnerable to worldwide commodity and supply disruptions.
Transforming food systems can play a key role in countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. For instance, in line with its nationally determined contributions, Mauritius has re-affirmed its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. The country has also identified agriculture as a priority sector for climate change adaptation with much focus on efficient irrigation techniques and climate-smart agriculture.
Clearly for the UN team, supporting a holistic systems approach to address the interlinkages between food, climate, water, energy, and gender is critical.
Power of partnerships
We are taking a dual focus. There is the institutional engagement to inform the strategies, policies, and budgets necessary to transform food systems as well as influencing budget allocations.
We also aim at strengthening community resilience, leveraging the power of partnerships, digital platforms, private-public modalities, and data, with the inclusion of women and youth at the centre.
For countries like Mauritius, where tourism is a significant source of GDP earnings, the impact of climate change poses a sustainability risk given its rare yet fragile natural ecosystems.
Lives and livelihoods of communities, particularly in coastal areas, are directly impacted. Coral bleaching and human pollution is putting pressure on the lagoon ecosystem affecting our artisanal fishers like Nazma and her family.
She has been an artisanal fisher for over 30 years along with her husband and several of her children. This is a sustainable way of fishing, as only lines are used unlike in commercial fishing. Furthermore, most of the fish caught by them are for consumption in Mauritius as opposed to export.
Nazma says that she loves everything about fishing. It is a passion that has become her job. But, she emphasizes that life is expensive, fuel is expensive, and there are fewer fish in the lagoon.
The UN, in collaboration with the European Union through the Ecofish project, is using innovations in technology to empower artisanal fishers to move out of over-exploited lagoons.
Nurturing ‘smart’ agriculture
By improving the economic resilience of these traditional fisher communities, food security will be strengthened through better-managed marine resources.
In Rodrigues, which is part of the archipelago of Mauritius, we are working with eight women who have formed the Rodrigues Turmeric Producers Association to grow and process turmeric into powder for sale.
Addressing the energy inputs into agriculture, one of the association members, Marie-Anne, says that with financial backing from the Small Grants Programme (SGP) of the UN-supported Global Environment Facility (GEF), she and her peers were able to buy a solar dryer to replace an electric one that consumed a lot of energy and cost a lot of money.
UNDP Mauritius/Stéphane Bellero
Coastal communities in Mauritius like Port Sud-Est are being exposed to the adverse impacts of climate change.
Her colleague and friend, Perrine, explains how the business allows women to emancipate themselves. It will also enable their grandchildren to continue this work because turmeric will always be there.
There are other innovative sustainable food systems solutions being piloted by UN agencies in Mauritius. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Women under the Joint SDG Fund, are promoting low-cost biofertilizers made locally from seaweed.
Initiatives to nurture smart agriculture are being supported by FAO, UNDP, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
With only seven years left to deliver on the 2030 Agenda our UN Country Team in Mauritius will continue its efforts to support the diversification of the economy, strengthen the circular economy, and invest in human capital to combat supply shocks.
Working in partnership to further climate action and foster resilient pathways is key to protecting the future of Mauritius for our people, planet, prosperity, and peace.”
UNDP Mauritius and Seychelles Corporate Video
UN Resident Coordinator
The UN Resident Coordinator, sometimes called the RC, is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level.
In this occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the UN and the country where they serve.
Learn more about the work of the UN in Mauritius here.
Find out more about the UN Development Coordination Office here.
The Thai authorities are working alongside UN agencies to not just improve the availability of services following the change in the way people are sentenced for drugs crimes, but also reduce the stigmatization of people who use drugs and ensure they have access to services where they feel comfortable.
UN News spoke with the UNAIDS Country Director, Patchara Benjarattanaporn, and Karen Peters, Regional Drugs and Health Programme Officer for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), about the opportunities for people who use drugs to access care.
UN News/Daniel Dickinson
UNAIDS Country Director in Thailand, Patchara Benjarattanaporn.
Patchara Benjarattanaporn: New HIV infections in Thailand are on the decline, compared to 2010. However, the decline is not nearly enough to achieve the end of AIDS by 2030, which is a commitment made by all nations under Sustainable Development Goal three, SDG 3. So, HIV still a critical health concern.
There are about 57,000 people in Thailand who inject drugs. According to our most recent survey in 2020, 7.8 per cent of those people are infected with HIV. Another infection that is very common amongst people who inject drugs is hepatitis C, which affects the liver. Some 42 per cent were infected, which is extremely concerning to UNAIDS.
UN News/Daniel Dickinson
Karen Peters, UNODC.
Karen Peters: At UNODC, one of the issues we focus on is reducing the health and social consequences linked to drug use through supporting harm reduction interventions. People who inject drugs are at a higher risk of contracting HIV due to the sharing of needles and other risky behaviours, for example, engaging in sexual intercourse without using a condom.
Patchara Benjarattanaporn: Research suggests that people who inject drugs are 35 times more likely to acquire HIV than people who are not injecting. The prevalence is high due to these risky behaviours, however there are other significant structural barriers to accessing treatments. The extremely punitive legal framework that existed before now as well as stigma and discrimination have been important factors preventing people from accessing care and services.
Karen Peters: UNODC has been supporting the national harm reduction response through convening a wide range of stakeholders, government, civil society organisations, and UN agencies to discuss plans to implement harm reduction measures under the auspices of the new law. Ozone Foundation, for example, which has its headquarters in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok, is a peer-led community-based organisation aimed primarily at reducing the harm caused by drugs. It was established and is run by people who have experience using drugs, who provide advice and services in a non-judgmental, non-discriminatory environment. Clients who come to Ozone appreciate being counselled by like-minded people.
A health worker at the Ozone Foundation in Bangkok, Thailand prepares a hepatitis C test.
Patchara Benjarattanaporn: Places like Ozone help to reduce the stigmatization that people who use drugs face and encourage them to seek treatment. A significant transformation of Thailand’s health system has also played an important role. Universal health coverage (UHC) was introduced in Thailand in 2002 and has paved the way for comprehensive care, including essential services like HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, treatment referrals, and screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and hepatitis C.
There is still a lot of work to do; quite a low percentage of people who inject drugs are enrolled in antiretroviral therapy, or ART, which is used to treat HIV. In the general population, around 90 per cent of people who have HIV receive ART, but it is below 50 per cent amongst people who inject drugs.
Karen Peters: A new narcotics law introduced in December 2021 has also shifted the narrative in a positive way around people who use drugs. Historically, Thailand has had very punitive laws which criminalize drug offenders. The new law provides for differentiated sentencing on drug crimes and alternatives to imprisonment for some offences. For the first time, it seems the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs are being considered.
Patchara Benjarattanaporn: We are working on HIV prevention across multiple UN agencies in Thailand, especially UNAIDS, UNODC, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). We are focusing on these key groups, these hidden populations, by promoting community-led services, which must be delivered close to the people who need them in a situation where the clients do not feel stigmatized. Integrating hepatitis C and HIV testing together as part of a treatment package under UHC encourages more people to get tested. This integrated approach can also include harm reduction services.
The Ozone Foundation offers a range of harm reduction measures to prevent the spread of HIV.
Karen Peters: We are discussing strategies and frameworks for implementing community-based treatment. The Ministry of Public Health, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, different civil society organizations, and international donors and technical experts are all sitting around the table advising and suggesting ways in which this can move forward in a more sustainable way to have better outcomes for Thai people.
Patchara Benjarattanaporn: We are also focusing on supporting the Thai authorities in a national strategy to support these underserved groups, using state-of-the-art research and evidence-based solutions in order to generate a high impact intervention. A multisectoral approach and community engagement are critical to address the issue.
When the government demonstrates a commitment to facing up to challenges, good things happen in terms of creating both equitable access to services and the integration of services, and, even more so, when civil society and partners like the UN have a voice at the table. In this respect, Thailand can be considered a model for the region.
In a statement, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator David Gressly said he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the appalling attack”, which occurred on Friday when unknown gunmen fired on the aid workers in the town of Turbah, located in Taiz governorate in southwestern Yemen.
Never a target
Mr. Gressley said the entire UN family and humanitarian partners in the country are grieving the loss of Moayad Hameidi, a Jordanian national and dedicated humanitarian, who died in hospital shortly after the attack.
“Mr. Hameidi’s death is indeed an unacceptable tragedy. I call on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. Humanitarian workers should never be a target,” he said.
Mr. Hameidi was a veteran WFP staff member, having worked for the UN agency for 18 years, including on a previous posting in Yemen.
He had only recently returned to the country to assume a new job as the head of WFP’s office in Taiz.
The Resident Coordinator conveyed his heartfelt sympathies to Mr. Hameidi’s family and friends, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured staff member.
Fionnuala Ni Aolain, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, is the first independent rights expert to gain access to the infamous facilities Al Hol and Al Raj, as well as other places of detention.
After her six-day visit to northeast Syria, Ms. Ni Aolain said conditions in both camps constituted arbitrary and indefinite mass detention with no prospect of legal or judicial process for those being held.
Reliable witness
“I was able to witness first-hand, including mass arbitrary detention of children, incommunicado detention, disappearances, structural and systematic discrimination for the detained person on the basis of their nationality,” she told reporters.
The rights expert, who was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2017, said that she also witnessed the systematic practice of boys being separated from their mothers in the camps – “most frequently in the middle of the night or in the marketplace”.
She added: “Every single woman I spoke to made clear that it was the snatching of their children that provided the most anxiety, the most suffering, the most psychological harm.”
The policy is based on an unproven security risk that male children are said to present when they become adolescents.
Fear ‘palpable’
“The fear of boys below 10 (of being taken away) is palpable,” she recalled, after meeting large number of traumatised boys and their mothers.
Speaking in Geneva, the rights expert expressed alarm that violence and deep insecurity pervade the detention centres – where some 56,000 suspected extremists and families of alleged ISIL fighters are reportedly detained.
Eight in 10 are under 12, including “a two-year-old who’s currently living in this facility, who doesn’t get returned home and lives in a situation of mass, arbitrary detention throughout his or her life”, she said.
Ms. Ní Aoláin also reiterated concerns around the practices of incommunicado detention and disappearances, including against children in the Gweiran Sina’a / Panorama prison, as well as a confirmed tuberculosis outbreak, exacerbating the health crisis in the facility.
Ms. Ní Aoláin’s main concern was for the mass and indefinite detention of children which constitutes an “absolute contravention of international law in what appears to be a never-ending cycle of cradle to grave in detention”.
Rare access
Visiting sites of detention in Qamishli, Gweiran, Al Hol and Al-Malikiyah, Ms. Ni Aolain insisted that meaningful access to places of detention was essential to ensure that serious human rights violations can be identified, reported and prevented – including in high-security sites.
The rights expert also raised concerns around the complete lack of access and oversight of the so-called “Annex” at Al Hol, where she reported seeing women who were visibly ill. The facility is home to thousands of third country nationals held for alleged security reasons.
“We cannot hold 10,000 people in a box where no one sees what happens to them and their children, it is fundamentally unacceptable by any measure of a civilised and humane treatment of persons in condition of detention,” she said.
Repatriation plea
The UN Special Rapporteur appealed to the 57 countries whose nationals are detained in northeast Syria to live up to their fundamental human rights obligations by repatriating their nationals.
To date, 36 countries have repatriated Syria’s third country nationals since 2019, but at current rates, it will take a minimum of 20 years before all detainees can go home.
Given that 77 per cent of those repatriated are women and children, the rights expert noted that most countries were not returning adult men – adding to further separation concerns.
Repatriation crucial
Repatriation was crucial for all those still held in northeast Syria, Ms. Ni Aolain continued, as they had been deprived “the fundamental capacity to live a dignified life in detention, including access to water, food and health care…All of these things undermine the right to life and make the return to countries of nationality absolutely imperative.”
Warning about the likely future impact of inaction, Ms. Ni Aolain said that “anyone thinking about long-term security in this region – you are closing eyes to long-term security implications of holding children in these conditions.”
Special Rapporteurs and other UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights experts, work on a voluntary and unpaid basis, are not UN staff, and work independently from any government or organisation.
The trial of Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka was the most emblematic, complex case the court in North Kivu province had ever handled, and its proceedings and final judgement in 2020 provide a compelling example of how to bring a war criminal to justice.
The case also illustrates the importance of UN peace operations’ support to national justice and security institutions.
The crimes: ‘On a scale never seen’
On 30 July 2010, armed members of the militia Nduma Défense of Congo (NDC) fanned out across 13 remote villages in restive, resource-rich Walikale, the largest territory in North Kivu, 150 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Goma.
Situated within a large equatorial forest, the area had been plagued by two decades of conflict, with myriad armed groups fighting to control lucrative mines, including those extracting tin’s primary mineral, cassiterite.
The then 34-year-old Mr. Sheka – a former miner who founded a year earlier what Goma’s chief military prosecutor called the area’s “most organized” armed group, complete with units, brigades, battalions, and companies – had given his orders.
For four days and nights, his recruits discharged them.
“Sheka wasn’t just anyone,” Nadine Sayiba Mpila, Public Prosecutor in Goma, told UN News. “Sheka committed crimes on a scale never seen in DR Congo.”
She described how his soldiers “would slaughter people and put the heads of these people on stakes and walk through the streets of the villages to say this is what awaits you if you don’t denounce what he called ‘the enemies’”.
By 2 August 2010, the armed militia had begun to fully occupy the villages.
The warrant: Wanted for war crimes
UNHCR/S. Schulman
A staff member from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, talks to displaced Congolese women in Lushebere Camp in 2012. (file)
Those who could, fled to safety. Some sought medical help from a nearby non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Within two weeks, the survivors’ stories had reached the authorities. Media reports headlined the attacks as “mass rapes”. The UN Mission in the country, MONUSCO, supported the deployment of a police contingent.
By November 2010, a case was brought against the warlord. Congolese authorities then issued a national arrest warrant for Mr. Sheka, and the UN Security Council added him to its sanctions list.
Mandated to protect civilians and support national authorities, MONUSCO launched Operation Silent Valley in early August 2011, helping residents to safely return to their villages.
‘No choice but to surrender’
Mr. Sheka was now a fugitive.
Also known as the Mai-Mai militia, NDC continued to operate in the area along with other armed groups.
“Cornered on all sides, he was now weakened, and had no choice but to surrender,” said Colonel Ndaka Mbwedi Hyppolite, Chief Prosecutor of the Operational Military Court of North Kivu, which tried Mr. Sheka’s case.
He turned himself in on 26 July 2017 to MONUSCO, who handed him over to Congolese authorities, which in turn charged him with war crimes, including murder, sexual slavery, recruitment of children, looting, and rape.
“The time had come to tell the truth and face the consequences of the truth,” Ms. Sayiba said.
The trial: 3,000 pieces of evidence
Ahead of the trial, UN peacekeepers helped to build the detention cells that housed Mr. Sheka and the courtroom itself, where military court proceedings unfolded over two years, pausing from March to June 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting in November 2018, the court would consider 3,000 pieces of evidence and hear from 178 witnesses at 108 hearings.
Their testimonies played a key role, representing the prosecution’s “last resort” to prove that crimes had been committed, said Patient Iraguha, Senior Legal Advisor for TRIAL International in DRC, who helped authorities with the case.
But, getting victims to testify was a serious challenge, the Congolese prosecutors said.
During the trial, Mr. Sheka had “reached out to certain victims to intimidate them”, jeopardizing their willingness to appear in court. However a joint effort involving the UN and such partners as TRIAL International changed that, Ms. Sayiba explained.
Colonel Ndaka agreed, adding that some rape victims also feared being stigmatised by society.
Protection measures were established, and judicial authorities were able to gather evidence in collaboration with MONUSCO, which also trained the judiciary in international criminal law procedures, giving the court sufficient knowledge to properly investigate the case, he said.
“When the Congolese authorities had to go into the field to investigate or to listen to the victims, they were surrounded by a MONUSCO contingent,” he said. “The victims who did appear, did so thanks to the support provided by our partners.”
“The harrowing testimonies I heard from survivors in 7 villages from Kibua to Mpofu in Walikale in 2010 are indelibly etched on my mind,” he wrote on social media at the time.
The first witnesses to appear in court were six children, with victims testifying through July 2020.
“After his testimony before the jury, Sheka started crying,” Ms. Sayiba recalled. “A defendant’s tears are a response. I believe Sheka realized that he was now alone. He had to take responsibility for his actions.”
The verdict: Congolese justice ‘did it’
On 23 November 2020, the Operational Military Court sentenced Mr. Sheka to life in prison.
“This marks an important step forward in combating impunity for perpetrators of child recruitment and other grave violations,” the UN Secretary-General wrote about the case in his report on children and armed conflict in the DRC.
Ms. Sayiba said the sentencing sent “a great message” and “an assurance to the victims who could now see that their testimonies were not in vain”.
For Colonel Ndaka, the verdict was “a source of pride for myself, for my country, for Congolese justice”.
Today, the UN continues to support efforts to end impunity in the DRC, Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan and other nations. In North Kivu, the Public Prosecutor’s Office expanded in June, with UN support, into the Peace Court of Goma.
Mr. Sheka, now 47, continues his life sentence in a facility in the capital, Kinshasa.
“The fact that Sheka was tried and sentenced is proof that the rule of law exists and that you cannot remain unpunished when you have committed the gravest, most abominable crimes,” Colonel Ndaka said. “Congolese justice could do it, with will, determination, and means. It was able to do it, and it did it.”
UN Photo/Sylvain Liechti
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and MONUSCO set apart demobilized child soldiers as the Mai-Mai militia surrenders itself to Congolese Government forces. (file)
