NewzIntel.com

Category: United Nations

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s message on the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members [scroll down for French version]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    United Nations personnel serve some of the world’s most vulnerable people while aspiring to our highest ideals: peace, dignity, equality and justice. But many do so at immense personal risk – facing threats of kidnap, violence, harassment, detention, and more.

    One hundred and one personnel were arrested or detained last year alone. In total, 52 UN personnel are still in detention. Locally recruited staff are particularly at risk.

    On this International Day of Solidarity, we stand with all those detained, and with their families and loved ones, as we call for their immediate release and safe return.

    In their names, I urge governments to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel, and to continue pursuing accountability and justice for these crimes, while enhancing support and protection. I also call on all countries to fulfil their obligation under the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, as well as the 2005 Optional Protocol, which extends the Convention to personnel delivering humanitarian, political or development assistance.

    Together, we must protect those who serve humanity, and help build a better and safer world for all.

    ***
    Les membres du personnel des Nations Unies se mettent au service des populations parmi les plus vulnérables au monde tout en ayant à cœur de réaliser nos idéaux les plus chers : la paix, la dignité, l’égalité et la justice. Bon nombre d’entre eux le font au prix d’immenses risques personnels, sous la menace d’enlèvement, de violence, de harcèlement, de détention, etc.

    Rien que l’année dernière, 101 membres du personnel de l’ONU ont été arrêtés ou détenus. Au total, 52 d’entre eux n’ont toujours pas été libérés. Le personnel recruté sur le plan local est particulièrement menacé.

    En cette Journée internationale de solidarité, nous nous tenons aux côtés de toutes les personnes détenues, de leurs familles et de leurs proches, et nous appelons à leur libération immédiate et à leur retour en toute sécurité.

    C’est au nom de ces personnes que j’exhorte les gouvernements à garantir la sûreté et la sécurité du personnel des Nations Unies et à continuer d’établir les responsabilités pour ces crimes et de rendre justice aux victimes, tout en renforçant les mesures de soutien et de protection. J’engage également tous les pays à s’acquitter de l’obligation que leur impose la Convention de 1994 sur la sécurité du personnel des Nations Unies et du personnel associé et son protocole facultatif de 2005, qui étend la portée de la protection au personnel chargé de l’aide humanitaire ou politique ou de l’aide au développement.

    Ensemble, nous devons protéger toutes les personnes qui sont au service de l’humanité et contribuer à bâtir un monde meilleur et plus sûr pour toutes et tous.

    ***
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s message on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade [scroll down for French version]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Download the video:  https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/downloads2.unmultimedia.org/public/video/evergreen/MSG+SG+/SG+Intl+Slave+Trade+21+Feb+25/MSG+SG+INTL+SLAVE+TRADE+21+FEB+25.mp4

    The transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans was a crime against humanity that resonates through history and continues to scar societies. Today, we remember the women, children, and men torn from their loved ones, forced to work in agonizing conditions, cruelly punished, and deprived of their dignity and human rights, and we recall their acts of resistance and demands for justice.

    For more than four centuries, millions of Africans were kidnapped, trafficked, abused and dehumanized. This horrific enterprise rested on the destructive lie of white supremacy. And it saw many colonizers, corporations and institutions amass unimaginable wealth.

    For too long, these unthinkable acts have remained unacknowledged, unspoken, and unaddressed, all as their legacies continue to shape our world. Many still benefit from the odious profits reaped from chattel slavery. Systemic racism has been embedded into institutions, cultures, and legal and other systems. Deeply rooted exclusion, racial discrimination and violence continue to undermine the ability of many people of African descent to thrive and prosper.

    As the theme of this year’s International Day reminds us, acknowledging the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade is an essential step towards addressing the past, repairing the present, and building a future of dignity and justice for all.  It is imperative to put in place reparatory justice frameworks that address this terrible history and its legacies. And we must end the evil of racism for good.

    The human dignity of every person stands at the heart of the United Nations. We will always stand with everyone, everywhere to combat racial discrimination and hate, and to defend the human rights and dignity of all.

    ***

    La traite transatlantique des Africains réduits en esclavage a été un crime contre l’humanité dont les répercussions se font sentir à travers les siècles et qui continue de marquer les sociétés. Aujourd’hui, nous honorons la mémoire des femmes, des enfants et des hommes qui ont été arrachés à leurs proches, contraints de travailler dans des conditions atroces, cruellement châtiés et privés de leur dignité et de leurs droits humains, et nous nous souvenons de leurs actes de résistance et de leurs appels à la justice.

    Pendant plus de quatre siècles, des millions d’Africains ont été enlevés aux fins de la traite, maltraités et déshumanisés. Ces atrocités étaient fondées sur un mensonge destructeur : le suprémacisme blanc. Nombre de colonisateurs, entreprises et institutions en ont profité pour amasser des richesses incalculables.

    Pendant trop longtemps, ces agissements inimaginables, qui ont été occultés et passés sous silence, n’ont suscité aucune réaction, alors que leurs effets continuent d’imprégner le monde. Nombreux sont ceux qui profitent encore des odieux bénéfices tirés de l’esclavage traditionnel. Le racisme systémique est ancré dans les institutions, les cultures ainsi que les systèmes juridiques et d’autres systèmes. Profondément enracinées, l’exclusion, la discrimination raciale et la violence continuent d’empêcher beaucoup de personnes d’ascendance africaine de s’épanouir et de prospérer.

    Cette année, le thème de la Journée internationale nous rappelle qu’il est indispensable de prendre conscience des horreurs de la traite transatlantique des esclaves pour faire face au passé, réparer le présent et bâtir un avenir où dignité et justice sont garanties pour tout le monde. Il est impératif d’établir des cadres de justice réparatrice qui permettent de regarder en face ce sombre chapitre de l’histoire et ses conséquences. Nous devons mettre un terme, une fois pour toutes, au fléau qu’est le racisme.

    La dignité humaine de chaque personne est au cœur de l’Organisation des Nations Unies. Nous nous tiendrons toujours aux côtés de tous ceux et celles qui, partout dans le monde, luttent contre la discrimination raciale et la haine et défendent les droits humains et la dignité de toutes les personnes.

    ***
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 25 March 2025 Joint News Release Decades of progress in reducing child deaths and stillbirths under threat, warns the United Nations

    Source: World Health Organisation

    The number of children dying globally before their fifth birthday declined to 4.8 million in 2023, while stillbirths declined modestly, still remaining around 1.9 million, according to two new reports released today by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME).

    Since 2000, child deaths have dropped by more than half and stillbirths by over a third, fuelled by sustained investments in child survival worldwide. In 2022, the world reached a historic milestone when child deaths dropped slightly below 5 million for the first time. However, progress has slowed and too many children are still being lost to preventable causes.

    “Millions of children are alive today because of the global commitment to proven interventions, such as vaccines, nutrition, and access to safe water and basic sanitation,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Bringing preventable child deaths to a record low is a remarkable achievement. But without the right policy choices and adequate investment, we risk reversing these hard-earned gains, with millions more children dying from preventable causes. We cannot allow that to happen.”

    Decades of progress in child survival are now at risk as major donors have announced or indicated significant funding cuts to aid ahead. Reduced global funding for life-saving child survival programmes is causing health-care worker shortages, clinic closures, vaccination programme disruptions, and a lack of essential supplies, such as malaria treatments. These cuts are severely impacting regions in humanitarian crises, debt-stricken countries, and areas with already high child mortality rates. Global funding cuts could also undermine monitoring and tracking efforts, making it harder to reach the most vulnerable children, the Inter-agency Group warned.

    “From tackling malaria to preventing stillbirths and ensuring evidence-based care for the tiniest babies, we can make a difference for millions of families,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “In the face of global funding cuts, there is a need more than ever to step up collaboration to protect and improve children’s health.”

    Even before the current funding crisis, the pace of progress on child survival had already slowed. Since 2015, the annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality has slowed by 42%, and stillbirth reduction has slowed by 53%, compared to 2000–2015.

    Almost half of under-five deaths happen within the first month of life, mostly due to premature birth and complications during labour. Beyond the newborn period, infectious diseases, including acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhoea, are the leading causes of preventable child death. Meanwhile, 45% of late stillbirths occur during labour, often due to maternal infections, prolonged or obstructed labour, and lack of timely medical intervention.

    Better access to quality maternal, newborn, and child health care at all levels of the health system will save many more lives, according to the reports. This includes promotive and preventive care in communities, timely visits to health facilities and health professionals at birth, high-quality antenatal and postnatal care, well-child preventive care such as routine vaccinations and comprehensive nutrition programmes, diagnosis and treatment for common childhood illnesses, and specialized care for small and sick newborns.

    “Most preventable child deaths occur in low-income countries, where essential services, vaccines, and treatments are often inaccessible”, said Juan Pablo Uribe, World Bank Global Director for Health and Director of the Global Financing Facility. “Investing in children’s health ensures their survival, education, and future contributions to the workforce. With strategic investments and strong political will, we can continue to reduce child mortality, unlocking economic growth and employment opportunities that benefit the entire world.”

    The reports also show that where a child is born greatly influences their chances of survival. The risk of death before age five is 80 times higher in the highest-mortality country than the lowest-mortality country, for example, while a child born in sub-Saharan Africa is on average 18 times more likely to die before turning five than one born in Australia and New Zealand. Within countries, the poorest children, those living in rural areas, and those with less-educated mothers face the higher risks.

    Stillbirth disparities are just as severe, with nearly 80% occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, where women are six to eight times more likely to experience a stillbirth than women in Europe or North America. Meanwhile, women in low-income countries are eight times more likely to experience a stillbirth than those in high-income countries.

    “Disparities in child mortality across and within nations remain one of the greatest challenges of our time,” said the UN DESA Under-Secretary-General, Li Junhua. “Reducing such differences is not just a moral imperative but also a fundamental step towards sustainable development and global equity. Every child deserves a fair chance at life, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that no child is left behind.”

    UN IGME members call on governments, donors, and partners across the private and public sectors to protect the hard-won gains in saving children’s lives and accelerate efforts. Increased investments, service integration, and innovations are urgently needed to scale up access to proven life-saving health, nutrition, and social protection services for children and pregnant mothers.    

    Notes to editors

    Download multimedia content here.

    The UN IGME child mortality report The UN IGME stillbirth report

    The two reports – Levels & Trends in Child Mortality and Counting Every Stillbirth – are the first of a series of important global data sets released in 2025. UN maternal mortality figures will be published in the coming weeks.

    About UN IGME

    The United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation or UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data on child mortality, improve methods for child mortality estimation, report on progress towards child survival goals and enhance the capacity of countries to produce timely and properly evaluated estimates of child mortality. UN IGME is led by UNICEF and includes the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

     For more information: 

    http://www.childmortality.org/

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Commission on Limits of Continental Shelf Concludes Sixty-Third Session

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    NEW YORK, 24 March (Office of Legal Affairs) ― The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf held its sixty-third session at United Nations Headquarters from 17 February to 21 March.  The plenary parts of the session were held from 24 to 28 February and from 10 to 14 March.  The remainder of the session was devoted to the technical examination of submissions at the premises of the Division, including geographic information systems laboratories and other technical facilities.

    During the first plenary part of the session, the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, Elinor Hammarskjöld, addressed the Commission for the first time since her appointment.  She acknowledged the crucial contribution of the Commission to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and paid tribute to the significant work carried out by the members of the Commission in this regard.  Noting the ongoing liquidity crisis affecting regular budget operations of the United Nations Secretariat, the Under‑Secretary-General reiterated that the Division would continue to do its utmost to deliver high-quality support to the Commission within the available means.

    The Submissions of the following coastal States were considered by the Commission and its subcommissions: Mauritius in respect of the region of Rodrigues Island (partial submission); Palau in respect of the North Area (partial amended submission); Portugal; Spain in respect of the area of Galicia (partial submission); Namibia; Cuba in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico; Mozambique; and Madagascar; as well as revised submissions made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin (partial revised submission); Cook Islands concerning the Manihiki Plateau (revised submission); Iceland in respect of the western, southern and south-eastern parts of the Reykjanes Ridge (partial revised submission); Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Oriental and Meridional Margin (partial revised submission); and the Russian Federation in the Area of the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean (partial revised submission).

    The Commission approved three sets of recommendations, namely in regard to the submissions made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Equatorial Margin (partial revised submission); Cuba in respect the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico; and Iceland in respect of the western, southern and south-eastern parts of the Reykjanes Ridge (partial revised submission).

    During its plenary meetings, with regard to the submission made by Guyana, the Commission decided to defer its consideration in view of an objection conveyed by Venezuela.

    The Commission further heard presentations on the submission of Mozambique, which was a repeat presentation made upon the request of the coastal State; the partial revised submission made by Brazil in respect of the Brazilian Oriental and Meridional Margin; and the partial submission made by Viet Nam in respect of the Central Area.

    Underscoring the importance that submitting States attach to the work of the Commission, delegations were represented in the plenary at the high level:  the delegation of Mozambique was headed by the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Estêvão Tomás Rafael Pale; the delegation of Cuba was headed by the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carlos Fernández de Cossío Domínguez; and the delegation of the Russian Federation was headed by the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Alexander Kozlov.

    In view of the progress in its work, the Commission decided to establish subcommissions to consider the partial submission made by Mexico in respect of the eastern polygon in the Gulf of Mexico; the submission made by the United Republic of Tanzania; and the partial submission made by Denmark in respect of the Southern Continental Shelf of Greenland. With a view to facilitating the efficient consideration of submissions, the Commission decided that subcommissions could actively consider two submissions in parallel, as needed.

    The Commission appointed the new member of the Commission, Ahmed Er Raji (Morocco), to subcommissions.  In view of the resignation of Mr. Brekke due to health reasons and the establishment of new subcommissions, the Commission also adjusted the membership of some existing subcommissions and subsidiary bodies.  The Commission also elected David Cole Mosher (Canada) as Vice-Chair of the Commission for the remainder of the current two-and-a-half-year term — until 15 December.

    With regard to the request of the General Assembly in its resolution 79/144 for the Secretary-General to develop and make available training courses to assist States in relation to the preparation, making and maintenance of submissions, as well as their consideration, the secretariat informed the Commission that no earmarked voluntary trust fund contributions for such activities had been received as of 13 March, and that, if no contributions were received by April, the secretariat would not be in a position to deliver on this mandate in 2025.

    The Commission also continued its consideration of initiatives to enhance efficiency in its work, including the development of technical bulletins and templates for presentations and recommendations.

    Further details on the sixty-third session will be available in the Statement of the Chairperson of the Commission (document CLCS/63/2).

    The background press release on this session is available at https://press.un.org/en/2025/sea2206.doc.htm.

    Background

    Established pursuant to article 2 of annex II to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Commission makes recommendations to coastal States on matters related to the establishment of the outer limits of their continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, based on information submitted by those coastal States.  The recommendations are based on the scientific data and other material provided by coastal States in relation to the implementation of article 76 of the Convention and do not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts or prejudice the position of States that are parties to a land or maritime dispute, or application of other parts of the Convention or any other treaties.  The limits of the continental shelf established by a coastal State on the basis of the recommendations are final and binding. In the case of disagreement by a coastal State with the recommendations of the Commission, the coastal State shall, within a reasonable time, make a revised or new submission to the Commission.

    Under rule 23 of its rules of procedure (Public and private meetings), the meetings of the Commission, its subcommissions and subsidiary bodies are held in private, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

    As required under the rules of procedure of the Commission, the executive summaries of all the submissions, including all charts and coordinates, have been made public by the Secretary‑General through continental shelf notifications circulated to Member States of the United Nations, as well as States Parties to the Convention.  The executive summaries are available on the Division’s website at:  www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm.  The summaries of recommendations adopted by the Commission are also available on the above-referenced website.

    The Commission is a body of 21 experts in the field of geology, geophysics or hydrography serving in their personal capacities. Members of the Commission are elected for a term of five years by the Meeting of States Parties to the Convention having due regard to the need to ensure equitable geographical representation. Not fewer than three members shall be elected from each geographical region.

    Currently, two seats on the Commission are vacant as a result of the resignation of Mr. Brekke and the long-standing vacancy resulting from a lack of nominations from the Group of Eastern European States.  A call for nominations has been circulated to States Parties with a view to filling these vacancies at a by-election to be conducted at the thirty-fifth Meeting of States Parties, scheduled to be convened from 23 to 27 June. The nomination period opened on 12 February and will close on 12 May at midnight.

    The Convention provides that the State party which submitted the nomination of a member of the Commission shall defray the expenses of that member while in performance of Commission duties.  A voluntary trust fund for the purpose of defraying the cost of participation of the members of the Commission from developing countries has been established.  It has facilitated the participation of several members of the Commission from developing countries in the sessions of the Commission.

    The convening by the Secretary-General of the sessions of the Commission, with full conference services, including documentation, for the plenary parts of these sessions, is subject to approval by the General Assembly of the United Nations.  The Assembly does so in its annual resolutions on oceans and the law of the sea, which also address other matters relevant to the work of the Commission and the conditions of service of its members.

    For additional information on the work of the Commission see the website of the Division at www.un.org/depts/los/index.htm.  In particular, the most recent Statements by the Chair on the progress in the work of the Commission are available at http://www.un.org/depts/los/clcs_new/commission_documents.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: New report on cultural heritage resilience in Venice now available

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Venice has taken a significant step in strengthening the resilience of its cultural heritage with the publication of the Disaster Resilience Assessment of the city of Venice. This report is the outcome of a workshop held in July 2024, organized by the Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF) in collaboration with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia and CORILA (Consorzio per il coordinamento delle ricerche inerenti al sistema lagunare di Venezia).

    The workshop brought together local institutions, experts, and stakeholders to assess Venice’s cultural heritage resilience using the MCR2030 Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities: Cultural Heritage Addendum. The assessment helped identify gaps in current protection strategies, evaluate vulnerabilities of tangible and intangible heritage, and strengthen risk-informed planning for disaster resilience.

    Key findings from the report provide valuable insights for cities worldwide looking to enhance disaster risk reduction and cultural heritage protection strategies. The Venice Municipality has endorsed the report, and a follow-up consultation will take place in the coming months to facilitate knowledge exchange with other cities.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances Commend Belgium’s Commitment to Human Rights, Ask about Foreign Unaccompanied Minors and Illegal International Adoptions

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee on Enforced Disappearances today reviewed a report containing additional information submitted by Belgium under article 29 (4) of the Convention. Committee Experts commended the State party’s commitment to human rights, while raising questions on foreign unaccompanied minors and illegal international adoptions.

    Matar Diop, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, commended the State party’s commitment and welcomed the important delegation, which demonstrated Belgium’s commitment to human rights and cooperation with the United Nations human rights bodies.

    Barbara Lochbihler, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, askedwhat measures had been implemented by the State party to gather complex and disaggregated statistics relating to unaccompanied foreign minors? What measures did the State party intend to adopt to search for and investigate unaccompanied foreign minors? Could an update on current legislation relating to unaccompanied minors be provided?

    A Committee Expert said a number of measures had been adopted to support persons who felt they had been victims of illegal international adoption who were seeking to establish their origin. What form did the support take and what was its scope? Had these assistance measures been extended across the country, not just the Flemish community? Was the State party considering establishing a commission of inquiry which would shed light on the practice of illegal international adoptions? Would Belgium introduce a comprehensive prohibition on international adoptions at the national level?

    The delegation said Belgium did not have specific statistics on unaccompanied foreign minors. The breakdown of statistics was a concern for Belgian authorities. There had been three consecutive projects conducted since 2021 aimed at improving data collection in Belgium. There had been a memo from the College of Prosecutors in searching for missing persons, which set out that any disappearance of foreign unaccompanied minors warranted the heightened interest of all services of the police. The disappearance of foreign unaccompanied minors was always considered worrying.

    The delegation said the former Minister of Justice had encouraged cooperation between the stakeholders involved in investigating illegal international adoptions. In May 2024, the Government made a statement before the House of Representatives acknowledging problematic and illegal adoptions had occurred in Belgium between 1950 and today, and that those affected by the adoptions should be considered as victims. Other recent measures had been taken to further implement the resolution of the Chamber adopted in 2022 dedicated to cases of illegal adoptions in Belgium.

    Introducing the report, Steven Limbourg, General Advisor, Director of the Criminal Law Direction, Federal Public Service Justice of Belgium, said that at the federal level, Belgium had taken advantage of the drafting of its new Penal Code in 2024 to update and include new provisions that took account of enforced disappearance. The offences carried all the consequences required by the Convention, as well as provisions relating to mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

    In concluding remarks, Olivier De Frouville, Committee Chair, thanked Belgium for the constructive dialogue and their answers. Following the dialogue, the Committee would prepare concluding observations and propose recommendations, and from there it would then be decided how to continue the interaction with the State party.

    Christophe Payot, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, expressed sincere thanks to all Committee members for the constructive and enriching dialogue. It was recognised that enforced disappearance may not have the same scope in all States parties, however, Belgium believed the Convention was vital for combatting impunity. The State looked forward to the Committee’s concluding observations.

    The delegation of Belgium consisted of representatives of the Federal Public Service Justice; the federal police; the French community of Belgium; the Flemish Government; and the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Webcasts of the meetings of the session can be found here, and meetings summaries can be found here.

    The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. on Monday, 24 March, to begin its consideration of the initial report of Malta (CED/C/MLT/1).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the report containing additional information submitted by Belgium under article 29 (4) of the Convention (CED/C/BEL/Al/1).

    Presentation of Report

    CHRISTOPHE PAYOT, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, said due to Belgium’s unique federal structure, the implementation of the Convention fell under the jurisdiction of several governments. Belgium promoted the ratification of the Convention to States that had not yet ratified it, and during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, it had made 50 interventions in this regard. Belgium had also actively participated in and made commitments at the First World Congress on Enforced Disappearances held last January in Geneva. Mr. Payot then introduced the delegation, illustrating the plurality of bodies responsible for the implementation of the Convention.

    STEVEN LIMBOURG, General Advisor, Director of the Criminal Law Direction, Federal Public Service Justice of Belgium, expressed appreciation to the Committee for its tireless work in the fight against enforced disappearances. At the federal level, Belgium had taken advantage of the drafting of its new Penal Code in 2024 to update and include new provisions that took account of enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearance that did not constitute a crime against humanity was now recognised as a stand-alone offence, punishable by a level six penalty, the same level as that for torture. Enforced disappearance constituting a crime against humanity also remained a free-standing offence, punishable by a sentence of level eight, the most serious level, which included life imprisonment or treatment under deprivation of liberty for 18 to 20 years. The offences carried all the consequences required by the Convention, as well as provisions relating to mitigating and aggravating circumstances.

    With regard to deprivation of liberty, the federal police had developed an electronic register, which was currently in the testing phase. Regarding the disappearances of unaccompanied foreign minors, a 2022 circular from the Prosecutor General outlined that they should be subject to increased vigilance by all the services concerned. In 2023, a working group comprised of federal and federated levels as well as representatives of civil society, published a practical guide on the disappearances of unaccompanied minors. The handbook was available to all relevant departments and was actively used by the staff and services concerned, including community youth aid organizations and the integrated police.

    Belgium had also taken measures to prevent illegal intercountry adoptions. At the federal level, the new Penal Code included the offences relating to fraudulent adoption, adding rules on punishable participation that made it possible to punish persons who participated in the offence of illegal adoption without being intermediaries. The new Criminal Code also expressly stated illegal adoption as a possible form of trafficking in human beings. In addition, all federal public services had started to implement a resolution of the Chamber adopted in 2022 dedicated to cases of illegal adoptions in Belgium.

    The Flemish Government had taken various political measures to adapt its policy and operation in the field of intercountry adoption, in particular through a reform of its legal framework. The new 2024 intercountry adoption decree provided for stricter control of adoptions in the best interests of the child, as well as guidelines and criteria on the screening of collaborations in countries of origin, making ratification of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption a key criterion. Similarly, in the French Community, the decree on adoption was amended in 2020 with the aim of authorising collaboration only with countries that had ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption.

    On the issue of the segregation suffered by the Métis during the period of Belgian colonisation in Africa, at the federal level, measures had been taken to respond to the various demands expressed in the “Métis” resolution, adopted by the Chamber in 2018. These included a procedure to remedy the absence of birth certificates, support in the identification of biological parents, and declassification of archives and access to them with a view to reuniting families separated under duress. In April 2024, a symposium for a delegation of mixed-race people from the Belgian colonisation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was organised in Brussels, providing an opportunity to take stock of the measures taken by the Federal Government to implement the Métis resolution and to give participants the opportunity to clarify their questions and expectations towards Belgium. Mr. Limbourg expressed hope that the dialogue would indeed be most constructive.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    MATAR DIOP, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, said this dialogue followed on from the dialogue held with Belgium in 2014. Mr. Diop commended the State party’s commitment and welcomed the important delegation, which demonstrated Belgium’s commitment to human rights and cooperation with the United Nations human rights bodies. The Committee took note of the new Criminal Code adopted in 2024 and commended this legislative amendment. Why were mitigating circumstances granted to a person for holding someone for less than five days? Did there need to be physical impacts of torture for it to be taken into account? Could psychological torture be taken into account?

    The law of criminal procedure, which came into force in April 2024, adopted a statute of limitations for public prosecution that varied according to the length of the sentence incurred. How would the duration of the statute of limitations be determined before the offence was the subject of a trial? The establishment of a register of persons deprived of their liberty was a major recommendation of the Committee in its 2014 concluding observations. What was the progress of this project? How were migrants registered? Had the existing system been developed? What were the existing legislative provisions regarding refoulement and pushbacks? Was training provided to staff working in the migration system in Belgium, at federal or at the federated entity level? Could information be provided on the existence and content of cooperation agreements with other States for the assistance of victims of enforced disappearance as well as the search, location and release of disappeared persons?

    The Committee noted that assistance to victims of deliberate acts of violence was subject to the condition that the acts were at least partly committed in Belgium, and that an assessment was made on a case-by-case basis. What happened when the act spanned more than one country? Could information be provided when it came to extending the jurisdiction of the Commission? Could specific data be provided on the financial support provided to victims, including the number of cases handled, reparations envisaged, and the number of beneficiaries? Could relatives of victims benefit from the support of the Commission?

    In December 2024, the Brussels Court of Appeal reversed a first instance judgment and declared as crimes against humanity the kidnappings and adoptions of five mixed-race females in the 1940s and 1950s in the Belgian Congo. These females had been abducted without their mothers’ consent and placed with an evangelical mission, later resulting in adoption. These adoptions had subsequently been considered illegal, and the females had been expected to receive compensatory amounts of around 50,000 euros. How did the State party plan to meet its obligations towards these five females? What measures did the State party plan to take to settle this case?

    BARBARA LOCHBIHLER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, thanked Belgium for following the work of the Committee actively and regularly. Could the delegation provide an update on the progress of creating an A status national human rights institution in full compliance with the Paris Principles? There had been some progress regarding the establishment of a national preventive mechanism, which could eventually allow for ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention. What was the estimated timeframe for this?

    The Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoption outlined four key principles to prevent illegal intercountry adoptions. What measures had been taken to prevent and investigate illegal intercountry adoptions, taking into account those principles?

    Were there any cases of victims, who suffered harm as a direct result of illegal intercountry adoption, and their right to reparation? Could the figures and cases of international illegal adoptions that had been reported by community centres be provided? According to information, initiatives taken in Belgium to study and recognise the scale and impact of illegal intercountry adoptions had led to little effect. Could the State party elaborate on these initiatives and what remained to be done to gain the knowledge for best prevention and compensation? What measures had been implemented by the State party to gather complex and disaggregated statistics relating to unaccompanied foreign minors? What measures did the State party intend to adopt to search for and investigate unaccompanied foreign minors? Could an update on current legislation relating to unaccompanied minors be provided? Did Belgium provide mutual legal assistance measures or cooperation and if so, with which countries?

    Belgium had ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (2000) and its Protocol against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air and to prevent, supress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. What was the State’s experiences with the implementation of this Convention in Belgium and what lessons could be learned from that in the field of preventing migrants from becoming victims of enforced disappearance? How was the work of the Federal Migration Centre contributing particularly to the prevention of enforced disappearances in the context of migration?

    A Committee Expert asked how many officials had been involved in corruption cases pertaining to international adoptions? Had criminal proceedings been brought forward?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said in the new Criminal Code adopted in 2024, enforced disappearance which did not constitute a crime against humanity was considered a standalone crime, placing it in the same subdivision as enforced disappearance which did constitute a crime against humanity. This was done to ensure that they entailed the same consequences, including the inditements for attempts and ensuring hierarchical superiorities were held to account, among others. This was done to ensure enforced disappearance was addressed in a multi-dimensional way and highlight the stigma of this crime. The provisions in the new Criminal Code were prepared by legal experts who took into account all recommendations made by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearance and from civil society. The purpose was not to create a secondary category of enforced disappearance which was less severe.

    A register of persons deprived of liberty was a priority issue for Belgium. Discussions had been ongoing and there had been some delays and setbacks, but discussions were now back on track. The State was working to harmonise practices between the police, with a view to providing a register template to all police services which would meet international standards. An electronic register had been developed which was currently being tested.

    Belgium did not have specific mutual agreements with other countries in regard to enforced disappearance. There were national cooperation agreements between the Belgian communities and there were definitions of victims, as well as their families. Belgian legislation did not cover acts committed abroad, but acts which continued in Belgium could be covered. If an act of violence occurred in several States, there needed to be a case-by-case analysis.

    Emphasis was placed on migration when training people working directly with migrants, including customs officers or local police. Regarding the cases of the five mixed-race females, the Government had not yet taken any decision regarding the ruling of the court of appeal. The ruling was still being analysed.

    The Belgian authorities recognised the need to have a consistent structure dealing with human rights and the need for a status A national human rights institution. The institute established in 2019 was an important step in this direction. The Subcommittee on Accreditation requested certain amendments which had been partially implemented establishing the institute. However, Belgium wished to see a consistent structure throughout the country. Total cooperation with various national human rights institutions was vital. A significant step was taken in April 2024 with the adoption of a law designating the federal institution for the promotion of human rights as the preventive mechanism at the federal level. It was only competent for places of deprivation of liberty which fell under the federal level, meaning ratification of the Optional Protocol was not yet possible. A mechanism needed to be developed to cover all places of deprivation of liberty in Belgium.

    In recent years, the Flemish Government had taken measures to implement inter-country adoption operations. The Flemish Ministry for Family and Wellbeing set up a group to research previous best practices in intercountry adoptions. On the basis of the group’s recommendations, the Flemish Government reformed the legal framework for adoption. The most significant change included tighter control of adoption with the best interest of the child in mind. There was a long period of time for preserving records. In 2023, the Flemish Minister for Welfare called for all reports about irregularities in adoption to be flagged; there were over 200 irregularities reported, with 107 receiving an interview with the Flemish Centre for Adoption regarding questions or concerns about their case.

    Belgium did not have specific statistics on unaccompanied foreign minors. The breakdown of statistics was a concern for Belgian authorities. There had been three consecutive projects conducted since 2021 aimed at improving data collection in Belgium. There had been a memo from the College of Prosecutors in searching for missing persons, which set out that any disappearance of foreign unaccompanied minors warranted the heightened interest of all services of the police. The disappearance of foreign unaccompanied minors was always considered worrying. If there was an indication that human trafficking could be involved, criminal policy directives needed to be enforced. Detention of foreign unaccompanied minors was prohibited through the aliens act. The police had an agreement with the guardianship service when there was a disappearance of a foreign unaccompanied minor. Foreign unaccompanied minors should be a priority for receiving a State guardian. Information was given to guardians so they could manage cases of enforced disappearance.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    MATAR DIOP, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, said it seemed as though the statute of limitations for enforced disappearance which was not considered a crime against humanity was 10 years. What was the statute of limitations for bringing criminal proceedings? Had the State lost an appeal before the court of cassation? Had a mechanism been established at the federal state level to allow potential victims of illegal adoptions to bring forth judicial proceedings or lodge a claim for reparations? Who had jurisdiction for what when it came to adoptions? Had the federal or federated entities imposed criminal penalties for involvement in illegal country adoptions?

    BARBARA LOCHBIHLER, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur for Belgium, asked if there were mutual legal assistance measures of cooperation with countries regarding migrants? How were migrants in deprivation of liberty registered?

    A Committee Expert said a number of measures had been adopted to support persons who felt they had been victims of illegal international adoption who were seeking to establish their origin. What form did the support take and what was its scope? Determining origins could require more support in cooperation with countries of origin. Did the assistance provided by Belgium encompass such measures? Had these assistance measures been extended across the country, not just the Flemish community? Was the State party considering establishing a commission of inquiry which would shed light on the practice of illegal international adoptions? Would Belgium introduce a comprehensive prohibition on international adoptions at the national level?

    Another Expert asked how many court cases were underway which pertained to intercountry illegal adoptions? How many people had the State helped to recover their identity?

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the statute of limitations was not applicable in both crimes of enforced disappearance, be they crimes against humanity or non-crimes against humanity. Psychological torture was always taken into account.

    Regarding the decision pertaining to the five mixed-race females, this ruling was being analysed and there would possibly be an appeal filed with the court of cassation. The court had until early April to do so.

    Belgian mutual legal assistance conventions were general in nature and there was not one specifically relating to the disappearance of migrants. The decision to remove a person or take them back to the border was suspended if this exposed them to a risk of refoulment.

    When a person required support around an adoption, the Flemish Adoption Centre and other State entities conducted an interview with the victims and provided care and support following the interview. It ensured that follow up was given regarding personal files. The Centre aimed to collect as much as possible during the interview, finding out what steps had been taken and what needed to be done moving forward. The person involved was given the opportunity to participate in all stages. There was significant cooperation taking place at the communities and federal level. In the French community, the Central Community Authority was there to support those in their search.

    The register on deprivation of liberty did not apply specifically to the registration of migrants, but rather it listed all deprivations of liberty carried out by the police services. The law on foreigners made it possible in certain situations for police services to detain a foreigner, not necessarily a migrant, who did not have identification documents with them.

    The former Minister of Justice had encouraged cooperation between the stakeholders involved in investigating illegal international adoptions. In May 2024, the Government made a statement before the House of Representatives, acknowledging problematic and illegal adoptions had occurred in Belgium between 1950 and today, and that those affected by the adoptions should be considered as victims. Other recent measures had been taken to further implement the resolution of the Chamber adopted in 2022 dedicated to cases of illegal adoptions in Belgium.

    Belgium’s whole legal framework had been enhanced in recent years to respond to events from the past.

    If an act of enforced disappearance had been less than five days, this constituted a level four offence which was still serious, with consequences of up to 10 years in prison.

    Closing Remarks

    OLIVIER DE FROUVILLE, Committee Chair, thanked Belgium for the constructive dialogue and their answers. Following a first constructive dialogue, it was up to the Committee to call for additional information, which was what had happened in this case. The Committee would then focus on certain subjects which it deemed necessary to raise again. Following the dialogue, the Committee would prepare concluding observations and propose recommendations, and from there it would then be decided how to continue the interaction with the State party.

    CHRISTOPHE PAYOT, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva and head of the delegation, expressed sincere thanks to all Committee members for the constructive and enriching dialogue. Belgium attached great importance to the treaty body system which played a fundamental role in promoting and protecting human rights in the country. Belgium would benefit from a more predictable reporting cycle with the treaty bodies which would lead to greater participation by State members. It was recognised that enforced disappearance may not have the same scope in all States parties, however, Belgium believed the Convention was vital for combatting impunity. The State looked forward to the Committee’s concluding observations.

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently. 

     

     

    CED25.006E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Regional Consultation on Resilient Recovery in Africa

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Overview

    Africa is facing a growing disaster risk landscape, marked by more frequent and severe climate-related hazards (floods, droughts, cyclones) and increasing costs for recovery. The region bears a disproportionate burden from climate change, with recovery efforts stretching national budgets and capacities.

    As we move into the second half of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), a clear need has emerged: strengthening pre-disaster recovery preparedness and building systems for resilient recovery. The Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework, concluded in 2023, highlighted uneven progress across regions ; while many countries have made advances in disaster risk reduction, significant gaps remain in preparedness for recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The Midterm Review calls for urgent action to accelerate Priority 4 of the Sendai Framework—“Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.”

    This Regional Consultation on Resilient Recovery in Africa respond to that call. It is part of a global consultation process, coordinated by the International Recovery Platform (IRP), to develop Priority Actions to Enhance Resilient Recovery. These Priority Actions will be launched at the World Resilient Recovery Conference (WRRC) on 3 June 2025, during the preparatory days leading to the 8th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2025).

    Objectives

    1. Share needs and gaps related to resilient recovery in the region.
    2. Review, provide feedback to and further define the draft priority action for resilient recovery.
    3. Identify national and regional priorities and a way forward in accelerating priority action 4 of the Sendai Framework.

    Expected outcomes

    • Common understanding of national and regional needs and gaps related to resilient recovery and good practices shared.
    • Feedback provided to the draft priority actions on resilient recovery.
    • National and regional priorities related to resilient recovery identified and a way forward discussed.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Guterres to reduce UN aid ‘footprint’ inside Gaza following ceasefire collapse

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Peace and Security

    The UN Secretary-General on Monday took the “difficult decision” to reduce the aid operation inside the Gaza Strip following the resumption of deadly Israeli airstrikes – but pledged that “the UN is not leaving” the enclave.

    In the past week, Israel carried out devastating strikes on Gaza, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians, including United Nations personnel, with no humanitarian aid being allowed to enter the Strip since early March,” said a statement released by his Spokesperson.

    “As a result, the Secretary-General has taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar and our concern over the protection of civilians intensifies.”

    The UN stressed that it remained fully committed to providing lifesaving aid. Around a third of the approximately 100 international staff working in Gaza will be temporarily relocated.

    After cutting off all humanitarian aid into Gaza for three weeks – the longest suspension since 7 October 2023 – Israeli officials have indicated that they intend to continue their military campaign across Gaza and annex territory to pressure Hamas.

    Strike on UN compound from ‘Israeli tank’

    The UN Spokesperson said that based on currently available information, “the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on 19 March were caused by an Israeli tank.”.

    In the aftermath of Wednesday’s strike, Israel said it had not been behind the blast.

    “The strikes claimed the life of a UN colleague from Bulgaria and left six others – from France, Moldova, North Macedonia, Palestine and the United Kingdom – with severe injuries, some of them life-altering,” Monday’s statement continued.

    The location of the compound was well known to all the parties to the conflict.

    “I reiterate that all parties to the conflict are bound by international law to protect the absolute inviolability of UN premises,” the statement from Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric continued.

    “Without this, our colleagues face intolerable risks as they work to save the lives of civilians.”

    The Secretary-General is demanding a full, thorough and independent investigation into Wednesday’s deadly strike, protection of all civilian life in the renewed fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas and the resumption of aid deliveries.

    Furthermore, all hostages “must be released immediately and unconditionally”.

    ‘Relentless bombardment’ again

    One week since Israeli bombing started again in Gaza, UN humanitarians have described deadly attacks hitting health workers, ambulances and hospitals.

    Senior UN humanitarian in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jonathan Whittall, said that hundreds of children and adults have been killed since the ceasefire broke down between Hamas and Israel.

    The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, also said on Monday that 124,000 people in the enclave have been forced to flee what it called “relentless bombardment”.

    “Families carry what little they have with no shelter, no safety, and nowhere left to go; the Israeli authorities have cut off all aid,” UNRWA said in an online statement – warning that food is scarce and prices are soaring as the Israeli blockade continues.

    Relief chief Tom Fletcher tweeted that he was continuing to receive horrific reports from Gaza of more health workers, ambulances and hospitals attacked as they try to save survivors. Mr. Fletcher said we all must demand that hospitals and medics must not be targeted.

    In southern Gaza on Sunday, several casualties were reported after the surgical department of Nasser Medical Complex was hit and caught fire, Mr. Dujarric told journalists in New York at the daily briefing.

    In Rafah, ambulances were reportedly hit in Tal Al Sultan, resulting in several casualties. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said four of its ambulances were targeted, as well as 10 team members carrying out humanitarian work.

    “Communication with the team has been completely lost for 30 hours, and at this point, their fate remains unknown,” the UN Spokesperson continued.

    Call for additional emergency teams

    As hostilities continue across Gaza, aid coordination office, OCHA, and partners called for the entry of additional emergency medical teams into Gaza to help health workers already on the ground who are “exhausted and, of course, overwhelmed.”

    Israeli authorities on Sunday issued a new evacuation order in Rafah, covering around two per cent of the Strip and affecting five neighbourhoods.

    “With this latest directive, the overall area designated for evacuation over the past week covers an estimated 14 per cent of the Gaza Strip – along  with vast ‘no go’ zones along the borders and the Netzarim corridor,” Mr. Dujarric said.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: South Sudan on the brink of civil war, top UN official warns

    Source: United Nations 2

    By Vibhu Mishra

    Peace and Security

    South Sudan is teetering on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war as violence escalates and political tensions deepen, the head of the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS) warned on Monday.

    Briefing journalists at UN Headquarters in New York via videolink from Juba, Nicholas Haysom described indiscriminate attacks on civilians, mass displacement and rising ethnic tensions.

    He urged all parties to pull back from the brink and commit to peace before the country plunges into another devastating conflict.

    “A conflict would erase all the hard-won gains made since the 2018 peace deal was signed. It would devastate not only South Sudan but the entire region, which simply cannot afford another war,” he warned.

    Fragile peace at risk

    South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, but the world’s youngest nation has been plagued by conflict and instability ever since.

    A civil war erupted in 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those aligned with his former deputy, Riek Machar. The war – marked by ethnic violence, mass atrocities and widespread humanitarian crisis – lasted until a fragile peace deal was signed in 2018.

    Though the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement brought a degree of stability, delays in its implementation and continued political rivalries have kept tensions simmering.

    Mounting violence

    The latest wave of violence erupted on 4 March when the so-called White Army – a youth militia – overran South Sudanese army barracks in Nasir, Upper Nile province.

    In response, Government forces launched retaliatory aerial bombardments on civilian areas, using barrel bombs that allegedly contained highly flammable accelerants.

    “These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are causing significant casualties and horrific injuries, especially burns, including to women and children,” Mr. Haysom said, adding that at least 63,000 people have fled the area.

    Reports indicate that both the White Army and national forces are mobilising for further confrontations, with allegations of child recruitment into armed groups.

    The deployment of foreign forces at the request of the Government has further heightened tensions, evoking painful memories of the country’s previous civil wars.

    Rising ethnic tensions

    Political tensions are also escalating, Mr. Haysom continued.

    Senior officials affiliated with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) – the main rival militia – have been removed, replaced, detained, or forced into hiding.

    There is also an increasing use of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, which is fuelling ethnic divisions and fear, making reconciliation even more difficult.

    “Given this grim situation, we are left with no other conclusion, but to assess that South Sudan is teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war,” the senior UN official warned.

    Diplomatic efforts stalled

    Mr. Haysom further reported that UNMISS has engaged in intensive diplomatic efforts alongside regional and international partners, including the African Union (AU), the regional development bloc, IGAD, and the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission.

    However, a scheduled high-level visit by IGAD foreign ministers to Juba, aimed at mediating between the parties, was abruptly postponed by the South Sudanese government without explanation.

    “This is a disappointing development at a time when diplomatic outreach is more important than ever,” he said.

    Recommit to peace

    Mr. Haysom urged South Sudan’s leaders to immediately recommit to the 2018 peace deal, respect the ceasefire, release detained officials and resolve disputes through dialogue rather than military confrontation.

    He also called for President Kiir and First Vice President Machar to meet and publicly reaffirm their joint commitment to peace.

    “The time for action is now because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate.”

    Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan speaks to the press via videolink.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Security Council Examines Ways to Strengthen United Nations Peacekeeping against New Threats

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    Delegates Debate ‘Christmas-Tree’ Add-on Mandates versus Focusing on Core Tasks

    The Security Council today debated ways to adapt United Nations peacekeeping to evolving threats with Member States emphasizing the need to partner with regional organizations and actively involve local communities, particularly women.  They also stressed the importance of aligning mandates with available resources, leveraging intelligence-led strategies and digital tools for data-driven decision-making, and avoiding overly broad “Christmas-tree mandates” that prolong operations and escalate costs.

    “Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said during the Council’s day-long open debate focusing on the ability of United Nations peace operations to adjust to new realities on the ground.  These challenges along with more complex and deadly wars, he cautioned, “throw fuel on the fires of conflict”.

    He also highlighted a “persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources”, as well as growing divisions within Council itself.  To address this, he called for a tailored and collective approach to peace operations. Announcing a forthcoming United Nations peace operation review — mandated by Member States in the Pact for the Future, he said that this process will incorporate insights from the New Agenda for Peace and from the first comprehensive study of special political missions in the 80-year history of the United Nations.

    Peace operations, he emphasized, must engage early with host nations and local partners, guided by clear, achievable mandates and viable exit strategies.  “Today’s open debate provides a vital opportunity for the Council to share perspectives and ideas to inform the review process,” Mr. Guterres concluded.

    Cultural Shifts Required

    “The fact that peace operations are effective is one of the most verified findings in international relations literature,” said Jenna Russo, Director of Research at the International Peace Institute and Head of the Brian Urquhart Center for Peace Operations.  “Yet, there is often a dissonance between these findings and the lived experiences of those in conflict settings,” she added.

    Offering four recommendations, she first called for a stronger planning culture within the Secretariat.  Bureaucratic and political barriers have kept this culture of planning from taking root, she said, adding that the Organization should build the capacity to discern emerging trends, anticipate potential shifts and respond proactively.

    Secondly, she said, the Organization must embrace a “risk-tolerant culture around peace operations”, noting that “personnel are structurally disincentivized from trying new things and reporting what doesn’t work for fear that their budgets and jobs may suffer the consequences”.  She highlighted the need for a culture that creates space for trying and even failing, with the aim of learning and improving — “this culture must come from the top”.

    “The Secretariat should tell the Council what it needs to hear, not what it wants to hear,” she underscored as her third recommendation, citing the 2000 Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations.  Instead of the Secretariat pre-emptively lowering the bar on what is politically possible, she said, it should present a wide range of options and leave it to the Council to adjust the bar.

    Modular Approach — Building Blocks

    Her final recommendation was that the Council should consider the advantages and the risks of a modular approach to peace operations.  Mandated sets of activities like electoral support, human rights monitoring or security sector reform can be “treated like building blocks that can be scaled up or down over the lifespan of a mission”, she said.  This approach can promote more tailored responses and align mandates with available resources, but it comes with the risk that broader peacebuilding aspects “could fall by the wayside if the Council or host States view them as optional”, she added.

    In the ensuing open debate, speakers stressed the need to evolve with the times, underscored the importance of regional partnerships and called for a more people-centered approach that involves local communities, and specifically women, in peace efforts.

    Closer Cooperation with Regional Organizations

    “For millions, the blue flag and the blue helmets are symbols of hope,” said Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark and Council President for March, as he spoke in his national capacity.  However, just as conflicts and needs have evolved, so must the UN’s tools, he stressed, urging closer collaboration with regional and subregional organizations — “especially the African Union” — and the inclusion of women in peace processes.

    Zane Dangor, Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, said that deployments by regional and subregional organizations, such as the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), if authorized and supported by the UN, could off-set the limitations of the Organization’s peacekeeping operations.  Calling for the accelerated implementation of Council resolution 2719 (2023), he said the Council can also gain insights from the experiences of African peace operations that are often conducted in difficult conditions and with limited resources.

    Jiří Kozák, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, emphasized that strong coordination with regional partners, such as the African Union and European Union, must be systematic, practical and based on the sharing of resources, information and best practices.  “Improved coordination will ensure stronger political and operational support,” he added.

    Similarly, Guyana’s representative highlighted the need for deeper collaboration with regional organizations and reiterated the calls of previous speakers who stressed that women must be present at all levels — from peacekeeping forces to peace negotiations.

    “Peace should be built from the ground up,” said Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez, Panama’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.  Conflict-resolution mechanisms “are more likely to last when women are leaders and involved in the peacebuilding process”, he added.  Insun Kang, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, called for a people-centered approach that respects host country priorities and national ownership.  “This approach views local populations as not just beneficiaries of peacekeeping efforts, but active participants,” she said, noting her country’s rice cultivation and vocational training initiatives in South Sudan.

    Noting that the Council has not mandated a new peacekeeping operation in 10 years, Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, warned that the UN’s absence is being filled by “negative actors and soldiers of fortune”.  UN peacekeeping is cost effective, representing only 3 per cent of global military spending.  The Council must ensure it is properly funded and resourced.

    Accountability for Performance

    As the global leader of peacekeeping capacity-building, the United States aims to ensure that its programmes have measurable effects on the ground, said that country’s representative. “Robust accountability measures will enhance the effectiveness and efficiencies of UN peacekeeping missions,” she said, adding that accountability must incentivize positive performance and expedient consequences for performance failures.

    On that, Somalia’s delegate, pointing to Africa’s experience with peacekeeping operations, stressed that “success depends on two interlinked principles — clear strategic planning and operational adaptability”.

    Caution against ‘Christmas-Tree Mandates’

    Several speakers expressed concern about the overbroad mandates of UN peacekeeping missions, noting that these mandates often lead to prolonged missions in host countries, costing billions of dollars.  “The result is missions that are present in countries for decades and cost billions of dollars,” said the representative of the Russian Federation. Rather, she stressed that “the goal we need to be aiming for” is that, after a mandate is implemented, host States assume full responsibility for conflict prevention.

    “We must end the strange phenomenon where every mandate renewal leads to expansion,” said China’s representative, also rejecting the “unchecked growth of Christmas-tree mandates”.  He further underscored that the principles of consent, impartiality and non-use of force except in self-defence “should always be upheld as fundamental guidelines”.

    Similarly, Algeria’s delegate said: “We are witnessing, in some cases, what can be described as ‘Christmas-tree’ mandates, under which UN missions are tasked with an overwhelming number of responsibilities, thus hindering their ability to undertake focused and targeted engagements”.

    Slovenia’s delegate was among the speakers who stressed the need to enhance early warning and rapid response capabilities to address conflicts before they escalate.  “Missions must be proactive rather than reactive,” she said.  Greece’s delegate, echoing many other delegations, condemned attacks on peacekeepers and emphasized the need to ensure their absolute safety.

    Clear, Realistic Mandates, Use of Digital Tools 

    France’s delegate said that “peacekeeping is the heart” of the UN.  Peacekeeping missions “need to be part of a strategy, but in order for them to be successful, the mandate has to be based on clear, realistic and political objectives”, he added.  The representative of the United Kingdom said the UN needs to harness innovation, using data-driven decision-making, intelligence-led approaches and digital tools.  Peacekeepers must be trained on emerging threats, including cyberwarfare, disinformation campaigns and climate-related security risks.

    On the Secretary-General’s efforts to make the united Nations fit for purpose, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria, stated:  “Reform, yes; replace, no.”  Underlining the need for a “flexible toolbox of peace operations”, she stressed the importance of political solutions to the success of such operations.  “They can only keep peace where there is a peace to keep,” she observed.

    Over the past eight decades, the UN has deployed more than 120 peace operations in over 50 countries, and to a very large extent, these missions have helped prevent, manage and resolve conflicts, said the representative of Sierra Leone.  When his country was in the throes of a brutal civil war more than 20 years ago, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) assisted in disarming more than 75,000 ex-combatants, restored State authority and oversaw the first post-conflict democratic elections.  “The Mission, at the time, was seen as a prototype for the UN’s new emphasis on peacebuilding and showed how a well-resourced and adaptable UN operation can support a country to rebuild, reconcile and reclaim its future,” he said.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Don’t cut the aid’: Insecurity worsens for stateless Rohingya, says UNHCR’s Grandi

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Migrants and Refugees

    The plight of Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya is intensifying almost eight years since hundreds of thousands fled persecution and sought shelter in Bangladesh, the UN said on Monday, in an appeal for $934.5 million to help them.

    In a joint appeal, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) urged all countries to step up to support the displaced Rohingya – the world’s largest stateless population.

    A ‘frightening’ place

    The humanitarian situation in Cox’s Bazar – home to around one million Rohingya in Bangladesh – has worsened.

    “This is not a place where people want to live,” said IOM Director-General Amy Pope. “It’s frightening. If you are a young woman, you do not leave your tent at night.”

    Cross-border recruitment into terrorist organizations has risen sharply, while job opportunities have remained scarce and insecurity has spiked, humanitarians say.

    Families are weighing options and many are choosing to migrate illegally in search of safety and a better life on the outside, the agencies warned.

    Refugee city of one million people

    The Bangladesh authorities – together with the UN and other relief agencies – are “basically running a city of more than a million people in one of the most vulnerable areas in the world”, said UNHCR’s High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, at the launch of a Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya and host communities.  

    Echoing that message, IOM’s Ms. Pope warned that the crisis could spill out globally if States do not renew their efforts.  

    Amid the 2017 Rohingya exodus from Rakhine state in Myanmar, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein described the crisis as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

    Today, conditions in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar – which sprung up in a matter of days – have deteriorated further – and conflict in Myanmar sparked by a military coup in 2021 mean that it is too dangerous for the Rohingya to return.

    Terror link

    If nations do not step up to provide Rohingya with alternatives to dependency on international aid, “we will see young people choose crime or terrorism as an alternative when they have no future”, Ms. Pope warned.  

    “We’ll see young, young people, girls, sexually abused will see people have children at very young ages, will see a culture disappear.”

    “The short-term solution is don’t cut the aid,” Ms. Pope continued, reminding States of the need to push for a political outcome that will addresses longstanding inequality and discrimination against Rohingya in Myanmar.

    Soundcloud

    Putting the issue back on the map

    Mr. Grandi said he hoped the plan would put the issue “back on the map”, as global interest has declined in recent years.

    “It’s not just the suffering of the people, but also the space that gets created for violence, for extremists, for criminal groups, for onward boat movements, to other countries in Southeast Asia,” Mr. Grandi explained. 

    Further arrivals and births have further crowded Cox’s Bazar, strained resources for host communities and mounted pressure on the Bangladeshi authorities.  

    “I say this to my development partners – this is no time to leave the market,” said Dr. Khalilur Rahman, High Representative on the Rohingya Crisis and Priority Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh.

    Dr. Rahman called on countries to seize the opportunity to reinvest political will in stabilizing Rakhine state, to “plant a seed of peace” in a troubled region and turn the crisis into a “win”.

    “Behind each statement, there are people, and there are people who have languished for a long eight years to go back, people who have suffered untold miseries, and still have their hopes up,” the official said. “So, let’s not disappoint them.”

    Filling the vacuum

    Priorities include addressing food security to maintaining distributions of liquid gas, meaning refugees won’t need to cut down trees, damaging the environment, Mr. Grandi said.

    The UNHCR chief noted that young people were pleading for work opportunities to give their lives more meaning, while they wait in limbo to return home. One in three Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is aged between 10 and 24.

    Hostilities must cease

    Fighting must stop for refugees to go home, the agency chiefs said, with Dr. Rahman of the Bangladeshi Government echoing that message. 

    “What we need to promote is peaceful coexistence between communities in Rakhine State,” Mr. Grandi said. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Local staff ‘particularly vulnerable’ to detention, as UN calls for their release

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI

    Peace and Security

    Staff members of the United Nations around the world who are recruited locally are “particularly vulnerable” to detention and should be released and allowed to go home according to the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.

    In the last year alone 101 UN staff members were arrested or detained globally of whom at least 52 UN personnel remain in detention.

    The UN has a presence on the ground in some of the world’s most dangerous and unstable locations including Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    In a statement ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members the UN chief said that UN staff often serve “at immense personal risk – facing threats of kidnap, violence, harassment, detention, and more.”

    Mr. Guterres urged governments to ensure the safety and security of UN staff and to seek justice for crimes committed against them.

    He called on all states to fulfill their obligations under international conventions related to the protection of UN personnel.

    “Together, we must protect those who serve humanity and help build a better and safer world for all.”

    Held in Yemen

    The Arabian Peninsula state of Yemen is a particularly dangerous place to work for the United Nations.

    “In Yemen, 23 UN staff members, along with many other humanitarian workers, remain detained – some for more than three years,” the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Philémon Yang, said in his message to mark the international day.

    He said that “one UN aid worker from the World Food Programme has died while detained,” adding that those colleagues had “dedicated themselves to educating children, providing vital medical and food assistance to millions, and promoting peace and dialogue.

    “Their work must be protected. I stand in full solidarity with all those detained. They must be released and protected.”

    The staff detained in Yemen are all national staff and, prior to their detention, worked with UN and other agencies including the UN human rights office (OHCHR), the UN Development Programme, UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Food Programme, and the NGOs, CARE, Save the Children, and Oxfam.

    The President of the General Assembly – which comprises all 193 UN member states – called for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff detained in Yemen and elsewhere.

    Solidarity and action

    The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members marks the anniversary of the abduction of Alec Collett, a former journalist working for the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, who was abducted by a gunman in 1985. His body was found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009.

    The aim of the international day is to mobilize action, demand justice and strengthen the resolve to protect UN staff and peacekeepers, as well as workers in the non-governmental community and the media.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: WFP races to support new Congolese arrivals in Burundi as aid operations become stretched to the limit

    Source: World Food Programme

    Photo: WFP/Irenee Nduwayezu. A congolese refugee, near the rugombo stadium in the western of Burundi. refugees from Eastern Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC), forced to flee violence following the conflicts between the March Movement 23(M23) and DRC forces (FARDC).

    BUJUMBURA, Burundi – The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has rapidly mobilized additional assistance in Burundi to support the large influx of families fleeing violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The sharp increase in refugees in need of aid has placed a significant strain on WFP food assistance programmes in Burundi.

    Since January 2025, nearly 70,000 people – mainly women, children and the elderly – have fled fighting in DRC to Burundi, many making dangerous river crossings and walking long distances in search of safety. More continue to arrive each day, adding to what is already the largest influx into Burundi in decades. 

    Cross border movement into DRC’s other neighbours, including Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, is also increasing due to the escalating conflict in the country’s east and this threatens to worsen hunger across the region.

    “Refugees are arriving every day, some weighed down with hastily packed bundles and suitcases, and others with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” said Dragica Pajevic, WFP’s Deputy Regional Director for eastern Africa, who is currently on the ground supporting operations in Burundi. “The number of refugees has doubled in just a few weeks, and although we are grateful for the funding received to-date, it’s simply not enough. Our available resources are stretched beyond capacity, and we’re being forced to adapt our operations and reduce rations to reach as many people as possible.” 

    Of the 70,000 people who have arrived in Burundi from DRC in recent weeks, 60,000 have been registered for food assistance, doubling WFP’s total refugee caseload to 120,000 in just a few weeks. WFP is providing hot meals to the new Congolese refugees, who are housed in temporary transit camps, schools, churches and sports stadiums.

    Meanwhile, WFP’s existing refugees are receiving food rations – provided as a mix of in-kind food and cash. But to stretch limited resources, WFP was forced in March to reduce rations for existing refugees from 75 percent to 50 percent.  

    WFP currently only has the funds to sustain operations for 120,000 refugees through June. Without additional financial support, WFP will be forced to suspend food assistance entirely from July – or even earlier as refugee numbers continue to increase as conflict in eastern DRC intensifies. 

    To ensure uninterrupted assistance, WFP urgently needs US$19.8 million to maintain adequate support for the most vulnerable until the end of the year. This would also allow WFP to once again provide all refugees with full rations – vital life-saving support at this time of acute crisis.  

    Notes to editor:

    High resolutions photos are available here.

    Broadcast quality footage is available here.

    #                    #                      #

    The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

    Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, via @wfp_media @wfp_Africa 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Racism requires ignorance’: How art and culture can help end racial discrimination

    Source: United Nations 2

    By Ana Carmo

    Human Rights

    Despite significant progress over the years, the fight against racism and racial discrimination remains as urgent as ever. 

    “Ignorance allows for racism, but racism requires ignorance. It requires that we don’t know the facts,” says Sarah Lewis, Associate Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and founder of the Vision & Justice programme there, which connects research, art, and culture to promote equity and justice.

    Ms. Lewis was at the UN Headquarters for an event marking last week’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

    In an interview with UN News’s Ana Carmo, she discussed the crucial intersection of art, culture, and global action to tackle racial discrimination in the face of ongoing challenges.

    The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

    UN News: How can art contribute to both raising awareness of racial discrimination, and inspiring action towards its elimination?

    Sarah Lewis: I grew up not far from the United Nations, just ten blocks away. As a young girl, I became interested in the narratives that define who counts and who belongs. Narratives that condition our behaviour, narratives that allow for the implementation of laws and norms.

    And what I’ve come to study is the work of narratives over the course of centuries through the force of culture. We’re here to celebrate much of the policy work that’s been done through different states, but none of that work is binding and will last without the messages that are sent throughout the built environment, sent through the force of images, sent through the power of monuments.

    One of the thinkers in the United States who first focused on that idea was formerly enslaved abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass, and his speech Pictures in Progress, delivered in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War, offers a blueprint for how we must think about the function of culture for justice.

    He was not fixated on the work of any one artist. He was focused on the perceptual changes that happen in each of us, when we are confronted with an image that makes clear the injustices we didn’t know were happening, and forces action.

    UN News: This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. How do you think societies can really engage with these historical struggles for racial justice, particularly in the context where racial discrimination is still deeply entrenched?

    Sarah Lewis: We are speaking at a moment in which we’ve altered norms around what we teach, what is in our curriculum in states around the world. We are in a moment in which there’s a sense that one can teach slavery, for example, as beneficial, for the skills that [it] offered the enslaved.

    When you ask what nations can do, we must focus on the role of education. Ignorance allows for racism, but racism requires ignorance. It requires that we don’t know the facts. When you come to see how slavery, for example, was, abolished but transformed into various forms of systemic and sustained inequity, you realize that you must act.

    Without the work of education, we can’t cohere, safeguard and implement the norms and new policies and treaties that we advocate for here today.

    UN Photo

    In the past, a hopeful future for South Africa was hindered by apartheid, but overcoming racial injustice paved the way for a society based on equality and shared rights for all.

    UN News: You speak about the power of education and this idea that we need to change the narratives. How can we as societies ensure that the narratives and bias really change?

    Sarah Lewis: If education is important, the related question is, how do we best educate? And we don’t only educate through the work of colleges and universities and curriculums of all kinds, we educate through the narrative messaging in the world all around us.

    What can we do on a personal, daily level, leader or not, is to ask ourselves the questions: what are we seeing and why are we seeing it? What narratives are being conveyed in the society that define who counts and who belongs? And what can we do about it if it needs to be changed?

    We all have this individual, precise role to play in securing a more just world in which we know we all can create.

    UN News: When you were an undergraduate at Harvard, you mentioned that you noticed exactly that, that something was missing and that you had questions about what was not being taught to you. How important is to include the visual representation topic in schools, especially in the United States?

    Sarah Lewis: Silence and erasure cannot stand in states who work to secure justice around the world. I’m fortunate to have gone to extraordinary schools but I found though that much was being left out of what I was being taught, not through any design or any individual culprit, any one professor or another, but through a culture that had defined and decided which narratives mattered more than others.

    I really learned about this through the arts, right through understanding and thinking through what mainstream society tells us we should be focusing on in terms of the images and artists that matter.

    I wrote a book ten years ago on – effectively – failure, on our failure to address these narratives that are being left out. And in many ways, you can see, the idea of justice as society’s reckoning with failure.

    Justice requires humility on the part of all of us to acknowledge how wrong we have been. And it’s that humility that the educator has, that the student has and it’s the posture that we all need to adopt as citizens to acknowledge what we need to put back into the narratives of education today.

    UN News: You speak in your book about the role of the ‘almost failure’ as a near win in our own lives. How can we all see the somewhat progress being made, to achieve the elimination of racial discrimination in societies, and not feel defeated by the failures?

    Sarah Lewis: How many movements for social justice began when we admitted failure? When we admitted that we were wrong? I would argue they all have been born of that realisation. We cannot be defeated. There are examples of men and women who exemplify how we do it.

    I’ll tell you a quick story about one. His name was Charles Black Jr, and we’re here today, in part because of his work in the United States. In the 1930s, he went to a dance party and found himself so fixated by the power of this trumpet player.

    It was Louis Armstrong, and he had never heard of him, but he knew in that moment that because of the genius coming out of this black man, that racial segregation in America, must be wrong – that he was wrong.

    © Unsplash/Joshua J. Cotten

    A mural of the I Am a Man protest that took place in Memphis, Tennessee, during the Civil Rights Movement in the USA.

    It was then that he began walking towards justice, he became one of the lawyers for the ‘Brown v Board of Education’ case that helped outlaw segregation in the United States, and went on to teach every year at Columbia and Yale University, and would hold this ‘Armstrong listening night’ to honor the man who showed him that he was wrong, that society was wrong, and that there was something he could do about it.

    We must find ways to allow ourselves to not let that feeling of failure defeat us, but to continue. There are countless examples I could offer in that vein, but the story of Charles Black Jr. is one that demonstrates the catalytic force of that recognition of that internal dynamic that is the smaller, more private encounter and experience that often leads to the public forms of justice that we celebrate today. 

    Listen to the full interview on SoundCloud:

    Soundcloud

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: ‘Peace Operations Face Serious Barriers that Demand New Approaches’, Secretary-General Stresses, at Security Council Open Debate

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Security Council’s open debate titled “Advancing Adaptability in UN Peace Operations — Responding to New Realities”, in New York today:

    I thank the Government of Denmark for convening this high-level discussion.

    United Nations peace operations safeguard people and communities in some of the most desperate places on earth.

    These operations comprise both peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

    Their work ranges from early warning to preventive diplomacy, from peacemaking to verifying peace agreements to protecting civilians, from negotiating ceasefires to helping parties implement them on the ground, to electoral support and observer missions.

    Collectively, these operations represent a critical tool at this Council’s disposal to maintain international peace and security in a variety of contexts.

    Since the first special political mission and peacekeeping operation were deployed in 1948, our peace operations have grown, adapted and evolved.

    Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts and stopped atrocities.

    Peace operations are designed not only to be an effective example of multilateralism in action — but a cost-effective one.

    At their best, they show how when the UN comes together to address challenges; the burden is diminished on individual countries alone.

    But as we all know, peace operations face serious barriers that demand new approaches.

    Wars are becoming more complex and more deadly.  They last longer and are more enmeshed in global and regional dynamics.

    Negotiated settlements have been harder to achieve. Meanwhile, our peace operations are confronted with a complex interplay of threats — many of which do not respect national borders.

    Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.  And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace.

    The bilateral and multilateral arrangements that — for decades — have managed tensions and maintained stability are eroding.

    Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.

    Trust is in short supply among — and within — countries and regions.

    All of these challenges and more throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

    Meanwhile, our peace responses are struggling.  We see a persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources.  And we see increasing differences of views — including in this Council itself — around how peace operations should work, under what circumstances, with what mandates they should be deployed, and for how long.

    This is a grim diagnosis, but we must face facts.

    The good news is that, through the Pact for the Future, Member States committed to working to adapt peace operations for the future.

    This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful, what is hindering their effectiveness, and what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient — while recognizing the limitations in situations where there is little or no peace to keep.

    My recent proposals to you in the context of Haiti are a good example.  We must keep working for a political process — owned and led by the Haitian people — that restores democratic institutions through elections.  And the UN has a clear role to play in supporting stability and security, while addressing the root causes of the appalling crisis.

    The UN stands ready to assume the responsibility of the logistical and operational expenditures — including transportation, medical capabilities and support for the national police — that can support an international force established by Member States that is able to confront the gangs in Haiti and create conditions for peace.  And the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.

    This is a good example of how we can design a tailored and collective approach to peace operations in an extremely complex and dangerous environment.

    Other examples of adapting our peace operations include the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which recently developed an adaptation plan to support the parties to uphold their obligations under resolution 1701 (2006), and our operations in Abyei, Sudan, where we reconfigured our peace operations into a multinational force.

    We also increasingly see the enormous benefits of strengthening cooperation with regional and subregional organizations.  Security Council resolution 2719 (2023) is an important example.

    This breakthrough has lifted our partnership with the African Union to a new level as we work to establish peace enforcement missions under the responsibility of the African Union, supported by the United Nations.  We are now working actively across our two Secretariats to meet the vision of the resolution, and I urge Council members to fully support this work.

    It’s time to build on these examples and continue adapting our peace operations for current and future challenges.

    Work is now under way to review all forms of peace operations, as requested by Member States in the Pact for the Future.

    The review will aim to critically examine these tools and propose concrete recommendations to make them fit for today.

    This will include extensive consultations with Member States and others to inform — and inspire — recommendations.

    The review will build on the analysis presented in the New Agenda for Peace.

    It will be informed by the first comprehensive study of the history of special political missions in the 80 years of the United Nations, which will be released soon.

    And it will reflect the Pact’s call to ensure that peace operations engage at the earliest possible stage in planning transitions with host countries, UN country teams and local and regional groups.

    The review also aligns with the Pact’s call to this Council to ensure that peace operations are guided by clear and sequenced mandates that are realistic and achievable — with viable exit strategies and transition plans.

    And it will draw on the discussions taking place in preparation for the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin in May focusing on the future of peacekeeping.

    Throughout, we will hold extensive consultations to capture as wide a spectrum of views as possible and to benefit from worldwide expertise.

    From Member States, host States, troop- and police-contributing countries and financial contributors to regional organizations, civil society and academia, and our own leaders and experts within UN peace operations and the Secretariat.

    And the review will, of course, help inform our efforts through our UN@80 initiative, to find efficiencies and improvements across our work in light of the continued funding challenges we face as an organization.

    Today’s open debate provides a vital opportunity for the Council to share perspectives and ideas to inform the review process.  I urge all Members to support it.  And I call on this Council to continue working to overcome divisions and disagreements around peace operations and build the unified and consistent political support our peace operations — and the women and men who conduct them — need and deserve.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNAIDS chief warns of ‘real surge’ in deaths unless US restores funding

    Source: United Nations 2

    Health

    Amid continuing uncertainty about the impact of deep US funding cuts to humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV-AIDS warned that an addition 6.3 million people will die in the next four years, unless support is reinstated.

    “We will see a …real surge in this disease – [we] will see it come back and we see people dying the way we saw them in the 90s and in 2000s,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director, pointing to a “tenfold increase” from the 600,000 AIDS-related deaths recorded globally in 2023.

    “We also expect an additional 8.7 million new infections. At the last count, there were 1.3 million new infections globally (in) 2023”.

    Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Byanyima noted that the funding freeze announced by the White House on 20 January was due to end next month, after a 90-day review.

    “We have not heard of other governments pledging to fill the gap,” she told journalists.

    Already, drop-in centres where HIV patients can pick up the anti-retroviral medicines they need are not reopening, “for fear that this might not be consistent with the new guidelines”, she maintained.

    “This sudden withdrawal of US funding has led (to) shutting down of many clinics, laying off of thousands of health workers, these are nurses, doctors, lab technicians, pharmacy workers…it’s a lot.”

    Focus on Africa

    Focusing on Africa – where the east and south of the continent share 53 per cent of the global HIV burden – Ms. Byanyima warned that closing down “all of a sudden drop-in centres for girls and young women will be disastrous, because more than 60 per cent of new infections – amongst young – new infections on the continent are amongst girls and young women”.

    Speaking to UN News earlier this month, the head of the UNAIDS office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Susan Kasedde, said there were still major questions over the extent and scope of cuts due to be made to US PEPFAR initiative programmes, which began in 2003 to prevent and contain HIV infections – the presidency’s emergency plan which has saved an estimated 26 million lives.

    There are currently around 520,000 people living with HIV in the DRC, including 300,000 women and 50,000 children. The epidemic continues to grow, as the number of new infections is almost double the number of deaths linked to the disease.

    PEPFAR’s expected contribution for the 2025 fiscal year was due to be $105 million, and it aims to provide treatment half of the population living with HIV in the DRC – some 209,000 people.

    “This means that we currently have 440,000 people living with HIV who are on treatment. Thanks to this treatment, they are alive”, said Ms. Kasedde.

    “And then treatment cannot work without operational capacity, treatment cannot be provided if there is not a proper-functioning supply chain”, she stressed, pointing out that the response to HIV in the DRC involve largely interdependent programmes which reinforce each other.

    Global impact of cuts

    Several other UN agencies that are heavily reliant on US funding have also warned that the cut in support – in addition to chronic under-investment in humanitarian work globally – is already having a serious impact on the communities they serve.

    On Friday, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that thousands have been left without lifesaving aid in the war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) also announced that funding cuts have severe repercussions for vulnerable migrant communities, exacerbating humanitarian crises and undermining essential support systems for displaced populations.

    Together with IOM, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned last Friday that that the liquidity crunch has jeopardized lifesaving work, including progress in reducing child mortality, which has fallen by 60 per cent since 1990.

    “It is reasonable for the United States to want to reduce its funding – over time. But the sudden withdrawal of lifesaving support is having a devastating impact across countries, particularly Africa, but even in Asia and Latin America,” said UNAIDS’ Ms. Byanyima.

    “We urge for a reconsideration and an urgent restoration of services – of life-saving services.”

    Presidential appeal

    And in a direct appeal to President Donald Trump, the UNAIDS chief noted that just as President George W Bush had introduced the groundbreaking PEPFAR initiative, the new White House incumbent could also be part of the “prevention revolution”, involving injectable HIV injections that are required just twice a year to provide protection.

    “The deal is that an American company is enabled to produce and to license generics across the regions to produce millions and roll out this injectable to those who really need it,” she insisted.

    According to UNAIDS, approximately 40 million people globally live with HIV, based on 2023 data. Of this number, some 1.3 million became newly infected with HIV in the same year and 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: WFP and Japan support Angola to strengthen food and water security in drought stricken areas

    Source: World Food Programme

    LUANDA, Angola — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of US$ 2 million from the Government of Japan to support over 27,000 people affected by drought in southern Angola. This funding will enhance the food and water security while strengthening the resilience of smallholder farmers through Japanese agricultural technology innovations.

    In collaboration with the Government of Angola, WFP will scale up efforts to promote sustainable access to water, boost agricultural production, and improve the livelihoods of communities impacted by a prolonged drought and the El Niño event in Huíla and Cunene provinces. Through this initiative, WFP will provide solar-powered water supply and small-scale irrigation systems, skills training, and technical assistance to strengthen local value chains and create economic opportunities for smallholder farmers.

    WFP will also partner with a Japanese technology company, leveraging its expertise and innovative solutions to help unlock the country’s agricultural potential and advance national development priorities. 

    “WFP’s collaboration with the Government of Japan and the Japanese private sector has the potential to become a game-changer for Angola’s agriculture sector,” said José Ferrão, WFP Head of Office in Angola. “By combining WFP’s deep field presence and knowledge of the local context and Japan’s cutting-edge technology, this project will empower communities facing climate shocks to build long-term food and water security.”

    This generous contribution comes from a new initiative dedicated to sustainable socioeconomic development in Africa, in the lead-up to the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) to be held in Yokohama, Japan in August 2025.

    “The project supported by this new initiative and implemented in collaboration with WFP and NEC Corporation will be presented at TICAD9 as a model of co-created innovative solutions with Africa,” said Toru Suzuki, the Japanese Ambassador to Angola. 

    “It also contributes to Japan’s Country Development Cooperation Policy for Angola, which is aligned with the National Development Plan (2023-2027), that identifies the agriculture sector as a driver to promote food security and economic diversification and accelerating sustainable development.”

    WFP has been complementing the Government’s drought response efforts by delivering specialised nutrition support and food vouchers to families with malnourished children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls. WFP also trains and mentors health facility staff and community health workers to conduct nutrition screenings and deliver programmes to address moderate acute malnutrition and improve maternal and child health outcomes. 

    #                    #                       #

    The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability, and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters, and the impact of climate change.

    Follow WFP on X via @wfp_media, @wfp_SAfrica

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Security Council – Advancing Adaptability in UN Peace Operations: responding to new realities [bilingual, as delivered; scroll down for all-English and all-French versions]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    Mr. President, Excellencies,
     
    I thank the government of Denmark for convening this high-level discussion.

    United Nations peace operations safeguard people and communities in some of the most desperate places on earth. 

    These operations comprise both peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

    Their work ranges from early warning to preventive diplomacy…

    From peacemaking to verifying peace agreements to protecting civilians…

    From negotiating ceasefires to helping parties implement them on the ground…

    To electoral support and observer missions.

    Collectively, these operations represent a critical tool at this Council’s disposal to maintain international peace and security in a variety of contexts.

    Since the first special political mission and peacekeeping operation were deployed in 1948, our peace operations have grown, adapted and evolved.

    Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts, and stopped atrocities.

    Peace operations are designed not only to be an effective example of multilateralism in action — but a cost-effective one.

    At their best, they show how when the UN comes together to address challenges, the burden is diminished on individual countries alone.  

    But as we all know, peace operations face serious barriers that demand new approaches.

    Wars are becoming more complex and more deadly. 

    They last longer, and are more enmeshed in global and regional dynamics. 

    Negotiated settlements have been harder to achieve.

    Meanwhile, our peace operations are confronted with a complex interplay of threats — many of which do not respect national borders.

    Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.

    And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace.

    The bilateral and multilateral arrangements that — for decades — have managed tensions and maintained stability are eroding.  

    Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.

    Trust is in short supply among — and within — countries and regions.

    All of these challenges and more throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

    Meanwhile, our peace responses are struggling.  

    We see a persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources.

    And we see increasing differences of views — including in this Council itself — around how peace operations should work, under what circumstances, with what mandates they should be deployed, and for how long.

    Excellencies,

    This is a grim diagnosis, but we must face facts.

    The good news is that, through the Pact for the Future, Member States committed to working to adapt peace operations for the future.

    This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful …

    What is hindering their effectiveness …

    And what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient — while recognizing the limitations in situations where there is little or no peace to keep. 

    My recent proposals to you in the context of Haiti are a good example.

    We must keep working for a political process — owned and led by the Haitian people — that restores democratic institutions through elections.

    And the UN has a clear role to play in supporting stability and security, while addressing the root causes of the appalling crisis.

    The UN stands ready to assume the responsibility of the logistical and operational expenditures — including transportation, medical capabilities and support for the national police — that can support an enhanced international force by Member States that is able to confront the gangs in Haiti and create conditions for peace.   

    And the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.

    This is a good example of how we can design a tailored and collective approach to peace operations in an extremely complex and dangerous environment. 

    Other examples of adapting our peace operations include UNIFIL, which recently developed an adaptation plan to support the parties to uphold their obligations under resolution 1701…

    And our operations in Abyei, Sudan, where we reconfigured our peace operations into a multinational force.

    We also increasingly see the enormous benefits of strengthening cooperation with regional and subregional organizations.

    Security Council resolution 2719 is an important example.

    This breakthrough has lifted our partnership with the African Union to a new level as we work to establish peace enforcement missions under the responsibility of the African Union, supported by the United Nations.

    We are now working actively across our two Secretariats to meet the vision of the resolution, and I urge Council Members to fully support this work.

    Excellencies,

    It’s time to build on these examples and continue adapting our peace operations for current and future challenges. 

    Work is now underway to review all forms of peace operations, as requested by Member States in the Pact for the Future.

    The review will aim to critically examine these tools and propose concrete recommendations to make them fit for today.

    This will include extensive consultations with Member States and others to inform — and inspire — recommendations.

    The review will build on the analysis presented in the New Agenda for Peace.

    It will be informed by the first comprehensive study of the history of special political missions in the 80 years of the United Nations, which will be released soon.

    And it will reflect the Pact’s call to ensure that peace operations engage at the earliest possible stage in planning transitions with host countries, UN Country Teams and local and regional groups.

    The review also aligns with the Pact’s call to this Council to ensure that peace operations are guided by clear and sequenced mandates that are realistic and achievable — with viable exit strategies and transition plans.

    And it will draw on the discussions taking place in preparation for the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin in May focusing on the future of peacekeeping.

    Excellences,

    Tout au long de l’étude, nous mènerons des consultations approfondies afin de recueillir un éventail de vues aussi large que possible et de bénéficier d’une expertise mondiale.

    Celle des États Membres, des pays hôtes, des pays fournisseurs de contingents ou de personnel de police et des contributeurs financiers…

    Celle des organisations régionales, de la société civile et des milieux universitaires, ainsi que de nos propres hauts responsables et experts des opérations de paix des Nations Unies et du Secrétariat.

    Bien entendu, l’étude contribuera à éclairer les efforts que nous déployons dans le cadre de l’initiative ONU80, afin de dégager des gains d’efficacité et des améliorations dans tous nos axes de travail – compte tenu des défis persistants de financement auxquels notre Organisation est confrontée.

    Excellences,

    Le débat public d’aujourd’hui est une occasion précieuse pour le Conseil de partager toute idée et point de vue qui pourrait contribuer à l’étude.

    J’invite tous les États Membres à apporter leur pierre à l’édifice.

    Et j’appelle ce Conseil à continuer à œuvrer pour surmonter les divisions et les désaccords entourant les opérations de paix, et bâtir le soutien politique unifié et cohérent dont nos opérations de paix – et les femmes et les hommes qui les mènent – ont tant besoin.

    Je vous remercie.

    ***
    All-English

    Mr. President, Excellencies,
     
    I thank the government of Denmark for convening this high-level discussion.

    United Nations peace operations safeguard people and communities in some of the most desperate places on earth. 

    These operations comprise both peacekeeping operations and special political missions.

    Their work ranges from early warning to preventive diplomacy…

    From peacemaking to verifying peace agreements to protecting civilians…

    From negotiating ceasefires to helping parties implement them on the ground…

    To electoral support and observer missions.

    Collectively, these operations represent a critical tool at this Council’s disposal to maintain international peace and security in a variety of contexts.

    Since the first special political mission and peacekeeping operation were deployed in 1948, our peace operations have grown, adapted and evolved.

    Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts, and stopped atrocities.

    Peace operations are designed not only to be an effective example of multilateralism in action — but a cost-effective one.

    At their best, they show how when the UN comes together to address challenges, the burden is diminished on individual countries alone.  

    But as we all know, peace operations face serious barriers that demand new approaches.

    Wars are becoming more complex and more deadly. 

    They last longer, and are more enmeshed in global and regional dynamics. 

    Negotiated settlements have been harder to achieve.

    Meanwhile, our peace operations are confronted with a complex interplay of threats — many of which do not respect national borders.

    Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.

    And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace.

    The bilateral and multilateral arrangements that — for decades — have managed tensions and maintained stability are eroding.  

    Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.

    Trust is in short supply among — and within — countries and regions.

    All of these challenges and more throw fuel on the fires of conflict.

    Meanwhile, our peace responses are struggling.  

    We see a persistent mismatch between mandates and available resources.

    And we see increasing differences of views — including in this Council itself — around how peace operations should work, under what circumstances, with what mandates they should be deployed, and for how long.

    Excellencies,

    This is a grim diagnosis, but we must face facts.

    The good news is that, through the Pact for the Future, Member States committed to working to adapt peace operations for the future.

    This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful …

    What is hindering their effectiveness …

    And what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient — while recognizing the limitations in situations where there is little or no peace to keep. 

    My recent proposals to you in the context of Haiti are a good example.

    We must keep working for a political process — owned and led by the Haitian people — that restores democratic institutions through elections.

    And the UN has a clear role to play in supporting stability and security, while addressing the root causes of the appalling crisis.

    The UN stands ready to assume the responsibility of the logistical and operational expenditures — including transportation, medical capabilities and support for the national police — that can support an international force established by Member States that is able to confront the gangs in Haiti and create conditions for peace.   

    And the salaries of the force are paid through the trust fund that already exists.

    This is a good example of how we can design a tailored and collective approach to peace operations in an extremely complex and dangerous environment. 

    Other examples of adapting our peace operations include UNIFIL, which recently developed an adaptation plan to support the parties to uphold their obligations under resolution 1701…

    And our operations in Abyei, Sudan, where we reconfigured our peace operations into a multinational force.

    We also increasingly see the enormous benefits of strengthening cooperation with regional and subregional organizations.

    Security Council resolution 2719 is an important example.

    This breakthrough has lifted our partnership with the African Union to a new level as we work to establish peace enforcement missions under the responsibility of the African Union, supported by the United Nations.

    We are now working actively across our two Secretariats to meet the vision of the resolution, and I urge Council Members to fully support this work.

    Excellencies,

    It’s time to build on these examples and continue adapting our peace operations for current and future challenges. 

    Work is now underway to review all forms of peace operations, as requested by Member States in the Pact for the Future.

    The review will aim to critically examine these tools and propose concrete recommendations to make them fit for today.

    This will include extensive consultations with Member States and others to inform — and inspire — recommendations.

    The review will build on the analysis presented in the New Agenda for Peace.

    It will be informed by the first comprehensive study of the history of special political missions in the 80 years of the United Nations, which will be released soon.

    And it will reflect the Pact’s call to ensure that peace operations engage at the earliest possible stage in planning transitions with host countries, UN Country Teams and local and regional groups.

    The review also aligns with the Pact’s call to this Council to ensure that peace operations are guided by clear and sequenced mandates that are realistic and achievable — with viable exit strategies and transition plans.

    And it will draw on the discussions taking place in preparation for the Peacekeeping Ministerial in Berlin in May focusing on the future of peacekeeping.

    Excellencies,

    Throughout, we will hold extensive consultations to capture as wide a spectrum of views as possible and to benefit from worldwide expertise.

    From Member States, host States, troop- and police-contributing countries and financial contributors…

    To regional organizations, civil society and academia, and our own leaders and experts within UN peace operations and the Secretariat.

    And the review will, of course, help inform our efforts through our UN@80 initiative, to find efficiencies and improvements across our work in light of the continued funding challenges we face as an organization.  

    Excellencies,

    Today’s open debate provides a vital opportunity for the Council to share perspectives and ideas to inform the review process.

    I urge all Members to support it.

    And I call on this Council to continue working to overcome divisions and disagreements around peace operations, and build the unified and consistent political support our peace operations — and the women and men who conduct them — need and deserve.

    Thank you.

    ***
    All-French

    Monsieur le Président, Excellences,

    Je remercie le Gouvernement danois d’avoir organisé ce débat de haut niveau.

    Les opérations de paix des Nations unies protègent les personnes et les communautés dans certains des endroits les plus éprouvés de la planète. 

    Ces opérations comprennent à la fois les opérations de maintien de la paix et les missions politiques spéciales.

    Leur travail va de l’alerte rapide à diplomatie préventive…

    Du rétablissement de la paix à la vérification de l’application des accords de paix et de la protection des civils…

    De la négociation de cessez-le-feu au soutien de leur mise en œuvre par les parties sur le terrain…

    Ou encore aux missions d’observation et d’appui électoral.

    Prises ensemble, ces opérations dotent le Conseil d’un outil essentiel pour maintenir la paix et la sécurité internationales dans divers contextes.

    Depuis le déploiement de la première mission politique spéciale et de la première opération de maintien de la paix en 1948, nos opérations de paix se sont développées, adaptées et transformées.

    Elles nous permettent régulièrement d’intervenir de façon ciblée pour sauver des vies, réduire la violence, enrayer l’élargissement et le débordement de conflits meurtriers, et mettre fin à des atrocités.

    Les opérations de paix sont conçues pour démontrer non seulement l’efficacité du multilatéralisme en action mais aussi son intérêt en termes de coûts.

    Dans le meilleur des cas, elles montrent qu’il est possible d’alléger le fardeau qui pèse sur chaque pays individuellement lorsque les Nations Unies se rallient pour agir.

    Toutefois, comme nous le savons tous, les opérations de paix se heurtent à des obstacles de taille, et de nouvelles approches s’imposent.

    Les guerres deviennent plus complexes et plus meurtrières.

    Elles durent plus longtemps et sont davantage imbriquées dans des dynamiques mondiales et régionales.

    Il est plus difficile de parvenir à des règlements négociés.

    Parallèlement, un entrelacs complexe de menaces, dont beaucoup transcendent les frontières nationales, se dresse face aux opérations de paix.

    Les groupes terroristes et extrémistes, la criminalité organisée, la militarisation des nouvelles technologies et les effets des changements climatiques sont autant de phénomènes qui mettent à l’épreuve nos capacités d’intervention.

    Et – je suis navré de le constater – les divisions géopolitiques sapent la paix.

    Les accords bilatéraux et multilatéraux qui, pendant des décennies, avaient permis de maîtriser les tensions et de préserver la stabilité s’érodent.

    Les violations du droit international, des droits humains et de la Charte des Nations Unies sont légion – sans que cela ne porte à conséquence, semble-t-il.

    La confiance se fait rare entre les pays, entre les régions, et à l’intérieur de ceux-ci.

    Tous ces dangers, et bien d’autres encore, attisent la flamme des conflits.

    De notre côté, nos interventions en faveur de la paix sont à la peine.

    Nous constatons une asymétrie persistante entre les mandats confiés et les ressources disponibles.

    Et nous constatons des divergences de vues de plus en plus marquées – y compris au sein même de ce Conseil – sur les modalités de fonctionnement des opérations de paix, les circonstances justifiant leur déploiement, la teneur de leur mandat et leur durée.

    Excellences,

    Le diagnostic peut paraître sombre, mais il correspond à la réalité.

    La bonne nouvelle est que les États Membres se sont engagés dans le Pacte pour l’avenir à adapter les opérations de paix pour l’avenir.

    Voilà une occasion privilégiée de dégager une réponse commune aux questions suivantes : quelles sont les conditions de réussite des opérations de paix ?

    Quels obstacles se dressent sur le chemin ?

    Et quels nouveaux modèles nous pouvons appliquer afin de les rendre plus adaptables, plus souples et plus résilientes – tout en reconnaissant les cas limites où l’on sait qu’il y a peu ou pas de paix à maintenir.

    Les propositions que je vous ai faites récemment dans le contexte d’Haïti en sont une bonne illustration.

    Nous devons continuer d’œuvrer en faveur d’un processus politique – maîtrisé et conduit par le peuple haïtien – qui rétablisse les institutions démocratiques par la voie électorale.

    L’ONU a un rôle clair à jouer pour appuyer la stabilité et la sécurité, tout en s’attaquant aux causes profondes de cette crise effroyable.

    L’ONU est prête à assumer la responsabilité des dépenses logistiques et opérationnelles – y compris le transport, les capacités médicales et le soutien envers la police nationale – qui peuvent appuyer une force internationale renforcée par les États membres, qui soit capable de faire face aux gangs en Haïti et de créer les conditions de la paix.

    Les salaires de la force quant à eux sont couverts par le fonds d’affectation spéciale qui existe déjà.

    Nous avons là un bon exemple de la manière dont nous pouvons concevoir une approche adaptée et collective des opérations de paix dans un environnement extrêmement complexe et dangereux.

    Parmi les autres exemples d’adaptation de nos opérations de paix, citons la FINUL, qui a récemment élaboré un plan d’adaptation pour aider les parties à respecter les obligations que leur fait la résolution 1701.

    On peut également évoquer nos opérations à Abyei, au Soudan, où nous avons reconfiguré nos opérations de paix en une force multinationale.

    Nous prenons également de plus en plus la mesure des avantages considérables que présente le renforcement de la collaboration avec les organisations régionales et sous-régionales.

    La résolution 2719 du Conseil de sécurité revêt une importance certaine à cet égard.

    Cette avancée a porté notre partenariat avec l’Union africaine à un niveau supérieur, alors que nous œuvrons à la mise en place de missions d’imposition de la paix sous la responsabilité de l’Union africaine, avec le soutien des Nations unies.

    Nos deux Secrétariats travaillent désormais activement à concrétiser la vision énoncée dans la résolution, et j’invite les membres du Conseil à y apporter leur plein concours.

    Excellences,

    Il est temps de s’inspirer de ces exemples et de continuer à adapter nos opérations de paix aux défis actuels et futurs. 

    Des travaux sont en cours pour réexaminer toutes les formes d’opérations de paix, comme l’ont demandé les États Membres dans le Pacte pour l’avenir.

    L’objectif est de procéder à un examen critique de ces outils et de proposer des recommandations concrètes afin de les adapter au monde d’aujourd’hui.

    Il s’agira notamment de mener des consultations approfondies avec les États Membres et d’autres parties prenantes afin de nourrir – et d’inspirer – ces recommandations.

    L’étude fera fond sur l’analyse présentée dans le Nouvel Agenda pour la paix.

    Elle prendra pour appui l’étude d’ensemble de l’histoire des missions politiques spéciales, la première effectuée en 80 ans d’existence de l’ONU, qui sera publiée prochainement.

    Elle se fera aussi l’écho de l’appel lancé dans le Pacte pour veiller à ce que les opérations de paix s’engagent le plus tôt possible dans la planification des transitions avec les pays hôtes, l’équipe de pays des Nations Unies et les groupes locaux et régionaux.

    L’étude s’inscrit également dans le sillage de la demande qui est adressée au Conseil dans le Pacte pour que les opérations de paix soient guidées par des mandats clairs et séquencés, réalistes et réalisables, ainsi que des stratégies de sortie et des plans de transition viables.

    Elle s’appuiera enfin sur les discussions qui se tiennent en préparation de la Conférence ministérielle sur le maintien de la paix qui aura lieu à Berlin en mai et qui sera consacrée à l’avenir du maintien de la paix.

    Excellences,

    Tout au long de l’étude, nous mènerons des consultations approfondies afin de recueillir un éventail de vues aussi large que possible et de bénéficier d’une expertise mondiale.

    Celle des États Membres, des pays hôtes, des pays fournisseurs de contingents ou de personnel de police et des contributeurs financiers…

    Celle des organisations régionales, de la société civile et des milieux universitaires, ainsi que de nos propres hauts responsables et experts des opérations de paix des Nations Unies et du Secrétariat.

    Bien entendu, l’étude contribuera à éclairer les efforts que nous déployons dans le cadre de l’initiative ONU80, afin de dégager des gains d’efficacité et des améliorations dans tous nos axes de travail – compte tenu des défis persistants de financement auxquels notre Organisation est confrontée.

    Excellences,

    Le débat public d’aujourd’hui est une occasion précieuse pour le Conseil de partager toute idée et point de vue qui pourrait contribuer à l’étude.

    J’invite tous les États Membres à apporter leur pierre à l’édifice.

    Et j’appelle ce Conseil à continuer à œuvrer pour surmonter les divisions et les désaccords entourant les opérations de paix, et bâtir le soutien politique unifié et cohérent dont nos opérations de paix – et les femmes et les hommes qui les mènent – ont tant besoin.

    Je vous remercie.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 46th session of the joint UNECE Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    The forty-sixth session of the joint FAO/UNECE Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management will be held from 14 to 15 May 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland.

    JWP preliminary programme (as of 07.03.2025): PDF

    Contact: Secretariat

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 21 March 2025 Departmental update WHO partners with Thailand and Sri Lanka to pilot a new tool to combat and address infodemics

    Source: World Health Organisation

    To help countries strengthen their capacity to respond quickly during crises—including the dissemination of critical information and understanding the factors influencing this—WHO has partnered with the Ministries of Health in Sri Lanka and Thailand to pilot a new global Information Environment Assessments (IEA) tool and training package. Funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the new IEA tool is designed to help countries identify the factors influencing how communities’ access, process, exchange, engage with, understand, and share information.

    To read more please click on the link.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNECE Executive Secretary in Rome to strengthen cooperation with Italian Government and UN agencies

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean was in Rome on 18-19 March to meet with high-level officials of the Government of Italy and discuss efforts to strengthen development cooperation across multiple areas, as well as to exchange with principals of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).  

    In discussions with Federico Eichberg, Chef de Cabinet at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Ms. Molcean focused on cooperation on corporate sustainability reporting, due diligence and digital product passports. She stressed the importance of UNECE’s tools for traceability along value chains, which were piloted with blockchain and other innovative technologies with brands, retailers and manufacturers of the Italian garment and footwear industry. Discussions also addressed gender equality and the promotion of women entrepreneurship and leadership, in particular knowledge sharing and best practices. 

    The Executive Secretary also met with Edoardo Rixi, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, to discuss Italy’s longstanding contribution to UNECE’s work on transport, in particular on road safety, through the Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety (WP.1), chaired by Luciana Iorio, on vehicle regulations, through the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), as well as on the transport of dangerous goods and the carriage of goods by rail. She also encouraged Italy to join the Advisory Board of the UN Road Safety Fund hosted by UNECE.   

    Meeting with Davide La Cecilia, Special Envoy for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and Coordinator of the Ukraine Recovery and Resilience Task Force, as well as with Marco Rusconi, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), and Carlo Batori, Deputy Director General for Development Cooperation, the Executive Secretary discussed preparations for the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome (10-11 July).  

    She appreciated Italy’s continued leadership and expected support to UNECE-led UN4UkrainianCities project, which plays a key role in rebuilding Ukraine’s urban centers, in particular Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, with a focus on sustainability, resilience, and inclusivity.   

    The Executive Secretary also visited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to meet with Director General Qu Dongyu. UNECE and FAO have had a longstanding cooperation since 1947 on forests. Discussions also touched upon UNECE’s contribution to food systems sustainability through its agricultural quality standards, trade facilitation, ESG traceability and circularity. Cooperation with FAO also includes the promotion of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus approach to water resource management. 

    In discussions with Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Ms. Molcean underlined the strategic alignment of UNECE’s expertise in sustainable development, trade facilitation and logistics, and particularly agricultural standards, with WFP’s mission in food security and humanitarian aid.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: The G20 prioritises strengthening disaster resilience in 2025

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Marking its third year as a regular fixture in one of the world’s top economic forums, the first meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group, under the South African Presidency took place on 5 March. 

    In recognition of the role of disaster risk reduction in reducing growing disaster losses, the President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, declared at both the launch of South Africa’s Presidency in December 2024, as well as at the first G20 Finance Minister’s meeting in February 2025, that “our first priority is to take action to strengthen disaster resilience and response”. 

    This sense of urgency was echoed by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Mr. Velenkosini Hlabisa, who officially opened the inaugural meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group by stating that “disasters know no borders” and that efforts to prevent and mitigate them require “Solidarity and Global Cooperation”. 

    This is a core theme for the Working Group this year in line with the Presidency’s key pillars of “Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability.” Minister Hlabisa also highlighted how this is a historic G20 as it is the first to be held on the African continent: “South Africa will bring the G20 to Africa and Africa to the G20”.

    Opening remarks were also provided by Mr Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), who thanked South Africa for entrusting UNDRR with the role of Secretariat for the Working Group. 

    Mr. Kishore also underscored how disasters are “becoming a larger threat to economic prosperity” while at the same time, “economic development that is not guided by an understanding of disaster risks can inadvertently lead to more disasters.”​

    During the meeting, the South African Presidency presented their priorities and work plan for the year, as explained in their Issue Note. This was followed by the opening of the discussion for inputs and reflections from Member States and invited states and organisations, who were represented by 236 participants, reflecting a high turn for the inaugural meeting. 

    The meeting set a strong foundation for the work to come over the year, which will culminate with a ministerial-level meeting in October in South Africa. Until then, the next Working Group meeting is planned to take place in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality on 8-11 April. 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 24 March 2025 Departmental update Second global meeting on skin NTDs focuses on advancing integration and innovation

    Source: World Health Organisation

    The 2nd Global Meeting on skin-related neglected tropical diseases (skin NTDs) opens in Geneva today, to accelerate progress on integrated approaches for these conditions that disproportionately affect marginalized communities, worldwide.

    Bringing together over 1000 experts, national programme managers, researchers, policy-makers, public health advocates and partners, the 3-day meeting seeks to advance innovative strategies for the prevention, detection and treatment of these often-overlooked diseases.

    Skin NTDs1 impact millions of people, leading to severe disability, stigma and socioeconomic hardship. The NTD road map 2021–2030 focuses on integration as a cross-cutting approach to strengthen health systems and ensure no one is left behind.

    “Integration is key to accelerating progress in achieving targets of the 2030 NTD road map,” said Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Director, WHO Global Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme. “By bringing together experts across disciplines and diseases, this meeting is a testament to integration and will drive forward innovative solutions that improve early detection, treatment and long-term care for those affected.”

    This year’s discussions explore the potential use of artificial intelligence and other digital tools to improve training, diagnosis, management and training, particularly in resource-limited settings.

    The meeting provides a platform for representatives from ministries of health, researchers, nongovernmental organization, donors, civil society and affected communities to align efforts and share best practices in scaling up integrated approaches.

    “Skin diseases often go unreported, yet they have a profound impact on individuals and communities,” said Professor Henry Lim, President, International League of Dermatological Societies. “This meeting is a call to action for all stakeholders to work collaboratively together in ensuring equitable access to diagnosis, treatment and care of people affected skin diseases.”

    This second global meeting on skin NTDs follows a key milestone: the recommendation by the 156th WHO Executive Board for a resolution on skin diseases2 to be adopted at the 78th World Health Assembly in May this year.

    ————————————

    1 The skin NTDs include Buruli ulcer; cutaneous leishmaniasis; mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses; leprosy (Hansen’s disease); lymphatic filariasis; onchocerciasis; post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis; scabies and other ectoparasitoses (including tungiasis); and yaws.

    2 Skin diseases as a global public health problem

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNECE advances implementation of digital data exchange along SPECA corridors

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    Increased use of digital solutions developed by UNECE’s subsidiary, intergovernmental body – the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) – can enhance the sustainability and resilience of supply chains and strengthen global connectivity. Data mapping and alignment to the UN/CEFACT standards allow for a common semantic foundation for data exchange among the different port or railway information systems and other modes of transport.

    The benefits include reducing economic costs, enabling seamless data interchange among modes of transport and sectors in the supply chain, using the UN standards as a common semantic foundation for cross-border, multimodal, and cross-sectoral interoperability, simplification and automation of business processes, and raising business competitiveness.

    As part of the implementation the roadmap for digitalization of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which was adopted by States participating in the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) in November 2023, UNECE recently organized two capacity-building seminars in Turkmenistan to streamline efforts to digitalize transport and supply chains along the Trans-Caspian and other corridors in the region. 

    In 2023, the total cargo transported via the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor increased by 86% in 2023, reaching 2.8 million tons, up from 1.5 million tons in 2022. According to a World Bank study, with targeted investments and policy reforms, the Middle Corridor has the potential to triple its trade volumes by 2030, reaching 11 million tons, and to reduce travel time by half. ​

    The first seminar focused on port-to-port data exchange in the Trans-Caspian Corridor, notably in Baku-Aktau and Baku-Turkmenbashi, to align this data exchange to the UN/CEFACT standards and Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model (MMT RDM). Baku and Aktau ports are already exchanging data on cargo, and the ports of Baku and Turkmenbashi have an agreement to exchange data.                       

    The seminar participants requested UNECE, the Governments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan and the development partners to support the effort to align the data exchange to the UN/CEFACT standards in the context of the Trans-Caspian Digitalization Roadmap. In addition to supporting the digital exchange of information among the Caspian ports of Baku, Aktau, and Turkmenbashi, one of the recommendations of the seminar was to invite other ports along the Trans-Caspian Corridor – Kuryk, Poti, Batumi, Odessa, Constanta, Varna, Burgas, and Istanbul – to align to the UN/CEFACT standards.

    Under the SPECA Chairmanship of Turkmenistan in 2025, and with participation of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Organisation for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD), the railway agencies of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and Eurasian Development Bank, the second seminar focused on a pilot project to develop and use an electronic equivalent of the SMGS railway consignment note along the Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran (KTI) railway corridor.

    This pilot project would serve as a foundation for further development of a digital corridor along the KTI railway corridor, using the semantic standards and Multimodal Transport Reference Data Model (MMT RDM) of UN/CEFACT as a key reference for intermodal interoperability of data and document exchange.

    Representatives of UNECE, UNESCAP, and the railway agencies of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran discussed the possibilities for such a project in cooperation with the three governments and various stakeholders, including ECO, the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Central Asia (PS IGC TRACECA) and other development partners.

    The participants recommended that the railways and business community of the KTI and SPECA participating States promote the digital transformation of documents accompanying goods in the KTI corridor, in alignment with the UN/CEFACT standards to digitalize railway documents accompanying goods.

    Finally, the 20th session of the SPECA Working Group on Trade held in Ashgabat reviewed national and regional plans and strategies of the SPECA participating States for trade facilitation and sustainable development.

    The participants aimed to identify priority actions on which the SPECA Working Group on Trade could work in the coming several years and focused on deliverables, such as: 

    • Collaboration among SPECA participating States in the WTO process
    • Progress in the implementation of the SPECA Trade Facilitation Strategy and related roadmap
    • Progress in the implementation of the Principles for Sustainable Trade in the subregion
    • Studies and recommendations on regulatory and procedural non-tariff barriers to trade, and
    • Digitalization of data and document exchange in multimodal transport and trade using UN standards.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UN and Partners Seek USD 934.5m for Life-saving Aid to 1.5 Million Rohingya Refugees and Their Hosts in Bangladesh

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Geneva/Cox’s Bazar, 24 March 2025 – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and partners today called on the international community to enhance its support for Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh amid rising insecurity in Myanmar and ongoing forced displacement.

    Unrelenting conflict in Myanmar, dwindling financial resources and competing global crises have made it critical for the international community to step up for the Rohingya refugees, who remain in a precarious situation, entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. 

    The 2025-26 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis brings together 113 partners and is being jointly launched by IOM and UNHCR under the leadership of the Bangladesh Government.

    This first-ever multi-year funding appeal for the Rohingya Response seeks $934.5 million in its first year to reach some 1.48 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.

    The JRP is being presented to donors in Geneva by Amy Pope, IOM Director General; Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; and H.E. Mr. Khalilur Rahman, High Representative to the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh on Rohingya Issues and Priority Affairs.

    In its eighth year, the Rohingya humanitarian crisis remains largely out of the international spotlight but needs remain urgent.

    More than 50 per cent of the population in the camps are women and girls who face a higher risk of gender-based violence and exploitation; while one in three Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is aged between 10 and 24. Without access to formal education, adequate skills building and self- reliance opportunities, their futures remain on hold. 

    Any funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population and may force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety.

    Until the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is peaceful and conducive to returning safely and voluntarily, the international community must continue to fund life-saving assistance to refugees in the camps, including protection, shelter, and basic needs, and support opportunities that enable them to be self-reliant. 

    Watch the Launch of 2025 Rohingya Situation Joint Response Plan online (from 10:00 CET Monday 24 March).

    For more information, please contact:  

    IOM  

    In Bangladesh: Tarek Mahmud, tmahmud@iom.int  

    In Bangkok: Itayi Viriri, iviriri@iom.int 

    In Geneva: Daniela Rovina, drovina@iom.int      

    UNHCR 

    In Dhaka, Romain Desclous desclous@unhcr.org, +880 1313-046478  

    In Bangkok, Radhika Bhatnagar bhatnaga@unhcr.org, +66 62 310 328 

    In Geneva, Babar Baloch, baloch@unhcr.org, +41 79 513 95 49 

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: La Directora General de la OIM lanza una nueva asociación con la FUNDACIÓN LALIGA para fortalecer la integración de personas migrantes en Perú

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Lima, 24 de marzo de 2025 – La Directora General de la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM), Amy Pope, concluyó su primera visita oficial al Perú el pasado viernes, dando inicio a una alianza estratégica entre la OIM Perú y la FUNDACIÓN LALIGA, principal liga de fútbol española, para promover la cohesión social y la vida saludable entre niños, niñas y adolescentes migrantes y de la comunidad de acogida. 

    «La integración de personas migrantes aquí en Perú no es sólo un esfuerzo humanitario, es una oportunidad para construir sociedades más fuertes y enlazadas», dijo DG Pope. «El deporte une a las personas más allá de las culturas, y no hay deporte más global que el fútbol. A través de esta alianza estamos creando espacios donde jóvenes -tanto migrantes como peruanos- pueden aprender sobre el trabajo en equipo y el liderazgo, así como fomentar conexiones que van más allá del juego.» 

    Esta colaboración, apoyada por la Agencia de Cooperación Internacional de Corea (KOICA), se apoya en los logros de El Balón No Tiene Fronteras, un programa similar implementado por la OIM en Perú desde 2019, que llegó a más de 1,600 niños, niñas y jóvenes en todo Perú, fomentando la integración social y fortaleciendo los lazos comunitarios. 

    A través de clínicas de fútbol, talleres de liderazgo y eventos comunitarios, los entrenadores de LALIGA trabajarán directamente con estudiantes y líderes locales para promover valores clave como el respeto, la deportividad y la solidaridad. La OIM colaborará estrechamente con el Ministerio de Educación del Perú para garantizar la sostenibilidad de esta iniciativa y su amplio impacto en las escuelas públicas de Lima con un número significativo de estudiantes migrantes.  

    Durante su visita, la DG Pope mantuvo reuniones con la Presidenta Dina Boluarte y el Primer Ministro, Gustavo Adrianzén, y participó en la firma de un Memorando de Entendimiento con el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores para impulsar esfuerzos conjuntos que mejoren el desarrollo nacional a través de programas que apoyen a migrantes en Perú, a peruanos en el extranjero y a peruanos que regresan a su país.  

    DG Pope también se reunió con funcionarios del gobierno, donantes, representantes del sector privado y socios de la ONU; y visitó el Punto de Orientación y Asistencia (PAO) central, un espacio apoyado por la OIM en el sur de Lima, donde más de 7,000 migrantes han recibido información sobre los servicios básicos y el acceso a la documentación, atención primaria de salud y apoyo psicosocial desde agosto de 2024. 

     

    Para más información, por favor contactar: 

     

    En Perú: Leesly León, leleon@iom.int  

    En Panamá: Jorge Gallo, jgallo@iom.int  

    En Ginebra: Daniela Rovina, drovina@iom.int  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: IOM Chief Unveils New Partnership with LALIGA FOUNDATION to Strengthen Migrant Integration in Peru

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Lima, 24 March 2025 – International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope concluded her first official visit to Peru last Friday, kicking off a strategic partnership between IOM Peru and the premier Spanish football league LALIGA FOUNDATION to promote social cohesion and healthy living among migrant and host community children and teens.

    “The integration of migrants here in Peru is not just a humanitarian effort, it is an opportunity to build stronger, more cohesive societies,” DG Pope said. “Sport unites people across cultures, and no sport is more global than soccer. Through this partnership we are creating spaces where young people – both migrants and Peruvians – can learn teamwork and leadership, as well as fostering connections that go beyond the game.”

    This collaboration, supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), builds upon the achievements of El Balón No Tiene Fronteras (Soccer Has No Borders), a similar programme implemented by IOM in Peru since 2019, which reached over 1,600 children and youth across Peru, fostering social inclusion and strengthening community ties.

    Through soccer clinics, leadership workshops, and community-building events, LALIGA’s coaches will work directly with students and local leaders to promote key values such as respect, sportsmanship, and solidarity. IOM will collaborate closely with the national Ministry of Education to ensure this initiative’s sustainability and broad impact across public schools in Lima with a significant number of migrant students.

    During her visit, DG Pope held meetings with President Dina Boluarte and the Prime Minister, Gustavo Adrianzén, and participated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to boost joint efforts to enhance national development through programmes that support migrants in Peru, Peruvians abroad, and Peruvians returning home.

    DG Pope also met with government officials, donors, private sector representatives, and UN partners; and visited the Central Orientation and Assistance Point (PAO), an IOM-supported site in southern Lima where over 7,000 migrants have received information on basic services and access to documentation, primary health care, and psychosocial support since August 2024.

    For more information, please contact:  

    In Peru: Leesly León, leleon@iom.int  

    In Panama: Jorge Gallo, jgallo@iom.int  

    In Geneva: Daniela Rovina, drovina@iom.int  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: IOM Chief’s Visit to Guatemala Highlights Urgent Needs for People Returning Home

    Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

    Guatemala City, 14 March 2025 – Amid a sharp increase in southbound migration, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope visited Guatemala this week to reaffirm IOM’s commitment to supporting people caught in crisis, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, and advancing sustainable solutions that ensure people can build a future back home.

    During this first official visit to Guatemala, DG Pope met with President Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President Karin Herrera to discuss migration management, regional cooperation, and support for Guatemalan returnees in line with the Guatemalan government’s National Return Home Plan (Plan Retorno al Hogar). These discussions underscored the critical role of coordinated efforts in addressing migration challenges and ensuring returning migrants receive the assistance they need to reintegrate with dignity.

    “More people are returning home, often under incredibly difficult circumstances,” said DG Pope. “IOM is committed to ensuring that return is safe and dignified while strengthening the conditions that allow people to build a future where they are. That’s why IOM is working closely with the Guatemalan government and other partners to make sure that returning home isn’t just a moment—it’s the start of something better.”

    In recent weeks, southbound migration has surged, with 65% of migrants recorded on irregular routes in Guatemala traveling south. Many face extreme hardship, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance, reintegration support, and safe return options. IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programs are playing a critical role in supporting this shift, facilitating safe returns from key transit points and responding to emerging migration routes through the Guna Yala territory.

    Through partnerships with governments, donors, and the private sector, IOM remains committed to meeting the urgent needs of people on the move while advancing long-term solutions that address the root causes of migration and promote stability.

    For more information, please contact:
     

    In Guatemala: Melisa Kljuca, mkljuca@iom.int 
    In Panamá: Jorge Gallo,     jgallo@iom.int
    In Geneva: Daniela Rovina, drovina@iom.int

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 3-week Gaza aid ban ‘collective punishment’: UNRWA chief

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    Humanitarian Aid

    The tight Israeli blockade of humanitarian supplies is pushing Gaza closer to an acute hunger crisis, Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), said on Sunday.

    Mr. Lazzarini made the remarks in a social media post, in which he noted that the siege, which is preventing food, medicines, water and fuel from entering the occupied Palestinian territory, has lasted longer than blockades imposed during the first phase of the war.

    The UNRWA chief pointed out that people in Gaza depend on imports via Israel for their survival. “Every day that passes without the entry of aid means more children go to bed hungry, diseases spread and deprivation deepens.” Gaza, he added, is inching closer to an acute hunger crisis.

    The current conflict began after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. In those attacks, 1,195 people were killed in Israel and over 250 taken hostage. In the subsequent military operations in Gaza, at least 50,00 Palestinians are believed to have been killed.

    After a brief ceasefire, during which several hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, a bombing campaign and ground operation against Gaza has resumed. Since then, hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed.

    Sam Rose, UNRWA Acting Director of Affairs in the enclave, warned on Friday that, if the ceasefire is not restored, it will lead to “large-scale loss of life, damage to infrastructure and property, increased risk of infectious disease, and massive trauma for the one million children and for the two million civilians who live in Gaza.”

    Describing the banning of aid as a “collective punishment” on Gaza’s population, overwhelmingly “children, women and ordinary men,” Mr. Lazzarini called for the siege to be lifted, for Hamas to release the remaining hostages and for humanitarian aid and commercial supplies to be brought into Gaza uninterrupted and at scale.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s message on World Meteorological Day [scroll down for French version]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    The dark predictions of meteorologists are coming to pass. Our climate is going up in flames. Every one of the last ten years has been the hottest in recorded history. Ocean heat is breaking records. And every country is feeling the effects – whether scorched by fires, swept by floods, or pummelled by unprecedented storms.
     
    The theme of this year’s World Meteorological Day – Closing the Early Warning Gap Together – reminds us that, in this new climate reality, early warning systems are not luxuries. They are necessities and sound investments – providing an almost ten-fold return. Yet, almost half the world’s countries still lack access to these life-saving systems. It is disgraceful that, in a digital age, lives and livelihoods are being lost because people have no access to effective early warning systems.

    The United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative aims for everyone, everywhere to be protected by an alert system by 2027. The world must come together, and urgently scale-up action and investment, to realize this goal.

    We need high-level political support for the Initiative within countries, a boost in technology support, greater collaboration between governments, businesses and communities, and a major effort to scale-up finance. Increasing the lending capacity of the Multilateral Development Banks is key. The Pact for the Future agreed last year made important strides forward, it must be delivered in full. So must the COP29 finance outcome.

    At the same time, we must intensify our efforts to tackle the climate crisis at source – through rapid and deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions – to prevent it getting unimaginably worse. This year all countries must honour the promise to deliver new national climate action plans that align with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

    In an era of climate disaster, every person on Earth must be protected by an early warning system as a matter of justice. Together, let’s deliver. 

    ***

    Les sombres prévisions des météorologues sont en passe de se réaliser. Notre climat s’embrase. Les dix dernières années ont été les plus chaudes jamais enregistrées dans l’histoire de l’humanité. Les océans connaissent des niveaux record de chaleur. Incendies ravageurs, inondations dévastatrices ou tempêtes sans précédent : aucun pays n’est épargné par les effets des changements climatiques.

    Cette année, la Journée météorologique mondiale est placée sous le thème « Combler ensemble les lacunes en matière d’alertes précoces », qui vient nous rappeler que, dans cette nouvelle réalité climatique, les systèmes d’alerte précoce ne sont pas un luxe. En plus d’être indispensables, ils représentent des investissements judicieux, puisque les bénéfices qui en découlent sont pratiquement dix fois supérieurs aux montants investis. Pourtant, près de la moitié des pays de la planète n’ont toujours pas accès à ces systèmes d’une importance vitale. À l’ère du numérique, il est déplorable que des personnes perdent la vie ou voient leurs moyens de subsistance anéantis faute d’avoir accès à des systèmes d’alerte précoce efficaces.

    L’initiative « Alertes précoces pour tous » de l’Organisation des Nations Unies vise à ce que chaque habitant de la planète soit protégé par un système d’alerte d’ici à 2027. La communauté internationale doit unir ses forces et accroître d’urgence ses efforts et ses investissements pour atteindre cet objectif.

    Il est primordial que chaque pays accorde à l’initiative un soutien politique de haut niveau, qu’un appui plus énergique soit offert sur le plan des technologies, que les gouvernements, les entreprises et les communautés resserrent leur coopération et que les financements connaissent un véritable bond. Il est également crucial d’accroître la capacité de prêt des banques multilatérales de développement. Le Pacte pour l’avenir, adopté l’an dernier, a permis de poser des bases solides ; il doit maintenant être appliqué pleinement. Il faut également concrétiser les engagements pris en matière de financement à la vingt-neuvième session de la Conférence des Parties à la Convention-cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (COP 29).

    Dans le même temps, il nous faut redoubler d’efforts pour chercher à résoudre la crise climatique à la source, en réduisant rapidement et fortement les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, afin d’éviter que la situation n’empire dans des proportions inimaginables. Cette année, tous les pays doivent honorer leur promesse de présenter de nouveaux plans d’action nationaux pour le climat qui soient compatibles avec l’objectif consistant à limiter le réchauffement planétaire à 1,5 degré Celsius.

    À l’ère des catastrophes climatiques, il faut que chaque personne sur Terre soit protégée par un système d’alerte précoce ; il s’agit là d’une question de justice. Ensemble, donnons corps à cette ambition.

    ***
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –