23 July 2014 – The United Nations humanitarian chief today allocated $75 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to bolster desperately needed relief operations in two of the world’s most neglected regions: the West African Sahel and the Horn of Africa. “With so many crises competing for attention, many people in need are forgotten,” said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, in a press statement today. The money will go to 11 countries which were selected based on a global review of critical aid operations that are facing funding deficits. It will help relief agencies provide urgent…
Author: UN News
22 July 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency today called on donors to increase funding for programmes in neighbouring countries hosting refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR). “The Car remains one of the most poorly-funded emergencies. The underfunding is badly hampering our ability to provide even basic survival assistance for the refugees and even less to host communities,” Babar Baloch, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva. “The new refugee arrivals show signs of the brutal violence they have escaped in Car. [They] have walked for weeks through the forests with little…
21 July 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the people of Central African Republic (CAR) to seize the opportunity of talks taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to advance reconciliation and “open a new page in their history.” “We must stop the violence and permanently silence the guns. In the absence of lasting political solution to the problems of this region, there will be no prospect of peace and unity in the CAR,” Mr. Ban said in a message delivered to the Brazzaville forum by his Special Representative for CAR, Babacar Gaye. “The challenges ahead are…
23 July 2014 – The United Nations Human Rights Council today decided to launch an independent inquiry into purported violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Meeting in an emergency session today, the Council adopted a resolution agreeing to send the investigative team by a vote of 29 countries in favour, with 17 abstentions and a sole negative vote by the United States, in which it strongly condemned the failure of Israel to end its prolonged occupation of the area. The Council condemned in the strongest terms the “widespread, systematic and…
21 July 2014 – The Security Council today called for an international investigation into last week’s downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight in eastern Ukraine, and demanded that armed groups allow unfettered access to the crash site and ensure that its integrity is maintained. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body condemned “in the strongest terms” the downing of flight MH17 on 17 July in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, which resulted in the tragic loss of 298 lives. It supported efforts to establish “a full, thorough and independent international investigation” into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation…
18 July 2014 – The apparent deliberate downing of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine highlights the need for an urgent resumption of a ceasefire and a serious effort to end the ongoing crisis, the United Nations political chief told an emergency meeting of the Security Council today. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, carrying 298 people, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that while the UN has at this point no independent verification of the circumstances regarding the tragic…
21 July 2014 – The recruitment and use of children by armed groups remained endemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between 2010 and 2013, according to a new United Nations report, which cited impunity as a major factor in the ongoing abuses. “Impunity has encouraged perpetrators to continue their violations against children,” Leila Zerrougui, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, told the Security Council Working Group on children and armed conflict today. Briefing on the 5th Report on Children and Armed Conflict in DRC, she said there were close to 4,200 cases of recruitment…
21 July 2014 – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging increased efforts to improve awareness among rural communities in West Africa about the risks of contracting the Ebola virus from eating certain wildlife species, including fruit bats. “We are not suggesting that people stop hunting altogether, which isn’t realistic,” said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth in a statement released by the Rome-based agency today. “But communities need clear advice on the need not to touch dead animals or to sell or eat the meat of any animal that they find already dead. They should also…
20 July 2014 – The Security Council today called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Doha, the first leg of a Middle East tour which aims to end the conflict. Following a late-night closed-door meeting, Ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana of Rwanda, which holds the Security Council’s rotating presidency for July, told reporters that the Council had a “sober” meeting given the seriousness of the situation. In elements to the press, Mr. Gasana said the members of the Council called for an…
20 July 2014 – Following today’s attack by opposition forces in South Sudan, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the top United Nations official in the country are calling for all offensive operations to immediately end and for both sides to resume suspended peace talks. In an emailed statement, the UN Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) confirmed that armed youth and defected soldiers (SPLA in Opposition) loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar attacked Nassir Town in the Upper Nile State. The attack is “the most serious resumption of hostilities” since President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Mr. Machar met on 9 May…