Category Archives: HUMAN RIGHTS

The 2010 – 2020 UN News Decade in Review, part three

Posted on by
Reply
In August 2017, soldiers from the Myanmar military carried out a security crackdown in Rakhine, a region in the west of the country that borders Bangladesh, blaming deadly attacks on police and security posts by Rohingya separatists from the self-styled Arakan Rohingya Salvation Arakan Army.
The military operation is widely believed to have led to numerous atrocities committed against mostly-Muslim Rohingya civilians, a minority who have faced many episodes of persecution in the past, and was described by Zeid Ra‘ad al-Hussein, the then UN human rights chief, as bearing all the hallmarks of a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
As evidence, Mr. Ra‘ad al-Hussein pointed to reports of Myanmar authorities laying landmines along the border with Bangladesh and requiring returnees to provide “proof of nationality,” an impossibility given that successive Myanmar governments have since 1962 progressively stripped the Rohingya population of their political and civil rights, including citizenship rights.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053761

Amidst uptick in violence and displacement, UN chief calls for ‘immediate cessation of hostilities’ in Syria

Posted on by
Reply
24 December 2019
Peace and Security
“Deeply concerned” over a recent military escalation in northwest Syria, Secretary-General António Guterres called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities”.
In a statement issued on Monday night by his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief expressed alarm over the scale of the military operation and reported attacks on evacuation routes as civilians try to flee north to safety.
“The Secretary-General reminds all parties of their obligations to protect civilians and ensure freedom of movement”, said Mr. Dujarric.
Continue reading →

Much work needed to ‘target unacceptable levels’ of racism in Ecuador: UN experts

Posted on by
Reply
23 December 2019
Human Rights
Ecuador must implement and enforce laws and policies to protect the rights of Afro-Ecuadorians, the UN Working Group on People of African Descent said on Monday, calling for an end to the “discrimination, exclusion and extreme poverty they suffer.”
After visiting the country, the independent UN human rights experts concluded that the Government must step up efforts to enforce the law and implement plans to end racial discrimination suffered by Afro-Ecuadorians and people of African descent.
“People are suffering particularly in their ability to access justice, security, land, clean water, education, healthcare, housing and economic opportunity,” said Ahmed Reid, Working Group Chair, in a statement he presented.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054201

Quality immunization and surveillance help stop polio outbreaks in three African countries: WHO

Posted on by
Reply
23 December 2019
Health
Three African countries have halted recent polio outbreaks which indicates that the disease can be stopped elsewhere in the region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
Kenya, Mozambique and Niger curbed different outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus over the past 24 months which affected 14 children.
Although wild poliovirus virus has not been detected in Africa since 2016, roughly 12 countries are currently facing outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus.
Continue reading →

The 2010 – 2020 UN News Decade in Review, part one

Posted on by
Reply
Collage of photo of: Malala Yousafzai attends the Delivering on the Global Education Promise” (on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI)) (co-organized by the Global Education First Initiative’s Secretariat and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) UN Photo/Amanda Voisard); People walk along downtown streets after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port au Prince Haiti on Tuesday January 12, 2009 (UN Photo/Logan Abassi); Smoke drifts into the sky from buildings and houses hit by shelling in Homs town. (UN Photo/David Manyua 09June 2012); A Senegalese UN peacekeeper patrols along with a Malian soldier in Kidal in July 2013. (Photo: MINUSMA/Marco Dormino);

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053481

Afghan President leads election; UN mission chief urges all to ‘safeguard’ final stage of process

Posted on by
Reply
22 December 2019
Peace and Security
Welcoming the preliminary results for Afghanistan’s presidential election on Sunday, the head of the United Nations mission in the country urged the authorities and all actors to “protect the integrity of the final stage of the process.”
Afghanistan “braved security threats” in September to cast their votes in the country’s presidential ballot for a better future, Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said on Sunday, urging everyone to “safeguard and complete the election”.
Continue reading →

FIRST PERSON: ‘Dog-dead tired’ with a boat full of crawfish

Posted on by
Reply
22 December 2019
Human Rights
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is marking its centenary in 2019 and as part of the commemoration has launched a photography project called “Dignity at Work: The American Experience” to document the working life of people across the United States. UN News joined the ILO on a visit to the southern US state of Louisiana.
Heath Leger works for Chez Francois Seafood, a family business run by his brother in Scott, Louisiana. He harvests freshwater crawfish, small crustaceans which resemble lobsters. The farm is 120 acres in size and was set up by the brothers’ father. Heath Leger worked in Louisiana’s oil fields for 11 years, but automation led to the loss of some 70-80 jobs.
Continue reading →

Syria: Lack of consensus following face-to-face talks, underscores need for broader process

Posted on by
Reply
20 December 2019
Peace and Security
The second session of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, aiming to create a new post-war political road map for the country, failed to get off the ground due to lack of consensus over the agenda, the UN Special Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday.
However, Geir Pedersen assured ambassadors that there are lessons to be learned from the meeting of the so-called “small body” of the Committee, held in Geneva in late November.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054131

Lesotho: Tens of thousands ‘one step away from famine’ as drought impacts harvests and UN launches flash appeal

Posted on by
Reply
20 December 2019
Humanitarian Aid
Devastating drought in the southern African nation of Lesotho has left more than half a million people facing severe food shortages and tens of thousands “one step away from famine”, UN humanitarians said on Friday, in an appeal for funds.
The $34 million flash appeal will support more than 260,000 people “with lifesaving interventions” until April next year, Jens Laerke from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told journalists in Geneva.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054081