Human rights through the eyes of Andy Vermaut

Escalating armed violence in Haiti has triggered a profound humanitarian crisis, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned on Wednesday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146092?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Secretary-General António Guterres underscored on Wednesday the critical role of the UN committee on the rights of Palestinians in the face of the ongoing and escalating war in Gaza, stressing that only a two-State solution can ensure a just and lasting peace and stability in the Middle East region. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146097?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

It’s another day of intense activity across the UN as the crisis in the Middle East stemming from the war in Gaza continues, both in the region and at UN Headquarters in New York. The Security Council is due to meet at the top of the hour to review the world court’s provisional ruling on genocide allegations and the UN chief will brief the top UN committee on Palestinian rights with the latest on the struggle to stop the fighting and provide lifesaving humanitarian relief in Gaza. Follow lives updates here… https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146067?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUXNvOhafv4&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Deadly clashes and shelling continued in Khan Younis in southern Gaza overnight into Wednesday as top UN humanitarians and NGO chiefs warned of the “catastrophic consequences” of defunding UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees facing allegations of collusion with Hamas. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146062?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

No organization can be a substitute for the UN agency assisting Palestinians (UNRWA) in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, the Organization’s senior coordinator for the enclave said on Tuesday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146042?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Three years after the military deposed the elected Government in Myanmar, the ever-deteriorating human rights crisis in the country is now in freefall, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, appealing for greater attention from the international community.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146037?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

As the UN chief prepares to meet representatives from countries who donate to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) late on Tuesday following allegations of collusion with Hamas, the UN health agency WHO reiterated that now was not the time to abandon the people of Gaza. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146027?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Five countries have been awarded for their efforts towards eliminating industrially produced trans fats in food, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146017?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The international community’s failure to execute warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and subsequent lack of accountability are fuelling the violence stemming from the war between rival militaries in Sudan, ICC Prosecutor told the UN Security Council on Monday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146012?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Continuing intercommunal clashes in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan have left more than 50 people dead including two peacekeepers, the UN said on Monday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1146007?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Nearly 100 people have died or disappeared crossing the Central and Eastern Mediterranean so far this year – more than twice the number for the same period in 2023, the deadliest year for migrants at sea in Europe since 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145997?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Ongoing hostilities across the Gaza Strip have been “particularly intense” in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarians warned on Monday, as the UN agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, reported that its shelters were now four times over-capacity. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145992?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed to the countries that suspended funding to the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to reconsider their decisions, to ensure continuity of its vital humanitarian operations. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145987?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

A humanitarian worker in Gaza has been documenting her struggles after being displaced on numerous occasions as she and her family flee ongoing bombardments by Israeli forces. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145912?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The head of the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday that countries’ decisions to halt funding will jeopardize its lifesaving programmes, urging them to reconsider their decision. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145982?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

In remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a call for global unity against the rise of hate and division, cautioning that intolerance is proliferating rapidly and that no society is exempt from its reach. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145977?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has warned of dramatic humanitarian suffering throughout Ukraine and worsening conditions as war-affected civilians suffer through the harsh winter. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145972?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Hate is growing at an alarming speed, and the world must strongly denounce forces of division, especially in the wake of the abhorrent 7 October terror attacks in Israel, the UN Secretary-General said on Friday, opening a ceremony in the General Assembly Hall commemorating victims of the Holocaust. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145967?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The UN “is not in a position” to verify reports surrounding the crash of a Russian aircraft near the border with Ukraine, the Organization’s top political affairs official said on Thursday, calling on the warring sides to avoid fuelling “the already dangerous conflict.”  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145927?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The UN expert working to eliminate rape during wartime has been invited to Israel by the Government to gather information on sexual violence reportedly committed in the context of the 7 October Hamas attacks and their aftermath.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145917?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Attacks against shipping in the Red Sea by Houthis are devastating for global trade and supply chains, already reeling under the impacts of the war in Ukraine and climate change-linked conditions in the Panama Canal, said UN trade and development body, UNCTAD, on Thursday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145902?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

More than 8,400 people were victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, including killings, injuries and kidnappings – a 122 per cent increase over 2022, the UN Special Representative for the country told the UN Security Council on Thursday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145897?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

War in Sudan is putting the future of its 24 million youngest citizens at risk, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country has warned.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145882?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Work harder to end the war in Gaza and recognize the State of Palestine was the message once more from many countries on Wednesday, taking part in the two-day Security Council debate over the Middle East crisis. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145862?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Houthi authorities in Yemen on Wednesday have ordered UN and other humanitarian staff holding US and UK passports to leave the country within a month. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145847?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

UN independent human rights experts on Wednesday urged the Government of Bangladesh to undertake key reforms to reverse “repressive trends” and restore dialogue. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145842?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Nine people were killed and 75 injured on Wednesday in a direct hit on a training centre turned shelter in southern Gaza run by the UN agency that assists Palestinians, UNRWA.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145837?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

When fighting between rival militaries erupted last April across the Sudanese capital, UN worker Mohammed Ginish went from providing humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons to becoming displaced himself in Port Sudan, along with many of his colleagues. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145822?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners have delivered 19,000 litres of fuel to Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, the UN agency said late on Tuesday.   https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145817?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The United Nations on Tuesday underlined its condemnation of capital punishment following Iran's execution of a young man sentenced to death in connection with widespread protests nearly two years ago. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145812?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine on Tuesday condemned the latest round of Russian air strikes on the two biggest cities in the country, which killed at least seven people and wounded dozens more, according to news reports.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145797?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Amid continuing heavy fighting in Gaza on Tuesday morning including reported attacks on hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarians expressed deep concern for patients and others seeking treatment who had “no way in and out”. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145792?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Hundreds of Afghan women were forced to quit their jobs or have been arrested and denied access to essential services in the last quarter of 2023 a UN report revealed on Monday, as Taliban officials continue undermining their basic human rights. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145782?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

A group of independent UN human rights experts on Monday called on the authorities in Hong Kong to drop all charges against pro-democracy media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai and release him immediately. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145777?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Monday strongly condemned a weekend attack on the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine which left scores dead and injured. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145767?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The head of the UN health agency raised concerns on Monday that the draft of a global agreement to head off a future pandemic, may not be finalized by May this year, as previously agreed. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145752?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

“Intense” Israeli bombardment in Gaza continued on Monday along with rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian armed groups as UN humanitarians reported that more than 25,000 have died in the enclave since war began on 7 October. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145742?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Developing countries must lead efforts to reform outdated international institutions and frameworks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in remarks to the third summit of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China, which opened on Sunday in Kampala, Uganda. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145737?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

An extraterrestrial visitor now lives at UN Headquarters in New York: a precious piece of the Moon. The rock joins a host of other fascinating objects on display, from a machine gun fashioned into a guitar to a semi-curdled bronze statue that survived a nuclear bomb in Japan. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145722?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages in his speech to the latest summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which concluded in Kampala, Uganda, on Saturday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145732?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Sri Lankan migrants who paid their life savings to people traffickers for perilous and unsuccessful sea crossings in an attempt to find a better life overseas have returned home thanks to the support of the UN migration agency, IOM. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145667?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

The President of the UN General Assembly on Friday reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages as the “only credible course of action” to address the conflict. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145712?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Women and children account for roughly 70 per cent of people killed in the war in Gaza, with two mothers killed every hour since hostilities erupted more than 100 days ago, according to a UN Women report published on Friday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145707?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Unprecedented flooding in the Republic of the Congo has left more than 350,000 people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the UN aid coordination office OCHA said on Friday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145697?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

France must take urgent action to protect children from incest and all forms of sexual abuse while also addressing mistreatment suffered by mothers trying to keep them safe, independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Friday.  https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145682?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

Babies are being “delivered into hell” in Gaza with many others likely dying as a result of conflict with Israel and increasingly dire conditions in the enclave, UN humanitarians warned on Friday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145677?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

A senior UN humanitarian official on Thursday called on the international community to step up support for communities in need in Niger, warning that limited funding and access challenges have put lives at risk. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145672?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

More than 450,000 children are living in residential care homes across Europe and Central Asia, highlighting that a “painful legacy” of neglect, abuse, exploitation, and psychological trauma is far from over, according to a UNICEF report released on Thursday. https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145652?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger

How long was the longest ever statement delivered at the UN General Assembly? https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2024/01/1145647?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger