9 March 2017 – Nearly two years after the political impasse started in Burundi, national authorities are reducing their cooperation with the United Nations system which risks undermining efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis and cutting assistance to a population in need, the Security Council was told today.

Presenting the first Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Burundi, the Special Adviser on the topic noted that &#8220the report is factual and speaks for itself.&#8221

Jamal Benomar told the Council the UN has tried to constructively engage with the Government and support the people of Burundi in their search for peace and stability, to no avail.

&#8220We have engaged quickly, refrained from public criticism and encouraged modest, small steps to build confidence with the parties. Despite this modelled approach, the doors to engagement and cooperation have been largely shut by the authorities,&#8221 Mr. Benomar said.

In the past several months, the Government has decided to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, suspend cooperation and collaboration with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and refused cooperation with the commission of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council.

The Government has also avoided signing a document with the African Union that would allow human rights observers and military experts to be deployed, to aid Burundians.

These actions were taken as &#8220human rights violations and abuses continue to be reported on a worrying scale,&#8221 according to the report.

In addition, at the end of February, President Pierre Nkurunziza suggested that he might seek a change to the Constitution allowing him to seek a fourth term in office. The move, as written in the report, &#8220has the potential to plunge the country into an even deeper crisis.&#8221

Referring to the report, Mr. Benomar called on the Burundian Government &#8220to fulfil its moral obligation and political responsibility to return the country to a path of peace.&#8221

He noted that most Burundians do not want to continue on the track of &#8220international isolationism, violence and repression.&#8221

The UN envoy urged the international community &#8211 guided by the Security Council &#8211 to do its part to support those who seek a peaceful resolution of this crisis, and underscored the UN’s continued commitment to helping the Burundian people.

The Security Council also heard by video-conference from former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who is facilitating discussions between the Government and the opposition in accordance with the Arusha Agreement. Mr. Benomar stressed in his statement that Mr. Mkapa has the UN’s full support in his work.

Also speaking to the Council today was Jurg Lauber, the Chair of the Burundi Configuration of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Mr. Lauber will visit Burundi at the end of this month to get first-hand impression of the situation and meet with the Government, opposition and civil society representatives.

In his statement, Mr. Labuer echoed Mr. Benomar’s call to the international community to remain active in Burundi: &#8220Abandoning Burundi now would mean wasting past efforts and putting the country and its people at risk of recurring conflict.&#8221

9 March 2017 – Amid escalating violence, the United Nations humanitarian agency for children and its partners have completed the first round of a nationwide door-to-door vaccination campaign reaching 5 million children under the age of five with oral polio vaccine and vitamin A supplementation.

&#8220In the last two years, more children have died from preventable diseases than those killed in the violence,&#8221 said Meritxell Relaño, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Yemen, in a press release. &#8220This is why vaccination campaigns are so crucial to save the lives of Yemen’s children and to secure their future.&#8221

In the first campaign of its kind this year, 40,000 vaccinators spread across Yemen to provide children with polio vaccine and vitamin A supplements. Mobile health teams have reached children wherever they are, including in places where access to health services has been cut off by the fighting. Health workers have shown heroic resolve in crossing frontlines, mountains and valleys to vaccinate children.

UNICEF says that the campaign comes at a critical time. Children in Yemen are living on the brink of famine and widespread malnutrition has drastically increased their risk of disease. More than half of Yemen’s medical facilities are no longer functional and the health system is on the verge of collapse.

UNICEF is scaling up its humanitarian response, including support for the treatment of 323,000 children against severe acute malnutrition, and the provision of basic healthcare services to one million children and over half a million pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

&#8220Children are dying because the conflict is preventing them from getting the health care and nutrition they urgently need. Their immune systems are weak from months of hunger,&#8221 said Dr. Relaño, calling on all parties to the conflict to find a political solution to this crisis.

9 March 2017 – The next round of the United Nations-facilitated intra-Syrian talks is expected to convene on 23 March to discuss issues related to governance, constitution, elections and counter terrorism, the UN Special Envoy for Syria has said.

&#8220My current intention is to bring the invitees back to Geneva for a fifth round with a target date of 23 March,&#8221 Staffan de Mistura told reporters yesterday at the UN Headquarters in New York after he briefed the Security Council on the outcome of the fourth round of the discussions, which ran in the Swiss city from 23 February to 3 March.

He said the fourth round of the Geneva talks &#8220achieved much more than many people had imagined we could have.&#8221

&#8220No one left, everybody stayed. They were focused, we got an agenda, we got a timeline, we got some agreement on substance,&#8221 Mr. de Mistura said, noting that the fifth round of talks will build on the outcome of the previous one and that counter terrorism is now part of the agenda laid out in UN Security Council resolution 2254.

In parallel with the UN-facilitated intra-Syrian talks, Kazakhstan has been hosting talks on a ceasefire in its capital, Astana &#8211 diplomatic efforts led by the so-named ceasefire guarantors, Iran, Russia and Turkey.

On the Astana talks, Mr. de Mistura said that although the responsibility of their success is in the hands of these guarantors, the UN dispatches a technical team to the process, because without a strong ceasefire, the UN-facilitated Geneva talks would be fragile.

The UN envoy urged the Security Council to continue to support his efforts.

9 March 2017 – Unless drastic measures are taken to share up peace and security in Syria, the situation &#8211 which marks its sixth anniversary next week &#8211 will worsen, the United Nations refugee agency today said urging the international community to redouble its support for the 13.5 million people in need of aid.

&#8220Funding won’t end the suffering. But it is one thing we can do as poverty and misery intensify. The resources currently available simply don’t come close to meeting all the challenges,&#8221 said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for RefugeesFunding won’t end the suffering. But it is one thing we can do as poverty and misery intensify..

His message comes ahead of 15 and 16 March, when in 2011 authorities clamped down on demonstrations in Damascus, setting off protests calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

Since then, nearly 6.3 million people were displaced and an additional 4.9 million people &#8211 mostly women and children &#8211 were forced to seek refuge, according to UN figures. Nearly 3 million Syrians under the age of five have grown up knowing nothing but conflict.

&#8220Ultimately, Syria’s conflict isn’t about numbers &#8211 it’s about people,&#8221 Grandi added. &#8220Families have been torn apart, innocent civilians killed, houses destroyed, businesses and livelihoods shattered. It’s a collective failure.&#8221

One of those people is Wafaa Keyari, an eight-year-old girl from the battered Sakhour district of eastern Aleppo.

Living now in a temporary shelter on the outskirts of Aleppo, Wafaa was severely burned on her face and body when her house was shelled two years ago.

&#8220I was taken to hospital. I was awake and they treated me,&#8221 Wafaa told UNHCR.

&#8220You know I was wearing wool clothes, like the ones I am wearing now, they got stuck to me. When they took me to the hospital, they were pulling them off my skin. It hurt so much, they didn’t even use anaesthetic &#8211 they just pulled it off.&#8221

Asked whether the incident had changed her at all, she paused for a moment before replying with a smile: &#8220No. I am still the same nice girl.&#8221

In the shadow of the sad anniversary, the international community is preparing for a conference in Brussels in early April to assess the country’s future. The UN is seeking $8 billion for this year to meet the needs of Syrians in the country and those living abroad.

According to UNHCR, the request follows commitments made at the 2016 London Conference, especially on education and livelihoods.

&#8220Syria is at a crossroads,&#8221 Mr. Grandi said. &#8220Unless drastic measures are taken to shore up peace and security for Syria, the situation will worsen.&#8221

9 March 2017 – Underscoring that the United Nations should not be, in any way, associated with the vile and vicious crimes of rape, sexual violence, exploitation and abuse, Secretary-General António Guterres has outlined a new victim-centred approach to prevent and respond to such abuses committed by those serving under the UN flag.

&#8220Such acts of cruelty should never take place. Certainly no person serving with the United Nations in any capacity should be associated with such vile and vicious crimes,&#8221 said Mr. Guterres in a message announcing his report released today on ‘Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: A New Approach.’

&#8220Let us declare in one voice: We will not tolerate anyone committing or condoning sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not let anyone cover up these crimes with the UN flag,&#8221 he added.

The Secretary-General’s report, Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse: a new approach, outlines a victim-centred strategy that is rooted in transparency, accountability and ensuring justice.

Noting that exploitation is also deeply rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, Mr. Guterres said that promoting gender equality throughout the UN system, including its missions and peacekeeping forces, would help advance parity and at the same time decrease incidents of abuse.

&#8220Let us do so in the name of all who look to the UN for life-saving protection and support &#8211 and on behalf of the tens of thousands of UN personnel around the world who deliver that assistance with courage and commitment to the highest ideals,&#8221 he stressed.

Four-track, victim-centred approach

Based on four tracks, the approach documented in the report focuses on the rights and dignity of victims; ending impunity for those guilty of crimes and abuses; drawing on the wisdom and guidance of all those who have been affected, civil society, local communities and others to strengthen and improve UN’s efforts; and to raise awareness and share best practices to end the vicious scourge.

The report also emphasizes the need to engage with UN Member States and calls for a high-level meeting on sexual exploitation and abuses in 2017 on the margins of the general debate of the 72nd session of the General Assembly.

The report further notes that the UN chief would seek Member States support to establish a system-wide consolidated confidential repository of case information to be placed under the supervision of the Special Coordinator on Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

It also includes a detailed list of actions and recommendations, along with the relevant UN entity that would be responsible for consultation with relevant stakeholders, as well as provides data on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse across the UN system and by non-UN international forces authorized by a Security Council mandate, covering the period 1 January to 31 December 2016.