25 April 2017 – The political process in South Sudan is not dead but requires significant resuscitation, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the crisis-torn country told the Security Council today.

“Regrettably, no party has shown interest in reviving the Peace Agreement,” said David Shearer, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and the head of UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), referring to the August 2015 accord between the country’s warring sides.

Despite the peace agreement, South Sudan slipped back into conflict due to renewed clashes between rival forces – the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to President Salva Kiir and the SPLA in Opposition backing former First Vice-President Riek Machar.

Mr. Shearer explained that unlike this time last year, where the conflict was construed on a bipolar basis, today the opposition has splintered, making it necessary for UN peacebuilding efforts to be more widely cast than previously.

He told the 15-member Council that, “virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict. Yet, there has been no concerted effort by any party to adhere to a ceasefire. Instead, we are seeing an intensification of the conflict over the past month.”

Mr. Shearer said that in some of the violence, Government forces have responded to attacks by opposition forces, notably in Wau and the Equatorias. In others, in contrast, Government-led operations such as those in Upper Nile and Jonglei appeared “more strategic in focus” and were aimed at taking opposition-held areas.

25 April 2017 – The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is celebrating 70 years of bringing countries across the continent together to cooperate on a wide range of issues, including trade, transport, sustainable development and food safety, which impact the daily lives of its citizens.

“Throughout its 70 years, UNECE has been connecting countries, driving progress, really impacting the lives of citizens throughout the region,” Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach told UN News in an interview in the lead up to the Commission’s sixty-seventh session, which begins in Geneva on 26 April.

“And it has been done quietly; a little bit under the radar,” noted Mr. Bach, who previously served as the Minister of Development Cooperation in Denmark.

One of five UN regional commissions set up by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the UNECE aims to promote economic integration throughout Europe through the definitions of norms, standards and conventions enhancing the lives of its people. It includes 56 Member States in Europe, North America and Asia.

For Mr. Bach, who has been leading the commission since July 2014, the UNECE is probably one of the UN organizations that people are most in contact with every single day of their lives. “When people get up in the morning, the fresh food or vegetables they eat are traded according to the agricultural standards in UNECE. When they are driving, the road signs and signals are defined and negotiated in UNECE,” explained Mr. Bach.

He went on to note that every single company is in contact with UNECE on a daily basis thanks to its many trade facilitation standards and norms, whether it uses law codes when shipping a package or uses electronic business standards when electronically trading.

“So citizens throughout our region are in contact with UNECE from when they wake up to when they go to bed and it positively impacts their lives,” said Mr. Bach.

Helping countries to implement the SDGs and the Paris Agreement

Take for example the target of SDGs on halving the number of deaths from road crashes. Our convention on road safety helps countries to have safer roads, and better signs and signalsChristian Friis Bach

UNECE has established hundreds of norms, standards and conventions that help countries to implement all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “Take for example the target of SDGs on halving the number of deaths from road crashes. Our convention on road safety helps countries to have safer roads, and better signs and signals,” said Mr. Bach. “The vehicle regulations that are negotiated in UNECE make vehicles safer from everything like seatbelts to electronic stability controls.”

Climate change is another crucial area where UNECE is heavily involved. Over two thirds of the Commission’s Member States have ratified the Paris Agreement on climate change which entered into force in November 2016. From energy efficiency standards and regulations for cleaner cars to the promotion of more sustainable mobility such as cycling and walking, the Commission has a number of activities to help countries implement the Paris Agreement.

UNECE has, for example, recently established energy efficiency standards for buildings. “This is a huge issue in our region where the energy consumption of the buildings is too high,” said Mr. Bach.

“And by this new work on energy efficiency we can help our countries to have more energy-efficient buildings, save on energy and implement the Paris Agreement,” he added, while also underlining UNECE’s engagement in the transition to a fossil-free economy and sustainable energy for all.

UNECE Executive Secretary Christian Friis Bach speaks with then Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning Amina J. Mohammed. The regional commission has established hundreds of norms, standards and conventions to help countries implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré

The UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) meets to discuss European transport conventions. Over the last 70 years, together with its subsidiary bodies, the ITC has provided a pan-European forum, where UNECE member countries come together. UNECE/Pierre Albouy

Mr. Bach (left), Arancha González (centre), Executive Director of ITC, and Mukhisa Kituyi (right), Secretary-General of UNCTAD, during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between their three bodies. UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré

A food stall at the Orto Sole cooperative farm in Fiumicino and Torrimpietra, Italy. Fresh foods and vegetables eaten by Europeans are traded according to the agricultural standards in the UNECE region. The standards encourage high-quality production, improve profitability and protect consumer interests. Photo: FAO/Alessandra Benedetti.

Electric cars line up at the official start of the Zero Emissions Race outside the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG). These vehicles are fuelled by renewable energy such as solar, wind, wave and geothermal. UNECE promotes energy efficiency standards and regulations for cleaner vehicles. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

During the UNECE’s 66th session, Mr. Bach test drives a car that is equipped with Autonomous Emergency Braking. His car comes to a full automatic stop thanks to the automatic breaking system. UNECE recently paved the way for automated driving by updating the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré

During the UNECE’s 66th session, the Commission organized an event for partnership on cycling. UNECE is fully engaged in the transition to a fossil-free economy that includes more sustainable mobility such as cycling and walking. Recent UNECE-backed research revealed that if 56 major cities across Europe were to replicate Copenhagen’s share of cycling as a mode of transport, an estimated 435,000 cycling-related jobs could be created. Photo: UNECE.

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Mr. Bach sits next to Sophia – a figure made solely of recycled plastic bottles – to raise awareness of the need for a greener environment. Photo: UNECE.

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Maximizing synergies with other UN organizations

Although divisions and tensions exist in Europe, Mr. Bach remained optimistic about UNECE’s work and the future. “UNECE has proven throughout its 70 years that even in the most difficult times, we could get countries together, put some of … the high politics aside and focus on concrete practical cooperation that is going to benefit citizens,” he said.

In UNECE, countries came together, put their differences aside and said: let’s get the road connected. We have to make sure we have efficient railways. We have to make sure we can cooperate on water, have clean airChristian Friis Bach

He recalled, for instance, that the largest transport convention was framed and formed during the very difficult years of the Cold War. “In UNECE, countries came together, put their differences aside and said: let’s get the road connected. We have to make sure we have efficient railways. We have to make sure we can cooperate on water, have clean air,” said Mr. Bach.

“This was done regardless of the tensions and conflicts and that for me is the strength, legacy and beauty of UNECE and we still have it.”

Mr. Bach is aware of the current difficulties facing Europe and believes that countries must get back on the pathway for economic integration and cooperation throughout the continent.

“This is our historical mission. This why UNECE was established,” he stated. “To ensure economic integration and cooperation, to maintain peace in Europe, and this mandate is today as relevant as ever.”

Mr. Bach will pass on UNECE’s leadership to Olga Algayerova of Slovakia in June 2017.

25 April 2017 – With nearly two-thirds of war-torn Yemen – about 19 million people – in need of emergency support, the international community today raised $1.1 billion at a pledging event in Geneva to aid what the United Nations chief calls “the world’s largest hunger crisis.”

The aim was to bridge a funding gap in the 2017 humanitarian appeal of $2.1 billion. Prior to the conference, only about 15 per cent had been met.

“We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation. We must act now, to save lives,” said Secretary-General António Guterres, who presided over the opening of the High-level Pledging Event on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, alongside the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Switzerland and Sweden.

He noted that the “man-made crisis” had devastated the economy of a country that was “pitifully poor” even before the current conflict, and forced three million people from their homes – leaving many being unable to earn a living or grow crops.

“Some 17 million are food-insecure, making this the world’s largest hunger crisis,” Mr. Guterres said, highlighting a situation worsened by import restrictions and the destruction of port facilities.

Calling particular attention to children at risk in Yemen, Mr. Guterres said that on average, one child under the age of five dies of preventable causes every 10 minutes in Yemen.

“This means fifty children in Yemen will die during today’s conference – and all those deaths could have been prevented,” he stated.

Secretary-General António Guterres (at podium) is joined by from left: Foreign Ministers Margot Wallström of Sweden, and Didier Burkhalter of Switzerland, and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien at the press briefing in Geneva of the High-Level Pledging Event for Yemen. Photo: OCHA/Violaine Martin

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), pledges were made by 48 Member States, the European Commission, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and four NGO/humanitarian organizations for humanitarian action in Yemen in 2017. “Now we must see the pledges translated into the scaled up action the people of Yemen need and deserve,” the Mr. Guterres said.

Yemen’s next challenge: lifting restriction on aid access throughout the country

The exact pledges for the day totalled $1,098,466,634, “a remarkable success” according to the Secretary-General, who expressed optimism at the close of the conference that the full amount required will materialize in the coming months.

The next challenge to overcome would be to lift access restrictions to and without Yemen. Mr. Guterres urged parties of the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and allow unhindered movement of humanitarian actors to reach those in need.

“Access is the key for the success of this pledging conference,” he said, calling also for the necessary infrastructure to be allowed to operate in normal conditions and for goods to be imported and distributed.

Echoing the Secretary-General’s calls for access, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien noted the UN and its humanitarian partners are “scaling up and ready to do more provided there are resources and access.”

Having visited Yemen thrice over the past two years, he recalled haunting images of a 13 year old girl who now headed her household, of toddlers too sick to register their mother’s touch, and of families living with little access to food, clean water or medicines.

Both officials stressed that funding alone will not reverse the fortunes of the millions of people impacted. They called for a cessation of hostilities and a political settlement, with talks facilitated by the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

‘Between famine and starvation lies disease’

More than two years of fighting has destroyed the country’s infrastructure – including attacks that targeted civilians. Some 325 attacks have been verified on health facilities, schools, markets and other infrastructure.

As the violence rose, the ability to aid those in need has been hampered. The disruption of health services has been “severe,” Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the pledging event.

Less than half of the country’s health facilities are functioning and the majority of health providers, if they stayed, have not been paid since at least August 2016.

She warned also that infections would increase as the population grows more hungry.

“Large swaths of the population are on the brink of famine,” Dr. Chan said. “Between famine and death from starvation lies disease. Infections that a well-nourished body wards off become deadly in severely malnourished people.”

She called for more services, such as vaccinations, and access to basic health services.

25 April 2017 – The United Nations health agency’s regional office for Africa has announced that Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi will take part in a breakthrough pilot programme to make the world’s first malaria vaccine available in selected areas, beginning in 2018.

“The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine”, said Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, in a news release.

Announcement of the coordinated rollout comes as the international community marks World Malaria Day and the kick-off of World Immunization Week, 24-30 April, which celebrates the widespread use of vaccines that protect people against 26 diseases. Overall, vaccines prevent an estimated two to three million deaths each year, according to WHO.

The injectable RTS,S vaccine was developed to protect young children from the most deadly form of malaria caused by Plasmodium parasites. It will be assessed in the pilot programme as a complementary malaria control tool to potentially be added to the core package of WHO-recommended measures for malaria prevention.

“Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa,” Dr. Moeti added.

Africa bears the greatest burden of malaria worldwide. Global efforts in the last 15 years have led to a 62 per cent reduction in malaria deaths between 2000 and 2015, yet approximately 429,000 people died of the disease in 2015 – the majority of them young children in Africa.

The WHO pilot programme will assess whether the vaccine’s protective effect in children aged 5 – 17 months old during Phase III testing can be replicated in real-life. Specifically, it will assess the feasibility of delivering the required four doses of RTS,S, the vaccine’s potential role in reducing childhood deaths and its safety in the context of routine use.

Pilot implementation strategy

The three countries selected to participate in the pilot were based on the criteria of high coverage of long-lasting insecticidal-treated nets; well-functioning malaria and immunisation programmes – a high malaria burden even after scale-up of LLINs; and participation in the Phase III RTS,S malaria vaccine trial.

Each country will decide on the districts and regions to be included, with high-malaria-burden areas prioritized, as they are predicted to provide the broadest benefit. Information garnered from the pilot will help to inform later decisions about potential wider use of the vaccine.

The malaria vaccine will be administered via intramuscular injection and delivered through routine national immunization programmes. WHO is working with the three countries to facilitate regulatory authorization of the vaccine for use in the pilots through the African Vaccine Regulatory Forum. Regulatory support will also include measures to enable the appropriate safety monitoring of the vaccine and rigorous evaluation for eventual large scale use.

Malaria: Facts, figures and prevention strategies

Coverage gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa. Source: WHO

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the International Drug Purchase Facility UNITAID, are partnering to provide $49.2 million for the first phase of the pilot programme (2017-2020), which will be complemented in-kind by contributions from WHO and the British pharmaceutical company GSK .