The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the UN Security Council condemned on Saturday in the strongest terms the attack against vehicles of the peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), which took place on Friday and in which three “blue helmets” from Guinea were killed and at least another injured.

The peacekeepers were killed in the area of Siby, near the capital, Bamako. 

Mr. Guterres and the members of the Security Council extended their condoleances to the families of the fallen, wished the injured a speedy and full recovery, and expressed their solidarity with the people of Guinea and with those who risk their lives serving in the mission. 

Guinea is the eight largest contributor of troops to MINUSMA, with 869 women and men serving in it. 

The UN chief cautioned that any attack against UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and called on the Malian authorities to “spare no effort in identifying and swiftly bringing to justice the perpetrators of this attack”.

The UN Security Council added that” involvement in planning, directing, sponsoring or conducting attacks against MINUSMA peacekeepers constitutes a basis for sanctions designations pursuant to United Nations Security Council  resolutions”.

After a failed coup six years ago, a proliferation of armed groups fighting government forces and their allies in the centre and northern areas of the country has plunged the country into conflict.

Today, MINUSMA is the deadliest mission to serve in as a UN ‘blue helmet’ with more than 180 paying the ultimate sacrifice, since it was established in 2013. In 2019 alone, the number of fatalities stands at 15.

The UN chief reaffirmed nonetheless in his statement on Saturday the determination of MINUSMA,  which currently has 16,227 deployed personnel, to “continue implementing its mandate in support of the people and Government of Mali in their quest for peace”.

This was echoed that by the UN Security Council members who stressed that “these heinous acts will not undermine their determination to continue to support the peace and reconciliation process in Mali”.

In 2015, a UN-backed peace agreement was signed by armed groups — the  Coordination des Mouvements de l’Azawad and the Plateforme coalition of armed groups — and the Government of Mali. However, continued violence has rendered its implementation very challenging. 

Gender equality, the marginalization of indigenous languages, migration, the refugee crisis, the lives of domestic workers, poverty… All these issues which are at the heart of the United Nations’ work, are also front and centre in some of the films celebrated this year at the Academy Awards.

Two women, Yalitza Aparicio and Nadine Labaki, could make history this Sunday during the 91st Oscar ceremony taking place this Sunday in Los Angeles, in the United States. Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio could become the first indigenous woman to win the prestigious golden statuette for her role in the feature Roma, by director Alfonso Cuarón. As for Nadine Labaki, from Lebanon, she could become the first Arab filmmaker to be awarded an Oscar, for her film Capernaum.

Their nominations came two years after a heated debate over the lack of diversity in the Academy Awards’ lists of nominees and winners.

This year, the Academy has also shown greater range in its thematic coverage by nominating films that highlight major international issues, in particular related to human rights. For example, the film Roma highlights the need to protect indigenous languages such as Mixtec, as well as the life of domestic workers, and societal inequalities. As for Capernaum, it puts the spotlight on the suffering of migrant and refugee children. Green Book and BlacKkKlansman, also nominated, highlight issues of racism in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.

This human-rights focus in the world of cinema takes place as the world just celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Image by Alfonso Cuarón

Oscar-nominated actress Yalitza Aparicio, in Roma.

Focus on indigenous issues and economic inequalities

Director Alfonso Cuarón has hailed Yalitza Aparicio’s nomination in the Best Actress category as the most relevant nomination of the 10 his film Roma secured. 

The young woman, who made her acting debut in this feature, plays Cleo, a domestic worker who is Mixteca, an indigenous community in Mexico, specifically in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Puebla. Cleo works for a middle class family in the early 1970s in the neighborhood of Roma, in Mexico City.

In an interview with UN News, Mr. Cuarón noted that, in his country, indigenous peoples are particularly affected by social inequalities. “It isn’t difficult to notice that economic power is closely linked to the color of one’s skin, and indigenous peoples are those who usually end up having the least amount of privilege.”

The director stressed that the film had started a conversation on the racism that persists in Mexico, which he said “has been ignored for too long”. He added this racism had “not just been ignored” but that its very existence had actually been “denied.” He also noted that the topic of domestic work and the rights of indigenous peoples have been overall taboo.  

Regarding indigenous languages, of which 2019 is the International Year, Mr. Cuarón lamented that they are “very repressed.” Cleo and her friend and fellow domestic worker Adela only speak it when they are alone “in their own spaces” – i.e. the kitchen or their bedroom – or with the “girl who is belittled, ignored and unappreciated by the masculine part of the family.”

© UNHCR/Sam Tarling

Syrian child actor, Zain, before his resettlement in Norway.

Labaki’s ‘duty’

In Capernaum, director Nadine Labaki, nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category, sheds a light on the plight of refugee children, their violated rights, and how extreme poverty affects them.

The movie tells the story of 12-year-old Zain, a Syrian refugee who, caught in the limbo of conflict and forced displacement, files a lawsuit against his parents for having been born.

In an interview with UN News, Ms. Labaki said that she had “a duty” – “not even a choice” – to record the reality of the refugee crisis playing out on the streets of her native Lebanon. The small country, which is also facing its own political and economic challenges, currently hosts close to 1 million refugees from war-torn Syria.

“I’m actually surprised when people ask me [what pushed me to make this film] because I think, you know, if I can do something about it, and I can use my voice to do something about it, it would be a crime not to do so,” she said. “So I decided to use my tool, which is filmmaking, to tell that story, to put that story out there and to talk about this struggle because it’s my responsibility.”

Stressing that the refugee problem is visibly growing – as one can see in Lebanon “children working on the streets, carrying very heavy loads and doing very difficult jobs” – Ms. Labaki said she purposely chose to tell this story through a child’s perspective. A child “sees things so much more clearly than any adult because he is not informed or altered by societies’ codes or hypocrisy or politics.” 

Referring to Alan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian toddler found washed ashore on a Turkish beach in September 2015, she said when she saw his picture, she wondered: “if this child could talk, what would he say? What would he tell the world? How would he address the adults that put him in this situation?”

The different characters in the film are not played by professional actors, but by migrants and refugees who themselves faced very similar situations to those shown in the movie. The main character, Zain, is himself played by a refugee who fled Syria eight years ago.

Ms. Labaki explained he faced “very difficult circumstances” and “never went to school.” The only difference with the film, she explained, is that the real Zain has “loving parents.”

Since the film was made, Zain was resettled in Norway where he lives now, through the efforts of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres met on Friday with Jorge Arreaza, Foreign Minister of Venezuela, reiterated that the UN acts in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, working with Venezuelan institutions, to assist people in need.  

This is the third time that Minister Arreaza meets with the UN Secretary-General in just a few weeks.

During their meeting at UN headquarters in New York, they discussed the situation in the country and in the region, and Mr. Guterres urged the Venezuelan authorities not to use lethal force against demonstrators.

Amid deepening economic and political uncertainty, the UN has been supporting local institutions by providing medical kits for women and children, and aid teams are also delivering 100,000 treatments for severe acute malnutrition. Six temporary shelters have been set up in the western border states to house 1,600 people and offer them protection and information, as well as family kits containing food and clothing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that it is continuing to work with the authorities through the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), notably to prevent and control communicable and non-communicable diseases. Immunization campaigns have been carried out to halt the spread of measles and diphtheria.

In a bid to help 3.6 million Venezuelans, including 2 million children, the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) has appealed for nearly $110 million.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated the Philippines on Friday for establishing a government body to push forward the formal creation of an autonomous region.

In addition to the Government, he commended the Islamic Liberation Front, civil society groups, local communities and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission itself, which was first tasked some six years ago to help draft what in 2018 became the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The de facto seat of the Autonomous Region, which consists of five mostly Muslim provinces, has its own government, which is outside of its jurisdiction.

Following the plebiscite confirmations of 21 January and 6 February, Mr. Guterres called the Bangsamoro Organic Law “a landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace in the Southern Philippines,” as well as “a historic occasion for all people from the Philippines.”

He pledged continued UN support in implementing the Bangsamoro Organic Law and helping to “build the capacity of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority to achieve peace, democratic governance, and respect for human rights.”

Over the last six months, a diverse section of several hundred people has been arrested and held in pre-trial detention for long periods for their alleged roles during protests that took place last year between April and July.

Amid rising concerns over the judiciary’s independence, since December, various criminal courts in Managua have handed down guilty verdicts and extremely heavy sentences to prominent opposition and community leaders.

Students, journalists, and a Supreme Court judge, among other dissenting voices, have fled the country.

The proceedings in many of the cases have been marred by a lack of transparency; witnesses independence and credibility; undue restrictions on evidence and witnesses for the defense; and defendants’ insufficient access to their lawyers.

Recent convictions/sentencings in controversial circumstances: