Partnerships at local, national, regional and international levels are crucial to ensuring global migration is better managed, the United Nations migration agency chief said Monday in New York.

“Partnerships must include all stakeholders: Government, international organizations and civil society,” William Lacy Swing, Director General of International Organization for Migration (IOM), told the International Dialogue on Migration, a two-day forum that is part the year-long UN-led effort to craft a Global Compact to cover all dimensions of international.  

“Partnerships are not just about working together but about working together to find new and creative ways of conducting our migration business,” he added.

Partnership and cooperation are cornerstones of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Goal 17 calls for the revitalization and enhancement of the global partnership for sustainable development in all areas, including migration.

Moreover, the Secretary-General’s recent migration report states that “Managing migration is one of the most urgent and profound tests of international cooperation in our time.”

The central importance of partnerships on migration was a key takeaway from the stock-taking meeting in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in December 2017 and one of the key messages of last year’s International Dialogue on Migration.

Calling “partnership” a key word in migration, Mr. Swing emphasized, “No single government, international organization or civil society stakeholder can expect to reap migrations benefits or address its challenges by going it alone.”

“The focus right now is on global cooperation,” he continued. “The Global Compact for Migration is a project that deserves close, concerted action from the international community as a whole; not just to conclude negotiations but, beyond that stage, to ensure successful review implementation and follow up.”

Migration needs to recognize the obligations and commitments of all actors in the field of international migration.

Henrietta Holsman Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), spoke of the challenges facing the world today in supporting people “to move safely and by choice, to help them to make the most of the opportunities and support available to them – especially children and young people.”

Pointing out that “no group of migrants is more at risk,” she elaborated that there are more than million children on the move – more than of half of whom have been driven from their homes by conflict.”

“No single State or Organization can manage migration alone,” she said, stressing the need for everyone to lend “their resources, energies and ideas.”

For his part, Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), called for fair recruitment, skills development, social protection, decent work and respect for labour rights.

“Migration is about work,” he said, emphasizing his office’s mandate “to protect those who are working in countries that are not their own.”

Also speaking, Louise Arbour, Special Representative for International Migration, made clear that in the lead up to the UN’s 2018 International Migration Conference in Morocco later this year, the world’s “collective focus should remain firmly fixed on how to address the daily realities of migrants and their communities of origin and destination.”

Ms. Arbour believes that for safe, orderly migration to succeed, policies must be enacted – based on an sound appreciation of the complex interplay of demographic and economic factors.

“This is a very tall order,” she acknowledged. “Bureaucrats can make the rational arguments. Demagogues can make the publicly appealing ones. Only great political leaders can make both.”

Mr. Swing assured that IOM would strive to expand existing partnerships and build new ones and that “migrants social, economic and health needs are properly addressed, with the collaboration of all relevant actors.” 

“Together, we can achieve our common purpose of reaping the benefits of migration for migrants, and destination and origin societies,” he concluded.

Reporting that over the past three months, Israel has advanced 22 plans for some 1,200 housing units for one area of the West Bank, a United Nations envoy warned Monday that such ongoing settlement expansion is eroding the prospect of a two-state solution to the long-standing Middle East conflict.

In a briefing to the Security Council focused mainly on implementation of its resolution 2334, Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said the text urged Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”

“[However] no such steps were taken during the reporting period,” he added, noting that Israel’s “illegal settlement expansion and related activities continue further threatening the viability of the two-state solution and eroding the prospects for peace.”

Mr. Mladenov also warned that violence and incitement continue to fuel hatred, division, distrust and fear, and continuing terror attacks on Israelis as well as the recent assassination attempt on the Palestinian Prime Minister exemplify the growing risk of destabilization and the empowerment of radicals and extremists.

He further told the 15-member Security Council the reporting period was marked by continuing demonstrations and clashes following to the announcement by the United States, on 6 December 2017, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, to the growing tensions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and along the Gaza fence.

“Despite the call in […] resolution 2334 for the parties to refrain from acts of provocation, incitement, and inflammatory rhetoric, such statements continued,” added Mr. Mladenov, calling on all political leaders to refrain from provocative statements and actions that fuel an already tense environment.

Concluding his remarks, the senior UN official called on Israelis, Palestinians and the  international community to take concrete steps to reverse the current course of the conflict and advance the goal of a just and sustainable peace.

“Generations of Palestinian and Israeli lives have been shaped by this conflict. It is time to begin constructing a different future, a future built on mutual respect, dignity, and the belief that even the deepest and most painful divisions can be resolved if there is a genuine desire for change,” he said.

Three years after a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen war, and hours after reports that Houthi rebels fired missiles at cities in Saudi Arabia, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday urged restraint on all sides, saying military escalation is not the solution.

The UN has also dispatched an envoy to meet with warring parties in its quest to facilitate a negotiated political settlement to the crisis, which has left an estimated 22.2 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

“The Special Envoy [Martin Griffiths] is in Sana’a this week to meet with various Yemeni parties,” Farhan Haq, UN Deputy Spokesperson, told reporters at the world body’s New York Headquarters.

The Secretary-General emphasizes that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis – UN spokesperson

 “The Secretary-General emphasizes that a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis,” Mr. Haq added.

The Former Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who had been brokering talks between the parties since 2015, stepped down last month.

On 26 March 2015, a coalition of countries led by Saudi Arabia intervened militarily at the request of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to secure the return of the Government to Sana’a, which had been seized by Houthi militias and allied units of the armed forces when the conflict initially erupted in 2014.

Three years on, the fighting is raging and the ensuing humanitarian crisis has only deepened in a country that was already one of the region’s poorest. On Sunday, missiles were fired toward Saudi Arabia.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns the launch late yesterday of a series of missiles claimed by the Houthis toward cities in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, as he does consistently with all attacks against civilians,” said Mr. Haq.

Calling for restraint amid mounting tensions, the UN chief stressed that military escalation is not the solution, the spokesperson added.

Also on Monday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that three years of war has killed thousands of children and seriously injured thousands more.

“In 2017 alone, we’ve seen children continue to be killed and seriously injured at a rate of a minimum of five children every single day,” said Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, upon returning from a field visit to Yemen to assess the impact that the brutal war and decades of chronic underdevelopment is having on 11 million Yemeni boys and girls.

“In 2017, we have seen outbreaks of deadly cholera and deadly diphtheria. Many hundreds of children have been killed as a result of that as well,” he added.

Yemen was once called ‘Arabia Felix’ – happy Arabia – but there is not much happiness there today –UNICEF Regional Director

He also said that UNICEF has been able to verify that 2,500 schools today that are no longer serving for educational purposes. They were destroyed by the war or being used for military purposes, or for hosting displaced people.

“Yemen was once called ‘Arabia Felix’ – happy Arabia – but there is not much happiness there today. Happiness will only come back to Yemen, if we invest in children, stop the brutal war and invest in education,” he said.

Since the uprisings in Yemen broke out in early 2011, the UN has been engaged in helping Yemenis to find a peaceful solution.

One month after a powerful earthquake hit Papua New Guinea, the United Nations warns that “children’s lives are in danger” as access to the affected remote and isolated villages across vast and rugged terrain remains a huge challenge.

According to the Government, an estimated 270,000 people are still in need of urgent assistance, including 125,000 children, in the wake of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake on 26 February that killed at least 100 people and injured many more in landslides and collapsing houses across four remote provinces of the Pacific island nation.

Children’s lives are in danger. With limited access to basic necessities, families are struggling to survive in crowded shelters, or to rebuild homes and food gardens.

“Children’s lives are in danger,” said Karen Allen, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative for the country. “With limited access to basic necessities, families are struggling to survive in crowded shelters, or to rebuild homes and food gardens.”

Last week alone, UNICEF delivered 23 metric tons of relief supplies to the nation, including tents and tarpaulins, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, blankets and learning kits.

To date, UNICEF has already delivered 12,000 packets of therapeutic food and enough vaccines to protect 31,700 children against the increasing risk of disease outbreak and malnutrition.

UNICEF/Bell

UNICEF staff unload emergency supplies in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea for earthquake response efforts.

Papua New Guinea already had low vaccination coverage and the world’s fourth highest rate of chronically malnourished children.
 
UNICEF is working with the Government and partners to ensure humanitarian supplies are distributed to affected communities as quickly as possible. UN Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Women are also on the ground.  

UNICEF needs $14.6 million to provide humanitarian assistance to children and families affected by the earthquake over the next nine months.

The island nation, on a volatile seismic fault system, has been experiencing a spark of activity, with the latest strike by a 6.6 magnitude quake several hours ago, according media reports.   

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the UN World Conference in Sendai, Japan, in March 2015, aims to substantially reduce global disaster mortality and the number of affected people by 2030.

Drawing attention to the dangers United Nations personnel face while serving the world’s most vulnerable, Secretary-General António Guterres has called for greater protection for the Organization’s staff to allow them to carry out their mission safely.

“Whether in their countries of origin or far from their families and homes, United Nations personnel work tirelessly to help the world’s most vulnerable,” Mr. Guterres said in his message on the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members.

“Let us strengthen our resolve and our means to protect UN staff as they work tirelessly for peace, sustainable development and human rights for all,” he added.

The Secretary-General also noted that the Organization continues to monitor cases of its staff having being arrested or detained as well as pursue their release.

Today, 29 UN civilian personnel are in detention. Eight are being held without known or clear charges or without the Organization being given any reasons for their arrests.

Mr. Guterres also noted that only 92 UN Member States are party to the 1994 Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel, and that only 32 have ratified the 2005 Optional Protocol, which extends protection to UN personnel delivering humanitarian, political or development assistance.

“I urge all countries that have not joined these instruments to promptly do so,” he said, stressing, “the safety [UN staff] need to carry out this vital mission should be our priority.”

The International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members is marked each year on 25 March, the date of the abduction of Alec Collett, who was taken by armed gunmen in 1985 while working for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). His remains were finally found in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in 2009.