21 August 2017 – The top United Nations humanitarian official in Iraq has warned against the consequences of displacement as thousands of civilians are expected to flee from Tal Afar and surrounding communities during the Iraqi military operation to retake these areas from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) terrorist group.

&#8220Thousands of people are fleeing Tal Afar for safety,&#8221 said Lise Grande, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, in a press release issued yesterday. &#8220Families are trekking for 10 to 20 hours in extreme heat to reach mustering points. They are arriving exhausted and dehydrated.&#8221

More than 30,000 people have already fled the district, said Ms. Grande, noting that it is not known how many civilians are still in the areas where fighting is occurring, but preparation is under way for thousands more to flee in coming days and weeks.

&#8220Food and water are running out, and people lack the basic necessities to survive,&#8221 she said, stressing that nothing is more important than protecting civilians during the conflict while urging the parties to the conflict to avoid civilian casualties.

&#8220The Government is leading the humanitarian operation, providing transport and aid. Humanitarian partners are helping to cover gaps by providing life-saving assistance at mustering points and supporting families when they reach emergency sites and camps,&#8221 said Ms. Grande.

As of 20 August, less than 50 percent of the funding requested in the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for Iraq has been received, she said, underscoring the need for additional resources.

19 August 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today condemned the terrorist attack in south-western Finland which killed at least two people.

&#8220The United Nations stands in solidarity with the Government of Finland in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism,&#8221 the Secretary-General said in a statement from his spokesperson.

He extended his heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Finland, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

According to media reports, an assailant killed at least two people and wounded a half-dozen others on 18 August in an attack in Turku, Finland.

19 August 2017 – On World Humanitarian Day, the United Nations and its partners are calling on all global leaders to do everything in their power to protect people caught up in conflict, and to stand with the health and aid workers who risk their lives to help them.

&#8220Let the world know: Civilians are Not A Target,&#8221 underscored Secretary-General António Guterres in his message on the Day.

&#8220On this day, we also take a moment to honour the brave health and aid workers who are targeted or obstructed as they set out to help people in need, and pay tribute to the government employees, and representatives of international organizations and agencies who risk their daily lives to provide humanitarian aid,&#8221 he added.

Despite broad efforts, civilians &#8211 including medial and humanitarian workers &#8211 continue to bear the brunt of intense conflicts around the world.

&#8220They are attacked and their access obstructed, while humanitarian supplies and hospitals are looted by fighting parties. In addition, in cities like Juba and Aleppo, housing, markets, schools and vital civilian infrastructure are destroyed,&#8221 Mr Guterres elaborated.

&#8220No one is winning these wars. We are all losing,&#8221 stressed the UN chief.

The Secretary-General invited everyone &#8220to stand with us in solidarity with civilians in conflict, and with the health and aid workers who risk their lives to help them. Get involved with our online campaign at #NotATarget.&#8221

&#8220On World Humanitarian Day, let us commit to doing everything in our power to protect women, girls, men and boys in the line of fire, and to give them hope of a better future,&#8221 he concluded.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) commended the dedication and courage of its colleagues working on the frontlines of hunger, often at great risk to their own personal safety, to ensure that children and their families have enough to eat.

&#8220Humanitarian workers go where the need is, and far too often that is where conflict is as well,&#8221 said David Beasley, WFP Executive Director, in his message commemorating the Day.

&#8220Fighting and violence drive 80 per cent of all humanitarian needs, and 10 of WFP’s 13 largest food assistance operations are driven primarily by conflict,&#8221 he continued, noting that in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, more than 20 million people are on the brink of famine.

&#8220Increasingly, those involved in the conflicts in these areas are targeting aid workers,&#8221 he added.

&#8220On World Humanitarian Day, we come together to reaffirm that civilians caught in conflict and those who care for them are #NotATarget. We appeal to world leaders to take action to protect them and to deliver on the promise of our mutual, shared humanity,&#8221 concluded Mr. Beasley.

Gender-based violence shatters lives

For its part, the UN gender empowerment entity offered full support to the UN’s #NotATarget campaign, pointing out that violations of international humanitarian law have generated a global protection crisis.

&#8220Every day, young girls are increasingly exposed to early and forced marriage and young boys are forcibly recruited into armed groups,&#8221 said UN Women in a statement marking the Day.

&#8220Sexual and gender-based violence continue to shatter lives and undermine community cohesion,&#8221 it added.

According to UN Women, some 60 per cent of preventable maternal deaths take place in conflict, displacement or natural disaster settings; girls are two and a half times more likely to be out of school in conflict countries; and a reported one in five refugee or displaced women experience sexual violence, with the actual numbers potentially much higher.

&#8220Women are the leaders in their families, communities and societies who drive effective responses to crisis. And it is women and girls who have insights into what is needed and what works, which must inform effective humanitarian response,&#8221 said UN Women.

&#8220On World Humanitarian Day, we must come together to change the status quo &#8211 for women and girls, and for all civilians caught up in crises,&#8221 concluded the statement.

During a special event yesterday at UN Headquarters in New York, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien spoke of the challenges faced by aid workers around the word.

&#8220Last year, 288 aid workers were targeted in 158 attacks. In the past three months alone, relief workers have been shelled and shot at, kidnapped and killed in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria,&#8221 he said. &#8220This is blatantly unacceptable.&#8221

18 August 2017 – Civilians in conflict are not a target, top United Nations officials today stressed at a special event marking World Humanitarian Day, which honours aid workers and pays homage to those killed in service, while also drawing attention to the millions of people today living in war zones.

&#8220For the millions of people caught in conflict, struggling to find food, water, and safe shelter; who have been driven from their homes with little hope of return; whose schools have been bombed; and who await life-saving medical care &#8211 we cannot afford to fail,&#8221 Secretary-General António Guterres said, urging each person and country to stand in solidarity with civilians in conflict.

Standing at Headquarters in New York alongside UN aid workers and staff who lost colleagues in war zones, the Secretary-General lent his support to the #NotATarget,&#8221 campaign, which highlights the need to protect civilians caught in conflict, including humanitarian and medical workers.

Joining Mr. Guterres to mark World Humanitarian Day, which is officially commemorated on 19 August, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien spoke of the challenges faced by aid workers around the word.

&#8220Last year, 288 aid workers were targeted in 158 attacks. In the past three months alone, relief workers have been shelled and shot at, kidnapped and killed in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria,&#8221 he said. &#8220This is blatantly unacceptable.&#8221

Earlier in the week, the UN and partners launched the #NotATarget petition urging global leaders do more to ensure the rules of war are upheld and civilians are protected in armed conflicts.

With more than 10,500 signatures, the petitioners demand that world leaders do more to protect people trapped in conflicts, with a particular focus on those living in urban areas, children, targets of sexual violence, forcibly displaced people, humanitarian workers and health workers.

The petition will be presented to the Secretary-General during the high-level General Assembly, which opens on 12 September this year.

The UN General Assembly designated 19 August as World Humanitarian Day in 2008, selecting the date to coincide with the anniversary of the deadly 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

Originally coined by Médecins Sans Frontières in 2015, the #NotATarget hashtag is being used in the World Humanitarian Day digital campaign this year to call for action on behalf of all civilians trapped in conflicts.

18 August 2017 – Warning about escalating suffering in Yemen’s man-made catastrophe, senior United Nations officials today addressed the Security Council, calling on the international community to push for a political solution to the more than two-year-old conflict.

&#8220Death looms for Yemenis by air, land and sea,&#8221 Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told the 15-member Council in New York.

Reiterating one of the key points from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, who addressed the Council just moment earlier, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that that diseases and epidemics are at unprecedented levels in Yemen.

&#8220Those who survived cholera will continue to suffer the consequences of ‘political cholera’ that infects Yemen and continues to obstruct the road towards peace,&#8221 added Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

He noted that while the international community is united in its support of a peaceful solution, certain parties to the conflict take advantage of internal divisions and focus on personal interests.

&#8220What is missing at this point is for the parties to the conflict, without any delays, excuses or procrastination, to demonstrate their intention to end the war and put the national interest above ay personal gains,&#8221 the UN envoy said.

Every day without serious action means more destruction and death, as well as the spread of terrorist groups UN envoy for Yemen

Every day spent without serious action means more destruction and death, he said, as well as the spread of terrorist groups &#8211 such as the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula &#8211 and &#8220uncontrolled migration&#8221 through the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, where more than 41 migrants died in early August after being forced to abandon their boats and jump.

Before the conflict, Yemen had been making progress, with fewer people hungry and rising school enrolment, Mr. O’Brien said in his statement.

&#8220All of his has not been sharply reversed,&#8221 he said, noting that 17 million Yemenis are hungry, nearly 7 million facing famine, and about 16 million lack access to water or sanitation.

Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefs the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Yemen. UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (on screen), the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, briefs the Security Council via video conference. UN Photo/Kim Haughton

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Mr. O’Brien highlighted several key challenges, including a funding shortage &#8211 the $2.3 billion Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan is only 39 per cent funded.

He also underscored the interference to movement of critical commercial and humanitarian supplies and staff.

&#8220De facto authorities in Sana’a or local officials in areas under their control block, delay or otherwise interfere with humanitarian action,&#8221 said Mr. O’Brien.

The humanitarian official urged the international community to ensure that all ports are open to civilian, including to commercial traffic.

He called for those Governments and individuals with influence to influence the fighting parties to respect the international humanitarian and human rights law and to strengthen accountability.

With 1.2 million public employees not paid regularly for months, he also urged that civil servant salaries be paid so that the basic services in the country do not collapse.

&#8220This human tragedy is deliberate and wanton &#8211 it is political and, with will and with courage which are both in short supply, it is stoppable,&#8221 he said, reiterating the UN’s ongoing calls for a political solution to the conflict.