19 June 2017 – In a historic first, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appointed 19-year-old Muzoon Almellehan, who has been advocating for girls’ education since fleeing war-torn Syria in 2013, as its newest &#8211 and youngest &#8211 Goodwill Ambassador.

&#8220As a refugee, I saw what happens when children are forced into early marriage or manual labour &#8211 they lose out on education and they lose out on possibilities for the future,&#8221 said Ms. Almellehan, recalling that when she fled, the only belongings she was able to take with her were her school books.

&#8220I am proud to be working with UNICEF to help give these children a voice and to get them into school,&#8221 she added.

Ms. Almellehan, is also the first person with an official refugee status to become an Ambassador for the UN agency. Since fleeing her homeland, she had been living in Jordan for three years, before being resettled in the United Kingdom.

In a news release today, UNICEF noted that it was during her 18 months in the Za’atari camp (in Jordan) that she began advocating for children’s access to education, particularly for girls.

&#8220Muzoon’s story of bravery and fortitude inspires us all,&#8221 said Justin Forsyth, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, in the release, adding: &#8220We are very proud she will now become an Ambassador for UNICEF and children around the world.&#8221

In April this year, Ms. Almellehan &#8211 dubbed ‘the Malala of Syria’ &#8211 travelled to areas affected by the Boko Haram conflict in the Lake Chad region where she met with children forced out of school due to the violence.

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Muzoon Almellehan meets students at the School of Peace at a internally displaced peoples site in the Lake Region, Chad, during her visit to the region in April 2017. Photo: UNICEF/Sokhin

RELATED: Girls worst affected as conflict keeps more than 25 million children out of school

Since her return, Ms. Almellehan has been working to promote understanding of the challenges children affected and uprooted by conflict face in accessing education, noted the UN agency.

According to UNICEF data, an estimated 25 million children of primary and secondary school are out of school in conflict zones around the world. For children living as refugees, only half are enrolled in primary school and less than a quarter are enrolled in secondary school.

Furthermore, education in emergencies also suffers with severe underfunding.

Since 2010, less than 2 per cent of humanitarian funding has been spent on education. At present, some $8.5 billion are needed annually to close this widening gap.

18 June 2017 – ‘Shocked and horrified’ at the many lives claimed by the devastating fires that hit the Pedrógão Grande region of Portugal, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today expressed his deep sadness and condolences to the Portuguese Government and people.

In a statement, the Secretary-General said he spoke earlier today with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and with the Prime Minister, António Costa, expressing his &#8220deep sadness.&#8221

According to news reports, the fast-moving wildfires ripped through the forested Pedrógão Grande central region of Portugal, some 150 kilometers (95 miles) northeast of Lisbon, leaving dozens dead and more injured.

&#8220I wish a speedy recovery to the injured. At this time of loss, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the victims,&#8221 said Mr. Guterres.

The UN chief went on to commend the Government, firefighters, emergency responders and civil society organizations who are sparing no efforts to battle the wildfire and help people in need.

&#8220The United Nations stands ready to assist in any way possible,&#8221 the Secretary-General concluded.

17 June 2017 – With hundreds of millions of people around the globe directly affected by desertification &#8211 the degradation of land ecosystems due to unsustainable farming or mining practices, or climate change &#8211 United Nations agencies have called for better management of land so that it can provide a place where individuals and communities &#8220can build a future.&#8221

&#8220Population growth means demand for food and water is set to double by 2050 but crop yields are projected to fall precipitously on drought affected, degraded land. More than 1.3 billion people, mostly in the rural areas of developing countries, are in this situation,&#8221 said Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) secretariat, in her message on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

&#8220So this year, the Convention is calling for a focus on making the land and life in rural communities viable for young people […] let us give them better choices and options.&#8221

According to estimates, nearly 500 million hectares of once fertile land &#8211 close to two million square miles &#8211 have now been abandoned.

The UNCCD believes that with access to new technologies and to the knowledge, these lands can build resilience to extreme weather-elements like drought and with the right, feed a hungry planet and develop new green sectors of the economy.

&#8220Let us give young people the chance to bring that natural capital back to life and into production [which can then] develop markets for rural products and revitalize communities.&#8221 added Ms. Barbut, calling for increased and relevant investments in land, rural infrastructure and skills development so that &#8220the future can be bright.&#8221

The role of environment change is also increasingly clear in motivating or compelling people to migrate or become displaced.

Desertification is a global phenomenon that threatens everyoneUNESCO chief Irina Bokova

With more land getting lost to desertification, rural populations &#8211 relying on pastoral livelihoods, agriculture and natural resources &#8211 will face additional vulnerabilities, compounding poverty, poor levels of education, lack of investment and isolation, voiced Irina Bokova, the head of UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

To address this growing threat, Ms. Bokova called for a two pronged approach: first, better land management to arrest desertification as well as for preserving its productivity; and second, strengthening resilience of vulnerable populations by supporting alternative livelihoods.

&#8220We must recognise that desertification is a global phenomenon that threatens everyone and we must start to act globally to build a sustainable and stable future for all,&#8221 she underscored.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) also highlighted the challenges noted by Ms. Bokova.

Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UNEP, added: &#8220[Desertification and land degradation] drives human displacement by threatening lives over the short term and making people’s livelihoods untenable over the long term, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable.&#8221

Given the significant challenges that loss in arable land and their impact in overall socio-economic conditions of affected populations, the subject also features prominently in the 2030 Agenda‘s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Goal 15, in particular, calls for combatting desertification, and undertaking efforts to halt and reverse land degradation.

In August this year, countries from the Latin American region will be meeting in Bolivia’s in Santa Cruz de la Sierra where they will discuss better drought management and preparedness.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) &#8211 the UN agency that closely monitors global weather and climate patterns and provides member States with climate information to make effective decisions &#8211 is one of the organizers of the meeting along with UNCCD.

&#8220Providing state of art climate information [is key] for climate change adaptation in vital sectors such as agriculture, food security and social well-being,&#8221 said WMO Secretary-General Peter Taalas in his message on the World Day, warning: &#8220Increased frequency of droughts can lead to land degradation and eventually, if unchecked, to increased desertification.&#8221

Commemorated annually on June 17, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought seeks to promote public awareness of land degradation and to draw attention to the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification &#8211 the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.

This year’s commemoration focuses on the theme &#8220Our Land. Our Home. Our Future.&#8221

16 June 2017 – Despite progress towards peace in Mali, terrorist attacks remain a major obstacle, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping operation there told the Security Council today.

Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission, known by its French acronym, MINUSMA, reported significant progress on implementing the Agreement on Peace and Reconciliation over the past months, but agreed that terrorists and extremists were gaining ground as existing tensions threatened to derail achievements.

&#8220Mali’s central region is a continuing source of concern,&#8221 said Mr. Annadif as he encouraged the Council to focus on the pressing security challenges and &#8220to send a strong message that civilian killings must end&#8221 while considering the renewal of MINUSMA’s mandate.

Since Security Council resolution 2295 (2016) gave the Mission a &#8220robust&#8221 mandate, noted the envoy, &#8220financial support must continue to ensure its ability to maintain its full functions, including the ability to assist Mali’s armed forces.&#8221

While scaling up support for the Agreement, MINUSMA would also continue to assist international mediation efforts and strengthen national capacity, he explained, saying that &#8220although neighbouring countries had committed recently to deploying uniformed personnel and equipment, the lack of escort and convoy battalions was a major roadblock to continued progress.&#8221

Mr. Annadif went on to note that the National Understanding Conference had been held satisfactorily, further indicating that the Charter for Peace, Unity and Reconciliation was being developed. In addition, the interim authorities had been established in the five regions concerned.

&#8220The various operational coordination mechanisms and joint patrols are on track,&#8221 he told the Council, while the process of security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration continues, although the pace is slow.

These are, according to Annadif, &#8220among many positive developments, in addition to the institutional and political reforms, that are to be credited to the Government.&#8221

However, he warned, these positive developments risk being annihilated by the tension that has existed for some time between the Azawad Movement Coordination (CMA) and the Platform, which has turned into a conflict Community.

Unfortunately, these practices are the bedrock of terrorists and other extremists, which reinforce each other, both in their operational mode and in the sophistication of the equipment used, Annadif said. More seriously, they extend their areas of influence and influence.

The Mission therefore aims to strengthen its presence in the central region, he said, within the framework of an integrated and multidimensional approach in partnership with other actors such as the European Union. The forthcoming deployment of the rapid reaction force is part of this arrangement.

16 June 2017 – Two United Nations agencies have voiced ‘deep concern’ for the safety of hundreds of migrants and refugees &#8211 including many children &#8211 held captive by smugglers or criminal gangs at an unknown location in Libya after videos showing their abuse was posted on Facebook.

The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed that the videos are authentic.

According to the agency, short video clips have also been sent to families of those held captive, threatening that they will be killed if ransoms (ranging between $8,000-$10,0000) are not paid.

&#8220Seeing a Facebook video of innocent migrants and refugees who have been abused and tortured is deeply concerning,&#8221 said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies, in a news release.

&#8220The cruelty of the human traffickers preying on vulnerable refugees and migrants in Libya does not seem to have a limit,&#8221 added Amin Awad, the Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), calling for their immediate release.

Those seen in the video are from Somalia and Ethiopia but other nationalities could also be present, noted IOM.

It added that migrants and refugees travelling to Libya from the Horn Africa, are particularly vulnerable in the Raybana area on the country’s southern border with Sudan, where many are frequently abducted.

Social media and tech firms need to recognize the extreme harm &#8211 IOM official

The agency also drew attention to the increasing trend of abuse of digital and social media platforms by smugglers or criminal gangs and called on such firms to be more vigilant.

&#8220This is a global problem where a smuggler or a criminal gang can easily use digital platforms to advertise their services, entice vulnerable people on the move and then exploit them and their families,&#8221 said IOM’s Mr. Abdiker.

Social media, including Facebook, has a duty to better police content on its channels […] We are not accusing Facebook of complicity [but emphasizing] that these channels are being abused by criminalsLeonard Doyle, chief spokesperson for IOM in Geneva

&#8220It is high time that social media and tech companies recognize the extreme harm that is occurring because of their failure to monitor and react to situations of grave human rights abuses […] that are being shared through their channels,&#8221 he added.

Also today, the head of IOM operations in Libya, Othman Belbeisi, said that the agency is working closely with all partners in trying to locate the migrants.

&#8220[We are] supporting Libyan efforts in the fight against the smuggling networks and we are very concerned about the current situation,&#8221 noted Mr. Belbeisi, adding that IOM would continue to use its staff in the region &#8211 in coordination with the authorities &#8211 to assist in tracing and potentially aiding in the rescue of these victims.

Some of the captives in the videos have been missing for up to six years, according to their families in Somalia, noted IOM.

The videos, made by a journalist based in Turkey (who recorded the call he received from the criminal gang, and posted it on Facebook on 9 June) show hundreds of emaciated and abused male migrants and refugees sitting on the floor in a crowded space.

They said that been beaten and tortured.

Large concrete block placed on a young, starving man as punishment

Some of them also reported that their teeth have been removed, their arms broken, they have not been fed, and that women and girls have been put in different cells, where these men fear they are being abused both sexually and physically.

&#8220I have being here one year. I am beaten every day. I swear I do not eat food. My body is bruised from beating,&#8221 said one of the captives in the video. &#8220If you have seen the life here you wouldn’t stay this world any more. I didn’t eat the last four days but the biggest problem is beating here. They don’t want to release me.&#8221

IOM noted that throughout the video there are exchanges between the journalist and the person moderating on site in Libya.

In one instance, he introduces the journalist to a young visibly starving man with a large concrete block weighing down on his back, as punishment for his family not paying his ransom.

They broke my teeth, they broke my hand…A captive shown in the video

&#8220I was asked for $8,000,&#8221 said the young man, when asked by journalist why the criminal gang were punishing him. &#8220They broke my teeth. They broke my hand. I have being here 11 months […] This stone has been put on me for the last three days. It’s really painful.&#8221

&#8220I was here one year,&#8221 said another captive on the video (from Ethiopia), pleading with the journalist for help.

&#8220We want help. My brother, my brother, we are dead! We are beaten 24 hours a day, brother I am begging you! Brother I beg you, do whatever you can do. I can’t sleep, my chest hurts so much because they beat me with big pieces of steel every hour. They put us out in the sun. They do not give us food for days. Brother, we want you can take us back to our country!&#8221