15 February 2017 – Urging action for greater freedoms, stronger respect and more compassion, the United Nations human rights arm today launched a $253 million appeal &#8211 its largest to date &#8211 to bolster its 2017 work programme to protect and advance the rights of people around the world.

&#8220In numerous countries, even the rules are under attack &#8211 xenophobia and calls for racial and religious discrimination have entered mainstream discourse and every day, seemingly, are more widespread and more deeply rooted,&#8221 said Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a news release issued by his office (OHCHR) announcing the appeal.

&#8220More and more people are suddenly realizing we can no longer afford to be complacent about human rights, and that the erosion of other people’s human rights will sooner or later lead to the erosion of our own.&#8221

According to OHCHR, the extra-budgetary funds will augment its work in providing in-country assistance, supporting UN independent rights experts and the Human Rights Council, as well as contribute to a number of trust funds on issues such as torture, rights of indigenous peoples and contemporary forms of slavery.

Erosion of other people’s human rights will sooner or later lead to the erosion of our own

&#8220Through human rights advocacy, advice on laws and constitutions, training of State authorities as well as of non-governmental organizations, fact-finding and hard-hitting investigations that lay the groundwork for accountability and amplify the voices of victims of human rights violations &#8211 through these and other means, [OHCHR] helps in the push for better human rights protections for all,&#8221 said High Commissioner Zeid.

The Office has some 60 field presences in different locations around the globe. These include country, regional and stand-alone offices, human rights advisers, and human rights components of UN missions.

However, it also struggles with &#8220dramatic and chronic&#8221 underfunding.

&#8220More than ever, we need strong partners to stand with us […] We need to broaden our financial support base to include more Member States, and encourage participation from a much broader range of private donors,&#8221 said Mr. Zeid, calling for their support to help prevent human rights crisis from escalating as well as contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

&#8220We can advocate a broad, open democratic space and impartial rule of law institutions in every country […] we can push back against the current assaults on values, and act swiftly to uphold the human rights laws and principles we fought so hard to build,&#8221 he highlighted, adding:

&#8220The time to stand up for human rights is now. We are counting on your support.&#8221

15 February 2017 – Access to food is becoming harder in eastern Ukraine as prices are outpacing incomes, the United Nations emergency food agency today said, warning that without longer-term intervention, more people will need humanitarian aid in the months and years to come.

&#8220Food prices are increasing at a time when household incomes are impacted by unemployment, and we see many families resorting to negative coping strategies in the face of economic hardship,&#8221 said the World Food Programme (WFP) in Ukraine, Dorte Ellehammer.

The UN agency said there are about 70,000 people in eastern Ukraine considered &#8220most vulnerable.&#8221 This group includes the elderly, families headed by a single mother, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, and people who do not receive other humanitarian aid.

In addition, there are up to 150,000 people considered &#8220moderately food-insecure,&#8221 meaning that they struggle to find or buy enough food on a daily basis, according to WFP.

&#8220As the conflict has continued, many Ukrainians have become more vulnerable due to the lack of sufficient social benefits to cover food and other living expenses,&#8221 the agency said in a press release.

To help Ukrainians cope, WFP said that it would scale up its use of cash-based transfers in areas where the banks are functioning properly and there is food in the stores.

During the coming spring and summer, the agency said that it plans to implement small-scale early recovery projects to increase incomes, diversify crops and help to inject some money into local businesses.

WFP has urgently requested more than $30 million to provide much-needed food aid to eastern Ukraine through the end of 2017.

15 February 2017 – Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home can be a blessing &#8211 it does away with rush hour traffic, for example &#8211 but it also diminishes personal space and contact with colleagues, according to a new study released today by the United Nations labour agency and a private sector partner, which recommends how to address these work-life disparities.

&#8220This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance,&#8221 said the Jon Messenger, co-author of the joint report by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and Eurofund.

The study, Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work is based on interviews with workers and experts in 10 European Union member states, Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan and the United States.

It highlights positive effects of teleworking, such as greater autonomy on working time and better work-day organization, and reduced commuting time resulting in a better overall work-life balance and higher productivity.

On the down side, teleworking &#8220blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, depending on the place of work and the characteristics of different occupations,&#8221 Mr. Messenger said.

People teleworking have a tendency to work longer hours, and have higher levels of stress as a result of overlapping paid work and personal life.

As telework becomes more prominent so too has the need to disconnect in order to separate paid work and personal life, with France and Germany beginning to look at arrangements at the company level, and at existing and new legislation, such as the &#8220right to be disconnected&#8221 (le droit à la déconnexion) in the most recent revision of the French Labour Code.

According to the report, there are distinctions between home-based teleworkers who seem to enjoy better work-life balance and ‘high-mobile’ workers who are more at risk of negative health and well-being outcomes.

The report recommends promoting formal part-time teleworking so that people working from home can maintain their ties with co-workers and improve their well-being.

14 February 2017 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the establishment of an internal review team that will take forward the reforms to the UN Secretariat peace and security strategy, functioning and architecture, which he outlined when he was appointed the Secretary-General last year.

According to a statement issued today by the UN chief’s office, the team will be led by Tamrat Samuel, an Eritrean national who held numerous senior UN appointments.

The review team has been tasked to submit recommendations to the Mr. Guterres by June this year, which will then initiate a process of consultations with UN Member States and other relevant entities.

In the statement, he further noted that pending those evolutions, the mandates of senior officials working in the peace and security pillar would be maintained for until 1 April next year.

“The mandates of Jeffrey Feltman, as Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, as Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, and Atul Khare, as Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, will be extended for one year until the 1 April 2018,” the statement read.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, of France, takes helm of Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Also in the statement, Mr. Guterres announced his intention to appoint Jean-Pierre Lacroix, of France, as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, for one year beginning 1 April. He is currently the Director for the UN and International Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France and has over 25 years of political and diplomatic experience, mostly handling multilateral organizations, UN activities and programmes.

Mr. Lacroix succeeds Hervé Ladsous, who informed Mr. Guterres that he would be unavailable for an extension at the end of its current term, until end-March.

“I would like to express my gratitude [to Mr. Ladsous] for his service to the United Nations, his tireless efforts and dedication to peacekeeping, especially in modernizing capacities both to address multidimensional crisis and protect civilian populations,” said Secretary-General Guterres.

14 February 2017 – Intensified fighting between Government and non-Government forces near densely populated areas in eastern Ukraine is endangering civilians, the senior United Nations humanitarian representative in the country told reporters in Geneva today.

“The situation in eastern Ukraine is actually quite serious, you will be aware that between 21 January and 3 February the fighting intensity increased,” said Neal Walker, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, citing frequent violations of the ceasefire and fighting near the towns of Avdiivka, Yasynuvata, Makiivka and Donetsk.

“There was extremely intense fighting from the 29th until the 3rd of February,” Mr. Walker recalled, noting that that the number of ceasefire violations exceeded 30,000 in a week or so, compared to less than 30,000 over the course of a month.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine erupted in March 2014. A ceasefire was eventually negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, in February 2015 but there have been frequent violations. The latest truce began on 23 December last year.

“The approximation of fighting forces, armed separatists in the east and Government troops, the distance separating them has narrowed, has narrowed incredibly,” Mr. Walker said. “And they are now face to face. You also have an increased presence of heavy weapons directly in violation of the Minsk accord.”

Mr. Walker also mentioned that the humanitarian situation is quite critical. “Let’s not forget temperatures in the past weeks have been between 10 and 20 below zero centigrade,” he said.

The UN Resident Coordinator also warned about environmental damage to critical civilian infrastructure due to shelling. “We have for instance a phenol chemical plant which has enormous potential to do severe environmental damage if the shelling is continued and it is damaged further,” he said.

“There are probably between 800,000 and one million IDPs (internally displaced persons) in government controlled areas of Ukraine,” Mr. Walker estimated. “We estimate another 200,000 have actually returned to non-government controlled areas from government controlled areas,” he added.

Since the beginning of the conflict, around 10,000 people have been killed in the violence, with civilian deaths on the rise.