2 March 2017 –

More than 1,000 civilians were killed or injured last month in Iraq, the United Nations mission in the country has announced.

According to the latest figures from the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI), at least 392 civilians were killed and another 613 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict.

The head of UNAMI, Ján Kubiš, condemned the deliberate targeting of civilians by the Islamic State (ISIL), and saluted the Iraqi security forces for professionalism in pursuing the terrorists while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.

&#8220As the Iraqi security forces stepped up the military operations to liberate the remaining parts of Mosul from Daesh control, the terrorists struck again, targeting civilians with cowardly bombings to ease the pressure on the frontlines,&#8221 Mr. Kubiš said referring to ISIL by its Arabic acronym.

&#8220Daesh’s sinister attempts have failed to weaken the resolve of the people and Government of Iraq to rid the country once and for all from the scourge of terrorism,&#8221 added Mr. Kubiš, who is also the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq.

The figure of 392 is slightly lower than 403 civilians killed in January, when an additional 924 civilians were injured.

2 March 2017 – Strongly condemning yesterday’s terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the United Nations Security Council underscored the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of such &#8220reprehensible&#8221 acts to justice.

At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injured in attacks in two areas of the capital. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the incidents.

In a statement issued late yesterday, the 15-member Security Council stressed that terrorism in all its forms &#8220is criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation and wherever, whenever and by whomsoever it is committed.

&#8220[It] should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group,&#8221 the Security Council highlighted.

Also in the statement, Council members voiced serious concern over threats posed by the Taliban, Al-Qaida, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) and other illegal and armed groups to the local population, National Defense and Security Forces and the international presence in the country.

&#8220No violent or terrorist acts can reverse the Afghan-led process along the path towards peace, democracy and stability in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the Government of Afghanistan, and by the international community,&#8221 the Council added.

It also stressed the need for all UN Member States to combat by all means, in accordance with the UN Charter and other obligations under international law, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

Further in the statement, the members of the Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the people and Government of Afghanistan. They also wished a speedy recovery to those injured.

2 March 2017 – The world’s money markets have priced people out of cities, a United Nations independent expert has said, blaming financial markets and speculators for treating housing as a &#8220place to park capital.&#8221

&#8220Housing has lost its social function and is seen instead as a vehicle for wealth and asset growth. It has become a financial commodity, robbed of its connection to community, dignity and the idea of home,&#8221 said Leilani Farha, the Special Rapporteur on the right to housing.

Her latest report, which Ms. Farha presented today to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, examines how housing has become a repository for global capital, and the impact that commodification has had on affordability of housing and homelessness.

The total value of the global housing market is a staggering $163 trillion, the UN expert said, the equivalent of more than twice the world’s total economy.

&#8220The financial world has essentially operated without any consideration of housing as a human right and States are complicit: they have supported financial markets in a way that has made housing unaffordable for most residents,&#8221 Ms. Farha said.

Her report recommends stronger rights-based frameworks both domestically and internationally to address the problem. It suggests that States must regulate private actors not simply to prevent blatant violations of human rights but also to ensure that their actions are consistent with the obligation to realize housing as a human right for all.

In London, for instance, developers have not been scared off by the social housing requirement, Ms. Farha said in her statement, while in Vancouver, vacant homes face a one per cent tax levy which is intended to contribute to low-income accommodation.

&#8220This is an issue of accountability,&#8221 she says. &#8220Government accountability to international human rights obligations has been replaced with accountability to markets and investors.&#8221

Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.

2 March 2017 – Condemning a rocket fired from Gaza towards Israel, a senior United Nations envoy has called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid escalation of the situation.

&#8220Such provocations seek only to undermine peace,&#8221 said Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process in a statement today.

According to the statement, the rocket fired yesterday was third such incident in the past 30 days after a period of almost four months of quiet.

&#8220I call on all responsible parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid escalation and prevent incidents that jeopardize the lives of Palestinians and Israelis,&#8221 urged Mr. Mladenov.

“Left-behind” girls in rural China, whose parents have moved from their hometown in search of work in cities and towns, have a smaller chance of attending school than their male counterparts, due, in part, to a long-held perception that men are entitled to more privileges than women, according to a recent research.

The Annual Report on Left-behind Girls in China’s Rural Areas (2016), issued on Wednesday by the China Social Welfare Foundation, found that 78.9 percent of parents in villages are inclined to bring their sons with them to bigger cities for better education. In addition, when they only have finances to pay for one child’s higher education, 97.5 percent of them would choose sons over daughters.

China’s compulsory basic education system waives most fees for elementary and middle schools, resulting in 96.1 percent of girls in rural areas attending school from ages 6 to 11. However, only 79.3 percent have access to high school education when they are aged 15 to 17, the research found.

“Dear Mom and Dad, please do not treat me and my brother differently. When my brother does something well, he gets rewarded. What about me? No reward at all. Even when I do something well, you will say, ‘This is not good enough, it should have been done better’,” one girl wrote on a questionnaire issued by the research team.

Liu Yan, of the foundation, said that when his team first started the research, they thought they could draw parallels between left-behind girls and girls in poverty.

“I was wrong. There is no such correlation. Financially, they can be doing fine. What makes their situation different is the lack of parenting. They crave their parents’ love, just like any child, but they do not have it,” Liu said.

“Some girls are told money means happiness, so they associate making money with being happy, but no one tells them why. That situation can easily drive young girls in the wrong direction,” he added.

Yuan Guilin, a professor at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Research and Training Center for Rural Education, described left-behind girls as the “underdogs of underdogs”.

“The organization has found a good angle to help the girls, by paying attention to details like whether they put on underwear, what they eat and drink, and how fairly they feel they are being treated,” Yuan said.