Tag Archives: United Nations

7 February 2017 – With thousands of children forced out of school in eastern Ukraine due to last week’s surge in fighting, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have strongly condemned the indiscriminate shelling of schools, and called for all sides to immediately recommit to the ceasefire signed in Minsk in August 2015.

&#8220The shelling of schools, the one place where children find safety and normalcy during conflict, is unacceptable and has to stop,&#8221 said UNICEF’s Representative in Ukraine, Giovanna Barberis, in a news release. &#8220Children in eastern Ukraine have suffered enough and we must ensure that they have safe spaces to seek solace and support.&#8221

At least five schools and two kindergartens have been damaged by heavy shelling and 11 other schools have had to close, according to humanitarian organisations supporting the emergency education response in Ukraine.

More than 2,600 children from 13 schools in government-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine have been affected by the sharp escalation in fighting, along with hundreds more from schools in non-government controlled areas.

&#8220Schools being shelled has tragically become commonplace in this conflict,&#8221 said Save the Children’s Representative in Ukraine, Michele Cecere. &#8220There are reports of large numbers of unexploded ordnance in the streets, putting children at enormous risk when going to school, even when they can reopen. It’s vital that children can get safely back to school as soon as possible so they don’t miss out on any more learning.&#8221

In the town of Avdiivka, seven schools and kindergartens remain shut, with almost 1,400 children out of school. Families in Avdiivka and other villages in the area are afraid of sending their children to the schools that remain open, due to the heavy fighting and fears of unexploded ordnance in the streets.

The latest closure of schools has worsened the ongoing education crisis already affecting more than 600,000 children in eastern Ukraine. After nearly three years of conflict, more than 740 school &#8211 one in five &#8211 have been damaged or destroyed, resulting in girls and boys missing many months of schooling due to displacement and the effects of conflict.

UNICEF and Save the Children urged all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and ensure that schools and other civilian infrastructure are never attacked or in the line of fire.

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7 February 2017 – As a student activist awaits trial in detention for posting a news article about the new monarchy on social media, an independent United Nations expert today called on Thai authorities to stop using royal defamation laws to stifle free speech.

At issue is the concept of lèse-majesté &#8211 the defaming, insulting or threatening of the royal family &#8211 which in Thailand carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

&#8220Lesè-majesté provisions have no place in a democratic country,&#8221 said David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of freedom of opinion and expression. &#8220The lèse-majesté provision of the Thai Criminal Code is incompatible with international human rights law.&#8221

The expert underlined that public figures, including those exercising the highest political authority, may be subject to criticism.

&#8220The fact that some forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify restrictions or penalties,&#8221 he stressed.

The comments were sparked by a case against Jatupat Boonpatararaksa, a student activist, who shared a BBC news article on the new King, Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, on his private Facebook page.

Mr. Boonpatararaksa is being held in detention after an appeals court revoked his bail on 27 December, reportedly justified by the case’s sensitive matter and on public order and national security grounds. He is expected back before a judge on 10 February.

In 2015, three people were sentenced to decades in prison for criticizing the monarchy on Facebook.

Mr. Kaye has repeatedly urged the Thai Government to allow free speech, including in July of last year when authorities clamped down on public and social media expressions ahead of a constitutional referendum later in the year.

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.

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6 February 2017 – The United Nations today voiced grave concern about nearly two million Syrians in the area of Aleppo who have been without water for almost a month, as UN agencies are helping to provide emergency access to some of the people in need.

The UN spokesperson today told journalists in New York that an estimated 1.8 million people in Aleppo city and rural eastern Aleppo have been cut off from their main source of water, which is under Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh) control.

“The UN continues to respond to the water crisis by supplying fuel to operate 100 deep wells, and is supporting emergency water trucking, reaching nearly one million people in need of water assistance,” the spokesperson said.

The UN is also working closely with its partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, to deliver food, nutrition, health and other emergency items to rural Homs.

The inter-agency convoy delivered items to 84,000 people in hard-to-reach Talbiseh yesterday, for the first time since 19 September.

“This convoy is the first cross-line land delivery in February and only the second in 2017,” the spokesperson said.

He added that the UN continues to call for “unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to all 4.72 million people in hard-to-reach locations across the country,” including more than 600,000 in besieged locations.

Also today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that Stephen O’Brien, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, completed a two-day visit to Jordan. The country is the third-largest host of Syrian refugees in the region.

During his visit, Mr. O’Brien met with senior Jordanian officials, including Prime Minister Hani Mulki and General Mahmoud Frihat, the head of the Jordanian Armed Forces. He also visited the Azraq refugee camp, which is operated by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

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6 February 2017 – Speaking out against a ban and provisional suspension of a number of civil society organizations in Burundi, United Nations rights experts warned today of growing repression of human rights defenders and groups amid the already difficult environment in which they.

Also worrying, according to a news release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) were two bills adopted by the National Assembly of Burundi last December that require local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to obtain authorization from the Minister of the Interior for any activity and that the work of foreign NGOs must comply with priorities set by the Government.

“These moves are just the latest in a series of attacks on the rights to freedom of expression and association in Burundi,” said the rights experts.

“Disturbingly, these measures take particular aim at human rights defenders and independent civil society, and are being used to unduly obstruct and criminalize their work on broad and often fallacious grounds.”

Authorities in Burundi banned five civil society organizations in October 2016. In December 2016, they also barred two other groups, one of which was working for good governance and the fight against corruption. Additionally, four other organizations have also been provisionally suspended.

Also in the release, the experts reiterated the “unanimous” strong stance of various bodies, including the UN Human Rights Council – the inter-governmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world – on allegations of serious human rights violations in Burundi, the experts called on the Governmental to “an end to the climate of impunity currently prevailing in the country” and to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi and with OHCHR in a positive and collaborative manner, as an essential step towards ending the major crisis facing the country.

“It is crucial that the State promotes and protects the rights to freedom of expression and association enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Burundi is a State party,” they said.

“All individuals, including human rights defenders, have the right to express themselves and associate freely, without fear of threats, intimidation, violence, arbitrary detention or enforced or disappearance,” the experts added.

The human rights experts voicing their concern included:

Independent experts and Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva based 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. read more

6 February 2017 – While the exact number is unknown, at least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been subjected to female genital mutilation, or FGM, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The World Health Organization (WHO) calls FGM a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons. In lay terms, babies, girls and women are cut and their genitalia severed. WHO underscores that it not only provides no health benefits, but may lead to a life-time of obstacles. Furthermore, the majority of females who have been subjected to the practice are between infancy and age 15.

No medical reason

Female genital mutilation is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights of girls and women.

According to WHO, female genital mutilation has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy, normal female genital tissue – interfering with their natural body functions.

It consists of all procedures that alter or injure female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

WHO also notes that the procedure has both short- and long-term consequences that range from severe bleeding and painful urination, to menstrual and psychological problems, cysts and infections. Sexual issues frequently ensue, childbirth complications arise and the risk of new born deaths increase. Subsequently, further surgeries are needed.

A dangerous tradition

Female genital mutilation also violates women’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, along with the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The UN notes that the practice reflects a deeply-rooted inequality between the sexes, constituting an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls.

Reasons behind female genital mutilations vary from one region to another, as well as over time. They include a mix of sociocultural factors within families and communities.

Female genital mutilation is associated with misconceived cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered unclean, unfeminine or male. It is often seen as a necessary part of raising a girl – a way to prepare her for adulthood and increase her chances of marriage.

Studies show that where female genital mutilation is a social norm, pressure to conform, along with the fear of being rejected by the community, are strong motivations to perpetuate the practice. In some communities, FGM is almost universally performed without question.

According to UNICEF, the hazardous practice has even infringed on girls’ right to life – when it has resulted in their deaths as a result of shock, haemorrhage or septicaemia.

Taking a stance

According to WHO, since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract female genital mutilation, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy.

Part of eradicating the practice is to find alternative occupations for FGM practitioners, such as being traditional birth attendants or teachers, and also cultivating situations in which men no longer wish to marry circumcised women.

Many target groups have been identified in the FGM elimination effort, including men, women, male youth, young girls and older women. It is important to reduce both the supply and demand for female genital mutilation.

Efforts should emphasize societal dialogue and community empowerment to collectively end the practice.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says “collective abandonment” – or when a whole community chooses to no longer engage in female genital mutilation – is an effective way to end the practice. It ensures that no single girl or family will be disadvantaged by the decision.

UNFPA says the decision to collectively abandon FGM requires a process in which communities are educated about the practice and that health and human rights aspects are prominently feature. Local and grassroots organizations should play an important role in the process.

Ending FGM once and for all

Ten UN agencies published a statement highlighting that having gained more knowledge on the practice itself, the reasons for its continuation and interventions that can more lead to its abandonment, a common, coordinated approach could lead to female genital mutilation being abandoned within a generation.

WHO underscored that according to research, if practicing communities themselves decide to eliminate female genital mutilation, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly.

The elimination of female genital mutilation has been called for by numerous inter-governmental organizations, including the African Union, the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as well as in three resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.

UNFPA estimates the need to invest about $980 million to significantly impact FGM between 2018 and 2030.

United Nations steps-up action

Within the context of the UN, eliminating female genital mutilation is not a question of imposing external values on any particular country. UN resolutions in 2012, 2014 and 2016 on banning FGM, which include a target for its elimination in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), indicate strong political will from the international community to stem the dangerous practice.

The global SDG compact, adopted in 2015 by 193 Member States, calls for an end to FGM by 2030. Goal 5 on gender equality has a specific target to eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

Focusing on 17 countries, UNFPA and UNICEF together lead the largest global programme to accelerate the abandonment of female genital mutilation.

Entitled ‘Accelerating Change,’ the programme aims to protect women and girls from FGM through participatory, culturally-sensitive and human rights-based approaches. It also cares for survivors.

Working with governments, grass-roots partners and civil society – including religious and community leaders – Accelerating Change sets goals across legal and policy reform; services for prevention, protection and care; and collective actions in the social sphere.

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