UN Insider

Photo: Interethnic violence has ravaged Ituri Province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since December 2108, generating significant population movements within the province, and towards neighbouring Uganda. Credit: UNICEF/Madjiangar

DR Congo Violence Survivors Highlight Armed Militia Brutality

By Kwame Buist

GENEVA (IDN) – Two months since hundreds of thousands of people fled violence in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians have warned that armed militia continue to make their safe return impossible.

Briefing journalists in Geneva on August 16, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch said that staff had heard numerous testimonies from people whose family members had been killed in Ituri province.

Severe underfunding for aid work and insecurity involving the Hema and Lendu groups have meant that increasing numbers are vulnerable and unable even to go home to pick up essentials, he added.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 August 2019

Photo: A boy reads from his textbook in a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Credit: UNICEF Patrick Brown

Rohingya Refugee Children Want to Learn, Says UNICEF

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in some of the world’s largest refugee settlements has caused overwhelming despair and jeopardised the hopes of an entire generation, according to the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore.

In a report marking two years since the arrival of around 745,000 Rohingya civilians in Bangladesh – after fleeing State-led persecution and violence in Myanmar – UNICEF Executive Director Fore appealed for urgent investment in education and skills training.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 August 2019

Photo: Amaury and Andrew Razafitrimo from Madagascar next to their deceased mother's portrait. Credit: UN

Remembering and Paying Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism

UN Chief Calls for Long-Term, Multi-Faceted Support

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to the second International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has underlined that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations remains a global challenge. "It causes lasting damage to individuals, families and communities. These scars run deep, and while they may fade with time, they never disappear." No matter how long ago an attack happened, victims continue to struggle with its legacy.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 17 August 2019

Photo: A woman humanitarian aid worker in Cameroon. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

Women and Girls Severely Impacted by Crises

Many Work in Some of the Most Dangerous Corners of the Globe

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – An unprecedented number of people are living through humanitarian crises today. Armed conflict, natural disaster, disease and violent persecution have forced more than 70 million people from their homes, notes UN Women.

While women and girls are often severely impacted by crises, they are also leaders in recovery and resilience. This year, World Humanitarian Day (19 August) is honouring the women humanitarian workers who work on the front lines in their communities to help people in need.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 17 August 2019

Image credit: UN | Photo Credit: Mitsu (Eric) Kimura, SUA Archivist

UN To Commemorate 20th Anniversary of the Culture of Peace Declaration

Interview with Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted, by consensus and without reservation, its pioneering and norm-setting resolution 53/243 on the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace in 1990. The forthcoming UNGA is convening on September 13 the High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace underlining the importance the world body attaches to full and effective implementation of these forward-looking decisions which are universally applicable and respond to the yearnings of every people for progress. Ambassador Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), explains the origin and profound significance of the concept.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 August 2019

Photo (L-R): Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea in Brussels, Carmelo Nvono-Ncá preparing trip modalities for the signing with ACP Group Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes. Credit: ACP Press

ACP Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation Established in Equatorial Guinea

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SS&TrC) has been formally established in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The Centre is a gift of President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the government and the people of the country in Central Africa, to the people and the ACP Group of 79 member states.

When the Centre was established on August 9, less than a year after it was unveiled on October 4, 2018, President Obiang referred to this inauguration as "historical" and "the most salient token of Southern peoples and countries’ solidarity that is aimed at enhancing their respective autonomy and support their efforts to achieve the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) foreseen in the 2030 Agenda.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 15 August 2019

New Ebola Drugs Show Exciting Promise With 90% Cure Rate

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two experimental treatments are raising hopes among medical personnel that a cure for the deadly virus Ebola has been found. The antibody-based treatments will now be offered to all patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announced the finding together with Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research and Dr. Michael J. Ryan, director of emergency response for the World Health Organization.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 August 2019

Photo: Ivana Farina, Inger Andersen and Elizabeth Mrema. Photo by Florian Flussstetter/ UN Environmen

Prosecutors Are Key to Progressing Environmental Law

By UN Environment

NAIROBI (IDN) – If human society is to stay within the bounds of critical ecological thresholds, it is imperative that environmental laws are widely understood, respected and enforced. This is the environmental rule of law.

Since the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992, the world has converged on protecting our ecosystems; to illustrate, environmental laws and agencies have expanded 38-fold in the last few decades.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 12 August 2019

Photo: UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Credit: Kea Taylor

Transforming Education for a New Generation of Leaders

Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

The writer is UN Women Executive Director. She issued this statement for International Youth Day, 2019.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Sixteen-year old Gambian Jakomba Jabbie wants to be an aerospace engineer. A vocal advocate for girls’ education, she created a robotics team at school to show that girls can also participate in the area of technology, and “to make it a space for all of us”. She knows how important education is, especially to a girl.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 August 2019

Photo: Plenary session of 2016 ACP Summit Papua New Guinea’s Port Moresby. Credit: ACP Press

Kenya to Host a Momentous Summit of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific Nations

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The heads of state and government of the 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States will gather at a momentous Summit themed ‘A Transformed ACP: Committed to Multilateralism’ from December 9-10 in Nairobi, Kenya. Laying the groundwork for finalizing the Post-Cotonou agreement as well as the revision to its Constitutive Act, the 1975 Georgetown Agreement will top the agenda of what is the 9th Summit.