Category: Human Rights

A welcome commitment The Action Plan was the result of months of UN-SDF engagement, in close consultation with the Special Representative. Virginia Gamba, UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and Mazloum Abdi, Force Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, sign a Plan of Action to stop recruiting child soldiers, 29 June 2019., by UN Photo/Jean Marc Ferre Commending… Read More

According to UNHCR’s Projected Global Resettlement Needs 2020 report, those with the greatest needs include nationals from Syria (40 per cent), South Sudan (14 per cent) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (11 per cent). “Given the record numbers of people needing safety from war, conflict and persecution and the lack of political solutions to these situations, we urgently… Read More

Their signs brought to life UDHR’s stirring words: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security” and “Act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. Among other things, the United Nations inter-agency group combats homophobia, biphobia and transphobia throughout the UN system.  According to UN-GLOBE secretary Gabe Scelta, this year’s celebration is “especially important” because it marks the 50th… Read More

Syria’s Idlib ‘on the brink’ of a nightmare urge humanitarian chiefs, launching global solidarity campaign The heads of 11 global humanitarian organizations warned on Thursday that the embattled rebel-held province of Idlib in Syria, stands on the brink of disaster, with three million civilian lives at risk, including one million children. In a direct video address to launch a worldwide… Read More

Noting that “words must never be met with violence”, Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), called on the threat to be rescinded, adding that “the only acceptable challenge to words is to advance a better argument”.   Mr. Yamamoto underlined that “international humanitarian law – which applies to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the… Read More

“The heart-rending photo published just yesterday showing the lifeless bodies of Salvadoran toddler Valeria and her father Oscar on the bank of the Rio Grande is a stark reminder of the perils facing migrants trying to reach the US,” said Henrietta Fore. “It is a searing image that should shake each of us to our core.” In a strongly worded… Read More

Tragic image of drowned father and child in Rio Grande spurs migration debate The drowning of a father and his toddler daughter in the Rio Grande is a heartbreaking and preventable tragedy that countries should do all in their power to prevent happening in the future, the head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Wednesday. Filippo Grandi’s comments… Read More

This was part of his message for the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on Wednesday, describing the despicable act, as a vicious attempt to break a person’s will.  The United Nations has long condemned torture as one of the vilest acts perpetrated by humankind, saying that it seeks to “annihilate the victim’s personality” and denies the inherent… Read More

The UN chief was speaking at an event organized by the President of the General Assembly in New York on the Challenges of Teaching Tolerance and Respect in the Digital Age. Combating Antisemitism and OtherForms of Racism and Hate, by UN Photo/Manuel Elias He told those gathered he had recently viewed an exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage called… Read More

Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, was briefing the Security Council in New York on efforts to build a durable peace and protect civilians from the ravages of a brutal conflict that erupted between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, and his former deputy, Riek Machar, in 2013.   Last September, a… Read More