Category: Pacific

“The unity of the Security Council in this matter is essential to ease tensions, overcome the diplomatic impasse and avoid a negative action-reaction cycle,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. In pursuing its nuclear capability and ballistic missile programmes, the #DPRK defies the @UN Security Council. We remain committed to working with all parties for sustainable peace and the… Read More

In a statement, issued by his Spokesperson, Secretary-General António Guterres called the move “another breach” of DPRK’s 2018 self-imposed moratorium that is in “clear violation of Security Council resolutions.”  North Korea has reportedly conducted 13 weapons launches this year, prompting concern in the United States, that leader Kim Jong-Un, is determined to make progress on developing weapons capable of carrying… Read More

Of the Council’s 15 members, 14 voted in favour of resolution 2626 (2022), with the Russian representative abstaining. Priority tasks The adopted text renews the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for one year with a shift in priority tasks. The Security Council today extended the mandate of the @UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan for 12 months,… Read More

In a new report warning that serious rights abuses uncovered in Myanmar may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, appealed to the international community to take “concerted, immediate measures to stem the spiral of violence” there. The report’s findings indicate that military and security forces bombarded populated areas with airstrikes… Read More

Ramiz Alakbarov, who also serves as Deputy Special Representative, issued a statement saying that acute hunger in the country rose from 14 million in July, to 23 million in March, forcing households to resort to “desperate measures” to put food on the table. “Unacceptable trade-offs have caused untold suffering, reduced the quality, quantity, and diversity of food available, led to… Read More

“Six months of indecision … are eroding vital social and economic coping systems and pushing the population into greater uncertainty,” said Deborah Lyons, who is the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.  Thanking donors for generous humanitarian contributions since August 2021, when international forces left Afghanistan after a two-decades-long engagement, she said… Read More

“Between April and November 2021, we have received allegations indicating several instances of extrajudicial killings, including of young children, enforced disappearance, torture and inhuman treatment and the forced displacement of at least 5,000 indigenous Papuans by security forces,” the three independent experts said in a statement.  Special Rapporteurs Francisco Cali Tzay, who protects rights of indigenous peoples, Morris Tidball-Binz, who monitors extrajudicial, summary… Read More

Born Jun Araki, JohnJ never felt comfortable in the female gender they were born into. At elementary school, they would wear trousers under their school uniform skirts and on field trips, were too self-conscious to take a bath with female students. JohnJ often felt frustrated at being seen as a woman, and how they were expected to act. Although more… Read More

Salt farming in India is hard work. In Gujarat, women set up huts, dig wells, and pump up brine, which they sift through a series of pans, eventually crystallising salt. Apart from the pumping, all elements of the process are completed by hand. The women generally work without a contract, and the pay is poor. SEWA An estimated 1000 women,… Read More

In a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews insisted that these arms had been used against civilians. He also called for the UN Security Council to convene an emergency session to vote on a resolution to ban this trade. Transfers ‘shock the conscience’ “It should be incontrovertible that weapons used to kill civilians… Read More