December 26, 2024
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J. Tuyet Nguyen, a journalist with years of experience, has covered major stories in New York City and the United Nations for United Press International, the German Press Agency dpa and various newspapers. His reports focused mostly on topics with international interests for readers worldwide. He was president of the United Nations Correspondents Association (2007 and 2008), which is composed of more than 250 journalists representing world media with influence over policy decision makers. He has chaired the organization of the annual UNCA Awards, which seeks to reward journalists around the world who have done the best broadcasts and written reports on the UN and its specialized agencies. He has traveled the world to cover events and write stories, from politics to the environment as well cultures of different regions. But his most important reporting work has been with the United Nations since the early 1980s. He was bureau chief of United Press International office at the UN headquarters before joining dpa in 1997. Prior to working at the UN, he was an editor on the International Desk of UPI World Headquarters in New York. He worked in Los Angeles and covered the final months of war in Vietnam for UPI.

U.N. calls Black Sea Grain Initiative a success for stemming global food prices

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New York, November 3 – The United Nations said the Black Sea Grain Initiative is “making a difference” as it has blunted rising food prices after 10 million metric tons of wheat and other foodstuffs have been shipped from Ukraine to dozens of countries in the past three months.

“Despite all the obstacles we have seen, the beacon of hope in the Black Sea is still shining,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told journalists at U.N. headquarters in New York. “The initiative is working. “

“Over the past few days, I believe the world has come to understand and appreciate the importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” he said, adding that the initiative has helped to ease food prices, reduce the risks of hunger, poverty and instability.

The initiative brokered by the U.N. was signed by Turkeye, Russia and Ukraine in July and implemented through a Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) in Istanbul. It allowed shipments through a Black Sea corridor of Ukraine’s foodstuffs, particularly millions of tons of Ukraine’s wheat stuck at Crimea ports under the war.

The initiative, expected to be renewed on November 18, was briefly halted after Russia decided to suspend its cooperation last week. Russia reversed its decision on November 1, however.

Wheat and barley from Russia and Ukraine accounted for about 30 per cent of total world exports and maize and sunflower oil from the two countries maintain a significant shares on the markets for those commodities.

Guterres, who has been involved in non-stop negotiations, said the initiative has now “fully resumed” and he urged all parties to focus on renewing and fully implementing it and to remove all remaining obstacles to export Russia’s food and fertilizers.

“I am fully committed – along with the entire United Nations system – to the achievement of both these essential objectives,” he said.

Grain deal brings down global food prices

Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development told the UN Security Council on October 31 that over 1.6 billion people in 90 countries were in a “state of severe vulnerability to rising poverty, hunger and debt,” caused by a combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change.

But she said food prices came down after the initiative began working in early August this year. Citing the Food and Agriculture Organization, a U.N. agency based in Rome, Grynspan said the FAO Food Index has declined by about 16 per cent and according to World Bank models, the decline may have prevented over 100 million people from falling into poverty.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Discrimination against poor people ranks with racism, sexism, U.N. human rights expert says

Leave a Comment / Human Rights /

New York, October 28 – Children from low-income families have been denied entrance to certain schools and landlords have closed the doors to possible tenants who live on social benefits, a U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights told a U.N. General Assembly committee.

“People are stereotyped and discriminated against purely because they are poor. This is frankly sickening and a stain on our society,” Olivier De Schutter told the assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with human rights questions and promotes effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“As the global rise in energy and food prices throws millions more into poverty, they must be protected not just from the horrors of poverty, but also from the humiliation and exclusion caused by the scourge of povertyism,” De Schutter said.

De Schutter asked the U.N. to ban what he called “povertyism” because “it is as pervasive, toxic and harmful as racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and should be treated as such.”

He called on governments to urgently review their anti-discrimination laws, as well as consider “pro-poor” affirmative action, to ensure that povertyism is wiped out.   

“The dangerously misplaced belief that people living in poverty are to blame for their condition, and therefore somehow socially inferior, has a firm grip on society and will not disappear on its own,” he said. “It is high time the law intervened to ban discrimination on grounds of socio-economic status, as many countries have already done with race, sex, age or disability.”

De Schutter said “negative stereotyping” of poor people is rife in social services which tend to treat them with suspicion and disdain. As a result, funds destined to assist the poor may remain unclaimed when potential beneficiaries walk away to avoid humiliation.

“Poverty will never be eradicated while povertyism is allowed to fester, restricting access to education, housing, employment and social benefits to those who need them the most,” De Schutter said. “The world is finally waking up to the injustices of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and putting laws in place to stop them from destroying people’s lives.”

The committee was discussing a new report, which finds that  “povertyism” has become firmly entrenched in public and private institutions, largely because decision-making positions tend to be held by those from higher-income backgrounds, skewing the system against people in poverty.

The report, in the form of a U.N. resolution, said in its introduction that “discrimination is part of the daily experience of people in poverty. It restricts access to employment, education, housing or social services. It may result in certain social goods or programmes not reaching people in poverty owing to discriminatory treatment by officials, employers or landlords, or to the fear of maltreatment.”

 “It discourages people who experience poverty from applying for a job, or from claiming certain benefits: it is thus a major source of non-take-up of rights.”

In the report, De Schutter identified “povertyism as negative stereotyping against the poor – as part of the experience of living on low incomes” and he “described how the realization of socioeconomic rights depends on people in poverty being protected from discrimination.”

“Stereotyping the poor as “lazy”, as unable to keep their commitments or otherwise blaming them for their poverty feeds prejudice against them. This picture of poverty as attributable to a failure of the individual appears particularly dominant in countries where the welfare system is less developed and protective,” the report said.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Plans to reduce earth warming gas not ambitious enough, new report says

Leave a Comment / Climate /

New York, October 26 – Plans submitted by countries to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to earth warming, have failed their targets and may lead earth’s temperatures to rise to at least 2.5 degrees Celsius, a level deemed catastrophic, a new report by U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said.

The 2015 Paris Agreement signed by most countries had called for limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century and a number of countries had announced their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reach that target by 2030. But the plans submitted by those countries were not ambitious enough, the report said. The NDCs are voluntary efforts by countries to lower greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.

Despite the negative assessment on efforts to cut down gas emissions, there have been an improvement over last year’s report, a climate official said.

“The downward trend in emissions expected by 2030 shows that nations have made some progress this year,” said Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of U.N. Climate Change as reported by UN News.

“But the science is clear and so are our climate goals under the Paris Agreement. We are still nowhere near the scale and pace of emission reductions required to put us on track toward a 1.5 degrees Celsius world,” Stiell said. He urged governments to strengthen their climate action plans now and implement them in the next eight years.

At the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, governments agreed to act on their climate plans, but only 24 out of 193 countries submitted updated plans to the U.N., Stiell said was a disappointment,

“Government decisions and actions must reflect the level of urgency, the gravity of the threats we are facing, and the shortness of the time we have remaining to avoid the devastating consequences of runaway climate change,” he said.

Governments to hold COP27 in Egypt November 6-18

“COP27 is the moment where global leaders can regain momentum on climate change, make the necessary pivot from negotiations to implementation and get moving on the massive transformation that must take place throughout all sectors of society to address the climate emergency,” Stiell said.

Stiell urged governments to show at the coming conference how they will put the Paris Agreement to work through legislation, policies and programs, as well as how they will cooperate and provide support for implementation, UN News reported. Stiell urged progress to be made in four priority areas: mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, and finance.

Close to 200 countries and hundreds of climate and environment experts will take part in the 27th Conference of the Parties – COP27 – to take action against climate change. The summit in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh from November 6 to 18 will take place in a year that has seen the most severe climate events.

One third of Pakistan was flooded, affecting 33 million lives and over 15 million people could be pushed into poverty. Hurricanes caused massive destructions in the United States, the Philippines and Caribbean islands while European countries were hit by the hottest summer in 500 years.

The summit brings all countries that signed the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. The convention commits those countries to take common actions to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations which contribute to warming of the earth.

Other actions fighting climate change include phasing down coal-fired power stations, reduce methane emissions and reverse deforestation and land degradation. Industrialized countries are urged to provide $100 billion a year to help developing countries cope with climate change.

(By J.Tuyet Nguyen)

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COVID-19, conflict and climate crises exacerbate setbacks for children’s and women’s health

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Note: A new United Nations study launched at the World Health Summit in Berlin says the pandemic, conflict and climate change have had devastating impacts on children, adolescents and women, from health and education to human rights. Millions of children were locked out of schools under COVID-19. Over 10 million children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19. Following is a Press Release from the World Health Summit in Berlin.

STAGGERING BACKSLIDING ACROSS WOMEN’S, CHILDREN’S AND ADOLESCENTS’ HEALTH REVEALED IN NEW U.N. ANALYSIS

Berlin, 18 October 2022 ­– A new UN report shows that women’s and children’s health has suffered globally, as the impacts of conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change converge with devastating effects on prospects for children, young people and women.

Data presented in the report show a critical regression across virtually every major measure of childhood wellbeing, and many key indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since the last Every Woman Every Child Progress Report published in 2020, food insecurity, hunger, child marriage, risks from intimate partner violence, and adolescent depression and anxiety have all increased.

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An estimated 25 million children were un- or under-vaccinated in 2021 – 6 million more than in 2019 – increasing their risk of contracting deadly and debilitating diseases. Millions of children missed out on school during the pandemic, many for more than a year, while approximately 80 per cent of children in 104 countries and territories experienced learning-loss because of school closures. Since the start of the global pandemic, 10.5 million children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.

“At the core of our unkept promise is the failure to address the gaping inequities at the root of global crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to conflicts and the climate emergency. The report describes the impacts of these crises on women, children and adolescents, from maternal mortality to education losses to severe malnutrition,” said Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General.

The report provides wide-ranging evidence that children and adolescents face wildly divergent chances of leading a healthy life simply based on where they are born, their exposure to conflict, and the economic circumstances of their families. For example:

·         A child born in a low-income country has an average life expectancy at birth of around 63 years, compared to 80 in a high-income country. This devastating 17-year survival gap has changed little over recent years. In 2020, 5 million children died even before the age of 5, mostly from preventable or treatable causes. Meanwhile, most maternal, child, and adolescent deaths and stillbirths are concentrated in just two regions – sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

·         More than 45 million children had acute malnutrition in 2020, a life-threatening condition which leaves them vulnerable to death, developmental delays and disease. Nearly three-quarters of these children live in lower-middle-income countries. A staggering 149 million children were stunted in 2020. Africa is the only region where the numbers of children affected by stunting increased over the past 20 years, from 54.4 million in 2000 to 61.4 million in 2020.

·         The six countries with the highest numbers of internally displaced persons – Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen – are also among the top 10 food insecure countries.

·         A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has around a 130 times higher risk of dying from causes relating to pregnancy or childbirth than a woman in Europe or North America. Coverage of antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care is far from reaching all women in low- and middle- income countries, leaving them at elevated risk of death and disability.

·         Millions of children and their families are experiencing poor physical and mental health from recent humanitarian disasters in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Somalia, Ukraine and Yemen. In 2021, a record 89.3 million people worldwide were driven from their homes by war, violence, persecution, and human rights abuse.

The report calls upon the global community to address this damaging trajectory and protect the promises made to women, children, and adolescents in the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, it advocates for countries to continue investing in health services, to address all crises and food insecurity, and empower women and young people around the world.

The report, titled Protect the Promise, is published by global partners, including WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) and Countdown to 2030, as a bi-annual summary of progress in response to the UN Secretary General’s Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health. The most comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the current state of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, it updates the last Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy Progress Report published in 2020. 

Quote sheet:

“Almost three years on from the onset of COVID-19, the pandemic’s long-term impact on the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents is becoming evident: their chances for healthy and productive lives have declined sharply,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.  “As the world emerges from the pandemic, protecting and promoting the health of women, children and young people is essential for supporting and sustaining the global recovery.”

“The impacts of COVID-19, conflicts, and climate crises have raised the stakes for vulnerable communities, revealing the weaknesses and inequities in health care systems and reversing hard-won progress for women, children, and adolescents – but we are not powerless to change this,” said UNICEF Executive Catherine Russell. “By investing in resilient, inclusive primary health care systems, jumpstarting routine immunization programmes, and strengthening the health workforce, we can make sure that every woman and every child can access the care they need to survive and thrive.”

“There is a crisis of inequity that is piling on already increasing and compounding threats. In a world where too many children, adolescents and women are dying, equity, empowerment and access are what needs urgent focus,” said H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, Global Advocate for Every Woman Every Child and President of the Republic of Estonia, 2016-2021. “We are calling on all to think and act broadly and profoundly to protect the promise. This promise refers not only to the commitments made in the Sustainable Development Goals, and all of the campaigns that followed, but also to the larger promise of potential that everyone is born with. Too often this promise remains unclaimed, or even denied.”

“In the face of increasing political pushback against sexual and reproductive health and rights in many countries, women, children and adolescents today are left without many of the protections of just a decade ago, and many others still have not seen the progress they need,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director. “Access to sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, is a fundamental right that directly and acutely affects the ability of women and adolescent girls to thrive. We need to expand these rights and services to the most marginalized, leaving no one behind.”

“The report advocates for countries to continue investing in health services, in all crises, and to re-imagine health systems that can truly reach every woman, child, and adolescent, no matter who they are or where they live,” said the Rt. Hon Helen Clark, Board Chair of PMNCH (The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health) and former Prime Minister of New Zealand. “Experts and world leaders are calling for more women in policy- and decision-making at every level, meaningful engagement with young people, and primary health care systems which deliver what people need when and where they need it most.”

###

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Tackle inflation with increased benefits and wages to save lives, U.N. poverty expert says

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Geneva/New York, October 17 – Lives will be lost unless governments embark on increasing benefits and wages in line with rising inflation, a U.N. poverty expert said.

With rising inflation hitting rich and poor countries around the world buffeted by Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate destructions, calls to take effective measures resounded with a focus on low-income economies.

“It is not hyperbole to say that unless governments increase benefits and wages in line with inflation lives will be lost,” said Olivier De Schutter, U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said in an address to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17).

“Whether in Europe, where inflation has hit 10 percent or sub-Saharan Africa where food prices have surged by 20 per cent, household budgets across the world are being stretched beyond breaking point, meaning even more people in poverty will starve or freeze this winter unless immediate action is taken to increase their income,” De Schutter said.  

“As with the Covid-19 pandemic, it is once again the most vulnerable that are paying the price of world events. The combined crises are expected to throw an additional 75 to 95 million people into extreme poverty this year alone.”

The Special Rapporteur also urged governments to act quickly to insulate homes ahead of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

“Insulating people’s homes to keep them warm and safe is not rocket science, and failure to act in this area is simply down to a lack of political will. Not only will doing so reduce the energy bills of low-income households, it will also considerably reduce carbon emissions.”

He called on governments to involve people in poverty in the design of policies to tackle the soaring cost-of-living, pointing to the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, adopted a decade ago, as a roadmap to follow.

“For far too long misguided poverty-reduction policies have completely failed to reach those in need, meaning poverty simply passes from one generation to the next. As policymakers attempt to shield low-income households from the current crisis, I implore them to call on the real experts – people with lived experience of poverty,” De Schutter said.

“The Guiding Principles are a secret weapon in the fight against poverty. They should be on the desk of every decision-maker as they navigate the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.”

U.N. warns of growing hunger crisis on World Food Day

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. marked World Food Day in Rome (October 16) with the rallying cry to “leave no one behind” in the fight against rising levels of hunger being experienced in Asia and Africa.

“In the face of a looming global food crisis, we need to harness the power of solidarity and collective momentum to build a better future where everyone has regular access to enough nutritious food,” FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said at an event on the day.

An estimated 828 million people were facing hunger in 2021 in addition to the 970 000 people at risk of famine in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen, FAO said in its latest The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report) which pointed out that 3.1 billion people still cannot afford a healthy diet.

Alvaro Lario, President of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said at the event: “This year, more than ever, World Food Day should be a call to ramp up action to elp small-scale farmers in rural areas, who supply food to their communities and countries – through crisis after crisis – despite inequality, vulnerability, and poverty.”

“My gravest concern is what’s coming next: a food availability crisis as the fallout from conflict and climate change threatens to sabotage global food production in the months ahead. The world must open its eyes to this unprecedented global food crisis and act now to stop it spinning out of control,” said World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Update: 143 countries ask Russia to reverse annexation of Ukraine regions in U.N. vote

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New York, October 12 – The United Nations General Assembly voted 143-5 to demand that Russia “immediately and unconditionally” reverse its decision to annex four regions in Ukraine. Russia, Syria, North Korea, Nicaragua and Belarus voted against.

The number 143 countries in the 193-nation assembly was the highest voting against Russia’s war in Ukraine, which started on February 24 this year, and its decision to annex the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine on September 29.

A total of 35 countries abstained, including China, India, Pakistan, Cuba, Thailand, South Africa and Vietnam.

The resolution declares that the annexation has “no validity under international law and do not form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions of Ukraine.”

The resolution condemns Russia for holding on September 23-27 “illegal so-called referendums in regions within the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine and the attempted illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.”

It calls on “all states, international organizations and United Nations specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration” by Russia of the status of the four regions and “to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognizing any such altered status.”

The adopted resolution is the fourth to be enacted by the assembly in its diplomatic efforts to end the war started by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

In the previous three votes in the assembly a majority of the 193 member states supported the resolution condemning the war. The vote taken on March 2 just days after fighting erupted a total of 141 countries voted to condemn while Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea voted against. A total of 35 countries abstained.

The adopted resolution on March 2 condemned “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine” in violation of the U.N Charter and demanded that Russia withdraw immediately and cease all acts of war.

In the second and third votes, the number of countries supporting ending the war dropped while countries that abstained increased.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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World Bank and IMF leaders urged to take inclusive fiscal approach to building resilience in developing countries

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Press release from the Institute of Development Studies
New Research on the impact of Covid-19, spanning 42 low- and middle-income counties, has identified macroeconomic and social policies required to build resilience against future health shocks and environmental emergencies. As world leaders meet at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Washington DC this week, a body of evidence from the Covid Research for Equity Programme (CORE), synthesised by the Institute of Development Studies, provides a clear case for coordinated fiscal measures that target the most vulnerable.
The findings of 21 studies in low- and medium-income countries (LMICS) spanning Africa, Latin America, Asia and South Asia and the Middle East, supported by the International. Development Research Centre (IDRC), have profound implications for the IMF and World Bank’s commitment to inclusive global development. The pandemic has had impacts on people’s lives across the dimensions of livelihoods and food security, social protection, fiscal policy, gender, governance and public health. It has dramatically exposed weaknesses and inequities in social protection systems, food production and distribution, job security, tax and poverty alleviation.
James Georgalakis, from the Institute of Development Studies, said:
“There is much that global financial institutions can learn from governments and macro-economists in low- and middle-income counties, who responded urgently to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 – especially for their most vulnerable citizens. Close collaborations between macroeconomists and policy makers in some LMICS have produced solutions that directly address the social injustices that remain untouched by biomedical responses to the pandemic.”
The IMF and the World Bank’s common goal of raising living standards in their member countries focuses on macroeconomic and financial stability and on long-term economic development and poverty reduction. The new research published this week suggests much can be learned from governments in LMICS responding to Covid-19 who have produced a range of monetary and fiscal policy recommendations for longer-term recovery and future resilience.
These include more coordinated fiscal interventions that target the most marginalised: from interest rate policies, and quantitative easing, to progressive taxation and trade policy, to macroeconomic policy that explicitly focuses on gender.
In Uganda for example, reductions in the market interest rate boosted private sector investment and household consumption. The government also moderated the financial market against liquidity risk, capital adequacy risk and credit risk, which supported stability. Fiscal policy provided a temporary liquidity shield through tax relief for small businesses.
Source: Okumu, I.M.; Kavuma, S.N. and Bogere, Uganda and COVID-19: Macroeconomic Policy Responses to the Pandemic, CoMPRA
Research on Bangladesh suggests that increased government transfers to low-income households reap greater benefits for real consumption in poor households. And an increase in spending on health and education will have a positive impact on real gross domestic production and exports.
Source: Bhattacharya, D.; Khan, T.I. and Rabbi, M.H, Covid-19 and Bangladesh Macroeconomic Impact and Policy Choices, Centre for Policy Dialogue
Erin Tansey, Program Director, Sustainable Inclusive Economies, at IDRC said:
“Policy responses to the economic impacts of the pandemic are still underway and evolving to address other crises. Of direct relevance to deliberations in Washington, this body of Southern-led research provides evidence for coordinated fiscal measures to protect the most vulnerable against future shocks and promote gender equality. The recommendations are grounded in the lived experiences of hard-to-reach communities in low- and middle-income countries and in rigorous modelling and analysis.”
Other key findings include:

  1. Food system reforms and protection of livelihoods must target women and young people: Covid-19 is having a major impact on households’ production and access to quality, nutritious food. This is due to losses of income combined with increasing food prices, and restrictions on the movement of people and produce. CORE research is also highlighting the predicament of those working in the informal sector, particularly women, including migrant workers, waste-pickers, sex workers and street vendors. Recommendations for addressing the impacts of Covid-19 on marginalised groups include food system reforms and adaptive social protection measures that target women and young people in the informal sectors. This evidence is pertinent to longer-term recovery and to building resilience to future shocks.
  2. Social protection systems must become more inclusive and flexible: Across much of the research published so far from CORE, there are observations around the impact of Covid-19 on groups who are excluded from social protection schemes. The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing weaknesses in social protection in all regions. Many studies include recommendations for a more inclusive and adaptive approaches to social protection as being central to preparing for future health and economic emergencies.
  3. Collaborative governance needed respond to health emergencies: The pandemic has both mobilised citizens to support others in need and generated a violent backlash against marginalised groups. CORE research finds examples of effective collaborations between civil society groups and different levels of government to support a more effective response to the pandemic in areas such as contact tracing and access to food. However, some studies have also highlighted securitised and militarised state responses, underpinned by panic and long-standing political disputes. Stronger public communication strategies are needed along with better coordination and collaboration between governments, local authorities and communities that harnesses citizens’ response.
    ENDS/

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U.N. plans vote to defend territorial integrity of Ukraine

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New York, October 8 – The United Nations General Assembly will debate Russia’s annexation of four regions in Ukraine and possibly vote on a resolution to declare that the move has “no validity under international law and do not form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions of Ukraine.”

The assembly’s 193 member states will meet Monday October 10 to begin the debate after a similar resolution calling the annexation illegal was vetoed by Russia in a U.N. Security Council meeting. In that meeting on September 30, 10 countries supported the resolution: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Albania, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway and United Arab Emirates.

Russia voted against and four countries abstained – China, India, Brazil and Gabon. 

The assembly is a legislative body composed of 193 countries and each has one vote and where the veto does not exist. By contrast the five U.N. Security Council permanent members – US, United Kingdom, Russia, France and China – have veto power over decisions on world peace and security. Decisions taken by the Security Council are binding on U.N. members.

The draft resolution to be debated in the assembly would condemn Russia for holding on September 23-27 “illegal so-called referendums in regions within the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine and the attempted illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.”

It calls on “all states, international organizations and United Nations specialized agencies not to recognize any alteration” by Russia of the status of the four regions and “to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as recognizing any such altered status.” 

If adopted by the assembly, the resolution would be the fourth to be enacted by the body in its diplomatic efforts to end the war started by Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on February 24 this year.

In the previous three votes in the assembly a majority of the 193 member states supported the resolution condemning the war. The vote taken on March 2 just days after fighting erupted a total of 141 countries voted to condemn while Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea voted against. A total of 35 countries abstained. 

The adopted resolution on March 2 condemned “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine” in violation of the U.N Charter and demanded that Russia withdraw immediately and cease all acts of war.

In the second and third votes, the number of countries supporting ending the war dropped while countries that abstained increased.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Pakistan faces climate calamities after massive floods, U.N. says

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New York, October 7 – The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a resolution calling for world assistance and solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan as one-third of the country was deluged, affecting 33 million lives and over 15 million people could be pushed into poverty.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who visited Pakistan for a first-hand view of the destructions, said Pakistan was responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions but it is now paying a “supersized price for man-made climate change.”

He said while the weather has improved and flood waters have receded mostly in the southern parts, the country is threatened with an explosion of heath diseases like cholera, malaria and dengue fever.

Floods have destroyed 1,500 health facilities, two million homes were damaged or destroyed and more than two million families have lost all possessions. The country also suffered severe losses in crops and livestock.

“Severe hunger is spiking,” Guterres said in an address to the 193-nation assembly. “Malnutrition among children and pregnant lactating women is rising. The number of children out of school is growing. Heartache and hardship – especially for women and girls – is mounting.”

The U.N. and Pakistan government have called for a pledging conference with an initial appeal of $816 million to meet the most urgent needs in the country through May 2023.

Csaba Kőrösi, the president of the assembly, appealed to governments to stand in solidarity with Pakistan with prompt responses to the country’s needs saying that “the price we are paying for delays rises each day.”

“This is a tragedy of epic proportions” that requires “immediate interventions,” to prevent a “permanent emergency,” he said.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) in Geneva said it needs urgent help for over 650,000 refugees.

U.N. News reported that Matthew Saltmarsh, the agency’s spokesperson, said Pakistan faces “a colossal challenge” to respond to the climate disaster, more support is need “for the country and its people, who have generously hosted Afghan refugees for over four decades.”

Saltmarsh reported on the latest estimates of the unprecedented rainfall and flooding, recorded at least 1,700 deaths; 12,800 injured, including at least 4,000 children; some 7.9 million displacements; and nearly 600,000 living in relief sites.

“Pakistan is on the frontlines of the climate emergency,” said Saltmarsh. “It could take months for flood waters to recede in the hardest-hit areas, as fears rise over threats of waterborne diseases and the safety of millions of affected people, 70 percent of whom are women and children.” 

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Pakistan faces climate calamities after massive floods, U.N. says Read More »

UPDATE: Russia blocks resolution condemning its annexation of Ukrainian regions

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New York, September 30 – Russia cast a negative vote and effectively blocked UN Security Council members from adopting a resolution that would have condemned President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of four regions in Ukraine as “illegal.”

Ten of the 15 council members voted in favor of the resolution while four of them abstained. The four abstentions are China, India, Brazil and Gabon. Russia’s veto automatically killed the resolution. The veto power belongs to Russia, the US, UK, France and China which permanent council members.

The 10 members who cast the positive votes are: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Albania, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway and United Arab Emirates.

The council held a meeting to discuss issues of peace and security in Ukraine and to vote on the resolution on the same day Putin formally signed documents in Moscow to seize Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and declared that Ukrainians living in the areas are “Russian citizens forever.”

In the council meeting US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged council members to secure and protect the sovereignty of all states to ensure that “no state can take over another state.” She said the US and its supporters will now take the resolution to the 193-member UN General Assembly, where there are no vetoes.

“We want to show that the world is still on the side of sovereignty and protecting territorial integrity,” she said.

British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said in an address to the council that the area Russia is claiming to annex is more than 90,000 square km. “This is the largest forcible annexation since the Second World War.”

“Council members have voted in different ways. But one thing is clear. Not a single other member of this Council recognizes Russia’s attempted illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. Russia’s veto doesn’t change that fact.”

“The international system is being assaulted in front of our eyes,” she said. “Russia will not succeed in this illegal imperialist war. The only question is how much damage they do, how many lives they waste, before they realize that.”

The Russian seizure of the Ukrainian regions was strongly condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as an escalation of the seven-month war in Ukraine.

“In this moment of peril, I must underscore my duty as Secretary-General to uphold the Charter of the United Nations,” Guterres said in a statement issued the day before Putin signed decrees annexing the Ukrainian territories in a ceremony in the Great Kremlin Palace. The annexation followed referenda conducted by Russia in the four territories, which the UN said were faked and not legal.

“The UN Charter is clear,” Guterres said. “Any annexation of a state’s territory by another state resulting from the threat or use of force is a violation of the Principles of the UN Charter and international law.”

“Any decision to proceed with the annexation would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned,” Guterres said. “The position of the United Nations is unequivocal: we are fully committed to the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.”

The UN leader reminded Putin that Russia is one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation UN Security Council, and “it shares a particular responsibility to respect the Charter.” (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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UPDATE: Russia blocks resolution condemning its annexation of Ukrainian regions Read More »

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