New York, September 25, 2024 – The exercise of the veto by some members of the UN Security Council, which has authority over matters of peace and security, has prevented the UN from stopping the war in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to the annual session attended world leaders.

Five of the 15 council members – the US, UK, Russia, China and France – are permanent members with power to veto any decisions by the body. Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, an escalation of the war between the two countries that started in 2014, the council has sought to end the war but those diplomatic efforts were terminated by a veto.

UN leaders have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter and acknowledged that the council is paralyzed by the veto and division among its members.

“Unfortunately, at the UN, it’s impossible to truly and fairly resolve matters of war and peace because too much depends in the Security Council on the veto power,” the Ukrainian leader to the UN General Assembly session. “When the aggressor exercises veto power, the UN is powerless to stop the war.”

Zelenskyy said there would be “the best opportunity for peace” if there is no veto power in the Security Council.

“When some propose alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans – so-called ‘sets of principles’ – it not only ignores the interests and suffering of Ukrainians, who are affected by the war the most, it not only ignores reality, but also gives Putin the political space to continue the war and pressure the world to bring more nations under control,” he said.

Zelenskyy urged the UN to restore nuclear safety in his country, prevent energy from being used as weapons, ensure food security, bring home captured soldiers and civilians deported to Russia, uphold the UN Charter and Ukraine’s right to territorial integrity and sovereignty and withdraw Russian troops from his country.

He said Russia cannot defeat his people on the battlefield and is targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with deliberate attacks on power plants and the entire energy grid.

“As of today, Russia has destroyed all our thermal power plants and a large part of our hydroelectric capacity. This is how Putin is preparing for winter – hoping to torment millions of Ukrainians…this winter, forcing Ukraine to suffer and surrender.”

Zelenskyy said that while attending UN meetings in New York he has met with leaders of India, Guatemala, Japan and Italy, Türkiye, Finland, Canada, Paraguay, Slovenia and Germany to seek support to end the war and will continue meeting other leaders. “These are different parts of the world and various political ways of life, but they share the same understanding – peace is needed, and it must be a real, just peace,” he said.

UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine – The council held a high-level session on September 24, at which Zelenskyy said the war against his country “will end because the UN Charter will work. It must work,” adding that Russia has no legitimate reason for making Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea complicit.

The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said at the meeting that Ukraine has become an “aggressive, Russophobe, neo-Nazi wasp nest”, seeking to join “the militarist block of NATO,” as reported by UN News.

“Today we hear multiple calls for a political and diplomatic solution, based on the UN Charter,” Nebenzia said, but without overcoming the legacy of what Moscow calls the Maidan coup of early 2014, ridding the country of nationalism, Nazism and other discrimination – in keeping with Article 1.3 of the Charter – “there could be no settlement.”

UN News reported that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken as saying that the full-scale Russian invasion was a “textbook example of a threat to international peace and security” of the type that the Security Council was established to prevent.

He told diplomats around the Council’s horseshoe-shaped table that the question was not what President Putin of Russia would do next in the war: “We already know that Putin will continue to wager an unjust war.”

The question, he said, was how members of the UN Security Council “can end Putin’s war and reinforce the international rules and rights that make all our nations safer and more secure”.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China said he had noted the Ukrainian president’s words, but the prospect of peace is still far away.

Every day it drags on, brings more suffering to the people “and more volatility to the world”.

China’s proposal is to realize the extent of the crisis “and cool down the situation”. There should be three principles at play: no expansion of the battlefield, no escalation of fighting and no further provocations by any of the parties. He said the more that weapons are sent to the battlefield, the harder it will be to achieve the goal of a ceasefire.

“This is the reality that we must face up to,” he said. ”All parties must abandon the cold war confrontation mentality.” Dialogue and negotiation are the only way to end the war and peace talks are essential.More and more countries in the Global South are coming together to support a peaceful settlement, he added.

 (By J.Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, September 24, 2024 – The nearly 120 presidents and ministers, and some royalties, attending the opening of the UN General Assembly session are told that global affairs are shifting dangerously and the world is edging towards the unimaginable.

The week-long 79^th assembly session opened while conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East rage on while climate disasters, desperate humanitarian needs, poverty and the challenges from AI technologies and political division are defeating diplomacy.

“We are in an era of epic transformation – facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen – challenges that demand global solutions,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an opening address to the assembly.

“Yet geo-political divisions keep deepening. The planet keeps heating. Wars rage with no clue how they will end. And nuclear posturing and new weapons cast a dark shadow. We are edging towards the unimaginable – a powder keg that risks engulfing the world.”

Guterres said UN members should bring back multilateralism that require that all countries should work together to find solutions to the global crises. He called for an agreement to manage AI because AI could lead to “artificial divisions across the board through a great fracture with two internets, two markets, two economies and with every country forced to pick a side and enormous consequences for all.”

“The United Nations is the universal platform for dialogue and consensus”, uniquely placed to promote cooperation on AI based on the values of the Charter and international law, he said.

President Joe Biden of the United States – Referring to the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East and Sudan, President Biden said he has hope, based on his own experiences. that conflicts can be brought to an end thanks to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of reconciliation. “Things can get better,” he said. “We should never forget that. I’ve seen that throughout my career.”

“Our test is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart,” he said. “The choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come.”

“Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms and bring the hostages home, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war,” he said.

Biden pledged US support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change, including being on track to cut emissions in half by 2030.

Turning to calls for reforming the 15-nation UN Security Council, which has authority over global peace and security, but is political paralyzed by division among its members, Biden said the US supports reform, including the expansion of council members. “it’s time to move forward,” he said and to end wars and suffering.

“There will be no greater test of leadership than how we deal with AI,” he said. “Benefits from AI must be harnessed and there is a need to ensure that this technology will be used to benefit all.”

President Tayyip Erdoğan of Türkiye – “The United Nations has failed to fulfill its founding mission and has gradually become a dysfunctional structure,” he said, emphasising that “international justice cannot be left in the will of five privileged Member States of the Security Council.”

“The world is bigger than five,” he said, pointing to the massacre in Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the continuous Israeli attacks for almost one year.

President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva of Brazil said the international community’s failure to respond to global crises “shows a weakening of our collective capacity for negotiation and dialogue,” as reported by UN News. Even the Pact for the Future is limited in scope.  Following the COVID‑19 pandemic, no treaty on pandemics was adopted at the World Health Organization. 

“We are living in a time of growing anguish, frustration, tension and fear,” he continued, noting that conflicts and military budgets have ballooned as “the use of force, not supported by international law, is becoming the rule.”

Brazil has firmly condemned the invasion of Ukraine and, together with China, has tried to encourage constructive dialogue between the parties as part of the “six-point plan”.  In Gaza and the West Bank, one of the greatest humanitarian crises in recent history risks spillover into Lebanon.  “What began as a terrorist action by fanatics against innocent Israeli civilians has become a collective punishment for the entire Palestinian people,” he said, with more than 40,000 deaths, mostly women and children. “The right to defence has become the right to vengeance, which prevents an agreement for the release of hostages and postpones the ceasefire.”  Meanwhile the world forgets conflicts in Sudan and Yemen, which cause suffering for nearly 30 million people.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa calls for a UN Security Council that is truly representative and inclusive in order to bring an end to conflicts. “The Security Council must be reformed as a matter of urgency. It must become more inclusive so that the voices of all nations can be heard and considered.”

He said South Africa had benefited from international solidarity when the country fought to end apartheid. “We will not remain silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against other” countries. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, September 22, 2024 – Against a backdrop of conflicts in the Middle East, climate disasters and desperate humanitarian needs in many countries, United Nations member states have adopted an ambitious Pact for the Future to try to bring solutions to current global crises.

The decision to adopt the 56-page Pact was taken in the UN General Assembly without a vote by the 193 members after Russia and allies introduced a last-minute amendment to stop the vote. The assembly voted 143-7 to reject the amendment while 15 countries abstained.

The seven countries that voted against the adoption of the Pact are Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua, North Korea, Iran, Syria and Sudan. The 15 countries that abstained included China, Cuba, Iraq, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

Read the resolution containing the Pact for the Future here.

The adoption of the Pact took place on the first day of the Summit of the Future September 22-23, which the UN said is a once-in-a-generation bold attempt to reform decades-old international institutions, including the politically powerful UN Security Council and international financial organizations. The UN said the just adopted Pact is the product of lengthy negotiations between governments for action-oriented programs.

The Pact contains chapters dealing with sustainable development and financing for development; international peace and security; science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation; youth and future generations; and transforming global governance.

The UN said the Pact has “the potential to promote a multilateral system that reflects the realities of today and that delivers for everyone, everywhere.”

The Summit for the Future is to produce also a global digital compact and a declaration on future generations that will be annexed to the Pact.

The UN said Germany and Namibia, the two countries that sponsored the Pact, greeted the adoption. “We need the Pact for the Future more than ever,” said Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, emphasising that it is a compass to guide us to a better world. “You have proved that multilateralism is alive. The future starts now.“

President Nangolo Mbumba of Namibia recalled an African proverb that says tomorrow belongs to the people who plan today.

“The Summit of the Future is a timely and urgent call to action, urging us to choose the path of peace and sustainability for all,” he said. “We come together to forge a brighter future. Global problems require global solutions.”

The UN said some of the promises made by world leaders in the Pact are:

• We will end hunger and eliminate food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition.
• We will ensure that the multilateral trading system continues to be an engine for sustainable development.
• We will invest in people to end poverty and strengthen trust and social cohesion.
• We will strengthen our efforts to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies.
• We will achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
• We will strengthen our actions to address climate change.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, September 18, 2024 – Current international institutions created after World War II in 1945 need to be reformed as they have failed challenges posed by a series of runaway situations, from climate change to deadly conflicts, debt and poverty, the United Nations chief said days before world leaders are to hold the Summit of the Future.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the 130 heads of countries and governments and scores of ministers of the 193 member states of the United Nations to work in a spirit of compromise to “show the world what we can do, when we work together.”

He said negotiations on the outcome document for the summit, called Pact for the Future, are in the final stretch before the summit taking place September 22-23 at UN headquarters in New York. UN member states are to hold the organization’s annual meetings in September, including a political debate September 24-30 in the UN General Assembly.

UN member states are expected to also adopt at the summit a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations annexed to it.

“The Summit of the Future was born out of a cold, hard fact: international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them,” Guterres said. “We see out-of-control geo-political divisions and runaway conflicts – not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond.”

“Runaway climate change. Runaway inequalities and debt. Runaway development of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence – without guidance or guardrails. And our institutions simply can’t keep up.”

The summit is discussing deep reform of the 15-nation Security Council, which UN leaders said has become paralyzed by Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and to call for changes in international financial organizations.

Guterres said those institutions were “born in a bygone era for a bygone world. So many of the challenges that we face today were not on the radar 80 years ago when our multilateral institutions were born. Our founders understood that times would change.”

He said already discussions over the Pact for the Future have achieved “potential breakthroughs on a number of important fronts,” including the “strongest language” on the UN Security Council reform in a generation – and the most concrete step towards council enlargement since 1963. The council is currently composed of five dominant and permanent members – the US, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France – and 10 countries elected for 2-year terms.

The discussions have also resulted in the first set of governance measures for new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, in all their applications — with the UN at its center, Guterres said. Other advances were made over financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and commitment to advance an SDG Stimulus plan to boost support to developing countries.  

“It would be tragic if all of these would be lost,” he warned. “We can’t create a future fit for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents.”

“The Summit of the Future is an essential first step towards making global institutions more legitimate, effective, and fit for the world of today and tomorrow. I urge Member States to seize this opportunity.” (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, September 13, 2024 – Demands for copper, nickel, cobalt and rare earth minerals will triple in future decades to match the rapid development of clean energy technologies, said a UN panel as it unveiled a “how-to guide” for proper management of global metals and minerals.

The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals recommended seven guiding principles with human rights at the core of all mineral value chains to ensure that the increasing global need for minerals will not “trigger or exacerbate human rights violations and abuses, conflicts, violence, and harm to affected communities and individuals along the value chain.”

“Upholding human rights is therefore vital to ensuring a just, equitable and people-centred energy transition, with particular attention to protecting the rights of children, youth, women, workers and local communities, and recognition of the importance of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” the panel said in its report.

The panel said that human rights of Indigenous Peoples and other rights holders with ancestral ties and rights to land must be respected and states should consult and cooperate in good faith with Indigenous Peoples to obtain their consent prior to any projects affecting their lands and resources.

Read the report of the Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals 

The seven guiding principles: (1) Human rights must be at the core of all mineral value chains, (2) The integrity of the planet, its environment and biodiversity must be safeguarded, (3) Justice and equity must underpin mineral value chains, (4) Development must be fostered through benefit sharing, value addition and economic diversification, (5) Investments, finance and trade must be responsible and fair, (6) Transparency, accountability and anti-corruption measures are necessary to ensure good governance, and (7) Multilateral and international cooperation must underpin global action and promote peace and security.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who established the panel, said he did so in response to developing countries’ concerns that the energy transition could reproduce and amplify inequalities of the past.

“This report identifies ways to ground the renewables revolution in justice and equity, so that it spurs sustainable development, respects people, protects the environment, and powers prosperity in resource-rich developing countries,” he said at the launch of the report.

“We will bring the UN system together to support implementation of the panel’s work, safeguarding and advancing human rights, including the rights of Indigenous Peoples, across the critical minerals value chain. Through all this, civil society, young people and Indigenous Peoples must be heard and have a seat at the table.”

The panel, co-chaired by Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa and Ms. Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy of the European Commission, worked with governments, industry and civil society to develop the principles to build trust, guide the transition and accelerate the race to renewables, the UN said. The panel also received technical support from the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Team, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and comprised of over a dozen UN system entities. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

Civil society statement on the publication of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals report

A call for collective action rooted in justice and equity – Declaring that “resourcing the energy transition requires a new paradigm rooted in equity and justice,” the Panel has laid out principles and recommendations to create urgently necessary change in mineral supply chains. We call for global collective action to put these ambitions into practice: 

 Anchoring human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights in mineral supply chains

The Panel’s first principle rightly states that “human rights must be at the core of all mineral value chains,” including those of environmental and anti-corruption defenders and the protection of civic space. As many seeking justice are intimidated, unjustly prosecuted and imprisoned, we urge swift action from governments and companies to support the protection of their rights. Additionally, we call on governments to strengthen domestic human rights legislation and regulations.

The Panel calls on all actors to uphold “the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples,” recognizing their right to self-determination and their right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. While we welcome this acknowledgement, and that of Indigenous Peoples’ role in biodiversity protection, upholding Indigenous rights requires that more governments ratify and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169.

We welcome the Panel’s call for a global traceability, transparency and accountability framework along the entire mineral value chain, to strengthen due diligence, facilitate corporate accountability and help support the protection of rights.

Protecting the planet’s integrity – We welcome the Panel’s call on all actors to “redouble […] efforts to safeguard the integrity of the environment” and the call to protect territories with recognized heritage and natural value from the mining of minerals for the energy transition. As we move towards a shift in humanity’s relationship with nature, we must find ways to drastically reduce material consumption and mineral demand, particularly in high-income countries. We must also resist narratives purporting that unlimited growth and unlimited mining are compatible with respecting planetary boundaries. 

We welcome the Panel’s recommendation to develop material efficiency and circularity targets to reduce consumption and environmental impacts. A transparent multi-stakeholder process that defines ambitious targets and establishes pathways to equitably reduce overconsumption will be essential to realize this aim.

Unlocking the equitable development potential of developing countries rich in minerals – We acknowledge the Panel’s recognition of the need for changes in trade rules to allow mineral-producing developing countries to move up the value chain. We also welcome its acknowledgment that economic diversification, energy infrastructure, and cleaner industrial policies are crucial to avoid dependence on commodity exports and to promote justice and equity in mineral-rich developing countries.

To make progress on both fronts, we welcome the High-Level Expert Advisory Group that will be tasked with accelerating greater benefit-sharing, value addition and economic diversification as well as equitable trade, investment, fiscal policy, finance, and taxation. We call on the UN as host to ensure this Group is diverse and inclusive. We compel the Group to probe unfair trade and investment treaties, foster regional cooperation and integration and discourage fragmented bilateral trade and investment agreements that entrench unequal power dynamics.

This new paradigm rooted in equity and justice can only be achieved through inclusive multi-stakeholder action, that heeds the voices of those most affected by activities all along the mineral supply chain. At a time of polarization and division, we recognize that the UN Secretary-General made a concerted effort to set up a multi-stakeholder panel representing different voices from across the mineral supply chain. We urge all actors to ensure equitable, inclusive and participatory approaches in our collective advancement of the Panel’s recommendations.

We thank the UN Secretary-General for his leadership and for his vision in which justice and equity are at the core of climate action and the entire value chain. Civil society has a critical role to advance and raise our collective ambitions to protect people and the planet. We look forward to collaborating with all actors as we put the Panel’s principles and recommendations into action.

Signatories: Climate Action Network International – Natural Resource Governance Institute – Publish What You Pay – Business and Human Rights Resource Centre – Oxfam – EEB/EU RMC – Earthworks – Cultural Survival – SIRGE Coalition

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New York, September 6, 2024 – The Summit of the Future taking place later this month will be a “pivotal opportunity for renewal and reform” of decades-old international systems disabled by the daunting challenges of wars, poverty and climate change, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in advance of his organization’s annual meetings.

The UN will launch its annual meetings starting with the opening of the 79^th UN General Assembly session on September 10 at the UN headquarters in New York, which will be attended by 193 member states. (See below the major events at UN headquarters as provided by the UN).

The Summit of the Future – September 22-23

This year, one special event called Summit of the Future requires UN members to come up with actions to solve gaps between UN founders’ aspirations in 1945 and realities in the 21st century. The Summit, which was conceived and put together during the Covid-19 pandemic, will discuss sustainable development and financing; peace and security; a digital future for all; youth and future generations; and global governance.

Ahead of the Summit, the UN chief has called for two Summit Action Days (September 20-21) at which he will meet with representatives of member states, civil society and various other groups to “generate additional opportunities for the engagement of all actors,” the UN said. Heads of state and government are expected to take part in the Summit with the aims of reaffirming their commitments to implement the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Charter.

Gutteres has seized every occasion to promote the Summit and his most recent was an address to the 9^th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on September 5 in Beijing attended by leaders of China and African countries.

“This month’s Summit of the Future in New York will be a pivotal opportunity for renewal and reform – anchored in solidarity and justice,” he said. “We have proposed a focus on prevention, and joint approaches to new and emerging threats to global security, building on our recent success – after many years of effort – authorizing UN-assessed contributions for African Union-led peace operations.”

“We are pushing for reforms so that the international financial architecture and institutions correspond to the realities of today’s world and can respond to today’s challenges – particularly those faced by developing countries,” he said. “Your full engagement will be critical to finding sustainable solutions. And you can count on the full engagement of the United Nations in support of a strong China-Africa partnership, towards our shared goal of peace, sustainable development and human rights on a healthy planet.”

The UN chief has called for reforming “outdated, ineffective and unfair international financial architecture” that favored developed countries over poor ones. He also called for correcting “historic injustices,” including the continued refusal to give the continent of Africa a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. On several occasions, UN leaders have pointed out that the 15-nation council is paralyzed as it is unable to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The UN has urged all its members, civil society, the private sector, organizations and academia to take part in the Summit.

“We were really confronted with the gap between the aspirations of our founders, which we were trying to celebrate at the 75th anniversary, and the reality of the world as it is today,” said Michele Griffin, the Policy Director of the Summit, as reported by UN News. “The problems that we faced, the threats, but also the opportunities and the imperfections in how we respond.”

“You look at the UN and you think governments are the key players,” Griffin said. “And that’s true. They’re the ones sitting around the table, but they do so on behalf of their people. Civil society actors, young people have been involved throughout and will be at the summit. Private sector will be here in recognition of the massive role they have in shaping people’s lives and opportunities today. This summit is for and by everyone, and everyone should see themselves reflected in it.” 

The Summit is expected to conclude with a negotiated Pact for the Future, an action-oriented Global Digital Compact and a Declaration for Future Generations.(By J. Tuyet Nguyen).

UN General Assembly General Debate – September 24-28, and 30. World leaders will gather to engage in the annual high-level General Debate under the theme, “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations”. Heads of State and Government and ministers will explore solutions to intertwined global challenges to advance peace, security, and sustainable development.

High-level plenary meeting on the existential threats posed by sea level rise – September 25. The High-Level Meeting on Sea-Level Rise will convene global leaders, experts, and stakeholders to address the urgent and escalating threat of rising sea levels. This meeting will focus on building common understanding, mobilizing political leadership, and promoting multisectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration and international cooperation towards the objective of “addressing the threats posed by sea-level rise”. Participants will work towards developing comprehensive solutions and actionable commitments to combat sea-level rise, ensuring a resilient and sustainable future including for small island developing states and low-lying coastal areas.

High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) – September 26. The High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) presents an opportunity for countries and stakeholders to renew efforts and accelerate progress in combating the growing threat of AMR. This meeting will serve as the foundation for executing policies and ensuring accountability for strengthening health systems against AMR. Building on the momentum of previous declarations and commitments, participants will focus on enhancing international cooperation, promoting the responsible use of antimicrobials, and advancing the development of new treatments to safeguard global health.

High-level Meeting: International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons – September 26. Achieving global nuclear disarmament is the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations. It was the subject of the General Assembly’s first resolution in 1946, which established the Atomic Energy Commission (dissolved in 1952), with a mandate to make specific proposals for the control of nuclear energy and the elimination of atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction. This annual High-level plenary meeting commemorates and promotes the International Day for the Total Elimination of nuclear weapons.

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Geneva/New York, August 19 – The UN and humanitarian organizations said 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023 and such deadly casualties may be higher this year as 172 have died in the world’s conflicts as of August 17, the UN said as it celebrated the World Humanitarian Day 2024.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said a letter signed by aid organizations was sent to the 193 UN member states to #ActforHumanity by taking action to end attacks on civilians, protect all aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.

It said aid workers at frontlines of conflicts died in unprecedented number in 2023, a 137-percent increase over 2022 which recorded 118 deaths. It said more than half of the 280 deaths in 2023 were recorded in the first three months after the Gaza war exploded on October 7, and they included staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Other aid workers died in conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan.

“This World Humanitarian Day, our staff and volunteers around the world will stand in solidarity to spotlight the horrifying toll of armed conflicts on their colleagues and on all civilians, particularly children,” the letter said.

“The brutal hostilities we are seeing in multiple conflicts around the world have exposed a terrible truth: We are living in an era of impunity. Attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health-care personnel, are devastatingly common. Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished. This status quo is shameful and cannot continue.”

“In 2023, tens of thousands of civilians were killed or injured in armed conflict, with fatalities among humanitarian workers doubling compared to the previous year.

The toll in 2024 – the number of deaths, injuries, detentions and kidnappings – is already staggering. The overwhelming majority of recorded attacks on aid workers are inflicted on national staff. Women-led organizations and female humanitarian staff face unique and often increased risks, just because they are women. The impact on the mental health of civilians and humanitarian workers has reached unprecedented levels.”

“And yet parties to conflict continue to flout laws meant to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, and civilian objects.”

Joyce Msuya, UN Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, called for action.

“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” she said. “Today, we reiterate our demand that people in power act to end violations against civilians and the impunity with which these heinous attacks are committed.”

The UN said World Humanitarian Day is observed annually on 19 August – the date in 2003 when a bomb attack at the UN’s headquarters in Baghdad killed 22 humanitarian workers, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq.

Each year, the commemoration focuses on a theme in efforts to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people caught in crises, and the safety and security of aid workers.

The 2024 campaign, #ActForHumanity, aims to build public support to help pressure warring parties and world leaders to better ensure the protection of civilians, including humanitarians, caught in conflict zones

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International aid agencies are sounding the alarm about the severe impact of international inaction on the most vulnerable Afghans three years after Taliban authorities took over the country in August 2021. More than 23 million Afghans, most of them children and women, are suffering severe food insecurity while 6.3 million remain displaced within the country and unemployment has doubled this year. Following is a joint press statement by the 10 international aid agencies.

Kabul, 13 August 2024: Millions of Afghans continue to struggle in one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian crises, three years after the change in power. Heavily dependent on humanitarian aid, Afghans are trapped in cycles of poverty, displacement, and despair. Afghanistan is at risk of becoming a forgotten crisis without sustained support and engagement from the international community, warn Action Against Hunger (ACF), CARE International (CARE), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), INTERSOS, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), People in Need (PiN), Save the Children International, and World Vision International (WVI).

Afghanistan is experiencing shock after shock—the ongoing economic crisis, the legacy of decades of conflict, the impacts of climate change, and the gender crisis have taken a devastating toll on the country. Despite the improvements in the country’s overall security situation, which has facilitated access to many new regions that were previously unreachable, there are still myriad of challenges that hinder us from reaching all those in need effectively. The Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) 2024 shows that an estimated 23.7 million peopleare reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance, 52% of whom are children and 25% women^. Food insecurity is rampant, 6.3 million people remain displaced within the country, and unemployment has doubled compared to the past year.

Though humanitarian aid has been a lifeline to Afghan communities, the humanitarian funding appeal for 2024 has received only 25% of requested funds as of 13 August 2024. Shrinking humanitarian funding is adversely impacting people’s daily lives, and a lack of funding for medium and longer-term programming has only heightened underlying vulnerabilities, adding to the humanitarian burden. Already this year, 343 mobile health teams have shut down, which equals 52% of all mobile health teams. This has had a significant impact on the health and nutrition response, as populations are not able to access essential lifesaving services. With 12.4 million people facing acute food insecurity that is expected to worsen, which could leave over half a million malnourished children deprived of lifesaving nutrition. Mothers are also disproportionately affected; typically, they are the last to eat and eat the least. Families, especially women-headed households, are being forced to make agonising decisions to survive, including relocating their families within the country, often joining informal settlements, making treacherous journeys across borders, and sending children to work. The growing humanitarian financing gap combined with the discontinuation of development assistance since August 2021 are pushing the country and its people into deeper poverty and vulnerability. 

Signatories to this statement underscore that the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan cannot be addressed with humanitarian assistance alone and a comprehensive, sustained, and contextualised response from the international community is required. Afghanistan desperately needs long-term development assistance to address the root causes of poverty. Diplomatic engagement is crucial to creating an enabling environment in Afghanistan that will support upscaling international aid efforts to include development projects alongside emergency assistance. The current isolationist approach of most donor countries does not support durable solutions to the challenges faced by the people of Afghanistan, especially children, women, ethnic and other marginalised groups. This requires ongoing cooperation between humanitarian and development actors, including local organizations, with the UN-led coordination system to ensure collective, principled, and strategic engagement with the de facto authorities (DfAs) to address operational challenges (including a range of bureaucratic and administrative impediments, challenges to transfer funds to Afghanistan), facilitate timely response to crises, and conduct crucial advocacy in compliance with international human rights standards.

Humanitarian actors in Afghanistan assess that inaction from the international community is costing the most vulnerable Afghans dearly. Without rapid efforts to increase diplomatic engagement and longer-term sustainable funding, Afghans, especially women and girls, will be left to suffer for years to come. Poverty is nearly universal, and humanitarian needs are rising due to the ever-growing economic crisis, the impacts of climate change, the gender crisis, and diminishing aid.

We call on the international community to:

1. Increase humanitarian and diplomatic engagement with the DfA to improve our ability to reach all people in need, provide aid effectively, efficiently, and equitably, and push the DfA to adhere to international human rights standards, including their obligations towards all genders of the population. Long-term relationship building and continuous engagement with the DfA, underpinned by expertise in humanitarian access negotiations and policy dialogue, is increasingly important if Afghanistan’s most fundamental challenges are to be addressed.
2. To avoid the country falling into deeper poverty and isolation, donors must bolster the return of development and longer-term programming and funding to build resilient communities that are less dependent on aid. This should include investments in gender responsive/transformative agriculture, climate change adaptation, market-based approaches for food value chains, access to financial services for smallholder farmers, and for women-led micro and small businesses. Humanitarian partners are increasingly stepping up to deliver principled and impactful durable solutions programming in Afghanistan, and there are tangible opportunities to scale up and broaden best practices.
3. The protection and safeguarding of the humanitarian space should remain a critical priority for ensuring a needs-based and principled humanitarian response in the country. Humanitarian partners over the years have delivered assistance to affected communities in line with humanitarian principles. We urge the international community for its continued support.
4. The international community should seek cooperation from the DfA on issues of mutual interest, such as economic development, while keeping up key demands such as lifting bureaucratic and administrative impediments (BAIs) and granting unimpeded humanitarian access across the country.
5. Fully fund the Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), and critical humanitarian funding should be sustained, as part of which there should be an increase in the volume and quality of funding to Afghan civil society organizations, especially Women-Led and Women Rights Organizations (WLOs/WROs) and organizations of persons with disabilities, so that partners have access to quality funding and humanitarian organizations can support the most vulnerable and marginalised people.
6. The continuation of gender-responsive multi-sectoral programming should be supported by ensuring that all humanitarian and long-term programs include a strong gender perspective and address the specific needs and rights of women and girls. To continue with both gender-responsive sectoral approaches as well as specialized services, humanitarian partners need flexible funding, so the most vulnerable groups continue receiving much-needed services.
7. Donor governments should continue to reassure financial service providers that they are able to facilitate transactions into and within Afghanistan, increasing private and public confidence in doing business in Afghanistan and easing the current impediments to the transfer of funds into the country.

Notes to editors

• There are an estimated 23.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan in 2024. Despite the severity of needs, only 25 per cent of the USD 3.06 billion required for the humanitarian response has been funded so far this year.
• By June 2024, there are 6.3 million protracted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
• Approximately 680,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan since September 2023, predominantly entering the country at the Torkham border crossing (IOM).
• Afghanistan registers marginal improvement despite climatic shocks and high food prices, pushing 14.2 million people into high levels of food insecurity. (IPC Analysis May-October 2024)
• Afghanistan suffers from extreme weather events and environmental disasters. Most recently, in July 2024 severe floods impacted 29 districts across Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Nuristan damaging homes, crops, and infrastructure and affecting 1,925 families (OCHA). A 6.3 magnitude earthquake affected the Herat in October 2023, impacted 2.2 million people, damaging over 47,000 homes (OCHA).

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

1. ACF Philippe Hamel phamel@actioncontrelafaim.org 00 33 6 18 17 39 58
2. CARE Asia Regional Communications Advisor, Sarita Suwannarat, sarita.suwannarat@care.org +66 85 0877817 Muhammad Haseeb Khalid, Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor, muhammad.khalid@care.org +93 79 479 3213
3. DRC media enquiries at: press@drc.ngo +45 28 11 67 27 Bahia Zrikem, Regional Advocacy and Communication Coordinator, Danish Refugee Council (DRC) bahia.zrikem@drc.ngo 0032488283465 / 00962799548245
4. International Rescue Committee (IRC), Nancy Dent, Associate Director, Public Affairs & Communications, Asia Nancy.dent@rescue.org  +44 (0) 769 058 275
5. INTERSOS, Omar Rashid, Field Communications and Advocacy Coordinator communication.afghanistan@intersos.org +93 70 419 1073
6. Islamic Relief Worldwide, Michael Selby-Green, International Media Coordinator, IRW michael.selby-green@irworldwide.org +447969060570
7. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Global media hotline: media@nrc.no  +47 905 62329NRC Regional Communications Adviser, Christian Jepsen: christian.jepsen@nrc.no +254 706 248 391, NRC in Afghanistan Acting Advocacy Manager, Maisam Shafiey: maisam.shafiey@nrc.no  +93706453029
8. People in Need (PiN), Nasr Muflahi, Country Director nasr.muflahi@peopleinneed.net
9. Save the Children International, Rachel Thomson, Regional Media Manager, SCI rachel.thompson@savethechildren.org
10. World Vision Afghanistan, Thamindri De Silva, National Director thamindride_silva@wvi.org Mark D Calder, Advocacy and Policy

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Five UN specialized agencies have launched the 2024 edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report at a Special Event in the margins of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 24 July 2024.The report presented the latest updates on hunger, food security and nutrition around the world, including updated estimates on the cost and affordability of healthy diets. Following is a joint press release.

Rio de Janeiro, July 24, 2024 – Around 733 million people faced hunger in 2023, equivalent to one in eleven people globally and one in five in Africa, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report published today by five United Nations specialized agencies. The annual report, launched this year in the context of the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty Task Force Ministerial Meeting in Brazil, warns that the world is falling significantly short of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030. The report shows that the world has been set back 15 years, with levels of undernourishment comparable to those in 2008-2009.

The launch included the participation of (in order of speakers):
• António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General (video message)
• H.E. Claudia Sheinbaum, President-Elect, Mexico (TBC)
• QU Dongyu, Director-General, FAO
• Alvaro Lario, President, IFAD
• Catherine M. Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF
• Cindy H. McCain, Executive Director, WFP
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO
• H.E. Wellington Barroso de Araújo Dias, Minister for Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Brazil
• Máximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist, FAO

Despite some progress in specific areas such as stunting and exclusive breastfeeding, an alarming number of people continue to face food insecurity and malnutrition as global hunger levels have plateaued for three consecutive years, with between 713 and 757 million people undernourished in 2023—approximately 152 million more than in 2019 when considering the mid-range (733 million).

Regional trends vary significantly: the percentage of the population facing hunger continues to rise in Africa (20.4 percent), remains stable in Asia (8.1 percent)—though still representing a significant challenge as the region is home to more than half of those facing hunger worldwide —and shows progress in Latin America (6.2 percent). From 2022 to 2023, hunger increased in Western Asia, the Caribbean, and most African subregions. If current trends continue, about 582 million people will be chronically undernourished in 2030, half of them in Africa, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO). This projection closely resembles the levels seen in 2015 when the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted, marking a concerning stagnation in progress.

Key findings beyond hunger – The report highlights that access to adequate food remains elusive for billions. In 2023, around 2.33billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity, a number that has not changedsignificantly since the sharp upturn in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those, over 864million people experienced severe food insecurity, going without food for an entire day or more attimes. This number has remained stubbornly high since 2020 and while Latin America showsimprovement, broader challenges persist, especially in Africa where 58 percent of the population ismoderately or severely food insecure.

The lack of economic access to healthy diets also remains a critical issue, affecting over one-third of the global population. With new food price data and methodological improvements, the publication reveals that over 2.8 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022. This disparity is most pronounced in low-income countries, where 71.5 percent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, compared to 6.3 percent in high-income countries. Notably, the number dropped below pre-pandemic levels in Asia and in Northern America and Europe, while it increased substantially in Africa.

While progress has been made in increasing exclusive breastfeeding rates among infants to 48%, achieving global nutrition targets will be a challenge. Low birthweight prevalence has stagnated around 15%, and stunting among children under five, while declining to 22.3%, still falls short of achieving targets. Additionally, the prevalence of wasting among children has not seen significant improvement while anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years has increased.

Similarly, new estimates of adult obesity show a steady increase over the last decade, from 12.1 percent (2012) to 15.8 percent (2022). Projections indicate that by 2030, the world will have more than 1.2 billion obese adults. The double burden of malnutrition – the co-existence of undernutrition together with overweight and obesity – has also surged globally across all age groups. Thinness and underweight have declined in the last two decades, while obesity has risen sharply.

These trends underscore the complex challenges of malnutrition in all its forms and the urgent need for targeted interventions as the world is not on track to reach any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030, the five agencies indicate. Food insecurity and malnutrition are worsening due to a combination of factors, including persisting food price inflation that continues to erode economic gains for many people in many countries. Major drivers like conflict, climate change, and economic downturns are becoming more frequent and severe. These issues, along with underlying factors such as unaffordable healthy diets, unhealthy food environments and persistent inequality, are now coinciding simultaneously, amplifying their individual effects.

Financing to end hunger – This year’s report’s theme “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition’’,emphasizes that achieving SDG 2 Zero Hunger requires a multi-faceted approach, including transformingand strengthening agrifood systems, addressing inequalities, and ensuring affordable and accessiblehealthy diets for all. It calls for increased and more cost-effective financing, with a clear andstandardized definition of financing for food security and nutrition.

What the heads of the five UN agencies said – WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes in the report’s Foreword: “Estimating the gap in financing for food security and nutrition and mobilizing innovative ways of financing to bridge it must be among our top priorities. Policies, legislation and interventions to end hunger and ensure all peoplehave access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food (SDG Target 2.1), and to end all forms of malnutrition (SDG Target 2.2) need significant resource mobilization. They are not only an investment in the future, but our obligation. We strive to guarantee the right to adequate food and nutrition of current and future generations”.  As highlighted during a recent event in the High-Level Political Forum at UN headquarters in New York, the report underscores that the looming financing gap necessitates innovative, equitable solutions, particularly for countries facing high levels of hunger and malnutrition exacerbated by climate impacts. Countries most in need of increased financing face significant challenges in access. Among the 119 low- and middle-income countries analyzed, approximately 63 percent have limited or moderate access to financing. Additionally, the majority of these countries (74 percent) are impacted by one or more major factors contributing to food insecurity and malnutrition. Coordinated efforts to harmonize data, increase risk tolerance, and enhance transparency are vital to bridge this gap and strengthen global food security and nutrition frameworks.

FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu: “Transforming agrifood systems is more critical than ever as we facethe urgency of achieving the SDGs within six short years. FAO remains committed to supportingcountries in their efforts to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for all. We will work togetherwith all partners and with all approaches, including the G20 Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty,to accelerate the needed change. Together, we must innovate and collaborate to build more efficient,inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems that can better withstand future challenges for abetter world.”

IFAD President, Alvaro Lario: “The fastest route out of hunger and poverty is proven to be through investments in agriculture in rural areas. But the global and financial landscape has become far more complex since the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015. Ending hunger and malnutrition demands that we invest more – and more smartly. We must bring new money into the system from the private sector and recapture the pandemic-era appetite for ambitious global financial reform that gets cheaper financing to the countries who need it most.’’

UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell: “Malnutrition affects a child’s survival, physical growth, and brain development. Global child stunting rates have dropped by one third, or 55 million, in the last two decades, showing that investments in maternal and child nutrition pay off. Yet globally, one in four children under the age of five suffers from undernutrition, which can lead to long-term damage. We must urgently step-up financing to end child malnutrition. The world can and must do it. It is not only a moral imperative but also a sound investment in the future.”

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain: “A future free from hunger is possible if we can rally the resources and the political will needed to invest in proven long-term solutions. I call on G20 leaders tofollow Brazil’s example and prioritize ambitious global action on hunger and poverty, We have the technologies and know-how to end food insecurity – but we urgently need the funds to invest in them at scale. WFP is ready to step up our collaboration with governments and partners to tackle the root causes of hunger, strengthen social safety nets and support sustainable development so every family can live in dignity.”WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “The progress we have made on reducing stunting and improving exclusive breastfeeding shows that the challenges we face are not insurmountable. We must use those gains as motivation to alleviate the suffering that millions of people around the world endure every day from hunger, food insecurity, unhealthy diets and malnutrition. The substantial investment required in healthy, safe and sustainably produced food is far less than the costs to economies and societies if we do nothing.”

Glossary of key terms

Diet quality (or healthy diets): Comprised of four key aspects: diversity (within and across food groups), adequacy (sufficiency of all essential nutrients compared to requirements), moderation (foods and nutrients that are related to poor health outcomes) and balance (energy and macronutrient intake). Foods consumed should be safe.

Food environment: The physical, economic, political and sociocultural context in which consumers engage with agrifood systems to make decisions about acquiring, preparing and consuming food. Hunger: an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by insufficient energy from diet. In this report, the term hunger is synonymous with chronic undernourishment and is measured by the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU).

Malnutrition: an abnormal physiological condition caused by inadequate, unbalanced or excessive intake of macronutrients and/or micronutrients and/or by disease that causes weight loss. Malnutrition includes undernutrition (child stunting and wasting), vitamin and mineral deficiencies (also known as micronutrient deficiencies) as well as overweight and obesity.

Moderate food insecurity: a level of severity of food insecurity at which people face uncertainties about their ability to obtain food and have been forced to reduce, at times during the year, the quality and/or quantity of food they consume due to lack of money or other resources. It refers to a lack of consistent access to food, which diminishes dietary quality and disrupts normal eating patterns. It is measured withthe Food Insecurity Experience Scale and contributes to tracking the progress towards SDG Target 2.1 (Indicator 2.1.2).

Severe food insecurity: a level of severity of food insecurity at which, at some time during the year, people have run out of food, experienced hunger and at the most extreme, gone without food for a day or more. It is measured with the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and contributes to tracking the progress towards SDG Target 2.1 (Indicator 2.1.2).

Undernourishment: a condition in which an individual’s habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the amount of dietary energy required to maintain a normal, active, and healthy life. The prevalence of undernourishment is used to measure hunger and progress towards SDG Target 2.1 (Indicator 2.1.1).

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