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Update: UN calls for ending crimes against journalists as many more have died while covering recent crises and conflicts

Paris/New York, November 2, 2024 – The United Nations marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists this year while reports showed that more than half of journalists who lost their lives since last year were killed in dangerous contexts. The UN said the killings of journalists and media workers in Gaza were the highest in any war in decades.

The Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said it will hold this year’s global commemoration of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6-7 November, under the theme of Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.

The International Day coincided this year with the biannual UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which recorded a 38 per cent increase in the number of journalist killings compared to the previous study.

UNESCO said over 1,700 journalists have been killed around the world between 2006 and 2024, and around 85 percent of the cases did not make it to court.

UN News reported that in his 2024 message for the International Day, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that Gaza has seen the highest number of killings of journalists and media workers in any war in decades. He called on governments to take urgent steps to protect journalists, investigate crimes against them and prosecute perpetrators.

Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on 7 October, 2023, more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, said the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Read Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity

The UNESCO Director-General’s Report is a unique mechanism within the UN system for monitoring the killings of journalists. It was first published in 2008. The report is submitted every two years to the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

Following is a press release from UNESCO: Safety of Journalists in Crises and Emergencies.

Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most important and complex challenges of recent times. It is an essential precondition to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens.

With the rise of conflicts and other crises, the 2024 observance seeks to promote a broader discussion on the safety of journalists working in these contexts, including the prevention, protection and prosecution concerns of journalists affected by such challenges.

Many journalists, media professionals, and associated media personnel exercise their duties in highly dangerous contexts. Too many pay an unacceptably high price, including death, enforced disappearance, torture, unlawful detention, and kidnapping, for producing independent, reliable, and verifiable information.

Journalists reporting from crisis- and conflict-zones face severe threats in carrying out their critical work. While from 2017 onwards UNESCO recorded gradual decreases in media workers killed in conflict zones, more recently the trend has been reversed. UNESCO’s monitoring in 2023 recorded more than 50% of journalist killings occurred in crisis- and conflict-zones, with continuously high numbers in the first half of 2024.

These tragedies are only the tip of the iceberg. Media infrastructure is often damaged or destroyed, and journalists face physical attacks, detention, equipment confiscation or denial of access to reporting sites. Many are forced to flee or cease their work, risking turning conflict areas into “zones of silence”.

Whether reporting on conflict, humanitarian disasters, climate or health crises, journalists continue to face disproportionate threats and higher levels of impunity for extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, as well as intimidation and harassment, both offline and online.

Acute food insecurity is set to increase in magnitude and severity in 22 countries and territories

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New UN report warns of conflict-induced famine and catastrophic hunger in five major hotspots alongside the looming La Nina climate threat in others. Following is a joint FAO-WFP news release.

Rome, October 31, 2024 – Acute food insecurity is set to increase in both magnitude and severity across 22 countries and territories, according to a new United Nations report. The report warns that the spread of conflict, particularly in the Middle East – coupled with climate and economic stressors – is pushing millions of people to the brink. The report spotlights the regional fallout from the crisis in Gaza which has seen Lebanon engulfed in conflict and warns that the La Niña weather pattern could impact climates through March 2025, threatening fragile food systems in already vulnerable regions.

The report draws attention to famine in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur and famine risk in other areas of Sudan, the enduring risk of famine in Palestine (Gaza Strip) and the catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity in Haiti, Mali and South Sudan. It warns that without immediate humanitarian action and concerted efforts to overcome severe access constraints and resolve ongoing conflicts, further starvation and death are likely.

The report – ‘Hunger Hotspots – FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity’ – issued today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) calls for urgent humanitarian action to save lives and livelihoods and prevent starvation and death in hotspots where acute hunger is at high risk of worsening between November 2024 and May 2025.

In total, 22 countries/territories are classified as “hunger hotspots”, where high levels of acute food insecurity are expected to further deteriorate due to the combination of conflict, economic instability, and climate shocks during the outlook period. Without immediate intervention, including increased funding for food and livelihoods assistance, hundreds of thousands more people are expected to face starvation in the coming months.

“The situation in the five hunger hotspots of highest concern is catastrophic. People are experiencing an extreme lack of food and face unprecedented enduring starvation fuelled by escalating conflicts, climate crises and economic shocks. If we are to save lives and prevent acute hunger and malnutrition, we urgently need a humanitarian ceasefire, and to restore access to and availability of highly nutritious food, including reactivating local food production. But this alone is not enough; we need longer-term stability and food security. Peace is a pre-requisite for food security. Without peace and stability, farmers cannot grow food, harvest or sustain their livelihoods. Access to nutritious food is not just a basic need – it is a fundamental human right,” said QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General.

“Worldwide, conflicts are escalating, economic instability is rising, and climate disasters are becoming the new norm. With more effective political and financial support, humanitarians can and will continue to implement proven and scalable solutions to address hunger and reduce needs over the long term,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director.

“It’s time for world leaders to step up and work with us to reach the millions of people at risk of starvation – delivering diplomatic solutions to conflicts, using their influence to enable humanitarians to work safely, and mobilizing the resources and partnerships needed to halt global hunger in its tracks,” Director McCain added.

The effects of the La Niña weather pattern, anticipated to impact global climates from November 2024 through March 2025, are expected to further exacerbate some of the food crises. While some areas may benefit from improved agricultural conditions, La Niña is likely to cause devastating floods in countries such as Nigeria and South Sudan, while potentially contributing to dry conditions in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopian. These extreme weather events threaten already fragile food systems, putting millions at risk of hunger.

The report stresses that early, targeted action is essential to prevent the further deterioration of the crisis and avert mass hunger-related mortality. FAO and WFP are urging world leaders to prioritize conflict resolution, economic support, and climate adaptation measures to protect the most vulnerable populations from the brink of famine.

Key Findings

According to the report, Palestine, the Sudan, South Sudan, Haiti and Mali remain at the highest alert level and require the most urgent attention. Conflict is the primary driver of hunger in all these areas. All hotspots of the highest concern have communities already facing or at risk of famine or facing catastrophic conditions of acute food insecurity.

Chad, Lebanon, Myanmar, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are hotspots of very high concern, with a large number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life-threatening conditions in the coming months.

Since the previous edition of the Hunger Hotspots report (June 2024), Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia and Niger have joined the list of hunger hotspots, alongside Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period.

The Hunger Hotspots report identifies areas where acute food insecurity is likely increase during the outlook period. The hotspots are determined through forward-looking analysis and selected through a consensus-based process involving FAO and WFP field and technical teams, alongside analysts specialized in conflict, economic risks and natural hazards.

The report is part of a US and EU funded suite of analytical products produced under the Global Network Against Food Crises, to enhance and coordinate the generation and sharing of evidence-based information and analysis for preventing and addressing food crises.

This series also includes the recently published 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, which retroactively looks at the levels of acute food insecurity in 2023, in complement to the Hunger Hotspots which is a forward-looking early warning analysis that provides decision makers with information for planning and resource allocation.

The digital version of the report is also available at this link

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. It aims at transforming agrifood systems, making them more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no-one behind. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

For more information please contact:

James Belgrave, WFP/ Rome, James.Belgrave@wfp.org, tel. +39 366 5294297

WFP Media Desk, WFP/ Rome, WFP.Media@wfp.org

Irina Utkina, FAO/ Rome, irina.utkina@fao.org, tel. +39657052542

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8% GDP Loss by 2050 Foreseen Due to World Water Crisis; More Than 50% of Food Production at Risk

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Paris, October 17, 2024 — An international group of leaders and experts warns that unless humanity acts with greater boldness and urgency, an increasingly out-of-balance water cycle will wreak havoc on economies and humanity worldwide.

In a landmark report, The Economics of Water: Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good, the Global Commission on the Economics of Water says the water crisis puts at risk more than half of the world’s food production by 2050.

It also threatens an 8% loss of GDP in countries around the world on average by 2050, with as much as a 15% loss in lower-income countries, and even larger economic consequences beyond.

Weak economics, destructive land use, and the persistent mismanagement of water resources have combined with the worsening climate crisis to put the global water cycle under unprecedented stress, the Commission says.

Nearly three billion people and over half of the world’s food production are in areas experiencing drying, or unstable trends in total water availability. Further, several cities are sinking due to the loss of water below the ground.

“Today, half of the world’s population faces water scarcity. As this vital resource becomes increasingly scarce, food security and human development are at risk — and we are allowing this to happen,” observed Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and one of the Commission’s four co-chairs.

“For the first time in human history, we are pushing the global water cycle out of balance. Precipitation, the source of all freshwater, can no longer be relied upon due to human caused climate and land use change, undermining the basis for human wellbeing and the global economy.”

A new economics of water – The report argues that existing approaches have led to the water crisis. They ignore the multiple values of water across whole economies and in preserving nature’s critical ecosystems. The widespread under-pricing of water today also encourages its profligate use across the economy and skews the locations of the most water-intensive crops and industries, such as data centres and coal-fired power plants, to areas most at risk of water stress.

Proper pricing, subsidies and other incentives must be used to ensure water is used more efficiently in every sector, more equitably in every population, and more sustainably.

“The global water crisis is a tragedy but is also an opportunity to transform the economics of water – and to start by valuing water properly so as to recognize its scarcity and the many benefits it delivers,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization and a co-chair of the Commission.

Current approaches also deal predominantly with the water we can see – the “blue water” in our rivers, lakes, and aquifers. They typically overlook a critical freshwater resource, namely “green water” – the moisture in our soils and plant life, which ultimately returns and circulates through the atmosphere, generating around half the rainfall we receive on land.

A stable supply of green water is hence linked inextricably to stable patterns of rainfall, itself critical to economies and livelihoods. It also provides crucial support for the natural storage of carbon dioxide in the soil and mitigation of climate change.

The water challenge becomes even more pressing when we recognise how much water each person needs daily to live a dignified life. The Global Commission offers a new perspective on a just access to water: While 50 to 100 litres per day is required to meet essential health and hygiene needs, a dignified life – including adequate nutrition and consumption – requires a minimum of about 4,000 litres per person per day.

Most regions cannot secure this much water locally. Although trade could help distribute water resources more equitably, it is hampered by misaligned policies and the water crisis itself.

The Commission argues that the crisis demands bolder, more integrated thinking, and a recasting of policy frameworks – in short, a new economics of water. It begins by recognising that the water cycle must now be governed as a global common good.

This can only be done collectively, through concerted action in every country, through collaboration across boundaries and cultures, and for benefits that will be felt everywhere.

Critically, we must redefine the way we value water properly to reflect its scarcity, while at the same time recognising the multiple benefits of water and a stable global hydrological cycle across economies. We must shape economies to allocate and use water properly from the start, and avoid having to fix problems such as water pollution and other “externalities” after the fact.

The report calls for a fundamental regearing of where water sits in economies, enabled by a “mission-driven” approach. This paradigm shift requires the participation of all stakeholders, from local to global, to achieve the missions that address the most important challenges of the global water crisis.

Such missions would encourage innovations, capacity building and investments, and be evaluated not in terms of short-run costs and benefits but, rather, for how they can catalyse long-run, economy-wide benefits.

“We must move beyond a reactive market-fixing approach toward a proactive market-shaping one that catalyses mission-oriented innovation and builds symbiotic partnerships around our biggest water challenges. Only with a new economic mindset can governments value, govern, and finance water in a way that drives the transformation we need,” said Mariana Mazzucato, Professor at University College London where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP), and one of the co-chairs of the Commission.

The report recommends five such missions:

Mission 1: Launch a new revolution in food systems

Transform agriculture to sustain the planet by scaling up micro-irrigation and radically improving water productivity, reducing reliance on nitrogen-based fertilisers, spreading regenerative agriculture, and shifting progressively away from animal to plant-based diets.

Mission 2: Conserve and restore natural habitats critical to protecting green water

Conserve 30% of forests and restore 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030. Priority should be given to protecting and restoring those areas that can best contribute to a stable water cycle.

Mission 3: Establish a circular water economy

Capture the full value of every drop by treating and reusing wastewater, reducing distribution inefficiencies and recovering valuable resources.

Mission 4: Enable a clean-energy and AI-rich era with much lower water intensity

Renewable energy, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) are defining a new economic era. We must spur innovation with high ambitions and secure equity, sustainability and efficiency to ensure their growth does not exacerbate global water stresses or constrain the benefits they provide.

Mission 5: Ensure no child dies from unsafe water by 2030

Currently, over 1,000 children die every day from unsafe water. Ensure access to clean water for rural and hard-to-reach communities, including investing in decentralized water treatment and sanitation systems.

The Commission has identified critical enablers for the five missions, reflecting key aspects of this new way of governing, nationally and internationally to benefit people and the planet:

● Govern partnerships, property rights, and contracts for a just and sustainable water future Forge more symbiotic partnerships and address legacy water rights using conditionalities.

● Shape finance for a safe, just and sustainable water future

Address public and private underfunding; redirect harmful subsidies; establish “Just Water Partnerships” to design, implement and finance transition towards a just and safe water future in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

● Harness data as a foundation for action

Improve global water data infrastructure; promote corporate water footprint disclosure covering green and blue water, and value water as natural capital.

● Build global water governance

Create a multi-sectoral Global Water Pact to address both green and blue water challenges and stabilise the hydrological cycle.

A just and sustainable water future: How to turn the tide – The Report calls for governments across the world to deliver a “new course for water at every scale” and reinvigorate structures of international cooperation to address shared water challenges.

Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of Singapore and one of the co-chairs of the Commission, said: “We can only solve this crisis if we think in much broader terms about how we govern water. By recognising water’s interactions with climate change and biodiversity. By mobilising all our economic tools, and both public and private finance, to innovate and invest in water. By thinking and acting multilaterally. So we not only save countless children’s lives and improve communities’ livelihoods today, but secure a much better and safer future everywhere.”

About the Global Commission on the Economics of Water – The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) was convened in May 2022 at the initiative of the Government of the Netherlands as co-host of the UN 2023 Water Conference, with the aim of redefining the way we value and govern water for the common good, and completing the sustainability trilogy that began with the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change and the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity.

Co-chaired by Mariana Mazzucato, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Johan Rockström, and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, it comprises an independent and diverse group of experts from science, economics and policy-making, with leadership experience at community, city, national and multilateral levels.

The Co-Chairs and Commissioners contributed in their personal capacity, the views and recommendations of the GCEW do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their institutions and are independent of the Government of the Netherlands.

The full report of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water with an Executive Summary, images and other resources, are available in full at https://tinyurl.com/nhda49xx/

An animated explanation of the report’s key messages will be available Wednesday Oct. 9 at www.tempeconomicsofwater.com

Contacts: Will Yeates, +44-7582-711870; Media@watercommission.org;

Denise Young, +33-6-5115-1952, younglld@gmail.com

Terry Collins, +1-416-878-8712; tc@tca.tc

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Violence against children worldwide has reached unprecedented levels: UN

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New York, October 11, 2024 – Up to one billion children are vulnerable to various forms of abuses – from armed conflicts and forced displacement to poverty – while measures to protect them have remained inadequate due to the current global crises, said a UN report on the violence against children.

“Millions and millions of children are left behind,” the report said. “The world is facing an unprecedented child rights crisis. Violence against children in all its forms and in all settings continues to increase worldwide.”

The report said wars, climate change and environmental degradation, food insecurity, poverty and social disparities have reached such levels that “we are witnessing an unprecedented level of displacement of children. Protecting the rights of children on the move in times of crisis is needed more than ever.”

The UN set up 15 years ago the mandate of a special representative of the UN Secretary-General to revamp and revitalize efforts to end violence against all children. The goal of providing education to all children and ending poverty for all is part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that should reach their targets by 2030. But recent assessments on SDG achievements showed that they are falling far behind their deadline.

Najat Maalla M’Jid, the special representative the UN Secretary-General on violence against children, said in the report that six years remain to honor the promise made to end all forms of violence against children.

“The question to be asked is therefore: is it a vain promise or is it still achievable? “, she said. “We owe it to all children to keep the promise. It is possible if we move from reiterating commitments and pledges to concrete, integrated and sustainable actions for and with children, leaving no one behind.”

The report said an estimated 1 in 6 children globally live in extreme poverty, which is a “powerful driver of violence,” including child labor, child marriage, child trafficking, children living in street situations, child sexual exploitation and the recruitment of children into criminal, armed and violent extremist groups.

It cited an estimate by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that 1 billion children are at extremely high risk of being affected by the climate crisis and around 1.5 billion children under the age of 15 have no access to social protection, and progress on coverage has stalled worldwide since 2016.

The report said that children are on the move all over the world “on an unprecedented scale,” citing the World Migration Report 2022 published by the International Organization on Migration, which estimated the number of international migrants at 281 million,14.6 percent of whom were children.

It said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that 110 million people had been forcibly displaced around the world, of whom 43.3 million were children, in June 2023. The report said conflicts and violence remain key factors for the displacement more than 25 million children at the end of 2022. UNHCR said also that forced displacement in the first half of 2023 were the results of conflicts in Ukraine, the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar. Other displacements resulted from a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia; and a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

While the report of the special representative is being published, UNICEF, whose staff like many other UN personnel, are currently providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, said the year-old war “is taking a catastrophic toll on children.”

UNICEF said more than 14,000 children have reportedly been killed, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health while thousands more have been injured. “There are no safe spaces. All of Gaza’s children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime,” it said.

UNICEF said about 1.9 million people, out of the total population of 2.3 million, are internally displaced with half of them children. Those displaced do not have enough access to water, food, fuel and medicine and their homes were destroyed and families torn apart. “Many children have been displaced multiple times, and have lost homes, parents and loved ones. They need to be protected, along with the remaining services that they rely on, including medical facilities and shelter,” UNICEF said.

“Gaza’s children have endured unimaginable horrors – they deserve an immediate ceasefire and a chance for a peaceful future,” UNICEF said. The UN agency called for an immediate and long-lasting humanitarian ceasefire for the sake of children in Israel as well as the State of Palestine. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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One Year of Unimaginable Suffering Since the 7 October Attack

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New York/Geneva, 7 October 2024 – It has been a year of unimaginable suffering, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today as it marked one year since Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched the deadliest attack in Israel’s history – a horrific event that foreshadowed the devastation brought on by the Israeli response.

The toll is staggering: According to Israeli sources, more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed, including children, and nearly 5,500 have been injured.

Scores of hostages remain in Gaza, reportedly subjected to inhuman treatment, including sexual violence, exposed to hostilities and denied access to humanitarian assistance or visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Entire Israeli communities have been displaced, living under the constant threat of indiscriminate rocket fire.

In Gaza, where Palestinians have already been reeling from the impact of a 17-year-old air, sea and land blockade and repeated cycles of hostilities, Israeli military operations have resulted in a catastrophe. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 41,600 Palestinians have reportedly been killed, many of them women and children, and 96,600 injured. Thousands more are missing and believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many of them multiple times, with no safe place to go.

Thousands of Palestinians are arbitrarily detained, reportedly subjected to torture and other inhuman treatment and with no information on their whereabouts.

Civilians face extreme deprivation, with limited or no access to health care, food, electricity or humanitarian aid. Children have missed out on an entire year of education. Schools sheltering displaced families have been repeatedly shelled, health-care workers and hospitals have been systematically attacked, and aid convoys have been continually blocked and even shot at.

In the West Bank, the use of lethal force by Israeli forces, along with rampant settler violence and house demolitions, have led to a sharp rise in fatalities, widespread destruction and forced displacement.

“No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place,” said Joyce Msuya, the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “But we know what must happen: The hostages must be released and treated humanely. Civilians must be protected and their essential needs met. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released. Humanitarian workers must be safeguarded and their work facilitated. Perpetrators must be held accountable for any serious violations of international humanitarian law. And the assault on Gaza must stop.”

The past year has seen Israel blocking humanitarian access into and within Gaza, crippling aid operations. As a result, a weakened population is left to battle disease, hunger and death.

More than 300 aid workers, the vast majority from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have been killed in Gaza – more than in any other single crisis, making Gaza the most dangerous place for aid workers.

Despite the immense risks – including violence, looting of supplies, and access challenges – humanitarian agencies continue to deliver aid when and where they can. More than 560,000 children were vaccinated against polio during the first phase of an emergency vaccination campaign – an example of what can be achieved when aid workers can reach people in need. But such examples are few.

“It has been 12 months of unrelenting tragedy – this must end,” said Ms. Msuya. “Member States must wield their influence to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice. They must also work to end impunity. An immediate ceasefire and durable peace are long overdue.”

For further information, please contact:

In New York, Eri Kaneko, kaneko@un.org, +1 917 208 8910

In Geneva, Jens Laerke, laerke@un.org, +41 79 472 9750

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Nobel Peace Prize 2024 finalists include the ICJ, UN agencies

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Oslo, October 3, 2024 – The Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Henrik Urdal, announced his updated list today for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, with election observers topping the list.

The 2024 list comprises of:

OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms
UNRWA and Philippe Lazzarini
International Court of Justice
UNESCO and the Council of Europe

“Democracy is on the ballot this year as more than half the world’s population live in a country heading to the polls, albeit not exclusively in democracies,” said Henrik Urdal. “Research shows that democratic states are more peaceful and stable. As elections are a cornerstone of democracy, election observers play a pivotal role in shaping perceptions about the legitimacy of electoral processes. A Nobel Peace Prize awarded to election observers sends a strong message about the importance of free and fair elections, and their role in peace and stability.”

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Arnaud Siad, Communication Adviser, communication@prio.org.

Each year, PRIO’s Director presents his own list for the Nobel Peace Prize. He offers his opinion on the most worthy potential laureates, based on his independent assessment. The PRIO Director’s view on potential and worthy Nobel Peace Prize laureates is widely recognized and has been offered since 2002. Henrik Urdal presents his seventh list here since taking up the position of director in 2017. Urdal has no association with the Nobel Institute or the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 will be announced at 11:00 CET, on Friday 11 October.

More information on each of the listed candidates:
The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
2024 is set to be a historical election year. Record numbers of people across the world are heading to the ballot box. Against this backdrop, democracy is under pressure in Europe and globally, due to the rise of illiberal movements and authoritarian regimes. More of the world’s people are living in autocracies today than only a decade ago, and the number of countries democratizing is falling, according to democracy research from V-Dem. Upholding the pillars of democracy is more important than ever before.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) within the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observes elections throughout its 57 participating states. It also provides technical assistance to improve the legislative and administrative framework for elections in specific countries. ODIHR’s work to ensure that elections are free and fair would make it a timely recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Other notable candidates worthy of the prize based on their contribution to strengthening democracy through elections include The Carter Centre who has observed 115 elections in over 40 countries, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who fights voter suppression in the United States.

Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms
The armed conflict that erupted in Sudan in April 2023 has plunged the country into one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Over 10 million people are displaced within the country, and another 2 million have fled to neighbouring states. The international system has struggled to meet overwhelming humanitarian needs, prompting community-led, volunteer aid networks in Sudan to step in and provide lifesaving services to millions of women, men and children. One notable initiative is the Emergency Response Rooms, which offer medical care and other services to those affected by the conflict.

Operating in a decentralized manner, these groups deliver essential humanitarian assistance in a highly complex conflict environment, with limited access to communities, resources and infrastructure. Volunteers often operate in insecure areas, facing threats of harassment and violence.

As 2024 marks the 75^th anniversary of the revised Geneva Conventions, which were developed to protect civilians during war, awarding this year’s Peace Prize to a deserving humanitarian initiative such as the Emergency Response Rooms would highlight the critical importance of access to lifesaving aid in times of conflict.

UNRWA and Philippe Lazzarini
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near Eas t (UNRWA) was established in 1949 to provide aid, education and protection for Palestine refugees until a political solution was found. Today, its staff of over 30,000 people serve nearly 6 million Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and neighbouring countries. Nearly the entire Gazan population depends on UNRWA for basic assistance, including food and water.

The UN agency has faced a massive funding crisis for years, which has been exasperated by the war itself, and increasingly by the impact of US withdrawing funding following allegations by Israel that 12 participants of the 7 October attacks were Hamas militants, employed by UNRWA. The UN agency took the allegations seriously, by launching both an internal investigation and an external review of its procedures. UNRWA has extensive control mechanisms in place, with a zero tolerance, but not zero risk policy. They therefore terminated the employment of individuals where there was any indication that they might have had ties to militant groups. Throughout the war UNRWA itself has been heavily targeted by Israeli attacks, and by the end of September, 224 of its staff had been killed in Gaza, and 190 UNRWA installations had been damaged.

UNRWA’s operation is absolutely fundamental to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. A Nobel Peace Prize to the agency and its Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini would send a strong message about its role in supporting the lives of millions of Palestinian women, men and children.

International Court of Justice
Mechanisms for peaceful resolution of conflicts between states are particularly important to maintain and support peace in an increasingly polarized world. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) promotes peace through international law, akin to promoting peace congresses, another achievement highlighted in Alfred Nobel’s will. The ICJ would be a worthy recipient of the 2024 Peace Prize should the Nobel Committee wish to recognize the importance of multilateral collaboration for peaceful relations.

The ICJ was established in 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations to settle legal disputes between states and advise on legal questions within the UN. With all 193 UN Member States party to the ICJ Statute, the Court has become a globally accepted multilateral mechanism for dispute resolution. While a Nobel Peace Prize to the ICJ would largely be seen as uncontroversial, the Court acted boldly in January this year ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip. In addition, it acted early in March 2022 by ordering Russia to ‘immediately suspend the military operations’ in Ukraine.

Other deserving candidates for a prize focused on peace through international law are the International Criminal Court, or regional bodies such as the European Court for Human Rights or the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

UNESCO and the Council of Europe
Educational institutions are integral to the development of tolerant, inclusive and democratic societies. One particularly important area is the way that history is being taught. Emphasizing multiple and diverse perspectives in history teaching is crucial for developing an understanding and acceptance of other groups and societies than our own, and contributing to counter false and chauvinist narratives.

The UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has been a pioneer in developing and promoting ‘multiperspectivity’ in history teaching. UNESCO emphasizes the importance of understanding history in a global context as well as developing regional, complimentary perspectives. By providing guidance and support to history textbook authors, and working to establish universal norms for history teaching, UNESCO promotes education as a tool for peaceful development.

Similarly, the Council of Europe works to support history teaching as a way to support critical thinking and strengthen democratic participation and practice. Emphasizing the importance of building historical knowledge through well-established scientific norms, the Council of Europe supports a number of scientific initiatives as well as political processes. A Nobel Peace Prize for the promotion of peace through history education would resonate well with Alfred Nobel’s call for ‘fraternity between nations’.

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China supports reform of international institutions, increase role of developing countries

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New York, September 28, 2024 – China called for strengthening the role of the United Nations by next year as the world, as well as the international organization itself, will celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the of the end of World War II.

The UN was founded when its Charter, or Constitution, entered into force on October 24, 1945. Diplomats gathered at the San Francisco Conference in the spring of 1945 as the war as ending and created the UN for the purpose of saving “succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in his address to the 79^th UN General Assembly session at UN headquarters that the UN should “respond to the legitimate calls” of developing countries and increase the representation and voice of those in the Global South.

“China stands ready to work with all countries to renew the founding purposes and mission of the UN, reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the UN Charter, advocate and practice true multilateralism, build a community with a shared future for mankind, and jointly usher in a better world,” Wang said.

Pointing to the current geopolitical crises and climate change severely affecting the world, Wang said demands by developing countries have become stronger.

“The aspirations of the Global South nations for modernization have never been stronger,” said, referring to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.

He called for “a new type of international relations characterized by mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation. In today’s world, the security of all countries is intertwined and no one can enjoy security alone.”

“Achieving modernization is the legitimate right of the people of all countries, not a prerogative of a few,” he said.

Wang said China has joined Brazil and some other countries in the Global South to launch a Group of Friends for Peace to deal with the current world situation. “It’s very purpose is to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build consensus for a political settlement of the crisis and contribute to a prospect of peace,” he said, calling the question of Palestine is the “biggest wound to the human conscience” and the war in Gaza is causing more casualties with each passing day.

“But might cannot replace justice. Palestine’s long held aspiration to establish an independent state should not be shunned anymore, and the historical injustice suffered by the Palestinian people should not be ignored anymore.”

Turning to the situation in Asia, the foreign minister said the Korean Peninsula should prevent another war. “Asia has the wisdom and capability to stabilize the situation,” he said, noting that China has never opted to be an indifferent spectator. (By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Pointing to the current geopolitical crises and climate change severely affecting the world, Wang said demands by developing countries have become stronger.

“The aspirations of the Global South nations for modernization have never been stronger,” said, referring to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.

“Achieving modernization is the legitimate right of the people of all countries, not a prerogative of a few,” he said.

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Update: Israeli leader defends military action in Gaza, Lebanon; UN condems war in Gaza

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New York, September 27, 2024 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address to the UN General Assembly that his country has the right to wage war against its enemies. Dozens of diplomats walked out of the assembly hall just before he spoke.

“I didn’t intend to come here this year,” Netanyahu told the assembly with rows of empty seats. “My country is at war fighting for its life. But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight.”

“I decided to come here to speak for my people, to speak for my country and speak for the truth,” he said, adding that Israel also wants peace.

New York police said large demonstrations near the UN Headquarters were held to protest the war in the Middle East and the Israeli prime minister on the eve of his UN address. Police said protesters were met by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters near Grand Central Thursday evening and multiple arrests were made.

“We face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against these savage murderers, [who] seek not only to destroy us but also destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror,” Netanyahu said.

He warned Iran: “If you strike us, we will strike you. For too long, the world has appeased Iran. That appeasement must end.”

Netanyahu showed two maps of the Middle East region, one carries the word “blessing” and the other “curse,” and said that his country is still facing the same choice that Moses predicted thousands of years ago, “that our actions will determine whether we bequeath future generations a blessing or a curse.”

He showed the map with “curse” saying that it is the choice Israel is facing today, which is “the curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew.” He said “blessing” represented normalization efforts between Saudi Arabia and Israel while “curse” was the attacks launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu said his country will continue to fight Hezbollah. “Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their home safely. And that’s exactly what we’re doing … we’ll continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met/

“Just imagine if terrorists turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns. How long would the American government tolerate that?” he said. “Yet Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say: Enough is enough.”

UN Security Council meeting on Gaza – The council held a meeting on the nearly one year-old war in Gaza. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN has condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and also condemned the “relentless” Israeli bombardment and hostilities have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza – including many women and children.

“Countless others have been injured, maimed, and traumatized for life.The speed and scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza are unlike anything in my years as Secretary-General.,” he said. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Over the past year, virtually the entire population of Gaza has been displaced – many of them several times – with nowhere safe to go. Half of the homeless are children.”

Guterres said Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian activities and the humanitarian system is “hanging by a threat.” He said 225 UN humanitarian workers have been killed in the war, many of them with their families.

“I urge the Israeli authorities to do everything in their power to end attacks on UN personnel and property; to stop spreading disinformation against UN officials and entities; and to speed up the approval of visas and procurement requests,” he said. “All parties must abide by their obligations to protect humanitarian personnel and ensure that civilian sites are not used for military purposes.”

The UN said more than 1,000 people were killed in Israel by the Hamas attacks and 250 taken hostage on October 7. The Israeli military response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and about 80 per cent of its 2.3 million people in Gaza have been displaced while only a fraction of the humanitarian aid needed has reached them.(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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Ukraine’s leader says UN is powerless to stop war in his country

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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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UN warns of powder keg that may engulf the world, demands government leaders to act

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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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