[AfricaRealities.com] Fwd: UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST - 23 July

 

UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
23 July, 2015
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LIBYA: UN MISSION CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE AS FRESH VIOLENCE ERUPTS ACROSS COUNTRY'S SOUTHERN REGION

Deeply concerned by escalating violence in southern Libya, the United Nations Support Mission in crisis-torn country, today called for an immediate ceasefire amid fighting that has claimed dozens of lives in recent weeks and is a "further reminder of the chaos engulfing Libya and the need for the main…actors to move quickly to reach a political settlement."

In a press statement, the UN Support Mission, known as UNSMIL, expressed deep concern about the renewed clashes in southern Libya, particularly in the cities of Sabha, al-Kufra and Awbari, and called for an immediate end to the violence.

Reports indicate that the recent fighting in Sabha has resulted in scores of people killed, including three women and four children. The repeated clashes in the area have also forced hundreds of families to flee their homes and seek refuge with other communities, the Mission stated.

"UNSMIL calls for an immediate ceasefire and supports all local and national efforts for peace and reconciliation. The Mission also urges the sides involved in the confrontations to exercise maximum restraint, listen to the voice of wisdom and engage in talks to address their differences by political means," said the statement.

The Mission went on to remind all sides to the conflict that attacks against civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes.

"The escalation in fighting in the south, along with a sharp rise in criminal activities in Sabha which have claimed the lives of more than 60 people in recent weeks, are further reminders of the chaos engulfing Libya and the need for the main Libyan actors to move quickly to reach a political settlement that would restore state authority and ensure security and stability to their country." UNSMIL concluded.

Late last week, the UN Security Council welcomed the initialling of the Libyan political agreement in Skhirat, Morocco, on 11 July, as the latest step towards resolving the country's political crisis.

The agreement's initialling is the result of ongoing UN-facilitated consultations between various Libyan parties and comes amid sporadic fighting across the North African country.

"The members of the Security Council recognized the political will and courage demonstrated by those who initialled this draft agreement, which seeks to resolve Libya's institutional and security crises," the 15-member Council declared in a statement issued late this afternoon.

"The members of the Security Council called on all parties to engage with the Libyan political dialogue and unite in support of this agreement which will move the political transition process forward, through the formation of a Government of National Accord."

The fighting in Libya has sparked a growing displacement crisis within the country with the number of people displaced almost doubling from an estimated 230,000 last September to more than 434,000, the UN's refugee agency recently reported.


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'SANCTITY OF LIFE PARAMOUNT,' UN RELIEF CHIEF SAYS IN SOUTH SUDAN, SPOTLIGHTING NEED TO PROTECT CIVILIANS

Mid-way through a four-day visit to assess the humanitarian situation in South Sudan, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator reviewed aid operations in the warn-torn country today, stressing that "everything" should be done to protect civilians from violence.

"It is very important that we carry a message that the one thing that matters above all else is that the sanctity of life should be paramount and that we should be doing everything we can to protect civilians, innocent civilians from the terrible risk and the fear of death from all the violence that is taking place," said Stephen O'Brien, who is also the UN Under Secretary-General for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In the South Sudanese capital of Juba, he met with President Salva Kiir to discuss the humanitarian crisis, expressing the need for violence to stop for the sake of the people and the future of the country.

Yesterday, the Under Secretary-General visited a UN civilian protection site in Juba, where some 20,000 people are sheltered, some for up to 19 months. There, he spoke with a group of women living in the UN protection site who shared stories of their suffering.

Tomorrow, Mr. O'Brien is scheduled to visit Unity state, one of the areas hardest hit by the conflict.

The security situation in South Sudan has deteriorated steadily over the past year since political in-fighting between President Kiir and his former Vice-President, Riek Machar, and their respective factions erupted in December 2013. The hostilities subsequently turned into a full-fledged conflict, resulting in reported atrocities and possible war crimes.

According to the latest estimates released by the UN refugee agency, more than 730,000 people have fled into neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, which has seen the highest arrival rate this year. Meanwhile, another 1.5 million remain internally displaced, often relocated to increasingly overcrowded 'protection-of-civilians' sites run by the UN Mission in South Sudan, also known as UNMISS.

Just two weeks ago, the UN Security Council marked the fourth anniversary of South Sudan's independence by expressing profound disappointment in South Sudan's leaders for putting their personal ambitions ahead of the good of their country and their people, sparking months of politically motivated violence that has left thousands dead and caused a "man-made…catastrophe."


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DECISIVE ACTION BY ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS CAN DISPEL VIEW THAT PEACE PROCESS IS 'ON LIFE SUPPORT,' – UN ENVOY

Welcoming the recent stated commitment by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to a peaceful solution to the region's most enduring crisis, the United Nations special envoy on the Middle East told the Security Council today that such words need to be translated into "concrete and sustained actions on the ground."

"Now is the time to act decisively to reverse the growing perception that the two-state solution is on life-support, slowly dying a death 'by a thousand cuts,'" warned Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, while briefing the Security Council about the situation in the region over the past month.

Measures undertaken to improve the situation must not be considered an end unto themselves but part of a broader political framework with the goal of achieving a final status agreement, which will require committed engagement with key Arab states, including through the Arab Peace Initiative he insisted.

"Given the region's massive transformation, it is imperative – perhaps more than ever before – that a permanent settlement be found, based on the concept of two states, Israel and a sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestine, living side by side in peace, security and mutual recognition," Mr. Mladenov insisted.

But today, he said, the two sides are further apart from that goal "than ever." Support for the two-state solution among both Palestinians and Israelis is fading away, while the current situation on the ground is not sustainable.

Although he welcomed the recent decision by Israel to add 8,000 new work permits for Palestinians from the West Bank, the Special Coordinator deplored unilateral activities there, including settlement construction, so-called legalization of outposts, demolitions and evictions.

"While settlement expansion has slowed of late, planning for related infrastructure has not ceased. I am concerned by reports about the imminent approval of new residential units in the occupied West Bank," he mentioned, urging the Israeli authorities to reconsider this action.

He also called on all Palestinian groups to avoid "in-fighting" and find common ground, on the basis of non-violence and reconciliation, to achieve national unity which is critical for a two-state solution.

Noting that July 8th marked the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas, Mr. Mladenov said Gaza's "painstaking emergence" from it is undermining belief among the population that genuine progress can be achieved.

In addition, he emphasized, activities of Salafi jihadists and other extremist groups are a cause for concern not only in Gaza, but also in neighboring Sinai, where there are reports of their active support of militants on the Egyptian side of the border.

"On 18 July, six cars were blown up in Gaza city. Palestinian Salafi militants launched a rocket at Israel on 16 July, which exploded in an open area near Ashkelon. In response, Israel conducted four airstrikes against militant infrastructure targets in Gaza. Militants also fired a rocket from the Sinai on 3 July, which landed in Israel close to the Egyptian border, highlighting the potential for violence in the Sinai to expand beyond its borders."

Nonetheless, the Special Coordinator welcomed an agreement, concluded by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on a new mechanism to allow Palestinians in Gaza access to construction material for the reconstruction of fully destroyed homes and for new construction.

"In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while the frequency of security incidents decreased compared to last month, the situation remained tense," the Special Coordinator continued.

Israeli security forces conducted some 186 search-and-arrest operations, resulting in the arrest of some 300 Palestinians. Meanwhile Palestinian security forces also arrested over 100 people in the West Bank, he reported, expressing concerns about the situation of Palestinian prisoners.

"In total, 50 Palestinians were injured, and four were shot and killed by Israeli security forces, including two at checkpoints near Nablus and Ramallah. Two members of the Israeli security forces were stabbed and injured, one seriously."

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli civilians in the West Bank also continued, resulting in the death of one Israeli and injury to eight Israelis and nine Palestinians, including one child, he underlined.

Against this backdrop, intra-Palestinian talks to form a national unity government have faltered, as the Palestinian Authority faces significant financial challenges, "including a 2015 budget deficit of some $500 million."

Briefing about the situation in Lebanon, Mr. Mladenov explained that the Presidential vacuum and the political differences in the country were preventing the effective functioning of state institutions, despite Prime Minister Tammam Salam's efforts to run government.

The situation along the Lebanese border with Syria has remained stable, he observed, with the Lebanese Armed Forces continuing their operations to prevent the infiltration of armed extremist groups from Syria. In the south, the situation along the blue line has remained generally calm, despite almost daily Israeli overflights over Lebanese territory, Mr. Mladenov said.


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SYRIA: BREAD PRICES UP NEARLY 90 PER CENT, PUSHING MORE PEOPLE INTO HUNGER, UN REPORT WARNS

Syria's food production in 2015 remains at 40 per cent below its pre-crisis levels, impacting the price of bread, which has spiralled by 87 per cent, and shrinking poultry production by half, according to a United Nations agency report released today that warns that "the risk of irreversible damage to the children is real, with tragic future consequences."

"The evidence is clear: almost five years of conflict have destroyed the Syrian economy and the people's ability to buy essentials like the food they need to survive," said Arif Husain, chief economist of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said in their special joint report based on a crop and food security assessment mission to Syria that the 2015 wheat crop is expected to be better than the 2014 drought stricken harvest, but is still 40 per cent lower than pre-conflict production levels and "will not lead to significant improvements in the overall household food security situation."

Some 9.8 million people in Syria are food insecure, with 6.8 million of these "severely" food insecure – a level of need that requires external food assistance, according to the report, which noted that since January this year alone, more than half a million people have been displaced.

"Although Syria's current harvest is better than expected due to abundant rains, the country's agriculture sector remains decimated by the conflict. Urgent donor support is needed to ensure farmers can meet the upcoming cereal planting season, beginning in October," said Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO's Emergency and Rehabilitation Division.

The report said agricultural production continues to be impeded by shortages of fuel, farm labour and agricultural inputs, including seeds and fertilizers; high input costs and unreliable quality; as well as damages to irrigation systems and farming equipment.

Livestock production is also gravely affected by the conflict, the agencies said.

"The sector, once a major contributor to Syria's domestic economy and to its external trade, has seen reductions of 30 per cent in cattle and 40 per cent in sheep and goats, while poultry, usually the most affordable source of protein in people's diets has shrunk by 50 per cent," according to the report. "The report also noted that the country's veterinary service is rapidly running out of vaccines and routine drugs."

And after being relatively stable in 2014, food prices began increasing sharply in early 2015 in the wake of lower government subsidies and exchange rate depreciation, the report noted.

"Critically, the price of bread has spiralled in the past year, increasing by up to 87 per cent in public bakeries," it said.

The report said families were found to be spending more than half of their incomes on food and in some places such as Sweida, Aleppo and Hama this share is higher and has jumped to almost 80 per cent in Dara'a, one of the areas which have witnessed some of the most intensive fighting.

While an end to the conflict remains the main precondition for ensuring that people in Syria have adequate access to food, the FAO-WFP report recommends that in order to strengthen the resilience of affected communities, the establishment of village-based private seed production and distribution centres, promoting backyard vegetable and poultry production through distribution of improved seeds and chicks, as well as providing livestock vaccines and veterinary drugs.

"We worry about the continued displacement and its impact particularly on women and children," said the WFP economist, Mr. Husain. "The risk of irreversible damage to the children is real, with tragic future consequences if this conflict lasts much longer."


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BURUNDI: AFTER 'BROADLY PEACEFUL' POLLS BAN URGES PARTIES TO RESUME INCLUSIVE POLITICAL DIALOGUE

Taking note of the "broadly peaceful" conduct of polling in the Burundian presidential elections on 21 July, the top United Nations official today called on all parties to continue to remain calm and immediately resume an inclusive political dialogue.

"Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on the Burundian parties to engage in good faith in the political dialogue putting Burundi's national interests first and fully determined to implement the relevant outstanding provisions of the 6 July East African Community (EAC) summit outcome document," reads a statement issued by the UN Spokesperson.

Among other things, the said document stipulates that "whoever wins the presidential elections in Burundi should form a government of national unity involving those who participated in elections and those who did not."

The Secretary-General, adds the UN Spokesperson, reminds the Burundian authorities of their responsibility to guarantee and protect the safety and security of the civilian population and ensure an end to further acts of violence, as well as accountability for any human rights violations committed.

"In this regard, the Secretary-General welcomes the deployment of AU human rights observers and military experts aimed at helping prevent an escalation of violence and facilitating a peaceful resolution of the serious political crisis affecting Burundi."

Civil unrest erupted on 26 April in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital, after the ruling Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) party elected President Pierre Nkurunziza on 25 April as its candidate for the then-scheduled 26 June presidential election. It was postponed to July 15, then July 21.

Mr. Nkurunziza has been in office for two terms since 2005, and a broad array of actors warned that an attempt to seek a third term was unconstitutional and contrary to the spirit of the 2000 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi that ended a decade of civil war in the country.

The mounting violence across Burundi has also provoked a widespread humanitarian crisis as refugees have spilled across the country's borders and fanned throughout the region. Indeed, by mid-July, more than 145,000 people had already fled to neighbouring countries.


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UN HEALTH AGENCY TO MARK WORLD HEPATITIS DAY WITH PILOT INITIATIVE TO CURB UNSAFE INJECTIONS

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that it will commemorate the fifth World Hepatitis Day next week with a global ?injection safety initiative campaign in three pilot countries together with the foundation arm of IKEA to combat the "silent epidemic" that kills more than 1.4 million each year.

"Egypt, Uganda and India are three of the flagship countries that will be taking on the first steps on this campaign," Dr Edward Kelley, WHO's Director of Service Delivery and Safety told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The global campaign is designed to raise public awareness for safe injections to combat Hepatitis B and C, ministry engagement for national plans to deal with the infections and to engage the private sector, including the syringe manufacturing community, Dr. Kelley said.

He also noted that the most frequent medical procedure in the world today is administering of injections, "about 16 billion a year and the rate of unsafe injections of those 16 billion – the estimate is up to 40 per cent."

At the press conference devoted to World Hepatitis Day, which falls on July 28 – the birthday of the American scientist Baruch Blumberg who is associated with his work on the hepatitis B – the UN health agency highlighted the urgent need for countries to urgently enhance action to prevent viral hepatitis infection and to ensure that people who have been infected are diagnosed and offered treatment.

"We call hepatitis the 'silent epidemic,'" said Dr. Stefan Wiktor, team leader of WHO's Global Hepatitis Programme. "It's really underappreciated – it's level of importance as a cause of death and disease."

"We estimate about 1.4 to 1.5 million deaths every year from all the various types of hepatitis. That put it about the seventh leading cause of death," he said. WHO's flagship event next week takes place in Egypt, a country the health agency says has one of the world's highest hepatitis burdens.

"It is estimated that 10 per cent of the ?population between 15 and ??59 years is chronically ?infected with hepatitis C," WHO said in a fact sheet. It adds that between 2007 and 2014, more than 350,000 people with hepatitis C have been treated. Since the introduction of newer, more effective medicines in 2014, the number of people being treated continues to increase.

WHO emphasizes the need for all health services to reduce risks by using only sterile equipment for injections and other medical procedures, to test all donated blood and blood components for hepatitis B and C and to promote the use of the hepatitis B vaccine. Safer sex practices, including minimizing the number of partners and using barrier protective measures (condoms), also protect against transmission.

The WHO officials also noted that the prices of medicines have come down considerably in developing countries where generic drug manufacturers being able to produce the drugs at lower costs but that the challenge remained in middle-income countries such as Russia, China and Ukraine where pharmaceutical companies were trying to make a profit by negotiating country by country.

Both officials also stressed the importance of treating hepatitis "comprehensively."

"We have to push prevention and we have to push treatment," Dr. Wiktor said. "What we are really promoting is that countries address hepatitis comprehensively."

Dr. Wiktor announced that in September this year, countries will have the opportunity to share best practice at the first-ever World Hepatitis Summit to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

The summit, which is co-sponsored by WHO and the World Hepatitis Alliance, aims to raise the global profile of viral hepatitis, to create a platform for exchange of country experiences and to focus on working with countries to develop national action plans.


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IN DAMASCUS, UN SPECIAL ENVOY MEETS SENIOR SYRIAN OFFICIALS ON POLITICAL SOLUTION TO CRISIS

Wrapping up his tour of the region, the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura visited Damascus today, where he met with senior Government officials on ways to maintain momentum towards a political solution to the crisis in the country, which is entering its fifth year.

A statement issued by his spokesperson in Geneva explained that while in the Syrian capital, Mr. de Mistura discussed with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem and Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad the preliminary findings of the mist recent round of UN-facilitated Geneva consultations and the preparations for the UN Security Council's debate on the situation in Syria, next Wednesday, 29 July, in New York.

"The meeting was focused on how to maintain a momentum on the search for a political solution to the long-lasting Syrian conflict," said that statement, which added that Mr. de Mistura, having concluded his regional tour, is now planning to return to New York to brief the Secretary-General and, based on this, to prepare for a discussion at the Security Council on the Syrian conflict.

At the end of June, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement marking the third anniversary of the so-called Geneva Communiqué, which was adopted in 2012 after the first international meeting on finding a political solution to the crisis, was since endorsed by the Security Council, and which formed the basis of the most recent consultations being facilitated by Mr. de Mistura.

In that statement, Mr. Ban said the international community should be ashamed that three years since the adoption of the Communiqué, Syria's "cataclysmic conflict" continues unabated, with more than 200,000 people killed and millions more displaced.

"The suffering of the Syrian people continues to plumb new depths," he said, stressing that country is "on the brink of falling apart…putting at risk what is already one of the most unstable regions in the world."

The Geneva Communiqué lays out key steps in a process to end the violence. Among others, it calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, with full executive powers and made up by members of the present Government and the opposition and other groups, as part of agreed principles and guidelines for a Syrian-led political transition.


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UN RIGHTS EXPERTS ON THE USE OF MERCENARIES WEIGH 'INCREASING ACTIVITY' OF FOREIGN FIGHTERS

The United Nations expert group on the use of mercenaries today convened a discussion at UN Headquarters in New York to address the issue of the increasing activity of foreign fighters – particularly towards understanding their motivations – and its impact on human rights.

"The panel [discussion] allowed us to build on the knowledge we have been gaining about this growing and critical concern over the last months, benefitting from the work of other experts, said Elzbieta Karska, who currently heads the Geneva-based expert body, formally known as the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination.

"We also hope to take away concrete recommendations for countering the negative impact of foreign fighters on human rights," he added during a press conference she gave with Mr. Gabor Rona, also a member of the Group.

"We are particularly interested in understanding the motivations of foreign fighters and how these may link to mercenaries, related recruitment practices, as well as the human rights implications of foreign fighters and associated laws and policies," Ms. Karska.

The study by the five-strong expert body has involved so far a mission to Tunisia from 1 to 8 July 2015, two expert meetings, and information gathered through a questionnaire sent to all UN Member States, relevant UN peacekeeping operations and field offices of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

In Tunisia, the experts met with the Ministries of foreign affairs, national defence, interior, justice, women and children, and parliamentary commission, as well as with prosecutors and detainees, and representatives of civil society, associations, and municipal bodies.

Indeed, the number of Tunisian militants flocking to join the hostilities in Syria and Iraq is one of the highest among those traveling to fight alongside extremists in the Middle East's two most dogged conflicts, the Working Group warned on July 10.

In response to a reporter's question, Mr. Gabor Rona said that if voluntary mechanisms like the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers – a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to clarify international standards for the private security industry and improve security companies' oversight and accountability – were "good, but insufficient."

"What we need is a legally binding international instrument," he stressed.

The Working Group was established in July 2005 to monitor mercenaries and mercenary-related activities, as well as study and identify sources and causes, emerging issues, manifestations and trends regarding such activities and their impact on human rights, particularly on the right of peoples to self-determination.


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UN EXPERTS DENOUNCE TELEVISED REPRISALS AGAINST RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN VENEZUELA

In retaliation for their activities in Venezuela and cooperation with United Nations and regional human rights bodies, a group of UN and Inter-American rights experts has underscored their condemnation at attempts by Venezuela's State-controlled television to discredit and intimidate rights activists.

UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, and on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, joined Inter-American human rights experts José de Jesús Orozco, Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, and Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression in deploring "what has become a clear pattern to intimidate and defame human rights defenders for merely promoting human rights in their country and for engaging with international and regional human rights bodies."

In a press release the experts drew attention to what they see as systematic targeting of human rights defenders through a weekly TV programme, Con el Mazo Dando, transmitted by the State network, Venezolana de Televisión. In an apparent aim at intimidation, the host, President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, pitches on-air accusations against rights activists and civil society organisations. The network also publishes personal information on its website.

"It's high time to pull the plug on this shameful and televised harassment of rights activists in Venezuela," the experts declared.

Recalling that United Nations and Inter-American human rights bodies are charged to monitor Venezuela's implementation of its international and regional human rights obligation, the experts point out that the Government is bound to respect and defend the rights activists' participation in those proceedings.

"Any act to thwart such engagement, be it on- or off-air, directly contravenes international human rights law," they stressed.

The experts called on the Venezuelan authorities to immediately cease the targeting of rights activists, saying: "Human rights defenders and civil society organisations must be able to carry out their human rights work and cooperate freely and safely with international and regional human rights mechanisms without fear of intimidation and reprisals."


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