Fwd: UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST - 8 January

UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
8 January, 2016
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UN CHIEF 'DEEPLY CONCERNED' ABOUT INTENSIFICATION OF AIRSTRIKES AND GROUND FIGHTING IN YEMEN

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said he is "deeply concerned" about the intensification of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and ground fighting and shelling in Yemen, despite repeated calls for a renewed cessation of hostilities.

The United Nations recently reported that civilians are suffering a "terrible toll" in the fighting, with casualties now topping 8,100, with nearly 2,800 of them killed.

"The Secretary-General is particularly concerned about reports of intense airstrikes in residential areas and on civilian buildings in Sana'a, including the Chamber of Commerce, a wedding hall and a centre for the blind," a statement issued by Mr. Ban's Spokesperson indicated.

"He also has received troubling reports of the use of cluster munitions in attacks on Sana'a on 6 January in several locations. The use of cluster munitions in populated areas may amount to a war crime due to their indiscriminate nature," it added.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General is reminding all parties of the utmost necessity to respect their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The UN chief is also calling on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to "engage in good faith" with his Special Envoy for Yemen in order to convene a new round of peace talks as soon as possible.

Mr. Ban's concern for civilians in the war-torn nation follows his condemnation yesterday of the Yemeni Government's decision to expel the UN human rights representative, who was accused of being "impartial" in assessing the situation in the country. This was echoed today by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who urged the Government to reverse its decision.


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CALLING STATE OF BESIEGED SYRIAN TOWN 'HORRENDOUS,' UN SEEKS HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

As the United Nations and its partners struggled today to gain humanitarian access to the Government-beseiged Syrian city of Madaya, amid reports of people starving to death or being killed while trying to leave, UN officials called the situation "horrendous…ghastly," and a potential war crime.

They also voiced concern at the "very alarming situation" in two nearby Shiite villages besieged by opposition forces for many months in a country where five years of fighting have killed over 250,000 people, including tens of thousands of children, displaced more than half the population of 17 million, and left 4.5 million people in hard-to-reach areas, 400,000 of them under siege.

Today was the second straight day that the UN has raised the alarm over Madaya, where almost 42,000 people are at risk of starvation.

"The situation in Madaya is ghastly," Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva, noting that Government forces were preventing aid getting into Madaya while opposition forces prevented access to the two nearby villages, making both sides culpable.

Deliberate starvation of civilians amounts to war crimes under the international human rights law and international humanitarian law, he stressed.

At the same briefing, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards said negotiations on a humanitarian convoy to Madaya were continuing but no date had been set. His agency would send in non-food items for 40,000 people.

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Christophe Boulierac, whose agency is also involved in planning the convoy, said half the 42,000 people in the town were children in need of urgent life-saving assistance.

While unable to confirm Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports that six of 23 persons who starved to death in Madaya in December were children, he voiced great concern at the devastating humanitarian situation, particularly the lack of food for children and of basic supplies amid a harsh winter.

The tragic situation of children in Madaya was an example of the dire situation of the 4.5 million people, over two million of them children, living in hard-to-reach and besieged areas, he said.

Yesterday UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Yacoub El Hillo and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator Kevin Kennedy issued a joint statement calling for unimpeded access to people in hard-to-reach and besieged areas, with only 10 per cent of all requests for UN inter-agency convoys to these areas approved and delivered in the past year.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a 53 year-old man reportedly died of starvation on Tuesday while his family of five continues to suffer from severe malnutrition.

Last month, the UN Security Council demanded that all parties, particularly the Government, immediately open routes across conflict lines and borders to let in vital aid.

It also authorized the UN to play an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides to talks for a political transition, endorsing a timetable for a ceasefire, a new constitution and elections, all under UN auspices, and demanded that all parties, particularly the Government, immediately open routes across conflict lines and borders to let in vital aid.


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CHAD: UN PROVIDES EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS DISPLACED BY BOKO HARAM VIOLENCE

With nearly 200,000 people in Chad in need of urgent aid – 50,000 of them uprooted by Boko Haram terrorists from Nigeria – the United Nations emergency fund today announced a $7 million grant, the second in five months, and called on international donors to provide much more.

"This funding is crucial, because in spite of all the efforts made by humanitarian actors since the beginning of the year 2015, the situation remains of deep concern," UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Chad Director Florent Méhaule said.

"The humanitarian response faces several challenges, including difficulties in accessing the populations in need due to insecurity, as well as a lack of resources," he said.

The funds come from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), set up 10 years ago to provide immediate financing for both sudden-onset and long-festering crises, which in August awarded $21 million to UN partners in Sudan and Chad to sustain basic services and protection for millions of people who have fled Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region.

The new aid will assist over 50,000 Chadians forced by violence and insecurity to flee the islands of Lake Chad over the past six months for refuge in dozens of displaced people's sites, villages and districts in the prefectures of Baga-Sola, Bol, Daboua, Kangalom and Liwa.

In addition, 15,000 Chadian returnees from Nigeria, 14,000 Nigerian refugees and over 700 third-country nationals need urgent aid. The displacements have also affected vulnerable host communities, among whom 112,000 people are in need of assistance.

"Our priority through this CERF funding, is to bring life-saving assistance to the people mostly affected by this crisis: displaced persons, refugees, and vulnerable host populations, whose livelihood activities - fishing, agriculture, and pastoralism - are limited by insecurity," Stephen Tull, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, declared.

With nine CERF-approved projects over the next six months, UN agencies along with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and State services will provide food, protection, health, and education.

The funds will be managed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The situation remains very volatile in the lake region, where over 16,000 newly displaced people, not covered by this CERF allocation, have been identified in the western area due to the latest military operations.

"CERF is the main donor for this crisis," Mr. Tull said. "Considering the severity of the situation, this funding alone will not cover all needs. Broader donor mobilization is essential in order to respond to most urgent needs and also – in medium and long term – to support the development of this region, including access to basic services and the strengthening of livelihoods."


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ORAL CHOLERA VACCINES TO DOUBLE TO 6 MILLION DOES AFTER UN HEALTH AGENCY APPROVES NEW SUPPLIER

Faced with a global shortage of oral cholera vaccines (OCV), the United Nations health agency announced today that supply should double this year to six million doses, with further increases later, after it approved a third producer to fight a disease that kills up to 142,000 people annually.

Last year, Sudan and Haiti asked the UN World Health Organization (WHO) for supplies to conduct pre-emptive vaccination campaigns, but the requests could not be filled because of the global shortfall.

The new producer, a company in the Republic of Korea, was approved under the WHO's pre-qualification programme, which ensures that drugs and vaccines bought by countries and international agencies such as the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) meet acceptable standards of quality, safety and efficacy.

The additional capacity will help reverse a vicious cycle of low demand, low production, high price and inequitable distribution, to a virtuous cycle of increased demand, increased production, reduced price and greater equity of access, WHO said in a news release.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that can kill within hours if left untreated. There are between 1.4 million and 4.3 million cases a year, with up to 142,000 deaths. Cholera is endemic in over 50 countries, but usually only gains international attention during emergencies, such as the outbreak among refugees in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1994 that killed tens of thousands.

Climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon that causes droughts or flood in various parts of the world, may also be contributing to more frequent cholera outbreaks.

OCVs have been used in mass campaigns in emergencies since 1997. But because the disease disproportionately affects poor communities who are often unaware that the vaccines exist, there has historically been little demand for the products. In 2013 the WHO created the world's first stockpile, pledging to buy and use two million doses a year to create demand.

Vaccination requires two doses, meaning the stockpile is sufficient to cover one million people.

Access to OCV has been further improved by a five-year, $115-million commitment from Gavi, the public-private vaccine alliance, to expand availability and use in countries with endemic cholera.

Since the stockpile was created more vaccines have been distributed and used than in the previous 15 years. A total of 21 OCV deployments of about 4 million doses to 11 countries have been used in various contexts: humanitarian crises in Cameroon, Haiti, Iraq, Nepal, South Sudan, and Tanzania; outbreaks in Guinea and Malawi; and endemic hotspots such as Bangladesh and Democratic Republic of the Congo.


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'ALARMING' OUTBREAK OF VIOLENCE IN NEW AREA OF SOUTH SUDAN UPROOTS 15,000, UN REPORTS

Fighting between armed groups and Government soldiers and an apparent breakdown in law and order in South Sudan's Western Equatoria state, with hundreds of houses burned down or looted, has uprooted 15,000 people over the past five weeks, and 500 a day are now pouring into Uganda, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

"Sporadic gunfire is commonplace, and there has also been an increase in crime involving car-jackings, attacks on Government property, looting of civilian homes and sexual assaults reportedly by armed youth," UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva.

"Overall, these are alarming developments for a region of South Sudan that has until now been relatively stable," he added.

The country, which only gained independence in 2009 after breaking away from Sudan, its northern neighbour, was thrown into turmoil when conflict erupted between President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President Riek Machar two years ago, killing thousands, displacing over 2.4 million people, 650,000 of whom fled abroad, and impacting the food security of 4.6 million.

Just last month the Security Council increased the strength of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) by over 1,000 to a ceiling of 15,000 troops and police, citing protection of civilians "by all necessary means" as its top priority after repeated ceasefire violations by both the Government and opposition undermined UN and regional efforts to restore peace and stability.

Mr. Edwards reported that a recent UN mission to Yambio, 300 kilometres west of Juba, the capital, found nearly 200 houses burnt down and several hundred others looted. People have taken refuge in the town centre or moved to nearby villages. UN estimates put those displaced in Western Equatoria's Yambio and Tambura counties at 15,000 since the start of December.

The violence is also driving people to flee hundreds of kilometres to the southeast to neighbouring Uganda where 500 refugees have been registered every day since the beginning of this week – a quadrupling in recent numbers. As well as the violence, refugees cite food insecurity due to failed crops as a reason for their flight.

Last month, UNHCR reported that fighting in Western Equatoria, which until then had been spared much of the violence that has hit other parts of the country, had displaced over 4,000 people into a remote region of north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

As of 6 January, registered new arrivals, most in the Dungu area, had risen to 6,181, some 4,164 of them South Sudan nationals and 2,017 Congolese, who had been living as refugees in South Sudan. The influx there has continued into 2016 but at a much reduced rate, with the Government refugee agency recording 268 in the past week.

The implications for humanitarian access to an estimated 7,400 refugees living in Western Equatoria are very worrying, Mr. Edwards said. UNHCR is in contact with Government authorities regarding the security of those refugees and has agreed on additional UNMISS force protection through increased patrols as well as support to relocate refugees to safer areas.


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YEMEN: UN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES GOVERNMENT TO REVERSE DECISION TO EXPEL ENVOY FROM COUNTRY

The United Nations human rights chief today urged the Government of Yemen to reverse its decision to declare his Representative in the strife-torn country persona non grata [unwelcomed person], saying that it was "unwarranted, counter-productive and damaging to the reputation of the Government and its coalition partners."

"I deeply regret this decision by the Government," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, in a press release.

"My team on the ground has, in my view, been performing well under extremely difficult circumstances," he stated. "The Government's decision appears to be based on a number of misunderstandings, both of what my Office has been saying publicly, and of what the role of the UN is in a conflict situation. I fear it will hamper our work in the future and the statements of the Government could compromise the safety of the remaining national and international staff," he added.

Underlining that the job of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is not to highlight violations committed by one side and ignore those committed by the other, Mr. Zeid said that "to the best of our ability, in a very fluid and dangerous environment, we have tried to monitor and report objectively on the human rights situation in Yemen."

"Unfortunately, both sides have very clearly committed violations, resulting in some 2,800 civilian deaths over the past nine months," he reported. "Our role is to focus on human rights and the protection of civilians, not on the politics."

"As the Secretary-General's spokesman said last night, respect for human rights is absolutely essential for long-term peace and stability. By impeding the United Nations' human rights work, the Government is failing to uphold its obligations," he insisted.

According to OHCHR, in public statements on Thursday, Yemen's Minister of Human Rights gave a variety of reasons for the Government's decision, including an assertion that the Office had not paid enough attention to the situation in Taiz, and that it issued press releases with "incomplete information."

"Part of our job is to try to prevent further violations, and to do so, when security permits, UN human rights officials consistently and impartially engage with all sides to a conflict," Mr. Zeid explained. "It is a mistake to view this as some sort of endorsement of an opposition movement's position at the expense of the Government. We have been operating within a mutually agreed framework," he said.

The top UN human rights official said he is also perplexed by the accusation that OHCHR "has ignored the deplorable situation in Taiz, which has been suffering for many months from a blockade of supply routes by Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis."

"We have addressed the situation in Taiz in numerous public statements, including earlier this week at a press briefing in Geneva," he stressed. "The fact that that briefing and other public statements have also focused on casualties caused by coalition forces, including through the apparent use of cluster submunitions, is a reflection of the unfortunate realities on the ground in Yemen, not a sign of bias."

The High Commissioner noted that the expulsion of his representative is likely to complicate OHCHR's ability to implement a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in September which requested it to provide technical assistance and work with the Government of Yemen in the field of capacity-building and to identify additional areas of assistance to enable Yemen to fulfil its human rights obligations.

The resolution – which was supported by the Government– also specifically requested OHCHR to assist a national independent commission of inquiry in carrying out its work in accordance with international obligations, and the Office is planning to deploy a specially recruited three-person monitoring team within the coming weeks.

"The States who make up the Human Rights Council clearly believe my Office has an essential role to play in ensuring that Yemen's national independent commission of inquiry functions effectively and impartially," Mr. Zeid continued. "Expelling the leader of my existing team in Yemen sends a very negative message indeed, just as we embark on a process that was designed to help Yemen carry out this important inquiry, the outcome of which will be very important for the Government's future credibility," he said.

According to a note to the press issued today by the UN Spokesperson, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, will be traveling to the capital Sana'a soon, after meeting with top Yemeni leaders in Saudi Arabia.


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BAN CONGRATULATES SRI LANKA ON FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF POLITICAL TRANSITION

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the President of Sri Lanka, the Government and its citizens on the first year of the country's political transition.

A statement issued by Mr. Ban's Spokesperson said he is "encouraged by the Government's commitment to a broad reform agenda that aims to realise durable peace, stability and prosperity for the Sri Lankan people."

"The Secretary-General acknowledges the initial steps the Government has taken to strengthen good governance, advance reconciliation and implement the resolution of the Human Rights Council of October 2015," the statement indicated, noting that Mr. Ban urges continued progress in these areas and emphasises the need for inclusive consultation processes to address issues of transitional justice.

"The Secretary-General supports the Government's efforts to advance a nation-wide dialogue to achieve a long-term political settlement acceptable to all. In this regard, he welcomes the Government's announcement to commence constitutional reform. He calls on all stakeholders to cooperate in a spirit of inclusion and good faith," the statement added.

In addition, it highlighted that the UN chief remains committed to supporting Sri Lanka's reform initiatives to secure long-term peace, prosperity and respect for human rights, including through financial support from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, launched in 2006 to support activities that seek to build a lasting peace in countries emerging from conflict.

"[The Secretary-General] also commends Sri Lanka's leadership in working to transform the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals into reality on the ground," the statement concluded, referring to the 17 goals and 169 targets adopted by UN Member States in 2015 to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.


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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TAKES THE HELM AS NEW UN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION CHIEF

Following his appointment by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Robert Glasser, an experienced leader and thinker on development issues, took up his new role this week as head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR).

"This is a very exciting time to be leading UNISDR as it enters a new era marked by the promotion and implementation of the Sendia Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 which seeks substantial reductions in disaster losses including mortality, the numbers of persons affected by disasters, economic losses and damage to critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals," Mr. Glasser said in a press statement.

"Reducing disaster risk is core to the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change," he continued.

"We live in a world where 90 per cent of disasters are now climate-related, so there needs to be significant integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation efforts to ensure that climate change is not seen as a risk driver in isolation from other risk factors such as poverty, rapid urbanisation, non-compliance with building codes, environmental degradation and population expansion in exposed areas such as flood plains and coastal areas."

He succeeds Margareta Wahlström who completed two terms at the end of 2015.


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SECURITY COUNCIL URGES LIBYAN PARTIES TO COME TOGETHER UNDER NEW POLITICAL DEAL TO COMBAT TERRORISTS

Strongly condemned yesterday's terrorist attack on a security training centre in Zliten, Libya, and in the wake of that deadly incident and the recent attacks on the country's oil infrastructure, the United Nations Security Council has urged all Libyan parties to joint together to combat terrorist threats by implementing the recent agreement on a unity government.

In a press statement, the Council expressed its deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and wished a swift recovery to those injured in the incident, which, according to media reports, left nearly 50 people dead and wounded many others yesterday morning when police recruits gathered at the training centre in Zliten, a coastal town between Tripoli and the port of Misrata.

Also condemning the recent attacks on Libya's oil infrastructure by a group that has claimed allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (or ISIL, also known as Da'esh), the Council urged all parties in Libya to join efforts to combat the threat posed by transnational terrorist groups exploiting Libya for their own agenda, by urgently implementing the Libyan Political Agreement.

The Council also urged Libyan parties to work swiftly towards the formation of the Government of National Accord "that will work for the benefit of all Libyans and the finalisation of interim security arrangements necessary for stabilizing Libya."

Underlining the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice, the Council stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions to cooperate actively with all relevant authorities in this regard.

Council members in their statement went on to reaffirm "grave concern" about ISIL, groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIL – which includes foreign terrorist fighters who are in Libya, and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with ISIL and Al-Qaida operating in Libya – and the negative impact of their presence, violent extremist ideology and actions on the country's stability, as well as neighbouring countries and the region, including the devastating humanitarian impact on the civilian populations.

They reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the UN Charter, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

The members of the Security Council stressed the need to take measures to prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, terrorist organisations, and individual terrorists in accordance with resolutions 2199 (2015) and 2253 (2015).


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