Displaying items by tag: United Nations

The UN has announced the delivery of aid to Haiti, which will help hundreds of displaced families due to the ongoing violence and the upcoming hurricane season. A spokesman said, ‘Two cargo flights organised by the World Food Programme (WFP) have landed in Port au Prince, carrying 55 tonnes of medicine, shelter and hygiene materials. The WFP school meals programme has distributed some 30 million meals across the country since the start of the current school year: of these, nearly 17 million have been provided through its programme which supports local farmers. The education sector has been severely impacted by the recent violence, with more than 200,000 children and 4000 teachers affected.’ Haiti’s hurricane season, which lasts from June to November, is forecast to be severe this year. A gang-fuelled crisis has devastated the country, and the UN estimates that currently 360,000 people are displaced.

The USA, South Korea, and Japan are proposing a new multinational panel outside the UN to enforce sanctions against North Korea. Russia rejected renewing the UN panel which has monitored sanctions for fifteen years, and China abstained. The new panel, with support from allies like Australia and New Zealand, would aim to continue the UN’s work. Though lacking UN endorsement, it could monitor North Korea more effectively, and could also oversee human rights resolutions on North Korea. US ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is discussing options with South Korea and Japan. Noting that Moscow and Beijing have called for easing sanctions to restart diplomacy and ease humanitarian suffering in the impoverished nation, he urged them to reverse course, and stop rewarding North Korea's bad behaviour.

A UN-backed report has revealed that Gaza is facing a man-made famine, prompting pressure on Israel to uphold its legal obligations by allowing sufficient humanitarian aid into the region. The UN's human rights chief suggested Israel may be using starvation as a weapon of war - potentially a war crime. Israeli officials deny this accusation, claiming that they are letting in all the aid offered by the US and the rest of the world. However, the huge backlog of aid lorries at the Egypt-Gaza border has forced some nations to use less efficient air drops. Palestinians have struggled to access aid; some have even drowned or been crushed in pursuit of supplies. The US navy plans to construct a temporary pier for sea delivery, highlighting the necessity of better access routes. In another development, on 25 March the UN Security Council voted for an immediate ceasefire; for the first time, the USA abstained rather than vetoing the resolution. See

On 12 December, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. With 153 votes in favour, 10 against (including the United States and Israel), and 23 abstentions (including the UK and Germany), the resolution emphasises the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, provide humanitarian assistance, and seek a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. It also calls for an end to the use of force and the resumption of negotiations. It is reported that the conflict has now led to over 18,600 civilian casualties in the Gaza strip, 70% of them women and children. The vote serves as a strong international call for an end to hostilities and a return to peace talks. On 8 December, an almost identically worded resolution proposed at the UN security council was vetoed by the USA. There is a sense that Joe Biden’s administration is becoming increasingly isolated in its unconditional support of Israel’s actions.

Next week Tearfund staff and campaigners from communities most affected by plastic pollution will be in Paris for the second round of negotiations on a UN global plastics treaty. The talks - known as INC-2 (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee) - will run from 29 May to 2 June and mark a significant moment in a rubbish campaign. Tearfund is asking Christians to pray for the negotiations. Recent research showed that across the world 218 million people (equivalent to the populations of the UK, France and Germany combined) are at risk of flooding made worse by plastic pollution. At the talks, Tearfund will be calling for an ambitious and binding treaty that fully addresses plastic pollution and the impact it has on people living in poverty. It believes every person God created has value and should have the opportunity to live a full life, free of rubbish

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, a major exporter of grain, led to the blocking of all grain shipments until an agreement called the Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed in Istanbul between Ukraine, Russia and the UN. This agreement will expire on 19 November unless renewed. Renewal negotiations were being facilitated by the UN throughout October until the 29th, when a drone attack on Russian naval ships prompted Russia to suspend participation. Talks resumed on 2 November, with hopes to extend the agreement for a year. On 17 November Ukraine’s minister of infrastructure said the initiative would be prolonged, but only for 120 days.

The 77th session of the UN General Assembly opened on 13 September 2022, with a high-level debate running from the 20th to 26th. This year’s theme, ‘A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges’, acknowledges the shared roots of crises such as Covid-19, climate change and conflict, and the need for solutions that build global sustainability and resilience. Like all crises, these have unique and disproportionate impacts on women and girls. From harsher economic fallout to heightened risk of violence, women and girls are suffering in specific ways that require targeted solutions - a need that too often remains unmet. These crises are unfolding against the backdrop of a global backlash on women’s rights, compounding forces that threaten to undo already insufficient progress. Pray for this session to generate more action towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls around the world.

Hunger is stalking the world. In 2017 the UN vowed to eradicate it by 2030. Yet the number of people affected globally reached 828 million last year, and an unprecedented 345 million are currently experiencing acute food insecurity. Since May 2020 there has been a 55% increase in the food price index. The head of the World Food Programme said, ‘We thought it could not get any worse’ - but the Ukraine war has worsened freight and fertiliser costs due to rising fuel prices, and has blocked ports. Ukraine and Russia previously accounted for almost one-third of global wheat exports. Many middle-income countries have spent large parts of their reserves due to the pandemic. Even in wealthier countries, more parents are going hungry to feed their children. In low-income countries rising prices are deadly. Around 2.3 billion people face moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat, which could result in social unrest and political violence.

The world is in a critical hunger situation. The global prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020 was equal to the previous five years combined. Nearly one in three people globally (2.37 billion) did not have enough food in 2020. Moderate or severe food insecurity affects over 30% of the world. Covid-19 had a devastating impact on the global economy, triggering an unprecedented recession not seen since the Second World War, and the food security and nutrition status of millions of people, including children, will deteriorate if we do not take swift action. We can pray for God to inspire united humanitarian and peacebuilding policies in conflict-affected areas that will ease blockages to food distribution and develop avenues of safe transit of all aid. Pray for the UN to intervene in food supply chains so that costs of nutritious foods are lowered.

Al-Qaeda is still "heavily embedded" within the Taliban in Afghanistan, in spite of a historic US-Taliban agreement earlier this year, a senior United Nations official has told the BBC.

Earlier this year, the US signed an agreement with the Taliban committing to withdrawing all American forces from the country by next summer if the Taliban ensured groups including al-Qaeda were not able to use Afghan territory to plot international attacks.

But Edmund Fitton-Brown, co-ordinator of the UN's Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Team, has told the BBC that the Taliban promised al-Qaeda in the run-up to the US agreement that the two groups would remain allies.

"The Taliban were talking regularly and at a high level with al-Qaeda and reassuring them that they would honour their historic ties," Mr Fitton-Brown said.

He said the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban was "not substantively" changed by the deal struck with the US. "Al-Qaeda are heavily embedded with the Taliban and they do a good deal of military action and training action with the Taliban, and that has not changed," he said.

Eliminating the threat from al-Qaeda and overthrowing the Taliban regime that had harboured them was the original basis for the US invasion of Afghanistan, following the 9/11 attacks. At the time, President George W Bush vowed to hunt the militants until there was "no place to run, or hide, or rest".

Al-Qaeda's strength and ability to strike the West has significantly diminished over the past decade, but its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is believed to still be based in Afghanistan along with a number of other senior figures in the group. The Afghan intelligence services announced on Saturday they had killed Husam Abd al-Rauf, a high ranking Egyptian al-Qaeda member, in an operation in Ghazni province. Mr Fitton-Brown told the BBC that despite its lower profile, al-Qaeda remained "resilient" and "dangerous".

How the Taliban's relationship with al-Qaeda develops could determine the future of the Afghan peace process. The Taliban's commitments on international terrorism are the most tangible demands that need to be met as part of the US-Taliban withdrawal agreement. However, the issue is likely to prove divisive, with Taliban hardliners thought to oppose any measures cutting their links with al-Qaeda.

It is feared the Afghan peace process is in any case losing its momentum. Despite the beginning of long delayed negotiations between the Taliban and an Afghan government-led delegation last month in Qatar, violence has continued and even intensified in recent weeks.

The negotiations have stalled amid attempts to resolve preliminary issues, with major issues such as a ceasefire or power-sharing arrangement yet to be discussed. There are fears that if US troops are withdrawn next year, before an agreement has been reached, the violence could intensify and the Taliban push for a military victory.

Mr Fitton-Brown warned that, were the peace process to fall apart, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group could attempt to further exploit "ungoverned space" in Afghanistan.

"Both of those groups have an avowed aspiration to pose an international threat," he said.

More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54711452

Extracts from an email received from a humanitarian organization serving the people of Afghanistan:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

While the Taliban are in Doha now since one month to presumable talk about peace with high officials of the Afghan government, the fighting continues unabated and yesterday the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) reported that 180 civilians have been killed and 375 have been wounded over the last month in a spate of violence across Afghanistan.

Many Afghans were expecting that a cease fire would be announced or fighting would slow down, but the Taliban have increased their attacks on the government, Army, police and civilians throughout the country.

“Where is peace? Which peace? While we are going to Doha for talks, you witness a wave of suicide attacks, there are explosions, soldiers are being killed - we do not need this kind of peace,” said Najibullah Kabuli.

Fighting was also reported close to the capital and to the city where our team from the North East is based and also in the west of the country fighting has increased and many other parts. The Taliban try to get into a stronger position as they negotiate with the government.

Please pray that the Taliban would be pushed back and defeated and they would not make any further success!

Please continue to pray also for the so-called peace talks in Doha/Qatar.

The Taliban will definitely try to get a big influence on the present government which could really change the society again into strict Sharia rules.
Please continue to pray for all our foreign and local workers and brothers and sisters for their protection.