Africa

Several Rohingya Muslims that have fled from the oppressive conditions in Myanmar to one of the two refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Credit: K.M. Asad/UN Photo

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 26 2024 (IPS)

On August 21st, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric spoke at a press briefing at the United Nations Headquarters about the ongoing Rohingya genocide taking place in Myanmar. Dujarric detailed high levels of hostility and displacement in the Shan, Mandalay, and Rakhine regions, which have significantly intensified since late June of this year.

“On 5 August, an estimated 20,000 people were reportedly displaced from three downtown Maungdaw wards. There are also reports of more people crossing into Bangladesh. In northern Shan, there has been a resurgence of fighting since late June, with an estimated 33,000 people displaced from four townships”, Dujarric stated.

Additionally, casualties continue to grow as armed conflict escalates in the Rakhine State. A joint statement delivered by United States Ambassador Robert Wood on behalf of the United Nations states that the Myanmar regime is currently using displaced Rohingya Muslims as human shields and have placed landmines around their camps. Furthermore, ethnic minorities are being drafted into the military by force, with many of them being young children.

Wood went on to say that the Myanmar Armed Forces have been employing “indiscriminate aerial bombardments of civilians and civilian objects, burning of civilian homes, attacks on humanitarian workers and facilities, and restrictions on humanitarian access”.

A joint statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union, as well as the Foreign Ministers of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, among other nations, states “violence against civilians has escalated, with thousands jailed, tortured and killed. Airstrikes, shelling and arson have been used to destroy civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, healthcare facilities and places of worship”.

In addition, hostilities from the Myanmar military have forced millions of ethnic minorities to flee to neighboring territories such as Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Malaysia. Bangladesh currently has the largest refugee camp in the world, with over one million Rohingya refugees flocking to Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar. However, attempts at relocation remain extremely dangerous as over 600 refugees have been reported dead or missing at sea.

Since the Myanmar regime’s military coup in 2021, the need for humanitarian aid has grown immensely as conditions grow more dire every day. The population in need of aid has swelled from 1 million to over 18 million. Furthermore, approximately 3 million people have been displaced from their homes, which have been bombarded or destroyed by the military.

Environmental factors also play a significant role in rates of displacement in Myanmar. Dujarric adds that “Torrential monsoon rains since the end of June are aggravating the already dire humanitarian situation. Some 393,000 men, women and children have been impacted by this flooding”.

Furthermore, women and LGBTQ residents have long been disproportionately and adversely affected by policies in Myanmar, which have been greatly exacerbated post-coup. There have been numerous reports of women, girls, and LGBTQ individuals being conscripted and subjected to sexual and gender-based violence.

According to a report published July 2nd by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, “Junta forces have committed widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence, often characterized by the utmost cruelty and dehumanization. Members of resistance forces have also been responsible for abuses against women, girls, and LGBT people. Accountability for sexual and gender-based violence is extremely rare, and survivors struggle to access the support they need”.

Andrews goes on to say that widespread displacement during the Rohingya genocide has increased the risk of violence, human trafficking, forced child marriage, and sexual exploitation. This is highly counterproductive in easing tensions as there is a growing resistance in Myanmar, composed of Rohingya women, girls, and LGBTQ people, that are focused on providing humanitarian aid and easing conflict.

The United Nations intends to combat tensions in Myanmar and assist Rohingya people through the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, with a focus on helping those who have been displaced or exposed to military conflict.

Although early funding has resulted in over 2 million Myanmar residents receiving humanitarian aid, there remains much work to be done. Approximately 993 million dollars are needed to fully fund this initiative, with only 23 percent of that goal being met as of now. Additional support from donors is necessary in order to respond to this growing humanitarian crisis.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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A Rohingya refugee, Jannat is back in school and dreams of being a doctor. Credit: Save The Children Bangladesh/Rubina Hoque Alee

By Yasmine Sherif
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 (IPS-Partners)

Seven years ago, a brutal campaign of violence, rape and terror against the Rohingya people ignited in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Villages were burned to the ground, families were murdered, massive human rights violations were reported, and around 700,000 people – half of them children – fled their homes to seek refuge in Bangladesh.

Today, Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar hosts the largest refugee camp in the world with close to a million children, women and men living in makeshift settlements. The crisis is an abomination for humanity. And while the Government of Bangladesh and other strategic partners are supporting the response, the resources are severely strained and access to essential services is scarce.

As the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), along with its strategic donor partners, government, UN agencies and civil society, has supported holistic education opportunities for both Rohingya and host community children in Bangladesh since November 2017. The more than US$50 million in funding, delivered through a consortium of partners – including government counterparts, PLAN International, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNICEF and other local partners – has reached over 325,000 girls and boys with quality education. Over the years, the programmes have provided learning materials for close to 190,000 children, financial support to over 1,700 teachers, and rehabilitated over 1,400 classrooms and temporary learning spaces.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, fires in the refugee camp and other pressing emergencies, the programming in Bangladesh was quickly adapted, and over 100,000 girls and boys were able to take part in remote education programmes during the height of the pandemic.

For refugee girls like Jannat, these investments mean nutritious school meals, integrated learning opportunities, catch-up classes, and security and solace in a world gone mad.

We must not forget Jannat and the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya girls like her that only yearn to learn in safety and freedom. Our investment in their education is an investment in peace, enlightenment and security across the region. Above all, it is an investment in the Rohingya people’s rights and other persecuted groups that face human rights abuses and attacks the world over.

Despite strong support from donors – as shown in this powerful joint statement by Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States following their visit to the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in May of this year – the Rohingya crisis is fast-becoming a forgotten crisis.

The Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2024 calls for a total of US$852 million in funding, including US$68 million for education. To date, only US$287 million has been mobilized toward the plan. More concerning still, only 12.8% has been mobilized towards the education response, according to OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service. What we need to realize is that our investments in education are investments in health, food security and skills development. Taken together with other actions, it forms a cornerstone upon which all the other Sustainable Development Goals can be achieved.

As we commemorate seven years of persecution and attack, we must demand that perpetrators are held accountable for human rights violations, we must establish conditions conducive for a safe return of the Rohingya to their native lands, and we must enforce the rule of law and expect humanity for the people whose lives have been ripped apart by this brutal crisis.

Join ECW and our partners in urgently mobilizing additional resources to provide Rohingya girls and boys – and other children caught in emergencies and protracted crises worldwide – with the promise of a quality education. They deserve no less.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Excerpt:

Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the 7-Year Anniversary of the Rohingya Crisis

Tackling the Planetary Emergency: Supporting a Declaration of Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and the Convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform

By Eoin Jackson and Nina Malekyazdi
NEW YORK, Aug 26 2024 (IPS)

The world is facing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

Climate change continues to pose an existential threat to humanity, with recent science estimating that we have possibly less than six years left to change course and rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to have a chance of avoiding the worst of the climate crisis.

Pollution is crippling air and water quality, exacerbating the inequality between wealthy and low-and middle-income countries. Biodiversity loss has the potential to collapse our food and water supply chains, putting further pressure on some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to manage the ever-growing risk of poverty, hunger, and harm to human health.

We also have scientific evidence that six of the nine core Planetary Boundaries have been crossed, posing a catastrophic danger to the Earth’s overarching ecosystem.

With this in mind, the Climate Governance Commission, supported by the Earth governance smart coalition Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA), seeks to assist in catalyzing the implementation of critical reforms to global governance institutions for the effective management of the triple planetary crisis.

Probably the most significant and fundamental reform that could be established quickly and effectively would be a Declaration by the UN General Assembly of a Planetary Emergency and the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform to facilitate global cooperation to address the emergency.

Adopting a Planetary Emergency Declaration would ensure that policy actions to protect the environment – especially the climate – would be elevated to top priority in global, national and local decision-making, requiring concerted action by all sectors of government, similar to the way that other critical emergencies are addressed.

Convening the Planetary Emergency Platform would help facilitate the development of cooperative plans for urgent action at all levels of governance on specific goals such as, for example, a global, fast-track de-carbonization package. The fact that we are indeed in a serious planetary emergency justifies and indeed requires an approach that can sufficiently address such an emergency.

Why declare a Planetary Emergency?

An emergency occurs when risks (impact X probability) are unacceptably high, and when time is a serious constraint. As identified by MEGA and the Climate Governance Commission based upon the best available science, we are at such a juncture. Consequently, with scientific evidence continuing to mount depicting the grave circumstances humanity finds itself in, the UN General Assembly, with the support of climate-vulnerable countries, should consider responding in kind, declaring a planetary emergency recognising this fundamental shift toward an emergency footing and moving quickly to convene an emergency platform to reflect these circumstances and facilitate urgent, coordinated action, with linked national emergency plans.

The growing urgency for declaring a planetary emergency stems from a history of a fragmented multilateral planetary policy system, that lacks a coordinated and ambitious response at the speed and scale required. Climate change to date has been treated as a peripheral issue dealt with primarily within a two-week framework every year at the climate COPs (Conference of the Parties), leading to a lack of effective cooperation between different aspects of the multilateral system and its domestic counterparts. Further, climate change solutions have not been adequately linked to mitigating pollution and biodiversity loss.

This siloed approach to handling the crisis as just another social and economic issue, rather than the interlinked and existential threat that it poses to society, illustrates how unequipped current governance structures are to handle this all-encompassing and systemic issue.

Consequently, global governance at present lacks the preparation and resilience necessary for current and future global shocks caused by the planetary emergency (e.g. extreme weather events, potential collapse of food supply chains, major economic crises, among other shock events).

However, this emergency also opens the door for the UN General Assembly and broader multilateral system to reconsider its framing of its approach and identify new governance mechanisms to address current gaps in the system. Governments and policymakers are now presented with an opportunity for transformation – to create a sustainable governance framework that facilitates the safe operation of humanity within its Planetary Boundaries.

Climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss and its related ecological, social, and economic problems are global issues, and thus require a whole-of-system approach to provide global solutions.

By recognizing that the world is in a state of acute distress through the Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly and thereby convening a Planetary Emergency Platform to coordinate a response to this emergency, policymakers would be provided with a framework needed to transcend current political divides to effectively address the challenges we face.

What would a Declaration of a Planetary Emergency at the UN General Assembly achieve?

We have already seen regional, national, and local climate emergency declarations issued across 2359 jurisdictions (as of August 2024). Such declarations by themselves have limited impact due to the global nature of this emergency. However, they demonstrate a keen interest in responding to the triple planetary crisis within an emergency framework, providing a core foundation for multilateral cooperation.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration would be science-led and action-focused, helping to elevate global planetary policy by connecting and elevating the existing declarations and filling the gaps in our current governance framework. Activating, focusing, and coordinating existing capacities at the UN through a Declaration of this kind could form a crucial aspect in ensuring that the Declaration is not merely a reflection of well-intended aspirations, but that it provides a solid basis for building effective, cooperative action.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration could build off and connect to its predecessors’ efforts and acknowledge all inter-connected risks associated with the triple planetary crisis in order to facilitate a global green transition. This would in turn allow for the Declaration to stimulate, support and facilitate cooperation and implementation of planetary policy at multilateral, national, and subnational levels.

The Declaration could seek primarily to achieve three things at the outset.

Firstly, as noted above, it could place the multilateral system on an acknowledged emergency footing, allowing for more ambitious action at all levels of governance, and reducing the current barriers to planetary progress.

Secondly, a Declaration could open the door for more effective emergency governance platforms including in particular the convening of a Planetary Emergency Platform, in line with the broader proposal of the UN Secretary General that emergency platforms be convened to strengthen the response to complex global shocks.

A Planetary Emergency Platform, using the Declaration as its basis, could be tasked with coordinating, defragmenting, and harmonizing the international community’s response to the triple planetary crisis. This would, in turn, speed up much needed solutions to the crisis, including, for example, the unlocking of greater climate finance and increased protection of crucial global commons under threat from human activity, from the Amazon to the High Seas.

A Platform of this kind would also be capable of developing a Planetary Emergency Plan, which could outline and bring into effect these desired outcomes, as well as assist with monitoring the implementation of the Declaration.

Finally, a Declaration of Planetary Emergency would allow for scientific concepts like Planetary Boundaries to become more familiar and integrated into our global policy responses, as well as creating vital opportunities to bridge the gap between planetary science and policy.

The Declaration could seek to ensure policymakers have greater impetus to take emergency action to protect these Planetary Boundaries, helping to generate political support and reduce geopolitical barriers to progress.

A Planetary Emergency Declaration at the UN General Assembly could serve as a crucial next step toward remedying the – to date – dysfunctional and inadequate nature of our response to the triple planetary crisis and convene a Planetary Emergency Platform as a key governance mechanism to facilitate the cooperation required between national and subnational entities to ensure effective and equitable planetary action.

Working with climate-vulnerable states, and global experts, the Climate Governance Commission and Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance will offer support to build a coalition to advance this Declaration at the UN General Assembly and accelerate our shared efforts to capably and effectively manage the global environment.

Eoin Jackson is Chief of Staff and Legal Fellow at the Climate Governance Commission and Co-Convenor of the Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition; Nina Malekyazdi is a Summer Intern at the Climate Governance Commission and a graduate in International Relations of the University of British Columbia

Source: Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA)

MEGA is a coalition of civil society organizations working in cooperation with like-minded governments, legislators, experts, private sector actors and other stakeholders to strengthen existing environmental governance mechanisms and establish additional mechanisms. MEGA is led by the Climate Governance Commission and World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy (co-hosts) in cooperation with 28 co-sponsoring organizations.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Many of those suffering and being treated at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak are young children.

Many of those suffering and being treated at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak are young children.

Many of those suffering and being treated at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak are young children.

Many of those suffering and being treated at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak are young children.

Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw earns a third win in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon women's event as Kenya's Alex Nzioka Matata secures men's victory.

Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw earns a third win in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon women's event as Kenya's Alex Nzioka Matata secures men's victory.

Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw earns a third win in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon women's event as Kenya's Alex Nzioka Matata secures men's victory.

Trhas Teklehaimanot cannot compete in the world championships unless she is granted refugee status.

Trhas Teklehaimanot cannot compete in the world championships unless she is granted refugee status.

Aid begins to trickle in but it is far too little, too late, says analyst Alex de Waal.

Aid begins to trickle in but it is far too little, too late, says analyst Alex de Waal.

Aid begins to trickle in but it is far too little, too late, says analyst Alex de Waal.

Palestinians living in Gaza struggle to access humanitarian aid. Credit: United Nations

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 2024 (IPS)

The latest Israeli evacuation order on August 17 led to the displacement of over 13,000 individuals, Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric told a press conference at the UN headquarters.

The briefing held on October 19, 2024 detailed the impact of the continuation of the hostilities since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The evacuation order was the latest in a series by the Israeli government that have exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The conditions in the region are dire, with Palestinians facing a lack of access to food, clean water, fuel, and healthcare, as well as constant bombings, outbreaks of diseases, and displacement.

The number of Palestinians that have been killed during the course of the Israel-Hamas War this past year greatly exceeds that of any point during the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of lives lost in the Gaza Strip, it has been confirmed to exceed 40,000.

During a press briefing at the UN Headquarters on August 14, 2024, the Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said, “Ongoing bombardment and hostilities in Gaza continue to kill, injure and displace Palestinians, as well as damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on…  In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and forces killed five Palestinians between August 6 and August 12.  Another 54 Palestinians, including 11 children, were also injured during the same period.”

In addition to the deaths and displacements, Palestinians have been forced to relocate to refugee camps and reside in the remnants of children’s schools and hospitals, which were bombarded and are now nearly inhospitable.

Earlier in the month, the Secretary General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said, “The ongoing hostilities, constant evacuation orders, and severe shortages of essential supplies are making it increasingly difficult for displaced families to access basic services at their place of arrival.”

Dujarric added that severe fuel shortages interfere with the operations of healthcare facilities, as ambulances and essential surgeries are often halted or postponed. This is particularly concerning as Palestinians need widespread access to healthcare, with many of them suffering from disease, malnutrition, and life threatening injuries as a result of constant Israeli blockade, bombardment, and relocation.

There was also concern that humanitarian aid was being denied.

According to Haq, Israeli authorities have rejected about a third of aid missions to Gaza since August 1.  The cumulative impact of these access constraints is to perpetuate a continued cycle of deprivation and distress among affected people who are facing death, pain, hunger and thirst on a daily basis.”

This built on an earlier statement from Dujarric that while 500 aid trucks were sent to the Gaza Strip every day, a daily average of 159 trucks were allowed in unimpeded.

Israel denies blocking humanitarian aid.

The International Court of Justice earlier this year ordered that Israel halt its military offensive in the Rafah governorate. This followed an earlier order that Israel should take all measures to prevent any acts contrary to the 1948 Genocide Convention. South Africa brought a case arguing that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings, potentially amounting to genocide.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Palestinians living in Gaza struggle to access humanitarian aid. Credit: United Nations

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 2024 (IPS)

The latest Israeli evacuation order on August 17 led to the displacement of over 13,000 individuals, Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric told a press conference at the UN headquarters.

The briefing held on October 19, 2024 detailed the impact of the continuation of the hostilities since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The evacuation order was the latest in a series by the Israeli government that have exacerbated the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The conditions in the region are dire, with Palestinians facing a lack of access to food, clean water, fuel, and healthcare, as well as constant bombings, outbreaks of diseases, and displacement.

The number of Palestinians that have been killed during the course of the Israel-Hamas War this past year greatly exceeds that of any point during the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of lives lost in the Gaza Strip, it has been confirmed to exceed 40,000.

During a press briefing at the UN Headquarters on August 14, 2024, the Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said, “Ongoing bombardment and hostilities in Gaza continue to kill, injure and displace Palestinians, as well as damage and destroy the homes and infrastructure they rely on…  In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and forces killed five Palestinians between August 6 and August 12.  Another 54 Palestinians, including 11 children, were also injured during the same period.”

In addition to the deaths and displacements, Palestinians have been forced to relocate to refugee camps and reside in the remnants of children’s schools and hospitals, which were bombarded and are now nearly inhospitable.

Earlier in the month, the Secretary General’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said, “The ongoing hostilities, constant evacuation orders, and severe shortages of essential supplies are making it increasingly difficult for displaced families to access basic services at their place of arrival.”

Dujarric added that severe fuel shortages interfere with the operations of healthcare facilities, as ambulances and essential surgeries are often halted or postponed. This is particularly concerning as Palestinians need widespread access to healthcare, with many of them suffering from disease, malnutrition, and life threatening injuries as a result of constant Israeli blockade, bombardment, and relocation.

There was also concern that humanitarian aid was being denied.

According to Haq, Israeli authorities have rejected about a third of aid missions to Gaza since August 1.  The cumulative impact of these access constraints is to perpetuate a continued cycle of deprivation and distress among affected people who are facing death, pain, hunger and thirst on a daily basis.”

This built on an earlier statement from Dujarric that while 500 aid trucks were sent to the Gaza Strip every day, a daily average of 159 trucks were allowed in unimpeded.

Israel denies blocking humanitarian aid.

The International Court of Justice earlier this year ordered that Israel halt its military offensive in the Rafah governorate. This followed an earlier order that Israel should take all measures to prevent any acts contrary to the 1948 Genocide Convention. South Africa brought a case arguing that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war led to a humanitarian crisis and mass killings, potentially amounting to genocide.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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South Africa's radical opposition politician Julius Malema suffers a big blow as his deputy ditches him.

South Africa's radical opposition politician Julius Malema suffers a big blow as his deputy ditches him.

South Africa's radical opposition politician Julius Malema suffers a big blow as his deputy ditches him.