UN and regional experts urge countries to stop reprisals against rights defenders

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UN and regional experts urge countries to stop reprisals against rights defenders

14 March 2012 – An independent United Nations expert has joined regional partners today in urging governments to stop reprisals against individuals and groups seeking to cooperate with UN and regional human rights mechanisms.

“Reprisals have to cease immediately and credible investigations into pending cases of reprisals have to be carried out,” said Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Reine Alapini-Gansou of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights ACHPR); and José de Jesús Orozco of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), in a joint statement.

They also called on States to ease civil society’s access to the UN and regional human rights institutions.

The experts said that reprisals against individuals or groups engaging directly with the UN and the regional human rights systems took the form of smear campaigns, harassment, intimidation, direct threats, physical attacks and killings.

In an effort to safeguard collaboration between civil society and the UN and regional human rights mechanisms, the three experts called for enhanced monitoring and action to ensure respect of UN, ACHPR and IACHR normative agreements and rules of procedure prohibiting acts of reprisals by States and non-state actors.

“Such steps towards full accountability for reprisals are an important preventive measure that should be combined with those that facilitate, rather than deter, civil society’s safe and unimpeded access to the UN and the regional human rights institutions,” they stressed.

They also called on governments to immediately put an end to harassment and intimidation of individuals and groups attending the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

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Solutions for global challenges can only be achieved through solidarity – UN officials

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Solutions for global challenges can only be achieved through solidarity – UN officials

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

20 December 2011 – Top United Nations officials stressed today that solutions to current world challenges can only be achieved if countries practice solidarity among themselves, calling on States to establish partnerships and dialogue to make progress on issues such as climate change, poverty and conflict prevention.

“Solidarity must be the foundation for global solutions,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message marking International Human Solidarity Day, observed annually on 20 December. “In a world of common challenges, no nation can succeed on its own, but by working together in common cause, we can build a safer, more prosperous future for all.”

Our times demand something different. We need big thinking, bold action and efforts to connect the dots among global challenges

In his message, Mr. Ban recalled calling on world leaders at the General Assembly debate in September to pay greater attention to five imperatives: achieving sustainable development, preventing conflict, stopping human rights abuses, mitigating the impact of natural disasters, and engaging the talents of women and young people. Without solidarity, Mr. Ban stressed, none of these can be achieved.

“This will not happen by itself. Nor will it happen with business as usual. Our times demand something different. We need big thinking, bold action and efforts to connect the dots among global challenges,” he said.

General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser echoed Mr. Ban’s remarks, highlighting that the current economic crisis, a constantly changing political sphere, and extreme weather conditions all threaten to slow down development if they are not tackled in a concerted manner by States.

“Common challenges require common responses. It is my wholehearted belief that solidarity, cooperation, and partnership between Member States, the UN system and civil society are the cornerstone of efforts to move forward,” Mr. Al-Nasser said.

Mr. Al-Nasser also emphasized the importance of solidarity between developed and developing countries and said the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June will be “a distinct opportunity to reinvigorate the international community’s commitment to achieving its sustainable development goals, as well as reaching global consensus on the eradication of poverty and global inequality. It is our chance to ensure that the benefits of sustainable development are extended to people of all countries.”

Virginia Dandan, the UN expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity, said solidarity should be seen not as mere rhetoric or act of charity, but as an effective way to respond to threats, drawing strength from partners and expressing a common humanity.

“Solidarity should, and must be a positive force in the lives of people and of nations, and must therefore be protected from exploitation and corruption,” she said, adding that world leaders should see it as a key factor for progress.

“Our common future is at risk and our common present is under grave threat and yet, world leaders continue the illusion that the crowds and their loud clamour for justice and fair distribution of resources, will eventually tire and go away in due time,” she said. 

“Their shortsightedness comes with the inability to see the chain that links together climate change, food crises, water scarcity, energy shortages, population pressure and displacement. These global challenges require multilateral global responses.”

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Top UN officials stress need to boost protection of civilians in armed conflict

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Top UN officials stress need to boost protection of civilians in armed conflict

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses Security Council meeting on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict

9 November 2011 – Top United Nations officials today stressed the need to do more to protect civilians who are increasingly bearing the brunt of the various conflicts taking place around the world, as well as enhance accountability to hold perpetrators to account.

“All of us share a fundamental responsibility to do more to protect civilians caught up in the horrors of war,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his remarks to the Security Council’s open debate on the issue.

He noted that in conflicts worldwide, women, girls, boys and men continue to be subjected to blatant and frequent violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, including killing, torture, kidnapping, rape and mutilation.

All of us share a fundamental responsibility to do more to protect civilians caught up in the horrors of war

“Let us remember that civilians suffer such horrors not because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and become what is still euphemistically referred to as ‘collateral damage.’ Civilians suffer more and more frequently because they are deliberately targeted,” said Mr. Ban.

He highlighted five priorities regarding the protection of civilians in armed conflict, beginning with enhanced compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, and more consistently and effectively engaging non-State armed groups to improve their compliance with the law. 

Also crucial is pro-active, well-trained and appropriately resourced peacekeepers; improved humanitarian access to affected populations; and enhanced accountability.

While protection is essential, the Secretary-General added, it is important not to lose sight of the need to address the causes of conflict, not just its symptoms. 

“Humanitarian actors can contribute to the survival of affected populations. Ultimately, though, only political solutions can end and prevent the vast majority of conflicts and ensure the safety and well-being of those who would otherwise bear the brunt,” he stated. 

The Council expects to hear from around 50 speakers during its day-long debate. Among them was High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who stressed that where national authorities fail to investigate credible allegations of the most serious violations, it is incumbent on the international community to “rigorously establish the facts.” 

Over the last two decades, the High Commissioner’s office (OHCHR) has supported more than 30 commissions of inquiry and similar mechanisms, which she said provide a solid basis to inform international action and national processes on justice, truth and reconciliation. She encouraged the Council to play a more active role in securing follow-up to their recommendations. 

The Council also has an important role to play in ensuring practical arrangements to secure accountability, the establishment of facts, the identification and prosecution of perpetrators, and, importantly, the right to reparation for gross violations of human rights, she added.

“Without it, impunity emboldens perpetrators and breeds more violations that will undermine peace and progress,” said Ms. Pillay.

The High Commissioner touched on a number of situations around the world, ranging from civilian deaths in Afghanistan to ongoing violent clashes in South Sudan. She voiced concern that the killing of civilians has not stopped in Syria, where the death toll since March has now passed 3,500. 

Ms. Pillay noted that while the Syrian Government has made commitments to stop the violence, “we have to see actual progress on the ground.” A human rights monitoring presence can help ensure that, she added.

“The international community must insist that the Government end the killing of civilians, release all those arbitrarily detained for their peaceful protest and finally provide full and unimpeded access to the International Commission of Inquiry, which was established by the Human Rights Council,” she stated.

Catherine Bragg, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, also voiced concern at events in Syria, where the situation falls short of armed conflict but military operations are exacting a “heavy toll.” She also described an array of other situations where violations of humanitarian and human rights law are being perpetuated.

“Equally common to most of these situations is a failure to hold accountable those responsible for such violations and to provide any form of justice or redress for their victims,” she said in remarks delivered on behalf of UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos.

“This failure of accountability has to end,” she stated. “We cannot continue to ignore war crimes and serious violations of human rights law in conflict. Nor can we ignore the need to ensure that victims see justice and reparations for the wrongs they have suffered…

“We must do more to advance the protection of civilians and ensure progress where it most matters – in the midst of conflict.”

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Ban calls on G-20 countries to lead sustainable and jobs-rich economic recovery

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Ban calls on G-20 countries to lead sustainable and jobs-rich economic recovery

Young people have protested around the world for more jobs and equality

3 November 2011 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on leaders of the world’s biggest economies meeting in Cannes to ensure a global recovery that is sustainable, inclusive and creates real change for those hit hardest.

“We come together at a critical moment,” Mr. Ban said in remarks to the 2011 Labour Summit (L20). “Dark clouds have gathered once again over the global economy. Some may speak of ‘recovery.’ Too few actually feel it.”

“On the contrary, all too many people cannot even see the light at the end of a long, long tunnel,” the Secretary-General told the gathering, held on the margins of the summit of the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies that began today.

Dark clouds have gathered once again over the global economy. Some may speak of ‘recovery.’ Too few actually feel it.

He noted that unemployment is rising almost everywhere, and more and more young people have no jobs and few prospects of finding one. In addition, economic inequalities are widening and poverty is growing.

“That’s why people are marching. They are anxious, angry and indignant,” he stated. “At heart, this is a call for human dignity – the dignity and respect that comes from decent work.”

He stressed that the two-day summit of the G-20 must be about more than “financial fire-fighting.”

“It is must be about global economic recovery – growth that is sustainable and inclusive. It must bring real recovery in the real economy.”

The time has come, he stated, to write “a new social contract for the 21st century” – one that includes a global jobs pact.

“We need a job-rich recovery. Policy-makers must make employment a priority, not an afterthought. The new social contract must also include a social protection floor with stronger safeguards for the poorest and most vulnerable.”

He noted that in recent decades, labour’s share of income has fallen, and the gap between those who work hard and those who reap the greatest rewards continues to grow.

“To get out of this mess, we need a revolution in our thinking,” the Secretary-General told world leaders, highlighting the sorts of investments that make the most sense for the most people.

The first priority, he said, is to invest in sustainable development. “Economic recovery and sustainable development are one and the same fight,” he stated.

“Sustainable energy fuels jobs – jobs that recharge economies, jobs to build infrastructure, above all, jobs to protect the planet and the poorest.

“We cannot burn our way to the future. We cannot consume our way to greater prosperity. Economic recovery and sustainable development must go hand-in-hand. Growth and development must be sustainable.”

He also highlighted the need to invest in women and youth, who together make up more than two thirds of the global population, as well as in the most vulnerable.

Mr. Ban also noted that over the last century, the trade union movement led the way to a fairer and more just world.

“You helped create our modern era of prosperity. In the process, you did much more than simply benefit your own members. You lifted millions out of poverty into a better life. You proved that the better more of us do, the better all of us do,” he said.

“At this time of crisis and confusion, discord and division, inequality and injustice – we are all called to moral battle once again.”

While at the summit, Mr. Ban will also take part in a number of G-20 working sessions, including on the global economic situation and on development and trade, as well as hold bilateral talks with leaders on the margins of the forum. 

He met earlier today with the President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak, and later with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. 

Mr. Ban also conferred with José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, with their discussions focusing on innovative sources of development and climate change financing.

The Secretary-General expressed his hope that the EU would play a strong leadership role in the run up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), and at the meeting itself in Brazil in June next year.

Mr. Ban, Mr. Barroso and Mr. Van Rompuy also exchanged views on the situation in Syria, as well as on the Middle East peace process and the Palestinian UN membership issue. They also touched on progress in the UN-facilitated talks aimed unifying Cyprus.

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Six million new teachers needed to ensure UN goal of universal primary education

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Six million new teachers needed to ensure UN goal of universal primary education

5 October 2011 – The United Nations marked World Teachers’ Day today with a warning that 6.1 million more teachers are needed to meet the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of attaining universal primary education by 2015.

Two million of these are additional posts, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for more than half. But the shortfall also affects industrialized nations such as the United States, Spain, Ireland, Italy and Sweden, according to data published by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.

The remaining 4.1 million teachers are needed to replace those leaving the profession for a variety of reasons such as retirement, illness or career change.

Of the two million additional posts, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 1,115,000, the Arab States for 243,000, South and West Asia for 292,000, and North America and Western Europe for 155,000. Central and Eastern Europe, Central and East Asia, Latin American and the Caribbean, on the other hand, together account for only 11 per cent of the global shortage.

The theme of World Teachers’ Day 2011 is ‘Teachers for gender equality,’ reflecting a profession in which women outnumber men in primary schools, accounting for 62 per cent of teachers worldwide. In some countries they account for 90 per cent of primary school teachers. But their working conditions, pay, and status are deteriorating.

“If we want to give equal opportunities to our daughters and sons to realize their full potential and claim their rights, we must devise policies and strategies that attract and motivate capable women and men to teach, while also enabling them to create gender-equal learning environments,” UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said.

Her message was co-signed by the heads of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN International Labour Organization (ILO), and Education International, the international federation of education trade unions.

UNESCO events for the Day included testimonies by teaching professionals about “Gender at school: an essential question of education,” an open forum on gender issues in the teaching force), and the launch of a new publication, Women and the Teaching Profession: Exploring the ‘Feminization’ Debate in Selected Commonwealth Countries, featuring case studies on the role of teachers in the expanding the educational systems of countries such as Dominica, India, Lesotho, Samoa and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) marked World Teachers’ Day by launching an education reform strategy that aims to improve the quality of learning for students at the 700 schools the agency runs across the region.

The strategy focuses on boosting teacher development, curriculum and student assessment, and technical and vocational training.

UNRWA schools provide an estimated 500,000 Palestinian refugee children with a basic education free of charge.

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