This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
UN General Assembly President: 258 million out of school ‘unacceptable’
Although school enrollment rates worldwide have increased, it is “unacceptable” that in the 21st century, more than 258 million children do not attend school, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Friday.
Tijani Muhammad-Bande was speaking in New York at an event commemorating the International Day of Education.
Mr. Muhammad-Bande called for action to fix the learning crisis and to raise the standard and quality of education across the globe.
Measures include forming effective partnerships to assist countries that need help with curriculum development, teacher training, infrastructure and other areas.
He added that the international community also should focus on the educational needs of millions of children trapped in conflict.
UN providing support following deadly intercommunal attack in Abyei region
UN agencies are working to assist some 500 people following a deadly assault this week on a village in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan.
Armed men from the nomadic Misseriya community attacked the Dinka village of Kolom early on Wednesday, leaving 32 people dead, 25 injured, three children missing and 19 homes torched.
Peacekeepers with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) later apprehended five people. The mission reports that a similar attack occurred in the same area last Sunday,, in which three people were killed.
Jens Laerke with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, has more details on the response:
“Kolom village and surrounding villages have experienced armed attacks with casualties since November last year. Humanitarian organizations on the ground are providing health care assistance, including emergency surgical operations, to the survivors of the attack. OCHA is coordinating humanitarian responses in Abyei, and we are working to dispatch an inter-agency needs assessment team to the area shortly, and also agencies are helping some 500 people who fled the area and are in Abyei town.”
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Gwi-Yeop Son, has condemned the attack.
She also urged parties to refrain from any acts that could increase tensions and violence.
Landmark ruling on climate asylum claims a ‘wake-up call’: UN refugee agency
A recent UN ruling on climate-related asylum claims has been hailed by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, as a “wake-up call”.
The UN Human Rights Committee this week determined that countries cannot deport people who have migrated from their homelands due to threats posed by climate change.
Here’s UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, speaking in Geneva on Friday:
“This is a landmark decision with potentially far-reaching implications for the international protection of displaced people in the context of climate change and disasters. It underscores the importance of countries taking action to prevent or mitigate against harms associated with climate change, which in future could otherwise force people to leave, triggering international obligations. And secondly, that this ruling recognizes that international refugee law is applicable in the context of climate change and disaster displacement.”
The ruling marked the first decision by a UN human rights treaty body based on a complaint filed by an individual seeking protection from the effects of climate change.
The case was filed by a man from the Pacific island nation of Kiribati who was deported from New Zealand after his asylum application was denied.
Dianne Penn, UN News.
