Peace and Security

A young girl looks through a paneless window frame near Kabul, in Afghanistan, 2013. Civlilians in Afghanistan have borne the brunt of an almost 20 years of conflict.
UNICEF/UNI152469/Dragaj

Tuesday’s Daily Brief: Children in armed conflict, Ebola in DR Congo, human rights in Bahrain, and two International Days

30 July 2019
Global

Our main stories today cover: A new report on children and armed conflict, a day to combat human trafficking; funds needed to fight Ebola in DR Congo; UN rights office condemns the execution of two Bahraini citizens; and International Day of Friendship

Families spend the night in a makeshift camp in Atmah village near the Turkish border with nothing more than blankets and bedsheets hung from olive trees to protect them for the elements, after hostilities in northern Hama, southern Idlib and western Aleppo governorates in Syria continued unabated. (June 2019)
© UNICEF/UN0318979/Ashawi

‘Do something’; UN relief chief urges Security Council action to stop the Syrian carnage unfolding ‘in front of your eyes’

30 July 2019
Middle East

Bombing and shelling in Syria for more than 90 days by the Government and Russia have led to “carnage in the so-called de-escalation zone” of Idlib, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Tuesday, in his seventh update since the “current onslaught” began.

A funeral takes place for a Tolo news agency journalist killed in an attack on 5 September 2018 outside a sports centre in Kabul, Afghanistan.
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

‘Answer the call of Afghans’ to reduce impact of conflict, UN urges all parties amid increase in civilian airstrike deaths

30 July 2019
Asia Pacific

The conflict in Afghanistan continues to be devastating for civilians, with the latest United Nations update released on Tuesday showing that the number of civilians killed by aerial operations increased in the first half of 2019, even as overall civilian casualties declined. 

Former child soldiers are released in Yambio in South Sudan in 2018.
UNMISS/Isaac Billy

New UN report shows record number of children killed and maimed in conflict

30 July 2019
Global

A new UN report has found that 2018 was the worst year on record for children caught up in armed conflict; the year saw the highest numbers killed or maimed since the United Nations began monitoring the violation.

Wajãpi people, in Amapá, Brazil
Rede de Cooperação Amazônica (RCA)

Murder of Brazilian indigenous leader a ‘worrying symptom’ of land invasion

29 July 2019
Americas

In the wake of the murder of indigenous leader Emrya Wajãpi in Brazil, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has called on the country’s authorities to “react quickly and decisively” to protect the rights of indigenous peoples on their lands.

Ghassan Salamé, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), briefs Security Council.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

With Libyans now ‘fighting the wars of others’ inside their own country, UN envoy urges Security Council action to end violence

29 July 2019
Africa

Fighting in Libya “shows no signs of abating”, the head of the United Nations Support Mission (UNSMIL), told the Security Council on Monday, painting a grim picture of worsening humanitarian conditions, and warning that the instability and influx of foreign weapons is fueling a proxy war in the north African country.

El-Miskin Camp in in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State is home to around 5000 IDPs.
IOM/Jorge Galindo

Monday’s Daily Brief: Nigeria massacre, Libya shelling condemned; recycled plastic used to build classrooms in Côte d’Ivoire

29 July 2019
Global

Our main stories today: UN chief and senior UN official condemn the ‘terrible massacre’ in Nigeria that left some 65 dead, and the shelling of a hospital in Libya that killed medical workers; UN Secretary-General António Guterres reacts to a deadly landslide in China; recycled plastic waste is used to build classrooms in Côte d’Ivoire; and scouts are urged to become human rights defenders.

Civilians in Gardez city, Paktia Province, Afghanistan.
UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Voices of Afghan women ‘must be heard at the table in the peace process and beyond’ UN deputy chief tells Security Council

26 July 2019
Middle East

Afghan women have “paid a high price” during their country’s nearly four decades of conflict, the United Nations deputy chief said on Friday, addressing the Security Council a day after Kabul had been hit with a fresh round of “horrific” bomb attacks.

UNHCR Chief of Mission for Libya, Jean-Paul Cavalieri, with officials, refugees and migrants after arriving at Tajoura detention centre. (3 July 2019)
© UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem

Friday’s Daily Brief: Libya mass drownings response: Syria ‘carnage’ denounced, food aid doubled for Ebola-affected in DR Congo

26 July 2019
Global

Our main stories today: UN leaders call for a return to sea rescues in the Mediterranean, following Libya shipwreck; UN human rights chief denounces indifference to victims of Syrian airstrikes; World Food Programme doubles supplies to those affected by Ebola outbreak in DR Congo, and WHO urges more investment to eradicate hepatitis.

An estimated 26,000 children aged 3-17 in Al Hol camp of Syria's Hasakeh governorate have been out of schools for years due to conflict and displacement and are in need of education services.
© OCHA/Hedinn Halldorsson

UN human rights chief fears world has grown numb to Syrian carnage

26 July 2019
Middle East

The relentless campaign of airstrikes in Syria has been met with a “collective shrug,” the top United Nations human rights official said on Friday, denouncing the world’s apparent indifference to the mounting civilian casualties as a “failure of leadership” by the world’s most powerful countries.