Peace and Security

UNICEF/Romenzi

Six children among 53 confirmed fatalities after Libya detention centre airstrikes: Security Council condemns attack

5 July 2019
Africa

The toll from Tuesday’s reported airstrikes on a detention centre in the suburbs of Tripoli has risen to 53 dead and more than 130 injured among the “severely traumatized” surviving migrants and refugees, UN aid agencies said on Friday, reiterating their appeal to close all such facilities in the embattled country.

IOM/Moad Laswed

Wednesday’s Daily Brief: Libya ‘war crime’ attack, Sudan, Myanmar rights violations continue, ‘xenophobia’ in Assam, South Sudan update

3 July 2019

In the news this Wednesday: “Outraged” Guterres demands independent inquiry into fatal Libya migrant centre airstrike deaths; Violence and broken promises in Sudan and South Sudan, while Rohingya violations continue in Myanmar; “xenophobia” and citizenship in India’s Assam state. 

© UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

Grievous violations continue against Myanmar civilians, Human Rights Council hears

3 July 2019

Marginalized communities in Myanmar still face “grievous human rights violations” at the hands of security forces, a UN-appointed independent expert said this week, while repeating her call for an international and independent probe into the 2017 exodus from Rakhine state. 

UN Sudan/Ayman Suliman

Restrictions, unmet promises, unbridled violence in Sudan, a ‘recipe for disaster’, says Bachelet

3 July 2019
Africa

After nationwide protests across Sudan on Sunday, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday called on Sudanese authorities to lift restrictions on the internet and launch independent investigations into all acts of violence against demonstrators, and allegations of excessive force, including attacks on hospitals.

IOM/Moad Laswed

Libya detention centre airstrike could amount to a war crime says UN, as Guterres calls for independent investigation

3 July 2019
Africa

An airstrike on a detention centre in Tripoli that killed scores of migrants and refugees “deserves more than condemnation”, UN agencies said on Wednesday, as both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the head of the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL), insisted that it may amount to a war crime. 

WFP/Jacques David

DR Congo: UN food agency triples aid in strife-hit Ituri province

2 July 2019
Africa

Food aid is being tripled for troubled Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to respond to what the World Food Programme (WFP) has described as the world’s second largest hunger crisis in the world, after Yemen.

© UNHCR/José Ventura

Monday’s Daily Brief: US-DPRK relationship reset, ‘Horrific’ Kabul bombing, Anti-conscription plan in Syria, Climate change heat stress, Security Council in Iraq

1 July 2019

This Monday, we cover: Guterres welcomes possible US-DPRK diplomatic upgrade; Taliban attack hits schools; UN-Syria action plan on child soldiers; Climate change heat stress impacts economy; and first-ever Security Council visit to Iraq. 

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

UN Children’s Fund chief condemns 'horrific' Kabul bomb attack

1 July 2019
Middle East

Scores of children were among the casualties following a bomb attack on a Government building in the Afghan capital of Kabul today, that hit nearby schools. The bombing was described by Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, as “horrific.”

© UNICEF/UN0318500/Watad

New UN-Syrian Action Plan signals an 'important day' for child protection, says UN envoy

1 July 2019
Middle East

The top UN official charged with representing the interests of children caught up in armed conflict, has signed a landmark new agreement on child protection with the Force Commander of a main Syrian opposition military alliance, it was announced on Monday, aimed at ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children under the age of 18.

UNAMI

Five years on from ISIL ‘caliphate’ proclamation in Iraq, Security Council makes first-ever visit

1 July 2019
Middle East

The Security Council has concluded a first-ever visit to Iraq on Saturday, five years on from the proclamation, by the ISIL terrorist group, of a “caliphate” in the country. The visit, which also took in a trip to Kuwait, saw the members meet senior government, UN and humanitarian officials to discuss the development of Iraq, the humanitarian situation, and the ongoing security challenges faced by the Government.