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  • Ethiopia’s Tigray sees sharp increase in hunger – says UN

    Ethiopia’s Tigray sees sharp increase in hunger – says UN

    Number of people suffering from severe malnutrition in Tigray, the war-torn region of northern Ethiopia, has risen sharply and the situation is set to worsen, according to the UN.

    In a report released on Monday, OCHA, the UN humanitarian agency, estimates that some 8.8 million people need food aid in northern Ethiopia, not counting the millions more affected by drought in the south and southeast.

    An agreement signed in November 2022 between the government and Tigrayan rebels ended two years of conflict, allowing aid to arrive slowly, but the region reported “a sharp increase in cases” of patients suffering from complications due to undernutrition.

    In April 2023, compared with April 2022, “admissions for severe malnutrition in Tigray increased by 196%”, according to the report, which points out that these figures may be “partly attributable to improved access to health facilities”.

    Across the country, OCHA notes a 15% increase in “admissions for acute malnutrition” between January and April, compared with the same period in 2022.

    In Tigray, the UN agency also fears “a worsening of food insecurity among vulnerable population groups, following the suspension of food distributions due to reports of significant detour of humanitarian food aid”.

    The UN’s World Food Programme, WFP, and USAID, the US development agency, suspended food aid to Africa’s second most populous country in June, believing that a large proportion of the food was being diverted.

    The “temporary pause in food aid to Tigray” is having a “negative impact on already high malnutrition rates”, deplores OCHA.

    Some six million Tigrayans have been suffering from food shortages for over two years. Last month, local residents told the media how difficult it was to feed their families, sometimes eating only one meal in 24 or even 48 hours.

    During the war, UN investigators accused the Ethiopian government of deliberately starving civilians by imposing a blockade on the region. At the time, humanitarian NGOs spoke of famine conditions.

    The Ethiopian government denied this, accusing the Tigray rebel authorities of requisitioning food aid for their war effort.

    A temporary pause in the fighting, between March and August 2022, allowed some goods to arrive in the devastated region before renewed violence. The guns finally fell silent in November.

    Some 20 million people in Ethiopia depend on food aid, according to OCHA.

    (more…)

  • Somalia faces ‘dire hunger emergency’ as millions cut off aids over lack of funding- UN warns

    Somalia faces ‘dire hunger emergency’ as millions cut off aids over lack of funding- UN warns

    Somalia’s “dire hunger emergency” is spiraling upward with one-third of the population expected to face crisis or worse levels of food needs, but the UN has been forced to drastically cut food assistance because of a lack of funding, the head of the World Food Program said Thursday.

    Cindy McCain told the UN Security Council the latest food security data show that over 6.6 million Somalis desperately need assistance including 40,000 “fighting for survival in famine-like conditions.”

    But she said WFP was forced to cut monthly food assistance, which had reached a record 4.7 million people in December, to just 3 million people at the end of April,  “and without an immediate cash injection, we’ll have to cut our distribution lists again in July to just 1.8 million per month.”

    McCain, who visited Somalia last month, said she saw “how conflict and climate change are conspiring to destroy the lives and livelihoods of millions of Somalis.” She said the country’s longest drought on record, which killed millions of livestock and decimated crops, recently gave way to disastrous flash floods in the south.

    Urging donors to be as generous as they were and hauling Somalia “back from the abyss of famine in 2022,” McCain warned that the survival of millions of Somalis is at stake.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Somalia in April “to ring the alarm” and appealed for “massive international support” for Somalia.

    But the results of a high-level donors’ conference for three Horn of Africa countries, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya  on May 24 were very disappointing. It raised less than $1 billion of the more than $5 billion organizers were hoping for to help over 30 million people.

    Only in the past few years has Somalia begun to find its footing after three decades of chaos from warlords to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab extremist group and the emergence of Daesh-linked extremist groups. Last May, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who served as Somalia’s president between 2012 and 2017, was returned to the top office by legislators after a protracted contest.

    Somalia has faced numerous attacks from Al-Shabab and recently the government embarked on what has been described as the most significant offensive against the extremist group in more than a decade.

    Catriona Laing, the new UN special representative for Somalia, told the council that the government’s operations have degraded Al-Shabab militarily and dislodged its fighters from a number of areas which is “a notable achievement.”

    But Laing said Al-Shabab remains a significant threat,” pointing to “a recent resurgence in the scale, tempo and geographic distribution” of its attacks including a June 9 attack on the Pearl Beach Hotel in the capital Mogadishu that killed nine people.

    The African Union has a force in Somalia providing support to government forces battling Al-Shabab. Last year, the Security Council unanimously approved a new AU transition mission known as ATMIS, to support the Somalis until their forces take full responsibility for the country’s security at the end of 2024.

    Laing said the drawdown of ATMIS and handover are proceeding, but her initial assessment “is that the complexity, the constraints, and pace of the transition process presents risks, and, this will be challenging.”

  • West Bank violence could spiral ‘out of control’ – UN warns

    West Bank violence could spiral ‘out of control’ – UN warns

    New outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank could spiral out of control, the UN human rights chief warned Friday.

    This week, at least 18 people have been killed in the territory, in incursions by the Israeli military or attacks by Palestinians or Jewish settlers.

    “These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” Volker Turk said in a statement.

    So far this year, more than 200 people have died in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

    Deadly violence has flared in recent days in the northern West Bank, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups where Israel has stepped up military operations.

    Turk said this week’s violence was being fueled by strident political rhetoric and an escalation in the use of advanced military weaponry by Israel.

    The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the sharp deterioration was having a terrible impact on both Palestinians and Israelis, and called for an immediate end to the violence.

    He said international human rights law required Israeli authorities to ensure all operations are planned and implemented to prevent lethal force.

    Every death caused in such context requires an effective investigation, he added.

    “Israel must urgently reset its policies and actions in the occupied West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life,” Turk said.

    “As the occupying power, Israel also has obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure public order and safety within the occupied Palestinian Territory.”

    Turk said the underlying dynamics leading to violence and the arbitrary loss of life needed to be addressed urgently, and would require political will from Israel and the Palestinians as well as the international community.

    “For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” he said.

    “On all sides, the people with the political power know this and must instigate immediate steps to realise this.”

  • Food Security: UN allocates $20m to scale up response in N/E

    Food Security: UN allocates $20m to scale up response in N/E

    The United Nations (UN) has allocated $20 million to ramp up humanitarian response to problem of food security and nutrition crisis in North East.

    A statement on Tuesday by Ann Weru, the Head of Public Information United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Nigeria, said the fund was from the Central Response Fund (CERF) and the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF).

    “In support of Government efforts, some $9 million in CERF funding and a complementary $11 million NHF allocation will go towards a coordinated multisectoral response aimed at preventing a deterioration to famine or famine-like conditions.

    “Almost 700,000 children under five are likely to suffer from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states in 2023.

    “This is more than double the number of SAM cases in 2022 and four times the number of cases in 2021.”

    The statement added that about half a million people in the affected states were expected to face emergency levels food insecurity from June to August, which is the peak of “lean season”.

    It further said that the lean season coincided with the rainy season known for incidence of diarrhea and other outbreaks that could aggravate the precarious situation of malnourished children.

    “Extremely high rates of acute malnutrition and deaths are predicted unless there is a rapid and significant scale up of humanitarian assistance.

    “Government, donors and the international community must make urgent funding available to protect the lives and future of vulnerable children in North-east Nigeria,” the statement quoted Mr Matthias Schmale, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, as saying.

    It explained that bulk of the CERF allocation would go to the World Food Programme for the provision of food security interventions, including food and voucher assistance for 95,000 extremely food-insecure people in three garrison towns of Borno.

    “Some $2 million will go to the UN Children’s Fund for the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition, including providing ready-to-eat therapeutic food and Tom Brown solutions, a nutrient-rich locally produced supplementary food.

    “And $1million will go to the Food and Agriculture Organization for seeds, tools and other agricultural livelihood support to boost local production of nutritious foods to build resilience.

    “Most of the NHF funding, $11 million, will go towards improving access to clean water and sanitation hygiene, and nutrition, including reactivating, sustaining and scaling up the bed capacity at stabilization centres and scaling up outpatient therapeutic feeding programmes.

    “The rest of the funding will go to healthcare, including the integrated management of childhood illnesses and complicated SAM cases, and to protection services with focus on gender-based violence, child protection and mine action.

    “The NHF aims to allocate 50 per cent of funding to eligible national partners on the frontlines,” the statement added.

  • Food insecurity: Over 25m Nigerians will face acute hunger in 2023- UN Agency

    Food insecurity: Over 25m Nigerians will face acute hunger in 2023- UN Agency

    United Nations agency, the World Food Programme, (WFP), has said that over 25 million Nigerians will face acute hunger in 2023 due to food insecurity, peaking during the ‘lean season’.

    The projection was made known by WFP’s Country Director, David Stevenson, during the unveiling of the humanitarian agency’s new Country Strategic Plan (CSP), for Nigeria in Abuja.

    “As food insecurity continues to spike in Nigeria, over 25 million people are projected to face acute hunger at the peak of the June-August 2023 lean season,” Mr Stevenson said in his remarks.

    The lean season is the period between planting and harvesting when job opportunities are scarce, and incomes plummet.

    According to the official, in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states alone, some 4.4 million people are projected to face acute hunger at the peak of the lean season this year. Some 2 million children are also projected to be acutely malnourished in the northeast states alone, he noted.

    “Permit me to say that humanitarian aid has not kept pace with this sharp rise in hunger levels,” Mr Stevenson said.

    Despite this, the official said the WFP is assisting some 2.1 million vulnerable people in Nigeria in 2023 through food assistance and nutrition support, cash payments and livelihood projects to help build back the resilience of the people affected by conflict.

    According to Mr Stevenson, the CSP is aimed at addressing hunger and malnutrition in some parts of the north-east, north-west and fostering a reinforced partnership in strengthening the national humanitarian and development response, all in accordance with the SDGs.

    He emphasised that the CSP defines WFP’s entire portfolio of assistance within the country for five years and that it would be effective from 2023 to 2027.

    “The CSP is valued at US$2.56 billion and is designed to support Nigeria in achieving food security and improved nutrition by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2),” he said.

    “The CSP, which took effect from March 2023, is aligned with Nigeria’s National Development Plan (2021-2025), Nigeria Agenda (2050), the National Multi-Sectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition (2021-2025) and the National Humanitarian Development Peace Framework,” he added.

    In his remarks, Nasir Gwarzo, permanent secretary of Nigeria’s Humanitarian and Disaster Management Ministry, said the new five years plan made provision for WFP to expand its areas of assistance to the Northwest and refugee camps in Nigeria instead of the Northeast previously covered.

    “It might interest you to know that the WFP supported the Ministry with the deployment of both National and International consultants whose effort contributed immensely to the development of National Policy on Cash and Voucher Assistance (NPCVA) in a Humanitarian Context,” he said.

    The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity, for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

  • IPOB slams UN, EU, others over silence on Nnamdi Kanu’s detention

    IPOB slams UN, EU, others over silence on Nnamdi Kanu’s detention

    The  Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has expressed their displeasure over the silence of United Nations (UN), the Europen Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    The group in a statement by Emma Powerful, media and publicity secretary, Wednesday said the Nigerian government wants Kanu to to die in detention.

    Early Wednesday, a popular Biafra agitator, Separatist Simon Ekpa, has raised the alarm over the worsening health condition of IPOB leader.

    Ekpa disclosed that Kanu instructed him to inform the world that his ear infection is deteriorating.

    Reacting to Kanu’s health challenge, the group expressed its dissatisfaction over the continued detention of its leader as the issue worsens despite the UN and Nigerian court orders that he should be freed.

    It said, “We the Indigenous People of Biafra (lPOB), led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu expressed our displeasure on the silence of United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and ECOWAS as Nigeria grossly disobeys local and international laws regarding the unconditional release of our leader.

    “We are saddened as the International Community watches in silence as the health of the leader deteriorates in the solitary confinement dungeon of the Nigeria government where he has been held illegally and unlawfully against all UN and Nigeria Court Orders for almost 2 years.”

    It further stated, “We believe that the Nigerian government wants our leader to die in detention. It is also possible that DSS has given him a slow-acting poison, which is why his health keeps deteriorating to eventually kill him.

    “In what we consider a conspiracy to kill our leader, the Nigeria Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court refused to entertain an appeal from Mazi Nnamdi KanuU’s lawyers over his deteriorating health. Instead, the Apex Court gave a wicked long adjournment of 4 months to an innocent man that Appeal Court Justices have discharged and acquitted.

    “In all these human rights and court abuses, there seems to be a conspiratory silence among international organisations and her affiliate Human Right Organisations.”

    IPOB said it would do everything possible to make sure its leader does not die in detention.

    “As the health of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu continues to deteriorate and the Nigerian government refuses to obey lawful orders and the world maintains this criminal silence, IPOB will do all within our power to ensure that our leader does not die in detention.”

     

  • DHQ clarifies presence of UN fighting equipment in Nigeria

    DHQ clarifies presence of UN fighting equipment in Nigeria

    The Defence Headquarters has clarified that the UN Peacekeeping fighting vehicles and equipment sighted recently in Benin, Edo were meant for deployment for peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

    The Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Tukur Gusau, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

    Gusau said circulation of the video of the said equipment on social media, had given rise to insinuations that were inimical to public peace which might cause panic.

    He said that presently, Nigeria is contributing troops to various UN Peace keeping operations; the most recent is United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), Southern Sudan.

    “The Mission is commanded by a Nigerian, Ma.-Gen. Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr.

    “It should be noted that the UN doesn’t have its own troops, rather it enters into agreement with troops contributing countries to provide their personnel and equipment for operations in its various missions.

    “Therefore, it is imperative to state emphatically that the military fighting vehicles and equipment painted in UN colour as sighted are being moved through the Warri port for movement to the mission area in Southern Sudan.

    “The Defence Headquarters under the leadership of Gen. Lucky Irabor, wish to assure Nigerians that our nation is not under any threat that will warrant the deployment of UN troops on our soil”, he said.

    A video clip titled, “tension as heavy military UN trucks arrive Nigeria”, surfaced on one BVI Youtube channel on Sunday.

    The commentator was seen raising the alarm that something was cooking in the country that the government was not telling the citizens.

  • UN-backed ICC issues arrest warrant for Russian President, Putin

    UN-backed ICC issues arrest warrant for Russian President, Putin

    The Pre-Trial Chamber of the UN-backed International Criminal Court (ICC), on Friday, issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

    ICC President, Piotr Hofmański, said that the arrest warrant is in connection with alleged war crimes concerning the deportation and “illegal transfer” of children from occupied Ukraine.

    “The contents of the warrants are secret to protect the victims.

    “Nevertheless, the judges decided to make the existence of the warrants public, in the interest of justice and to prevent future crimes,” Hofmański said.

    The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II also issued a warrant for the arrest of Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.

    The orders state that each are “allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation” of children from occupied territories in Ukraine to Russia, the UN-backed court said in announcing the warrants.

    “The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from February 24, 2022,” the ICC detailed. “There are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin and Lvova-Belova bear individual criminal responsibility.”

    The court found reasonable grounds that Putin bears responsibility for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and, or through others.

    Also, “for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility”.

    All allegations are in line with the Rome Statute. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are parties to the statute, which created the judicial body in 1998.

    ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said those responsible for alleged crimes must be held accountable and that children must be returned to their families and communities.

    “We cannot allow children to be treated as if they are the spoils of war,” he said.

    “Incidents identified by my Office include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and children’s care homes. Many of these children, we allege, have since been given for adoption in the Russian Federation.”

    Through presidential decrees issued by President Putin, the law was changed in Russia to expedite the conferral of Russian citizenship, making it easier for them to be adopted by Russian families.

    “My Office alleges that these acts, amongst others, demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country,” he said.

    “At the time of these deportations, the Ukrainian children were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

    Asked by reporters to comment on the arrest warrants at the regular briefing in New York on Friday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, stressed that the ICC and the UN were “separate institutions, with separate mandates.’’

    The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent judicial body. It was established in accordance with the Rome Statute, signed on July 17, 1998, at a conference in the capital of Italy.

    Its competence extends to all the most serious international crimes committed after July 1, 2002, the date the Rome Statute came into force.

    The court’s jurisdiction is limited to crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

    During the first 20 years of operations, the ICC has tried and resolved cases of significance for international justice, shedding light on the crimes committed by the use of child soldiers, the destruction of cultural heritage, sexual violence, or attacks on innocent civilians.

  • 2023 Elections: UN condemns killing of 10 law enforcement agents

    2023 Elections: UN condemns killing of 10 law enforcement agents

    The United Nations on Wednesday condemned the election-related violence, especially the killing of 10 law enforcement agents and security personnel as well as hate speech in Nigeria.

    UN Spokesperson, Stephanie Dujarric, said this while fielding questions on the reports of violence in the just concluded elections from NAN in New York on Wednesday.

    “We clearly condemn any violence, especially in an electoral period – I mean, violence across the board.

    “It is incumbent on political parties, on civic leaders to work to avoid any violence, to avoid any inflammatory speech.

    “And again, this applies to any electoral process,’’ he said.

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) dashboard showed that there were three bomb attacks in Anambra, Borno and Rivers.

    There were two attacks on INEC facilities, attack by unknown gunmen or bandits were two:12. Political intolerance 12, Hate speech 15 reports.

    Killing of Law enforcement10, destruction of properties happened at Gombe and Anambra, political intolerance destruction/cutting of roads at Kogi.

    Stoning of Gov. Mai Mala Buni at APC rally in Yobe, and cancellation of PDP rally in Rivers.

    Vote intimidation and suppression recorded in the South West-55, South South-40, South East-25, North Central-12, North West-3, North East-2.

    Political violence, attack on NNPP supporters were recorded in Kano, and attack on APC political campaign in Bauchi.

    Similarly incidents included the attack on LP Rep. candidate was reported from Imo, attack on wife of PDP candidate in Zamfara, attack on first lady convoy, Nasarawa attack on PDP campaign DG, Rivers, and Lagos attacks on LP supporters. (

  • Getting descent jobs in 2023 likely to be harder – ILO

    Getting descent jobs in 2023 likely to be harder – ILO

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said finding decent and well-paid jobs is likely to be harder in 2023, thanks to the continuing global economic downturn.

    The UN labour agency on Monday, in a statement, said global employment was set to grow by just one per cent in 2023, less than half of last year’s level.

    The number of people unemployed around the world is also expected to rise slightly, to 208 million, it said.

    This corresponds to a global unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent – or 16 million people – according to ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends report published on Monday.

    The UN report warns that today’s economic slowdown “means that many workers will have to accept lower quality jobs, often at very low pay, sometimes with insufficient hours.”

    This is likely already the case in Europe and other developed countries, thanks to the Ukraine war and the continued disruption of global supply chains, both of which are counteracting the robust stimulus packages implemented to ride out the COVID-19 crisis.

    “Real wages we project for 2022 to have declined by 2.2 per cent in advanced countries and of course Europe makes up a significant proportion of advanced countries, versus a rise in real wages in developing countries,” Richard Samans, Director of ILO’s Research Department, said.

    An equally worrying development is the probability that efforts will be dashed to help the world’s two billion informal workers join the formal employment sector, so that they can benefit from social protection and training opportunities.

    “While between 2004 and 2019 we observed decline in incidence of informality globally of five percentage points, it is very likely that this progress will be reversed in the coming years,” Manuela Tomei, ILO’s Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue, said.

    This is because employment recovery “especially in developing countries, has been biased very much towards informal jobs,” Tomei told journalists in Geneva.

    The ILO report warns that as prices rise faster than wages, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty.

    This trend comes on top of significant declines in income seen during the COVID-19 crisis, which affected low-income groups most, in many countries.

    Some 214 million workers live in extreme poverty today, “in other words with 1.90 dollars a day,” Tomei explained.

    Although past decades have seen significant progress in poverty reduction, “many of these gains” have been wiped out by the impact of the coronavirus and the ongoing economic crisis, the ILO officer said.

    “So, it’s rather unlikely that by 2030 the very ambitious goal of eliminating poverty in all its forms will be met,” Tomei stated.

    The report also calculates the size of the global jobs gap to have been 473 million in 2022.

    This is around 33 million more than 2019 and it is defined as a measure of the number of people who are unemployed, including those who want employment but are not actively searching for a job, either because they are discouraged or because they have other obligations such as care responsibilities.

    “From a gender perspective, the unequal development of the global jobs market continues to be concerning.

    “Serious gender gaps in terms of labour force participation, in terms of pay, in terms of social protection continue to exist…There are 290 million youth who are not in employment, or in education or in training and young women are faring much worse,” Tomei explained.