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Tag: UN

  • Religious leaders shun UN Chief despite publicised meeting

    Religious leaders shun UN Chief despite publicised meeting

    The highly publicised meeting of the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres with religious leaders in Nigeria at the UN House in Abuja was attended by only the Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan.

    Speaking to Journalists at the end of the meeting, Cardinal Onaiyekan expressed shock that he was the only one at the meeting that invitation was reportedly extended to them.

    Onaiyekan condemned the action of Government to accept repentant terrorists, calling on leaders at all levels to work with sincerity of purpose to end the myriad of problems in Nigeria.

    He also called on Nigerians aspiring for political positions to make sure that they have solutions to the country’s problems before seeking the mandate of the people.

    At the meeting Guterres had with women, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen said they brought their cry to the United Nations through the Secretary-General to support Nigerian women who are mostly at the receiving end of any crisis in the country.

    The United Nations scribe also held a meeting with members of the Diplomatic community in Nigeria.

  • Buhari meets UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres at Aso Villa

    Buhari meets UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres at Aso Villa

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the visiting Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Gutteres, on Wednesday, engaged in talks bordering on war against terrorism, food security and other international issues.

    Newsmen reports that the Nigerian leader welcomed Guterres at the State House at about 3.p.m., before going into closed door discussions on matters affecting Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.

    The UN boss, who arrived in Nigeria on a two-day visit, was in Maiduguri, Borno, where he interacted with victims and repentant Islamist militants, on Tuesday.

    Gutteres, who is visiting Nigeria for the first time since he assumed duty as UN secretary-general, had before the meeting with President Buhari, performed a wreath-laying ceremony for victims of the 2011 bombing at Nigeria’s UN House in Abuja.

    Newsmen reports that the visiting secretary-general had already visited Senegal and Niger Republic.

  • UN Chief visits rehabilitation centre, IDP camp in Maiduguri

    UN Chief visits rehabilitation centre, IDP camp in Maiduguri

    The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on a visit to Nigeria on Tuesday in Maiduguri, visited a rehabilitation centre for victims of Boko-Haram and an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.

    During the visits Gutteres, who showed concern over the plight of the affected persons, expressed UN commitment to continue to support measures to ameliorate their sufferings.

    Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno who briefed the secretary on the situation in Borno, lauded UN for its support to the state and urged for more.

    Zulum noted that many of the IDPs had stayed for several years in camps and were earger to return to thier recovered homes but the destroyed structures were yet to be reconstructed.

    He urged for more UN support in the ongoing rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement of the IDPs.

    At the rehabilitation home, the Borno Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zuwaira Gambo, said from 2016 to date, the centre had rehabilitated 7039 women and children affected by the insurgency.

    Newsmen reports that the UN secretary, who was scheduled to address the press in Maiduguri, could not visit the border town of Banki as earlier scheduled because of time factor.

  • WPFD: UN chief laments increasing “politicisation” of media

    WPFD: UN chief laments increasing “politicisation” of media

    UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said journalists and media workers are facing increasing “politicisation” of their work and threats to their freedom for simply doing their jobs.

    Guterres said this in his message to mark World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday.

    The World Press Freedom Day is annually observed on May 3, to inform the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental human rights.

    “The day shines a spotlight on the essential work they do, bringing those in power to account, with transparency, ‘often at great person risk’,” the secretary-general said in a video message.

    “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many media workers have been on the frontlines, providing accurate, science-based reporting to inform decision-makers and save lives.

    “At the same time, journalists who cover climate, biodiversity and pollution have succeeded in bringing global attention to this triple planetary crisis,’’ he said.

    According to him, the threats to their freedom to go about their reporting and story-telling fairly and accurately, are multiplying daily.

    “From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, they face increased politicisation of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides.

    “Digital technology has democratised access to information. But it has also created serious challenges.”

    The UN chief noted that many social media platforms make their money not through increasing access to fact-based reporting, but on boosting engagement, which often means provoking outrage, and spreading lies.

    “Media workers in war zones are threatened not only by bombs and bullets, but by the weapons of falsification and disinformation that accompany modern warfare.

    “They may be attacked as the enemy, accused of espionage, detained, or killed, simply for doing their jobs.”

    Guterres said that digital technology, was also making censorship easier for authoritarian governments and others, seeking to suppress the truth, with many journalists and editors facing the prospect of their work being taken offline on a daily basis.

    Digital technology is also creating new “channels for oppression and abuse”, with women journalists “at particular risk” of online harassment and violence.

    The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has found that nearly three-quarters of women respondents had experienced online violence.

    Hacking and illegal surveillance also prevent journalists from doing their jobs.

    “The methods and tools change, but the goal of discrediting the media and covering up the truth remains the same as ever.

    “Without freedom of the press, there are no real democratic societies. Without freedom of the press, there is no freedom,” he said.

    Ten years ago, the UN established a Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists, to protect media workers and end impunity for crimes committed against them, and the UN is continuing to fight to protect their rights.

    This year’s World Press Freedom Day Global Conference, began on Monday, and will run until May 5 in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, built around the theme Journalism under Digital Siege.

    Participants will discuss the impact of the digital era on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists, access to information and privacy.

  • UNGA President highlights importance of indigenous groups in protecting biodiversity

    UNGA President highlights importance of indigenous groups in protecting biodiversity

    The President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Abdulla Shahid, has highlighted the important roles indigenous groups play in protecting biodiversity.

    Shahid spoke at the opening of the 21st session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Monday in New York.

    This year marks the beginning of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, running from 2022 to 2032.

    The UN correspondent of newsmen reports that it is the first time in three years that the Forum is held in-person at the UN headquarters due to COVID-19 pandemic.

    UNGA president said that for generations, indigenous communities had prioritised a relationship with nature – grounded in kinship, centred around reciprocity and infused with reverence.

    “By emulating their example on a broader scale, we can preserve the Earth’s rich biodiversity and diverse landscapes,” he said.

    Shahid pointed out that indigenous people comprise less than five per cent of the global population yet protect 80 per cent of global biodiversity.

    He stressing that high linguistic diversity occurs where conditions for biological diversity thrive, saying, “It’s the richness of one that sustains the other’’.

    Shahid said there was growing scientific evidence that indigenous languages that are rich in oral traditions offer evidence for events that happened thousands of years ago.

    “By preserving and promoting these languages, we preserve and promote an important part of our human heritage, identity and belonging.

    “We have an obligation to ensure that they can participate in and benefit from the work of the United Nations,” he said.

    Also addressing participants, UN Economic and Social Council President Collen Vixen Kelapile said the Forum’s expert advice – as an advisory body to the Council – is crucial to highlighting the key issues affecting indigenous peoples.

    Kelapile said the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development– to be held in July and feature the national reviews of 45 Member States – will offer a significant opportunity for indigenous peoples to showcase their traditional knowledge on biodiversity, climate change and environmental stewardship.

    He urged Member States to seek their participation, adding: “I look forward to your recommendations which should be built into the Council’s different platforms”.

    UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin stressed that indigenous peoples customarily claim and manage more than 50 per cent of the world’s land, yet only legally own 10 per cent of it.

    Zhenmin address was delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs Maria-Francesca Spatolisano.

    In his remarks, the Chair of the Forum, Darío José Mejía Montalvo of Colombia said the 2022 theme touches upon the cosmos visions through which indigenous peoples had developed their systems for food, culture and coexistence with nature on their territories.

    “We share a holistic relationship with nature, where rights are not anthropocentric. An infinity of sacred histories and stories underpin our visions of the world.”

    According to him, ancestors too have rights – including to exist – because their task is enduring in the preservation of life and these ancestral practices maintain life in all its forms, with dignity.

    Therefore, he said the question of whether indigenous knowledge is scientific is “meaningless”: concepts of life, energy and spirituality are synonymous

    He added that separating them from an economic, religious or other point of view leads to confusion, disputes and unnecessary clashes.

  • UN chief mourns Ex-Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki

    UN chief mourns Ex-Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Saturday, mourned the death of former President of the Republic of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, who died at the age of 90.

    Guterres, in a statement by his Associate Spokesperson, Ms Eri Kaneko said, he was saddened to learn about the death Kibaki.

    “He extends his deepest condolences to the Government and the people of Kenya.

    “Former President Kibaki will be remembered as a leader who made an important contribution to the development of Kenya,’’ she said.

    According to her, the secretary-general reiterates the commitment of the UN to continue working closely with Kenya to promote peace, security and sustainable development in East Africa and beyond.

    Kibaki, Kenya’s third president led East Africa’s economic powerhouse for over a decade, overseeing some of its bloodiest and most corrupt years but also ushering in a new constitution.

    President from 2002-2013, Kibaki was a sharp-witted, wily and veteran leader involved in politics from the very birth of independent Kenya.

    “Kibaki will be forever remembered as the gentleman of Kenyan politics, a brilliant debater whose eloquence, wit, and charm won the day time-and-time again,” his successor President Uhuru Kenyatta, said in a statement on Friday.

  • FG, UN, others collaborate to fight against illegal wildlife

    FG, UN, others collaborate to fight against illegal wildlife

    The Federal Government, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and other relevant stakeholders have collaborated to create effective awareness in the fight against illegal wildlife and forest trade in Nigeria.

    Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, Minister of Environment, made the commitment in Abuja while inaugurating the 2022 to 2026 National Strategy to Combat Wildlife and Forest Crime in Nigeria.

    Abdullahi said that the inauguration of the strategy is critical, with Nigeria seeking legislation and punishment for wildlife traffickers and other related forest trade in the country.

    He said that the fight required enhancing institutional capacity, strengthening legal frameworks, increasing collaboration enablers, raising awareness of wildlife and designing alternative means of livelihood for dwellers of local communities.

    According to him, it is important to know that Nigeria, through the ministry, is committed in many ways in the fight against the menace.

    “Nigeria is committed to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of fauna and flora (CITES).

    “The ministry will not relent as it continues to collaborate with partners and stakeholders at the international, national and regional levels in the thematic areas of the fight against illegal wildlife and forest trade.

    “The fight is through the mechanisms of investigation, enforcement, prosecution, and stockpile management,’’ he said.

    The minister said that attention would be focused on the implementation framework as enunciated in the strategy strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis.

    He said that the strategy would also highlight political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, environmental, and law enforcement indices, with a view to ensuring that key players at the federal, state and other levels do the needful and are guided and motivated appropriately to maximise the gains of the strategy.

    Abdullahi said that the ministry has provided all technical and necessary support towards the strategy implementation as well as adopted council states to ensure effective implementation of the strategy.

    He said that the ministry has intensified strong awareness and advocacy campaign, adding that the campaign has expanded to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the railways and airline operators.

    He added that the ministry had also built electronic billboards which would be erected at locations such as airports and other strategic areas.

    “The billboards will have clear and instructive messages to create awareness and sensitisation in the protection and conservation of wildlife and forest resources while discouraging illegal trade and trafficking in wildlife.

    He said that a request has been sent to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on the need to set up Wildlife Crime Unit within the force.

    He said that the unit would be specially dedicated to dealing with wildlife and forest-related crimes.

    “We are stepping up action and our collaboration with our numerous partners will strongly support our quest in the fight against the illegal wildlife and forest trade,’’ he said.

    Chief Sharon Ikeazor, the Minister of State for Environment, said that the Strategy is aimed at tackling wildlife and forest crimes as well as achieving sustainable forest management that would address climate change.

    According to her, “it is not enough to have the strategy as an addition to our collection. The fact remains that its effective implementation at all levels for the attainment of its core outputs and results will go a long way in achieving its objectives.

    “We are going to make this a priority.

    “The Federal Executive Council did not only approve the strategy for implementation at its recent meeting.

    It also said “The effective implementation is possible only if and when the state governments adopt the strategy as part of their critical policy framework, so it is important for the state government to adopt the strategy,” Ikeazor said.

    Mr Oliver Stolpe, Country Representative of UNODC, said that the office would continue to provide technical support to the development and effective implementation of the strategy.

    “We are committed to partnering with Nigerian agencies in the implementation of the strategy.

    “I have no doubt in my mind that this well-calibrated framework will enable all stakeholders involved to effectively put their efforts toward achieving the aim of the strategy,’’ Stolpe said.

  • Ukraine war: UN 2nd convoy reaches Sumy, Mariupol access impeded

    Ukraine war: UN 2nd convoy reaches Sumy, Mariupol access impeded

    The United Nations (UN) humanitarian agencies and partners on the ground in Ukraine, have arrived in the town of Sumy, in the country’s northeast on Thursday but access to the besieged and stricken city of Mariupol is yet to be reached.

    UN Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, while speaking with newsmen in New York, said the first convoy had arrived Sumy nearly two weeks ago, with another inter-agency relief mission reaching nearby Kharkiv, earlier this week.

    “In today’s convoy, which included seven trucks, delivered food, medicines and hygiene products that will be distributed by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and its local partners, and that will take place in the days ahead.

    “This included food for nearly 6,000 people provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the NGO ‘People in Need;’ hygiene products for around 6,000; blankets, sleeping bags and solar lamps for more than 1,500 from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR,” he said.

    He said critical medical supplies for more than 10,000 people for the next three months were also supplied by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    “We and our partners have still not been able to reach areas where people are in desperate need of support, including Mariupol, Kherson and Chernihiv, despite extensive efforts and ongoing engagement with the parties to the conflict.

    “We are continuing our dialogue with both parties to the conflict with the aim of urgently, immediately and consistently negotiating and facilitating the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance to the people who have been hardest hit by this ongoing war,” Dujarric said.

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNFPA) said it had transported 3,000 ‘dignity kits,’ containing soap, underwear and other basic items, but essential hygiene items to social service centres, shelters and crisis rooms for gender-based violence survivors, in Dnipro, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia.

    The UN migration agency IOM, received a shipment of 20,000 high energy biscuits at its warehouse in Lviv, Dujarric said.

    The mission will send the stock to eastern Ukraine and distribute to those most in need, targeting children and pregnant and lactating mothers in particular.

    He added the UN had also “just received nearly 80 million dollars in the last few days on our humanitarian appeal for Ukraine, which puts the 1.1 billion dollar appeal at about 51 per cent funded.”

    Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, appealed on Thursday “in the strongest terms” for an end to the Russian offensive, calling on the international community to provide sustained support to the millions of civilians impacted by the fighting.

    “The speed of the displacement, coupled with the huge numbers of people affected, is unprecedented in Europe in recent memory.

    “I have spoken with women, with children, who have been gravely affected by this war.

    “Forced to flee extraordinary levels of violence, they have left behind their homes and often their families, leaving them shocked and traumatised.

    “The protection and humanitarian needs are enormous and continue to grow. And while critically urgent, humanitarian aid alone cannot give them what they really need – and that is peace,” he said at the end of a visit to Lviv, in western Ukraine.

    The head of gender agency UN Women, Sima Bahous, issued a strong statement on Ukraine on behalf of women and girls, warning that as they represent 90 per cent of all those fleeing their homes.

    “They are uniquely exposed to gender-based specific risks such as trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and denial of access to essential services and goods,” she noted.

    She added that reports of some of these risks, “already becoming reality have begun to surface. This demands an urgent gender-intentional response to ensure the specific rights and needs of women and girls are prioritized.”

    She reiterated the UN Secretary-General’s urgent call for peace: “The war must stop now.”

    She added that women’s civil society organisations inside Ukraine, and in neighbouring countries, were “uniquely qualified” to help meet the needs of women and girls on the run.

    “The majority of these organisations remain operational, committed to supporting Ukraine’s women and girls, increasingly at the risk of their own lives.

    “Women’s organisations lie at the heart of UN Women’s response in Ukraine.

    “We have directly allocated immediate funds to women’s civil society organisations, with more to follow, alongside additional funds coming through the United Nations Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund for which UN Women is the Secretariat.”

  • Helicopter crash: UN confirms death of 8 peacekeepers

    Helicopter crash: UN confirms death of 8 peacekeepers

    UN on Tuesday confirmed that eight peacekeepers on board the helicopter that crashed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) died.

    UN Spokesperson, Mr Stephane Dujarric, in a statement, said no one survived the crash.

    “With deep sadness we confirm that there are no survivors among the eight peacekeepers who were on board the helicopter that went missing and crashed earlier today in North Kivu.

    “A search and rescue operation was undertaken and the bodies of the deceased peacekeepers have been brought to Goma.

    “We convey our condolences to the governments and families of the six crew members from Pakistan and the two military staff from Russia and Serbia.

    “An investigation into the circumstances of the crash is underway,’’ he said.

    Earlier at a news conference, Dujarric said rescue operation was underway, after a Puma helicopter lost contact with UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) and crashed in the restive North Kivu region.

    He said there had been eight people on board, including six crew members – all from the Pakistani military – and two military personnel – one from Russia, and another from Serbia.

    “They had been on a reconnaissance mission in the area of Tshanzu, south-east of Rutshuru – the scene of recent clashes between Congolese forces and M23.

    “Our thoughts are obviously with the families and friends of those onboard the helicopter, and all of our colleagues of the UN Mission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

  • Ukraine reports deaths of over 2,000 civilians in war with Russia

    Ukraine reports deaths of over 2,000 civilians in war with Russia

    At least 2,000 civilians have died since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian state emergency service says.

    Ten emergency responders were among the dead, it said in a Facebook post.

    The UN had previously spoken of 142 civilian deaths.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a long-feared invasion of Ukraine on Thursday.

    Since then, more than 400 fires caused by enemy fire have been extinguished, according to the statement.

    The emergency service also said that 500 people have been brought to safety.

    Referring to ongoing attacks, it warned that “every hour costs the lives of our children, women and defenders.’’