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PRAY FOR NIGERIA as Civilians who flee their homes due to violence suffered deadly attacks in and around the camp where they are sheltering

UN urges more protection for Nigeria’s most vulnerable after deadly attack on camp

2 November 2018
Humanitarian Aid
Hundreds of people already forced to flee their homes by violence in Nigeria’s troubled north-east have been uprooted once again after deadly attacks in and around a camp where they were sheltering, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said on Friday.


“In the attacks the armed group killed at least eight and injured dozens more, kidnapped women and burned and looted homes, shelters and food stocks,” Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.

Mr. Laerke said the attack happened two days ago at a Government-run facility a few kilometres from Borno state capital Maiduguri, and on communities close to the village of Dalori.


The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s north-east that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region is one of the most severe in the world today, with 7.7 million people in need - Jens Laerke, OCHA

The camp is home to 12,600 people who fled clashes in recent months, the UN official said – a reference to fighting between Government forces and violent extremists that have claimed 29,000 lives since 2009 and contributed to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

“This attack happened late Wednesday night,” Mr Laerke said. “We know, the information that I have, is that hundreds were displaced as a result. Where they are right now this morning I don’t have specific information about that.”

Reiterating condemnation of the incident by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, the OCHA spokesperson repeated his appeal for authorities to ensure the safety of vulnerable communities.

“It really is a blanket call to beef up security for civilians in Borno and also the other two states, but particularly Borno,” Mr Laerke said. “It’s really the epicentre of this displacement and humanitarian crisis.”

Dalori village, which is closest to the camp that was attacked earlier this week, was almost totally burned to the ground during an attack in January 2016 that killed more than 100 people.

There are another eight camps for internally displaced people nearby.

Construction began on them in 2015 and they are now home to more than 47,000. At least 20 aid organizations provide food, water, sanitation, medicine and shelter, but the needs remain massive throughout Nigeria’s north-east, OCHA said in a statement.

The number of civilians displaced in the region is estimated to be 1.8 million. More than sixty per cent of these vulnerable people live outside Government-run camps and most stay in Maiduguri.

“The humanitarian crisis in Nigeria’s North-East that has spilled over into the Lake Chad region is one of the most severe in the world today, with 7.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in the worst affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe this year,” Mr Laerke said.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/11/1024742

PRAY FOR AFGHANISTAN: Suicide bomber killed & wounded civilians at a campaign rally. We pray for an immediate end to election-related violence

2 October 2018
Peace and Security


Denouncing attacks and intimidation in the week since formal campaigning began for Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections next month, the United Nations voiced outrage on Tuesday at the death of 14 civilians, killed by a suicide bomber at a campaign rally. A further 42 were wounded.


“I am outraged by attacks deliberately targeting civilians seeking to exercise their basic right to participate in elections,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Special Representative for Afghanistan, in a statement that called for an immediate end to election-related violence.

“This violence, including today’s reprehensible attack in Nangarhar, is an assault on the constitutional rights of the people of Afghanistan.”


The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed concern around the level of violence early in the campaigning period for the 20 October elections, including intimidation and attacks against candidates, their agents and supporters.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres added his voice in a statement on Tuesday, condemning the series of lethal attacks, and reiterated that "deliberate targeting of civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law."

"The Secretary-General urges all parties to ensure a peaceful and orderly electoral process by creating a safe environment for political candidates to campaign and for citizens to exercise their right to assemble and vote," said the statement from his Spokesperson.

Since campaigning formally commenced on 28 September, there have been several attacks resulting in the killing of a candidate and three security guards of another candidate, as well as the shooting of a further candidate’s agent and son. “UNAMA urges all actors to halt all violence and intimidation against candidates and voters”, said the statement from the Mission.

Tuesday’s suicide attack appears to have deliberately targeted a crowd gathered for a campaign event, the agency said, stressing that Afghan civilians have borne the brunt of election-related violence in 2018.

It recalled the “disturbing pattern of attacks” at election-related facilities following the start of voter registration earlier this year, with the greatest loss of civilian life in a single incident, occurring on 22 April when a suicide attacker targeted a crowd gathered outside a national identity card distribution centre, in the capital Kabul, resulting in 198 civilian casualties.


https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/10/1022072

PRAY FOR PALESTINE and ISRAEL for “Children should never be the target of violence and must not be put at risk of violence, nor encouraged to participate in violence”

Children’s rights continue to be violated in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Israel, according to three leading UN officials in the region who called on all parties responsible to take concrete and immediate steps to “allow children to live free of fear and to realize all their rights”.

In a joint statement, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Jamie McGoldrick; the Head of the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) in the OPT, James Heenan; and the Special Representative for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the State of Palestine, Genevieve Boutin, said they were “deeply concerned” by continued reports of “children killed or seriously injured, some as young as 11” in Palestinian-administered areas.

They also denounced the fact that “children in Israel are exposed to fear, trauma, and grave injuries”.

“This month alone, seven Palestinian children were killed by live ammunition and shelling from Israel”, they said, adding that “two Israeli girls aged 14 and 15 also reportedly sustained injuries from rockets and mortar shells indiscriminately launched by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel”.

According to figures provided by UN agencies in the region, since the start of demonstrations at the border fence against Israel’s longstanding blockade and deteriorating living conditions in Gaza on 30 March, 26 Palestinian children have been killed.

21 were shot during the demonstrations, and five others were killed by Israeli shelling, or outside the context of demonstrations. In the same period, hundreds more children have been injured by live ammunition.

“A number of these children will suffer lifelong disabilities, including as a result of the amputation of limbs,” the UN officials said. “Thousands are in need of urgent psycho-social assistance, specialised medical care, and support for their rehabilitation.”

The statement stressed that “all over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, but particularly in the Gaza Strip”, children are “robbed of every right.”

“Families cope with four hours of electricity per day in the sweltering heat, clean drinking water is expensive and hard to find. The start of the school year in one month will be very difficult for tens of thousands of families who cannot afford basic school supplies,” said the three UN officials.

In addition, they deplored the “too often cynical use of children in political rhetoric and propaganda on all sides,” citing last week's call by the organisers of the ‘Great March of Return’ for Palestinians to demonstrate under the banner of "the Friday of our Child Martyrs" and the reported exposure of children to violence. “Children should never be the target of violence and must not be put at risk of violence, nor encouraged to participate in violence,” the joint statement read.

“We call on Israel, as well as the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas authorities in Gaza to put children’s rights ahead of any other considerations and to take immediate steps to alleviate their suffering,” said Mr. McGoldrick, Mr. Heenan and Ms. Boutin. “Respecting the rights of children and refraining from instrumentalising their plight should be a priority for all”, they insisted, stressing that the Israeli-Palestinian context is “not an exception”.

On 23 July, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, briefed the UN’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, on the many human rights violations facing women, children and men living in the OPT.

PRAY FOR YEMEN as air strike hit the bus and killed civilians including children

10 August 2018

Peace and Security

An air strike on a busy market area in Yemen that reportedly killed scores of people including more than 20 children on a bus, is likely the worst attack on youngsters in the conflict so far, and the latest in a recent spate of violence targeting civilians, UN agencies said on Friday.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR, and UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, at least 21 boys – most of them under the age of 15 – died when their bus was hit on Thursday in Dahyan market in Saada, in the north of the country.

More than 30 boys were also injured in the aerial bombardment, which was carried out by a Saudi-led international coalition that has backed Yemen President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi against Houthi opposition forces for more than three years.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the attack on Thursday, urging an “independent and prompt investigation”, adding that warring parties must take “constant care to spare civilians”.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said that he was “deeply shocked by the appalling tragedy that claimed so many innocent lives”. The UN official has invited the warring parties to Geneva on 6 September in a bid to reach a political solution to the conflict – the first such discussions since 2016.

“This should urge us all to exert more efforts to end the conflict through an inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue,” he added, stressing that he hoped all of those involved in the fighting across the country will “engage constructively in the political process, including consultations scheduled in Geneva in September.”

Briefing journalists in Geneva on Friday, UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac said that the agency believed the air strike on the school bus constituted “the single worst attack” on children since 2015. “No such number of children have been involved in one incident before,” he added. Mr. Boulierac explained that following the attack, UNICEF staff on the ground reported chaotic scenes at the hospital where victims were being treated, adding that the number of fatalities could rise.

Reiterating the UN chief’s call for Yemen’s belligerents to spare civilians, OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell noted that the bus attack followed a series of more minor – but deadly - incidents involving youngsters last month.

“A large number of children were killed yesterday appallingly, but in July, there are all manner of smaller incidents,” she said. “On 19 July, there were four children killed when a coalition air strike struck a farm. On 30 July, two children were killed when an air strike hit a motorbike. On 31 July, two children were killed; they were out with their sheep, grazing, and they took a direct hit from an aerial strike.”

Turning to the recent targeting of a hospital and other targets in the key Houthi-controlled port city of Hudaydah, the OHCHR spokesperson said that staff there had documented “at least” 41 civilian deaths. Among the dead were six children and four women, Ms. Throssell said, noting that mortars had struck different built-up locations in Al Hawak district.

These included the fishing port, a dock and hangar “at the time full of fishermen and street vendors”, the OHCHR spokesperson explained, adding that Al-Thawra hospital was hit shortly afterwards. In that attack, three mortars were fired, including one that landed in a busy street “full of traffic, street vendors and pedestrians”, Ms. Throssell said.

Between 26 March and 9 August 2018, OHCHR has documented 17,062 civilian casualties in Yemen; this includes 6,592 dead and 10,470 injured. The majority of these casualties – 10,471 – were as a result of air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led Coalition, it said in a statement.

Amid ongoing conflict in one of the world’s poorest countries, UNICEF warned that the consequences for children have been particularly striking.

“Every day in Yemen, children are starving, children are dying because of the level of violence and its consequences,” spokesperson Christophe Boulierac said. “1.8 million children are at risk of diarrhoeal diseases, 1.3 million children are at risk of pneumonia, more than 4 million children are in acute need of educational assistance. So, any violence in Yemen, any facility that provides water indirectly threatens the lives of children.”  

PRAY FOR AFGHANISTAN as brutal and senseless attacks against people at prayer are atrocities. International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian property, including places of worship

3 August 2018Peace and Security

A suicide attack that took place inside a Shia mosque in Afghanistan during Friday prayers, killing dozens and injuring more than 70, has been condemned by the head of the UN Mission in the country who said it “may amount to war crimes.”


The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) denounced the attack in Gardez city, about 50 miles south of Kabul, when two suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests.

“This attack targeting civilians has no possible justification,” said UNAMA chief, Tadamichi Yamamoto, who also serves as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan. “Those who are responsible for enabling this attack must be brought to justice and held to account.”

According to news reports, the Taliban has denied any links to the attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility, but militants linked to the ISIL terrorist group, also known as Da’esh, have carried out similar attacks against Shiites in the past.


These brutal and senseless attacks against people at prayer are atrocities – UNAMA chief Tadamichi Yamamoto

“These brutal and senseless attacks against people at prayer are atrocities,” said Mr. Yamamoto.

International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian property, including places of worship. It also commits warring parties to allow religious leaders to serve their communities without fear of attack.

“Such attacks directed against congregations and places of worship are serious violations of international law that may amount to war crimes,” he stressed.

UNAMA expressed its condolences to the loved ones of those killed and wished the injured a full and speedy recovery.

The latest terrorist assault comes on the heels of a suicide attack and hostage-taking at a government building on Wednesday, in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

According to mid-July figures from UNAMA, 1,692 civilians had been killed and another 3,430 injured in the first six months of the year. This sets a record high for the first six months of any year, despite an unprecedented days-long ceasefire between the Government and Taliban extremists in mid-June.https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/08/1016352

Wellness Pilipinas International: UN chief welcomes new law giving extra autonomy to...

UN chief welcomes new law giving extra autonomy to Muslims in Southern Philippines

27 July 2018

 

Peace and Security

The UN Secretary-General on Friday welcomed a new law which grants extra autonomy to Muslim communities living in the Southern Philippines, describing it as a “landmark achievement on the road to lasting peace”.

Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, signed the new legislation, formally known as the Organic Law for Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on Thursday, raising hopes that years of separatist violence involving central Government troops and militants from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, can be brought to an end.

“The Secretary-General congratulates negotiators for the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Bicameral Conference Committee, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission and civil society groups for their efforts,” said the UN chief, in a statement issued by his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.

According to news reports, the long-anticipated new autonomy came four years after the Government signed a peace deal with the separatist group, which dropped its bid for full independence, seeking instead a new deal over self-rule.

The Front began its uprising in 1978, marking a period of violent confrontation which left around 120,000 dead. The new expanded autonomous region in the south, will be led initially by a transitional authority, before being run by a new parliamentary body, say reports.

The statement from the UN chief said that the UN “will continue to support the Philippines in the implementation of the law, and to help build the capacity of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority as an effective conduit for peace, democratic governance, and human rights”.Wellness Pilipinas International: UN chief welcomes new law giving extra autonomy to...: 27 July 2018 Peace and Security The  UN Secretary-General  on Friday welcomed a new law which grants extra autonomy to Musl...

PRAY FOR SYRIA for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and sparing them the brunt of violence and conflict wherever they are

26 July 2018
Peace and SecurityThe United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, has strongly condemned multiple suicide bombings on Wednesday in the government-held town of Sweida, in Syria’s south-west, which killed and injured scores of civilians.According to news reports, the attacks were claimed by the terrorist group ISIL, or Da’esh, which has been defending territory in the region from a major government offensive.

“He is appalled by the utter disregard for human life displayed by ISIL,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, stressing that “those responsible for the attacks must be held accountable”.

The Secretary-General extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and wishes the injured a speedy recovery.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the region, Ali al-Za’tari called for better “protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and sparing them the brunt of violence and conflict wherever they are” in the war-torn country.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy for Syria who is attempting to bring the warring parties to the negotiation table, briefed the Security Council on Wednesday behind closed doors from Geneva, on the latest political and humanitarian situation.


news source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1015582

PRAY FOR PAKISTAN as suicide attack killed dozens near polling station

The suicide bombing that killed at least 31 people and injured another 70 was claimed by the ISIL, or Da’esh terrorist group, according to news reports. The country has been witnessing outbursts of violence across the country in the lead-up to Wednesday’s parliamentary and provincial assembly elections.

The elections mark only the second time that one civilian government has handed on power to the other, after serving a full term in office.

“The Secretary-General condemns the suicide attack at a polling station in Quetta claimed by Da’esh,” said Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a statement. “He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Pakistan.”


Despite the violence, news outlets reported that millions of Pakistanis showed up to cast their vote. The 85,000 polling stations closed on Wednesday by 7 pm, local time.

The UN Spokesperson stressed that “the United Nations stands in solidarity with, and supports the efforts of the Government of Pakistan, in the fight against terrorism.”

The President of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajčák, also condemned the attack, which he called “despicable”.

The suicide bombing in Quetta followed on from a series of terrorist attacks earlier in the month, including one in Mastung, in which 153 people lost their lives.

news source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1015542

PRAY FOR NICARAGUA to end killing of demonstrators and seek a political solution

The United Nations Secretary-General has called on the Nicaraguan Government to end violence against demonstrators which has cost an estimated 280 lives, and begin a national “political dialogue” to end the crisis which has gripped the country for nearly three months.

Speaking in neighbouring Costa Rica on Monday night, António Guterres said that it was “an essential responsibility of the State to protect its citizens, and this basic principle cannot be forgotten, especially when, unfortunately, we have a death toll that is absolutely shocking.”

At least 12 people were killed over the weekend, mostly as police and paramilitary supporters of the government confronted demonstrators who have been protesting proposed reforms to the pension system across the country, since 18 April. Protesters are demanding that the long-serving President, Daniel Ortega, step down.

The UN chief told reporters on Monday that “it is essential that violence must stop immediately and that the political dialogue, the national dialogue, be revitalized because only a political solution is acceptable for Nicaragua.”

Mr. Guterres said that he was “not a supporter of simplistic analysis of complex problems, but there is one thing that is obvious: there is a death toll that is shocking due to the use of force on the part of entities linked to the State, that is not acceptable.”

His words were amplified by the UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Tuesday in Geneva, where spokesperson Rupert Colville noted the “increasing climate of fear and mistrust” in the country and called for protesters’ safety to be guaranteed, along with their right to freedom of expression.

“The appalling loss of life must stop – now,” he said. “The violence is all more horrific as armed elements loyal to the government are operating with the active or tacit support of the police and other state authorities.”

Protesters in Managua take part in a march to demand an end to violence in Nicaragua.

Of those who lost their lives protesting at the weekend, two died when shots were fired at the Divina Misericordia Church in the capital, Managua, where student demonstrators had sought refuge after the university they had been occupying came under attack. 

Of those killed in the demonstrations to date, at least 19 were police officers, Mr. Colville said, adding that the police, along with pro-State armed groups, have forcibly removed barricades erected by demonstrators and communities in so-called “clean-up operations”.

Amid reports that demonstrators have been subject to numerous rights violations including torture and extrajudicial killings, the OHCHR spokesperson said there are growing concerns that violence will intensify as Nicaragua prepares to mark Liberation Day on Thursday, 19 July – the date marking the overthrow of the Somoza regime in 1979 by the Sandinistas.

“We are expressing the concern that it could get worse,” Mr Colville said, explaining that the initial spark for the demonstrations was proposed pension reforms which evolved into wider discontent at President Daniel Ortega’s Government.

Dismissing Government claims that the demonstrators were intent on regime change, the OHCHR spokesperson added that there was “no united opposition” and “no armed opposition”.

“It’s certainly not an insurrection at this point,” he added, “even though those accusations are being made by the authorities”.

Loosely worded anti-terror legislation passed on Monday by Congress also represented a potentially worrying threat to freedom of expression, Mr. Colville insisted.

He pointed to the “very loose wording” of Article 394 and its definition of a terrorist as someone who causes death or injuries or destroys public or private property.

“It’s this very loose wording which lays itself open to interpretation which could include people who are simply exercising their right to protest,” the OHCHR spokesperson said.

There are also concerns that human rights defenders have been subject to enforced disappearance, including Medardo Maireno and Pedro Mena.

According to OHCHR, police detained them on Friday at Managua airport and their families have not been told where they are, despite judicial requests.https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1014892

PRAY FOR HAMAS and ISRAEL to ‘step back from the brink of another devastating conflict’ in Gaza

Voicing deep concern over the latest flare-up of violence around Gaza, the United Nations chief on Saturday urged all sides to “step back from the brink of another devastating conflict”.

“I am gravely concerned over the dangerous escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel,” said Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement.

“I deeply regret the loss of life. It is imperative that all sides urgently step back from the brink of another devastating conflict”, he added.

On 30 March this year, Palestinians in Gaza – controlled by Hamas, a militant Palestinian faction – started a mass protest against a blockade of the enclave imposed by Israel since the early 1990’s. The confrontation between the sides has since escalated.

On Friday, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli soldier and the Israeli military launched dozens of strikes that killed three Hamas fighters, according to media reports. A fourth Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire during a protest near the border.

In the statement, Mr. Guterres called on Hamas and other Palestinian militants in Gaza to cease the launching of rockets and incendiary kites and provocations along the enclave’s border fence. He also said Israel must exercise restraint to avoid further inflaming the situation.

“Any further escalation will endanger the lives of Palestinians and Israelis alike, deepen the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and undermine current efforts to improve livelihoods and support the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza,” he said.

The Secretary-General also encouraged all to engage with the UN, and particularly his Special Coordinator, Nickolay Mladenov, and work to find “a way out of this dangerous situation”. https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1015302

PRAY FOR YEMEN: Civilian casualties and mass displacements continue to mount amidst intense fighting. Hudaydah – the primary gateway for food and humanitarian aid for a population on the verge of starvation

“The situation is very bad and we’re doing our best to provide them with temporary shelter and support for the time being,” said Stefano Pes, IOM Yemen’s Officer in Charge, noting that agency staff and partners are working in a difficult environment to deliver food, and non-food items, shelter kits and good quality tents.

Hudaydah – the primary gateway for food and humanitarian aid for a population on the verge of starvation – has been racked by fighting between Houthi rebels, who control the port, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

Civilian casualties and mass displacements continue to mount amidst intense fighting that began on 12 June.

It has caused further damage to public services which are stretched to the limit, affecting water supplies, forcing shops to close and resulting in shortages in essential commodities. This has complicated the delivery of humanitarian assistance and resulted in the closure of a temporary feeding centre in Zabid.

The fortunate few who are able to leave, are traveling to the relative safely of Sana’a, Aden and Thamar but the majority of the population have already exhausted their reserves, forcing them to seek protection wherever they can, said the agency.

About 50 IOM staff are working in various locations to assist migrants and an estimated 50,000 newly displaced Yemenis in Hudaydah. IOM has also provided 7,830 meals to children in three Hudaydah schools.

The crisis in Yemen has its genesis in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which swept across the country amid ongoing rebel insurgency. Although anti-Government protests led to the ouster of the then President, the transfer of power to Mr. Hadi, his deputy, led to further instability and conflict.

Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/07/1015172

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines May 1-13, 2018 from UN News Center

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines May 1-13, 2018 from UN News Center: LATEST NEWS UNAMI PIO Iraqis vote in first election since ISIL defeat; UN chief hails polls as progress on path to stronger dem...

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines April 1-30. 2018 from UN News Center

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines April 1-30. 2018 from UN News Center: With message for freedom, jazz beat heard around the world – UNESCO 30 April 2018 Culture and Education Jazz speaks to people from ...

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines March 1-30, 2018 from UN News Center

PEACE VIGIL: UN Headlines March 1-30, 2018 from UN News Center:   UN Headlines March 1-30, 2018 from UN News Center. click link to read full story: UN chief calls for probe into deadly clashes al...

#PrayforPeace #GreekIslands: Women and children threatened by sexual violence at refugee reception centres

Asylum seekers are reporting sexual harassment and violence at some sub-standard reception centres on Greek islands – where even bathing during the daytime can be dangerous – despite Government measures to address the dire living conditions, the United Nations refugee agency

“In 2017, UNHCR [the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] received reports from 622 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence on the Greek Aegean islands, out of which at least 28 per cent experienced [such violence] after arriving in Greece,” UNHCR spokesperson Cécile Pouilly said Friday at the regular press briefing in Geneva.

Women reported inappropriate behaviour, sexual harassment and attempted sexual attacks as the most common forms of such violence.

“The situation is particularly worrying in the Reception and Identification Centres (RIC) of Moria (Lesvos) and Vathy (Samos), where thousands of refugees continue to stay in unsuitable shelter with inadequate security,” she added.

Some 5,500 people are in these centres, which is double their intended capacity. Reports of sexual harassment in Moria are particularly high.

“In these two centres,” Ms. Pouilly continued, “bathrooms and latrines are no-go zones after dark for women or children, unless they are accompanied. Even bathing during daytime can be dangerous. In Moria, one woman told our teams that she had not taken a shower in two months from fear.”

Identifying and helping survivors is hampered by a reluctance to report assaults out of discrimination concerns, stigma and retaliation, helplessness and insufficient trust to open up – including to UNHCR and medical and mental health experts from national services. Therefore, the actual number of incidents is likely to be higher than reported.

Over the past weeks, the authorities have accelerated transfers to the mainland, slightly reducing overcrowding, but crowded conditions continue to hinder outreach and prevention activities.

“Insecurity is another problem,” the spokesperson stressed. “Although there are police patrols, these remain insufficient, particularly at night, and don’t cover extended areas adjacent to the RICs, where people stay in tents without any security presence.”

Conditions are also building frustration among people, leading to a difficult and tense security environment, further raising the risk of sexual and gender-based violence.

While UNHCR welcomes Government measures to reduce the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, further steps must be taken to protect those in reception centres, including children, women and men.

Ms. Pouilly listed the steps, which involved gender separation – including separate shelters and secure and well-lit wash areas; improved conditions and services; greater police presence – with additional policewomen; more lighting in public areas; increased mainland transfers to ease overcrowding; additional staff dedicated to deal with the issue; and enhanced awareness-raising activities.

Exposure to sexual and gender-based violence worsens the already precarious experience of those fleeing war-torn countries and crossing sometimes dangerous territory to reach a safe haven.

“UNHCR will continue to work with and remains ready to support the Government to strengthen its operational response and build capacity, to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and to identify and refer survivors of [such violence] to appropriate services and shelters,” Ms. Pouilly concluded.

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58560#.Wn-wV7ynFH0

#Pray4Peace: #Yemen Raging violence displaces more than 85,000 civilians

Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million in need, fuelled by ongoing conflict, a breakdown in public services and a collapsing economy.

“We are particularly concerned for those that remain in areas close to hostilities in Taiz and Hudaydah governorates,” said Cécile Pouilly, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.

“As a result of prolonged fighting in those two governorates, conditions continue to deteriorate, exposing people to violence and disease without access to basic services,” she added, noting that the agency was “alarmed” as hundreds of people are forced to flee their homes each day, due to increasing military operations, particularly on the west coast.

Most of those displaced in these two governorates are trapped inside their homes or in caves as ground clashes, aerial bombardment and sniper fire rage around them.

In addition to new displacements from those fleeing the coast, UNHCR is also observing a spike from other frontline areas, including Yemen’s border governorates.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched an appeal for $96.2 million to fund its 2018 response for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

“Three years of conflict have inflicted suffering on millions, affecting every Yemeni – man, woman or child,” said William Lacy Swing, the UN migration agency’s Director General, from its headquarters in Geneva.

“With armed conflict ongoing, a stalled peace process and an economic blockade, Yemen is in the grips of a devastating protracted humanitarian and developmental crisis,” he added.

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58564#.Wn-tDbynFH0

Surging violence across Yemen has resulted in the displacement of more than 85,000 people in just the last 10 weeks, the United Nations refugee agency reported Friday.

Work for peace - Pope Francis 2018 Message

Pope Francis offered his reflections on paring down non-essentials as he celebrated New Year's Day Mass Monday in St. Peter's Basilica and later greeted some 40,000 people in St. Peter's Square.

His advice included setting aside a moment of silence daily to be with God. Doing so would help "keep our freedom from being corroded by the banality of consumerism, the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting," Francis said.

"At the beginning of the year, we too, as Christians on our pilgrim way, feel the need to set out anew from the center, to leave behind the burdens of the past and to start over from the things that really matter," he said.

The Catholic church designates Jan. 1 as World Peace Day, and in his comments after Mass to the crowd in the square outside the basilica, Francis noted that this year's focus of the day was the search for peace by migrants and refugees.

"I desire, yet again, to speak for these our brothers and sisters who invoke for their future a horizon of peace," Francis said. "For this peace, which is the right of everyone, many of them are willing to risk their life in a voyage that is in the great majority of cases long and dangerous, willing to face hardships and suffering," the pontiff said.

In the past few years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed the Mediterranean from northern Africa in human traffickers' unseaworthy boats, desperate to reach European shores. The pope's foreign travels in 2017 included a voyage to Myanmar and Bangladesh, where the suffering of minority Rohingya Muslims, who have fled from the first country to take refuge in the second, was a central concern of his pilgrimage.

Francis in his appeal Monday said of refugees and migrants: "Let us not extinguish the hope in their hearts. Let us not suffocate their expectations for peace." He called for all to make commitments "to assure the refugees, the migrants, everyone, a future of peace."

The pope then prayed that people "work in this new year with generosity to realize a world that is more united and welcoming."

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Frances D'Emilio is on twitter at www.twitter.com/fdemilio

Source: AP 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-2018-forget-lifes-useless-baggage-empty-chatter-103053543.html

Pope on 2018: forget life's useless baggage, work for peace