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Tag: UN

  • UN: over one million Nigerians still in slavery

    The United Nations (UN) said yesterday that over one million Nigerians were victims of human trafficking and forms of contemporary slavery, including forced marriage.

    The UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Maria Giammarinaro, who spoke at a media parley where she shared the manifestation of human trafficking and challenges in the country, said lack of availability of Nigeria’s wealthy GDP per capita and abundant resources to the common citizen was one of the factors that promoted migration, hence it increased the risk of trafficking.

    She listed displacement, economic and gender inequality, toxic traditional beliefs and practices, poverty and unemployment as causes of human trafficking and the migration that led to it.

    “Nigeria is also Africa’s largest oil producer and ranks sixth in the world, with 2.5 million of oil produced every day.

    “Yet, as per the National Bureau of Statistics, 64 per cent of Nigerians live below the poverty line and trafficking in persons continues unabated.

    “With the wealth and political leverage it has been generating, the government cannot be seen to leave its people behind.”

    Giammarinaro urged the Federal Government and non-government organisations (NGOs) to develop strategies to combat trafficking and also implement and enforce the anti-trafficking laws already in place.

    “Enslaved children have been forced to commit or participate in atrocities. The fate of the abducted girls by Boko Haram is still uncertain.

    “The victims of human trafficking are in need of severe and rigorous counselling.

    “I advise the government to redouble their efforts because what has been done is not enough.

    “We suggest that the government should establish dedicated trust fund for the victims of human trafficking in order for them to start business with or gainful activity, and to fund the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons’ activities, counselling for the survivors, and establish real shelters.

    “It is important that girls have the opportunities to explore other options than those traditionally mandated for women; in dressing, food and business opportunities.”

  • ‘How Nigeria, others can meet UN target’

    Nigeria and other African countries must attract private sector investment into the dynamic African food industry, if they must effectively tackle malnutrition, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an international organisation founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has said.

    GAIN, which is driven by the mission of a world without malnutrition, said engaging the private sector was key to addressing the “persistently high” malnutrition indicators.

    “Nutrition-sensitive capital investments along the entire food value chain are critical to drive better availability, access, affordability and finally, consumption of nutritious foods,” it said.

    GAIN, in a statement said the need for increased private sector investment was necessary in view of the fact that “No African country is expected to reach the United Nations (UN) target of ending childhood malnutrition by 2030.”

    The UN launched the “Zero Hunger Challenge” in 2012. The Zero Hunger vision reflects five elements from within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which taken together, can end hunger, eliminate all forms of malnutrition, and build inclusive and sustainable food systems.

    To help Nigeria and other African countries meet this goal, GAIN said it has concluded arrangements to host the first-ever Nutrition Africa Investor Forum (NAIF) in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 16-17, to invite and engage private sector investors to play a key role in improving nutrition across Africa.

    Its Executive Director, Lawrence Haddad, said the event would be hosted with Royal DSM, a global science-based company in nutrition, health and sustainable living recognised for its global fight against malnutrition, the SUN Business Network and African Business magazine.

    He said the NAIF will highlight business opportunities in a largely underdeveloped market. “From farm to fork, nutrient gaps in diets within low and middle-income markets constitute a largely untapped market worth $120 billion.”

  • Boko Haram: UN, others target six million people for aid

    The United Nations (UN) plans to provide assistance to no fewer than 6.1 million people affected by the Boko Haram crisis in Northeast by the end of this year, according to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Edward Kallon.
    He said at a conference in New York on ‘Strengthening the Humanitarian and Development Partnership in the Lake Chad Region’ that 10.3 million people are currently facing a crisis of global magnitude in three states in the Northeast. Of this fugure, 7.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, he added.
    According to him, “Our 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan was developed to provide assistance for 6.1 million people requiring slightly above a billion dollars in 2018.
    “Before October 2016, the Nigerian Government and the international community were barely reaching 395,000 people of an estimated population of eight million people that were affected by the crisis.
    “With your generous support and support of the Government of Nigeria, we were able to scale up assistance in 2017 and reached over 5.6 million people.
    “It’s not only reaching these numbers that was important but that we were able to avert famine; we were able to contain serious cholera outbreak and we were able to address recurrent outflows and inflows of displaced people in the country.”
    The UN official expressed regret that about 1.7 million people were displaced in the area but was optimistic that there was also an opportunity and light at the end of the tunnel.
    According to him, as some areas become safe, people are also returning, adding that from 2015 to date, no fewer than 1.4 million people have returned to safe areas.
    Kallon, however, expressed concerns that some of the returnees were being displaced the second or third time because they needed basic services to reach their final destination, calling for donors’ support.
    The UN head said: “The call, which we echoed through Oslo-1 and through the United Nations Security Council Mission, is that we need a holistic approach to this crisis.
    “We cannot address this crisis with humanitarian response alone. The root causes of this crisis are developmental in Northeast Nigeria.
    “We are talking about serious concerns of poverty, poverty that is multi-dimension in nature as we speak these days.
    “We’re talking about climate vulnerabilities that is compounding the impacts of the crisis. Hunger and conflict are feeding on each and all that in a vicious cycle in the Lake Chad Basin.”
    According to him, there is no peace without development, no development without peace and no peace and development without strong institutions.
    Kallon told donors and partners that they could save lives in the short-term but must invest in building capacities so that governments could respond and take over their responsibilities.
    “Nigeria is a guinea-pig in the new way of working and also the whole nexus debate. It’s not one of the easiest debates but if it has to happen, it has to happen in Nigeria.
    “Nigeria’s representative talked about The Buhari Plan, which was developed at the backdrop of a recovery and peace building assessment that was done by all key stakeholders – UN, the World Bank, donors and the government,
    “It is costed and requiring about $6.7 billion to actually bring peace, security in northeast Nigeria, and most of the international financial institutions have started investing.
    “We are pushing the agenda hard but the durable solution to the crisis in the Northeast is peace and for peace to happen, there is need for a political process,” Kallon said.
    Participants at the conference included humanitarian coordinators from Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, and donor countries including Governments of Norway, UK, Canada, the EU, the Netherlands and the U.S., the largest donor.
    They underscored the importance of the Berlin conference holding from Sept. 3 to Sept. 4, and Oslo 2 Conference, to address not only the causes but the consequences of the situation in the Lake Chad region.

  • African Migrants rejected by Italy were tortured, raped – UN

    African migrants rejected by Italy in a standoff with the European Union on Aug. 15, said they had been held by smugglers for up to two years in Libya and many had been beaten, tortured and raped, the UN said on Tuesday.

    The 150 migrants, mainly Eritreans and Somalis, were rescued in the Mediterranean but waited 10 days while
    Italy’s anti-immigrant government refused to let them disembark, until Ireland, Albania and the Vatican
    agreed to accept them.

    A further 27 unaccompanied minors and 13 people needing urgent hospital treatment had earlier been allowed ashore in Italy, whose government had threatened to cut funds to the European Union unless other states took in the migrants.

    The UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said its staff had gathered testimony from the migrants.

    All were malnourished and exhausted and said they had been held against their will in Libya for up to two years, IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a UN briefing in Geneva.

    “In Libya they complained that many had been beaten and tortured by smugglers and traffickers seeking ransom money from their families in their countries of origin,” he said.

    “Italian doctors who attended all the women … reported that many of them said they had been raped while in Libya.”

    He said IOM believed thousands of migrants were still being detained – held in safehouses or warehoused, but getting people to the shore had recently become more difficult because of violence in the west of the country.

    A drop in the value of the Libyan dinar had also made it more difficult for sub-Saharan Africans hoping to earn enough in Libya to fund their sea voyage to Europe, prompting the smugglers to look for other nationalities with more resources.

    Italian Interior Minister Salvini, who has led a popular crackdown against immigration since his government took office in June, has said he was under investigation by a Sicilian prosecutor for abuse of office, kidnapping and illegal arrest over the migrant standoff.

  • World leaders meet to discuss water crisis

    World leaders, water, development experts, among other stakeholders are converging on Stockholm, Sweden, to find new, nature-based solutions to meet escalating global water crisis.

    In a statement by Ms. Jens Berggren, Communications Director, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) the event would be a wake-up call on the challenges that climate change, economic and population growth, and increasingly unpredictable weather and water patterns impose on global water security.

    The 2018 World Water Week will be held from Aug. 26 to 31, under the theme: `Water, Ecosystems and Human Development’, an issue of particular relevance given the past year’s many extreme weather events.

    Berggren stated that the event would be a wake-up call on the challenges that climate change, economic and population growth, and increasingly unpredictable weather and water patterns impose on global water security.

    “The UN expects that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will suffer from water scarcity, recent weather-related events also underline the critical role ecosystems play for human well-being and existence.

    “Nature-based solutions as effective tools for human development will also be a focus of this year’s theme,’’ she said.

    She added that no fewer than 3,300 participants from more than 130 countries will be attending the World Water Week, representing governments, private sector, multilateral organisations, civil society and academia.

    Speakers at the opening session  on Aug. 27 include Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General United Nations, and the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize Laureates Professors Mark van Loosdrecht and Bruce Rittmann.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SIWI is an international water institute working to solve global water challenges by improving how water is used and managed.

    According to Berggren, group influences decision-makers, facilitates dialogue and builds knowledge in water issues, thereby contributing to a just, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

    NAN also reports that SIWI organises the world’s most important annual water and development meeting, World Water Week, and it awards the Stockholm Water Prize and Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

    The World Water Week brings together more than 3,500 participants from more than 130 countries representing governments, private sector, multilateral organizations, civil society and academia to shape joint solutions to global water challenges.

  • UN remembers Kofi Annan

    The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres and staff members, remembered former Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, describing him as a leader who put people at the centre of the UN work.

    During a wreath-laying ceremony in New York, Guterres led staff members in paying respects to Annan, whom they described as the embodiment of the intergovernmental organisation that worked to improve the lives of men and women worldwide.

    Kofi Annan died on Saturday at the age of 80 in Switzerland.

    Annan, a mild-mannered diplomat from Ghana, rose through the UN system to become its seventh leader in January 1997, serving two consecutive five-year terms till December 2006.

    “Kofi Annan’s years in office were an exciting time. He put forward new ideas. He brought new people into the United Nations family. He spoke passionately about our mission and role.

    “He created a renewed sense of possibility both inside and outside our organisation about what the UN could do and be for the world’s people.

    “His most defining features were his humanity and solidarity with those in need.

    “He put people at the centre of the work of the United Nations, and was able to turn compassion into action across the UN system,’’ Guterres said.

    He listed some of the actions Annan took to include uniting world leaders to agree global targets on poverty and child mortality – linchpins of the landmark Millennium Development Goals.

    “The former UN chief also joined with civil society and the healthcare injury to save lives from HIV and AIDS.

    “As his successor noted, Annan also did not shy away from addressing challenging issues.

    “Annan faced up to the grave errors made by the United Nations in the 1990s – in its response to the Rwanda genocide and the Srebrenica killings – by shining a light inside the UN.

    “The reports he commissioned aimed to make sure such terrible mistakes are never repeated, and set the international community on a new course in its response to mass atrocities,” Guterres said.

    Guterres stated that the passing of his predecessor was “a personal loss’’ for many who worked in the UN system.

    While the UN flag outside headquarters was flown at half-mast for three days following the announcement of Annan’s death, staff members have been filling a book of condolences with expressions of sympathy to his wife, Nane, and family.

    Many UN personnel also have been sharing their memories of a man who they described as “wise yet humble, courteous and charming’’.

  • UN remembers Kofi Annan

    The Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres and staff members, remembered former Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, describing him as a leader who put people at the centre of the UN work.

    During a wreath-laying ceremony in New York, Guterres led staff members in paying respects to Annan, whom they described as the embodiment of the intergovernmental organisation that worked to improve the lives of men and women worldwide.

    Kofi Annan died on Saturday at the age of 80 in Switzerland.

    Annan, a mild-mannered diplomat from Ghana, rose through the UN system to become its seventh leader in January 1997, serving two consecutive five-year terms till December 2006.

    “Kofi Annan’s years in office were an exciting time. He put forward new ideas. He brought new people into the United Nations family. He spoke passionately about our mission and role.

    “He created a renewed sense of possibility both inside and outside our organisation about what the UN could do and be for the world’s people.

    “His most defining features were his humanity and solidarity with those in need.

    “He put people at the centre of the work of the United Nations, and was able to turn compassion into action across the UN system,’’ Guterres said.

    He listed some of the actions Annan took to include uniting world leaders to agree global targets on poverty and child mortality – linchpins of the landmark Millennium Development Goals.

    “The former UN chief also joined with civil society and the healthcare injury to save lives from HIV and AIDS.

    “As his successor noted, Annan also did not shy away from addressing challenging issues.

    “Annan faced up to the grave errors made by the United Nations in the 1990s – in its response to the Rwanda genocide and the Srebrenica killings – by shining a light inside the UN.

    “The reports he commissioned aimed to make sure such terrible mistakes are never repeated, and set the international community on a new course in its response to mass atrocities,” Guterres said.

    Guterres stated that the passing of his predecessor was “a personal loss’’ for many who worked in the UN system.

    While the UN flag outside headquarters was flown at half-mast for three days following the announcement of Annan’s death, staff members have been filling a book of condolences with expressions of sympathy to his wife, Nane, and family.

    Many UN personnel also have been sharing their memories of a man who they described as “wise yet humble, courteous and charming’’.

    NAN

  • UN, Buhari, other world leaders mourn Kofi Annan

    •Ex-UN Secretary General dies at 80
    •Ghana declares a week of mourning

    The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres,  yesterday opened the floodgates of tribute for one of his predecessors, Kofi Annan who died yesterday  in Geneva, Switzerland.

    Guterres described Annan, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 2001, as a guiding force for good.

    President Muhammadu Buhari telephoned President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Annan’s home country, to express his condolences.

    Buhari said    all Nigerians and ECOWAS member countries share in the deep loss, considering the strategic influence of the former scribe in global affairs and his vision for the repositioning of the West Coast and Africa.

    He said that the deceased, though the first elected staff of the United Nations to lead the world organisation and the  first African to win the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the United Nations, was an epitome of humility.

    He said Annan’s nobility and love for humanity set him apart for global greatness, achieving recognition and commendation for the reform of the United Nations’ bureaucracy and multiple interventions to bring peace to the world.

    In his tribute, Ambassador Dapo Fafowora, described the death as “Very sad news.  I met him several times in Geneva and New York before his election in 1993 as UNSG. He was physically and mentally impressive.  He will go down in history as Africa’s most outstanding public servant.”

    Guterres in his tribute said: “it is with profound sadness that I learned of his passing. In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations. He rose through the ranks to lead the organisation into the new millennium with matchless dignity and determination.

    “Like so many, I was proud to call Kofi Annan a good friend and mentor. I was deeply honoured by his trust in selecting me to serve as UN High Commissioner for Refugees under his leadership.

    “He remained someone I could always turn to for counsel and wisdom — and I know I was not alone. He provided people everywhere with a space for dialogue, a place for problem-solving and a path to a better world.

    “In these turbulent and trying times, he never stopped working to give life to the values of the United Nations Charter. His legacy will remain a true inspiration for all of us.

    “My heartfelt condolences to Nane Annan, their beloved family, and all who mourn the loss of this proud son of Africa who became a global champion for peace and all humanity.”

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said he “sincerely admired his wisdom and courage, his ability to make informed decisions even in the most complex, critical situations. His memory will live forever in the hearts of Russians.”

    Putin said he was “fortunate” to be in personal contact with Annan while he was leading the United Nations between 1997 and 2006.

    “For many years the life of this remarkable man and great politician was devoted to the service of the United Nations,” he said.

    “He led the UN in a difficult period… strengthening its central role in world affairs, building the UN’s peacekeeping capacity and resolving a number of regional conflicts.”

    Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also expressed shock over the death of Annan and said on twitter that “he was a good friend whom I saw only weeks ago.”

    Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, described him as “a great man, a dear brother.”

    New leader of Amnesty International, Kumi Naidoo, said: “he was warm, compassionate and intelligent, exuding dignity and grace.”

    For Filippo Grandi, UN refugee Chief, Annan was “international leader, wise mentor, valuable adviser, good friend and role model.”

    “We at UNHCR and millions of others around the world will miss him very much.”

    The Elders, an elite group of former leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, said  they are “shocked and deeply saddened” by the death of their colleague and chairman Kofi Annan at age 80 after a short illness.

    In a statement, The Elders called the former UN secretary-general “a voice of great authority and wisdom in public and private.”

    The group said Annan’s most recent work was in visits to South Africa and Zimbabwe, where the country was preparing for a historic presidential election.

    “His quiet advice on how best to defuse impending crises was in constant demand from all corners of the globe, in particular from Africa,” Gro Harlem Brundtland, The Elders Deputy Chairman said.

    Annan’s death was announced yesterday by his Foundation. He died after a brief illness, it said.

    The Ghanaian was the second African to head the UN after Egyptian Boutrous Boutrous Ghali, who was in charge between January 1992 to December 1996.

    His tenure as UN secretary-general coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.

    After serving for 10 years at UN, Annan served as the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

    Kofi Annan described his greatest achievement as the Millennium Development Goals which – for the first time – set global targets on issues such as poverty and child mortality.

    Annan mediated in the dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi peninsula.

    Annan was born in Kumasi Ghana on April 8, 1938. After studying at Kwame Nkrumah University, he went on to study economics at Macalester College, international relations from the Graduate Institute Geneva and management at MIT.

    He joined the UN in 1962, working for the World Health Organisation’s Geneva office. He went on to work in several capacities at the UN Headquarters including serving as the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping between March 1992 and December 1996.

    He was the first UN Secretary General to be appointed from within the organisation’s bureaucracy.

    His first marriage was to Nigerian Titi Alakija, from 1965 to 1983. After the marriage collapsed, he married Nane Maria Lagergren in 1984.

    He is survived by his wife, Nane and three children, Kojo, Ama and Nina.

  • UN demands release of three aid workers abducted by B/Haram

    The United Nations (UN) yesterday  demanded the immediate release of three aid workers abducted while providing humanitarian support at Rann, Kalabalge Local Government Area of Borno State.

    The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, during a courtesy call on Governor  Kashim Shettima in Maiduguri  said the aid workers were abducted while providing medical outreach to persons displaced by Boko Haram.

    He added: “a member of NEMA was killed in Damasak last week. These fatalities are a stark reminder of this dangerous reality for all humanitarians.’’

    Kallon urged parties to the conflict to enable the work of humanitarian workers facilitate their access to people in need, in line with the international humanitarian law.

    Besides, he urged the government of Nigeria to protect humanitarian workers providing services for persons affected by conflicts.

    Rann, a village of about 150km west of Maiduguri, camping Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), came under attack in March this year by suspected Boko Haram insurgents.

    The insurgents reportedly killed some security personnel and abducted some aid workers.

  • Ambassador hails Buhari for signing ‘Not-Too-Young-To-Run’ bill

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Justice Sylvanus Nsofor (rtd) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for not excluding his office in signing the ‘Not-Too-Young-to-Run’ bill into law.

    Nsofor, who gave the commendation as a guest speaker at the 2018 International Young Leaders Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, said the youth made up 75 per cent of Nigeria’s population.

    The News Agency of Nigeria  reports that Buhari signed the bill into law in May following its passage by the National Assembly in 2017.

    “Pursuant to the desideratum, President Muhammadu Buhari of The Federal Republic of Nigeria promulgated into law, on the May 31, 2018, ‘Not Too Young to Run Bill’ thereby reducing the age qualification for elective offices or positions but not excepting his position or office,” he said.

    He said based on the Nigerian Census, 2006, the youth population constituted 70 per cent adding, the world population of youth constitutes 25 per cent.

    The Nigerian envoy said the youth of a nation were the “trustees of posterity” and the the “world changers”.

    Nsofor said: “’The youths of today are the leaders of tomorrow’. But I make haste to add, the youths are also ‘partakers of today’.

    “The youth of or in any society or nation play vital and very important roles in shaping its moral tune, fostering the social cohesion, economic prosperity and its political stability.

    “They provide the needed goods and services. I choose to dwell on the ‘Role of Young People in National Development’.

    “The youth – its leadership – cannot and should not be left out in the national or international scheme of things. Indeed, this is an aphorism. They are the world changers. But why?

    “Because only and only because the development of any society or its morality essentially depends on its productive and creative youths (or its leadership). And this, I may say is a ‘sine qua non’”.

    He noted that we could not always build the future for the youth but we could always build the youth for our future by instructing them at childhood in the way they should go and when they grow old, they would not leave it.

    Read Also: Rejected child migrants face worse situation on return – UNICEF

    Noting the theme of the conference, ‘Moral and Innovative Leadership for Peace and Development’, Nsofor said Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote represented a perfect illustration.

    “This Nigerian of whom all are proud, at the early age of 20 years started a small business firm.

    “And today the Dangote Group of Companies of which Alhaji Aliko Dangote is the Chief Executive Officer is the famous successor of that small business firm,” he said.

    He admonished the youth to channel their energy and power, their noble thoughts and ideas into productive, moral, and lawful ventures to contribute meaningfully to the national or international growth, development and economy.

    The Nigerian envoy also urged them to be law abiding adding, “the top and bottom of all the admonition is ‘peace’”.

    Sections 65, 106, 131, 177 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that the president has to be at least 40, while senators and state governors have to be aged 35 or above.

    The new law, however, reduced the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 35, and state governors and senators from 35 to 30, while the age limit for state assembly is 25.