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Tag: UN

  • AU, UN, ECOWAS back govt

    The the United Nations (UN),  the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the weekend “unequivocally condemned and deplored” the Boko Haram terrorists ambush in Maiduguri on July 25 against a convoy of Personnel of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) accompanied by geologists, under military escort. Different sources revealed that around 50 persons were killed during the attack.

    In a joint statement, the international agencies reaffirmed “their support to the people and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in their implacable struggle against terrorism.

    “The AU, UN, and ECOWAS reiterate their support to all ECOWAS states to fight against terrorism, by encouraging them to implement the ECOWAS counter-terrorism strategy aimed at eradicating this menace in the region.

    “The AU, UN, and ECOWAS sincerely wish the injured a swift recovery and express their deepest condolences to the victims and their families, as well as to the people and Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

  • UN condemns Borno suicide attacks

    UN condemns Borno suicide attacks

    The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Tuesday condemned Monday’s suicide attacks on two Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    A statement issued by Guterres deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, said the UN scribe expressed concern over the terror acts.

    The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday confirmed the death of four persons after suicide bombers attacked IDPs camps  in Maiduguri.

    The agency said 15 other IDPs were wounded when a male suicide bomber infiltrated one of the camps and detonated the explosive strapped to his body

    It said a female suicide bomber was shot by security men while trying to cross the perimeter fence of the second IDP camp.

    Guterres expressed concern that the attacks were targeted at people who had already fled their homes as a result of Boko Haram violence.

    The UN chief extended his condolences to the people and government of Nigeria for the loss of lives.

    He wished the wounded persons quick recovery and called for prosecution of those behind the attacks.

    NAN

     

  • UN pledges to avert worsening food crisis in North-East Nigeria

    UN pledges to avert worsening food crisis in North-East Nigeria

    The UN says it is doing everything possible to avert further deterioration of the food scarcity by victims of Boko Haram crisis in the North East.

    Mr Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, stated this at a press briefing on Monday in New York.

    According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the food crisis in the northeast is going to deteriorate between now and the end of August, if there is no any action to prevent that.

    The deputy spokesman said “we have raised attention, as you know, including at the level of the Secretary‑General, to the food crisis there.

    “We have been trying to get humanitarian contributions to Nigeria.

    “As you know there are four countries – Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia.

    “We have tried to get more assistance to areas in need so that there is no food crisis, and we will continue with that,” said.

    Haq said, however, that the UN had no specific deadline to get the funding for the food supplies in the northeast.

    “This is something that we and the various agencies of the UN system have been pursuing and will continue to pursue until the material conditions on the ground improve,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that U.S. President Donald Trump recently approved 121 million dollars in aid to feed people facing food crisis because of drought and conflict in Northeast.

    The fund was approved through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the project would be carried out by the World Food Programme.

  • Migrants remit $429bn to developing countries in 2016

    Migrants remit $429bn to developing countries in 2016

    Migrants from developing countries sent 429 billion dollars to their countries of origin in 2016, Ms Louise Arbour, UN Special Representative for International Migration, has said.

    Arbour said this in her remarks to the session on the latest round of consultations on a two-day Global Compact for Migration at UN Headquarters in New York.

    She said the 429 billion dollars remittances were some f the migrants’ most tangible contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries.

    She said the remittances were more than three times larger than official development assistance (ODA), and more stable than other forms of private capital flows.

    According to her, such transfers to developing countries have lifted millions of families out of poverty, while stressing the need to lower the associated transaction costs to leverage remittances for development.

    Migration also provides substantial development benefits to places of destination, for both developed and developing countries, particularly through the contribution of labour migrants of all skills levels, she argued.

    The senior UN official regretted that although the net benefits of migration far outweighed its costs, the public perception was often the opposite.

    Arbour said “such public perceptions and attitudes negatively influence sound migration policy choices.

    “This must be reversed so that policy is evidence-based and not perception-driven. Policies responding to false perceptions reinforce the apparent validity of these erroneous stereotypes and make recourse to proper policies that much harder”.

    The consultation is the fourth in a series of six thematic consultations that will take place this year and feed into the drafting of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, expected to be adopted by UN Member States in 2018.

    An outgrowth of the New York Declaration, adopted at a 2016 UN Summit on refugees and migrants, the Compact will be the first intergovernmental negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the UN, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a comprehensive manner.

    The current consultation, conducted by representatives of Member States, UN agencies, civil society, migrants and diaspora, examined the challenges and opportunities in leveraging the economic and social contributions of migrants to countries of origin and destination.

    In his remarks, Director General of International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mr William Swing, emphasized the advantages of making sure migration is considered in development planning.

    Swing cited the need to ensure that migration is seen as an issue affecting all aspects of human development, including human rights, and the importance of mainstreaming migration in the broader development strategy.

  • UN panel seeks release of remaining Chibok girls

    UN panel seeks release of remaining Chibok girls

    A United Nations human rights committee on Monday urged the Federal Government to step up efforts to rescue all women and girls abducted by Boko Haram and ensure they return to school without stigma.

    At least 100 of the 270 girls abducted by the terror group at their secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014 have been released and another 60 have escaped, but about 100 are still believed to be in captivity, Reuters reported.

    Nigeria was one of eight countries whose records were examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at a three-week session.

    “Nigeria should intensify its efforts to rescue all women and girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents, ensure their rehabilitation and integration into society and provide them and their families with access to psychological and other rehabilitation services,” said the UN panel of 23 experts.

    Boko Haram has killed 20,000 people and displaced more than two million during a seven-year insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria’s North East.

    Although the Chibok girls are the most high-profile case, the sect has kidnapped thousands of adults and children, many of whose cases are neglected, aid groups said.

    “Of course we commended Nigeria for the rescue of 100 of them who are currently, we’re told, kept in Abuja, going through psycho-social counselling,” panel member, Hilary Gbedemah, told Reuters.

     

  • Moroccan peacekeeper killed in renewed attacks by Christian militias in CAR – UN

    Moroccan peacekeeper killed in renewed attacks by Christian militias in CAR – UN

    UN says a Moroccan peacekeeper was killed in renewed attacks by Christian militias in Central African Republic (CAR) in the town of Bangassou.

    Officials said the incident, including one on Sunday, came after attacks on the same diamond-mining town in May that killed at least 115 people and point to the inability of UN peacekeepers to contain violence in a country where government control barely extends outside the capital.

    “The attack took place as the peacekeepers from the Moroccan contingent were escorting water trucks filling up in the river in order to meet the humanitarian needs of the town,” Vladimir Monteiro, spokesman for the 13,000-strong UN mission in CAR, said of the Sunday incident.

    Three others were injured, he added, in an attack he attributed to anti-balaka fighters drawn from the country’s Christian majority.

    Fighters from the same group launched a foiled attack on Friday on the town’s cathedral that is housing hundreds of displaced Muslims who have been sheltering there since the May killings, Monteiro said.

    Like some 500,000 others displaced in the country, many of those inside the cathedral have nowhere to return to since their homes were destroyed in the May killings.

    Thousands have died in the ethnic and religious conflict that broke out when mainly Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in 2013, provoking a backlash from Christian anti-balaka militias.

    The latest incidents this weekend have prompted some 14 humanitarian organisations to suspend their activities in the town, 700 km east of Bangui on the Congolese border, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters.

    An official at French medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres, which operates the local hospital, confirmed fresh shootings on Sunday.

    She said the charity remained present.

    Violence has escalated since former colonial power France ended its peacekeeping mission in the country in 2016 that once had as many as 2,000 soldiers.

    It continues in spite of a peace deal signed between the government and rival factions in Rome in June.

  • UN urges international community to scale up support for Nigerian women, girls

    UN urges international community to scale up support for Nigerian women, girls

    UN urges international community to scale up support for women and girls for  Nigeria to  realise it’s target on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a briefing on the findings of the UN mission on issues affecting women in Nigeria

    Mohammed urged governments and international agencies to focus energies on supporting women and girls in Nigeria.

    According to her the UN believes that if a nation would make meaningful progress women should not only be given greater responsibility but be a part of the decision-making body of that society.

    She called for investment in areas that would bring greater empowerment for women as well as ensuring education of the girl child

    She noted that there would be a reduction in the number of cases of violence against women and girls when they are empowered.

    She commended Nigeria’s efforts at addressing issues of violence against women and urged the country to do more

    Mohammed said that the UN planned to scale up assistance for women and girls by investing more in the 17 SDGs relating to women and girls.

    “The level of sexual violence we are seeing in the camps and communities is so alarming.

    “That is why we are seeking support from the international community to help integrate the women back to the society so that they can continue their normal life”, she said.

    Mohammed urged Nigeria to have a zero tolerance for violence against women and girls.

    She urged the nation to take the issue of development seriously, claiming that there is a connection between poverty and violence against women and girls.

    UN under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN women, Phumzile Mlanbo-Ngcuka in her remarks called for stiffer punishment for abusers of women and girls.

    Mlanbo-Ngcuka urged states that are yet to domestic the violence against women and girls act to do so.

    She said that the UN introduced the method of safe spacing in camps and communities, as part of effort to help victims of violence recover and adjust back to society.

    She disclosed that the UN was considering a situation where more female security officers would be in charge of women in most of the IDPs camps.

    According to her UN is also wants women to be in charge of food and welfare.

  • People who die from AIDS nearly halved from 1.9m to 1m – UN

    People who die from AIDS nearly halved from 1.9m to 1m – UN

    UN says the annual number of people who die from AIDS has nearly halved from 1.9 million to one million between 2005 and 2016.

    According to the UNAIDS agency, the share of people with HIV who have access to medical treatment has also risen to above 50 per cent for the first time.

    UNAIDS said in 2016, there were 36.7 million people around the world who were living with the virus that weakens the immune system and could lead to AIDS.

    Among them, 53 per cent were able to get medicine that suppresses the virus.

    Southern and Eastern Africa have seen the most dramatic improvements, with annual new infections dropping by 29 per cent since 2010, while annual AIDS fatalities plummeted by 42 per cent.

    In these two African regions, life expectancy has jumped by 10 years in the past decade.

    “As we bring the epidemic under control, health outcomes are improving and nations are becoming stronger,’’ UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said.

    Amid the overall positive trend, UNAIDS sounded the alarm over developments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the only world regions where HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are on the rise.

    An estimated 42 per cent of the infections in these regions are caused by contaminated needles that are used to inject drugs.

    Northern Africa and the Middle East are two additional problem areas.

    Only one out of five people living with HIV in these regions is getting medicine to suppress the virus, UNAIDS said.

  • Nigeria presents SDGs National Voluntary Reviews to UN

    Nigeria presents SDGs National Voluntary Reviews to UN

    Nigeria has presented its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2017 National Voluntary Reviews to the UN High-level Political Forum.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, while presenting the reviews, said the report provided information on progress and status of implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria.

    “It highlights key policy, institutional and regulatory measures put in place to create necessary enabling environment for mainstreaming of SDGs in national policies, plans and programmes, and its coherent coordination.”

    She said the report was the outcome of wide consultations with stakeholders drawn from line ministries, civil society organisations, organised private sector, academia, development partners, youth groups, women organisations, persons with disability and media organisations.

    Orelope-Adefulire, who is a former Deputy-Governor of Lagos State, said Nigeria had key success to celebrate on SDGs.

    She cited the establishment of multi-layer and multi-cluster institutional frameworks for enhanced coordination and SDGs mainstreaming process as a key success.

    “The President has appointed a Senior Special Assistant on SDGs, whose office is responsible for ensuring horizontal and vertical coherence between development policies, plans and strategies.

    “Similarly, an Inter-Ministerial Committee on the SDGs has been established and operational guidelines for the same developed to guide the coordinated engagement with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    “Structures are being established at the sub-national (State) level,” she said.

    According to her, to fully harness the resources and ideas of, and effectively engage other stakeholders, a Private Sector Advisory Group and a Donors’ Forum on the SDGs have been inaugurated.

    “The CSOs group on SDGs is already working towards some SDGs targets, with giant stride on inclusive education in collaboration with the Joint Association of Persons with Disability and Women 2030 in Nigeria.”

    To enhance the legislative and oversight roles of Parliamentarians on SDGs implementation process, she said two select committees on SDGs have been established in the Senate and House of Representatives.

    The presidential aide assured the international community that good policy and planning framework presently existed in Nigeria.

    “The recently-launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, on which the current medium and short terms budgeting frameworks are based is aligned to the SDGs.

    “Similarly, many of the current State Development Plans, including the Benue, Taraba, Yobe, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Kano, Jigawa, Anambra sand Delta among others, are aligned to the SDGs.

    “The alignment aid planning, monitoring and evaluation of SDG implementation while SDGs data mapping exercise has been concluded and a data supply responsibility framework agreed upon.”

    The presidential aide said the SDGs had identified and targeted the poor and vulnerable people in Nigeria.

    “This has been achieved through the establishment of a ‘National Social Register’ for poor and vulnerable households.

    “There is a monthly conditional cash transfer of N5,000 to such households as part of a national social safety net programme,” she said.

    Orelope-Adefulire, however, pointed out that Nigeria had some challenges in the implementation of the SDGs.

    “Reliance on oil and gas sector, dwindling agricultural production and productivity and limited value addition in the agricultural sector to grow the economy, jobs creation, addressing poverty and ensuring food security remain critical challenges.”

    According to her, the economic recession in the country, due to fluctuating oil price in the international market and the humanitarian crisis in the North East of the country, present unique challenges to achieving the SDGs.

    She called on the international community, donor agencies and partners to support the country in mobilising adequate financial and other resources.

    “However, the country has advanced on curbing illicit financial flow and asset recovery, which will enhance effort on resource mobilisation for implementation of the SDGs.

    “Technology transfer and capacity building on inter alia, data, information and performance management will be needed to support SDGs implementation,” she said.

  • Amina Mohammed, UN envoys to visit Osinbajo

    Amina Mohammed, UN envoys to visit Osinbajo

    Ms Amina Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, has begun a trip to Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, the UN has announced.

    Mohammed would be joined by the Executive Director of UN Women, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and the African Union Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Bineta Diop.

    The trip, which is being carried out in conjunction with the African Union, seeks to raise awareness on the importance of women’s participation in peace and security processes, and of ensuring that the women’s voices are heard in all aspects of society.

    The UN officials would travel to Abuja, where they would meet with the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and hear from women leaders and young women who have been affected by conflicts.

    On Friday, the Deputy Secretary-General would attend the funeral of Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, the former Executive Director of the UN Population Fund.

    The UN deputy chief would briefly be back in New York to attend a Member States’ retreat over the weekend and will then rejoin the mission in the DRC.

    This trip is the first part of a two part mission focused on women’s meaningful participation in peace, security and development.

    A similar mission would cover two further countries later in the year.

    The deputy Secretary-General is expected to be back in New York on July 28.