In line with this year’s theme of accelerating change, innovators have been part of ongoing efforts to address the needs of some of the world’s 3.5 billion people living without safe toilets.
So is a group of young people who are driving sanitation innovation in Kisumu, Kenya.
Award-winning eco-toilet
Saniwise Technologies, a firm made up of a team of young entrepreneurs, designed an award-winning eco-toilet that also produces manure and chicken feed.
“Having been brought up by a single mum in a low-income area, I understand the challenges,” said Chelsea Johannes of Saniwise. “Toilets are hard to maintain, and no one wants to contribute money to empty them properly. That’s one of the reasons we set up Saniwise.”
UN News
The UN marks World Toilet Day on 19 November.
Using its blue, well-ventilated prototype, the Saniwise team aims to make many more toilets for the community, she said.
It has already won seed money to do so, after its prototype took second prize at a global competition held by Generation Unlimited, which was founded by UNICEF, Microsoft, IKEA and other partners to foster innovations like these.
Green prototype
Made of recycled materials, including plastic waste, the prototype is well ventilated and uses dry toilet technologies. After visiting the toilet, black soldier fly larvae churn human waste into manure.
“This is the black soldier fly larvae,” she said, pointing to several white grubs in the toilet pan. “They’re digesting the waste. You can see that it already looks more like soil. In four days’ time, it will be ready to sell as manure.”
‘Young people helping themselves’
Saniwise Technologies also sells the by-products to local farmers, like 77-year-old John Ochieng.
On a hot, humid morning on Mr. Ochieng’s farm, he strides through the fields in bare feet. Along the way, he collects a bag of manure from Ms. Johannes and her colleagues, after meeting them at a nearby lagoon.
“I was curious about the toilet they had built,” he said. “They told me that it makes manure and chicken feed, so I bought some samples from them.”
Chelsea Johannes (right) explains how the Saniwise Technologies eco-toilet works.
The manure is already helping his farm.
“I like the products,” he said. “The manure helps my crops grow very green and fruitful. When I gave my chickens the feed, they enjoyed it. It’s good to see young people helping themselves.”
Find out more about how the UN is helping to accelerate progress on improving clean water and sanitation around the world here.
Achieve universal and equitable access to safe, affordable drinking water and adequate, equitable sanitation and hygiene for all
Improve water quality by reducing pollution
Increase recycling and safe reuse globally
Increase water-use efficiency across all sectors
Support and strengthen participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management
According to the UN, 2.2 billion people currently lack safely managed drinking water and basic handwashing facilities, and 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation.
The fallen colleagues worked for the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, providing life-saving aid to Gaza’s 2.2 million people, amid constant bombardment and a complete siege of the enclave.
They included school principals, teachers, doctors, engineers, guards, and support staff. Many were killed along with their family members.
Minute of silence
UN officials and staff at duty stations worldwide observed a minute of silence in their memory, while the UN flag was flown at half-mast.
Speaking in Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office in the Swiss city said the 101 deaths represented the highest number of aid workers killed in UN history in such a short time.
“Thousands of our colleagues continue to work under the U.N. flag in [the] most risky parts of the world. And let’s pay tribute to their activities, to their work, to their devotion,” she said.
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
The United Nations flag is lowered to half-mast at UN Headquarters to honour colleagues killed in Gaza.
Secretary-General António Guterres led the minute of silence at UN Headquarters in New York, which was held in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber.
He stood before some of the UN’s Resident Coordinators, who are meeting in New York this week, flanked by Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis.
Meanwhile, the UN Staff Union held a ceremony in the Secretariat lobby where the names of the deceased colleagues were read aloud.
“May they rest in eternal power and peace,” said First Vice-President Francisco Brito, surrounded by colleagues, some of whom held signs that said ‘responsibility to protect’ ‘stop the killing,’ ‘protect civilians’ and other appeals.
UN flag lowered
The commemoration at the Secretariat began around 7:30 AM, with the UN flag being raised to half-mast – the sole one flying that day.
Normally all the flags of the UN’s 193 Member States and two observer States – Palestine and Vatican City – are raised each weekday morning, and in alphabetical order, then lowered in the afternoon.
The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Riyad Mansour who attended the simple ceremony in front of the Secretariat, said the gesture honoured the deceased UNRWA staff members and all “Palestinian martyrs”, including thousands of children killed in the “barbaric war”.
He stressed the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, along with “hundreds of truckloads” of aid, medicine and water.
“And we want to stop the crime against humanity of forced mass transfer…to allow the Palestinian people to stay in the Gaza Strip. It is our homeland,” he continued.
“We don’t want to live a second Nakba. We want to stay in our homeland and to rebuild the Gaza Strip.”
Mr. Mansour also expressed hope for “a political horizon” to end the occupation “so that Palestinian people can live in freedom and dignity in our independent State, with Holy Jerusalem as the capital of our State.”
Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement that Wednesday’s attack came on the heels of a series of assaults that killed and inured civilians, destroyed grain supplies and damaged the historic Fine Arts Museum in the Ukrainian port city.
“I share my condolences with the family of the killed port pilot and hope for the recovery of the injured”, she said.
Three of the injured were crew members from the Philippines, according to news reports.
Since the Russian withdrawal from the UN-brokered Black Sea Initiative in July, there have been more than 30 attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure, but this marked the first time civilians have been killed and injured onboard a merchant ship.
“The consequences of this brutal and relentless pattern of Russian attacks on port facilities are devasting for Ukraine’s economy and the hundreds of millions of people facing hunger worldwide”, Ms. Brown said.
Funding needed to prevent El Niño from aggravating global hunger
The El Niño climate pattern will have severe impacts on agriculture and food security, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people who require urgent support, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday.
El Niño affects farming and food production by bringing either too much or too little rain, depending on the region, and disrupting temperatures.
FAO called for emergency funding of $160 million to help over 4.8 million of the most vulnerable people in 34 countries and prevent damage and loss of crops, livestock, land, water and infrastructure.
The UN agency warned that the world was entering the current El Niño cycle with a record 258 million people experiencing acute hunger and only a fifth of the total funds required to cope with the high levels of food insecurity.
Farmers, pastoralists, fishers and other small-scale producers bear the brunt of climate shocks, FAO said. In Somalia, the UN agency supported them by repairing riverbank breakage points along the Shabelle river to protect 40,000 hectares of cropland from floods.
“Every dollar invested in anticipatory action can create a return for farming families of more than $7 in avoided losses and added benefits,” according to the FAO.
‘Striking’ regional inequalities in early breast cancer detection
Crucial early detection of breast cancer is strongly determined by where the cancer patient lives, according to new research by the UN World Health Organization’s cancer research agency, IARC.
The study of more than two million women across 81 countries published on Thursday found “striking” variations across countries and regions.
Close to one in three women diagnosed with breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa for example were found to have later-stage tumours which had spread from their original location, compared to just one in 10 in Europe and North America.
The report also shows that a higher proportion of women with low socioeconomic status were diagnosed with later-stage tumours.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer type worldwide and the leading cause of death from cancer in women.
To reduce breast cancer deaths, WHO advises that countries strive to increase the proportion of breast cancers diagnosed at an early stage to at least 60 per cent, which requires investment in detection capabilities and in data-gathering.
The development is the latest step in the accelerated withdrawal process of the Mission, known as MINUSMA, which is due to leave the West African country by the end of the year after a decade in operation.
The 143 vehicles left Kidal on 31 October and travelled nearly 350 kilometres, transporting 848 peacekeepers from Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt, Guinea and Nepal, as well as equipment.
‘A tremendous feat’
The convoy – which was reportedly approximately nine kilometres long – encountered six improvised explosive devices along the way.
Thirty-seven “blue helmets” required medical attention, though all have since been discharged or are in stable condition.
Speaking in New York on Wednesday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the convoy also had to depart without air support due to a lack of flight clearance from the Malian authorities – a situation that increased the safety risk of the peacekeepers.
“In addition to insecurity, bad weather and poor road conditions caused vehicles to break down, adding to the challenges the convoy faced on its way to Gao,” he told journalists.
“As a result of the delays, they were running low on supplies, and had to be resupplied by air with fuel, water and other items,” he added.
Replying to reporters’ questions at Wednesday’s briefing, Mr. Dujarric said the convoy’s arrival was “a tribute to the amazing work that our peacekeepers do under the most difficult circumstances”.
“It’s a tremendous feat to bring a convoy of some 800 people, nine kilometres long, to relative safety and we’re happy that as far as we know, none of the peacekeepers were seriously injured.”
Departure and liquidation
The departure from Kidal marks the closure of MINUSMA’s eighth base out of a total of 13.
In the coming weeks, the Mission will end its presence in Ansango, located in the Gao region, followed by Mopti, thus completing the second and final phase of the withdrawal plan.
The remaining bases of Gao, Timbuktu and Bamako, where MINUSMA is currently consolidating its presence, will be handed over to the Malian authorities once the so-called liquidation phase, which begins on 1 January, is completed.
Only a small team will remain behind to oversee both the orderly transport of assets belonging to countries that contributed uniformed personnel to the Mission, and appropriate disposal of UN-owned equipment
“These assets will either be repatriated or redeployed with other UN missions, or gifted to the Malian authorities or sold in the market, in accordance with our relevant rules and regulations regarding the closure of peacekeeping missions,” said Mr. Dujarric.
End drawing nigh
MINUSMA was established by the UN Security Council in April 2013 in the wake of a coup in Mali’s capital, Bamako, and an insurgency in the north.
The Mission has supported political processes and carried out a number of security-related tasks. It has often been referred to as among the most dangerous UN peacekeeping missions, with 310 fatalities recorded.
The Council terminated the Mission’s mandate in June following a request by Mali’s military government.
As the drawdown of MINUSMA personnel continues, half of the 13,871 personnel have now departed the country.
Chadian and Guinean peacekeepers who were in the convoy that left Kidal are this week scheduled to depart Gao for their homelands.
Mr. Dujarric reaffirmed the UN’s determination to complete the MINUSMA withdrawal by 31 December, adding “and we are counting on the full support of Mali in that regard.”
In line with the accelerated withdrawal process of the UN’s stabilization mission, MINUSMA, the convoy initially left by road on Tuesday for Gao, and suffered two attacks from improvised explosives on the way that caused vehicle damage and minor injuries to two peacekeepers which were treated on site.
Thursday’s incident involved another explosive device leading to much more serious injuries.
“A mission to evacuate the injured peacekeepers by air has been launched from Gao, and the Permanent Mission of the troop-contributing-country in question has been kept informed throughout”, said Stéphane Dujarric, briefing reporters in New York.
“The convoy, the last to depart the Kidal camp, is making its way towards the MINUSMA base in Gao in extremely challenging security conditions.”
The convoy was forced to depart without any air support due to a lack of flight authorization by the Malian military authorities, which have pressed the UN to wind up the mission by the end of next month, which it is on track to do.
The lack of air cover “has increased the threat to the safety of our peacekeepers as they travel hundreds of kilometers in very unsafe territories”, Mr. Dujarric added.
He said with the exception of the liquidation team, including the rear parties of contingents and its guard unit, the UN is determined to meet its 31 December deadline.
“We continue to look forward to Mali’s full cooperation with this process” he added.
MINUSMA has been in Mali since 2013 when it was established by Security Council mandate to protect civilians and stabilize the restive north and central regions following a failed coup, and a continuing insurgency led by Islamist armed groups.
‘Possible starvation’ looms in ‘hunger hotspots’: WFP, FAO
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) added Palestine on Wednesday to a list of countries and territories “at greatest risk of a serious deterioration in food security and possible starvation”.
Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and Sudan are also among the countries of highest concern.
The UN agencies warned that conflict is a key driver of global hunger and that the trend of increased civilian targeting across different conflicts is expected to continue throughout 2023.
Food insecurity is also being compounded by cuts to food assistance in several hunger hotspots because of a lack of funding, WFP and FAO said.
This has been the case in Afghanistan, where “a shocking 10 million people have been cut off from life‑saving assistance due to a massive funding shortfall”.
If WFP and humanitarian actors do not receive the funding needed to address the crises at hand, “millions of people could be pushed further into hunger and to the brink of starvation”, said WFP’s Director of Emergencies Kyung-nan Park.
Ms. Park stressed that the cost of inaction is “catastrophic” for the most vulnerable and called for critical investments to boost resilience “so that communities are better prepared for forthcoming climate, conflict, and economic shocks”.
Sport must be inclusive of LGBT and intersex persons: Rights experts
Countries must respect the right of all to participate in sports and enforce equal treatment of all athletes, especially all women and girls, LGBT and intersex persons.
That’s the message from UN-appointed independent right experts, who said on Wednesday that “deep inequalities” continue to limit the access of these communities and populations to take part in organised sport.
The experts, who include Alexandra Xanthaki, the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, called bans on trans and intersex women in women’s sports a violation of human rights obligations under the principle of non-discrimination and of their right to privacy.
The experts regretted the recent instrumentalisation of this debate, leading to the adoption of restrictive measures in law and public policy by State institutions and sporting bodies.
According to the experts, States and sports organisations must remain committed to fairness of competition by considering factors “that may impact participation of persons based on categories protected under international human rights law, including sex characteristics, sexual orientation and gender identity”.
This includes the requirement to adopt human rights-based approaches in the evaluation of bids for countries that seek to hold major sports events, they said.
Scientists agree that climate change is real and is caused by unsustainable human activity such as the burning of fossil fuels, yet certain actors continue to spread mis- and disinformation, creating harmful misperceptions that can stifle effective climate action.
In a discussion Tackling mis/dis-information: An urgent frontier for action, the UN’s Senior Adviser on Information Integrity, Charlotte Scaddan, talked with three climate experts at the SDG Media Zone about why pushing back on misleading facts about climate is a priority.
She spoke to Vanessa Nakate, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and climate activist; Jake Dubbins, co-founder of Conscious Advertising Network and member of Climate Action Against Disinformation, and The Weather Channel meteorologist Paul Goodloe.
Unsplash/Joshua Coleman
Scientists agree that climate change is being caused by human activity.
Jake Dubbins: We define climate mis- and disinformation in three broad buckets. Outright denial: we know that climate change is happening and we know it’s caused by humans, but that fact itself is being denied. There are climate scams and climate hoaxes, terms which are trending on social media platforms. The second area that we look at is emissions and cherry picking, so choosing data without giving the full picture to therefore mislead people. And then the third area is effectively false solutions, so suggesting actions that are not in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.
We did some polling last year at COP 27 and we found that these messages are cutting through in multiple different countries. We asked questions in six different countries and found that 23 per cent of people in America believe that climate change is a hoax cooked up by the World Economic Forum. We found that over 20 per cent of people in all the six countries we surveyed believe that climate change is not caused by humans.
Vanessa Nakate: Moreover, fossil fuel companies knew that their actions were disrupting our climate and yet, they continued with those actions and they tried to hide that information from the public.
I see that as climate disinformation and greenwashing, as well. We’ve seen it in the fashion industry and how many corporations are doing so much to show the public that they are actually sustainable. And yet, when you look at their supply chain processes, you realize that they are actually non-sustainable. They’re still harming communities, they’re still harming people, they are exploiting labour.
Paul Goodloe: Climate change is not opinion. Unfortunately, there are news outlets that report the misinformation/disinformation about climate change and they veil it as news, but it’s truly opinion. At The Weather Channel, we don’t have a stance. Our mission is to educate, to inform. We talk about the science.
The burning of fossil fuels is driving climate change.
Jake Dubbins: There’s increasing information about this problem in English in North America and in Europe, but there are gaps. Most of the US social media platforms fund quite a lot of research into climate mis/disinformation in the US, but not as much in other parts of the world. So, in Africa, Asia and South America, the gap is big.
Vanessa Nakate: Personally, andI think also for the different young people within the activist movement, we find ourselves in situations where we have to give hope to people.
We have to give hope to leaders and to the whole world. It’s a huge responsibility as everyone expects us to provide so much hope and yet, no one is giving us the hope, even with the work that young people are doing within the climate movement.
We need our leaders, we need corporations, the public to give hope to young people as well because activism can be exhausting. Many have experienced burnouts struggling with their mental health because of climate change.
We’ve been speaking and we need the world to listen.
UNEP/Yousif Babeker Eltayeb Bila
In Sudan, climate change is putting further pressure on the country’s already scarce water resources.
Jake Dubbins: A couple of years ago at COP26, we collected climate activists, climate leaders and businesses to effectively write a letter demanding that climate misinformation was dealt with by the UN, but also by social media platforms. Two years ago, there were no policies on climate misinformation on tech platforms. There are now climate misinformation policies across most of them, other than X, formerly known as Twitter.
Advertisers don’t want their adverts next to climate change denial, next to the harassment of activists or by hate speech. So, advertisers who invest their money and literally fund most of the media environment also have a choice. They can choose to invest their money in great climate science, great journalism or they can invest their money in climate denial and hate speech.
Paul Goodloe: It’s all about being on the right side of history. Fifty to 60 years ago, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was disapproved of by 75 per cent of Americans. Now, he’s viewed with 90 per cent approval 50 years after his death. So, just be on the right side of history. What’s going to happen 30, 40, 50 years from now? Just keep trying to push and I’m optimistic that more people will get on the right side of history.
UN Day on 24 October marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter – the day the Organization officially came into being.
‘We grieve, and we remember’
The dead in Gaza include many teachers, the agency noted in a tweet on Monday. “We grieve and we remember. These are not just numbers. These are our friends and colleagues…UNRWA mourns this huge loss.”
The 13,000-strong agency which operates across the Palestine Occupied Territory has been working tirelessly with other UN humanitarians inside Gaza and across the region, to aid stricken civilians, often at great personal risk.
Determined to forge peace
Through the UN Charter, countries united in their resolve to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
“On this United Nations Day, let us commit with hope and determination to build the better world of our aspirations,” he said.
Call for unity
The UN chief called on all nations to commit to a future that lives up to the name of the indispensable organization.
“We are a divided world. We can and must be united nations,” he urged.
Commemorative events planned on Tuesday include a concert at UN Headquarters in New York, on the theme of The Frontlines of Climate Action, reinforcing one of the UN chief’s key priorities, ahead of the crucial COP28 summit in Dubai next month.
A 2022 report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women showed more than five women or girls are killed every hour by an intimate partner or someone in their own family – that’s some 45,000 per year – and the true scale of the problem is believed to be much higher.
The independent rights expert called on countries to “take every possible step” to investigate and prosecute femicides and provide effective support, remedies and reparations to victims and their families.
He also stressed that local beliefs, customs, traditions or religions “must not be invoked to limit the rights of women and girls or as a defence against a charge of femicide”.
Rights experts call on Israeli lawyers to block potential war crimes
UN-appointed independent experts on Monday called on all lawyers advising the Israeli military to refuse legal authorisation for acts that could amount to war crimes in retaliation for the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“We unequivocally condemn the massacres of civilians and hostage-taking by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Israel,” the rights experts said. “Those acts, committed against civilians, were atrocities.”
“Israel has launched a barrage of deadly airstrikes into densely populated civilian areas in the Gaza strip, destroying or damaging homes, hospitals, markets, and UN Reliefs and Works Agency (UNRWA) buildings,” the experts said.
Among the over 5,000 dead – according to Gaza health authorities – and more than 12,000 children are reportedly among the injured.
The experts also noted the tightening of the years-long Israeli blockade on Gaza, cutting off food, water, electricity, and fuel supplies.
‘Professional duty’
“As Israel responds to Hamas and conducts operations in Gaza, all lawyers advising the military must identify and seek to prevent actions that may amount to war crimes. They have a professional duty to deny legal authorisation for criminal acts,” the experts said.
“Lawyers must refuse to give legal authorisation for actions that violate international law,” they said.
Special Rapporteurs and other Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts are not UN staff, nor do they receive a salary. They are independent of any government or organisation.
Northeast Syria ‘world’s largest detention site for children’
“Egregious” child rights violations are taking place in camps and prisons across northeast Syria, where the “vast majority” of those detained are children, a UN-appointed independent expert said on Monday.
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, the UN Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said that in the infamous Al-Hol and Al-Roj camps as well as a number of other detention facilities, “no process of law exists to justify detention” and “torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment is rife”.
Displacement camps in northeast Syria hold tens of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis and nationals of other countries suspected of links to the terror group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The expert’s latest report documents enforced disappearances, torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention at the sites.
The findings include mass arbitrary separation of pre-pubescent and adolescent boys from their mothers in the camps, which the expert considered “particularly harmful”, as well as “rampant starvation and tuberculosis” occurring in Panorama prison, which holds approximately 5,000 men and 700 boys.
Ms. Ní Aoláin said that the “scale, scope and extent of these practices may reach the threshold for crimes against humanity under international law” and warned that it was “morally and legally unacceptable to use ‘terrorism’ to justify egregious breaches of human rights”.
“Today the stakes for preventive diplomacy and dialogue could not be higher,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific, in a meeting organized by the Brazilian presidency.
Referring to the escalating situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, he warned that in the absence of a negotiated two-State solution, the “vicious cycle of violence risks plunging the entire region into conflict for years and generations to come”.
Tensions ‘highest in decades’
“Geopolitical tensions are at their highest in decades,” the top UN official explained, cautioning that unless they are addressed, the “transition to a new global order” which is underway, may result in the loss of trust – and the risks of escalation – affecting almost all regions.
Amid increasing geopolitical strife and challenges to international norms, many States are sceptical about how the multilateral system is working for them: commitments remain unmet and double standards rule.
Negotiated settlements of conflicts have been harder to achieve, triggering military solutions, for which civilians are paying a heavy toll, underscored Mr. Khiari, noting that the deterioration of global and regional arms control frameworks and crisis management protocols is exacerbating the situation.
Diplomacy is the answer
Against this backdrop, the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace is instrumental to recommit to diplomacy for peace, and rebuild trust.
“The driving force for a more effective collective security system must be diplomacy,” urged the Assistant Secretary-General, elaborating that diplomacy requires risk-taking, persistence and creativity, and – above all else – a commitment to peaceful resolution.
He reminded that the UN Charter offers a range of options “to address our differences” with its Chapter VI prescribing that all States should rely on peaceful means as their first option to resolve disputes.
Regional expertise vital
While adherence to the principles of the Charter is essential, regional organizations and frameworks have a critical role to play, Mr. Khiari said, as they “can offer avenues for trust-building and détente”.
While not all lessons are transferrable from one region to another, the knowledge of how to initiate dialogue despite differences, maintain channels of communication – even when disputes escalate into violence – and understanding the “fears and concerns of one’s rival”, are of the essence, he added.
Building trust
Former world leaders including Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile (and also the previous UN human rights chief), Thabo Mbeki, former South African president, and Dr. Josefina Echavarría Alvarez of the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) programme, also briefed the Council.
In their view, a comprehensive approach to conflict resolution is a must: not only political and security matters, but also the social and developmental aspects must be addressed for a robust success.
The humanitarian role is what gets a lot of public attention as agreements are secured to arrange for aid to get through to civilians and to protect them, including trying to ensure that international humanitarian law (often called the laws governing war and broadly covered by the Geneva Conventions) are upheld.
What we hear less about is the political role as it is often played out away from the public eye. The UN Charter has several provisions that create a framework for mediation and conflict resolution and gives the Secretary-General the option to use his good offices to broker agreements in order to hopefully diminish tensions and lead to the steps that could help avoid war.
The Secretary-General’s role is covered in very broad terms by articles 98 and 99 of the UN Charter while peaceful settlement of disputes are outlined in Chapters VI and VII.
Much of this behind-the-scenes diplomacy never comes to light but it is a critical element to try and defuse crises and often gives rise to speculation about how and whether these powers have been exercised.
Clearly, the UN stands in a unique global position to broker peace. Since its inception in 1945, it has negotiated ceasefires, peace deals, and the establishment humanitarian corridors or other arrangements amid violence, including the Black Sea Initiative to allow for commercial food and fertilizer exports from key Ukrainian ports.
The announcement of the UN Secretary-General’s trip to Egypt on Thursday to meet with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is the latest of the UN’s intense around-the clock efforts to address the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict, its rippling violence in neighbouring Lebanon and Syria, and obstacles to delivering lifesaving aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The visit comes on the heels of multiple back-to-back night-time phone calls between the UN chief and key actors, a meeting in the pipeline with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and possible contact with the de facto authorities in Gaza.
Here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes since the conflict erupted on 7 October:
Hamas attacks: UN calls for de-escalation
In the hours after armed Hamas militants crossed into Israel, top UN officials reached out to key actors and called on both sides to de-escalate the crisis, show restraint, and protect civilians.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Jerusalem-based Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, strongly condemned the violence, raising grave concerns about targeting civilians, including the kidnapping of Israelis and airstrikes on Gaza. Other top UN officials and agency heads have been echoing those positions, adding their on-the-ground perspectives.
“Contacts with the Palestinian Authority are also going on on the ground,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York last week. “Contacts with the de facto authorities have to happen because they are the de facto authorities in Gaza. For us, this is not an issue of conditionality. All these things need to happen.”
UN Photo/Evan Schneider
The Middle East Quartet comprises the UN, European Union, Russia, and the United States. (file)
Engaging all sides
Reaching out directly to the parties and key players, Mr. Wennesland was in close contact with some members of the Middle East Quartet. Comprising the European Union, Russia, United States, and the UN, the group was set up in 2002 to drive forward the peace process, with a view to realizing a two-State solution that would see Israel and Palestine existing side by side in peace.
The “priority now is to avoid further loss of civilian life and deliver much needed humanitarian aid to the [Gaza] Strip,” Mr. Wennesland said in a social media post. The “UN remains actively engaged to advance these efforts”.
The Special Coordinator had been engaging parties in the region and key players long before the current situation erupted and provides monthly updates to the UN Security Council. On 27 September, he warned the Council of escalating violence amid Israeli settlement expansion and rising tensions.
Shortly after the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, he reached out again to the parties as well as neighbouring Egypt and Lebanon.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland (on screen), briefs the UN Security Council meeting in August. (file)
Brokering humanitarian corridors
In addition to the UN chief’s visit to Egypt, various avenues are being pursued in a bid to open a humanitarian corridor, or a safe space, to get life-saving aid into Gaza.
Last week, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) met with the President of Egypt.
In addition, Mr. Wennesland and the Commissioner-General of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, sat down with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry Selim in a “productive meeting”, the UN Special Coordinator said.
With a view to de-escalating the violence, Mr. Wennesland has also been “in close contact” with officials in the European Union (EU), Qatar, and the United States.
10,000 UN peacekeepers at work
The UN maintains no peacekeeping troops in Israel or the Occupied Palestinian Territory, but its more than 10,000 peacekeepers along Israel’s border regions intensified their work when rocket and artillery fire was reported in the vicinity this week.
Like all UN peacekeeping missions, the operations in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and Syria, UNDOF, are UN Security Council-mandated. Both missions are tasked with monitoring the respective ceasefire agreements among Israel and its two neighbours, from patrolling along the so-called Blue Line to monitoring such areas as Mount Hermon in the disputed Golan Heights.
As violence escalates along the Israel-Lebanon border, UNIFIL has been in constant contact with both nations.
Mandated to ensure stability in its area of operations and to protect civilians, UNIFIL personnel have the right to self-defence and may resort to the proportionate and gradual use of force under certain circumstances.
That includes ensuring its area of operations is not used for hostile activities; to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent UNIFIL from discharging its mandated duties; to protect UN personnel, facilities, installations, and equipment; to ensure the security and freedom of movement of UN personnel and humanitarian workers; and to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.
UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
The UN Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
UN Member States’ efforts
Meanwhile, UN Member States have taken collective steps to address the escalating situation. Following the UN Security Council’s 8 October closed-door emergency meeting, the 15-member organ considered a draft resolution this week and continues to discuss the urgent matter.
The Council has the power to call on countries to negotiate peace, and can even authorize the use of force, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, in certain perilous situations.
Should the Council fail to act in its mandated role of maintaining international peace and security, the UN General Assembly, representing all 193 Member States, can call an emergency special session, as it did in 2022, six days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN Secretary-General António Guterres briefs reporters on 11 October 2023 on recent developments in Israel and Gaza.
Peace broker: UN Secretary-General
Playing a key role in rallying the global community to resolve conflicts, the UN Secretary-General, the world’s top diplomat, and his envoys engage in shuttle diplomacy, meeting with parties to conflict, or bringing them together, to negotiate immediate or longer-term solutions, including ceasefires and access to vulnerable populations.
During crises, the UN chief with the support of the Political and Peacebuilding Affairs department, provides leadership and direction to UN agencies operating on the ground with a view to ensuring a swift, effective response.
He and his envoys also regularly inform the public about the latest developments in live press briefings or statements issued online.
“The Secretary-General will speak to whoever he needs to speak to,” the UN Spokesperson said, noting that the UN chief had, over the last week, a plethora of conversations, including with the ambassadors of Israel and of the five permanent Security Council members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States), and officials in Qatar.
That also included issuing an emergency appeal to Israel to halt its order for 1.1 million Gazans to evacuate south.
“The Secretary-General has not stopped working on this,” the UN Spokesperson said. “We urge all parties and those with influence over them to put an end to this tragedy.”
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