Celebrating Human Rights Day around the world

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Human Rights Office of the UN reported the activities around the world in day of Human Rights.

here is the report:

From Haiti to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Geneva to Sri Lanka, UN Human Rights and partners organized a slew of activities around the world to mark Human Rights Day 2024 with a message that is enshrined throughout the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: human rights are about you and your life, and concern everyone, everywhere.

The theme of this year’s commemoration was “Our rights, our future, right now,” and focused on how human rights are a pathway to solutions that can empower individuals and communities to build a better future, particularly in times of crises.

With the participation of civil society, youth, human rights defenders and government institutions, the activities included film screenings, workshops, panel discussions, music and dancing performances, tree-planting ceremonies, moot courts with students, social media e-campaigns, old fashioned radio spot messages and even footraces in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

“In times of crisis, human rights offer solutions to complex problems,” said Nelson Muffuh, UN Resident Coordinator in South Africa, where the Regional Office for Southern Africa partnered with South Africa’s public broadcaster to produce a panel discussion on youth and combatting gender-based violence.

“In times of peace, human rights help us build equitable and prosperous societies. In times of uncertainty, human rights provide a lever for stability.”

In Haiti, where armed gang violence and widespread insecurity are deepening a dire humanitarian crisis, the Office organized support activities and awareness-raising sessions on human rights for orphaned children who are victims of gang violence. The day also offered a space to pay tribute to the children’s parents.

Human Rights Day events were held in Haiti, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Geneva, DRC, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and across the Arab world. © OHCHR
Human Rights Day events were held in Haiti, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Geneva, DRC, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and across the Arab world. © OHCHR

In Doha, with submissions from youths from all over the Arab world and Pakistan, the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre produced a montage of short films about human rights as part of a film competition titled “Human Rights through the Lens of Youth.”

Human Rights Day in Kinshasha saw the award ceremony of the first edition of the national competition for the Julienne Lusenge Prize for Human Rights. A 2023 UN Human Rights Prize winner, Lusenge is a community leader and human rights defender who has fought for women’s and girl’s rights and against sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for over 40 years.

In partnership with the United Nations Information Centres (UNICs), the Office a held film screening in Jakarta, where students discussed inclusion and equality for persons with disabilities, Indonesia’s marginalized indigenous communities, and public policies for the right to a healthy environment. With the support of field presences and UNICs, 18 public screenings and debates took place in 14 countries on a variety of human rights topics, including one in New York hosted by Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights.

“Fighting for public policy on the environment is about shaping a future where justice and sustainability coexist,” said one student in Jakarta.

Our rights, our future, right now
In Papua New Guinea, the Office moderated a livestreamed seminar on the State’s obligations to respect and protect human rights for all, which was organized by the department of Justice and the Attorney General’s office. In his keynote address, UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard stressed the importance of invoking human rights protections in Papual New Guinea’s constitution and making them accessible down to the community level.

Several activities took place across Latin America and the Caribbean, including the screening of “State of Silence” in Mexico, followed by a panel discussion with journalists and human rights defenders on the safety of journalists, a high-level dialogue between the government and civil society organizations on the future of their rights in Cali, Colombia, as well as a rap concert with young people; and in Bahamas, a garden celebration at the National Art Gallery with the participation of high-level government officials.

In Yaoundé, the OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa hosted a consultation with the Human Rights Commission of the Cameroon Bar Association on strengthening the protection of human rights defenders and groups in Cameroon, while in East Sudan the Office organized training workshops for persons with disabilities on monitoring and reporting of human rights violations, focusing on gender-based violence.

Workshops, panel discussions, moot courts, dances and exhibits on human rights mechanisms, justice and peacebuilding, freedom from torture, the right to education, and access to justice were also held in Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Kosovo, Liberia, Niger, Tanzania and Zambia, among other places.

In Geneva, the din of 500 secondary school students echoed through the ornate hallways of the Palais Wilson for an open day event that included a treasure hunt, a photo booth, games to learn about access human rights, and a discussion on human rights with Deputy High Commissioner Nada Al-Nashif and other human rights experts.

Al-Nashif told the young students that their voice, their questions, their solutions were more important than ever in today’s world to defend human rights.

“Today is a day to stop and think about what human rights mean. Equality for everyone. Protecting human dignity. The right to go to school, to get medical care, to express your opinion. All of these are your human rights,” she said.

In his video message to mark Human Rights Day 2024, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk captured the spirit of the day.

“Human rights are about people. They are about you and your life: your needs and wants and fears; your hopes for the present and the future.”

From South Africa to Kosovo to New York, Human Rights Day 2024 was marked by a common message: human rights are about you and your life and concern everyone, everywhere.

WHO condemns raids Israeli forces storm Kamal Adwan Hospital

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Israel detains director of key north Gaza hospital as WHO condemns raids
Israeli forces storm Kamal Adwan Hospital, putting the last remaining medical facility in northern Gaza out of service.

Based on Al JazeeraI report, srael’s army has detained the director of one of the last functioning hospitals in northern Gaza, as the World Health Organization said Israeli assaults on medical facilities are a “death sentence” for thousands of Palestinians.

An Israeli military assault on the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday put the last major health facility in northern Gaza out of service, the WHO said.

“Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burned and destroyed during the raid,” the WHO said in a statement on X on Friday evening.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had launched a raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital as it “serves as a Hamas terrorist stronghold”, but failed to provide any evidence for this claim. Hamas said it “categorically” denied the claim.

Gaza health officials said on Saturday that Israeli forces had detained the director of the hospital.

“The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hussam Abu Safia,” the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said in a statement.

The ministry had earlier quoted Abu Safia as saying the military had “set on fire all surgery departments of the hospital” and that there were “a large number of injuries” among the medical team.

As of Friday morning, the hospital housed about 350 people, including 75 patients and 180 medical staff.

The WHO said 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain with 60 health workers in the hospital.

The patients in moderate to severe condition were forced to evacuate to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital, the United Nations health agency said, adding it was “deeply concerned for their safety”.

The WHO reiterated its call for a ceasefire.

“This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October,” the WHO said.

“Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal[ly] functional. The systematic dismantling of the health system in Gaza is a death sentence for tens of thousands of Palestinians in need of healthcare.

Israel’s military began a renewed ground offensive in northern Gaza in October and has claimed that the hospital had become “a key stronghold for terrorist organisations and continues to be used as a hideout for terrorist operatives”.

Before initiating the latest attack on the hospital, the Israeli military said its soldiers had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients, and medical personnel”.

Hamas denied its fighters were present in the hospital and urged the UN to set up an investigation committee “to examine the scale of crime being committed in northern Gaza”.

“We categorically deny the presence of any military activity or resistance fighters in the hospital,” Hamas said in a statement.

“The enemy’s lies about the hospital aim to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army today, involving the evacuation and burning of all hospital departments as part of a plan for extermination and forced displacement.”

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said the Israeli military has often accused Hamas fighters of operating from medical facilities but has never proven these claims.

“Most notable was the raid on al-Shifa Hospital back in 2023 when the military said Hamas was using al-Shifa as a command and control centre, claims that to this day have never been proven,” she said, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera has been banned from operating in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

“Now, Kamal Adwan was the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, but again, it was barely functioning because of the siege that was put forward by Israeli forces – a siege on food, water, and all sorts of medical supplies.”

The hospital’s director had repeatedly raised concerns about its situation in recent days.

“The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside,” Abu Safia said in a statement on Monday.

Israel’s assault has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since October last year, mostly children and women, according to health officials in the enclave. The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

 

 

 

We continue to repeat calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

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Statement delivered by Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director, at the Cairo Ministerial Conference on Enhancing the Humanitarian Response in Gaza

۰۲ December 2024

Excellencies,

We gather again as the escalation in Gaza has entered its second year, with devastating consequences on thousands of civilian lives, the remaining hostages and their families, and the overall uncertainty for the peaceful future of the region.

I visited Gaza a little less than a year ago, where I saw first-hand the desperate situation of families, and the incredible challenges that our colleagues face to deliver life-saving assistance.

Since the start, UNOPS has worked hard to enable the humanitarian response in Gaza and deliver support to the civilians in need. We are committed to continuing to deliver for those most in need.

My UNOPS colleagues on the ground have played a unique role in enabling the delivery and monitoring of fuel, operationalization of the UN 2720 Mechanism and the Access Support Unit. We procure and deliver essential items, including priority non-food items, health and hygiene supplies, and winterization kits. And we provide operational support to the UN Mine Action Service, enhancing the security of high-risk UN missions across Gaza, conducting Explosive Threat Assessments of UN premises and critical facilities (and raising awareness of the risks posed by explosive ordnance to the civilian population and aid workers).

Allow me to focus on two key aspects of our work – access and fuel – which are indispensable to the Gaza operation.

First, fuel remains one of the most critical provisions for humanitarian response in Gaza.

Through UNOPS monitoring and facilitation, and in close cooperation with UNRWA, between December 2023 and today, over 28.4 million litres of fuel were delivered in support of humanitarian operations to hospitals, bakeries, Internally displaced persons (IDP) shelters and for UN operations.

As of last week, when faced with an acute shortage of fuel donated to the humanitarian operation, UNOPS has activated further emergency measures to procure fuel for partners, supported by the humanitarian pooled fund.

I would like to emphasize here our call for urgent funding for the humanitarian fuel supply for Gaza, to ensure that operations can be sustained. But let’s not forget that we must give centrality to solar energy on the early recovery and reconstruction phases.

Second, access is another key enabler of the Gaza operation, which UNOPS supports through the Access Support Unit, and through the 2720 Mechanism.

The 2720 Mechanism aims to increase and speed up the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to Gaza. It includes a database for centralised requests for aid deliveries, along with monitors on the ground to support the verification of goods entering the Gaza Strip. Through the online database, the Mechanism provides full transparency showing rejections, approvals, and pending requests, while ensuring follow up on all requests where approvals take more than seven days. Together, these steps serve to reduce multiple controls, inspections and transloading of cargo.

Through this mechanism, with its database for centralised requests of aid deliveries along with monitors on the ground, as of 28 November, nearly 26,000 metric tonnes of aid have been delivered to Gaza. The vast majority of this is food, 87 per cent, followed by shelter, six per cent, and water, sanitation and hygiene supplies, four per cent.

However, access t
o people in need in Gaza remains severely restricted, and the amount of aid entering is simply not enough. The effective delivery of aid at the scale required will not be possible without political will, necessary security and safety guarantees, and an enabling environment.

I call on all of you to increase joint efforts to open more crossings, permit entry of more items, remove access restrictions and re-establish the rule of law mechanisms in Gaza to enable humanitarian delivery.

Excellencies, the people of Gaza are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe. The response is simply not possible without UNRWA’s irreplaceable role.

In the face of the human tragedy in Gaza, we have a collective and urgent responsibility to act – not only to meet acute humanitarian needs but to prepare now for recovery and reconstruction as soon as conditions allow.

UNOPS is determined to stay and deliver for the people of Gaza. We continue to repeat calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages, and we will continue to work as part of the UN family to deliver hope, dignity and pathways toward a better future.