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	We start 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges by Antonio Guterres UN Secretary-General   Feb. 2023   One month ago, we turned the calendar on a new year. But just days ago, another clock turned – the so-called Doomsday clock. That symbolic clock was created 76 years ago by atomic scientists, including Albert Einstein. Year after year, experts have measured humanity’s proximity to midnight – in other words, to self-destruction.   In 2023, they surveyed the state of the world – with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the runaway climate catastrophe, rising nuclear threats that are undermining global norms and institutions. And they came to a clear conclusion. The Doomsday Clock is now 90 seconds to midnight, which means 90 seconds to total global catastrophe.   This is the closest the clock has ever stood to humanity’s darkest hour – and closer than even during the height of the Cold War. In truth, the Doomsday Clock is a global alarm clock. We need to wake up – and get to work.   We have started 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any other in our lifetimes. Wars grind on. The climate crisis burns on. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty rage on. The gulf between the haves and have nots is cleaving societies, countries and our wider world.   Epic geopolitical divisions are undermining global solidarity and trust. This path is a dead end. We need a course correction. The good news is that we know how to turn things around -- on climate, on finance, on conflict resolution, on and on. And we know that the costs of inaction far exceed the costs of action.   But the strategic vision – the long-term thinking and commitment -- is missing. Politicians and decisionmakers are hobbled by what I call a preference for the present. There is a bias in political and business life for the short-term. The next poll. The next tactical political maneuver to cling to power. But also the next business cycle – or even the next day’s stock price. The future is someone else’s problem.   This near-term thinking is not only deeply irresponsible – it is immoral. And it is self-defeating. Because it makes the problems we face today – in the here and now – more intractable, more divisive, and more dangerous. We need to change the mindset of decision making.   My message today comes down to this: Don’t focus solely on what may happen to you today – and dither. Look at what will happen to all of us tomorrow – and act. We have an obligation to act – in deep and systemic ways. After all, the world is not moving incrementally.   Technology is not moving incrementally. Climate destruction is not moving incrementally. We cannot move incrementally. This is not a time for tinkering. It is a time for transformation.   A transformation grounded in everything that guides our work – starting with the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration – the distillation of our shared mission to uphold and uplift our common humanity.   It was bold, ambitious and audacious. We need to take inspiration from its spirit and its substance. The Declaration reminds us that the “inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace.”   When I look at human rights in the broadest sense – with a 21st century lens – I see a roadmap out of the dead end. It starts with the right to peace.   The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound global implications. The prospects for peace keep diminishing. The chances of further escalation and bloodshed keep growing. I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.   But the world needs peace and peace in line with the United Nations Charter and international law. We must work harder for peace everywhere.   In Palestine and Israel, where the two-State solution is growing more distant by the day. In Afghanistan, where the rights of women and girls are being trampled and deadly terrorist attacks continue. In the Sahel, where security is deteriorating at an alarming rate. In Myanmar, which is facing new cycles of violence and repression. In Haiti, where gang violence is holding the entire country hostage.   And elsewhere around the world for the two billion people who live in countries affected by conflict and humanitarian crises.   If every country fulfilled its obligations under the Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed. When countries break those pledges, they create a world of insecurity for everyone. So it is time to transform our approach to peace by recommitting to the Charter -- putting human rights and dignity first, with prevention at the heart.   That requires a holistic view of the peace continuum that identifies root causes and prevents the seeds of war from sprouting. One that invests in prevention to avoid conflicts in the first place, focuses on mediation, advances peacebuilding and includes much broader participation from women and young people.   As United Nations peacekeeping marks its 75th anniversary, many of its missions are under-resourced and under attack, with no peace to keep..   It is also time to bring disarmament and arms control back to the centre – reducing strategic threats from nuclear arms and working for their ultimate elimination. Nuclear-armed countries must renounce the first use of these unconscionable weapons.   In fact, they must renounce any use, anytime, anywhere. The so-called “tactical” use of nuclear weapons is an absurdity. We are at the highest risk in decades of a nuclear war that could start by accident or design.   We need to end the threat posed by 13,000 nuclear weapons held in arsenals around the world.   At the same time, no Agenda for Peace can ignore the dangers posed by new technologies. It should include such measures as international bans on cyberattacks on civilian infrastructure, and internationally agreed limits on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Human agency must be preserved at all costs.   A New Agenda for Peace should aim to maximize the convening power of the United Nations as a platform for broad-based coalitions and effective diplomacy. The Black Sea Grain Initiative shows this approach can get results – even in the middle of a deadly war.   The Deputy Secretary-General’s recent visit to Afghanistan – and her consultations in the region and beyond -- show that we will seek to build consensus around human rights even in the most challenging situations.   Second, social and economic rights and the right to development.   Let’s be clear. When we see poverty and hunger on the rise around the world…. When developing countries are forced to pay five times more in borrowing costs than advanced economies … When vulnerable middle-income countries are denied concessional funding and debt relief… When the richest 1 percent have captured almost half of all new wealth over the past decade… When people are hired and fired at will, but lack any form of social protection… When we see all these gaping flaws and more…   Something is fundamentally wrong with our economic and financial system. The global financial architecture is at the heart of the problem. It should be the means through which globalization benefits all. Yet it is failing.   The global financial architecture does not need a simple evolution; it needs a radical transformation.. A new commitment to place the dramatic needs of developing countries at the centre of every decision and mechanism of the global financial system. A new resolve to address the appalling inequalities and injustices laid bare once again by the pandemic and the response.   A new determination to ensure developing countries have a far greater voice in global financial institutions. And a new debt architecture that encompasses debt relief and restructuring to vulnerable countries, including middle-income ones in need -- building on the momentum of the Bridgetown Agenda.   In particular, Multilateral Development Banks must change their business model and accept a new approach to risk. They should multiply their impact by massively leveraging their funds to attract greater flows of private capital to invest in the capacity of developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.   This means scaling up guarantees and adopting first loss positions in coalitions of financial institutions to support developing countries. Without fundamental reforms, the richest countries and individuals will continue to pile up wealth, leaving crumbs for the communities and countries of the Global South..   Despite a measure of better news in recent days related to the North American, European and Chinese economies, we cannot forget the enormous difficulties that are faced by developing countries and, indeed, by working people everywhere.   The right to development goes hand-in-hand with the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.   We must end the merciless, relentless, and senseless war on nature. It is putting our world at immediate risk of hurtling past the 1.5-degree temperature increase limit and now still moving towards a deadly 2.8 degrees.   Meanwhile, humanity is taking a sledgehammer to our world’s rich biodiversity — with brutal and even irreversible consequences for people and planet. Our ocean is choked by pollution, plastics and chemicals. And vampiric overconsumption is draining the lifeblood of our planet — water.   2023 is a year of reckoning. It must be a year of game-changing climate action. We need disruption to end the destruction. No more excuses. No more greenwashing. No more bottomless greed of the fossil fuel industry and its enablers.   We must focus on two urgent priorities: cutting emissions and achieving climate justice. Global emissions must be halved this decade. That means far more ambitious action to cut carbon pollution by speeding up the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy – especially in G20 countries -- and de-carbonizing highest emitting industrial sectors – like steel, cement, shipping and aviation.   It means delivering on the Just Energy Transitions Partnerships.. And expanding on this cooperation through a Climate Solidarity Pact in which all big emitters make an extra effort to cut emissions, and wealthier countries mobilize financial and technical resources to support emerging economies in a common effort to keep 1.5 alive.   And it means more ambitious 2030 emissions targets from businesses, investors and cities, backed by credible and immediate action – meaning actual emissions and not fake carbon credits.   By September, all businesses, cities, regions and financial institutions that took a 2050 net zero pledge should present their transition plans with credible and ambitious targets for 2025 and 2030 -- aligned with the standards set by my High-Level Expert Group.   I have a special message for fossil fuel producers and their enablers scrambling to expand production and raking in monster profits: If you cannot set a credible course for net-zero, with 2025 and 2030 targets covering all your operations, you should not be in business. Your core product is our core problem. We need a renewables revolution, not a self-destructive fossil fuel resurgence.   Climate action is impossible without adequate finance. Developed countries know what they must do: At minimum, deliver on the commitments made at the latest COP. Make good on the 100 billion US dollars promise to developing countries. Finish the job and deliver on the loss and damage fund agreed in Sharm El-Sheikh. Double adaptation funding. Replenish the Green Climate Fund by COP28. Advance plans for early warning systems to protect every person on earth within five years. And stop subsidizing fossil fuels and pivot investments to renewables.   In September, I will convene a Climate Ambition Summit on our pathway to COP28 in December. The invitation is open to any leader – in government, business or civil society. But it comes with a condition: Show us accelerated action in this decade and renewed ambitious net zero plans – or please don’t show up.   COP28 in December will set the stage for the first-ever Global Stocktake – a collective moment of truth -- to assess where we are, and where we need to go in the next five years to reach the Paris goals.   We must also bring the Global Biodiversity Framework to life and establish a clear pathway to mobilize sufficient resources. And governments must develop concrete plans to repurpose subsidies that are harming nature into incentives for conservation and sustainability.   Action on oceans means new partnerships and tougher efforts to tackle marine-pollution, end overfishing, safeguarding marine biodiversity, and more. The Water Summit in March must result in a bold Water Action Agenda that gives our world’s lifeblood the commitment it deserves.   Climate action is the 21st century’s greatest opportunity to drive forward all the Sustainable Development Goals. A clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a right we must make real for all.   Fourth — respect for diversity and the universality of cultural rights.   Wherever we are from, wherever we live, culture is humanity’s heart and soul. It gives our lives meaning. Universality and diversity are critical to cultural rights. Those rights become meaningless if one culture or group is elevated over another.   But from the destruction of sacred burial sites to state-sponsored religious conversion and so-called re-education programmes, universal cultural rights are under attack from all sides.   Antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, the persecution of Christians, racism and white supremacist ideology are on the march. Ethnic and religious minorities, refugees, migrants, indigenous people and the LGBTQI-plus community are increasingly targeted for hate, online and off.   Many in positions of power profit from caricaturing diversity as a threat. They sow division and hatred. They weaponize cultural differences.   Social media platforms use algorithms that amplify toxic ideas and funnel extremist views into the mainstream. Advertisers finance this business model. Some platforms tolerate hate speech – the first step towards hate crimes.   We call for action from everyone with influence on the spread of mis- and disinformation on the internet – Governments, regulators, policymakers, technology companies, the media, civil society. Stop the hate. Set up strong guardrails. Be accountable for language that causes harm..   Fifth — the right to full gender equality.   Gender equality is both a fundamental human right, and a solution to some of our greatest global challenges. But half of humanity is held back by the most widespread human rights abuse of our time.   Women and girls in Afghanistan are exiles in their own country, banned from public life, with every aspect of their lives controlled by men. As one young woman said: “We are dead, and yet alive.”   In Iran, women and girls have taken to the streets demanding fundamental human rights, at great personal cost.   While the most extreme examples get attention, gender discrimination is global, chronic, pervasive and holds every single country back.   There are huge gender pay gaps even in the most advanced economies. Less than one-quarter of countries have reached gender parity in upper secondary education. At the current rate, it could take 286 years for women to achieve the same legal status as men. And things are getting worse.   At the international level, some governments now oppose even the inclusion of a gender perspective in multilateral negotiations. We face an intense pushback against the rights of women and girls. Women’s sexual and reproductive rights and legal protections are under threat.   I am frequently confronted with all-male panels – so-called “manels” – on issues that affect women and girls just as much as men and boys. These should be banned. Gender equality is a question of power. The patriarchy, with millennia of power behind it, is reasserting itself..   Sixth, civil and political rights as the basis of inclusive societies.   Freedom of expression and participation in political life are the essence of democracy and strengthen societies and economies. But in many parts of the world, these rights are under threat as democracy is in retreat. The pandemic was used as cover for a pandemic of civil and political rights violations.   Repressive laws restrict the freedom to express opinions. New technologies often provide excuses and methods to control freedom to assemble and even freedom of movement. Human rights activists are targeted for harassment, abuse, detention and worse.   The space for civil society is vanishing before our eyes. In an increasing number of countries, the media are in the firing line. The number of journalists and media workers killed last year skyrocketed by 50 percent. Many more were harassed, imprisoned and tortured.   We must work to advance fundamental freedoms, promote more systematic participation by civil society in all our work, and protect civic space around the world. To strengthen our support for laws and policies that protect the right to participation and the right to freedom of expression, including a free and independent media.   We must recognize that all the threats we face undermine not only people’s rights today, but also the rights of future generations. This is a basic responsibility — and a litmus test of good governance. Yet too often, future generations are barely an afterthought.   * UN Secretary-General's remarks at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.   * Implementation of the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018–2027) - Report of the UN Secretary-General   The report provides a review of the progress made and the gaps and challenges in implementing the Third United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2018–2027), in the context of a series of severe and mutually reinforcing crises: the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the food and energy crises, rising inflation and climate change. Policies for an inclusive and sustainable recovery are discussed:   http://reliefweb.int/report/world/implementation-third-united-nations-decade-eradication-poverty-2018-2027-report-secretary-general-a78239-enarruzh Visit the related web page
	The world must act now to stem the violence and instability in Haiti by United Nation News, agencies   Oct. 2023 (UN News)   The UN Security Council has authorized the deployment of an international security mission to help Haiti’s national police quell surging gang violence and restore security across the strife-torn Caribbean nation.   The mission was requested by the Haitian Government and civil society representatives, following months of chaos and steadily worsening conditions affecting civilians. There have been more than 3,000 homicides reported this year, and over 1,500 instances of kidnapping for ransom. Around 200,000 have been forced to flee their homes while sexual violence and abuse against women and girls at the hands of armed gangs has surged. Tens of thousands of children are unable to go to school.   Adopting the resolution security council members also authorized the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to help secure critical infrastructure and transit hubs such as the airport, ports, schools, hospitals and key intersections.   They also called on countries participating in the mission to ensure the highest standards of transparency, conduct and discipline for their personnel, and called for an oversight mechanism to prevent human rights violations or abuses, including sexual exploitation.   The non-UN mission is also slated to help ensure unhindered and safe access to humanitarian aid for millions of Haitians in need.   The resolution, adopted under UN Charter's Chapter VII, which sets out the Security Council’s responsibilities to maintain international peace and security.   Over 200,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes as gangs pillage communities and rape and kill people living in areas controlled by rival gangs, a tenfold increase in the past two years, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.   Gangs also have seized control of key roads leading into Haiti's northern and southern regions, disrupting the distribution of food. More than 4 million people in Haiti are experiencing high levels of acute hunger, and 1.4 million are at emergency levels, according to the U.N. World Food Program.   http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-87/en/ http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/humanitarian-community-haiti-deeply-concerned-about-continued-escalation-violence http://binuh.unmissions.org/en/reports   July 2023 (UN News)   The world must act now to stem the violence and instability in Haiti, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says, appealing for simultaneous action on the humanitarian, security, and political fronts.   Citizens of the Caribbean nation are “trapped in a living nightmare” as armed gangs encircle the capital, Port-au-Prince, blocking roads, controlling access to food and healthcare, and undermining humanitarian support.   Mr. Guterres was speaking fresh from a visit to the country and a summit of regional leaders, held in Trinidad and Tobago, during which he participated in a special session on Haiti.   He told reporters that predatory gangs there are using kidnappings and sexual violence as weapons to terrorize entire communities.   “I have heard appalling accounts of women and girls being gang-raped and of people being burned alive,” he said.   Mr. Guterres urged the international community to take action in what he called three essential areas, starting with addressing the urgent humanitarian needs in the country. A $720 million plan to support more than three million people there is currently only 23 per cent funded. “I appeal to the world to extend a lifeline of support and fill that financial gap without delay,” he said.   The Secretary-General also appealed to the UN Security Council “and all relevant potential contributing countries” to create the conditions for allowing the deployment of a multinational force to assist the Haitian National Police, which the Government had requested back in October.   “We are not calling for a military or political mission of the United Nations,” he said. “We are calling for a robust security force deployed by Member States to work hand-in-hand with the Haitian National Police to defeat and dismantle the gangs and restore security across the country.”   He added that the police force will also need financing, training, and equipment, which are all critical to restoring State authority and delivery of vital services.   Mr. Guterres also appealed for all social and political actors in Haiti to step up efforts toward a desperately needed political solution. He expressed his full support for mediation efforts by the regional bloc, CARICOM.   The head of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), urged the UN Security Council to continue to support its vital work amid the myriad challenges gripping the country.   Special Representative María Isabel Salvador   addressing the dire security situation, noted that the violence continues and has intensified, moving beyond the capital. Ms. Salvador said insecurity has a marked detrimental impact on economic and social rights, as access to education, food, water, sanitation, and healthcare services has been severely limited.   The recent increase in violence in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area has also displaced nearly 128,000 people from their homes, sparking a rise in migration.   Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Haiti is “increasingly grim and likely to deteriorate even further”, she said. Some 5.2 million people, including nearly three million children, require urgent support and protection. Haiti has one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the world, with some 4.9 million people affected, and the healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.   Immediate action needs to be taken by the international community to address conditions in Haiti, otherwise “it’s hard to imagine a decent future” for the Caribbean nation, said the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).   Briefing correspondents just a few days after visiting Haiti along with the head of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Russell said “the current situation of insecurity is unacceptable.   “Women and children are dying. Schools and public spaces should always be safe. Collectively the world is failing the Haitian people.”   An estimated 5.2 million – close to half the population – need humanitarian support, including three million children. Institutions and services children rely on “are barely functional” the Executive Director warned, while violent armed groups control more than 60 per cent of the capital Port au Prince, and parts of the country’s most fertile agricultural areas.   “Haitians and our team there tell me it’s never been worse” she said, with unprecedented malnutrition, grinding poverty, a crippled economy, and a continuing cholera outbreak.   All this “while flooding and earthquakes continue to remind us just how vulnerable Haiti is to climate change and natural disasters”, she added.   Ms. Russell recounted some of the shocking testimony she had heard talking to women and girls at a centre for survivors of gender-based violence, which has now reached “staggering levels”.   “An 11-year-old girl told me in the softest of voices that five men had grabbed her off the street. Three of them raped her. She was eight months pregnant when we spoke – and gave birth just a few days later.   "One woman told me that armed men had barged into her house and raped her. She said her 20-year-old sister resisted so strongly that they killed her by setting her on fire. Then they burned down their house.”   The UNICEF chief said she had heard many similar stories, “part of a new strategy” by armed groups.   “They rape girls and women, and they burn their homes to make them more vulnerable and more easily controlled. Because if they break the women, they’ve broken the foundation of the communities.”   She said amid the horror, there had been “some hope” – in the form of extraordinary teachers, health workers, paediatricians, and young people themselves: “A 13-year-old girl, Serafina, told me that she picked doctor as a profession because ‘I love when people take care of other people’.   “These children are what the parents of Haiti are pinning their hopes on. We should all be doing the same.”   She said a bare minimum of $720 million is needed for humanitarian support but less than a quarter of that had been received.   Her briefing followed a statement from the recently-appointed independent UN human rights expert on Haiti, William O’Neill who has just concluded a 10 day fact finding mission.   Mr. O’Neill said the deployment of a “specialized international force” alongside national police, was “essential to restore the freedom of movement of populations.”   He added that an embargo on arms coming mainly from the United States, established by the UN Security Council, must be immediately implemented. He said Haiti was at a turning point. “It is urgent to take action.   “Ensuring the security and protection of the population and restoring confidence in public institutions are fundamental prerequisites for holding free and transparent elections and for consolidating the rule of law.”   http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138422 http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1138212 http://www.hrw.org/report/2023/08/14/living-nightmare/haiti-needs-urgent-rights-based-response-escalating-crisis http://chrgj.org/2023/07/10/law-clinics-condemn-u-s-government-support-for-haitis-regime-as-country-faces-human-rights-and-humanitarian-catastrophe/ http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/funding-cuts-force-wfp-slash-food-assistance-one-two-haitians-go-hungry http://news.un.org/en/search/Haiti http://reliefweb.int/country/hti   May 2023   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has warned of a “never-ending cycle of violence” in Haiti as gangs continue to inflict extreme cruelty on people, and vigilantes take the law into their own hands.   “Every report I get from Haiti underlines the scale of the suffering, and rams home the message that Haitians need urgent support, and they need it now,” said Turk.   “I reiterate my call on the international community to deploy a time-bound, specialized and human rights-compliant support force, with a comprehensive action plan to assist Haiti's institutions,” he added.   In the month of April alone, more than 600 people were killed in a new wave of extreme violence that hit several districts across the capital. This follows the killing of at least 846 people in the first three months of 2023, in addition to 393 injured and 395 kidnapped during that period – a 28 per cent increase in violence on the previous quarter.   Overwhelmed by the ever-increasing insecurity, Haiti is seeing a worrying increase in mob killings and lynchings of alleged gang members, with at least 164 of these murders documented in April.   “It is the State’s obligation to protect its citizens. People should be able to rely on the police and the judicial authorities to tackle gang violence. But the reality is that the State does not have the capacity to respond. People are thus taking the law into their own hands – but this will only fuel the spiral of violence,” he added.   The UN Human Rights Office and BINUH today launched their quarterly update (January to March), which highlights the emergence of vigilante groups, following calls by some political figures and journalists for citizens to form self-defence organizations to fight gang violence.   The report also underscores that the violence is not only becoming more extreme and more frequent, but spreading relentlessly as gangs seek to extend their control. Areas of the capital previously considered safe are now affected.   Among other modus operandi used by gangs, the report identifies incidents of snipers indiscriminately shooting at people on the street or firing into homes, and of people being burned alive on public transport.   "We must not forget that extreme poverty and the lack of basic services lie at the root of the current violence and of the gangs’ power over communities. The Government, with support from the international community, must do its utmost to comply with its obligation to provide people with regular and unimpeded access to clean water, food, health and shelter,” Turk said. “The current human rights emergency calls for a robust response – urgently,” he added.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-haiti-daily-press-briefing http://www.wfp.org/stories/unseen-and-unheard-haiti-weathers-hunger-gangs-and-climate-extremes http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1138212 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/haiti-un-human-rights-chief-warns-against-never-ending-cycle-violence http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/haiti-un-experts-say-government-must-act-end-gang-violence-against-women-and http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/nearly-3-million-children-need-support-haiti-highest-number-record   Apr. 2023   ‘Unprecedented insecurity’ in Haiti requires urgent action: UN envoy   The rapidly deteriorating security situation in Haiti demands that the country remains at the centre of international attention and action, newly appointed UN Special Representative Maria Isabel Salvador said in her briefing to the UN Security Council.   Gang violence is expanding at an alarming rate in areas previously considered relatively safe in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and outside the city, with a shocking increase in criminality and abuses, and a police force that is unable to handle the situatio   At the same time, almost half the population, 5.2 million people, needs humanitarian aid, amid an ongoing cholera epidemic that has generated nearly 40,000 suspected cases since October.   She warned that any further delay in addressing the “unprecedented insecurity” in Haiti could lead to a spill-over in the region. “Time is of the essence, and the Haitian people deserve your urgent action. If not supported, the vicious circle of violence, political, social, and economic crisis, in which the people struggle every day, will continue,” she said.   She told ambassadors that the horrific violence in gang-ridden areas, including sexual violence particularly targeting women and girls, is emblematic of the terror afflicting much of the population. During the first quarter of the year, 1,647 criminal incidents - homicides, rapes, kidnappings and lynching – were recorded, according to data from the Haitian National Police and the UN mission in the country, BINUH, which she heads.   The figure is more than double the number recorded during the same period in 2022, and last month saw the highest incident rates in nearly two decades.   The Haitian National Police is severely understaffed and ill-equipped to address the violence and criminality, she said.   “I would like to emphasize the urgent need for the deployment, authorized by the Security Council, of an international specialized force, as articulated by the Secretary-General in October 2022. We urgently need to support the Haitian National Police”.   Haitians continue to suffer one of the worst human rights crises in decades, with people living in areas under gang control exposed to the highest rate of abuses.   Gangs continue to use sexual violence, including gang rape, to terrorize and inflict pain on populations living in areas controlled by their rivals. They have also inflicted other forms of sexual violence and exploitation against women and girls living in communities under their influence.   Ms. Salvador said children are among the victims of the most heinous crimes, including killings, kidnappings and rape. They have been struck by stray bullets while in class or when being dropped off at school.   Many schools were forced to close last year due to the violence and extortion by gangs. Although some have reopened, many students have not returned, either because of insecurity or inability to pay.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1136057 http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/humanitarian-coordinator-haiti-alerts-crisis-raging-cite-soleil http://unocha.exposure.co/this-is-not-a-country-where-you-can-dream http://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/violence-pushing-haiti-civil-war http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/haiti-gang-violence http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/02/haiti-rise-extreme-gang-violence-makes-living-nightmare-turk http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/02/un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-concludes-his-official-visit-haiti   Immediate action needed to save children’s lives in Haiti amid triple threat of cholera, malnutrition and violence, UN child rights committee warns. (OHCHR)   The Committee on the Rights of the Child is deeply concerned about the severe violations of children’s rights in Haiti. Amid a surge in violence, the rights of children to life, education, safe water, sanitation, health, and nutrition are under threat.   Given the escalating insecurity, the majority of children have not gone to school since the academic year started on 3 October. More recently, and after three years without a reported case, cholera is back, threatening the health, well-being, and even lives of the 1.2 million children living in areas where cholera cases have been reported.   According to projections by UNICEF, nearly 100,000 children under five face severe acute malnutrition. The situation is alarming as malnourished children are even more at risk from the unfolding cholera outbreak.   Amid the rising violence, insecurity and economic hardship, many of the poorest Haitian families have no access to safe drinking water, soap to wash their hands and other basic sanitation, increasing the risk of catching cholera. In addition, hospitals are only able to offer limited functions as a result of both fuel shortages and insecurity.   Many Haitian children live in fear of being recruited, kidnapped, injured or killed by armed gangs. Children as young as 10, the vast majority of whom are girls, have been subjected to collective rape for hours in front of their parents amid the explosion of gang violence. One in four girls and one in five boys have been sexually abused in Haiti’s capital.   The international community needs to act immediately to support the national authorities in guaranteeing the rights of millions of Haitian children to live, grow, learn, and thrive in a climate free from violence.   The Committee urges Haiti to comply with its international human rights obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography.   In particular, the Committee urges all government authorities and non-State actors to protect the rights of all Haitian children and facilitate access to humanitarian assistance for the most vulnerable families.   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-armed-violence-against-schools-increases-nine-fold-one-year-unicef http://www.icrc.org/en/document/haiti-severe-levels-insecurity-must-not-be-obstacle-much-needed-humanitarian-aid http://www.unicef.org/haiti/en/press-releases/1-2-children-depend-humanitarian-aid-survive-year http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/united-nations-and-partners-issue-call-us720-million-address-surging-humanitarian-needs-haiti http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/humanitarian-coordinator-haiti-alerts-crisis-raging-cite-soleil http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/11/immediate-action-needed-save-childrens-lives-haiti-amid-triple-threat-cholera http://www.msf.org/haiti-msf-forced-suspend-activities-after-armed-men-kill-patient http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigation/2022/11/14/Haiti-gang-violence-women-gender-based-violence-war-humanitarian-needs http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64421308 http://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/haiti/frank-giustra-devastating-situation-haiti http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/remarks-special-representative-helen-la-lime-security-council-open-briefing-haiti-24-january   Oct. 2022   Gripped by spiraling hunger and violence, Haiti needs help now. (WFP)   The situation in Haiti has sadly reached new levels of desperation. In less than a year, the price of the basic food basket has increased by more than half. The price of petrol has doubled. Inflation stands at 31 percent—the highest it's been in recent years—and it's expected to rise further.   Diesel needed to run power supplies, along with food and other basics, can no longer enter through the country’s port. Water supplies are running desperately low.   The school feeding programme is on hold, because it's not safe for children to go to school. The economic and political hub of Port Au Prince is effectively cut off from the rest of the country — all due to the gangs who have a stranglehold on the main arteries in and out of the capital.   Haiti is on the shortlist of acutely hungry countries featured in last week’s latest Hunger Hotspots report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP. We expect food security to further deteriorate this year, surpassing the current record high of an estimated 4.5 million people facing crisis or emergency hunger levels.   Insecurity makes it very difficult and dangerous to implement humanitarian programmes, let alone development ones. Protesters have ransacked and looted humanitarian warehouses throughout the country, depleting stocks that were pre-positioned for disasters and intended for the most vulnerable people.   We need more support from UN member states to further facilitate humanitarian access and protect humanitarians and assets. We're doing our part — seeing, for example, better humanitarian access in Cité Soleil (a poor and restive neighbourhood on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince).   But we're worried this bad situation will only get worse, as food prices continue rising and food stocks run out. And we're projecting an active hurricane season, which would be nothing short of a catastrophe for this battered population.   Today, the Humanitarian Response Plan is only one-fifth financed— even as this latest crisis underscores the urgency of supporting Haitians with projects that strengthen their livelihoods and deliver basic services.   The magnitude of the violence, the depth of the needs, and the risk to Haiti’s population —and to those of us who are trying to support them— is severe. We cannot wait. Haiti needs help now.   http://www.wfp.org/stories/gripped-spiraling-hunger-and-violence-haiti-needs-help-now-0 http://unocha.exposure.co/seven-things-to-know-about-the-humanitarian-crisis-in-haiti http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129317 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/amidst-insecurity-haiti-new-cholera-upsurge-puts-12-million-children-risk http://www.acaps.org/country/haiti/special-reports   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/haiti-gangs-use-sexual-violence-instill-fear-un-report http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/haiti-people-port-au-prince-are-suffering-armed-clashes-spread http://www.savethechildren.net/news/haiti-more-22-million-children-need-violence-surges-across-country http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/05/haiti-bachelet-deeply-disturbed-human-rights-impact-deteriorating-security http://www.wfp.org/stories/haiti-i-spent-all-day-hiding-under-my-bed-they-spent-all-day-shooting http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/haiti-thousands-children-risk-dying-acute-malnutrition-if-adequate-therapeutic-care-not-provided-unicef-warns http://unocha.exposure.co/road-blockade-shatters-resilience-in-southern-haiti http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122352 http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1121352   http://www.acaps.org/country/haiti/special-reports#container-1651 http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-violence-and-pandemic-leave-one-three-children-need-humanitarian-assistance http://www.msf.org/maintaining-healthcare-amid-extreme-uncertainty-haiti http://www.msf.org/unbearable-insecurity-haiti-amidst-violence-and-economic-crisis http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2022/2/7/Haiti-gang-violence-strains-aid-operations-demands-new-approaches Visit the related web page
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