UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Amin Awad of Sudan as assistant secretary-general to serve as UN Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Guterres announced the appointment on Friday while meeting reporters at the UN headquarters in New York after the Security Council meeting on Ukraine concluded, Xinhua news agency reported.
Awad has served in a range of senior roles with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which brought with him over 30 years of experience in the field of humanitarian affairs, strategic action, planning and development, according to a press note issued by the UN chief’s office.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan/IANS)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for restraint in Guinea-Bissau after a failed coup in the African country…reports Asian Lite News
“The Secretary-General is continuing to closely follow the developments in Guinea-Bissau. He encourages all stakeholders, particularly defense and security forces, to exercise restraint and take all necessary measures to prevent any actions that could undermine peace and stability in Guinea-Bissau,” Xinhua news agency quoted Farhan Haq, the UN chief’s deputy spokesman, as saying to reporters.
Guterres reiterated the need for all actors to respect the country’s democratic institutions, and called on the authorities to ensure that investigations into the attempted coup on Tuesday are carried out in full compliance with human rights standards, said Haq.
Late Tuesday, Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo announced that the coup had been thwarted and several civilians and soldiers had been arrested.
Embalo said the attackers tried to kill him and his entire cabinet at the government palace.
While the President had said that there were several casualties on both sides, local media reported at least six deaths – four attackers and two guards.
The attackers were linked to drug trafficking in the country, he said, without providing further details.
Gunfire erupted near government buildings on Tuesday in the capital of the West African nation, where the President was attending a cabinet meeting, the BBC reported.
Guinea-Bissau, with a population of just under two million people, has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.
Over the past two years there have been military takeovers in Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso and Guinea, as well as further east in Sudan.
The UN held a virtual ceremony to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in remembering the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust during the Second World War…reports Asian Lite News
The Holocaust “defined the United Nations”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the ceremony, recalling that the UN Charter was drafted in San Francisco “as the Dachau concentration camp was liberated”, Xinhua news agency reported.
In remembering the Jews who perished in the Holocaust, along with the Roma and Sinti, and countless other victims of its “unprecedented horror and calculated cruelty,” the UN chief reminded that “our very name was coined to describe the alliance fighting the Nazi regime and its allies.”
“The United Nations must always be on the frontline of the fight against antisemitism and all other forms of religious bigotry and racism,” underscored the UN chief.
Across the globe, xenophobia and hatred are on the rise, said the top UN official.
Guterres described rising antisemitism, intolerance and proliferating Holocaust denials, in which “no society is immune.”
“We must never forget that the Holocaust could have been prevented. The desperate pleas of the victims fell on deaf ears. Too few spoke out, too few listened – fewer still stood up in solidarity,” he said.
He urged everyone to never be indifferent to the suffering of others, forget what happened in the death camps, or let it be forgotten by others.
In his address, Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, mourned the losses of the women, men and children who “perished during the worst atrocity in human history.”
“We honor those whose lives were cut short by ruthless and intolerable acts fueled by bigotry, antisemitism, and hatred,” he said. “We ensure that they live on in legacy and in memory.”
And to prevent history from repeating itself, everyone must remember and keep “telling this story.”
“In memory of the Holocaust victims, and out of respect for the survivors, let us never forget. Let us unite for truth, peace, and justice for all.”
Kicking off the day’s events, the UN Chamber Music Society featured Jewish composers in performing a moving concert, designed to preserve the memory of the tragedy for future generations.
It also featured special performances from Argentine-Israeli Maestro Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and artwork by Israeli New York-based artist, Roy Nachum.
The ceremony was followed by a virtual seminar entitled Legacy of Medicine During the Holocaust and its Contemporary Relevance, which was aimed at healthcare trainees and professionals to reflect on their core values in the service of humanistic and ethically responsible patient care.
Afghanistan hanging by a thread: UN chief sounds alarm at UNSC
With Afghanistan “hanging by a thread” six months after the Taliban takeover, the world cannot abandon the country now – for the sake of its people and overall global security, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday…reports Asian Lite News
“At this moment, we need the global community – and this Council – to put their hands on the wheel of progress, provide resources, and prevent Afghanistan from spiralling any further,” Guterres said in his briefing to the UN Security Council on Afghanistan.
Guterres also outlined action for the de facto rulers of the country, the Taliban, calling on the fundamentalists to expand opportunity and security for Afghans, uphold human rights, and demonstrate real commitment to be part of the international community, the UN said in a statement.
The Secretary-General said Afghanistan has long been unfairly used as a platform for political agendas, geopolitical advantage, ideological dominance, brutal conflicts and terrorism.
Antonio
“As a matter of moral responsibility – and regional and global security and prosperity – we cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan,” he said, adding Afghans need peace, hope, and help, and they need it now.
The country’s economy is collapsing amid another brutal winter, and daily life has become “a frozen hell”. Over half of all citizens are facing extreme levels of hunger, and some families have been forced to sell their babies so they can buy food, said the statement.
Meanwhile, sanctions and mistrust by the global banking system have frozen nearly USD 9 billion in central bank assets, and vital systems are starved of much-needed funds.
As the economy spirals downward, human rights are also losing ground.
The UN chief highlighted the situation of women and girls, who are once again shut out of offices and classrooms. He also appealed for the release of women activists who were arrested or abducted recently.
Guterres reminded the Council that earlier this month, the UN launched a more than USD 4.4 billion appeal for Afghanistan to keep the food, education and economic systems from collapsing.
He urged countries to suspend rules and conditions that constrict both the Afghan economy and lifesaving humanitarian operations.
The Secretary-General underscored the need to “jump-start” the Afghan economy through increased liquidity, including by freeing-up frozen currency reserves and through cash injections.
The UN chief also urged the Taliban to demonstrate real commitment to be part of the international community. “The window for trust-building is open. But this trust must be earned,” he said.
Afghanistan has been a fertile breeding ground for terrorist groups for far too long, and the UN chief underscored the critical need to promote security and fight terrorism.
“If we do not act and help Afghans weather this storm, the region and the world will pay a heavy price,” he said, urging the de facto authorities to work together with the global community to suppress the terrorism threat. (ANI)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan/IANS)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed alarm at the continued airstrikes in Sanaa, Hodeidah and elsewhere in Yemen in recent days, said his spokesman…reports Asian Lite News
Guterres also noted with alarm that missile attacks and shelling continued in several areas in the country. All of these actions have resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman.
“The secretary-general reiterates his call on the parties to exercise maximum restraint and prevent any escalation amid heightened tensions in the region, as well as to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law,” Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesman as saying at a daily press briefing.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since the Houthi militia overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.
Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military coalition that intervened since 2015 to support the Yemeni government.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has just left Riyadh after concluding a visit to Saudi Arabia.
He met Saudi Vice Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, and other Saudi and Yemeni interlocutors, said Dujarric.
During his meetings, Grundberg also denounced the recent wave of military escalation, including the heavy airstrikes on Sanaa, which have engulfed Yemen and spilled over the borders to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Grundberg exchanged views on possible options to achieve immediate de-escalation and pave the way for comprehensive political talks, said the spokesman.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was upbeat by the prospects of a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia…reports Asian Lite News
In a statement, Guterres said he held a telephone conversation with Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union (AU) high representative for the Horn of Africa, to exchange views on the conflict in Ethiopia following the latter’s latest visit to Addis Ababa and Mekelle, the capital of the regional state of Tigray, reports Xinhua news agency.
Obasanjo briefed him on the efforts being made by the government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to move toward a resolution of the violent conflict.
Obasanjo expressed optimism that there is now a real opportunity for a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict, said Guterres.
Antonio-Guterres
“I am delighted that after over a year of armed conflict which has affected millions of people across Ethiopia and the rest of the region, there is now a demonstrable effort to make peace,” he said.
“Ongoing military operations in some parts of Ethiopia remain a challenge to the peace process and sour the confidence-building measures that we hope are being taken by all parties in the conflict.
“Let me reiterate my call on all parties to move rapidly toward cessation of hostilities as a critical step in the right direction for peace-making,” said the UN chief.
The UN stands ready to support an all-inclusive and nationally owned dialogue, peace, security, and reconciliation process in Ethiopia, Guterres said, adding that the international community must continue to emphasize the need for all parties to demonstrate sincerity and commitment to the peace process.
While the AU-led peace process offers hope, the UN remains concerned about the humanitarian situation in various parts of Ethiopia affected by the war, he said, calling on all actors in the conflict to support and facilitate local and international efforts to provide humanitarian aid to those in need.
Ethiopian federal government forces and the TPLF have been fighting each other in Tigray since November 2020.
The conflict later spilled into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.
Taking note of the delay in the proposed elections in Libya, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the need for the polls to go ahead inappropriate conditions…reports Asian Lite News
The Secretary-General has taken note of the announcement on Wednesday by the Libyan High National Elections Commission (HNEC) that the first round of the presidential poll, which was scheduled for December 24, will be delayed, Xinhua news agency quoted Farhan Haq, Guterres’s deputy spokesman, as saying in a statement.
UN Seeks Safe & Fair Elections In Libya
The Libyan parliamentary elections, originally planned to be held also on December 24, had already been postponed to January 2022.
“The Secretary-General commends the 2.8 million Libyans who have registered to vote. It is imperative that the will of the people is respected. Presidential and parliamentary elections must take place in Libya in the appropriate conditions to peacefully end the political transition and transfer power to democratically elected institutions,” said the statement.
In this regard, Guterres took note of the HNEC’s recommendation to the House of Representatives and welcomed its continued commitment to the ongoing presidential and parliamentary electoral process, said the statement.
The HNEC on Wednesday proposed to postpone the first round of the presidential election to January 24, 2022, provided that the House of Representatives “takes the necessary measures to lift the state of force majeure that obstructs the electoral process”.
The most notable presidential candidates in the fray include Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi; Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the eastern-based army; Aguila Saleh, the speaker of Parliament; and Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, the incumbent Prime Minister.
The Secretary-General’s special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, and the UN Support Mission in Libya will continue to support a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned process to address outstanding challenges and ensure the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections as soon as possible.
Antonio: Lebanon is at centre of UN strategies, efforts
Visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Lebanon is at the centre of all strategies and efforts of the world amid the multiple crises in the country…reports Asian Lite News
“Lebanon is today at the centre of all our strategies and efforts, both at the level of the Secretariat and at the level of the different agencies that are cooperating with the Lebanese authorities,” Guterres said during a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the Lebanese cabinet at the Grand Serail on Monday.
The Secretary-General emphasized the importance of adopting unified strategies among the UN and Lebanese leaders that are aligned in pursuit of a stable peaceful Lebanon to offer hope and opportunity to all its people.
Antonio: Lebanon is at centre of UN strategies, efforts
Guterres noted that the UN stands ready to support Lebanon in its negotiations with international financial institutions to encourage them to provide the maximum possible support for the country.
For his part, Mikati said that Lebanon urgently needs more aid, especially for a cash assistance program for hundreds of thousands of families.
He asked for the help of the international community to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
Earlier on Monday, Guterres met House Speaker Nabih Berri, vowing to facilitate negotiations for maritime border demarcation allowing Lebanon to take full profit of the natural resources.
The UN Secretary-General laid a wreath earlier in the day at a memorial for the August 2020 Beirut port blast.
Guterres arrived on Sunday in Lebanon to express solidarity with the people of Lebanon amid the country’s multiple crises.
Antonio announces appoints new special adviser on Libya
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the appointment of Stephanie Williams of the US as his special adviser on Libya…reports Asian Lite News
Williams will lead good offices and mediation efforts and engagements with Libyan, regional and international stakeholders to pursue implementation of the three intra-Libyan dialogue tracks — political, security and economic — and support the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections in Libya, Xinhua news agency quoted Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, as saying.
Antonio announces appoints new special adviser on Libya
The appointment came after the resignation of Special Envoy Jan Kubis last month, which created a leadership crisis at a crucial time for Libya as the country prepares for elections scheduled for December 24.
Kubis tendered his resignation on November 17 and indicated his readiness to stay on as special envoy for a transitional period to ensure continuity.
In response, Guterres, in a letter dated November 23, accepted Kubis’ resignation, effective as of December 10.
Dujarric said that the special adviser is a new position and that she will be based in Tripoli instead of Geneva, where Special Envoy Kubis was based.
Although technically not a successor to Kubis, Williams will be leading the work of the UN in Libya, said Dujarric.
On Williams’ tenure and future role, Dujarric said that “we’ll see what architecture Security Council members come up with” when the council renews the mandate of the UN Support Mission in Libya in January 2022.
Williams has extensive experience in diplomacy and foreign security policy, said Dujarric.
She became acting special representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya in March 2020 following the sudden resignation of Ghassan Salame as special representative.
She held the position till Kubis’ appointment in January 2021.
Williams served as deputy special representative on Libya between 2018 and March 2020.
On Indian food aid to Af, UN says humanitarian help should arrive 'swiftly'
The UN wants humanitarian aid to arrive quickly anywhere where it is needed, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said when asked about Pakistan holding up medicines and 50,000 tonnes of wheat that India wants to send to Afghanistan…writes Arul Louis
“We would want to see, obviously, humanitarian aid to arrive where it needs anywhere around the world as swiftly as possible,” Dujarric said on Tuesday without directly referring to the Afghan situation.
He added, “Let me check with our humanitarian colleagues.”
Guterres has repeatedly issued dire warnings about a looming food crisis that could lead to starvation deaths in the country now in the grip of the Taliban.
On Indian food aid to Af, UN says humanitarian help should arrive ‘swiftly’
But there appears to have been no open international intervention to get the readily available food to Afghanistan from India.
Pakistan has refused to allow Indian trucks carrying aid through its territory to landlocked Afghanistan.
India insisits that Pakistan should not impose conditions on the delivery of food aid.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said last month, “We believe that humanitarian assistance should not be subject to conditionalities.”
He also raised the matter at the trilateral meeting with Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Wang Yi of China telling them that the three “countries need to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without hindrance and without politicisation.”
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, Islamabad announced last week that “on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes” it would allow Afghan trucks to transport the wheat from the Wagah border with India to Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering the Afghan province of Nangarhar.
India, which insists that there should be no conditions has not reacted to this announcement that still bars Indian vehicles.
One of the risks for India in not having direct control of the supply line is that the wheat may not reach the people of Aghanistan who need it most or may be used politically or labeled as a gift of Pakistan, which is in no position to give its clients, the Taliban, food aid for the country they took over.
After the Taliban takeover, more than $1 billion has been pledged as aid to Afghanistan by various countries in response to Guterres’ appeal, but the offer of wheat aid by India would provide immediate relief to the country said to be on the brink of starvation.
The UN World Food Programme’s (WFP) Afghanistan Country Director Mary-Ellen McGroarty said in a news release acknowledged that while the international community may have real concerns about the country, “The innocent people of Afghanistan, the children of Afghanistan who have had their lives upended through no fault of their own, cannot be condemned to hunger and starvation just because of the lottery of geopolitics and the lottery of birth.”
Despite India’s reservations about the Taliban and previous problems with what was an insurgent terrorist organisation, New Delhi has offered the aid, which now appears to be a victim of geopolitics.
New Delhi has previously sent wheat to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port that India helped build in Iran.
Last year it sent 75,000 tonnes of wheat through this circituus route.
