Latest news with #Resolution2730
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Security Council Not Doing Enough To Protect Humanitarians, UN Relief Official Says
The United Nations official who helps oversee emergency relief efforts demanded on Wednesday that the Security Council step up and take concrete action to protect aid workers, at a time when targeted violence against humanitarians in conflict zones is both alarmingly high and increasingly normalized. The UNSC's member states met to discuss Resolution 2730, which was adopted last year to uphold the safety and security of humanitarian staff operating in armed conflict. But almost one year and many more killings later, the UN's deputy relief chief is drilling the council to actually put actions to words and hold perpetrators to account. 'Let us be clear: There is no shortage of robust international legal frameworks to protect humanitarian and UN workers,' Joyce Msuya told the council. 'Human rights law and standards, conventions relating to the UN's activities and personnel, and international humanitarian law together provide clear obligations to safeguard humanitarian personnel, assets and operations.' 'What is lacking is the political will to comply.' The meeting occurred just a few days after crews from the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society recovered the bodies of 15 medics and emergency responders from a mass grave in southern Gaza. Israeli forces killed the workers several days earlier while they were trying to save lives, and the OCHA team on the ground recalled witnessing Israeli soldiers shoot fleeing civilians. In a separate attack on March 19, Israeli forces killed a UN staffer and injured six others ― bringing the number of aid workers killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to at least 408, which the UN says makes the Palestinian territory the most dangerous place for humanitarians ever. 'We extend our condolences to the families of the victims. We demand answers and call for justice,' Msuya said. 'And since we are here today to discuss the protection of aid workers, I must ask this council: What are you going to do to help us find those answers and achieve justice, and avoid more killings?' Last year was the deadliest on record for humanitarians, with 377 aid workers killed across 20 countries, and many more injured, kidnapped, attacked and arbitrarily detained. About 95% of those deaths are local humanitarians who Msuya described as pillars of international relief efforts. 'We have become numb to this violence,' Msuya said. 'Being shot at is not ― I repeat, is not ― part of our job.' As much as international aid workers remain unprotected in conflict zones, local aid workers are even more vulnerable. On top of facing death, injury or abduction, local humanitarian staff in regions like Palestine, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also deal with disinformation campaigns that paint them as terrorists, putting a target on their back and normalizing any violence against them, all while receiving little to no media coverage. 'It's an endless loop of blood, pain, death. And Gaza has become a death trap,' Jonathan Whittall, OCHA's head for Palestine, told reporters on Wednesday. 'We cannot accept – and as humanitarians, I need to emphasize this – that we cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are dehumanized to the point of being somehow unworthy of survival.' 'And yet today unfortunately marks one month without any supplies entering into Gaza. That's one month of no food, no fuel, no aid, nothing. Nothing has entered,' he continued. 'So 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed, starved – and the consequences are apparent to all of us that are here. It's mostly apparent to the people that are living through this war.' Msuya reminded member states that they must protect humanitarians, ensure countries are abiding by international law, and to speak out when they're not because 'silence, inconsistency and selective outrage only embolden perpetrators.' The UNSC also has to actually follow through on imposing consequences to those who harm humanitarians 'without exception,' she added. 'The Security Council should play a key role in pushing for accountability … by asking concerned governments to pursue justice and by following up with them,' Msuya said. 'When national jurisdictions fail, the council can use international mechanisms, including by referring situations to the International Criminal Court.'
Arab News
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UK's UN envoy urges stronger protection for aid workers at UN Security Council meeting
LONDON: UK Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward has called for urgent action to protect aid workers in conflict zones as she addressed a UN Security Council session on implementing Resolution 2730. Speaking at the meeting on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Woodward stressed the importance of maintaining momentum in ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of humanitarian workers. 'I pay tribute to those on the frontline and extend my condolences to the families and friends of those who have lost their lives,' she said. Woodward highlighted the escalating risks faced by aid workers, citing figures from the Aid Worker Security Database that recorded 64 deaths, 36 injuries, and eight kidnappings in just the first three months of 2025. She noted that the majority of those affected were local or national aid workers. 'The most dangerous place to deliver humanitarian assistance is Gaza, with over 400 aid workers reportedly killed since the beginning of the conflict,' she said, adding that Sudan and South Sudan are also high-risk locations. She expressed concern over the detention of aid workers by the Houthis in Yemen, calling for their immediate release, and stressed the need to protect those responding to the aftermath of a devastating earthquake in Myanmar. Marking the one-year anniversary of the attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, in which seven aid workers, including three British citizens, were killed, Woodward renewed calls for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General's review into the incident. 'We continue to call for the conclusion of the Military Advocate General's consideration of the incident, including determining whether criminal proceedings should be initiated,' she said. She also condemned the recent killing of eight medics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, along with first responders and a UN aid worker in Gaza. 'We call for a thorough and swift investigation with meaningful accountability for those responsible,' she said, urging Israel to support efforts to locate PRCS medic Asaad Al-Nasasra, who remains missing. Woodward emphasized the need for all parties in conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, ensuring that humanitarian supplies, personnel, and aid workers are respected and protected. 'States must investigate attacks on aid workers and hold perpetrators to account. Effective, trusted deconfliction mechanisms must be set up and used,' she said. She also urged the strengthening of international commitments to aid worker protection, highlighting the UK's participation in an Australian-led ministerial group working to develop a political declaration aimed at driving global action on the issue. 'The UK is proud to be part of the Australian-led Ministers Group to develop a political declaration to galvanize collective action to protect aid workers, and we encourage others to join,' she said. Additionally, she called for greater support for humanitarian organizations, including local groups, whose work is hindered by inadequate funding and operational risks. 'Actors who play a fundamental role in aid worker safety face operational risks due to inadequate funding,' she said, pointing to the UK's support for key security-focused groups such as the Aid Worker Security Database and the International NGO Safety Organization. Woodward reaffirmed the UK's unwavering commitment to ensuring aid workers can operate safely, saying: 'The UK remains steadfast in our commitment to allowing aid workers to do their job in safety and preventing violence against aid workers from becoming the new normal.'
