Fixing trust, pacts for the future, and who’s missing: A humanitarian lens on UNGA : Irwin Loy / The New Humanitarian
The UN is currently without a relief chief, which is starting to affect its presence at events like UNGA. The humanitarian side event before the summit focused on familiar talking points, such as deteriorating aid access and the need for funding. The UN's special rapporteur on the right to food has declared that famine has spread throughout Gaza, but the global humanitarian system's mechanism to confirm famine declarations has not. Sudan is another crisis that is being discussed, with a high-level ministerial event scheduled to raise support for humanitarian response.
Excerpts:
On the absence of a relief chief: "You’ve lost this key figurehead who can make the case and push in these high-level rooms," said one humanitarian leader.
On Gaza - "An analysis released ahead of high-level week underscored the magnitude of Israel’s aid blockades – 83% of food aid doesn’t make it to Gaza, which is facing famine. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has said that aid obstruction is one factor that can add up to “a common plan to use starvation as a method of war”.
On Sudan - "...often described as a “forgotten” crisis, but there’s a push to keep it front and centre this week. There’s a high-level ministerial event scheduled to raise support for humanitarian response in Sudan, where 20% of the population has been uprooted amid horrendous violence and claims of ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, a coalition of donors – including the Gates Foundation and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy – are announcing plans to fund mutual aid groups in Sudan.
On the Pact for the Future: "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," said Secretary-General António Guterres.
On the need for reform: "The UN is calling it ‘the most detailed agreement ever’ at the world body on the need for reforming the international financial architecture, and ‘the most progressive and concrete commitment’ for Security Council reform."
On the link between debt and crises: "Debt is ‘choking’ countries in parts of Africa, ‘leaving health and HIV services chronically underfunded’," according to a new UNAIDS report.
Excerpts:
On the absence of a relief chief: "You’ve lost this key figurehead who can make the case and push in these high-level rooms," said one humanitarian leader.
On Gaza - "An analysis released ahead of high-level week underscored the magnitude of Israel’s aid blockades – 83% of food aid doesn’t make it to Gaza, which is facing famine. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has said that aid obstruction is one factor that can add up to “a common plan to use starvation as a method of war”.
On Sudan - "...often described as a “forgotten” crisis, but there’s a push to keep it front and centre this week. There’s a high-level ministerial event scheduled to raise support for humanitarian response in Sudan, where 20% of the population has been uprooted amid horrendous violence and claims of ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, a coalition of donors – including the Gates Foundation and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy – are announcing plans to fund mutual aid groups in Sudan.
On the Pact for the Future: "We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink," said Secretary-General António Guterres.
On the need for reform: "The UN is calling it ‘the most detailed agreement ever’ at the world body on the need for reforming the international financial architecture, and ‘the most progressive and concrete commitment’ for Security Council reform."
On the link between debt and crises: "Debt is ‘choking’ countries in parts of Africa, ‘leaving health and HIV services chronically underfunded’," according to a new UNAIDS report.
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