Human rights

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day of Nowruz, observed today:

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, observed on 24 March:

Two peacekeepers died and four others were injured in Mali this morning, when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti while on its way to Timbuktu.  They were all from Egypt.  The attack is another reminder of the urgent need to continue and strengthen efforts to stabilize the centre of Mali.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is substantially scaling up its assistance in Myanmar, where ongoing security challenges, humanitarian access restrictions and COVID-19 cases are impacting the population.  It is targeting at least 4 million people across the country, where 1 in 4 is facing food insecurity.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video remarks at the opening of the forty-ninth regular session of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva today:

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 400 civilian casualties in Ukraine have been reported since the conflict began, including more than 100 deaths.  The real figure could be considerably higher, as many reported casualties have yet to be confirmed.

In Afghanistan, senior emergency experts from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations called for urgent support to life-saving humanitarian action after a five-day mission to the country.  Over 24 million people – 59 per cent of the Afghan population - requires lifesaving aid, up 30 per cent from 2021.

Some 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance in 2022, the Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022 says, 9 per cent more than in 2021.  More households are turning to negative ways of coping, including child labour, child marriage and the sale of productive assets.

As South Sudan marks the two-year anniversary of the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, the United Nations Mission there is calling for a fresh push to finalize transitional security arrangements and pass new legislation to support constitution-making and elections, among other steps.