Human rights

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message for the high-level event on gender-based violence and COVID-19, held today:

Devastating flooding along the White Nile River has affected some 625,000 people in South Sudan since July, United Nations humanitarian officials in that country report.  The United Nations and partners are providing food, temporary shelter, fishing kits, water purification tablets, medicine and other supplies.

We are devastated by the sudden passing of our long-time friend and colleague Reynaldo Naval of the Media Documents Centre.  Rey proudly served the United Nations for 39 years, and we always appreciated his kindness, sunny disposition, dedication and pride in belonging to the Organization.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video statement for the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the responsibility to protect, today:

The Secretary-General expressed concern over the number of restrictions and attacks against journalists, as many face harassment, intimidation, killing and arbitrary detention.  He called on Governments to immediately release journalists detained while exercising their profession, stressing:  “No democracy can function without press freedom.”

In Sudan, nearly 720,000 people have been affected by floods, with more than 100 deaths reported, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  While the United Nations and its partners have reached 200,000 with health, food and other assistance, the $1.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan is less than half funded.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are helping the Government of Cambodia with distance learning programmes for the more than 3 million students who are out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has put two reports online, one detailing violations in eastern Ukraine and Crimea, and the other warning that accountability for violations committed in the context of demonstrations remains elusive, despite promising steps by the Government of Iraq.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, observed on 22 August:

Following explosions in Beirut on 4 August, the United Nations is requesting $565 million to help Lebanon move towards recovery and reconstruction.  Peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are also donating blood and have joined the “#UN4Beirut” initiative to clean up devastated city streets.