Human rights

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that it is providing tents, water, tanks and toilets to the more than 3,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that arrived in north-western Uganda last week during a temporary opening of two border crossing points.

Addressing rights violations as warning signs of conflict is even more urgent in the COVID-19 era, the United Nations senior human rights official told the Security Council in a 7 July videoconference meeting, as she spotlighted the role peacekeepers can play in monitoring virus-related stigma, hate speech and the impact of containment measures on vulnerable groups.

For the Syria crisis response, the international community has pledged $5.5 billion to support humanitarian, resilience and development activities in 2020, plus $2.2 billion in 2021 and beyond, demonstrating a clear commitment to continue supporting those most affected and ensuring aid agencies are able to plan ahead.

An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation this year and if programmes and services stay shut for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that figure will reach 6.1 million by 2030, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s “State of World Population 2020” report issued today.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Nicolas de Rivière (France):

In Nepal, the United Nations team is helping the Government cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the repatriation of Nepali migrants returning from the Gulf and Southeast Asia at entry and transit points, with quarantine sites and isolation centres.  Some 25,000 returnees are expected in this first phase.

A new United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report finds that universal child benefits such as cash payments or tax transfers — crucial to fighting child poverty — are only available in 1 out of 10 countries.  Officials say that they are needed now more than ever amid the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Human Rights Council, in Geneva today:

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) launched the ZODIAC project to strengthen global preparedness for future pandemics by establishing a network to help with monitoring, surveillance, early detection and control of animal and zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola, avian influenza and Zika.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, observed on 19 June: