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UN Daily News
Tuesday, 16 February 2016

Issue DH/7096

In the headlines:
UN mourns death of former Secretary-General

UN mission in Central African Republic aims to

Zika: UN health agency launches global response

Ban praises mega sport events for potential to

At Security Council, UN relief chief spotlights need

Syria: UN gravely concerned over repeated

Syria: UN mediator intends to resume Geneva talks

Boutros Boutros-Ghali

strategy; Member States briefed on outbreak

to end human catastrophe in Yemen

UN agency reaches thousands of people in Chad

and Cameroon displaced by Boko Haram violence

ISIL losing appeal in Iraq, but threat should not

be underestimated UN envoy

ensure victims of alleged abuse receive help

advance peace and human rights
attacks on hospitals, school
next week

Peacekeeping a tool to advance political, not

military, solutions UN deputy chief

Chinas clampdown on lawyers and activists draws

concern of UN human rights chief

UN mourns death of former Secretary-General Boutros BoutrosGhali

16 February - Boutros Boutros-Ghali, veteran Egyptian diplomat and the first United
Nations Secretary-General from Africa, passed away today at the age of 93. He is being
praised for guiding the Organization through the tumultuous early 1990's and for helping
shape the UN's response to post-Cold War realities, drafting a seminal report on preventive
diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.
The UN Security Council announced Mr. Boutros-Ghali's death this morning, after which
the 15-member held a moment of silence.
Mr. Boutros-Ghali had a long association with international affairs as a diplomat, jurist,
scholar and widely published author. He became a member of the Egyptian Parliament in
1987, and at the time of his appointment as UN chief, he had been Deputy Prime Minister
for Foreign Affairs of Egypt since May 1991, and had served as Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs from October 1977 until 1991.

On 2 January 1992, Boutros BoutrosGhali (right), Secretary-General of the

United Nations, arrives at the Secretariat
Entrance for his first working day at the
United Nations. Aly Teymour, Chief of
Protocol, escorts him into the building.
UN Photo/John Isaac

Over four decades, Mr. Boutros-Ghali participated in numerous meetings dealing with international law, human rights,
economic and social development, decolonization, the Middle East question, international humanitarian law, the rights of
ethnic and other minorities, non-alignment, development in the Mediterranean region and Afro-Arab cooperation.
In September 1978, Mr. Boutros-Ghali attended the Camp David Summit Conference and had a role in negotiating the
Camp David accords between Egypt and Israel, which were signed in 1979.
The sixth United Nations Secretary-General, his term was marked by brutal conflicts in Haiti, Somalia, Rwanda and the
former Yugoslavia, among others. Soon after his inauguration, the Security Council met in its first-ever summit of Heads of

For information media not an official record

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16 February 2016

State. At their request, Boutros-Ghali authored the report called 'An Agenda for Peace,' an analysis on ways to strengthen
UN capacity for preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping.
Also during his tenure, he spearheaded UN structural and management reform.
At UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed his predecessor as a respected statesman who
brought formidable experience and intellectual power to the task of piloting the United Nations through one of the most
tumultuous and challenging periods in its history, and guiding the Organization of the Francophonie in subsequent years.
As Secretary-General, he presided over a dramatic rise in UN peacekeeping. He also presided over a time when the world
increasingly turned to the United Nations for solutions to its problems, in the immediate aftermath of the cold war, Mr. Ban
told reporters.
He showed courage in posing difficult questions to the Member States, and rightly insisted on the independence of his
office and of the Secretariat as a whole. His commitment to the United Nations its mission and its staff was
unmistakable, and the mark he has left on the Organization is indelible, Mr. Ban stressed.
He extended his deepest condolences to Mrs. Boutros-Ghali, as well as to the rest of the family, to the Egyptian people, and
to the late Secretary-General's many friends and admirers around the world.
The United Nations community will mourn a memorable leader who rendered invaluable services to world peace and
international order, he concluded.
Sincere condolences were also expressed by Oh Joon, President of the UN Economic and Social Council, who hailed Mr.
Boutros-Ghali as an early backer of the concept of peace-building. The President of the UN general Assembly, Mogens
Lykketoft also expressed his condolences, saying the UN and the world had lost and outstanding diplomat.
The High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser expressed his profound
sadness at Mr. Boutros-Ghali,s passing and said he will always be remembered for his continuous endeavours to achieve
world peace, and noted that Agenda of Peace continues to be a lasting legacy.

Zika: UN health agency launches global response strategy;

Member States briefed on outbreak
16 February - As World Health Organization officials briefed United Nations Member
States in New York today on the Zika virus outbreak, the agency launched a global strategy
to guide the international response to the spread of the virus and the neonatal malformations
and neurological conditions associated with it.
The Strategic Response Framework and Joint Operations Plan focuses on mobilizing and
coordinating partners, experts and resources to help countries enhance surveillance of the
Zika virus and disorders that could be linked to it, improve vector control, effectively
communicate risks, guidance and protection measures, provide medical care to those
affected and fast-track research and development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.

A UN peacekeeper fumigating mosquitoes

in the Bel Air neighbourhood of Haitis
capital Port au Prince. Photo:
UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

WHO says $56 million is required to implement the strategy, of which $25 million would fund the WHO/AMRO/PAHO
(Regional Office foe the Americas/Pan American Health Organization) response and $31 million would fund the work of
key partners. In the interim, WHO has tapped a recently established emergency contingency fund to finance its initial
operations.
As part of WHOs new emergency programme, the agencys headquarters activated an Incident Management System to
oversee the global response and leverage expertise from across the organization to address the crisis. WHO is tapping a
recently established emergency contingency fund to finance its initial operations.

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16 February 2016

Meanwhile, Dr. Natela Menabde, the Executive Director of the WHO Office in New York, told Member during a briefing to
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that currently 34 countries have reported the Zika virus, mostly in the
Americas and Caribbean, and seven reported an increase in cases of microcephaly.
She said that Brazil has registered more than 4,700 suspected cases of microcephaly, a quarter were only studied for the
moment, while the average number of microcephaly every year until then was of 163 cases. "The increase we see now is
definitely a source of serious concern," she added.
In his remarks, ECOSOC President Oh Joon recalled that on 1 February, based on recommendations of the International
Health Regulations Emergency Committee, WHO declared the increasing cases of neonatal and neurological disorders, amid
the growing Zika outbreak in the Americas, a public health emergency.
We know that Zika is a virus transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. It was first discovered in 1947 in the Zika forest of
Uganda. The health threat associated with the Zika Virus disease in Latin America and the Caribbean is very real, he said,
adding that the rise of microcephaly cases and other neurological disorders in the affected regions is extremely worrying.
All this raises the question of preparedness of health systems and institutions to respond to the needs of infected women and
men, children born with microcephaly, and their families, especially their mothers, he underscored.
Recalling that over the years, ECOSOC convened special meetings to address global public health emergencies and promote
a coordinated strategic response to, among others the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, avian
flu in 2005 and Ebola in 2014, Mr. Oh said: We have learned from the past outbreaks that health emergencies have
economic and social implications.
Indeed, he continued, governments can experience fiscal deficits due to increased expenditures on healthcare and social
protection programmes. Labour productivity can decrease if workers fall sick or need to care for sick family members.
Women, who are the most vulnerable, shoulder the caregiving for sick family members, he added.
Responding to the Zika virus requires a strong coordinated and integrated response from the international community,
including the UN system. This international public health emergency needs our utmost attention, said Mr. Oh, assuring
the international community that the Council will continue its efforts on tackling emerging global issues and mobilizing
coordinated response from the UN System in timely manner.

At Security Council, UN relief chief spotlights need to end

human catastrophe in Yemen
16 February - With a human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen, the Security Council and the
international community must urge the parties to the conflict to ensure unconditional and
sustained humanitarian access to all parts of the country, and take greater measures to
protect civilians, the top United Nations emergency relief official said today.

Water being trucked into a displacement

camp where about 200 families, displaced
from Saada, Yemen, live. Photo:
OCHA/Philippe Kropf

In a briefing to the 15-nation Council, Stephen OBrien, the UN Under-Secretary-General

for Humanitarian Affairs, highlighted the extraordinarily difficult and dangerous
circumstances across the country to deliver assistance to millions of people in need.
Just this past Sunday, he noted, a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a building 200 metres
away from a facility that accommodates UN and diplomatic personnel, he said.

The parties to the conflict have a duty of care in the conduct of military operations to protect all civilian persons and
objects, including humanitarian and health care workers and facilities, against attack, Mr. OBrien said, reminding all
parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law to facilitate humanitarian access to all areas of Yemen.
He said more than 1.8 million children have been out of school since mid-March 2015, bringing the total number to more
than 3.4 million, when combined with pre-crisis figures. Over 1,170 schools are now unfit for use due to conflict-related
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16 February 2016

damage, presence of displaced people, or occupation by armed groups. Water infrastructure serving at least 900,000 people
has been either damaged or destroyed by airstrikes, artillery and rockets.
Recent communication received from Saudi Arabia regarding the safety of humanitarian workers in al-Houthi-controlled
areas has impacted the humanitarian communitys planning, causing delays to important missions over the past two weeks,
he noted. This followed the denial of entry to Saudi Arabia on 17 January of the regional humanitarian coordinator.
On 11 February, a vessel chartered by the World Food Programme (WFP) , traveling from Djibouti with a scheduled and
approved stop in the Yemen port of Hodeidah, was diverted by coalition forces to the Saudi port of Jizan, he said.
Humanitarian assistance reached the Taiz city enclave following a high level mission led by the humanitarian coordinator on
22 January, he said. The area faces severe access restrictions by al-Houthis, and is home to over 200,000 people. Deliveries
included food for around 18,000 people, non-food items for approximately 1,250 families; and medical supplies including
170 oxygen cylinders and 30,000 units of dialysis sessions.
Over the weekend, additional assistance has reached the enclave, including food for a further 18,000 people, cancer
treatment drugs, surgical items, intravenous fluids and anaesthetic supplies, as well as HIV antiretroviral treatments. Efforts
are ongoing to establish a monitoring mechanism that will enable predictable access, as opposed to ad hoc one-time
deliveries, said Mr. OBrien.

Imports of Food and Fuel

Humanitarian assistance must be complemented by efforts to revive the economy and flow of much-needed commercial
goods, which has been severely impeded by the ongoing conflict, Mr. OBrien said. Given the heavy dependence of Yemen
on imported food and fuel, it will be critical to ensure inspections under Security Council resolution 2216 do not adversely
impact the flow of commercial shipping into Yemen of basic items that civilians rely on to survive, he said.
To that end, the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) has now been formally launched, he said,
add that the Secretary-General has formally requested the Yemeni authorities and the Saudi-led coalition to appoint
representatives to sit on its Steering Committee by 22 February. The mechanism will operate for an initial six months out of
Djibouti, and will move to Aden and/or Sanaa when the security situation permits. UNVIM monitors will also be based in
Dubai, Jeddah and Salalah to work with the relevant authorities, he said.

Humanitarian Appeal
In two days time, the 2016 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan will be launched in Geneva, asking for $1.8 billion to
address the most critical and prioritized needs across all governorates in the country, including food assistance for nearly
nine million people; water and sanitation support for 7.4 million people; urgent health support for 10.6 million people; and
emergency interventions to mitigate growing and severe malnutrition rates, he said.
Nearly one year into the conflict, it is now more important than ever that we address the human catastrophe unfolding in
Yemen, said Mr. OBrien, underscoring the urgent need for the Security Council and the international community to
impress upon the parties to the conflict their obligations to facilitate unconditional and sustained access to all parts of
Yemen, and to take greater measures to protect civilians.

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16 February 2016

UN agency reaches thousands of people in Chad and Cameroon

displaced by Boko Haram violence
16 February - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that,
along with its partners, the agency has, over the past week, has been able to deliver lifesaving food and nutrition support to thousands of people recently displaced by the Boko
Haram violence in Chad and Cameroon.

WFP and partners have reached

thousands of people recently displaced by
Boko Haram in Chad and Cameroon with
life-saving food and nutrition support.
Photo: WFP West Africa

In Chad, more than 5,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) received food and nutrition
assistance for the first time as insecurity and access concerns had cut them off from any
support. Distributions are now ongoing, and WFP said it aims this month to reach up to
35,000 displaced people, similarly cut off previously from any assistance.

In the areas north of Baga Sola, in Chad, the displacement sites have mushroomed in a
matter of months up to 22 sites, said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Country Director in
Chad, who said the agency had been told that people have been struggling to survive. Some people said that they have been
surviving on nothing but maize for weeks.
We have started distributions at five sites where the needs are most critical and we are working to reach others. There are
no roads so reaching these sites means a 300 kilometre round trip in the sand. We would like to move quicker but the
challenges are enormous, she added.
Since December, continued and increased violence in northeast Nigeria and along the border areas uprooted 400,000 more
people, according to WFP. During the same period, the number of people displaced in Niger, Cameroon and Chad has
nearly doubled. To date, an estimated 2.8 million people have been displaced internally or across borders; 2.2 million are in
Nigeria.
Insecurity, displacement, and disruptions to agricultural activities and cross-border trade, continue to undermine
communities livelihoods and their ability to produce or buy enough food for their families. There are more than 5.6 million
people facing hunger in areas of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger affected by the Boko Haram violence in. WFP is
concerned that the lean season, which normally starts in May/June, could start much sooner.
This assistance comes at a critical time as we have seen a rising flow of people forced to flee their homes due to ongoing
violence, said Denise Brown, WFP Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
In response to growing food insecurity, malnutrition concerns and continued displacement in the Lake Chad Basin, WFP
aims to scale up its assistance from 600,000 to nearly 750,000 people, including refugees, internally displaced people,
returnees and host communities.
In areas where food is available and markets are functioning, WFP aims to gradually introduce cash-based transfers,
allowing people to buy the food that they need, and at the same time injecting money into the local economy.
In recent days, 35,000 internally displaced people and vulnerable local residents have benefitted from the first cash-based
transfers in Nigers Diffa region. The vast majority fled their homes 12 to 18 months ago but as violence continues they
cannot return.
WFP is entirely voluntarily funded by contributions from governments, the private sector and individual donors. WFP
urgently requires $75 million to cover immediate needs until July for displaced people and vulnerable host communities in
the Lake Chad Basin. Of this, about half has been secured.

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16 February 2016

ISIL losing appeal in Iraq, but threat should not be

underestimated UN envoy
16 February - Iraq has been steadily gaining ground against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh), which is gradually losing its appeal to the
disenfranchised population, the United Nations envoy for that country told the Security
Council today, as he also warned that its threat should not be underestimated.

Children in the Khanke Camp near

Dohuk city, Iraq, which mainly houses
Yazidis fleeing from the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Photo:
UNAMI

Briefing the 15-nation body, Secretary-Generals Special Representative Jan Kubi that the
liberation and holding of Beiji, Sinjar, and most of all Ramadi, and continuing clearance of
the surrounding areas from ISIL fighters, have instilled the people of Iraq with hope that the
country can and will be liberated from ISIL.

The success also demonstrates the increasingly resolute and effective support to Iraq of the
global coalition to counter ISIL and provides lessons for preparations to liberate the
remaining territories, most notably of Mosul, he said.
Turning to the issue of Turkish forces present in Camp Bashiqa, mutually acceptable results have not been achieved so far,
he said, reiterating the calls made by the Secretary-General for a solution in full respect of the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Iraq the principles set forth in the UN Charter.
Pointing to an absence of political consensus, he said that the stability, security and unity of Iraq hinge on an effective and
inclusive political system and equality in decision-making at the federal and local levels. Tangible solutions must include
amendments to or adoption of priority legislation, followed by swift implementation, such as the Accountability and Justice
Law, the National Guard Law and the General Amnesty Law.
Full and equal participation of the Sunni component in, and its co-ownership of, the national reconciliation programme is
still a challenge, he said. The absence of a single framework or vision for national reconciliation in Iraq is both symptomatic
of long-existing problems and further impedes efforts to advance inclusive national and community dialogue and historic
compromise. Efforts by Sunni political forces and their leaders to unify their stance on national reconciliation, effective
federalisation and decentralisation, and how to more successfully counter ISIL are equally necessary, he added.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) organized a series of events earlier this month to mark World Interfaith
Harmony Week in Najaf, Baghdad and Erbil, he said. The events promoted dialogue on preventative steps to address drivers
of violent extremism, in consonance with the United Nations Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism.
Turning to the safe return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), he emphasized that the stabilization phase of Tikrit is
almost complete, with 90 per cent of its population, or 167,000 people, have now returned home. So far, more than 500,000
displaced Iraqis have returned to their home communities. The Government intends that up to 900,000 will return in 2016,
despite several complicated factors, such as a huge number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid by ISIL, as well as
devastating destruction to infrastructure and homes.
Iraqs persistent and rapidly-deepening fiscal crisis and growing budget deficit, compounded by the security and
humanitarian situation and drastic decline in global oil prices, has almost halved the States planned income since then, and
the Kurdistan Region faces at least a situation as grave as that of Baghdad, he noted. If left unaddressed, such an
unsustainable situation may seriously undermine the renewed morale of pro-government forces and confidence of the
people, including youths, communities, minorities and IDPs that they can have a future in Iraq, he added.
On the human rights front, he supported the calls of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
and the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, that Iraq should consider becoming a Party
to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and to the Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions 1949,
and that the Iraqi criminal code be amended to grant Iraqi courts the jurisdiction to deal with international crimes.
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16 February 2016

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is highly complex, and is expected to widen and worsen this year. Today not only 3.3 million
IDPs, but altogether some 10 million Iraqis almost one third of the population urgently require some form of
humanitarian assistance, he said.
Concluding his remarks, he informed the Security Council of the news that Amer al-Kaissy, UNAMI's liaison officer
abducted in April 2015 in Diyala, was found dead, strongly urging the Iraqi authorities to conduct immediately a thorough
and transparent investigation into this abduction and murder and hold the perpetrators accountable.
In a statement today, the Secretary-General condemned the shocking murder, verified on 15 February, and expressed his
condolences to his family and friends.

Chinas clampdown on lawyers and activists draws concern of

UN human rights chief
16 February - The top United Nations human rights official announced today he has
sought clarifications from the Chinese authorities about the recent arrests of lawyers, and
intimidation of Government critics and workers of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), describing these incidents as a very worrying pattern that has serious
implications for the activities of civil society there.
Civil society actors, from lawyers and journalists to NGO workers, have the right to carry
out their work, and it is the States duty to support and protect them, High Commissioner
for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein said in a statement.

The UN High Commissioner for Human

Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. UN
Photo/Rick Bajornas

He raised such cases with Chinese officials in Geneva, and acknowledged their efforts to
clarify the matters at issue. However, their responses indicate that the authorities too often reflexively confuse the
legitimate role of lawyers and activists with threats to public order and security, he said.
Police have detained about 250 human rights lawyers, legal assistants, and activists across the country since a nationwide
crackdown began last July, although many were subsequently released. Last month, 15 additional human rights lawyers
were formally arrested, 10 of them for the crime of subversion of State power, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life
in prison. Among those facing that particular charge are leading human rights lawyers Li Heping and Wang Yu.
Lawyers should never have to suffer prosecution or any other kind of sanctions or intimidation for discharging their
professional duties as they play an essential role in protecting human rights and the rule of law, Mr. Zeid said, urging China
to release all immediately and without conditions.
At the same time, he welcomed news of the release of two labour activists detained in Guangdong in December 2015, but
noted some of their colleagues remain in detention.

Disappearances of Booksellers
Mr Zeid said he was also concerned by recent cases of disappearances of booksellers from Hong Kong. Five people from
Causeway Bay Books a shop that publishes books critical of the Chinese Government have gone missing since last
October, including Lee Bo, a British national, who, according to the Hong Kong police, told his wife that he was assisting
with an investigation. Gui Minhai, a Swedish national, reappeared last month when he was presented on China state
television. Gui, who went missing while in Thailand last October, confessed to a crime in the city of Ningbo in 2003.
Chinese authorities confirmed this month that the three other booksellers were also being held and investigated for illegal
activities in China.
The human rights chief urged China to ensure a fair and transparent procedure for these cases.

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He also expressed concern about the case of Peter Dahlin, a Swedish citizen and co-founder of the legal-aid NGO Chinese
Urgent Action Working Group. He was detained in early January and was the first foreigner to be held on charges of
endangering state security.

Method of Confession
Dahlin, who was expelled from China in January, was also presented on state television, where he confessed to having
breached Chinese law, Mr. Zeid said, stressing that he finds this method of confession, extracted during incommunicado
detention and publicized on national television, very worrying as it clearly violates the right to fair trial.
As part of a series of new laws governing national security in China, the Government is currently drafting new legislation
which, if adopted, may have far-reaching implications for NGOs.
More and more Governments worldwide are using national security measures to restrict the rights to freedom of expression,
association and peaceful assembly, and as a tool to target human rights defenders and silence critics, Mr. Zeid noted,
emphasizing that security and human rights do not contradict each other, but rather complement and reinforce each other.
At the same time, the human rights chief welcomed the recent enactment of a nation-wide law on domestic violence as an
important step in strengthening legal protections for women in accordance with Chinas international commitments.

UN mission in Central African Republic aims to ensure victims

of alleged abuse receive help
16 February - The United Nations is working to ensure that the victims involved in four
new allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving UN peacekeepers in the Central
African Republic (CAR) have access to the help they need, a spokesperson for the world
body said today.

Peacekeepers serving with the UN

Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization
Mission in the Central African Republic
(MINUSCA). UN Photo/Catianne
Tijerina

According to initial information received by the UN Multidimensional Integrated

Stabilization Mission in CAR (MINUSCA) from humanitarian partners on 11 February, the
four allegations involve peacekeepers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The victims, four minors, were all residents of the Ngakobo camp for internally displaced
persons in Ouaka prefecture and were allegedly sexually exploited and abused by
peacekeepers between 2014 and 2015.

The Mission is cooperating closely with UN agencies and their partners to ensure that the victims have access to
appropriate medical and psycho-social assistance, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a press briefing in New York.
These allegations follow the active engagement of MINUSCA and UN agencies with communities to encourage victims to
come forward, he noted.
Mr. Haq added that the Member State, in this case DRC, has been informed of the allegations yesterday and requested to
convey within ten days its intention to investigate, failing which the UN will conduct its own investigation.
The Organization has taken a series of measures following reports in recent months of sexual exploitation and abuse by
international peacekeeping forces in CAR, including the appointment last week of Jane Holl Lute, an American official with
wide-ranging UN experience, to coordinate efforts to curb the scourge.

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Ban praises mega sport events for potential to advance peace

and human rights
16 February - While it is evident that mega sport events such as the Olympics are hugely
powerful in inspiring and uniting people across the globe, their influence can extend far
beyond sports and provide a platform to promote the values and objectives of the United
Nations, including peace and human rights, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
Speaking at a high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in New York today on The value of
hosting mega sport events as a social, economic and environmental sustainable
development tool, the UN chief said that by working jointly with local authorities and
UN Photo/David Mutua
communities, mega sport events which also include the World Cup and the Paralympics
Games should link their planning with broader projects and objectives, such as
rejuvenating cities, fostering growth, stimulating employment and promoting accessibility for people with disabilities.
The Olympic motto is higher, faster, stronger. Let us work together to ensure that the motto for all future mega sports will
also be: cleaner, greener, and more sustainable, Mr. Ban said.
The Secretary-General stressed that mega sport events should strive to leave durable legacies by developing equitable,
inclusive and accessible facilities and infrastructure that will benefit societies long after the games and competition are over.
Too often, people are displaced to make room for facilities that are used for a brief shining moment and then left to gather
dust, he said.
Noting that it is a privilege for countries to host such mega sport events, the Secretary-General said that with planning and
vision, such events can advance social development, economic growth, educational opportunity and environmental
protection.
As we look ahead, mega sport events can and should contribute to realizing the newly adopted Sustainable Development
Goals, the Secretary-General said. This will not happen on its own. Ample experience has shown that the benefits of mega
sport events have not always been long-lasting, sustainable or widely shared.
Mr. Ban emphasized that it is crucial that we learn the lessons of this history, and that mega sport events should prioritize
developmental and environmental considerations.
Our aim must be to reap the benefits of such events while limiting their carbon footprint, upholding workers rights,
ensuring transparency and fighting the corruption that so often accompanies endeavours in which enormous sums of money
are involved, he said.
Pointing to tourism and transport as examples where mega sport events have developed and implemented innovative
practices, the Secretary-General noted that many host cities and countries of past mega sport events have taken a sustainable
and inclusive developmental path, and implemented outstanding legacy initiatives at the local, national, regional and
global levels.
I encourage all hosts and bidders of mega sport events to integrate, at their core, sustainable and inclusive development
strategies in every phase of their project, he said.
Commending the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and Special Olympics for their
valuable contributions, Mr. Ban said the UN was pleased to be working more closely with athletes and sports organizations.
In one such effort, the Secretary-General said that the International Olympic Committee and the UN had revived the idea of
the Olympic Truce, in which combatants agree to cease hostilities during the period when the Games are held.
Mr. Ban also expressed hope that this years Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as any future mega sport events, will
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16 February 2016

promote sustainability and solidarity.

As we look ahead to the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games this year, I urge all warring parties to respect the Olympic
Truce, he concluded.
The meeting today was co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Germany, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Russian
Federation and Tunisia, and the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP).

Syria: UN gravely concerned over repeated attacks on

hospitals, school
16 February - The United Nations human rights office today expressed grave concern over
airstrikes yesterday in Syria that hit at least four hospitals and a school, reportedly killing
more than 45 people and injuring dozens of others.
We are gravely concerned about these abhorrent and repeated attacks on medical facilities
in the Syrian conflict, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) spokesperson
Rupert Colville told the regular news briefing in Geneva.
Destroyed buildings line a street which
is flooded with algae-covered, debrisfilled water in the Old City area of
Homs, the capital of Homs Governorate,
Syria. Photo: UNICE/Nasar Ali

He said that in Maarat al-Numan, in Idlib Governorate, two hospitals were attacked,
including one supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres, which was reportedly hit by four
missiles, allegedly killing nine people and injuring 30 others. The National Hospital in
Maarat al-Numan was also hit, with three people reported killed and six injured.

A mother-and-child hospital in the town of Azaz, some 30 kilometres from Aleppo, was also struck yesterday, with 13
people killed and dozens injured. The facility, which is supported by the UN, had been previously struck on 25 December
2015. A second hospital in the town, the General Hospital, was also struck, with seven people killed and 23 injured. Both
hospitals are well-known facilities, Mr. Colville noted.
Also in Azaz, a school that was sheltering internally displaced people was hit in yesterday's strikes, reportedly killing 14
people.
While it is not yet clear whether these facilities were intentionally targeted, the sheer number of incidents raises huge
question marks about the failure of the parties to the conflict to respect the special protections afforded to medical facilities
and personnel under international humanitarian law, the OHCHR spokesperson said.
He stressed that customary international humanitarian law affords special protection to hospitals, medical units and
healthcare personnel, and Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 which is binding on all parties to the
conflict in Syria requires the wounded and sick be collected and cared for.
Depending on the circumstances, an airstrike on a hospital may constitute a war crime. Intentionally directing attacks
against hospitals and places containing the sick and the wounded and against medical units using the Red Cross or Red
Crescent emblem is a war crime, in a non-international armed conflict, Mr. Colville said.
Attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities in Syria began as far back as the beginning of 2012. A 13 September 2015
report by the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, entitled Assault on medical care in Syria, listed an appalling litany of
attacks on hospitals and medical units over the past four years, as well as numerous examples of the sick and wounded being
deliberately denied medical assistance, primarily by Government forces and pro-Government militias.
The report also cited what it termed one of the most insidious trends of the armed violence in Syria namely, the targeting
of health-care personnel, with ambulance drivers, nurses, doctors and medical volunteers attacked, arrested, unlawfully
detained, and disappeared.
The OHCHR spokesperson said the escalation of the conflict in and around Aleppo is of grave concern, with civilians
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16 February 2016

continuing to suffer the consequences. Air and ground strikes by different parties including airstrikes conducted by Syrian
and Russian planes, as well as ground operations by Syrian Government forces and their allies, and by armed opposition
groups have led to the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure such as medical facilities and bakeries, rendering life
even more difficult for civilians in many towns and villages across the governorate.
As of yesterday, 58,000 internally displaced people were at the Syrian/Turkish border, many of them in camps, with the
figures increasing daily, the spokesperson said. Several villages in the northern rural part of the governorate are reported to
be almost empty due to people fleeing over the last week.
Mr. Colville said that the population of Aleppo is in dire need of an immediate ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian
assistance. Without it, the tens of thousands of civilians remaining in towns and villages across the governorate will be left
vulnerable to aerial attacks, mass killings, and destruction of the remaining infrastructure and will be deprived of badlyneeded assistance.

Syria: UN mediator intends to resume Geneva talks next week

16 February - After differences between Government and opposition delegations on the
priority of humanitarian issues forced a pause in the Intra-Syrian talks earlier this month,
the United Nations envoy mediating the discussions has said he intends to resume them by
25 February, and earlier if possible, a UN spokesperson announced today.

Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de

Mistura updates the press on the IntraSyrian Geneva Talks. UN Photo/JeanMarc Ferr (file)

Chairing the regular bi-weekly press briefing earlier today in Geneva, Ahmed Fawzi,
interim Director of the UN Information Service in the Swiss city, said UN Special Envoy
for Syria, Staffan de Mistura is trying to convince those with influence over the warring
parties to persuade them to come to the table and stop the madness.

Mr. Fawzi said the world is witnessing a degradation on the ground that cannot wait, but
that all parties had to come to the table and certain commitments had to be fulfilled in order to be able to move forward.
He also confirmed that the humanitarian task force was expected to meet again this Thursday, 18 February, and that Senior
Advisor Jan Egeland was on his way to Geneva.
Stressing that humanitarian work was never paused, Mr. Fawzi said that humanitarians were working around the clock on
the ground.
As such, securing humanitarian access and the cessation of hostilities are high on Mr. de Misturas agenda during his trip to
Damascus, Mr. Fawzi said.
In the Syrian capital, Mr. de Mistura met with the Foreign Minister today, as well as with his team and with the UN
Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Yacoub El Hillo. The head of the Special Envoys Office in Damascus, Khawla Mattar,
also attended the meeting.
Mr. Fawzi confirmed that Mr. de Mistura and the Foreign Minister had spoken about unhindered humanitarian access to all
besieged areas, not just those besieged by the Government. They plan to have another meeting on the topic.
Later in the day, a UN spokesperson in New York reported that Mr. de Mistura had announced that access to besieged areas
had been obtained for convoys, which are coordinated by the UN country team. He said it is the duty of the Government of
Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow the UN to bring humanitarian aid. The Special
Envoy said this would be tested tomorrow.
The International Syria Support Group (ISSG), comprising the Arab League, the European Union, the United Nations, and
17 countries including the United States and Russia, laid the groundwork for the intra-Syria talks at a meeting in November
2015.

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16 February 2016

Peacekeeping a tool to advance political, not military,

solutions UN deputy chief
16 February - United Nations peacekeeping is a tool to advance political, not military
solutions to conflict, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told the UN Special
Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today, as the General Assembly subsidiary body
opened its 2016 session.
Noting that existing mechanisms are not always suited to meet new challenges, he stressed
the critical role the Special Committee plays in setting the direction of comprehensive
reform of peace operations.
Strengthening UN peace operations is a multi-year agenda, Mr. Eliasson said in the
opening session, which was also addressed by Under-Secretaries-General Herv Ladsous
and Atul Khare, who respectively head the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
(DPKO), and the Department of Field Support (DFS).

Peacekeepers with the United Nations

Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization
Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) are greeted
by children. Photo: MINUSMA/Marco
Dormino

Mr. Eliasson said that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon established the High-Level Panel on Peace Operations to examine
and develop the range of United Nations tools in order to prevent and resolve conflicts, as well as to sustain peace. Bans
agenda centres on three priorities for action: strengthen conflict prevention; build more effective global and regional
partnerships; and improve the planning and conduct of UN peace operations.
However, peacekeepers are operating in ever more insecure environments as extremist and criminal groups thrive from and
exploit chaos and instability, he said, warning that targeted, asymmetric attacks often take place against UN peacekeepers,
such as last Fridays attack in northern Mali. Seven peacekeepers were killed, including a woman, according to Bans
spokesman.
On the other hand, when there are cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, there must be swift
accountability, he said, stressing that preying on the vulnerable is a betrayal of trust.
Mr. Ladsous said that this years substantive session of the Special Committee comes at the heels of a pivotal year for the
UN system as a whole and peacekeeping in particular. In addition to the peace operations review, the review on Security
Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, as well as the peacebuilding architecture review, have all made
important recommendations that will contribute to the conduct of peacekeeping in the years to come.
He said he will elaborate in greater detail on DPKOs plans to take forward the reform agenda proposed by the High Level
Panel on Peace Operations, and the Secretary-Generals subsequent implementation report.
Mr. Khare urged Member States to contribute more to help strengthen the safety and security of UN missions, either
directly, or in cooperation with others, and bring those who kill peacekeepers to justice.
The Special Committee was established by General Assembly resolution 2006 (XIX) of 18 February 1965 to conduct a
comprehensive review of all issues relating to peacekeeping. It reports to the General Assembly on its work through the
Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) and is comprised of 147 Member States, mostly past or current
contributors to peacekeeping operations.

The UN Daily News is prepared at UN Headquarters in New York by the News Services Section
of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information (DPI)