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UN Daily News
Thursday, 19 May 2016

Issue DH/7162

In the headlines:
Syria: credibility of peace talks at risk without

Security Council concludes visit to Somalia; urges

Peacekeeping flagship of the UN enterprise, Ban

Earths health declining faster than thought but

World Humanitarian Summit can build support for

Global life expectancy up five years since 2000, but

Ahead of end of UN forum, participation of

renewed truce, aid access, UN envoy warns

swift approval of electoral model

says ahead of Day honouring 'blue helmets'

disability-inclusive aid responses UN expert

Four schools or hospitals in crisis zones attacked or

occupied every day UNICEF

FEATURE: Family of UN peacekeeper who saved

hundreds of lives in Rwanda shares memories of

their father, husband

FEATURE: UN uses virtual reality to inspire

action by governments can reverse trend UN

gains uneven UN health agency

indigenous people in development targets urged

Mali: Ban condemns attack on UN convoy that

killed five peacekeepers

UN human rights chief welcomes Pfizer's decision

to bar use of its drugs in executions

humanitarian empathy

More stories inside

Syria: credibility of peace talks at risk without renewed truce,

aid access, UN envoy warns
19 May Without improved humanitarian access and a restoration of
Syrias cessation of hostilities, the credibility of the next round of
peace talks would be in question, the United Nations envoy mediating
the talks said today, vowing to take the "last resort" option of air drops
if there is no improvement in access to besieged areas by the first of
June.
Obviously we are in clear hurry to start re-introducing the next round
of the intra-Syrian talks but the message was clear: if we dont have
the atmosphere conducive for increasing the cessation of hostilities
tenure [] and a substantial improvement on the humanitarian access,
then the credibility of the next round of talks will be in question,
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura speaks at a Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said.
press conference in Geneva on the Intra-Syrian Geneva Talks 2016.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferr

The envoy was briefing reporters in Geneva on a meeting of the

International Syria Support Group (ISSG) that took place in Vienna
earlier this week. The ISSG comprises the United States, the Russian Federation, the UN, the Arab League, the European
Union, and 16 other countries and has been working since late last year to resolve the Syrian crisis.

For information media not an official record

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19 May 2016

In the ISSG meeting, a profound unhappiness or impatience was aired regarding the failure of humanitarian aid to reach
many of the besieged areas, he said. In Darayya, delivery of baby food had been blocked by well-fed, grown-up soldiers,
he added.
He said that if there is no substantial progress in humanitarian access to these areas by 1 June, air drops will start. He,
however, stressed that given the heavy cost of airlifting aid, it is the last resort.
Mr. de Mistura also said that Eva Svoboda, a new senior staff member assigned to handle the issue of detainee and
abductees, was introduced to the ISSGs Humanitarian Taskforce.
There is no Plan B, he said, stressing that the only way to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis is through the intraSyrian talks.
Jan Egeland, Mr. de Misturas Senior Advisor, said that food and other humanitarian supplies for 10,000 people reached the
besieged area of East-Harasta yesterday for the first time since March 2013.
We have now reached 13 out of the 18 besieged areas as compared to reaching two of the besieged areas of last year, he
said. But that is the end of the good news really, because May was, and is, one of the most difficult months weve had this
year.
He said that in April, more than 40 percent of the people besieged received humanitarian supplies. But this month so far, the
ratio is less than five per cent.
The plan is to meet the needs of more than 900,000 people in May, and it is even more ambitious for June as it aims to reach
more than 1.1 million people. He said that 14 out of the 18 besieged areas are within an hour of drive from Damascus,
expressing hope that the Russians and the Iranians, and the Americans and the Saudis, and others, who have influence on the
ground in Syria, will enable access.
Nowhere was the disappointment as big as it was in Darayya, he said, noting that baby foods were stopped by the soldiers.
I can only imagine the disappointment of the mothers, he said.

Peacekeeping flagship of the UN enterprise, Ban says ahead of

Day honouring 'blue helmets'
19 May United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today led
an inaugural ceremony to award the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal
for Exceptional Courage as New York Headquarters observed the
International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
The UN chief presented the first such medal to the family of the late
Captain Diagne, who saved hundreds of lives in 1994 while serving as
a peacekeeper in Rwanda before succumbing to fatal injury incurred
while on duty.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lays a wreath at a ceremony at UN

Headquarters for fallen peacekeepers. UN Photo/Mark Garten

During that ceremony, Mr. Ban noted that the medal helps to ensure
that Captain Diagne and those who follow in his footsteps will always
be remembered by the UN and the people worldwide.

This medal is for military, police or civilian UN personnel and

associated personnel who follow in the tradition of Captain Diagne. They must demonstrate exceptional courage in the face
of extreme danger while fulfilling their mandate in the service of humanity and the United Nations, the UN chief said.
In a separate ceremony, the Secretary-General also laid a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers, noting that nearly 3,500

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19 May 2016

peacekeepers have died since 1948.

Peacekeeping is becoming more and more dangerous, Mr. Ban said in remarks during that event. All too often our
personnel are targeted by armed groups, spoilers and terrorists. In some areas where the UN operates, our blue flag has gone
from being a shield to a target.
The UN chief emphasized that in just one day this past 12 February terrorists attacked the UN base in Kidal, Mali. When
the firing stopped, seven UN soldiers were dead and 30 more were injured.
Just yesterday in Mali, he continued, five more peacekeepers were killed and a number of others injured.
These outrageous crimes will never stop us from pursuing peace in Mali or anywhere, he stressed.
Mr. Ban also presided over a ceremony during which the Dag Hammarskjld Medal was awarded posthumously to 129
military, police and civilian personnel who lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping operations during 2015.
The United Nations staff are often called a family, he said during that event.
We share that sense of belonging and the collective will to act.
Mr. Ban highlighted that much like former Secretary-General Hammarskjld, those being honoured today were inspiring
men and women.
They were not supporting peace in the abstract they were in the arena. They lost their lives doing critical work in some of
the most dangerous and difficult places on earth, the UN chief said.
Peacekeeping remains the flagship of the United Nations enterprise, he added.
In a message to mark the Day, the Secretary-General said: On this Day, we honour our heroes the more than one million
men and women who have served under the UN flag with pride, distinction and courage since the first deployment in 1948.
The 2016 observance of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers marks the eighth successive year in which the
Organization has honoured more than 100 Blue Helmets who lost their lives in the previous year while serving the cause
of peace. While the official Day is on 29 May, UN Headquarters in New York is celebrating today, under the theme
Honouring Our Heroes.
In his message, Mr. Ban stressed that the confidence that the world places in UN peacekeeping is reflected in its massive
growth in recent years, in terms of both numbers and complexity.
Fifteen years ago, the Organization had fewer than 40,000 military and police personnel. Today, more than 105,000
uniformed personnel from 124 troop- and police-contributing countries serve under the blue flag, alongside 18,000
international and civilian staff and UN volunteers.
They manifest the best attributes of global solidarity, courageously serving in dangerous environments to provide security
to some of the worlds most vulnerable, the Secretary-General said.
Also on the Day, Herve Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said: "Our peacekeepers are
deployed in some of the world's most dangerous and austere environments. Too many of them have paid the ultimate price
while serving under the blue flag in the name of peace. Today, we pay tribute to their memory by rededicating ourselves to
the ideals for which they have sacrificed so much."
According to Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, "the sacrifices of the brave men and women of
peacekeeping inspire us to serve with courage and dignity and to pursue continuous improvement and innovation in our
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work. We owe this not just to our departed colleagues, but also to the millions of civilians that we have been entrusted to
protect. We must continue to work together to enable complex operations to succeed with rapid, effective, efficient and
responsible support."

World Humanitarian Summit can build support for disabilityinclusive aid responses UN expert
19 May Speaking ahead of the first-ever World Humanitarian
Summit taking place in Istanbul next week, a United Nations human
rights expert has urged all countries to take into account the rights and
needs of persons with disabilities in their humanitarian responses.
The World Humanitarian Summit represents a unique opportunity to
foster international support for the inclusion of persons with
disabilities in all aspects of humanitarian action, including awarenessraising, innovation, response, adoption of standards, participation of
civil society and international cooperation, said Catalina DevandasAguilar, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, in a

press release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for

Human Rights (OHCHR).

A 9-year-old disabled boys wheelchair stands at the entrance of the

tent where he and his family are living since the April 2016
earthquake destroyed their house in Portoviejo, Manabi, Ecuador.
Photo: UNICEF/Santiago Arcos

I welcome the fact that the Summit has a dedicated special session on the inclusion of persons with disabilities into
humanitarian action, she added.
The UN human rights expert also called on all Governments and organizations to endorse the

Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The Charter, a set of key principles to
make humanitarian action more inclusive of persons with disabilities, will be launched during the Summit.
We cannot afford to miss the momentum generated by the Summit to call the attention of the international community on
the situation of hundreds of thousands of persons with disabilities around the world, whom every year are disproportionately
affected by armed conflict, natural disasters, other situations of risk and complex emergencies, simply because humanitarian
responses do not reach them, the expert said.
In the context of collapsing social protection systems and networks of support, persons with disabilities find themselves in
desperate situations when they cannot flee, left behind by their communities, she added.
Challenges created by humanitarian emergencies are compounded for persons with disabilities by physical, communication
and other barriers. The absence of clearly defined disability-inclusive guidelines and protocols on humanitarian action
further contributes to their exclusion, due to the inaccessibility of warning systems and evacuation plans, and the unequal
access they have to basic emergency services, such as safe drinking water, food, sanitation and shelter.
To address this gap, persons with disabilities must be included in all aspects of humanitarian responses including the
design, planning, coordination, and implementation and monitoring of humanitarian programmes and be consulted and
directly involved through their representative organizations. To be effective, these programmes must adopt a human rightsbased approach to disability, rather than focusing on traditional, charity-oriented, medical-based, segregated and patronizing
approaches and interventions, the expert said.
The expert underscored that the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities recalls the obligation of States,
under international human rights and humanitarian law, to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of
persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies, from a

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human rights perspective.

States Parties to the Convention are also required to integrate a gender perspective in all phases of disability-related
humanitarian action, and to consider specific interventions to respond to the explicit needs of the diversity of persons with
disabilities.
To make the Summit truly inclusive of persons with disabilities, I urge States, UN agencies and humanitarian actors to
discuss the rights of persons with disabilities in all roundtables and sessions, the human rights expert said. The
Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agendas promise of leaving no one behind cannot be met without
including persons with disabilities in all humanitarian responses, she stressed.
She also called on States to ensure that the Commitment to Action and other outcomes of the Summit reflect a clear resolve
to make humanitarian action inclusive of persons with disabilities, and to endorse the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with
Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
I look forward to participate in a fully accessible World Humanitarian Summit for all persons with disabilities next week,
Ms. Devandas-Aguilar said.

Four schools or hospitals in crisis zones attacked or occupied

every day UNICEF
19 May An average of four schools or hospitals are attacked or
occupied by armed forces and groups every day, according to analysis
released today by the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)
ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit.
The findings, drawn from the most recent annual report of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed
Conflict, come in the wake of recent attacks on education and health
facilities and workers including the bombing of schools in Yemen,
and a strike on a hospital in Aleppo, Syria on 27 April, that killed at
least 50 people, including one of the last paediatricians in the area.
Children are being killed, wounded, and permanently disabled in the In South Sudan, Chubat (right), 12, sits with her friend in the burned
ruins of her UNICEF supported primary school in Malakal Protection
very places where they should be protected and feel safe, said Afshan of Civilian site, which was burnt down in fighting on 17-18 February
2016. Photo: UNICEF/UN018992/George
Khan, UNICEFs Director of Emergency Programmes, in a press
release.
Attacks against schools and hospitals during conflict are an alarming, and disgraceful, trend. Intentional and direct strikes
on these facilities, and on health workers and teachers, can be war crimes. Governments and other actors need to urgently
protect schools and hospitals by upholding the provisions of international humanitarian law and international human rights
law, and States must sign the Safe Schools Declaration, she added.
UNICEF underscored that attacks against schools and hospitals are one of the six grave violations against children identified
and addressed by the Security Council. The last report of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
documented more than 1,500 incidents of attacks on, or military use of, schools and hospitals in 2014, the agency stressed.
For example, in Afghanistan 163 schools and 38 health facilities were attacked, while in Syria, 60 attacks on education
facilities were recorded, as well as nine cases of military use of schools and 28 attacks on health facilities.
In Yemen, 92 schools were used for military purposes by armed forces and groups, and in South Sudan, there were seven
incidents of attacks on schools and 60 involving military use.

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19 May 2016

A total of 543 educational facilities were damaged or destroyed in the State of Palestine and three attacks were documented
on Israeli schools. According to education authorities in Northeast Nigeria, a total of 338 schools were destroyed and
damaged between 2012 and 2014.
UNICEF also said that over the past year, the UN monitoring system has also documented so-called double-tap, or even
triple-tap strikes on health-care facilities in which civilians, as well as the first responders arriving on the scene, are
attacked.
Beyond attacks on buildings, conflict has other far-reaching consequences on childrens education and health care, UNICEF
underscored. In Syria, for example, as well as attacks on hospitals, the removal of medical kits and surgical supplies from
aid convoys, restrictions on medical evacuations, and killing of medical personnel mean that access to critical and lifesaving health care for civilians in affected areas is diminishing day by day.
Children are being abducted from their schools in horrific circumstances in countries like Nigeria and South Sudan, while
others are being raped, or recruited and used as child soldiers, said Ms. Khan.

FEATURE: Family of UN peacekeeper who saved hundreds of

lives in Rwanda shares memories of their father, husband
19 May On 31 May 1994, as Rwanda was descending into chaos,
Captain Mbaye Diagne, a military observer at the United Nations
Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMIR), was in the capital,
Kigali, driving back to the base when a mortar fell near his vehicle.
Just 12 days from finishing up his service, he died instantly.
In the months before his tragic death, even though as a military
observer he was unarmed, Captain Diagne, of Senegal, had risked his
life time and again to save hundreds people during the genocide in
Rwanda. The UN honoured his courage today with the inaugural
'Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage,' which was
awarded to his family.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presents the "Captain Mbaye Diagne
Medal for Exceptional Courage" to Ms. Yacine Mar Diop, widow of
Captain Diagne. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

"In Rwanda, he called me often to tell me about the situation there.

Sometimes [I even heard the shots]," remembers his widow, Yacine
Mar Diop, in an interview with the UN News Centre. "And I told him

to be very careful because he had young children."

Once while on the phone, Captain Diagne passed the receiver to Rwandans he had ferried to safety in the back of his truck.
"It is your husband who saved us. He hid us here at the Hotel des Mille Collines. We are with him. We pray [hard] that the
war will end," Ms. Diop said, recalling what she had been told.
The Hotel des Mille Collines became well-known after more than 1,200 people took refuge there in 1994. The story was
immortalized in the film Hotel Rwanda. Beyond the Hotel's refuge, the UN estimates that more than 800,000 people were
systematically murdered throughout Rwanda. The vast majority were Tutsi, but moderate Hutu, Twa and others were also
targeted.
In May 2014, the Security Council created the 'Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal' to honor the military and members of the
police and civilian personnel of UN and associated personnel who braved extreme danger in carrying out their duties or
duties in "the service of humanity and the United Nations."
By the unanimously adopted resolution that created the Medal, the Council deeply regretted that Captain Diagne's death, his
family "never received any expressions of appreciation from UN Headquarters for the sacrifices made by their distinguished
family member."
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19 May 2016

He lived well 'before leaving'

Captain Mbaye was "a jovial, generous man" who "loved helping others," his widow said.
"His life was short but he lived it as if he had lived many years. He did that well before leaving," she recalled.
Ms. Diop was accompanied by a daughter, Coumba Kane Diagne, and a son, Serigne Cheikh Mbacke Diagne, who were
aged four and two years old, respectively, when their father was killed.
"They say a lot about him; what he did in Rwanda, the people he saved. He was a good man," said Mr. Cheikh Diagne, who
does not remember much of his father. "Our mother told us that every time he came home, he took us together, brought us to
the store to buy us candy. He loved spending time with us."
His sister remembers only one of those days, "He came [and] took me in his arms [...] This is the only memory I have of
him."
Ms. Diop, recalled that on 31 May 1994, it was the police who came to tell her the news, some 17 hours after her husband
had died behind the wheel of his vehicle.
"The next day, we were at home waiting for the remains to come. It took five days for the body to arrive in Senegal," she
said.
Since that day, Ms. Diagne raised her children alone: "I lived with my kids without their dad. This was very hard, but with
the means available, I tried to educate them and get by."
"My children went two years without schooling and I know that if their dad was there, he would not have been happy. He
watched their education closely," she continued.
She said the whole family feels a great sense of pride at receiving today the UN medal from Secretary-General Ban Kimoon.
"He deserves it with everything he has done in Rwanda," Ms. Diop said.

FEATURE: UN uses virtual reality to inspire humanitarian

empathy
19 May It is one thing to say that you understand someone's pain
and worries, but quite another to experience them. From living in a
refugee tent to facing the Ebola epidemic, the United Nations is using
virtual reality to create awareness of humanitarian crises around the
world in hopes of changing how a person acts towards others.
Virtual reality is the ability to really take part in a story that usually
you're only a passive spectator on. And it's giving you the possibility
to walk in another person's shoes, said Gabo Arora, Creative Director
and Special Adviser to the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) Action Campaign.
Children watching a virtual reality film in a refugee camp. Screen
shot from UNTV 21st Century's Virtual Reality: Creating
Humanitarian Empathy

The campaign is a special initiative of Secretary-General Ban Kimoon to empower and inspire people to support their Governments to
implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and
the 17 SDGs that aim to alleviate poverty, provide universal education and help the environment.
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Mr. Arora is also a director, along with Chris Milk, of Clouds over Sidra, a short 360 virtual reality film about a 12-year
Syrian girl named Sidra who lives with 130,000 other refugees in Za'atari camp in Jordan.
People come out of it feeling enlightened and often moved, and often ready to take action, Mr. Arora told UN Television's
21st Century Series in Virtual Reality: Creating Humanitarian Empathy.
It's exciting for the UN to be involved in some of those early experiments of how we're trying to tell stories, make these
films and work with some of the most cutting edge people in the industry on it.
The UN wants to leverage the emotive connectivity of virtual reality at next week's World Humanitarian Summit, in
Istanbul, Turkey. Participants at the Summit will have a chance to visit the Virtual Reality Hub, an interactive visualization
lounge created by a partnership between the UN, the SDG Action Campaign and an immersive media company, RYOT.
Audiences at the Summit will be among the first to view HOME. Directed by Charlotte Cans and David O'Hana, a virtual
reality film takes viewers on a humanitarian journey with the Secretary-General.
Those not attending the Summit can experience the films at home through their mobile phones, thanks to VRSE, a virtual
reality production and distribution company.
Co-founder of VRSE, Aaron Koblin, told UNTV that whether viewers use high-end virtual reality goggles or a cardboard
unity, the idea is the same.
Lenses that are using sensors to orient you and convince yourself that you're somewhere where you're not, said Mr.
Koblin.

Security Council concludes visit to Somalia; urges swift

approval of electoral model
19 May The United Nations Security Council concluded a one-day
visit to Somalia today by reaffirming its solidarity with the countrys
people and Government and reiterating its calls to the federal
parliament to legalize the 2016 electoral model as soon as possible.
Somalias security in its broadest sense is a common concern of the
international community and the whole region, and that is why such
importance has been placed by the Security Council in a legitimate
transfer of power later this year, said Michael Keating, the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Somalia, in a briefing
to reporters at the conclusion of the Councils visit.
The message of the Security Council is very clear: the international
community looks forward to elections in August 2016 and will do
everything possible to support them being free and fair and on time.
But it urges immediate action to legalize the electoral model so that
practical preparations can begin as quickly as possible, he added.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia; Prime Minister Omar
Abdirashid Shamarke; Security Council President Abdellatif
Aboulatta (Egypt); and Ambassador Matthew Rycroft (UK) meet in
Mogadishu. UN Photo/Omar Abdisalan

The Council delegation was led by the bodys current President, the Permanent Representative of Egypt, Amr Abdellatif
Aboulatta, and the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Matthew Rycroft.
The officials held a series of high-level meetings with the Federal President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime
Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, regional presidents, civil society members, humanitarian organizations and senior
UN and African Union officials.

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The other Council Member States represented in the 27-member delegation include Angola, China, France, Japan, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
We all are very grateful that you are here as the people of Somalia, that shows the level of commitment you have for
Somalia, said President Mohamud in welcoming remarks to the Council representatives.
During the press briefing, the current President of the Security Council called on Mr. Mohamud to utilize all available
constitutional tools to make elections possible.
We will provide our support to the government and the message is clear that we are here to help, said Mr. Aboulatta. But
also it was a message that we need to move forward.
Mr. Rycroft said his country places a high priority on developments in Somalia, and reaffirmed the Councils commitment
to help ensure peace and stability in Somalia.
We had very good discussions about the political process and the need for elections to take place on the timetable already
agreed by the leaders, which means elections in August of 2016, he said.
We were glad to talk in detail to the President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the presidents of the
regions about what is needed in order to be ready for that date, he added.
As part of the Councils visit, prominent women leaders told members about the pressing need to promote the empowerment
of Somali women and ensure that at least 30 per cent of the seats in the countrys next federal parliament be reserved for
female candidates.
In a separate meeting with civil society representatives moderated by Mr. Keating, the issue of womens representation in
positions of leadership was addressed.
We want full assurance that the international community and the UN will use their good offices to exert diplomatic
pressure on our leaders, including the traditional leaders, to make gender parity and political representation a reality, said
Deqe Yasin, a Somali woman activist.
We count on you and shall also hold you accountable, she added.
The electoral model was formally endorsed at last months National Leadership Forum conference, and was subsequently
submitted to the federal parliament by Somali Prime Minister Sharmarke on 30 April.

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Earths health declining faster than thought but action by

governments can reverse trend UN
19 May The environment is deteriorating faster than previously
thought, making it imperative that governments act now to reverse the
worst trends, says the most authoritative study the United Nations has
ever published on the state of the planets health.
The Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6): Regional Assessments
is a compilation of six separate reports, which provide highly detailed
examinations of the environmental issues affecting each of the
worlds six regions: the Pan-European region, North America, Asia
and the Pacific, West Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and
Africa, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a press
release.
Burnt and degraded forest within Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau
Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo: World Bank/Flore de Preneuf

Published ahead of the UN Environment Assembly, taking place

in Nairobi, Kenya, from 23-27 May, the regional assessments, which
involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions and more than 160 governments, find that the world shares a
host of common environmental threats that are rapidly intensifying in many parts of the world.
Across the planet, climate change, the loss of biodiversity, land degradation and water scarcity are growing problems that
need to be urgently addressed if the world is to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, the studies find.
Today, thanks to this report, we now know more about the state of the worlds environment than ever before, said UNEP
Executive Director Achim Steiner. It is essential that we understand the pace of environmental change that is upon us.
The assessments find that there is still time to tackle many of the worst impacts of environmental change, such as the
damage to marine ecosystems and the rising level of air pollution, which has become one of the world's most widespread
environmental health risks.
As one of the first areas of the world to experience the impacts of climate change, the Arctic region serves as a barometer for
change in the rest of the world. Warming in the Arctic has increased at twice the global average since 1980.
The largest contributions to global glacier ice loss during the early 21st century were from glaciers in Alaska, the Canadian
Arctic, and the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet, as well as in the Southern Andes and Asian mountains. Together these
areas account for more than 80 per cent of the total ice loss.
The 30 centimetres of sea level rise off New York City since 1900 likely expanded Hurricane Sandys flood area
The 30 centimetres of sea level rise off New York City since 1900 likely expanded Hurricane Sandys flood area by
approximately 65 square kilometres, flooding the homes of more than 80,000 additional people in New York and New
Jersey alone.
The prospect for impacts such as these to worsen in both the near and long term constitutes a priority issue for North
America.
Last year, the Asia-Pacific continued to be the world's most disaster prone region. About 41 per cent of all natural disasters
reported over the last two decades occurred in the Asia-Pacific region, which also accounted for 91 per cent of the worlds
deaths attributable to natural disasters in the last century.
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The main driver for accelerating domestic material consumption is the expanding middle class. The size of the global middle
class is projected to increase from 1.8 billion in 2009 to 4.9 billion in 2030 with most of this growth coming from Asia.
In the Latin American and Caribbean region, most of the cities in the region for which data are available have concentrations
of particulate matter (PM) above World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
The regions urban population increased by more than 35 million people between 2010 and 2015, and is expected to climb
to a total of 567 million persons by 2025. More than 100 million people already live in areas where they are at risk from air
pollution.
In West Asia, continuous conflict and the mass displacement of people throughout the region are also triggering severe
environmental impacts that are endangering the health of people. Heavy metals from explosive munitions and radiation from
missiles have leached into the environment.
The 2.97 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Iraq are placing an immense environmental burden on the region,
producing about 1,440 tonnes of waste per day in 2015
The 2.97 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Iraq are placing an immense environmental burden on the region,
producing about 1,440 tonnes of waste per day in 2015, overwhelming governments and increasing the risk of disease
outbreaks.
In Africa, the second largest continent in the world, land is the most prized asset for food production, nutritional health and
economic development. Worryingly, about 500,000 square meters of land in Africa is being degraded due to soil erosion,
salinization, pollution and deforestation. This land degradation can damage agricultural productivity, nutrition and human
health.
The recommendations made in the reports include: to improve gathering, processing and sharing of data and information to
inform decision-making; enhance sustainable consumption and production to reduce environmental pressures by addressing
drivers associated with manufacturing processes and consumer demand; invest in urban planning, such as through the better
use of environmentally sound infrastructure and clean transport; reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and diversify energy
sources.
Low-carbon, climate-resilient choices in infrastructure, energy and food production coupled with effective and sustainable
natural resource governance are key to protecting the ecological assets that underpin a healthy society.

Global life expectancy up five years since 2000, but gains

uneven UN health agency
19 May Dramatic gains in life expectancy have been made globally
since 2000, but major health inequalities persist within and among
countries, a new report published today by the World Health
Organization (WHO) has found.
According to this years World Health Statistics: Monitoring
Health for the SDGs, life expectancy increased by five years
between 2000 and 2015, the fastest increase since the 1960s. Those
gains reverse declines during the 1990s, when life expectancy fell in
Africa because of the AIDS epidemic and in Eastern Europe following
the collapse of the Soviet Union, WHO noted in a press release.
The world has made great strides in reducing the needless suffering
and premature deaths that arise from preventable and treatable
diseases, said WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. But the gains

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Progress in malaria control was among the reasons the WHO African
region experienced the greatest increase in life expectancy since 2000
by 9.4 years to 60 years. Photo: UNICEF/Adenike Ademuyiwa

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19 May 2016

have been uneven. Supporting countries to move towards universal health coverage based on strong primary care is the best
thing we can do to make sure no-one is left behind.
The increase was greatest in the WHO African region, where life expectancy increased by 9.4 years to 60 years, driven
mainly by improvements in child survival, progress in malaria control and expanded access to antiretrovirals for treatment of
HIV.
Global life expectancy for children born in 2015 was 71.4 years (73.8 years for females and 69.1 years for males), but an
individual childs outlook depends on where he or she is born, WHO said.
The report shows that newborns in 29 countries all of them high-income have an average life expectancy of 80 years or
more, while newborns in 22 others all of them in sub-Saharan Africa have life expectancy of less than 60 years.
With an average lifespan of 86.8 years, women in Japan can expect to live the longest. Switzerland enjoys the longest
average survival for men, at 81.3 years. People in Sierra Leone have the worlds lowest life expectancy for both sexes: 50.8
years for women and 49.3 years for men, WHO said.
Healthy life expectancy, a measure of the number of years of good health that a newborn in 2015 can expect, stands at 63.1
years globally (64.6 years for females and 61.5 years for males).
Targets of the Sustainable Development Goals
WHO highlighted that his years report brings together the most recent data on the health-related targets within the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015. The report highlights
significant data gaps that will need to be filled in order to reliably track progress towards the health-related SDGs.
For example, an estimated 53 per cent of deaths globally arent registered, although several countries including Brazil,
China, Iran, South Africa and Turkey have made considerable progress in that area, WHO said.
While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focused on a narrow set of disease-specific health targets for 2015, the
SDGs look to 2030 and are far broader in scope. For example, the SDGs include a broad health goal, Ensure healthy lives
and promote well-being for all at all ages, and call for achieving universal health coverage.
This years World Health Statistics also shows that many countries are still far from universal health coverage as
measured by an index of access to 16 essential services, especially in the African and eastern Mediterranean regions.
Furthermore, a significant number of people who use services face catastrophic health expenses, defined as out-of-pocket
health costs that exceed 25 per cent of total household spending.
Services face catastrophic health expenses, defined as out-of-pocket health costs that exceed 25 per cent of total household
spending.
The report includes data that illustrate inequalities in access to health services within countries between a given countrys
poorest residents and the national average for a set of reproductive, maternal and child health services, WHO said.
Among a limited number of countries with recent data, Swaziland, Costa Rica, Maldives, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Jordan and
Mongolia lead their respective regions in having the most equal access to services for reproductive, maternal, newborn and
child health.
Published every year since 2005, WHOs World Health Statistics contains data from 194 countries on a range of
mortality, disease and health system indicators, including life expectancy, illness and death from key diseases, health
services and treatments, financial investment in health, and risk factors and behaviours that affect health.

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19 May 2016

Ahead of end of UN forum, participation of indigenous people in

development targets urged
19 May As the 2016 United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues prepares to close tomorrow, three participants in the
session today underscored the importance of solidifying the
participation of indigenous people in UN mechanisms to ensure that
they are not left behind in the achievement of sustainable development
targets.
At a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York this
afternoon, Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac, Chair of the Forum, highlighted
that participants at the bodys 15th session which opened on 9
May had thus far heard more than 1,000 presentations by Member
States and indigenous peoples.
Chair of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
(UNPFII), Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac, addresses a press conference at
UN Headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Loey Felipe

He noted that among the most significant topics discussed during the
session were peace and conflict resolution, the issue of children and
women in situations of violence, and the persecution of leaders involved in conflicts over land and natural resources.

These are fundamental aspects of any negotiation and any region in the pursuit of resolutions and peace therein, Mr. Pop
stressed.
Also speaking at the press conference was Forum Member Joan Carling, who noted that next year will mark the 10-year
anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
It will be a critical year in terms of reviewing what has been achieved, she said, adding that discussions at next years
Forum will revolve around how further implementation of the Declaration can be achieved. In that vein, she stressed the
importance of UN funds and programmes to support legislative action for the Declarations inclusion in national laws and
policies.
Ms. Carling also said that discussions at this years Forum had made it very clear that many indigenous people are not
aware of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which therefore indicates a need for outreach and awareness-raising
on the issue.
Another crucial element involves incorporating specific targets and indicators relating to indigenous people into the SDGs,
although in this sense she noted the lack of data disaggregation as a factor impeding the measurement of progress towards
meeting any specific targets.
Also speaking today was Jacob Bryan K. Aki, a 21-year-old youth advocate, who emphasized that the session had discussed
important issues and messages on how to better the lives of indigenous people, which he and other youth members would
take back to their respective countries.
We come here, we learn, and the work doesnt stop, said Mr. Aki, who added that the session had served to propel youth
advocates, including him, to return home to work with their families and communities for positive advancements for
indigenous peoples.
In response to a question regarding an expected outcome document for the session, Mr. Pop said that document would
include three recommendations, including a strong call to Member States for the pursuit of peace and resolutions in
moments of conflict; an invitation to Member States to develop an evaluation regarding compliance towards the UN
Declaration on its 10-year anniversary; and a request for an indigenous woman to be part of the Security Council.

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19 May 2016

Mali: Ban condemns attack on UN convoy that killed five

peacekeepers
19 May United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
condemned yesterday's deadly attack that killed five peacekeepers and
injured three others of the UN mission in Mali, his spokesman said in
a statement.
According to preliminary information, a convoy of the United Nations
Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali
(MINUSMA) hit an improvised explosive device and then came under
fire by an unknown group of armed assailants about 15 kilometres
north of Aguelhok, Kidal region. Those killed are Chadian
peacekeepers.
Senegalese police officers serving with the UN Multidimensional
Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), patrol the
streets of the city of Gao, in Mali. UN Photo/Marco Dormino

Since the beginning of the year, a dozen attacks against the UN has
been registered in Kidal region, resulting in the death of at least 12 of
its personnel, including the latest victims.

According to the statement, Mr. Ban called for swift action to bring the perpetrators of this heinous attack to justice and
recalled that attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute war crimes under international law.
The Secretary-General reiterates that the UN will continue to support the stabilization of Mali and the implementation of
the peace agreement, the statement said.

UN human rights chief welcomes Pfizer's decision to bar use of

its drugs in executions
19 May The United Nations human rights chief today warmly
welcomed the initiatives announced by pharmaceutical company
Pfizer to ensure that the drugs it produces will not be used by States to
carry out executions by lethal injection.
Businesses, across many industries, can help prevent human rights
violations from occurring, UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Zeid Ra-ad Al Hussein, said in a statement released by his
Office (OHCHR). It is heartening to see companies playing an active
role in furthering the trend towards ending use of the death penalty.
Pfizer announced that it would restrict the sale of seven products that
have been part of lethal injection protocols in some States. Resale will
be restricted and Government entities will be required to certify that
the products they purchase will not be used for any penal purposes.
Pfizer has said it will monitor the distribution consistently.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein

addresses the 31st regular session of the Human Rights Council in
Geneva. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferr

Mr. Zeid called on all businesses to act in accordance with their human rights responsibilities as set out in the UN Guiding
Principles on Business and Human Rights, to avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through
their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur as well as to seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human
rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services.
The High Commissioner noted that other companies beyond the pharmaceutical industry may be involved in activities
relating to the administration of the death penalty, and called on such businesses to carry out human rights due diligence
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19 May 2016

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across their operations to ensure that they are not in any way contributing to the use of capital punishment.
Mr. Zeid also urged States not to resort to questionable sources for the drugs required to administer lethal injections. He
stressed that the UN opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

FEATURE: UN aid chief calls on leaders to make commitments

for the future at World Humanitarian Summit
19 May Commitments to strengthening the humanitarian system so
that preparedness and resilience are taken more seriously, with local
response at the heart of the efforts, are the focus of next weeks World
Humanitarian Summit according to the United Nations aid chief.
The Summit is a way of saying lets come together, lets really
understand how we can work better, lets make commitments for the
future, Stephen OBrien, the Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs told the UN News Centre ahead of the first-ever
gathering of its kind, which will take place in Turkey on 23 and 24
May.
More than 125 Heads of Government and State are expected to join
representatives from the UN community, civil society, the private
sector, academia and tens of thousands of other participants in
Istanbul.

Under-Secretary-General Stephen O'Brien pays a visit to a camp in

Saint Saveur, Central African Republic. MINUSCA/Nektarios
Markogiannis

With lots of Heads of Government, Heads of State coming, many, many countries represented, that will drive forward our
agenda for the next few years, Mr. OBrien added, highlighting the importance of strong political will in the action that will
be agreed to in the Summit.
One of the areas that will be discussed is how to get humanitarian aid faster and more effectively to the people who need it
most.
Whenever there is suffering and humanitarian need in a crisis, all of us want to be there even faster than we ever can be
because were all driven by this wish to help people in need, Mr. OBrien said, but cautioned that practical, secured, safe
passage and unimpeded access is challenging during protracted crises, particularly of ongoing conflict.
Despite international laws, safe and unimpeded access is often up for negotiations. Mr. OBrien, who is also the UN
Emergency Relief Coordinator, explains below.
There are more than 125 million people in need of immediate humanitarian assistance worldwide, according to UN figures.
That includes refugees, displaced persons, and people who are in need of support due to climate-induced famine.
To put that figure in perspective, together, they would create the 11th largest country in the world.
But they dont have a flag, they dont have a Head of State, said Mr. OBrien.
They do have urgent needs that must be met through goods and services. These are expected to cost the humanitarian
community an additional $15 to $20 billion annually.
While the event is not a fund-raising conference, investing in humanity is one of the five core responsibilities that SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon has urged in his report for the World Humanitarian Summit. The four other responsibilities of the
Agenda for Humanity are preventing and ending conflict, respecting the rules of war, leaving no one behind, and working
differently to end need.

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19 May 2016

If put into practice, the idea is that the Agenda for Humanity would allow humanitarians to provide for the immediate
needs when crises hit while also preparing for the long-term so people can see hope in their futures. In most cases, that
means being able to return home and rebuild their lives.
I was particularly struck by a family that I talked to in Jordan who had had to run away from their home, flee because it had
been completely destroyed by bombs outside of Homs, in Syria, Mr. OBrien recalled. The family, including four children,
had been living in Amman, Jordan, for the past three years. The father at the time did not have permission to work.

UN study urges governments to develop guidelines that

promote win-win diets
19 May Only a handful of governments have issued guidelines
promoting win-win diets that can help tackle two of the most urgent
challenges of today: securing good nutrition for all and protecting the
environment, according to a new study by the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published today.
The Plates, Pyramids, Planet report, compiled in collaboration
with the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) at the University of
Oxford, concludes that a plant-based diet has advantages for health
and the environment.

Only a handful of countries have food guidelines promoting diets and

food systems that are not only healthy but sustainable. Photo:
FAO/M. Griffin

Yet only four countries Brazil, Germany, Sweden and Qatar

promote diets and food systems that are not only healthy but
sustainable, the study says. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom
have since followed suit.

Growing numbers of people now understand that diets rich in whole-grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables with reduced
consumption of meat and smaller quantities of high-fat and high-sugar foods are good for our bodies, explains lead author
Carlos Gonzales-Fischer of FCRN.
He said that there is ample evidence showing that such diets have much lower environmental impacts than the unhealthy and
unsustainable eating patterns that are increasingly prevalent today. So by eating well for our own personal health, were
also doing right by the planet in essence, its a win-win, he added.
Anna Lartey, Director of FAOs Nutrition and Food Systems Division, stressed that Sustainable Development Goal 2
makes a clear link between the needs for healthy nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Its time that dietary guidelines
reflect that relationship, she said.
More than 80 governments already issue dietary advice, and the number is rising. However, most governments have yet to
issue national dietary advice, and this gap is particularly apparent in low income countries only five in Africa have such
guidelines. And most existing guidelines still fail to consider the environmental impacts of dietary choices.
Sweden is providing more detailed advice on which plant-based foods are to be preferred, recommending for example root
vegetables over salad greens. Brazils guidelines stand out for emphasizing the social and economic aspects of sustainability,
advising people to be wary of advertising, for instance, and to avoid ultra-processed foods that are not only bad for health
but are seen to undermine traditional food cultures.
The study emphases that, to have a real effect on food consumption, dietary guidelines need to have clear links to food
policies that are actually implemented such as school and hospital meal standards and advertising and industry regulations.
The reports overarching suggestion is that countries that already have dietary guidelines should begin to consider a process
of incorporating sustainability into them. The countries that do not already have them are in a unique position to develop

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integrated guidelines from the outset.

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)