Some Good News from the United Nations this week
FROM DEMOCRACY TO SOCCER, ZAMBIA’S SUCCESSES OFFER EXAMPLE FOR ALL
From its commitment to democracy to its soccer victory in the recent Africa Cup of Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today lauded the Government and people of Zambia for serving as a shining example to the continent and the rest of the world.
“With hard work, energy, perseverance and faith – Zambia has proven anything is possible,” Mr. Ban said in a speech to a special session of the country’s Parliament, adding that the world had witnessed more than sporting success in Zambia’s football victory; it had also its spirit.
“I take deep inspiration from all that you represent, all that you stand for,” he said.
“You have deepened democracy and set a high bar for the continent, and indeed the world. Last September, once again, you conducted free and fair elections. Once again, you managed a smooth and dignified transition of power,” said the Secretary-General. “Once again, you showed courage and leadership across the political spectrum and across communities.”
He said democracy runs deep in Zambia and that work on a new constitution would deepen it further. “This offers Zambia an opportunity to lead once more by enshrining the highest standards of human rights and protections for all people – regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.”
The world also needs Zambia to help tackle the global challenges of today, beginning with sustainable development, added Mr. Ban.
He noted that deforestation is happening at an alarming pace in Zambia and access to safe drinking water remains a challenge. The country’s economy is growing steadily and poverty is slowly declining. At the same time, the benefits of development are not reaching all of the women, men and children of Zambia.
He called for making a “big push” on reducing maternal, under-five and infant mortality, as well as building on the tremendous progress in HIV prevention to realize the vision to end all new HIV infections, AIDS-related deaths, and discrimination.
Mr. Ban also highlighted the need to empower women and young people, stressing that Zambia’s greatest resource is its people and the country will realize its full potential when its women and youth can realize theirs.
“I know you are working hard to integrate young women and men in national development,” he stated. “They need to feel the benefits of economic growth in their own lives and their own futures. They need quality education and the training and skills to find and create decent jobs.”
Zambia has made progress on many fronts in promoting economic and political empowerment for women, said Mr. Ban. “Yet all of us recognize there is much more work ahead,” he added, noting that women represent 51 per cent of the total population, and yet their representation in Parliament stands at 11 per cent, an all-time low.
In the area of peace and security, the Secretary-General paid tribute to the 73 Zambians who have lost their lives on UN peacekeeping duties and the more than 300 who serve in peacekeeping missions in Africa and beyond.
Zambia also has a history of welcoming people fleeing conflict, having provided shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees over the years, he added.
In his meeting with parliamentarians, Mr. Ban discussed a range of topics, including the rights of all people regardless of sexual orientation, refugees and climate change.
Tomorrow he will visit a UN-supported project for children and will join the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, on a visit to an Olympic Youth Development Centre. He will also meet the Zambian President and a number of Cabinet members.
On Sunday, the Secretary-General will visit a school in Livingstone and tourist infrastructure around Victoria Falls, before flying on to Angola.
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UN HOLDS FORUM TO FIND WAYS TO TACKLE PROBLEM OF YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
Dozens of representatives from governments, the business sector and civil society groups will gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Monday to discuss ways how they can better collaborate to tackle the problem of youth unemployment worldwide.
Monday’s meeting is a key preparatory event for the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)’s annual ministerial review in July, which is set to focus this year on building partnerships to provide more and better jobs for young people.
Youth unemployment has soared in both affluent and poor countries since the global financial crisis began in 2008, with the largest annual increase on record reported in 2009. At one point nearly 76 million people aged between 15 and 24 years of age were unemployed worldwide.
Many young people with jobs are also suffering, ECOSOC noted in a press release. The Council said it now estimates that about 152 million young workers live in households that are below the poverty line, and they comprise almost a quarter of the total numbers of working poor.
The meeting on Monday is expected to feature presentations or remarks from, among others, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, ECOSOC President Miloš Koterec, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang and representatives of the UN International Labour Organization (ILO).
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UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE WELCOMES RULING ON TREATMENT OF MIGRANTS AT SEA
The United Nations human rights office today added its voice in support of a European court ruling that found it is wrong for a country to collectively expel migrants intercepted on the high seas without first determining whether this would place their lives at risk.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday that Italy violated its obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights when in 2009 it intercepted a boatload of African migrants outside of Italian territorial waters and returned them directly to Libya.
A group of 13 Eritrean and 11 Somali passengers on the boat had taken the case to court.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said the ruling “reaffirms the human rights of all migrants at sea.”
Both UNHCR and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) made interventions in the court case, and yesterday UNHCR issued a statement in which it also welcomed the judgment.
Ms. Shamdasani noted that the court, which sits in Strasbourg, France, found that the transfer of the migrants to Libya under the conditions at the time of the incident “violated the prohibition of torture because it exposed the applicants to the risk of arbitrary return to their countries of origin.”
She also said the court found that the transfer violated the prohibition on the collective expulsion of foreign nationals.
“We call on all States to recognize and respect the fundamental rights of all migrants, guaranteed by international law, regardless of their immigration status or other status. We have long expressed alarm at the interception and collective expulsion of migrants, often risking their lives, on the high seas, without the opportunity for an individual examination of their cases.
“We urge States to avoid making migration policies based on assumptions about the motivations of migrants which are based on their country of nationality or of departure, their gender, age of their ethnicity, and instead to put in place procedures premised on the protection of the human rights of all migrants.”
Ms. Shamdasani also said OHCHR welcomed discussions about revising Italian immigration policies in light of the court ruling.
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NEW UNICEF REPORT TO SHINE SPOTLIGHT ON CHALLENGES FACED BY URBAN CHILDREN
The annual flagship report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will this year focus on the challenges and disadvantages faced by children worldwide who live in cities and other urban areas.
More than a billion children, or over half the global population of minors, are now estimated to live in urban areas, according to UNICEF, which is releasing the report entitled “The State of the World’s Children 2012” on Tuesday.
Not all children living in urban areas are benefiting from the economic expansion in cities, UNICEF said in a statement issued ahead of the report’s release.
“In this increasingly urban world, the absence of a sustained focus on child rights means that some children are being left behind,” the statement noted.
The report documents the struggles that urban children face in upholding their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and protection.
“Although cities and towns generally offer better options for schooling, medical care and recreation, those already disadvantaged – including children living in slums and informal settlements, migrant children, or children living or working on the streets – are unlikely to enjoy the benefits,” the statement said.
One of the report’s editors, Abid Aslam, said it was disturbing that so many children worldwide were being born into “extremely harsh” urban conditions, especially in slums, where homelessness, exploitative labour and gang violence are common.
“They don’t know often from one week to the next where they’re going to live, much less whether they’re going to be able to go to school, or whether they’re going to have clean, piped water,” he said.
