Tag: UN

UN Security Council Holds First Meeting On Ethiopia’s Tigray

UN Security Council meeting on September 26, 2018 in New York on the sidelines/ AFP

 

The UN Security Council’s first meeting on the conflict in Ethiopia’s dissident Tigray region ended without members issuing a statement Tuesday.

European members forced the closed-door discussion to be held after African countries pulled out of organizing the meeting at short notice, highlighting divisions over Security Council action on the three weeks of fighting.

“South Africa asked for time so that the envoys can conduct their consultations and refer the matter to the African Union. A statement could complicate the situation,” an African diplomat said after the session.

A European diplomat, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Europeans “expressed their concerns, condemned violence of an ethnic nature and demanded protection of civilians,” during the session that lasted one hour 20 minutes.

France, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Estonia — backed by the United States — announced the virtual meeting after South Africa, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines withdrew their request because envoys have yet to travel to Ethiopia.

“At a certain moment, we have to put it on the agenda, even if the Africans don’t like it,” a European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The African Union announced on Friday that three former presidents had been appointed as special envoys to Ethiopia to help mediation efforts between the conflicting parties.

Asked about the Security Council’s lack of decisive action, a UN spokesman said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supported the African Union is at the forefront of international efforts.

Forces loyal to Tigray’s ruling party have been battling Ethiopian soldiers for nearly three weeks.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the leaders of the northern region of Tigray to surrender ahead of a threatened all-out assault on its capital, Mekele.

Abiy launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilize his government.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but a communications blackout has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.

Guterres last week called for the opening of humanitarian corridors to assist civilians caught in the fighting, noting that authorities had so far rejected attempts at mediation.

Over 40,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighboring Sudan, the UN’s refugee agency said Monday.

AFP

UN Security Council To Hold First Meeting On Ethiopia’s Tigray

(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 04, 2018 The “Palais des Nations”. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

 

The UN Security Council was due to hold its first meeting on the conflict in Ethiopia’s dissident Tigray region Tuesday, amid division between European and African members over whether the closed-door discussion should take place.

France, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Estonia — backed by the United States — announced the virtual meeting would go ahead after African countries pulled out of organizing it.

“They say ‘Africans solutions to African problems.’ It is something that we have to respect only to a certain degree,” a European diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“At a certain moment, we have to put it on the agenda, even if the Africans dont like it,” he added, highlighting the Europeans’ impatience over the lack of Security Council action on the weeks-long fighting.

Earlier, South Africa, Niger, Tunisia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines withdrew their request because envoys have yet to travel to Ethiopia, said one African diplomat.

“It is necessary to allow more time for the regional efforts that are being undertaken in this regard,” he had told AFP.

The African Union announced on Friday that three former presidents had been appointed as special envoys to Ethiopia to help mediation efforts between the conflicting parties.

READ ALSO: World Ramps Up COVID-19 Vaccine Preparations

Forces loyal to Tigray’s ruling party have been battling Ethiopian soldiers for nearly three weeks.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the leaders of the northern region of Tigray to surrender ahead of a threatened all-out assault on its capital, Mekele.

Abiy launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilize his government.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but a communications blackout has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.

UN chief Antonio Guterres last week called for the opening of humanitarian corridors to assist civilians caught in the fighting, noting that authorities had so far rejected attempts at mediation.

“We are very worried about the situation in Ethiopia,” the secretary general told reporters in New York, warning of a “dramatic humanitarian impact” including in neighboring Sudan.

“We have been asking for the full respect of international humanitarian law and also for the opening of humanitarian corridors and the truces that might be necessary for humanitarian aid to be delivered,” he said.

Over 40,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighboring Sudan, the UN’s refugee agency said Monday.

AFP

Tigray Unrest: Over 40,000 Ethiopians Flee To Sudan – UN

Ethiopia map.

 

Over 40,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighbouring Sudan as government forces pursue an offensive in the Tigray region, the UN’s refugee agency said Monday.

UNHCR said that as of Sunday, it and the Sudanese government had registered 40,277 people fleeing into Sudan, which is struggling to cope with its own severe economic crisis.

“Refugees arrive exhausted from their long trek to safety, with few belongings and need assistance,” the UNHCR said.

The UN agency’s statement came a day after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave the leaders of a dissident northern region 72 hours to surrender ahead of a threatened all-out assault on Tigray’s capital, Mekele.

Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, launched the military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of seeking to destabilise his government.

Ethiopians arriving in Sudan told AFP they had left behind modest lives as farmers with just the clothes on their backs to escape intense bombings, shootings and knife attacks in Tigray.

Many have been housed in the rapidly growing tent-town of Um Raquba refugee camp, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the border.

READ ALSO: Burkina Faso Awaits Presidential Election Results

The UN said an estimated 45 percent of arrivals were children and four percent aged above 60, with the total divided into around 43 percent female and 57 percent male.

The UN said it was planning on the basis of some 50,000 people fleeing to Sudan but warns that their numbers could rise if the fighting continues.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed, but a communications blackout has made claims from both sides difficult to verify.

AFP

UN Experts Seek End To Mass Executions In Iraq

(FILES) In this file photograph taken on September 5, 2018, Palestinian school children raise the victory gesture over a UN flag during a protest at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

 

UN human rights experts on Friday voiced alarm at reports that a further 50 terror convicts were facing execution in Iraq on Monday, as they urged Baghdad to halt all “mass executions”.

Some 4,000 prisoners, most of them charged with terror-related offences, are reportedly on death row in Iraq, said a trio of experts who do not speak for the United Nations but report their findings to it.

Hundreds of deaths are imminent after the signing of execution orders, according to the UN special rapporteurs Nils Melzer (torture and other cruel punishment), Fionnuala Ni Aolain (protecting human rights while countering terrorism) and Agnes Callamard (extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions).

Iraq executed 21 men convicted of “terrorism” last Monday at the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country’s south, medical and police sources said.

They had all been convicted under a 2005 anti-terrorism law, which carries the death penalty.

Since declaring the Islamic State group defeated in late 2017, Iraq has condemned hundreds of its own citizens to death for membership of the jihadist faction.

The UN experts said in a joint statement that they had “serious concerns about the conduct of the trials and the extraction of confessions under torture”.

“We strongly urge the Iraqi government to respect its international legal obligations and to immediately halt further plans to execute prisoners,” said the special rapporteurs.

“When carried out on a widespread and systematic basis, arbitrary executions may well amount to crimes against humanity and may entail universal criminal responsibility for any official involved in such acts.”

 

AFP

Gbajabiamila Meets UN Deputy Secretary-General In Abuja

A file photo of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
A file photo of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has met with the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, Lanre Lasisi, the duo discussed issues and explored partnership in critical areas.

The issues include electoral reforms, reduction of Gender-Based Violence, creating an enabling environment for more women in politics, improvement of public financial management systems, managing Africa’s debt crisis as well as improving social investment and social protection systems in Nigeria.

Gbajabiamila said he looked forward to working with the Office of the UN Deputy Secretary-General and the UN Resident Coordinator in taking things forward.

SEE FULL STATEMENT HERE:

Press Statement from the Office of the Speaker, House of Representatives

November 18, 2020

Gbajabiamila meets UN Dep Sec. Gen., Mohammed, discusses social, economic debt, others

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila on Tuesday hosted the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, where they discussed issues and explored partnership in critical areas.

The issues include electoral reforms, reduction of Gender-Based Violence, creating an enabling environment for more women in politics, improvement of public financial management systems, managing Africa’s debt crisis as well as improving social investment and social protection systems in Nigeria.

Agreeing on these priorities, the Speaker confirmed that these were aligned with the priorities the  House had identified in the Updated Legislative Agenda it launched in July to respond to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Speaker said he looked forward to working with the Office of UN Deputy Secretary-General and the UN Resident Coordinator in taking things forward.

The discussion concluded with an agreement to explore partnerships in helping to deliver impact in the stated areas, particularly through specific legislative interventions which reflect the priorities of Nigerians.

Present at the meeting were the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Nigeria, Mr. William Kallon, the Special Assistant to the DSG, Hadiza Elayo, Special Assistant to the Resident Coordinador, Fred Eno and the Special Adviser to the Speaker on International and Interparliamentary Affairs, Mr. Dapo Oyewole.

Signed:

Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

‘Full-Scale Humanitarian Crisis Is Unfolding’ In Ethiopia – UN

An Ethiopian refugee, who fled intense fighting in their homeland, rests in the Um Raquba camp in the town of Gadaref, east of Khartoum, on November 15, 2020, after being transported from the border reception centre. 
Ebrahim HAMID / AFP

 

 

The UN said Tuesday a full-blown humanitarian crisis was unfolding in northern Ethiopia, where thousands of people each day are fleeing the conflict in the Tigray region.

As international pressure mounted over his campaign against the dissident region, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared operations were entering a “final” phase, and his government confirmed fresh airstrikes near the Tigray capital, Mekele.

Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, announced a military campaign on November 4, saying it came in response to attacks by the local ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), on federal military camps.

The United Nations refugee agency said around 27,000 Ethiopians have fled across the border into Sudan — a figure now rising by around 4,000 people each day.

“A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding,” spokesman Babar Baloch told a virtual press briefing from Geneva.

“Refugees fleeing the fighting continue to arrive exhausted from the long trek to safety, with few belongings.”

Those arriving in Sudan recounted terrifying scenes of artillery barrages and massacres.

“I saw bodies dismembered by the explosions,” said Ganet Gazerdier, 75, whose home was destroyed in the town of Humera, and finds herself at a refugee camp in eastern Sudan.

“Other bodies were rotting, lying on the road, murdered with a knife”, she added.

– ‘Final throes of death’ –

On Friday Abiy declared the TPLF was “in the final throes of death” and gave troops in the region three days to “rise up” and side with the national army.

In a Facebook post-Tuesday morning, he said their time was up.

“The three-day deadline for the Tigray regional special forces and militia to hand themselves over to national defence forces instead of being a tool for the greedy junta has expired. Those Tigray special forces and militia who used the three-day deadline are appreciated,” he said.

“Since the deadline has been completed, in the coming days the final law enforcement activities will be done.”

A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to assess how the fighting is going or verify a death toll that could be in the hundreds.

Federal forces claim to control Tigray’s western zone, where fighting has been heavy, and over the weekend said they had seized the town of Alamata, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of the regional capital, Mekele.

But Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP Tuesday that “the government and people of Tigray” would hold their ground.

“This campaign cannot be finished. As long as the army of the invaders is in our land, the fight will continue. They cannot keep us silent by military force,” he said.

Abiy has resisted calls by world leaders to cease hostilities and accept mediation.

On Monday, his deputy prime minister Demeke Mekonnen flew to Uganda and then to Kenya to meet with the presidents of the regional heavyweights.

“A war in Ethiopia would give the entire continent a bad image,” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wrote on Twitter after meeting Demeke.

“There should be negotiations and the conflict stopped, lest it leads to unnecessary loss of lives and cripples the economy.”

But Museveni later deleted the tweet, and an Ethiopian official said Demeke made clear negotiations were not an immediate possibility.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta later called for a “peaceful” resolution of the crisis.

Abiy’s government has said there can be no mediation until Tigray’s leaders have been disarmed and brought to court.

The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics for three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018, and a bitter feud has grown as they have been sidelined from politics, becoming ever more defiant towards the central government.

– Spreading conflict –

A government statement on Tuesday said the army on Monday had carried out “precision led and surgical air operations outside of Mekele city based on information received of specific critical TPLF targets.”

Debretsion said there were civilian casualties, which the government denied.

A resident of Mekele told AFP there was a low-flying warplane over the city Monday that was “very scary, very loud” and that at least one civilian died in a strike not far from a university campus.

Details on the strike and any casualties could not be verified.

In recent days the TPLF has fired rockets on airports in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, south of Tigray, and in the capital of neighbouring Eritrea.

The strikes on Asmara, in particular, have reinforced fears Ethiopia’s conflict could draw in the wider Horn of Africa region

-AFP

Libya Talks With UN Ends Without Naming Interim Government

UN acting envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams speaks during a press conference in the Tunisian capital Tunis on November 15, 2020, following seven days of talks, hosted by the UN on the Libyan conflict. 
FETHI BELAID / AFP

 

 

UN-led talks aimed at appointing an executive to help lead Libya out of a decade of conflict ended Sunday without discussing names, the world body said.

“We have agreed to reconvene in about a week in a virtual meeting (to) agree on the selection mechanism for the coming authority,” the UN’s interim Libya envoy Stephanie Williams told journalists.

But she said “no names… were discussed” during the meetings in neighbouring Tunisia.

Libya has been riven by conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

The latest phase in renewed efforts for peace in the North African country brought together 75 delegates selected by the UN to represent a broad range of constituencies.

They were charged with laying out a roadmap towards elections, setting the mandate of an interim executive, and naming its members.

But observers have criticised the way the delegates were chosen and cast doubts over their clout in a country where two administrations, as well as an array of armed groups and foreign powers, are already vying for power.

Libya is currently dominated by a unity government in Tripoli that emerged from previous UN-led talks in 2015, and its rival, the eastern-based House of Representatives elected the previous year and which never recognised the unity government.

In 2019, HoR-allied commander Khalifa Haftar, who was backed by Russia and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to seize Tripoli.

But after a year of bloody stalemate on the edges of the capital, his forces were repelled by pro-unity government forces boosted by Turkish military support.

Military talks led to a formal ceasefire deal in October, and recent developments on parallel economic and political tracks have raised hopes for progress.

Williams said Sunday she was “very pleased with the outcome” of the Tunisia talks.

– Foreign presence –

But observers have noted major obstacles to a lasting solution.

Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist at the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, warned that foreign interests could easily derail the process.

“The UN’s biggest difficulty is that there are permanent Turkish and Russian military bases and Emirati officers on the ground,” he told AFP.

But the UN’s former envoy to Libya and the architect of the current UN process, Ghassan Salame, told AFP on Friday he had higher hopes than ever for peace, citing “an accumulation of positive factors”.

He noted that Libyans were increasingly hostile to foreign interference and the presence of mercenaries.

Salame also said Turkey and Russia could see the fruition of infrastructure contracts worth billions of dollars, signed with the Kadhafi regime, but which Libyans were still keen to honour.

Williams on Sunday vowed to push onwards with the necessary steps for naming an interim executive.

But Harchaoui noted that for such an administration to be accepted, “there need to be named for each of the main posts.”

“Until this step is fulfilled, a deal won’t lead to anything concrete,” he said.

-AFP

UN Warns Of War Crimes In Spiralling Ethiopia Conflict

In this file photo, The United Nations flag is seen during the Climate Action Summit 2019 at the United Nations General Assembly Hall on September 23, 2019, in New York City. Ludovic MARIN / AFP.

The United Nations warned Friday of possible war crimes in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, after 10 days of fighting that the country’s prime minister claimed had his enemy “in the final throes of death”.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, ordered military operations in Tigray last week, shocking the international community which fears the start of a long and bloody civil war.

Hundreds are reported to have been killed, some in a gruesome massacre reported by Amnesty International, and thousands have fled fighting and air strikes in Tigray, whose leaders Abiy accuses of seeking to destabilise the country.

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for a full investigation into the report of mass killings in the town of Mai-Kadra, where Amnesty said it had “digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.”

“If confirmed as having been deliberately carried out by a party to the current fighting, these killings of civilians would of course amount to war crimes,” she said in a statement.

Amnesty said it had not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, however witnesses blamed forces backing the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Witnesses also reported the identity cards of some victims indicated they were from the Amhara region, an area with a long history of tensions with Tigrayans, notably over land.

Thousands of Amhara militiamen have deployed to the Tigray border to fight alongside federal forces.

Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP on Friday the accusations were “baseless”.

Abiy says his military operation came in response to attacks on two federal military camps by the TPLF, which once dominated Ethiopian politics and claims it has been sidelined and targeted under Abiy.

The party denies carrying out the attacks.

Long-running tensions between Abiy and the TPLF hit a new low in September when Tigray pressed ahead with its own elections, insisting Abiy was an illegitimate leader after national polls were postponed due to the coronavirus.

– ‘Surrounded on all sides’ –
On Friday Abiy addressed the region, especially its soldiers, urging them to “rise up” and side with the national army.

“This mischievous force is surrounded on all sides. It is a force in its final throes of death. Your children are suffering death and injuries on the frontline,” he said in the Tigrinya language in a speech broadcast on Facebook.

“Rise up against the clique or defect to the Ethiopian Defense Forces, use the opportunity given to you by your country in the next two or three days… save yourself.”

A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground, but Abiy has vowed to deliver a decisive win “in a relatively short period of time”.

“This is a daydream, just a daydream,” Debretsion said. “We are proud people who can defend ourselves. This is a burial ground for invaders.”

Bachelet warned that if the conflict continues “there is a risk this situation will spiral totally out of control, leading to heavy casualties and destruction, as well as mass displacement within Ethiopia itself and across borders.”

“I am also extremely alarmed at reports of cuts to essential water and electricity supplies, in addition to the communications blackout and blocking of access by road and air.”

– ‘Too big to manage’ –
There are mounting worries about how Tigray’s population is faring after intensified fighting and several rounds of air strikes that Abiy’s government says targeted fuel and weapons depots.

Thousands have already crossed the border into neighbouring Sudan, while Debretsion said hundreds of thousands had been displaced within Tigray.

He also said civilians had been killed in government air strikes in the regional capital Mekele, and in the city of Adigrat close to the border with Eritrea.

“People are running in every corner. So the most important consequence of the conflict currently is displacement. Of course there are casualties, but we don’t have the numbers. This is too big to manage,” Debretsion said.

Ethiopian state media reported that an arrest warrant had been issued for Debretsion and other TPLF leaders.

On Friday, an African Union official confirmed the body had replaced its head of security, an ethnic Tigrayan, after Ethiopia’s defence ministry complained he was “assumed to be not honest” and could jeopardise the relationship between Ethiopia and the AU, which is headquartered in the capital Addis Ababa.

AU chief Moussa Faki Mahamat complied with the request, and a letter from his office dated Wednesday ordered the official, Gebre-egzhiaber Mebratu Melese, be terminated “with immediate effect.”

AFP

Govts Still Upholding Women’s, Girls’ Health And Rights Despite COVID-19 – UNFPA

UNFPA logo

 

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has hailed governments, individuals and non-governmental organizations for upholding women’s and girls’ health and rights despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on the health and economies of countries around the world, governments, non-governmental organizations, international financial institutions and the private sector are stepping up political, financial and in-kind support for programmes that protect the health and rights of women and girls in developing countries,” the UN agency said in a statement it released on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25.

The agency while explaining that major government donors have substantially delivered on the pledges (over $8 billion) they made during the Summit, it quoted its Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem as reiterating that the commitments made in the Kenyan capital are, more than ever before, more critical to achieving the set goals.

“The commitments made in Nairobi are more critical now than ever before. Far from dampening our ambition, COVID-19 has only sharpened our focus and resolve,” Dr. Natalia added. “I am heartened to see so many governments, private sector and civil society partners take bold steps to sustain our collective efforts and deliver on our promises to women and girls. As long as we stand together, we will prevail.”

In Nigeria, the UNFPA added that it is ensuring accelerated action towards the ICPD25 commitments and Plan of Action (PoA) through its technical assistance to the Federal Government, ministries, agencies and other partners.

The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 was held in the Kenyan capital with major stakeholders around the world committing to ending preventable maternal death, the unmet need for contraception, and gender-based violence and harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation, by 2030.

Over 8,000 delegates from 170 countries made 1,250 financial and other commitments backing sexual and reproductive health and rights.

 

UN Deputy Secretary-General, Mohammed Visits IDP Camps In Borno Border Town  

Amina Mohammed, Renewable Energy, Jatropha
File photo of the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed

 

The United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary-General and ex-Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed has visited Banki, a border town in Borno State.

She arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on board a UN jet, and immediately flew to Banki.

The deputy secretary-general was accompanied by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, other principal officers, and Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum.

Addressing journalists in the state, Mohammed said her mission was to assess the government’s responses to the humanitarian crisis in the northeast with the intention of amplifying priorities.

“Coming to Borno was very specifically for people to understand that in the context of Nigeria, there is still an ongoing challenge with some areas of Borno State in post-conflict, and many areas under the threat of the Boko Haram insurgency,” she said.

“Our visit to Banki was to see the collaboration with Cameroon in a camp and that collaboration with the Borno State Government and the UN, how that is evolving first in meeting the needs of those that have found themselves displaced and those that are coming back across the border and really finding a pathway for that resettlement and reintegration of the people of Borno State to a life of peace and prosperity.”

According to her, the camps visited were overcrowded and feelers from interactions with the people indicated the desperate desire to return to their homes and live normal lives again.

On his part, Governor Zulum said the state government is working with the Federal Government to commence the repatriation of citizens from Cameroon latest on December 5.

The governor asked all partners to support the state government as it drives responses to the humanitarian crisis.

“I am very happy to inform you that we are gradually having peace restored and with the restoration of peace we have received overwhelming requests by our people to return to their places of origin these processes of return are being carefully planned to take into account all the factors such as security, livelihoods, and continuous presence of civil authority to restore confidence in the communities,” he said.

“Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had great success in returning people to areas that are confined to be safe.

“We call on all our partners to put the government of Borno in the driving seat of support being given out in order to gain sustainability and lasting impact.”

UN Asks FG To Engage Nigerian Youths To Forestall Another Protest

The United Nations has called on the Nigerian government to engage the youths in the country following the recent #EndSARS protests that led to the loss of lives and destruction of properties.

UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, made the call on Monday during a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“The UN’s response to this is that we must make sure that what happened in this protest, we are able to address those gaps, issues and to begin the reforms needed to address many of these outstanding issues,” she said.

“We need an engaged youth and an engaged government. I think what has been put in place are those building blocks and the support that the UN has been asked to make sure that those conveniences can happen.”

Mohammed also called on the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to build back the trust of the people for the social contract to be met.

On his part, President Muhammadu Buhari asked Nigerian youths to keep the peace, saying that it is in their own interest to do so.

“It is in the interest of the youths to keep the peace. They want jobs, infrastructure and development,” President Buhari said.

“I have sent a team led by the Chief of Staff (Professor Ibrahim Gambari) to go round the country, talk to traditional rulers, who will then talk to the youths. The views of the youths have been heard.”

Reacting to the recent #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of lives and properties in the country, President Buhari said: “Our own generation is on the last lap, we are exiting.”

While noting that the current administration inherited severe infrastructural deficits, Buhari explained that the Federal Government is doing its best within the available limited resources on the ground.

He also lamented the devastating effect of COVID-19 on the global economy, adding that the pandemic has destroyed lives and livelihoods around the world.

Buhari Receives UN Deputy Secretary-General, Asks Youths To Keep The Peace

We Will Surely Leave A Better Nigeria For Future Generations – Buhari
(File) President Muhammadu Buhari speaks in Abuja

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerian youths to keep the peace, saying that it is in their own interest to do so.

The President made the call on Monday while receiving the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and ex-Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed at the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“It is in the interest of the youths to keep the peace. They want jobs, infrastructure and development,” President Buhari said.

“I have sent a team led by the Chief of Staff (Professor Ibrahim Gambari) to go round the country, talk to traditional rulers, who will then talk to the youths. The views of the youths have been heard.”

Reacting to the recent #EndSARS protest that led to the destruction of lives and properties in the country, President Buhari said: “Our own generation is on the last lap, we are exiting.”

While noting that the current administration inherited severe infrastructural deficits, Buhari explained that the Federal Government is doing its best within the available limited resources on the ground.

He also lamented the devastating effect of COVID-19 on the global economy, adding that the pandemic has destroyed lives and livelihoods around the world.

On climate change, President Buhari said Nigeria was concerned about the recharge of the Lake Chad, which has great implications on security, irregular migration, and livelihoods.

On her part, the Deputy Secretary-General said she was on a courtesy call with her team over challenges that concern the UN, particularly COVID-19, climate change, security, and humanitarian responses to the diverse challenges.