Conference primer: Peace and Security: 2023

Of 3,774 civilian casualties between 15 August 2021 and 30 May 2023, three quarters were caused by indiscriminate IEDs in populated areas, including places of worship, schools and markets, said the report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The New Humanitarian, 30 May 2023
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Spearheaded by Britain, it will include briefings by international AI experts and Secretary-General António Guterres, who sounded an alarm bell last month over the dangers posed by AI’s most advanced forms. Despite the initiative, few people appear to be thinking enough about how technologies such as ChatGPT will shape “forgotten conflicts” and humanitarian crises – including most humanitarian agencies.

En théorie, les 193 États sont égaux au sein des Nations unies. Dans la pratique, il en va autrement. Grâce à leur droit de veto, les cinq membres permanents de l'organe le plus puissant de l'ONU, le Conseil de sécurité, sont une caste à part. Leurs ambassadeurs sont les princes du quartier de l'ONU sur l'East River, à New York.
L'un d'entre eux est le représentant de la France, Nicolas de Rivière. Sa parole a du poids ici: «Mon équipe et moi sommes extrêmement heureux de la collaboration avec la Suisse au Conseil de sécurité et avec l'ambassadrice suisse Pascale Baeriswyl. Il n'y a pas un nuage dans le ciel», estime le diplomate de haut rang de 59 ans. Nicolas de Rivière n'est pourtant pas considéré comme un beau parleur, mais son discours est clair: «Sur tous les grands thèmes, les principes centraux, le droit international, les droits de l'homme, la France et l'UE sont côte à côte avec la Suisse.»

Aid agencies raised increasing alarm Tuesday over the crumbling humanitarian situation in a country reliant on outside help. So far, a series of short cease-fires the past week have either failed outright or brought only intermittent lulls in the fighting that has raged between the forces of the country’s two top generals since April 15. The lulls have been enough for dramatic evacuations of hundreds of foreigners by air and land, which continued Tuesday.

Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers, who leverage their individual and collective leadership experience and global reach to strengthen inclusive democratic practice and improve the well-being of people around the world.

As a non-partisan and international non-profit organisation, Club de Madrid counts on the hands-on governance experience of more than 100 Members from over 70 countries, along with a global network of advisers and partners across all sectors of society.

This unique alliance stimulates dialogue, builds bridges and engages in advocacy efforts to strengthen public policies and effective leadership through recommendations that tackle challenges such as inclusion, sustainable development and peace, at the national and international levels.

Tous luttent avec succès en faveur de la paix, de la réconciliation et du développement durable dans leur pays. Ils raconteront leur histoire extraordinaire et recevront un prix pour les progrès remarquables qu’ils ont obtenus au sein de leur communauté.
Maïmouna Ba a 27 ans. Dans son pays, le Burkina Faso, elle a créé une organisation pour soutenir les femmes déplacées en se servant du levier de l’éducation pour lutter contre l’extrémisme violent. La jeune femme est passée dans les studios d'ONU Info Genève pour évoquer son histoire.

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, was in Geneva this week to revive the attention of the international community on the issues of hostages being held by Hamas as support begins to wane.
Cohen was accompanied by health minister Uriel Menachem Buso and several relatives of the hostages, who had met earlier with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric.

On 28 October 2023, the families dismantled about 50 residential and animal structures and vacated the area with their 5,000 livestock. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has previously documented settler attacks in this community, most recently on 12, 21 and 26 October. About two thirds of the families that comprised this community are now displaced.

“History is watching,” Martin Griffiths told UN News, after highlighting the desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted over the weekend, after Israel warned of an imminent offensive following the 7 October attack on Israel by militant group Hamas.
“Aid access is our overwhelming priority. And we are in deep discussions hourly with the Israelis, with the Egyptians, with the Gazans about how to do that. I'm looking forward to some good news this morning about that.”

Just as the UN is calling for the unconditional release of hostages by Hamas, it’s crucial for Israel to give “immediate unconditional access” to humanitarian aid for desperate civilians forced to move south, the UN’s top aid official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory told UN News on Sunday.
Lynn Hastings said the UN is in intensive discussions with Israeli authorities over humanitarian corridors and a vital ceasefire, to avert further castastrophe for civilians, with a million Palestinians already displaced amid the total “collapse” of Gaza’s already fragile health system.
Israel says “they want to destroy Hamas, but the current trajectory is going to destroy Gaza” she told UN News’s Reem Abaza.

Certaines victimes ont été décapitées. Je n'ai jamais rien vu de tel, et j'ai servi pendant 40 ans. » Ces mots sont ceux d’Itai Veruv, général de division, qui raconte l’horreur de ce 7 octobre 2023, lorsque le kibboutz de Kfar Arza, situé tout près de la clôture de Gaza, s’est transformé en enfer.

The Human Rights Council approved in a tight vote a proposal to appoint a fact-finding mission on abuses committed in Sudan since war broke out between two rival military factions on 15 April. The initiative – led by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway – was approved on Wednesday with 19 votes in favour, 16 against and 12 abstentions.

Like many other Member States, the United Kingdom recognizes that “humanity stands on the precipice of this gigantic technological leap forward”. It therefore wants to encourage a multilateral approach to managing both the immense opportunities and risks that artificial intelligence presents, including its implications for international peace and security. But, no country can do it alone, she said, as a global effort in this regard is key.