Dr. Ameera Al-Hassan
Head of Office at UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)
UN Secretary General releases statement on 75 Anniversary of UN Charter
Statement released by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on the 75 Anniversary of signature of UN Charter.
We mark tomorrow’s 75th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Charter at a time of colossal global upheaval and risk. From COVID-19 to climate disruption, from racial injustice to rising inequalities, we are a world in turmoil. At the same time, we are an international community with an enduring vision – embodied in the Charter – to guide us to a better future. The same Charter whose values enabled us to avoid the scourge of the third World War as many had feared. Our shared challenge is to rise to this moment.
Let me start with COVID-19.
A microscopic virus has brought catastrophic consequences to our world.
The pandemic has laid bare severe and systemic inequalities.
And it has underscored the world’s fragilities more generally – not just in the face of another health emergency but also the climate crisis, lawlessness in cyberspace, and the risks of nuclear proliferation again.
People are losing ever more trust in political establishments and institutions. In the face of these fragilities, world leaders need to be humble and recognize the vital importance of unity and solidarity. None of us can predict what comes next.
We are in the middle of the mist. Where we can, the United Nations has cut through the fog – and acted. The United Nations family has mobilized to save lives, control transmission of the virus and ease the economic fallout. We have shipped more than 250 million items of personal protective equipment to more than 130 countries; ensured education for 155 million children; and provided mental health support for 45 million children, parents and caregivers.
We placed the UN supply chain network at the service of Member States and established 8 global air hubs that have reached more than 110 countries, providing 69,000 cubic meters of medical goods in the last six weeks alone. We have trained nearly 2 million health and community workers… Created safe channels for 3 million children and adults to report sexual exploitation and abuse … And reached more than 2 billion people with information on staying safe and accessing health services.
From the beginning, the United Nations has been calling for massive global support for the most vulnerable people and countries – a rescue package amounting to at least 10 per cent of the global economy and promoting the mechanisms of solidarity to ensure that the developing world can also benefit from it. The United Nations is also supporting work to accelerate research and development for a people’s vaccine, affordable and accessible to all. A global public good. My appeal for a global ceasefire has been endorsed by nearly 180 countries, more than 20 armed groups as well as religious leaders and millions of members of civil society. The difficulty is to implement it.
My Special Envoys and I are working together to establish effective ceasefires and doing everything possible to overcome the legacy of long-lasting conflicts with deep mistrust among the parties and spoilers with a vested interest in disruption. We are also fighting the plague of misinformation. Next Tuesday June 30th, our new “Verified” initiative will ask people using social media platforms to participate in a special global “pause” before sharing questionable information. Today I am presenting an overview of our comprehensive United Nations Response on COVID-19 – documenting not only our action over the last three months, but also offering a roadmap toward recovering better. We cannot go back to the way it was and simply recreate the systems that have aggravated the crisis.
We need to build back better with more sustainable, inclusive, gender-equal societies and economies. There is no good reason, for example, for any country to include coal in their COVID-19 recovery plans. This is the time to invest in energy sources that don’t pollute, don’t cause emissions, generate decent jobs and save money. The United Nations is strongly committed to leading the renewal.
For 75 years, we have sought to help stitch the world together in productive cooperative relationships for global problem-solving and the common good. Today we are pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals, providing food assistance for 87 million people in 83 countries and vaccines for half the world’s children, helping to save 3 million lives every year. The women and men of the United Nations are assisting 80 million refugees and displaced people and enabling more than 2 million women and girls to overcome complications from pregnancy and childbirth.
Forty political missions and peacekeeping operations, with 95,000 troops, police and civilian personnel, strive to keep the peace and protect civilians. Our electoral assistance now extends to 60 countries each year. Our help for victims of torture reaches 40,000 people. And some 7,500 monitoring missions every year seek to protect human rights, make violations known and hold perpetrators accountable.
This is the work of the United Nations, day in and day out, around the clock, around the world. Throughout this anniversary year, we have also been listening. For that, we mobilized more than 5,000 partners and convened more than 1,000 listening sessions in 124 countries. More than 230,000 people in 193 member states and observer states engaged in our forward-looking UN75 survey.
The responses paint a clear picture of priorities in the time of COVID and beyond: Number one: universal access to healthcare. Number two: strengthen solidarity between people and nations. Number three: rethink the global economy against inequality. As we mark Charter Day and look ahead, we must reimagine the way nations cooperate. We need a networked multilateralism, bringing together the UN system regional organizations, international financial institutions and others. We need an inclusive multilateralism, drawing on the indispensable contributions of civil society, business, cities, regions and, in particular, with greater weight given to the voices of youth. In the 21st century, Governments are no longer the only political and power reality. And we need an effective multilateralism that can function as an instrument of global governance where it is needed.
The problem is not that multilateralism is not up to the challenges the world faces. The problem is that today’s multilateralism lacks scale, ambition and teeth. And some of the instruments that do have teeth, show little or no appetite to bite, as has recently been the case with the difficulties faced by the Security Council. We need to give multilateralism the capacities to confront our challenges, not only to meet immediate needs but to enable future generations to meet theirs.
In an ever more interdependent world, national interests are not easily separated from the global good. Shared values, shared responsibility, shared sovereignty, shared progress – these must be our guide and our goals. I understand the challenge.
It is difficult to have a meaningful transformation of the mechanisms of global governance without the active participation of the world powers – and, let me blunt, their relationships today have never been more dysfunctional. But I firmly believe that an awakening will come when we recognize our shared fragilities – when the factors that today divide instead begin to force people to finally understand that division is a danger to everyone, starting with themselves. Ultimately, that is the way out of the mist. Our Charter still points the way.
I draw encouragement from much that the United Nations has helped make possible across the decades, and from the heroism of so much of the COVID-19 response. This is solidarity and unity to build on. I look forward to discussing these matters with world leaders in September in whatever format necessary. We absolutely must come together to reimagine and reinvent the world we share.
UN seminar praises diplomatic services by Kuwaiti women
http://timeskuwait.com/news/un-seminar-praises-diplomatic-services-by-kuwaiti-women/
Al-Dosari: International recognition of Kuwait’s achievements in combating trafficking in persons
A public awareness campaign on cross-border transnational crime was conducted by the United Nations Migration Mission
Under the patronage of Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah, the UN Mission for Migration in Kuwait organized in cooperation with the Social Action Society the awareness campaign “Together against Trafficking in Persons” in the presence of the representative of the Minister of Interior, Major General Dr. Fahd al-Dosari, the head of the UN Mission, Iman Ereiqat , ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps, State and President of the Social Action Society Sheikha Bibi Al-Nasser Al-Sabah.
On the sidelines of the campaign, Maj. Gen. Dr. Fahd Al-Dosari delivered a speech in which he said that the achievement achieved by Kuwait in the field of efforts to combat trafficking in persons constitutes an international recognition of Kuwait’s sincere desire to combat this crime and reflects the efforts and efforts to take all necessary measures to implement international laws and conventions.
He added that the lifting of the name of Kuwait in the annual report of the US State Department to the second degree comes as a culmination of the efforts exerted by all concerned parties to combat this inhumane crime, which is contrary to the teachings of the Islamic religion and international conventions and conventions. And to follow up on the cases in their various stages, the execution of all decisions, orders and judgments issued by the competent courts in cases of trafficking People.
He added: “Based on the responsibilities of the Ministry of the Interior, this crime has given great importance to the creation of various departments and departments that will work to combat and prevent the crime of trafficking in persons because of its negative impact on society and its concern. Al-Dosari highlighted the efforts of the Ministry of the Interior in Kuwait to combat the crime of trafficking in persons. 91 The promulgation of the Law No. 31 of 2013 on the Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants Law, 5908 The establishment of a department for trafficking in persons and was merged with the activities of the Department of the Protection of Public Morals to change its name to the Department for the Protection of Public Morals and the Fight against Trafficking in Persons. The State contributed to the promulgation of a law on domestic workers and the establishment of their own administration.
The Committee stressed that the crime of trafficking in persons does not represent a phenomenon in Kuwait, but that exceptional cases are being dealt with firmly and within the framework of the law. We also point out that the efforts will not stop, and the indignity will continue to be faced in the face of that inhuman crime under the banner of The leader of her career is the Emir of humanity and Kuwait is a country of humanity.
For her part, Iman Erekat stressed the importance of the campaign and Kuwait’s humanitarian efforts and its leading role in combating this crime. Pointing out that the campaign is a national campaign in order to raise awareness of the dangers of this crime and the need for the participation of persons in reporting this crime and the definition of the deterrent penalties stipulated in the law No. 64 of 2010, confirming that the campaign and its members and participants from the ministries and national councils and councils intensify their efforts to address this crime and strengthen protection activities for its victims, Has paid great attention to preventing this crime because of its negative effects on society.
The head of Kuwait Social Work Society Sheikha Bibi Nasser Al-Sabah thanked the Ministry of the Interior and the United Nations Migration Mission , and said that the mission of the Society is to protect, support and provide services to victims of human rights violations, and provide services to domestic and migrant workers such as lawyers and representation in police stations. We also work with and coordinate with various embassies, the United Nations, international NGOs and local and regional NGOs to address human rights violations in general and specifically against workers.
Silverman: Kuwait progresses against trafficking in human beings US Ambassador Lawrence Silverman said in Kuwait that he saw progress in the government’s efforts against trafficking in persons, adding that this crime is serious and requires concerted efforts to fight it and eradicate it.
Al Anba Page 6. July 31 2019
https://pdf.alanba.com.kw/desktop/pdf-viewer.html?file=/pdf/2019/07/31-07-2019/06.pdf
Notes:
1. USA Amb. Larry. Lawrence Robert Silverman (Kuwait) Theme “ STUDY In USA. SUCCEED in KUWAIT”
2. Encouraged/Welcome more Kuwaiti Females to study in USA.
3. Kuwait is with the 16th. Highest Number of Students studying in the USA.
4. NEED for Improved ENGLISH proficiencies.
5. NEED for students with Critical Thinking Skills to EXCEL in USA studies.
UN official lauds noticeable educational development in Kuwait
https://www.timeskuwait.com/news/un-official-lauds-noticeable-educational-development-in-kuwait/