International Reporting

U.N Blog Post

Junior Martinez

Last week, President Donald Trump signed an order to cancel President Obama climate change regulations, keeping his promise to support the coal industry during his campaign.

 

During the U.N press briefing on Friday March 31st, U.N Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General stated The head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa took note of recent iorder and stated the UNFCCC works with all parties to advance climate action and take forward the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

 

If I was assigned on this story on the climate change future going forward, the U.N is a key source because they are the key players in climate change action throughout the world. I would have asked the Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq if the U.N have conversed with the Trump Administration regarding this issue.

Marriage in the Bengali-American Community (STORY 2 DRAFT)

The 20’s are the years where most young adults are trying to find themselves, graduate college and step into the real world. But for 22-year-old Sabina Uddin, the only child born to Bengali immigrants Abush and Shereen Uddin, graduating in two months gives her no excitement. That same excitement that she should have in accomplishing a major life goal is instead shared among her parents who have arranged her marriage, all against her will.

Arranged marriages are a common practice in the Bengali-American community. The bride is usually chosen for the prospective groom by his family and in cases like Uddin’s, a groom may be chosen for a Bengali woman. The parents of prospective brides or grooms set out to find their child’s respective counterparts. Brides are to be of equal social status and lesser age. In Bengali tradition, when it comes to marriage, it should be a match between the two in financial matters, educational level and religious beliefs. But often times, that is not the case.

In many unfortunate cases, Bengali men living in the United States are forced to marry women back in Bangladesh and the fact that the man is a U.S. citizen promises enhanced opportunities for the couple in the eyes of the bride’s family. This promise correlates to greed. For Uddin however, the roles are reversed. “I don’t even know his name. All I know is that he barely has an education. He works in a farm and his family is poor and this marriage is supposed to get him access to citizenship in this country so he can provide for his family back home and eventually bring them here too,” said Uddin.

In Bengali culture, marriage is more of a civil contract rather than a religious sacrament in Islam. “Being married in the Bengali community really means the interests of the families involved are more important rather than the two people who are supposed to spend the rest of their lives together,” said Uddin. Uddin goes on to explain that the bride’s worth is acknowledged when she gives birth—but only if the newborn is a boy.

“Bengali women are taught to act shy around men and their elders. It is engraved in their minds that their job is to cook, clean the house and serve their husbands,” said Uddin. “Marrying this guy will turn me into the typical stereotypical Bengali woman, and since I was old enough to understand the degrading role of women in this culture, I knew I wanted to break away from that stereotype,” added Uddin.

While arranged marriages are still the predominant custom in Bangladesh, this practice is slowly changing in the United States, where dating and individual choices are becoming slightly acceptable. “Recently there have been more and more couples who are both from Bangladesh who are getting married by their own choice of partner,” says Rashiq Gulshang, an Imam who lives in Ozone Park, where many Bengali-Americans live. “But I have yet to see a couple where one person is not Bengali or Muslim. It has been a belief for so long that you should only marry within Islam and with someone who is from Bangladesh. It may be okay for people from other countries and religions to marry outside of their race and religion but in Islam it really is not,” says Gulshang.

“I have so many Bengali friends and cousins who are dating people who are not Muslim or from Bangladesh and they have to hide it from their parents and families,” says Uddin. Many young Bengalis hide their dating life from their families out of fear of disapproval from their families. The promise of a future becomes an issue for couples when one of them is Bengali to do cultural and societal barriers that he or she has to face. “I know so many couples who dated for years and suddenly broke up because the Bengali guy or girl wasn’t ready to tell his or her parents about their non-brown boyfriend or girlfriend. It was like, damn, it’s so sad that race and religion seem to dominate love because of how old-fashioned our parents are,” says Uddin.

Although Gulshang does not necessarily support marriage outside of Islam being that he has lived his whole life through the religion, he believes that this generation of young adults will break the mold and change the culture of marriage in the Bengali-American culture. “The generation that forces arranged marriage is getting old and the newer generations are starting to take over. I already see a change in some aspects of the Bengali culture and I won’t be surprised if one day I am asked to marry two young adults where one of them does not rely his or her faith in Islam,” says Gulshang.

 

UN Press Briefing Assignment

On Friday, March 31, United Nations Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq expressed disappointment in Israel’s decision to build a new settlement in Palestinian territory. This will be the first new settlement in the West Bank for 20 years.

This decision by Israel is considered illegal under international law. The settlement will be built in an area known as “Emek Shilo,” and was promised by the Israeli prime minister in February. This decision has drawn harsh criticism from not only the UN, but from Palestinian leaders as well.

Since the election of President Donald Trump, Israel has approved the construction of many new homes, although they have been additions to existing settlements. This will be the first new settlement in Palestinian territory by Israel since the election.

If I was reporting on this story, I would include the comment from the secretary-general expressing disappointment because it is important for this story to include the UN’s reaction to the situation. However, considering how stealthily Haq was dodging any questions relating to the announcement, there aren’t many direct quotes that could be included in a story.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2017/03/31/un-chief-alarmed-by-israels-approval-of-new-settlement/
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/03/israel-blasted-approving-bank-settlement-170330205451007.html

UN Blog Post- Breaking News

While famine looms in Somalia, malnutrition and disease are rising sharply among Somali children, according to UNICEF. Children are suffering from health issues such as severe malnutrition and cholera.

“More than 35,400 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition were treated with life-saving therapeutic food at hundreds of nutrition centers across Somalia in January and February,” said Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General. Those numbers are reported to be a 58 percent increase over the same period of time in 2016.

“Children are dying from malnutrition, hunger, thirst and disease. During the 2011 famine, around 130,000 young children died, about half of them before famine was declared. We are working with partners around the clock to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” said Leila Pakkala, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

According to Christophe Boulierac, another spokesman of the United Nation, the Somali children who are affected by these intestinal diseases are only in their early childhood. The climate of Somalia could be a major reason why so many young children are suffering from malnutrition and diseases. Somalia has been suffering from the worst drought the country has experienced in 20 years, which has caused those who live there to drink non-potable water. This has resulted in the outbreak of cholera and other serious infectious diseases.

“Over 3,000 people a day are being forced to abandon their homes in search of water and food. This is the highest displacement we’ve witnessed since the 2011 famine, and it’s spiraling higher each day,” says NRC’s Country Director in Somalia, Victor Moses. “The indicators are lining up dangerously with what we saw in the lead up to the 2011 famine.”

In order to combat the famine that has taken over Somalia, UNICEF and its partners are implementing a massive scale up plan. The organization is working to extend the reach of both facility-based and mobile nutrition, water, sanitation and health services. They also have teams in the hardest hit areas who are working with local authorities, partners and communities to treat and prevent malnutrition, acute watery diarrhea (AWD) and cholera. UNICEF Somalia has raised its 2017 funding requirement from $66 million to $147 million.

UN ASSIGNMENT

The New York Times reported on March 15, 2017 about the two United Nation officials disappearance in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The two missing, Micheal Sharp and Zahida Katalan were members of the United Nation Group of Experts. According to the article the two officials went to DR Congo to investigate the “large-scale human rights violations.” It had been said that the army soldiers have murdered dozens of unarmed civilians, including children.

The two UN Experts were in Province in the Kasai, a region where violence has increased dramatically. “Violence in the area has claimed more than 400 lives since November.”

CNN reported on March 29, 2017 about finding of the two missing bodies of the two UN experts in DR Congo. The article says that “A Congo government official told CNN that Catalan’s body was found decapitated, but Sharp and Tshintela were not beheaded.” Their cause of death has not been determined.

However, “The UN will be launching an investigation into the cause of their deaths” and they urge the DR Congo to do their own investigation and make effort to find the four Congolese nationals that are missing.

The UN Deputy Spokesman, Farhan Haq made only a brief comment about the two UN experts. I wouldn’t quote him as part of my reporting. I don’t think his answers to the journalists questions were newsworthy. But I like how he spoke about their commitment to take sufficient steps to protect and secure to those experts when UN send them on a mission.

Sources:

New York Times:

CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/29/africa/congo-un-bodies-found/

 

 

 

 

 

Anna’s UN Blog Post

American and Swedish experts for the United Nations, Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, were killed in the Congo on March 12th along with their interpreter Betu Tshintela. “The United Nations frequently engages experts under individual contracts to work on short-term projects either as a consultant or an individual contractor”according to the United Nations. These experts were looking into an alleged human rights violation by the Congolese army and militia group according to the AP. They were investigating alleged mass graves.

On Friday March 31st at a noon briefing at the United Nations by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, a reporter pressed this topic. “There’s an AP story datelined “Beni” about the Democratic Republic of the Congo that says that a third person, the interpreter, Betu Tshintela, was found with the two panel of expert members. Maybe this story was erroneous, but I just wanted to know from you, what’s the UN’s understanding of Mr. Betu Tshintela’s status?” the reporter asked. The story that he is referring to by the AP states that, “it is possible to identify the bodies as the two U.N. experts and their interpreter as being found near the Moyo River.”

Haq’s response to the reporter’s question served little insight. Haq said that ultimately it is not the United Nations place to confirm the report, but for the Congolese authorities who are investigating. The reporter asked a follow up question after Haq’s brief response asking if the United Nations had actually been to the site and who found the bodies. Haq said that the bodies were found by the Congolese and MONUSCO members, and that the reporter would need to ask the Congolese authorities.

Haq’s response to this question in particular felt curtailed and left the reporter visibly upset. He was shaking his head back and forth as he attempted to ask multiple follow up questions. The response from Haq left me feeling like the United Nations is sweeping these deaths under the rug and not protecting their own workers or even investigating their deaths.

http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2017-03-28-AF-Congo-Bodies/id-3a607bc1ece84873ba490a75d45c49e8

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/141fe0ed2c9f4423b88cdc9920387bf4/sweden-un-congo-must-investigate-deaths-swede-american

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c4f9b5e7d3374e978820e97764b616c5/congolese-militia-decapitates-more-40-police-officials

 

UN Assignment

Recent conflicts with providing aid to those in need in Yemen

Brandon Alexander

The recent conflicts and war in between government and rebel forces in Yemen marks even more disastrous situations for the civilians caught in the crossfire. Specifically, civilians in Yemen are unable to receive much needed medical and resource-based aid. Since March 2015, there have been well over 7,000 reported deaths and approximately 40,000 injuries following conflict between the government and the Houthi rebellion forces.

According to BBC last Tuesday, a large percentage of the death and injury count comes largely from air strikes by a “…Saudi-led multinational coalition that backs the president,” (BBC). Many of the areas airstrikes and fighting have occurred at or near medical centers and have either completely destroyed or rendered the buildings dangerous and non-functional. According to the World Health Organization; “Only 45% of current health facilities are fully functional and accessible, 38% are partially functional, and 17% are completely non-functional.” In conjunction with the medical centers, issues circulating around Yemen’s Hodeidah port in the city of Al Hudaydah present even more hardships in the distribution of resources and aid to those in need.

In a Reuters article yesterday, March 31st, the Hodeidah port was reported as being Yemen’s largest port that received “more than 70% of humanitarian aid and food imports”. However, due to the present of armed Houthi forces in the area, it’s become increasingly difficult to distribute the aid and materials to civilians. In the UN Press Briefing on Friday, March 31st, Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq responded to a question regarding the progress of the access of food and aid. He stated: “We want civilians to be able to receive humanitarian assistance as efficiently and effectively as possible. One of the things we’re strongly urging is that all ports should remain open to receive commercial and humanitarian inputs into Yemen.”

This harkens back to a March 20th Newsweek op-ed by Yemen’s ambassador to the US, Ahmed Awad Binmubarak. There, Ambassador Binmubarak  stated: “Our government recognizes the significance of Hodeidah’s port for aid delivery and therefore rooting out the Houthis will eliminate their destructive meddling in aid distribution.” Whether or not the UN plans to engage the Houthi forces at the Hodeidah port is yet to be seen, though it seems unlikely as UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed stated at a panel on November 7th, 2016 that the UN would advocate that “no military operations should be undertaken in Hodeidah,” (Reuters).