International Reporting 2020

In New York City, Mexicans Are Surviving in A New Era After Losing Family to Covid-19

 

 

The UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric from The Secretary-General provided notes on the global tourism industry, contraction of remittances, major trade slow down, and the climate crisis.

• He said that small states have been vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19. Added that we need effective international cooperation, solidarity, and multilateralism to respond to the economic and social impacts that underlying fragilities expose and aggravated during the pandemic.
• The secretary-general also stresses that the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic must be linked to the sustainable development goals. He noted that we must ensure that a COVID-19 vaccine is considered a global public good and available and affordable to all.
• On climate change, he added that we must build a global coalition in 2021 towards net-zero emissions. Small states have a key role to play he stressed adding that he counts on their active engagement.
• In the security council this morning, members of the council heard from the secretary-general special representative in the Central African Republic, he reiterated the UN’s mission commitment to support the forthcoming presidential and legislative elections as well as local elections scheduled next year. The political situation remains tense he said as he encouraged all those involved to view the upcoming elections as an opportunity to consolidate the democratic process and to find lasting solutions to the crisis the country has been facing.
• Turning to the pandemic he highlighted that the socioeconomic vulnerabilities that have been exasperated by the virus. He strongly condemned the attacks against humanitarian workers which are worsening the situation of populations in need.  The special representative said the UN mission will continue to take all needed measures to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian workers.
• The world food program is warning that unless humanitarian access is urgently granted to organizations like theirs chaotropic levels of hunger can hit parts of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The ability of humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance to those in need has been jeopardized by worsening conflict and insecurity.  WFP said in their statement aid workers are also increasingly targeted by non-state armed groups and the agency is urging participants in tomorrow’s conference to find ways for organizations to engage with communities and open up safe passageways.
  • I found this issue to be the most interesting/newsworthy because they are intertwined in that we are battling two pandemics here.  The COVID-19 pandemic and the hunger crisis.  While many humanitarian groups are on the ground trying to help they are being attacked by non-state groups which are hindering their ability to progress.  There is a meeting being able tomorrow in regard to this ongoing issue and is it urgent they find ways to safely allow these organizations to operate or progress will continue to be hindered.
• In Yemen out humanitarian colleagues tell us the situation continues to worsen as clashes surge. They report more than a thousand people have been displaced in October.  We alone with our humanitarian partners are providing aid items to the newly displaced people.  With this backdrop, COVID-19 continues to spread unchecked through Yemen.  In parallel, the threat of hunger for millions is on the rise and food prices are 140% higher than before the conflict.  The lack of funding is crippling, the Yemen response program is only 42% funded.

 

• In terms of questions, the one that stuck out to me was a question asking if the UN is aware that the U.S. plans to change the rules for the visas that allow most journalists to cover the UN limiting them to 240 days stay in the US?  Yes they are aware. Dujarric​ asked that they check that and how it affects Journalists covering the UN and once he has something he will get back with that information.

 

Earlier today I watched the UN’s Daily Briefing. The spokesperson began by talking about how Yemen is facing a possible famine and what could be done to alleviate the rising issue.

Another topic briefly brought up is the ongoing situation in South Sudan and the unresolved aftermath of the flooding that affected 800,000 people since July. As of now, only 100,000 people have been able to receive support.

On the topic of COVID-19, the UN will be supporting Namibia by giving the country $2 million for medical resources. The UN urges Asian-Pacific governments to focus on addressing poverty and health care since the pandemic has shown weakness in several countries’ social protection systems. 

In Israel, the construction of 5000 housing units in the West Bank were pushed through despite the illegality of the action. According to the spokesperson, this is “one of the major obstacles to peace” between Palestine and Israel.

International Rural Women’s Day was the last subject addressed by the spokesperson. This year’s theme was “building rural women’s resilience in the wake of COVID-19.” The Secretary-General wants to bring attention to such women since many need more access to health care, social protection and agricultural services.

I think the most interesting thing that was brought up was the statistic that UNICEF brought up about how 40 percent of people worldwide do not have access to water and soap. On top of that, 43 percent of schools do not have access to water and soap, which directly affects 818 million children.

One question that stood out to me is: what is happening to the children and families left behind after the defeat of ISIL? The spokesperson was again unable to explain what is happening to the upwards of 70,000 people from Syria and Lebanon who have been displaced.

I watched the press briefing yesterday noon. The U.N press briefing on October 14th. The briefing addressed a variety of topics ranging from Climate to Israel, to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. There were a few issues that stood out to me as important that I noted. The first was the huge health crisis in Libya regarding covid-19. The numbers were insane regarding the 44,985 cases and 656 deaths, and how the number of functioning health care facilities has dropped by 38%. It was just a stark contrast when hearing about how covid is running rampant in a country like Libya, where the response may be dampened because of low capacity and resources, compared to hearing covid news in U.S where the issues are stemming from the constant politicization of the virus and the ineptitude of its leaders. The second issue for me was the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We know that Azerbaijan attacked an autonomous state where many Armenians live but it was interesting to see how these attacks caused a burden on healthcare and how covid cases went up as a direct result. I didn’t know that the U.N had issued a global ceasefire, but when secretary-general said “as long as humans keep fighting humans, the only winner will be covid-19”, really resonated with me and that statement seems to hold true across all nations at the moment. The last thing that I thought was really important was during the questions and answers segment at the end. There was a question posed to Mr. Bays regarding an offer by Putin to vaccinate the U.N staff. The response said that discussions are ongoing but stressed the importance of any vaccines being cleared by the World Health Organization. This was crazy to me because I was unaware of Putin’s offer to the U.N but am following events in Russia, and while I know that Russia has made developments on the vaccine, I’m not sure if its been tested enough to be released to the U.N or anyone for that matter.

I had been trying to watch the noon press briefing for the last two days, but whenever I would access the website at noon EST to watch, some other meeting would be taking place. This noon EST, instead of the press briefing, a Security Council meeting was in the middle of taking place to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. During the meeting, representatives from Germany, South Africa, and Yemen commented on the crisis and offered their expert opinions. The current president of the Security Council, a representative of the Russian Federation, was moderating the meeting. 

The moderator, through a translator, discussed how humanitarian assistance has been offered to Yemen with some issues. She spoke about Russia offering assistance to Yemen as well as the highly valued role the Red Cross has been playing in aiding Yemenis citizens affected by the conflict. The moderator also urged the international community to seek peace in the middle east and object from blaming the instability in Yemen to one side alone.

After the moderator spoke, a representative from Yemen offered his insight and opinion on the humanitarian crisis. The Yemenis representative argued, through a translator, that the Yemenis government continues to try to end the war against the Yemenis people and has been trying to since 2014. He said that, “peace is an irreversible option.” Along with the help of the UN Special Envoy, Mr. Griffiths, and a joint declaration between the two parties, the country hopes to achieve this goal of peace. The Yemenis representative said that Yemen welcomes the call for a ceasefire and for the political process to resume. He said that the militia groups do not believe in peace and expressed discontent with the Stockholm agreement. He said that a specific party––possibly the militias, however, I did not catch the party name nor reference––continues to violate the ceasefire, plant mines, and steal humanitarian aid. The representative said that the government wants to put an end to the militias. The pandemic has only aggravated the humanitarian crisis and he calls on the international community to support the government’s efforts in addressing the crisis. He asked the council to spare Yemen and for countries to stop using the issue for “political blackmail.”

The above has only been fact-checked for names and titles. I am just reiterating what I heard said during the Security Council meeting. 

On Monday October 12th, the UN spokesperson addressed various topics in his press briefing. Some of them were:

• Syria reported the death of 3 people, and the start of 156 wildfires which impacted more than 10,000 people.
• More generally Stéphane Dujarric spoke about climate change and the impact the pandemic had on it. He mentioned an increase in storms and natural disasters and explained that in the last 20 years 1.24 million lives were impacted by climate change.
• Zimbabwe asked for the protection of girls and women impacted by the covid-19 crisis. Gender based discriminations were noted especially in education and on the job market. The spokesperson reminded the audience that by age 19 half of the girls there are married and that it is the goal of the UN to help them access education better.

One of the person in the audience asked a question about the liberation of 2 hostages in Mali. Another one asked about the situation in Belarus about the detention of 700 protesters marching against the upcoming elections. Dujarric explained the UN was concerned about the situation and that the organization was keeping an eye on it as well as encourage the release of detainees due to their right to express their opinion freely as stated by the human right constitution.

I would say that while ever topic addressed was important, climate change remains a major story in today’s society as everyone depends on it. The rise of our oceans and the increase in temperatures leading to more frequent storms and natural disasters impact every continent and millions of people will be displaced if no real action is taken.

I watched the daily briefing on 10/14 where many different issues were spoken about such as climate change, as COVID-19 in different places including my beat for this semester, Dominican Republic.

The loss of two children in Myanmar raised a lot of concern because there has been an increase of killings of children there. More than 100 have passed in just the beginning of 2020.

As I said they mentioned my beat, Dominican Republic and they spoke on the impact covid-19 has had on the employment there.

There has also been an increase in COVID-19 cases in Libya with the lives of more than 125,000 people are at risk.

It was a bit tough for me to keep up with everything addressed and my internet was a bit glitchy but in my opinion from what I caught although DR is my beat specifically in that of COVID-19 and its impacts I would report on climate change in general. Just because it is something that is affecting the whole world and also a matter that everyone must know about. Although, it would more difficult to cover such a broad topic, but maybe stories on how it affects each place individually.

Watching this just gave me more of a glimpse into the problems of the world. Lately it’s been easy to set all focus in on Corona Virus and we forget there are other issues still shadowing us.

The briefing of October 12 highlighted environmental issues and sustainable development, and human rights issues. Stephane Dujarric was a spokesman for the secretary-general, leading a dialogue.

Dujarric first mentioned how the Secretary-General was disappointed to receive reports of ceasefire violations from Nagorno-Karabakh and expressed regret at the loss of life and injuries. In order to prevent another incident like this, Dujarric urged that all parties comply with their agreements to a humanitarian ceasefire and other commitments.

In regards to Libya, he announced that the Lybian Political Dialogue Forum will be held both in person and online. Through the meeting, the Secretary-General hopes to come up with a solid, unified governance framework that will help restore Libya’s sovereignty. According to Dujarric, following dozens of recent wildfires in coastal regions of Lattakia, people have either died or been injured. His colleagues at the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will help develop a contingency response plan.

The Secretary-General also said, “The world needs finance ministers to align COVID recovery and stimulus plans with the goals of the Paris Agreement, to end fossil fuel subsidies, invest in green jobs and not bail out polluting industries.” He also raised concerns about a dramatic rise in disasters over the last 20 years. It is our reality that more people are dying from the changing climate.

Mentioning that yesterday was the International Day of the Girl, he said we should “amplify the voices of adolescent girls and put their needs at the forefront of laws, policies and practices in every country and community around the world.”

After taking questions people asking about many different countries that require immediate attention, Dujjaric asked Dr.Agnes Kalibata, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit, to brief on the launch of World Food Day, which is on 16 October. Dr. Kalibata started talking about challenges with our food systems that are closely linked to greenhouse gas emissions. In order to challenge issues that come from our food systems, Dr. Kalibata with her colleagues will start a global dialogue that will lead to the summit in 2021. After Dr.Kalibata laid out the plan, she took questions. One of the questions was from Edie. She asked, “Will there be any document coming out of this? How do you envision this?” Dr.Kalibata answered that although there will not be a declaration coming out right away, she hopes world leaders would come forward and take action after several dialogues and provide her with a couple of recommendations.

Watching the briefing, there is one thing I’ve learned. Despite many efforts that are still not enough, a number of countries and people are still suffering. This is part of Warsan Shire’s poem:

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.

What I’ve learned after watching the briefing is that “it hurts everywhere.” Just because I’m okay does not mean that things are okay on the other side of the world. I’m both grateful and regretful to learn about the UN briefing now. I’ll try to be more updated on news, especially world news that is packed with pain.

The third committee, virtual informal-General assembly, 75^th session was held on October 14. The topic on the virtual meeting was human right for all people in the world in the coronavirus pandemic. I attended the meeting was on 10:00 am. When I opened the website, there was an old lady hosted the meeting. She was the one in charge of the conference for all programs worked well. The first section was promotion and protection of human rights. The commissioner proclaimed a long speech of promoting human rights in every region of people, especially in Africa areas. Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Kenya and the Sudan are the highly attention countries implementing prevent the Covid-19 spread rapidly. Meanwhile, the committee recalled the countries with poorly sanitary environment have to put the pandemic as the first thing to do. Gypsies are still not have fully human rights now, and this is a urgent issue have to take action because the pandemic would be a threat to people who don’t live with human rights. The committee had planed many projects to do for next steps. They also advice to some regions promoting human rights and live safety during the pandemic is the most important thing.

The second section was every commissioner who represents their countries had two and half minutes to report the current circumstances of human rights and the following plan to the next year for their countries.

 

 

I attended the noon briefing today, October 13th. I don’t know the normal duration, but it was pretty short, only about 20-25 minutes. The first section was led by the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General, Farhan Haq. He began by expressing condolences for Kuwait and the royal family after the country’s Emir passed away. He then explained a climate report by several countries that called for assessment of weather to evolve from, “what the weather will be to what the weather will do.” He then talked about a report of increasing conflict and climate problems in Africa’s Great Lakes region, which consists of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and others. He then moved on to a UN support mission in Libya that has pushed forward the appointment of 5 women judges. Next, he discussed issues in the Middle East. There is continued fighting in Afghanistan resulting in mass displacement, 208,000 this year, and about 200 deaths among those refugees. It is estimated that there are about a million refugees in Iran, many of whom are Afghan. Food prices have shot up creating a health and poverty crisis, which ties into a report by WHO and other agencies that the pandemic has caused an unprecedented risk of poverty across the world.

Haq answered a few questions. One was about a prisoner being held without charges who went on an 80-day-long hunger strike, to which Haq reiterated the UN’s stance that everyone deserves a speedy trial. Another question was about the UN’s preparedness against cyber attacks. The UN’s communications and technology department assures Haq that they are well-prepared and are able to deal with problems as they arise.

The floor was then turned over to Brenden Varma, the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly. He again began with remarks about Kuwait’s late Emir. He praised the leader’s history of humanitarian aid. Varma then named the open seats up for election in the 75th assembly and somewhat explained the process of election. He was then asked by Edith Lederer when the announcements of these elections would happen and he explained the election results would most likely be announced without warning. He then took a question about how seats were allocated to member states and more questions about the process of the election. He then signed off.

One question I found to be tough was the question directed at Mr. Haq about the prisoner on hunger strike. Haq condemned the matter but the topic was somewhat shuffled aside, and I wasn’t able to get any more information. However, I think the most interesting topic and hard-hitting question was directed at Mr. Varma. A journalist asked him about the discrepancies in how countries are selected for seats on the assembly. For example, why is a seat allocated to China or Russia, when they have been condemned for human rights violations. Varma explained that it was the Human Rights Council’s responsibility to assess member states and that oversight primarily fell on each country’s own leadership. In regards to how seats were chosen, his message seemed to boil down to, “we have to choose the lesser of evils.”