Welcome to This Week @UN: Afghan women are dying en route to the hospital or in it. Why invoke Article 99 of the UN Charter? The UN relief agency is not the problem in Gaza. Plus: The Congo and Sudan.
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From PassBlue recently:
• Ukraine Is Courting the Mideast and Africa in Spite of Russia’s Shadow, by Dawn Clancy
• Invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter: Does It Make a Difference?, an opinion essay by Moncef Khane
• In Afghanistan, Women Are Dying on the Way to the Hospital or Inside It, by Anastasiia Carrier
•UNRWA’s Education Program Is Not the Problem in Gaza, an opinion essay by Jo Kelcey
UN News:
Monday, Dec. 18
• Spokesperson’s briefing: Stéphane Dujarric said the while new humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza, “conditions to deliver humanitarian aid at a scale that responds to the people’s needs still do not exist.” The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, now only houses “a handful of doctors and a few nurses, together with 70 volunteers,” while also serving as a shelter for tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Tuesday, Dec. 19
• Spokesperson’s briefing: As the Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares for its first presidential election (Dec. 20), since the contested transfer of power in 2019 from former President Joseph Kabila to current President Felix Tshisekedi, Secretary-General António Guterres called on Congolese authorities, political leaders, civil society and independent electoral commissions to “ensure that all eligible voters have access to the polling stations and cast their ballots freely, without fear of intimidation or political persecution.” [UPDATE, DEC. 21: Initial results are supposed to be released on Dec. 22]
Wednesday, Dec. 20
• Spokesperson’s briefing: The World Food Program (WFP) and the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) sent a 46-truck convoy carrying over 750 metric tons of food into Gaza from Jordan, “marking the first time a direct aid convoy from Jordan has reached the Gaza Strip since 7 October,” Dujarric said. The convoy, which went through the newly reopened Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza, could help establish a “more sustainable aid corridor through Jordan” to deliver increased aid to a population that the UN fears is on the verge of famine. [See Friday’s item on Kerem Shalom]
Thursday, Dec. 21
• Spokesperson’s briefing: Approximately 300,000 people, including 150,000 children, have filled Wad Madani, Sudan’s second-largest city, after fighting in the civil war spread to the area, raising the total displaced population nationwide to 7.1 million. Dujarric said that all humanitarian field missions in the wider Al-Jazirah state have been suspended, “jeopardizing the already fragile delivery of critical aid to 270,000 men, women and children in need,” while “[access] to the basic necessities such as food and health care has been severely disrupted.”
• UN Security Council Adopts a Framework Resolution 2719 Financing African-Led Peace Support Operations, an initiative led by Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique on the financing of African Union-led peace support operations.
Friday, Dec. 22
• Secretary-General’s press conference: Following the Security Council’s much-delayed approval of a resolution to raise the level of lifesaving aid into Gaza and create a UN-led monitoring system to inspect such goods, Guterres urged the Council to again call for a humanitarian ceasefire, saying it is the “only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare.” (In fact, the US refused to allow the phrase to be part of the resolution.) Guterres elaborated, saying that Israel’s offensive is “creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza,” and that “the fundamental pillars to deliver an effective aid operation, including security, staff, logistical capacities, and commercial activities do not exist.”
He added: “We waited 71 days for Israel finally to allow aid to enter Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing. The crossing was then hit while aid trucks were in the area.”
Council voting on the resolution: 13 yes; 2 abstentions (Russia and US)
US: “Today, this Council called for urgent steps to immediately allow safe, unhindered, and expanded humanitarian access and to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities. I’ll note that this is the first time this Council has used this language. Language we believe is critical to scaling up aid and underscoring the tough steps ahead, as we work together to achieve a lasting peace.”
• Additionally on Gaza, Dujarric noted on Dec. 21 that the Israeli military designated a new area covering about 20 percent of central and south of Khan Younis city for immediate evacuation. “Those areas were marked on an online map published on social media,” he said. “Prior to the onset of the hostilities, the area was home to about 111,000 people. The area also includes 32 shelters that accommodated more than 141,000 displaced men, women and children, the vast majority of whom were previously displaced from the north. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs tells us that access to evacuation information on Khan Younis and other key information is impaired by the interruptions in telecommunications and of course the lack of electricity.”
• In his Dec. 22 media briefing, Guterres said about the Summit of the Future, scheduled for September 2024, amid the context of global wars: “I hope it will be possible for us to agree on a new agenda for peace with a moralistic approach to prevention.”
• James Eugene McGoldrick of Ireland is named ad interim deputy special coordinator and resident coordinator, (Unsco). He will also serve as humanitarian coordinator ad interim. He succeeds Lynn Hastings of Canada, whose visa was not renewed by Israel.
We welcome your comments on this article. What are your thoughts on the Gaza resolution?
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Arthur Bassas is a researcher and writer who graduated from St. Andrews in Scotland, majoring in international relations and terrorism. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and speaks English and French.
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