It Happened at the UN: Week Ending Oct. 25

Arthur Bassas
• October 25, 2024

3m read

Arthur Bassas

October 25, 2024

Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state and first lady, spoke at the 15th commemoration of the UN’s adoption of the sexual violence in conflict mandate. Clinton introduced the landmark Security Council resolution to create the office, she reminded the audience, noting that since then, there has been “progress” combating sexual atrocities in wars but not enough. “The dehumanizing nature” of sexual violence, she said, “sends a message that we are never safe,” Oct. 23, 2024. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO

This Week @UN: Security Council reform; peacekeepers in Haiti?; abducted survivors from Boko Haram. Plus: Starving in Gaza; Israeli denials; polio vaccines paused; BRICS summit; UNRWA driver killed.

See our original video clips this week on Twitter (X), Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

• Our #1 story this week: Can Kenyan-Led Forces in Haiti Work Miracles Without Peacekeepers?, by Evelyn Leopold

• #1 story this month: Special Report: US to Pressure UAE to Stop Backing RSF Rebels, Sudan Leader Says, by Joe Penney and Damilola Banjo

From PassBlue this week:

• The UN Security Council Is Running Out of Time, op-ed by Mona Ali Khalil

• Can Kenyan-Led Forces in Haiti Work Miracles Without Peacekeepers?, by Evelyn Leopold

• Survivors of Boko Haram and Military Abuses Demand Their Rights. Nigeria and the UN Must Help Them, op-ed by Joyce Bukuru

Top UN news:

Monday, Oct. 21

• Spokesperson’s briefing: Secretary-General António Guterres “unequivocally” condemned the Israeli airstrikes on a residential building in the northern Gazan city of Beit Lahia, which “killed dozens of Palestinians, among them many women and children” on Oct. 19. For the fourth consecutive day, Israeli authorities denied “urgent” requests for access to the Falouja area of Jabalya in North Gaza to help people trapped under the rubble, said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A separate request to distribute food, medicine and fuel to power water facilities, amid the ongoing electricity outage, was also denied, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson, said. OCHA reports that the last 28 such requests for access into the north have been denied by Israel from Oct. 6-20.

[UPDATE, Oct. 25: Israeli authorities continued to deny OCHA permission for the delivery of food and water to  Jabalya. An Israeli military raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza, one of the last functioning medical facilities for civilians trapped in the “tightening” siege, the UN said]

Tuesday, Oct. 22

• Spokesperson’s briefing: Haq said Guterres will attend the 16th BRICS Summit (Oct. 22-24) in the Russian city of Kazan, telling reporters that the visit wasn’t announced in advance — as they are for G7 or G20 summits — because “[meetings] are in flux until they’re not.” When asked if Guterres would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin or Indian President Narendra Modi, Haq said, “Yes, he does intend to meet with a large number of the leaders attending the summit.” (He met with Putin and the presidents of Turkmenistan and Belarus.) [UPDATE: see Oct. 24]

Wai Wai Nu, a Burmese human rights activist, called on the UN Security Council during its annual session on women, peace and security to demand an end to all supplies of weapons and ammunition to the Myanmar military, Oct. 24, 2024. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO

Wednesday, Oct. 23

• Spokesperson’s briefing: The “escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and the lack of assured humanitarian pauses” perpetrated by Israel across North Gaza has forced the UN and its partners to postpone its polio vaccination campaign there. It had aimed to reach 119,000 children in its final phase. Haq said that at least 90 percent of all children throughout Gaza must be vaccinated to interrupt possible transmission of the communicable disease.

Thursday, Oct. 24

• Spokesperson’s briefing: Addressing the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, Guterres “saluted the valuable commitment and support for international problem-solving of the participants,” adding that “no single group and no single country can act alone or in isolation […] to address global challenges.” He noted four points for strengthening multilateralism: finance, climate, technology and peace, “underscoring the need for peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Ukraine.”

[UPDATE, Oct. 25: Guterres faced backlash on social media from the Kyiv government and a wide range of other players for attending the BRICS summit. He also spoke to President Putin in the evening. The UN’s readout paraphrased Guterres’s remarks, including: “The Secretary-General reiterated his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law. He further underlined United Nations support for peace, in line with the remarks he delivered at the BRICS summit.” Putin’s response was not provided. Haq defended Guterres’s trip, saying, in part: “I’d urge you all to look at the strength of the message that he conveyed with him in his meetings.”

• Briefing the Security Council on the annual session of the women, peace and security agenda, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said the past year has been “especially difficult” in Gaza, where “tens of thousands of Palestinian women and girls have been killed and injured amidst continuing war.”

Secretary-General Guterres and President Putin — Secretary-General Guterres was harshly criticized by an array of officials and organizations for attending the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, this week, including for shaking the hand of President Vladimir Putin, above. A UN spokesperson defended Guterres’s trip, saying that he has attended BRICS meetings in the past and that in Guterres’s attempts at mediation with Putin, he “reiterated his position that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law.”

Friday, Oct. 25

• Spokesperson’s briefing: UNRWA confirmed that a staffer was shot and killed by Israeli forces in central Gaza on Oct. 23 in a UN-marked vehicle, amid accusations by Israel that the employee, Muhammad Abu Attawi, was a Hamas commander who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre. Haq said, however, that the staff member was not included in the list provided by Israel in January of UNRWA personnel allegedly involved in the attack. Haq also noted that the employee was “later included in a letter that the Israeli Government sent to UNRWA in July 2024” claiming that another 100 UNRWA staff members were part of the military wing of Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas. At the time, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini asked Israel for more information on Abu Attawi, but Israel never sent a response, Haq said.

ICYMI:
• A new report from the UN Refugee Agency and The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law presents data on the “justice needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Honduras.” The report, the first such study in Latin America, shows data-driven insights can enable justice reforms.

We welcome your comments on this article. What are your thoughts on Guterres's trip to Russia?

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Arthur Bassas

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.