The United Nations launched a Global Fund for survivors of sexual violence in conflict this Wednesday, 30 October 2019. The new initiative marks the tenth anniversary of its a Security Council mandate to eliminate sexual violence in conflict. Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege also spoke in support of the Global Fund. "Our meaningful insights should be involved”, said UN Goodwill Ambassador Ms. Murad, a Yazidi woman who was herself raped by ISIL extremists in Iraq, who enslaved thousands. “Survivors need to be part of the solution." Noting that the fund is not a substitute for justice, and that “criminals have to pay for their act”, Congolese gynecologist Dr. Mukwege, a vocal advocate against gender-based violence, said that "the Global Survivors Fund establishes a direct way for survivors to have access to reparations” and “will change individuals, families, and communities all around the world”. More here: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/10/1050271

2 November is the International Day to end Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. A cartoon exhibition took place at the United Nations headquarters to honour the memory of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, two French journalists who were killed in Mali on 2 November 2013. Read more: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/11/1050411 #TruthNeverDies #EndImpunity

Youth from around the world come to the United Nations to share their projects to the Sustainable Development Goals. Attending a High-Level Political Forum, dozens of students from International schools of the Nord Anglia Education network came to learn more about the Global Goals and commit for their success in the future.

The United Nations has concluded a two-week High-Level Political Forum to take stock of the global efforts to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. See highlights in this short video. More info: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2019

A United Nations mandated fact-finding mission to Myanmar calls for prosecution into suspected genocide and crimes against humanity. The report says findings should be referred to the International Criminal Court.

United Nations chief António Guterres on Friday (12 Oct) visited Palu, Indonesia after the earthquake and tsunami hit the country. On arrival, Secretary-General António Guterres met at the Mutiara SIS Al-Jufrie Airport Palu Airport, with Vice-President H.E. Dr. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla; Governor of Central Sulawesi, H.E. Dr. H. Longki Djanggola; Head of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority, H.E. Mr. Willem Rampangilei; Representatives of the Indonesian Armed Forces. He was briefed on regional and international coordination by ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team and UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team. Guterres visited the Balaroa Liquefaction Site, Jalan Manggis, and spoke to affected people. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations: “I think Indonesia, and the people in Sulawesi can be very proud for the very effective and immediate response, showing the enormous capacity that the international community should be ready to support. This is a government led process. They are here to support us. The support is deeply admired, the way you have been able to response so effectively to such a tragedy event. For those that have lost their family members, their friends, I want to express my deepest condolences. I want to say that our hearts are broken by what happened, but we are in full solidarity with Sulawesi and with Indonesia." He arrived at Jembatan Kuning, drove along Talise beach and visited a hospital near Balaroa which was partially destroyed two weeks ago when some people were still treated. Traveling with the SG are Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and Anita Nirody, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Indonesia . Source: UNifeed

The first global Conference on Air Pollution and Health opened in Geneva to address how to better protect communities from the effects of air pollution. Nine persons in ten are affected by man-made pollution. The World Health Organization (WHO) advocates for a world free of air pollution.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2018 was awarded to Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman, survivor of human tracking is a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Dr. Mukwege, a gynaecologist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was awarded the UN Human Rights Prize in 2008.

United Nations Peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix visited Ebola-hit Beni in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Together with the Head of the World Heath Organization, M. Lacroix expressed his hopes to tackle the virus and foster peace in this trouble region in the East of the country. ----------- New measures to overcome challenges in the response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are having a positive impact, although the outbreak remains dangerous and unpredictable, the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping and the World Health Organization (WHO) said after a joint mission to assess the outbreak. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a press conference in Kinshasa that “the disease is contracting geographically and also, we see fewer cases from week to week, but that doesn’t mean that the outbreak is over.” Actually, he noted, “a single case could ignite it again, and that’s why we cannot say it’s over until it’s over.” He said there is a “cautious optimism” and added that taking into account “the confounding factor like insecurity, until is over is not over.” Tedros explained that “in the past, when Ebola outbreak happens, the only methods we had were traditional methods” such as prevention and control, patient care, management, and isolation, but now, “we have vaccines, very effective vaccines, and we have therapeutics. So, that’s why I say we are better equipped.” To date, 27,000 people have been vaccinated against Ebola, and almost every new patient receives one of 4 investigational treatments, something which was never previously possible during an Ebola outbreak. Joining Tedros, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the role of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) in supporting efforts against the Ebola outbreak, “is quite considerable.” This includes the construction of camps for WHO staff and other partners, the supply of vehicles, and the provision of air transport. MONUSCO has recently taken an active approach to armed groups operating in North Kivu, which has contributed to a period of calm in and around the city of Beni, although some attacks have continued in surrounding villages. Lacroix said that in order for the response to be “truly effective” regional commitment is needed. He said “we need a commitment from the countries of the entire region to dismantle the armed groups. Otherwise the chances of success are much lower,” and added that “there obviously needs to be a national commitment” as well “a local commitment, including communities” Lacroix and Tedros yesterday travelled with the Minister of Health, Oly Ilunga Kalenga, to the city of Beni in eastern DRC, the epicentre of the outbreak, where they met health workers, civil society representatives, peacekeeping troops and local authorities. Since the outbreak began in August, there have been 308 cases and 191 deaths, about half of which have been in Beni, a city of 800,000 people. The current outbreak is the country’s 10th and is on track to surpass the previous largest outbreak, which was in Yambuku in 1976 when there were 318 cases and 280 people died.