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The Sustainable Development Goals in Palestine
The UN and its partners in Palestine are working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: 17 interconnected Goals which address the major development challenges faced by people in Palestine and around the world. These are the goals the UN is working on in Palestine:
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18 March 2024
Imminent famine in northern Gaza is 'entirely manmade disaster': Guterres
“Famine is projected to occur anytime between now and May 2024 in the northern governorates,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, upon publication of a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza.‘Act now to prevent the unthinkable’“Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering”, said the UN Secretary General António Guterres outside the Security Council in New York.“This is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system –anywhere, anytime”, he added.“This is an entirely manmade disaster—and the report makes clear that it can be halted”, he warned, saying this showed the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.“I call on the Israeli authorities to ensure complete and unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza and for the international community to fully support our humanitarian efforts."We must act now to prevent the unthinkable, the unacceptable and the unjustifiable."Meanwhile, in response to the unfolding situation at Al-Shifa, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, insisted that “hospitals should never be battlegrounds”.The lives of medical workers, patients and civilians were at stake, the WHO chief warned, adding that “minimal” health services had only recently been restored at Al-Shifa.IPC: A key aid toolIPC forecasts are compiled from on-the-ground assessments which humanitarians then use to respond to the most at-risk individuals. Data indicates that the “entire population” of Gaza – some 2.3 million people – are enduring high levels of “acute” food insecurity. This includes 1.11 million suffering from “catastrophic” food insecurity - IPC Phase 5.Grim hunger dataCompared to the last IPC analysis in December, acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip has “deepened and widened”, FAO noted, with 79 per cent more Gazans likely “sliding into catastrophic levels of hunger” from mid-February to mid-March, and 92 per cent more expected to do so between now and July.“If no steps are taken to cease hostilities and to provide more humanitarian access, famine is imminent,” said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. “It could already be occurring. Immediate access is needed to facilitate delivery of urgent and critical assistance at scale.”Skipping mealsThe IPC report noted that virtually all households now skip meals every day in Gaza. Adults have reduced their meals so that children can eat. “In the northern governorates, in nearly two-thirds of the households, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days,” the FAO said, adding that in northern governorates, one in three children under the age of two is acutely malnourished.The development follows repeated international calls for a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October that killed some 1,200 people. Continuing international efforts for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages were due to continue on Monday with the delayed arrival of Israeli negotiators in Qatar, reports indicated.Rafah alertIn a social media post at the weekend, the WHO chief Tedros expressed grave concern that preparations were continuing for an Israeli ground assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where well over one million people have sought shelter in packed conditions.“(A) further escalation of violence in this densely populated area would lead to many more deaths and suffering, especially with health facilities already overwhelmed,” Tedros wrote on Saturday. “The 1.2 million people in Rafah do not have anywhere safe to move to...Many people are too fragile, hungry and sick to be moved again. In the name of humanity, we appeal to Israel not to proceed and instead to work towards peace.”No end to bombingAnd amid intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza, the FAO noted that hostilities had halted supplies of water, food and fuel. All food-related sectors had “collapsed” the UN agency continued, including vegetable production, livestock production, and fisheries and aquaculture.Around 60 to 70 per cent of meat and dairy-producing livestock in Gaza have been either killed or prematurely slaughtered to meet the dire food needs stemming from the conflict.To help Gazans, FAO has mobilized to provide key agricultural supplies into the Strip “as soon as conditions allow”. The Organization said that its initial priority was to move animal feed including 1,500 tonnes of barley, “through one or two of the remaining open border crossings where food distribution is taking place”. This barley delivery “should be sufficient to provide milk for all children under 10 years of age in Gaza”, FAO said, noting that it would provide around 20 per cent of recommended calories for children.Death toll latestAccording to the Gaza health authority, 31,726 people have now been killed in the Strip and 73,792 injured since the outbreak of hostilities. The development came as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that life-threatening malnutrition was “spreading fast” and reaching unprecedented levels, “due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing restrictions on aid delivery”.Echoing those concerns, the UN’s top aid official, Martin Griffiths, told a humanitarian forum on Monday that the Organization and its partners were suffering from “an age of war in which reaching for the gun is increasingly the first option…an age in which the UN for example is prevented from doing its job and then criticized for not doing enough. We see this in Gaza.”At the same meeting in Brussels, Natalie Boucly, Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA), insisted that it remained the “backbone” of humanitarian operations in Gaza. The agency is key to humanitarian assistance in Strip, she maintained, working with partners including the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – which had vaccinated 53,000 children since January in seven remaining UNRWA shelters - the WHO, the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN migration agency (IOM), UNOPS and other non-UN partners, she insisted, “from the reception to the storage to the distribution of aid and the tracking, the reporting, the logistics, the fuel, the vehicles and the accommodation - and the coordination with the Israeli authority”."The aid is there, right across the border. All we need is political will to open more crossings to get the aid and distribute it across Gaza. We need a ceasefire," Ms. Boucly insisted.In a call for more aid crossing points into Gaza, the UNRWA official pledged to “scale up" assistance...if that environment was enabled. "At the moment it is very difficult to operate,” she continued, pointing to the “trickle” of aid entering Gaza currently – some 99 trucks a day.“All the constraints around getting the aid in need to be eased, we need to have more stable communication (and) internet - all this has broken down,” she insisted.
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18 March 2024
Aid missions constantly under threat, warns UN humanitarian chief
Six Palestinians are believed to have died in the Gaza City incident and 83 more were wounded as they waited for aid trucks to arrive at Kuwait Roundabout, according to news reports.The development came after relief chief Martin Griffiths condemned the bombardment on Wednesday of a warehouse and food distribution centre in southern Rafah which killed at least one employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and injured 22 others.“Devastating news for our colleagues in Gaza who have borne so much loss already, and for the families they were trying to help,” the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator said in a post on X. “How are we to maintain aid operations when our teams and supplies are constantly under threat? They must be protected. This war has to stop.”Warehouse attackIn a statement shortly after the attack, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that the warehouse hit in the Israeli attack was located in eastern Rafah and was one of the agency’s “very few remaining” distribution points.“Food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine”, Mr. Lazzarini said, before insisting that the coordinates of the facility had been shared with all parties to the war.Graphic photos from the warehouse showed a box of supplies covered with blood near the entrance to the facility. But there was minimal damage to supplies there which were still being sent out, according to UNRWA.‘Humanitarian islands’ plan is disastrous warns UNRWA The UN agency also warned that reported Israeli plans to transfer 1.4 million Palestinians from Gaza’s southernmost city to camps or so-called “humanitarian islands” further north would be “apocalyptic”.The proposal comes amid ongoing deep concerns expressed by the international community about an impending Israeli invasion of Rafah, five months since intense bombardment began in response to Hamas-led terror attacks that left some 1,200 dead in Israel and more than 250 taken hostage.“Where are you going to evacuate people to, as no place is safe across the Gaza Strip, the north is shattered, riddled with unexploded weapons, it’s pretty much unliveable,” said Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications. “Enough is enough. Any further escalation would be absolutely apocalyptic.”According to UNRWA, at least 165 UNRWA team members have been killed including while in the line of duty in Gaza since 7 October. More than 150 facilities have been hit, among them many schools.Maritime aid planIn a related development, an NGO ship remained moored off the Gaza coastline on Thursday after setting out from southern Cyprus on Tuesday, along a new humanitarian sea lane. The initiative is a joint mission involving UN-partner World Central Kitchen and the search-and-rescue charity Open Arms, reportedly in coordination with the Israeli authorities and the international community. The aim is to deliver 200 tonnes of relief supplies to northern Gaza once a jetty is built south of Gaza City.A separate plan involving the U.S. military involves delivering two million meals a day by ship to the enclave via a temporary floating structure which has yet to be built. Although new aid routes by sea and airdrops are welcome, UN relief agencies have insisted repeatedly that they are no substitute for supplies transported by land.Famine threatFamine is imminent in Gaza, UN aid teams have warned, particularly in the north of the enclave, where aid convoys have been sporadic at best, amid ongoing fighting and bombardment, repeated access refusals and a breakdown in law and order.A World Food Programme (WFP) six-truck convoy reached northern Gaza on Tuesday after being given access through a gate in the security fence separating the enclave from Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The convoy’s cargo was earlier checked at Kerem Shalom crossing further south before it was allowed to proceed north, according to the IDF, which added that more than 1,000 aid packages had been airdropped into the Gaza Strip by foreign countries in the last week.
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13 March 2024
For the first time in weeks, UN aid teams reach Gaza City
“WFP delivered enough food for 25,000 people to Gaza City early Tuesday in first successful convoy to the north since 20 February,” the UN agency said in a tweet. “With people in northern Gaza on the brink of famine, we need deliveries every day and we need entry points directly into the north.”The news came as UN humanitarians also welcomed the announcement on Tuesday that an aid ship, Open Arms, had left Cyprus for Gaza carrying 200 tonnes of relief supplies. But they stressed that it was “not a substitute” for overland assistance to Gazans on the verge of famine.“Any food and other emergency aid that comes into Gaza, as we all know, is desperately needed; there is no question about it,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “So, it's highly appreciated…But it's not a substitute for the overland transport of food and other emergency aid into Gaza and particularly northern Gaza. It cannot make up for that.”The UN's Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag also welcomed the opening of the new maritime coordinator to Gaza, together with the head of UNOPS, Jorge Moreira da Silva."For aid delivery at scale there is no meaningful substitute to the many land routes and entry points from Israel into Gaza", the stressed."The land routes from Egypt, Rafah in particular, and Jordan also remain essential to the overall humanitarian effort. The maritime corridor brings, however, much needed additionality and is part of a sustained humanitarian response to provide aid as effectively as possible through all possible routes."Relief lifeline The NGO behind the Open Arms initiative, World Central Kitchen, has already worked with UN aid teams in Rafah in southern Gaza, where some 1.5 million have sought shelter amid daily Israeli bombardment and fighting for the last five months, prompted by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that left some 1,200 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.Children’s scissors deniedUnderscoring the dire humanitarian emergency still unfolding in Gaza, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, condemned the refusal to allow so-called “dual-use” items destined for the enclave.“A truck loaded with aid has just been turned back because it had scissors used in children’s medical kits,” tweeted Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General on Tuesday.“Medical scissors are now added to a long list of banned items the Israeli Authorities classify as ‘for dual use’. The list includes basic and lifesaving items: from anaesthetics, solar lights, oxygen cylinders and ventilators, to water cleaning tablets, cancer medicines and maternity kits. “The clearance of humanitarian supplies and the delivery of basic and critical items need to be facilitated and accelerated. The lives of two million people depend on that, there is no time to waste.”All options exploredAsked by journalists in Geneva if the UN might use the new maritime corridor between the southern port of Larnaca in Cyprus and Gaza, OCHA’s Mr. Laerke replied that “any and all entry points into Gaza should be looked at”.But following repeated refusals by Israeli authorities to allow humanitarian convoys to access the north and unsafe conditions for aid teams, the UN official insisted that “we need the overland access and the safe and secure and regular delivery within Gaza as well”.Famine ‘imminent’In a related development, UN World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain warned on Monday that famine is “imminent” in Gaza and will only be avoided if humanitarian there increases “exponentially”.Speaking in Rome, the WFP Executive Director underlined grave concerns for people “across Gaza, particularly the north, which is in the grip for humanitarian catastrophe.“If we do not exponentially increase the size of aid going into the northern areas, famine is imminent.”Ahead of Tuesday’s announcement that aid had reached northern Gaza, the veteran aid official explained that WFP had been forced to pause aid deliveries there owing to concerns “for the safety of our staff and due to the complete breakdown of law and order”.The UN agency head insisted that all options were being explored to alleviate the hunger crisis in northern Gaza, including air drops, but “they will never deliver the necessary volume that road access can”. Road access “and the use of existing ports and crossings is the only way to get aid into Gaza at the scale that is now required,” the WFP chief insisted. "We need 300 trucks of food entering Gaza every single day."
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12 March 2024
Ceasefire in Gaza, urges UN chief, on first day of Ramadan
“Even though Ramadan has begun, the killing, bombing and bloodshed continue in Gaza...My strongest appeal today is to honour the spirit of Ramadan by silencing the guns and removing all obstacles to ensure the delivery of lifesaving aid at the speed and massive scale required.” All remaining hostages taken during Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October must be released immediately too, the UN chief said, noting that the “catastrophic Israeli onslaught in Gaza” is now in its sixth month.Reiterating his call to the warring parties to halt the war, Mr. Guterres highlighted the same compelling appeal from the families of victims who visited the UN in New York recently.“As one of those family members said, ‘We are not here for condolences. We are not here for apologies. We are here for immediate action.’” Northern Gaza anxietyIt has been nearly six weeks since the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) managed to deliver aid to northern Gaza. “People are very, very anxious,” said spokesperson Juliette Touma on X, formerly Twitter.“There should be more humanitarian assistance coming in via road including through UNRWA because we have the largest footprint on the ground and we know how to do this.”Maritime corridorIn a related development, a non-governmental organization (NGO) ship laden with desperately-needed aid for northern Gaza waited to set sail from Cyprus on Monday to provide further relief to the many hundreds of thousands of people facing extreme hunger.UN-partnered efforts to open a safe maritime corridor to Gaza were announced on Friday by the European Commission, United Arab Emirates, United States, United Kingdom and others in close coordination with the UN’s Senior Humanitarian Coordinator for the enclave, Sigrid Kaag.Safe harbourCarrying around 200 tonnes of food, the international NGO vessel Open Arms remained anchored at Larnaca in southeast Cyprus, some 200 nautical miles from Gaza, reportedly awaiting permission to dock from the Israeli authorities.In a related development, the Cypriot Government acknowledged US President Joe Biden’s announcement last Thursday that Washington would build a temporary pier off Gaza’s coastline to help deliver aid. Media reports indicated that it would take at least two months to complete. Needs are critical across the enclave, but remain particularly dire in the north, where UN humanitarians have warned repeatedly that some 300,000 Gazans have been almost cut off from humanitarian relief amid insecurity linked to a breakdown in civil order and multiple access refusals by Israeli authorities.Northern hospitals lifelineEchoing the UN chief’s ceasefire call, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had reached two hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend with supplies, including trauma items for 150 patients and 13,000 litres of fuel to Al-Ahil Arab Hospital and 12,000 litres of fuel to Al-Sahaba Hospital.But, medical teams there lack a long list of basics to do their work, including “food, fuel, specialised staff, anaesthetic drugs, antibiotics and internal fixation devices”, said WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday. “We need sustained, safe access to health facilities in order to supply them with urgently needed lifesaving healthcare on a regular basis,” he insisted, ending his message with: “ceasefire”.According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), malnutrition among youngsters is extreme, with at least 18 children dead from hunger and dehydration in the north of the Strip to date. Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) warned that pregnant and breastfeeding women were also seeing spiralling levels of malnutrition in the enclave.
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11 March 2024
Gaza: Rafah ground assault would increase risk of atrocity crimes
Spokesperson for Volker Türk the UN High Commissioner for Human rights in Geneva, Jeremy Laurence, warned on Friday that an already catastrophic situation could “slide deeper into the abyss” in the coming days if Israeli forces make their move on the southern border city, carrying through with their threat to invade, unless Hamas militants hand over remaining hostages by the start of Ramadan.The holy month for Muslims worldwide begins this weekend, a “period that is meant to honour peace and tolerance”, said Mr. Laurence.Gazans who have nowhere else to run to, are living in “deplorable sub-human conditions” in Rafah, he added: “Any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes.“This must not be allowed to happen. We also fear that further Israeli restrictions on access by Palestinians to East Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan could further inflame tensions.”The UN human rights chief repeated that “there must be an immediate end to this conflict and that the killing and destruction must stop.”Release hostages unconditionallyThe hostages seized by Hamas and other militants during the 7 October terror attacks have endured 150 days of suffering and torment, Mr. Türk added, calling for their unconditional release and return.In continuing its offensive, Israel, as the occupying power, “must – we repeat - fully comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law to provide the increasingly desperate civilian population of Gaza with the necessary food and medical supplies, or, if it is unable to do so, ensure that the population has access to critical life-saving humanitarian assistance commensurate with their needs”, Mr. Laurence stressed.Furthermore, border crossings and corridors must be fully opened and steps must be taken to ensure the free and secure movement of aid convoys to civilians wherever they are located.Settlement expansion violates international lawMr. Türk on Friday also deplored Israel’s latest decision to greenlight the construction of a further 3,476 homes in the occupied West Bank, saying “the drastic acceleration in settlement building is exacerbating long-standing patterns of oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians”“Reports this week that Israel plans to build a further 3,476 settler homes in Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar fly in the face of international law,” he added.In a report to the Human Rights Council, Türk said that the establishment and continuing expansion of settlements amounts to Israeli transferring its own civilian population into the territories that it occupies - a war crime under international law.The report covering the period from 1 November 2022 to 31 October last year details that around 24,300 housing units within existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank were advanced, the highest on record since monitoring began in 2017. This included approximately 9,670 units in East Jerusalem.The report finds that the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Government appear aligned, to an unprecedented extent, with the goals of the Israeli settler movement to expand long-term control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to steadily integrate this occupied territory into the State of Israel.“They also run counter to the views of a broad range of States laid out during hearings just two weeks ago at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” the High Commissioner said, referring to the hearings tabled by South Africa examining the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.Over 600 settler attacks“The West Bank is already in crisis”, Mr. Türk said. Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian State”.Latest UN figures show that, since 7 October, there have been 603 settler attacks against Palestinians. A total of 1,222 Palestinians from 19 herding communities have been displaced as a direct result of settler violence.Since 7 October, UN rights office OHCHR has documented nine Palestinians killed by settlers using firearms. A further 396 have been killed by Israeli security forces, and two killed by either Israeli security forces or settlers.Since 7 October, 592 people, including 282 children, have been displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain, OHCHR said.Gaza casualties mountAccording to the latest situation update from the UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, 78 Palestinians were killed, and 104 Palestinians were injured - based on figures from the Gaza health ministry. This brings the total fatalities in Gaza to at least 30,878, with 72,402 Palestinians injured.The World Health Organization (WHO) said that an estimated 8,000 patients need to be medically evacuated from Gaza, including around 6,000 trauma-related cases.
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08 March 2024
Gaza: Starvation claims more young lives as UN advocates for new aid routes
Days from the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and with no ceasefire agreement in sight for Gaza, “The situation is appalling. Every minute, every hour, it is getting worse,” the UN agency for Palestinians, UNWRA, said in a tweet on X, formerly Twitter.A maximum of 150 lorries have been reaching Gaza every day. In the north, one in six children under the age of two is acutely malnourished and media reports have indicated that at least 20 youngsters have died from starvation in recent days, including a 14-day-old baby.Later on Thursday, the UN Security Council held consultations on the situation behind closed doors and were briefed by Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator Sigrid Kaag.‘Massive’ aid scale up neededSpeaking to the press after the briefing, Ms. Kaag highlighted that her message to the ambassadors was the need for predictable and massively increased quality humanitarian assistance at scale for civilians in Gaza.“We need to flood the market in Gaza with humanitarian goods as well as re-energize the private sector so commercial goods can enter to meet the need of civilians,” she said.She also reiterated that humanitarian assistance “is not an exercise in counting trucks”.“We to know that it meets the needs and volume,” she added.Ms. Kaag also highlighted the importance of diversifying the supply routes via land, which remains the optimal solution. It is easier, faster, cheaper and more sustainable in the long run, she said, noting also the importance of opening additional crossings.Referring to reports of countries working on the establishment of a maritime corridor to Gaza, Ms. Kaag said that such corridors to scale up aid were welcomed. At the same time, humanitarian supplies via air or sea are “not a substitute for what we need to see arrive on land”, she said. Over 30,000 killedWell over 30,000 people have now been killed amid intense daily Israeli bombardment across Gaza in response to Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October that left some 1,200 dead and more than 240 taken hostage.Negotiations initially in Qatar and this week in Cairo for a ceasefire linked to the release of the remaining approximately 100 hostages and far greater aid access throughout Gaza have so far not resulted in an end to the violence nor alleviated the humanitarian catastrophe.Northern access hopeIn the absence of a deal between Hamas and Israel, UN aid teams on Thursday planned to explore the feasibility of using an Israeli military access road to northern Gaza to transport a minimum of 300 aid trucks every day.The UN’s top aid official in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Jamie McGoldrick, announced the aid convoy initiative on Wednesday. He explained that it would enable trucks laden with humanitarian supplies to reach vulnerable people in the north of the enclave without having to negotiate obstructions and insecurity.“We have to use this military road, this fenced road at the side, on the eastern side (of Gaza), to allow material to come from the crossing points at Kerem Shalom and Rafah all the way up to the north, into the north and to a crossing point there,” insisted Mr. McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator Ad Interim for the OPT, in a video briefing to journalists. “We have to get up at least 300 trucks a day. Right now, we're lucky if we are getting about 150.”Ahead of the start of Ramadan on Sunday, the veteran humanitarian official noted that relief supplies entering Gaza in February had fallen by half compared with January despite the “enormous and growing needs for over 2.3 million people living in appalling conditions”. Fishing livelihoods devastatedThe catastrophic food insecurity situation in Gaza received renewed attention at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, where UN Special Rapporteur for food Michael Fakhri said that nearly 75 per cent of the enclave’s fishing sector had been devastated by Israeli bombardment.“Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and one way it is doing this is by targeting small-scale fishers,” he told the forum’s 47 Member States. Since 7 October, the independent rights expert maintained that Israel had denied all access to the sea, impoverishing previously comfortable fishers. “Israeli forces decimated the Port of Gaza, destroying every single fishing boat and shack,” he said. “In Rafah, only two out of 40 boats are left. In Khan Younis, Israel destroyed approximately 75 small-scale fishing vessels.”The destruction of fishing livelihoods in the enclave had undermined the right to food for everyone in Gaza and pushed them “into hunger and starvation”, the Special Rapporteur insisted. “In fact, Israel has been strangling Gaza for 17 years through a blockade, which included denying and restricting small-scale fishers access to their territorial waters.”
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07 March 2024
Gaza: ‘Children are dying from hunger’, says UN aid coordinator
“Children are dying from hunger,” he said via videolink, as media reports indicate that at least 20 children have succumbed to starvation in the besieged and bombarded enclave, including most recently a 14-day-old baby.Calling for a plan to address this crisis, he said immediate needs would include using a military access road to northern Gaza for a minimum of 300 aid trucks every day. Hunger in the enclave has grown exponentially since the Israeli invasion began in October, triggered by Hamas-led attacks on Israel that left 1,200 dead and 240 taken hostage.Lack of water amid gender-based violenceDuring visits to the Misq and Layan camp in Al Mawasi in southern Gaza, Mr. McGoldrick said displaced women conveyed the impact of the war and of the huge scale of need, which include privacy, security, hygiene and the inability to prepare for Ramadan.The women said daily life in a community-driven camp entails facing sexual harassment on the way to unsegregated toilets, a lack of clean water and gender-based violence, he said.One woman said she had given birth and then was forced to move to the camp two days later with her other children, one of whom is living with disabilities, he said, adding that the women admitted she was unable to breastfeed her newborn due to the lack of food.At night, walking through the camps, “you can hear the women crying”, he said.Famine looms alongside feared Rafah invasionSome of the people he met said they had been displaced multiple times, and that if Israel’s expected ground invasion of Rafah occurs, there is no system in place to safely evacuate those already seeking shelter in the south.“People want to get back to a normal life,” he said. “Hopefully, we get some sort of pause which will allow us to stabilize people’s health and food security. It’s something we’re hoping for in the coming weeks.”Given the conditions facing people in northern Gaza, with a lack of healthcare, food and other basic essentials, the Humanitarian Coordinator said there will be “a lot preventable deaths” linked to current squalid living conditions.A more detailed report on famine is expected in the coming weeks, but Mr. McGoldrick said the findings will likely confirm what is already known: hunger is spiralling. Land deliveries more effective than airdropsWhile airdrops and naval aid deliveries are helpful, road transport remains the most effective way to get the volume of urgently required aid to those who need it, he said.Right now, airdrops contain supplements for children and ready-to-eat pre-cooked meals, while trucks deliver flour and food parcels from UNRWA and WFP.One truck could deliver between 20 and 30 metric tonnes, about 10 times the amount of one aircraft conducting an aid drop.Egypt is the main land entry point for aid, via the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, he said. Right now, Sigrid Kaag, the UN Security Council-mandated Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, is working with Egyptian officials to improve the effectiveness of aid deliveries, he said.The UN Spokesperson said Ms. Kaag will be briefing the Council on Thursday.Predictable supplies urgently needed“What’s needed now is a predictable supply of essentials into Gaza”, he said, which includes more open routes, security for humanitarian workers and access to those in need, facilitated by the military controlling affected areas.Working with Israeli authorities, the UN’s efforts continue to try to get much-needed items, like insulin for children who need it, into the enclave. Efforts also include advocating for safely using an access road into the north, he said, noting that a recognizance mission on Thursday will determine the route’s safety.He said that Israel saw last week how difficult it is to get aid delivered, referring to the deaths of more than 100 desperately seeking aid in northern Gaza.Those outside the humanitarian field think it’s a matter of sending trucks, “but you don’t realize how desperate people are”, he said.
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06 March 2024
Gaza: Efforts to deliver food aid to stricken north ‘largely unsuccessful’
The emergency relief agency said that a 14-truck food convoy – the first by WFP since it paused deliveries to northern Gaza on 20 February – was turned back by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) after a three-hour wait at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.“Although today’s convoy did not make it to the north to provide food to the people who are starving, WFP continues to explore every possible means to do so,” said Carl Skau, WFP Deputy Executive Director.After being turned away the convoy was rerouted and later stopped by a large crowd of desperate people who looted the food, taking around 200 tonnes from the trucks.Roads ‘the only option’The agency also stressed that road routes are the only option to transport large quantities of food needed to avert famine in northern Gaza.Earlier on Tuesday, with the help of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, six tons of WFP food supplies for about 20,000 people were dropped for civilians surviving in the north.“Airdrops are a last resort and will not avert famine,” Mr. Skau stressed.“We need entry points to northern Gaza that will allow us to deliver enough food for half a million people in desperate need,” he added.Catastrophic levels of hungerWFP further warned that hunger has reached catastrophic levels in the north where children are dying of hunger-related diseases and suffering severe levels of malnutrition.A massive relief operation requires more entry points into Gaza, including from the north, and the use of Israeli’s Ashdod port, it said, reiterating the need for an urgent ceasefire to enable such an operation.Extremely challenging conditionsAlso on Tuesday, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that humanitarian personnel working on water, sanitation and hygiene in the enclave are reporting extremely challenging conditions amid high level of displacement and overcrowding in shelters.According to their latest assessment, some 340 people are sharing a single toilet and there is one shower for roughly 1,300 people on average, and over 80 per cent of households in Gaza lack safe and clean water, Mr. Dujarric said at the regular press briefing at the UN Headquarters, in New York.In response, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been providing fuel to operate public and private water wells and desalination plants.The agency has also delivered more than 50 emergency health kits for more than half a million people and enough newborn kits for 8,700 newborns, Mr. Dujarric said.
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06 March 2024
UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes
Citing alarming examples in Aleppo, Grozny, Mariupol, Myanmar, Sudan and Gaza, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, said an “increasingly systematic, massive and arbitrary destruction of civilian housing and infrastructure” during too many conflicts around the world is in blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian laws.“We have seen or are seeing such destruction in Aleppo, Grozny, Mariupol, Myanmar and now, in Gaza and parts of Sudan,” he told the Human Rights Council, the UN’s top human rights body. “When people lose their homes, they lose more than physical structures. A home is more than property; it is also the repository of memories, hopes and aspirations.”Gaza: Massive destructionSince Israel declared war following Hamas’s deadly attacks in October, more than 70 per cent of all housing stock in Gaza, and more than 80 per cent in parts of northern region have been damaged or destroyed, displacing over 1.5 million persons.“What is happening in Gaza shocks the conscience of humanity,” he said.More than one million people are now crowded into Rafah, grossly lacking in adequate shelter during winter, facing starvation and disease.“All that makes housing ‘adequate’ – access to services, jobs, culture, schools, religious places, universities, hospitals – have all been levelled,” the Special Rapporteur said, adding that the scale and intensity of destruction in Gaza is “far worse” than in Aleppo, Mariupol or even Dresden and Rotterdam during the Second World War.Calls to end ‘domicide’He said that last week, with other Special Rapporteurs, “I called upon States to stop arms transfers to Israel that are being used to destroy housing and displace the people in Gaza.”“Such arms transfers risk complicity in systematic violations of the right to adequate housing, which may constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or acts of genocide under international law,” he continued.The international community must take action to prevent and end massive violations to the right to adequate housing, he said, referring to his call to the General Assembly in 2022 for recognition of these violations as “a crime against humanity of its own standing – domicide”.“I regret to note that so far my call has not seen adequate response,” he told the Human Rights Council.Action areas must aim to outlaw the use of explosives with wide-area impacts in populated areas through an international treaty. Further, such crimes should be investigated through national and international tribunals and impunity for perpetrators must end, according to his 2022 report.Homelessness and displacementIn his report, he also drew attention to a range of housing-related concerns, among them calling on States and other actors to renew their commitment to ensure affordable housing and to address homelessness.He also provided several recommendations, including strategies for averting affordability crises, strategies for safeguarding against human rights violations stemming from housing unaffordability, and strategies for addressing the repercussions of housing unaffordability.The number of people displaced due to conflict, disasters, development or climate change has sharply increased and is expected to continue to grow, he said.Some of the drivers of large-scale displacement include unplanned urbanization, land speculation and over-commodification of land and housing and infrastructure projects.As such, he underlined a need to develop resettlement guidelines to ensure that any plans are carried out in conformity with human rights.Special RapporteursSpecial Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and form part of what is known as its Special Procedures. They are mandated to monitor and report on specific thematic issues or country situations.Special Rapporteurs are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and receive no salary for their work.
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Story
05 March 2024
‘Clear and convincing information’ that hostages held in Gaza subjected to sexual violence, says UN Special Representative
Following a 17-day visit to Israel, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict reported on Monday that she and a team of experts had found “clear and convincing information” of rape and sexualized torture being committed against hostages seized during the 7 October terror attacks.Pramila Patten added in a press release issued along with the report that there are also reasonable grounds to believe that such violence, which includes other “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”, may be continuing against those still being held by Hamas and other extremists in the Gaza Strip.The report from her Office arose from an official visit to Israel at the invitation of the Government which included a visit to the occupied West Bank, between 29 January and 14 February.In the context of the coordinated attack by Hamas and others of 7 October, the UN mission team found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations, including rape and gang rape in at least three locations in southern Israel.The team also found a pattern of victims - mostly women - found fully or partially naked, bound and shot across multiple locations which “may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence”.In some locations the mission said it could not verify reported incidents of rape.Watch Ms. Patten's press conference announcing the team's findings at UN Headquarters in New York, below: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147217 Full extent may never be knownThe UN team is of the view that the true extent of sexual violence committed during the 7 October attacks and their aftermath could “take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known” according to the press release.The mission made up of Ms. Patten and nine experts – which was not investigative in nature – conducted 33 meetings with Israeli representatives, examining more than 5,000 photographic images and 50 hours of video footage. It conducted 34 confidential interviews including with survivors and witnesses of the 7 October attacks, released hostages, first responders and others.The report says that Israeli authorities have faced numerous challenges in collecting evidence.Allegations implicating Israeli security forces, settlersThe team also visited Ramallah in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to hear the views and concerns of officials and civil society representatives since 7 October which allegedly implicate Israeli security forces and settlers.Ms. Patten heard concerns raised over cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinians in detention, including sexual violence in the form of invasive searches, threats of rape and prolonged forced nudity.The information gathered will complement that already gathered by other UN officials on allegations of conflict-related sexual violence inside Gaza, for potential inclusion in the Secretary-General’s annual report on the issue.Initial recommendationsMs. Patten’s recommendations include a call for the Israeli Government to grant full access to the UN human rights office (OHCHR) and the Human Rights Council-mandated independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied territory “to conduct fully-fledged independent investigations into all alleged violations”, according to the press release.She called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all those being held as hostages and to ensure their protection, including from sexual violence.Ms. Patten also called on all relevant and competent bodies to bring all perpetrators of sexual violence to justice while offering the full support of her office to bolster national efforts.She also called for the highest standards of information integrity in reporting and handling of sexual violence cases, as the press release notes, “given the risks of inflammatory rhetoric and sensationalized headlines escalating tensions” along with media or political pressure which will only compound the trauma and stigmatization of survivors.The Special Representative echoed the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire and urged any ceasefire agreement to acknowledge the importance of recognizing sexual violence as a key issue and to allow affected communities to be heard.She reiterated her profound sympathy and solidarity with all civilians impacted by the “brutal violence in the region” since 7 October.
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Press Release
08 March 2024
UN Human Rights Chief deplores new moves to expand Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank
“Reports this week that Israel plans to build a further 3,476 settler homes in Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar fly in the face of international law,” Türk said.In a report to the Human Rights Council, Türk said that the establishment and continuing expansion of settlements amount to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into the territories that it occupies, which amounts to a war crime under international law.The size of existing Israeli settlements has expanded markedly, says the report which covers the period from 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023. About 24,300 housing units within existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank were advanced during this period, the highest on record since monitoring began in 2017. This included approximately 9,670 units in East Jerusalem.The report finds that the policies of the current Israeli Government appear aligned, to an unprecedented extent, with the goals of the Israeli settler movement to expand long-term control over the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to steadily integrate this occupied territory into the State of Israel.“They also run counter to the views of a broad range of States laid out during hearings just two weeks ago at the International Court of Justice,” the High Commissioner said, referring to the hearings examining the legal consequences of Israeli policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.The establishment and continuing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements are occurring alongside the displacement of Palestinians through Israeli settler and state violence, as well as through forced evictions, non-issuance of building permits, home demolitions and movement restrictions for Palestinians.“The West Bank is already in crisis. Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian State,” Türk said.The report highlights the dramatic increase in the intensity, severity and regularity of Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, particularly since 7 October, 2023, which is accelerating Palestinians’ displacement from their land.Latest UN figures show that, since 7 October, there have been 603 settler attacks against Palestinians. A total of 1,222 Palestinians from 19 herding communities have been displaced as a direct result of settler violence. Since 7 October, the UN Human Rights Office has documented nine Palestinians killed by settlers using firearms. A further 396 have been killed by Israeli security forces, and two killed by either Israeli security forces or settlers.Since 7 October, 592 people, including 282 children, have been displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.The report says that since 7 October, the UN Human Rights Office has documented dozens of cases of settlers wearing full or partial Israeli army uniforms and carrying army rifles, and harassing and attacking Palestinians. These developments have also further blurred the line between settler violence and state violence, including violence with the declared intent to forcibly transfer Palestinians from their land, it states.“Israel’s actions against the Palestinian population must cease immediately. The only way forward is to find a viable political solution that finally ends the occupation, establishes an independent Palestinian state and guarantees the realization of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people,” said Türk.To read the full report, please click here
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Press Release
24 January 2024
UN agencies: End to Conflict is Imperative for a Return to Learning in Palestine
The urgency of this message is underscored by the stark reality that learning has been devastated in the Gaza Strip since the hostilities began in October 2023. Over 625,000 students and 22,564 teachers have been deprived of education and a safe place for over three months, and thousands of learners and education personnel are amongst the more than 25,000 people who have reportedly been killed.
Children and youth, as well as educators, have lost the anchor that is education – all UNRWA schools are closed in the Gaza Strip, depriving the 300,000 children who attended them of their education. The longer they stay out of school, the more difficult it is to catch up, with lasting consequences.
Most UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip have been turned into shelters, hosting over 1.2 million displaced people. Communities and support networks have been fractured, and educational infrastructure damaged or destroyed. 75% of all school buildings across the Gaza Strip have been impacted, while numerous higher education institutions have also sustained damages . At least 340 internally displaced people have been killed while seeking safety in UNRWA shelters and more than 1,100 injured. Attacks on educational premises and UN premises violate international humanitarian law.
While all eyes are on Gaza, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, access to safe education has also been disrupted amid escalating violence in recent months. According to the Education Cluster, at least 782,000 students have been affected by movement restrictions, increased violence, and fear of harassment from Israeli settlers and forces since October. In the West Bank, the UN has recruited addition counsellors and teachers from the vicinity of schools given that many staff are unable to reach their workplace. We have also activated remote learning on days that schools are not operating.
In Gaza, despite the conflict, the United Nations and partners from the Education Cluster have been striving to offer much needed recreational activities for children, as well as psychosocial support in shelters.
Education is a fundamental human right and critical lifeline for the millions of children and young people affected by the war, and it must be sustained even throughout this crisis. Ending the conflict is imperative to enable Palestinian students and educators to begin to rebuild the foundations for a safe return to learning.
A just and sustainable future for Palestine begins with fostering peace and mutual understanding and improving livelihoods through education.
In Gaza, despite the conflict, the United Nations and partners from the Education Cluster have been striving to offer much needed recreational activities for children, as well as psychosocial support in shelters.
Education is a fundamental human right and critical lifeline for the millions of children and young people affected by the war, and it must be sustained even throughout this crisis. Ending the conflict is imperative to enable Palestinian students and educators to begin to rebuild the foundations for a safe return to learning.
A just and sustainable future for Palestine begins with fostering peace and mutual understanding and improving livelihoods through education.
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Press Release
11 January 2024
UN Human Rights Office in Occupied Palestinian Territory warns Israeli strikes are placing civilians at serious risk in Deir Al Balah, Middle Gaza
On 28 and 31 December 2023, and again on 6 and 8 January 2024, the Israeli Defence Forces urged residents of most populated areas of Middle Gaza, such as Al Bureij and Al Nuseirat, to evacuate to known shelters in Deir Al Balah. However, Israeli strikes and ground battles in those areas were ongoing, while strikes on Deir Al Balah itself intensified. The UN Human Rights Office has received reports that during the last ten days, four individual strikes in Deir Al Balah killed more than 40 Palestinians. It is clear – as the UN has repeatedly stressed – that there is no safe place in Gaza.
The operations of Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al Balah, the only functioning hospital in Middle Gaza, have also been severely restricted by Israeli strikes and sniper shootings. The hospital was reportedly sheltering thousands of displaced persons in Deir al Balah. The severity of the situation has led many medical staff to take the difficult decision to evacuate the hospital, despite the high need for medical care resulting from the continuing strikes. Today, 10 January, IDF strikes reportedly hit a residential building in front of the hospital, as well as an ambulance vehicle belonging to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). The strikes reportedly killed 13 Palestinians. PRCS has stated that four among the fatalities were ambulance crew members.
Hospitals enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law because of their life-saving function for the wounded and sick – they must be respected and protected.
Israel Defense Forces must take immediate measures to protect civilians in line with its obligations under international law. Forcing the relocation of civilians in no way absolves the IDF from its obligations under IHL to protect civilians in carrying out military operations.
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Press Release
27 December 2023
Ms. Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands - Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Ms. Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023). In this role, she will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza. She will also establish a United Nations mechanism to accelerate humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza through States which are not party to the conflict. In executing these functions, she will be supported by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS). Ms. Kaag is expected to begin her assignment on 8 January 2024.
Ms. Kaag brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs, as well as in diplomacy. Most recently, she served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and first female Minister of Finance in the Dutch government since January 2022. Prior to this, she was Dutch Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation from October 2017 until May 2021, and Minister for Foreign Affairs until September 2021. Sigrid Kaag was elected party leader of the social liberal party D66 in September 2020 and she stepped down from that position in August 2023. She led her party to victory in the elections of March 2021.
Ms. Kaag has held a wide range of senior positions in the United Nations system. From 2015 to 2017, she was the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and from 2013 to 2015, she was Special Coordinator of the Joint Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Mission in Syria. She served as Assistant Secretary‑General with the United Nations Development Programme from 2010 to 2013 and as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Jordan from 2007 to 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Kaag served in several senior positions with UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Ms. Kaag holds a Master’s of Art in Middle East Studies from the University of Exeter, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo. She speaks Dutch, German, French, English, Spanish and Arabic.
Ms. Kaag has held a wide range of senior positions in the United Nations system. From 2015 to 2017, she was the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and from 2013 to 2015, she was Special Coordinator of the Joint Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations Mission in Syria. She served as Assistant Secretary‑General with the United Nations Development Programme from 2010 to 2013 and as Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Jordan from 2007 to 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Kaag served in several senior positions with UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Ms. Kaag holds a Master’s of Art in Middle East Studies from the University of Exeter, a Master of Philosophy in International Relations from Oxford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo. She speaks Dutch, German, French, English, Spanish and Arabic.
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Press Release
27 December 2023
Mr. James Eugene McGoldrick of Ireland - Ad Interim Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator, Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of James Eugene McGoldrick of Ireland as his new Ad Interim Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident Coordinator, Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). Mr. McGoldrick will also serve as Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim. He succeeds Lynn Hastings of Canada, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedication and service.
Mr. McGoldrick brings extensive experience in humanitarian affairs, international cooperation, economic development, and political affairs. He previously served as the Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in UNSCO, between 2018 and 2020. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. McGoldrick was the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Yemen. He also worked with the International Red Cross movement and non-governmental organizations in a number of countries in Africa.
Mr. McGoldrick holds a master’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Glasgow Caledonian University. He also attained qualifications in disaster management, preventive diplomacy and mediation.
Mr. McGoldrick brings extensive experience in humanitarian affairs, international cooperation, economic development, and political affairs. He previously served as the Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in UNSCO, between 2018 and 2020. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. McGoldrick was the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Yemen. He also worked with the International Red Cross movement and non-governmental organizations in a number of countries in Africa.
Mr. McGoldrick holds a master’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Glasgow Caledonian University. He also attained qualifications in disaster management, preventive diplomacy and mediation.
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