UNRWA staffer killed as key polio campaign is suspended for north Gaza
At least one staff member with the UN agency serving Palestinian refugees in Gaza has been killed after the vehicle they were travelling in was hit in the central Deir Al-Balah area.
Details are still coming in on this latest incident, but since the deadly Hamas-led invasion of Israel a year ago, almost 48,000 people have been killed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza, according to health ministry there, including at least 223 UNRWA staff members.
Six UNRWA staff members were among 34 people killed in September when two Israeli airstrikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza.
Meanwhile, intense bombardment, mass displacements and lack of access in the north have forced the postponement of the ongoing polio vaccination campaign there, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday.
The agency said humanitarian pauses were essential for its success, allowing partners to deliver supplies, families to safely access vaccination sites and mobile teams of health workers to reach children.
This final phase aimed to vaccinate 119,279 children across the north where around 400,000 are trapped in the face of Israeli evacuation orders and constant bombardment.
Percentage of women killed in war doubled in 2023: UN report
The proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled last year compared to 2022, accounting for 40 per cent of all deaths in war, while UN-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence increased by a shocking 50 per cent.
That’s according to the Secretary-General’s latest annual report on women, peace, and security.
UN Women, the lead agency on the report, said the rise in violence is “taking place against a backdrop of increasing blatant disregard of international law designed to protect women and children”.
The UN recorded at least 33,443 civilian deaths in armed conflicts in 2023, representing a 72 per cent increase compared with 2022, and the proportion of women and children killed doubled and tripled, respectively.
Seventy per cent of recorded deaths occurred in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel.
The lethal impact of deteriorating healthcare is another major factor.
For example, every day, 500 women and girls in conflict-affected countries die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
“Women continue to pay the price of the wars of men,” said the head of UN Women, Sima Bahous.
The report contains eight recommendations to advance women’s role in peace and security, including an initial minimum target for women to make up one third of those mediating in peace processes, eventually reaching parity.
Experts call on Russia to clarify details surrounding death of top Ukrainian journalist
Independent UN human rights experts on Wednesday said they are urgently seeking confirmation of the reported death of Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist and human rights defender who was forcibly disappeared in August last year while reporting in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
The recipient of the 2022 international Courage in Journalism Award was detained in Melitopol without due process or charges being brought against her before being deported to Russia.
She was last seen at a detention facility in the Russian city of Taganrog in early September, the UN Human Rights Council-appointed experts said, and her whereabouts after that are unknown.
The celebrated war reporter’s father was sent a letter from an official at Russia’s Ministry of Defence on 10 October saying she had died in prison, without providing any supporting details.
“Given that Victoria’s detention or alleged death have not been officially confirmed through provision of evidence, we urge the Russian Government to immediately confirm her fate and whereabouts,” the experts said.
“Should her death be confirmed, we call for the immediate return of her body home so that an independent investigation into the cause and circumstances of her death could be undertaken, including an independent autopsy,” they added.
At least 1,672 Ukrainian civilians, including at least 25 Ukrainian journalists, are being held in detention inside Russia, the experts added.
The experts, who are not UN staff and receive no salary, urged authorities to reveal the fate and whereabouts of all Ukrainians being held inside Russia.
Ana Carmo, UN News
Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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