Middle East

The Situation in the Middle East

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The Security Council met for its 7954th meeting on 30 May 2017. It addressed the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Yemen.

The meeting brought attention to the prevailing humanitarian situation in Yemen. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien briefed the Security Council that Yemen was facing “the largest food security crisis in the world”, with 17 million people in need of food, of which 6.8 million just “one step away from famine.” Besides, half of all health facilities are now closed, and yet, the Yemeni people are still suffering from communicable and preventable diseases. The recent outbreak of cholera is also alarming. They both stressed that these threats were avoidable, subject to the international community’s support.

Meeting: 7954th Meeting of the Security Council – “The Situation in the Middle East”

Date/Location: Tuesday, May 30, 2017; 10:00-11:30; Security Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters, New York, NY

Speakers: Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, UN Special Envoy for Yemen; Stephen Rothwell O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs; Radhya Almutawakel, Chairperson, Mwatana Organization for Human Rights; Representatives of Bolivia, Uruguay, and Yemen

Written By: WIT Representative Jadice Lau

More Aid, More Problems: How to Help the Helpers in the Middle East

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Syria Agrees To Delivery Of Humanitarian Aid

Today, the Security Council ran two meetings, beginning with the adoption of the agenda and an introduction to the situation in the Middle East. A letter dated 22 January 2016 from the Panel of Experts on Yemen was read, discussing the significant challenges to the implementation of humanitarian aid and the destructive impact that the humanitarian situation in Yemen has had on civilians. The urgency to simplify the process of aiding others was stressed: to move a single truck, the UN team needs to go through repeated rounds of everything from the target location to the route and dates and times. This toiling process hinders the efficiency of the task at hand.

Recently, a WFP plane sent from the UN and its partners dropped some necessities in Syria that have reached 110 people in besieged places, with 230 more people that can be reached through airdrops, and an additional 170 people are in need. This month, aid was brought to 960 people, which is a 48% increase from January. It was stated that with the highest price of the Syrian conflict being paid by the men, women, and children who are witnessing their homes being torn apart, granting access should not be dependent on political situations.

Next, Dr. Ja’afari wanted to shed light on the brutality: some states impose unilateral measures on the Syrian people, which merely aggravate the suffering; some accuse the government of purposely seizing and starving the civilians. He disputed these claims by stating, “Only civilians are hungry, not terrorists. Terrorists do not go hungry. It is inevitable that only civilians go hungry. It has become clear that the improvement of the Syrian situation is necessary.” Finally, the President adjourned the meeting with an invitation to the council members for an informal discussion.

Meeting: Security Council: 7630th, 7631st Meetings

Date/Location: Wednesday, February 24th, 2016; 10:00-11:00; Security Council Chamber

Speakers: Rafael Ramirez, President of Security Council from Venezuela; the Panel of Experts on Yemen; H.E. Bashar Ja’afari, Ph.D., the Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Written By: WIT Representative Jin Yoo

Edited By: WIT Representative Alex Margolick

Photo Credit: United Nation Relief and Works Agency via Getty Images

Nation-State of Emergency: Providing International Aid to Syria

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Syrian refugees in Kurdistan, Iraq.:

Today, at the 7611th meeting of the Council, there was an unanimous vote led by the President in favor of document S/2016/81, a draft resolution presented by France. The meeting was adjourned immediately afterwards.

The 7612th meeting about the situation in the Middle East and the agenda to be adopted in accordance with it, the S/2016/60 report of the Secretary General, was then initiated. Firstly, Mr. O’Brien spoke on the necessity to agree on providing aid in Syria despite political barriers. With over 200,000 people killed and more than 1 million injured, there are now 4.6 million refugees; the 13.5 million people left are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. He stressed the importance on the protection of civilians, calling the situation in Madaya as the “tip of the iceberg.” To give more numbers on the conflict in Syria, there are 2 million people out of school; 35 schools attacked in 2015. A mere 10% of the 113 requests on the much-needed humanitarian assistance were resolved, and many could not be approved due to the lack of security. He stressed three conditions: 1) stop targeting civilians and their infrastructures that are necessary for human survival, 2) facilitate full access to all people in need, including besieged areas for medical supplies, and 3) allow freedom of movement for all civilians. “The Syrian people cannot wait any longer,” he stated. Ms. Cousin reiterated this call for help with her following briefing. In July 2014, the first interagency convoy allowed people to leave and enter Madaya with only one checkpoint. However, in December 2015, the checkpoint was closed, leaving 44,000 people besieged. Now, food there is very limited – this is just one example of the struggle in Syria that desperately needs aid.

Meeting: Security Council, 7611th & 7612th Meeting

Date/Location: Wednesday, January 27th, 2016; 10:00-11:00; Security Council Chamber

Speakers: President of the United Nations Security Council, José Luis Cancela; Mr. Stephen O’Brien: Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Ms. Ertharin Cousin: Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme

Written By: WIT Representative Jin Yoo

Edited By: WIT Representative Alex Margolick

Photo Credit: Unknown

Placing the Displaced: Accomodating the Refugee Crisis

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   The Third Committee hosted a meeting to address the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The report focused on the refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East, where hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to seek safety over the last few months. 60 million people worldwide are forcibly displaced as a result of war and persecution. In the past five years alone, the number of people forced from their homes every single day has quadrupled from under 11,000 in 2010 to 42,500.

   The meeting began with remarks from delegates. The first delegate was the representative of Kuwait, and he paid tribute to the High Commissioner for extending humanitarian efforts to the refugees even under every difficult conditions. He stated that Kuwait emphasizes continuation and support to the high commission, and that the country has participated voluntarily to 1 million dollars in aid. The representative also explained that he was very concerned by the suffering of refugees and displaced people in Iraq, which resulted from activity carried out by the Islamic State extremist militant group.

   Another notable speaker was the representative of Pakistan, who stated that the process of helping the refugees has been much too slow and inadequate, and that the international community has ignored this for far too long. The delegate explained that only 127,000 people were able to return home this year, which is the lowest number since 1983. One of the biggest issues is the lack of nutrition and education among children, which could lead to the risk of losing an entire generation.

   A representative who offered a different perspective was the delegate from Kenya, who explained that the burden of hosting refugees is enormous, especially financially. However, Kenya continues to welcome refugees in accordance to tradition.

Meeting: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions

Date/Location: Wednesday November 4, 2015, 10:00 – 13:00; Conference Room 1

Speakers: Representative of Kuwait; Representative of Nigeria; Representative of Pakistan; Representative of Japan; Representative of Kenya; Representative of India

Written By: WIT Representative Kangho (Paul) Jung

Edited By: WIT Representative Alex Margolick

Photo Credit: Frank Augstein/AP

The Latest discussion on Humanitarian Affairs in ECOSOC at the United Nations

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The Humanitarian Affairs Segment provides an important forum for discussing the activities and issues related to strengthening the coordination of the humanitarian assistance of the United Nations. The focus of this report is on the opening of the Humanitarian Affairs Segment where Member States provided their respective positions.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Ibrahim O. Dabbashi stated that together we could identify ways to strengthen our collective response to the humanitarian challenges facing us today. H.E emphasised that every crisis is different and thus its context should determine the nature of assistance. Following Ms. Valerie Amos highlighted the security situation in different parts of the world: the Middle East and Africa have witnessed the displacement of millions of people; inter-communal violence in Myanmar and Philippines have killed and displaced several thousand people; and the largest number of refugees are in Afghanistan. She acknowledged and appreciated the generous funding of the member states in 2013 towards response plans and complimentary humanitarian action.

A representative from Bolivia then delivered its statement on behalf of Group of 77 and China. In its statement they declared that special attention should be paid to the guiding principles of respect of sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of States, which should remain the overarching parameters in all efforts for coordination of humanitarian assistance. Ireland stated that inter-communal and ethnic violence are the outcome of years and indeed decades of endemic poverty, under-development, weak democratic institutions and neglect by the international community. Furthermore, Ireland stressed on the protection and gender based violence to be a crucial objective in humanitarian assistance.

Switzerland introduced three points of debate: question of efficiency of humanitarian aid; questions of protection of victims in armed conflicts; and wanted to question the current humanitarian assistance model. Canada, then stated that they remain committed to working with their humanitarian partners to provide life saving and effective assistance to affected populations, collectively improve their capacity to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities, as well as to ensure coherence in humanitarian and development efforts, in order to achieve lasting and sustainable results.

Meeting Title: Humanitarian Affairs Segment
Speakers: His Excellency Ibrahim O. Dabbashi (Libya), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council; Ms. Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Ms. Ingrid Sabja, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Mr. Tim Mawe, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland; Ambassador Manuel Bessler, Head of Switzerland Humanitarian Aid Department; Ambassador Guillermo Rishchynski, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations
Location: ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations, New York.
Date: 23 June 2014
Written by WIT Representative: Aslesha Kaur Dhillon
Edited by WIT Representative: Sophia Griffiths-Mark 

Water Scarcity and Management in Critical Condition

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A panel of experts provided vital information on the critical issue of water management and sustainability in today’s NGO-led briefing. Talking about water conservation, Sharon Megdal said that we should not only discuss technological solutions but we should think about ways in which individuals and smaller organizations can conserve water. The issues of persuasion and education, she said, especially the education of youth are important. Youth are an opportunity for the future, she emphasized. She also said that cooperation between states is the way forward for the water issue.

ImageMr. Lipchin explained the concept of chronic water scarcity. He said that the ability to meet basic needs for water and sanitation is below 500m3/capita/year. While noting that the Middle East is a region of water scarcity, he said that Israel, Jordan and Palestine are all below this threshold. Israel has been able to meet an increasing demand for water through desalination and treatment of waste water for agricultural use. Initially the idea of using treated waste water was thought to have an impact on crop yield due to the low quality of water. However, Mr. Lipchin said that there has been an increase in crop yield. He also highlighted a challenge that Israel and its neighbors face. Almost everything in the region in terms of water is transboundary. The Arab institute is trying to address this issue cooperatively, solving not only Israel’s problems but also of its neighbors, including Palestine and Jordan.

Mr. Siegel shed light on drip irrigation, a process invented by Israel. In drip irrigation, water is dripped on the roots and the rest of the field does not get irrigated because it is of no value. 75% of all irrigated fields in Israel use it. It improves the crop yield and addresses the issues of food security, carbon footprint, water scarcity and gender issues.

 

Meeting Title: Every Drop of Water Makes A Difference
Speakers: Joseph Hess, JNF Vice President, Government Relations; Sharon B. Megdal, PhD., Director, Water Resources Research Center, The University of Arizona; Clive Lipchin, PhD., Director, Center for Transboundary Water Management, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies; Seth M. Siegel, J.D., Co-founder of Beanstalk, Sixpoint Partners and Vringo, and writer on water issues.
Date: 19 June 2014
Location: Conference Room 4 (NLB), UN Headquarters New York
Written by WIT Representative: Shan Cheema
Edited by WIT Representative: Marli Kasdan

Voices From Syria

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United Nations, New York Headquarters, 17 January 2014

During “Voices From Syria,” hosted by the Permanent Mission of Norway, three refugees from Syria spoke about their experiences during the current Syrian Civil War.  Mr. Knut Langeland the Norwegian Minister Counselor on Political Affairs, Disarmament, and the Security Council moderated.

Mr. Anas al-Dabas, a pharmacist from Darayya, Syria recounted how men from his town were pulled out into the street and humiliated by soldiers from the Assad regime.  Fifteen-second interrogations were deemed sufficient by the soldiers to establish the men as innocent or guilty, the later being punishable by death. Mr. al-Dabas explained that his neighbor, who narrowly survived the attack himself, showed him a basement in which 70 civilians were massacred.  Throughout the rest of the town more than 1,000 civilians had been killed by the Assad regime.

(A picture taken on January 19th of activists saving a young girl after her parents were killed in an air strike by a group loyal to President Assad in Allepo. The National. Picture: Mahmoud Hebbo)

Following this account, two cousins, Ms. Amineh Sawan and Ms. Hiba Sawan from Moadamiya, Syria detailed their experiences.  Feeling lightheaded, Amineh Sawan and her cousin rushed to a field clinic the day that the Assad regime deployed chemical weapons in late August 2013.  Upon their arrival, the pair sought to aid other victims by administering CPR.  Amineh Sawan recalled seeing other victims who had become paralyzed or twitched uncontrollably as result of the sarin gas. Hiba Sawan described how citizens of Moadamiya faced shelling and sniper fire at all times.  She recounted that the Assad regime deployed a strategy of “surrender or starve,” in which all access into and out of the area was cut-off.  

Mr. Langeland opened the floor to questions.  When asked about the future of Syria, all three refugees expressed concern about under education and the lack of hope for the their generation of young adults and teens. In closing, the refugees were asked whom they held accountable for these atrocities beyond the Assad regime. While Mr. al-Dabas looked at the inaction of the UN and the Unites States, Ms. Amineh Sawan and Ms. Hiba Sawan were more concerned about China, Russia, India, and other allies of Assad. All three Syrian refugees pled for their countries freedom, asking the world to stop clumping Syria with the external conflicts of Iran and Israel, and to focus on getting the current regime out of power so peace can be possible. 

Written by WIT intern: Katherine King