UNITED NATIONS: The United Nation’s chief on Tuesday lamented the “terrible truth” that the world is failing to protect a growing number of civilians caught in conflicts.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, the guardian of treaties enshrining those commitments, lamented that a large number of countless civilians are undergoing a “a living hell.”
From Ukraine and Sudan to Africa’s Sahel and the Mideast, civilians are scrambling to evade explosives and missiles and to find food and medicine — and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating.
United Nation Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated the Security Council should urge the countries to respect the rules of war.
“Governments with influence over warring parties should engage in political dialogue and train forces on protecting civilians,” he said. “And countries that export weapons should refuse to do business with any party that fails to comply with international humanitarian law.”
His recent report on the protection of civilians in conflicts in 2022 pointed to over 100 conflicts across the globe and an average duration of more than 30 years.
Year 2022, though, saw new highs for the number of people forcibly displaced and a 53 percent increase in United Nations recorded civilian deaths to nearly 17,000, including around 8,000 in Ukraine.
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric said during recent visits to Europe, Africa and the Mideast that she saw a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation with “entire regions trapped in cycles of conflict without an end in sight.”
Spoljaric further said many of the conflicts were compounded by climate shocks, economic hardship and food insecurity. She issued an urgent call to countries to protect critical infrastructure in urban areas, and civilians pointing to large-scale destruction in Ukraine, Sudan and Syria. She also urged that food be provided to all civilians in the conflict areas and for access to be given to humanitarian workers.
“We need to break the pattern of violations, and this can be done through strong political will and sustained action,” she stated.
Switzerland, which is serving its first two-year term on the Security Council, chose the protection of civilians in conflict as its showcase event. Representatives from more than 80 countries were scheduled to speak that reflect a widespread concern.
Swiss President Alain Berset, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting, said that as the depository state for the Geneva Conventions and the home of the Geneva-based ICRC, respect for international humanitarian law was a long-standing priority for the country.
The number of people facing acute food insecurity has reached 258 million in 2022 which he noted was “30 times the population of New York City. More than two-thirds of them live in conflict zones, including in the Sahel, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Myanmar or in countries where violence is widespread such as Haiti, said Berset.
He urged all countries to implement a 2018 UN Security Council resolution against the use of starvation as a method of warfare and unlawfully denying humanitarian access and life-saving supplies to civilians, and a 2021 resolution condemning unlawful attacks that deprive civilians of essential services.
The meeting saw clashes between Western supporters of Ukrain and Russia, as the council has seen at many sessions since Moscow’s February 24, 2022, invasion of its neighbour.
