03/08/2017 by Dominik Stillhart. Humanitarian workers have to balance the risks they are facing with the life-saving impact of their humanitarian work.

Names you’ve never heard. Places you’ve never been. Murders that probably passed you by. Six bodies, riddled with bullets, stuffed in a Land Cruiser, left abandoned in a dry, barren valley in northern Afghanistan.

They were staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and had been delivering winter food for the goats and sheep owned by local people.

It happened four weeks ago. We don’t know who did it, nor why. Two staff members were also abducted.

An event terrible in itself. But not a unique event. In recent months, from Afghanistan to South Sudan, from Yemen to Syria; humanitarian and health workers, hospitals, clinics and aid convoys, from many different organisations, have all been hit.

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03/15/2017. As the brutal war in Syria enters its seventh year, peace “is a moral and political imperative both for the Syrian people and for the world,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, urging the conflict parties to fully back a fragile ceasefire and ensure aid access, as well as to support UN-facilitated talks set to pick up again late this month.

“For six years now, the Syria people have been victims of one of the worst conflicts of our time,” said Mr. Guterres in a statement on the crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 after a crackdown on massive popular protests throughout the country turned into an armed struggle that has dispalced millions.

The UN chief issued two urgent appeals to all the parties, firstly, to make the most of the 30 December 2016 ceasefire established by the guarantors of the Astana meetings – Russia, Turkey and Iran – enhance it further, and ensure that relief aid can reach all those in need in Syria without any obstacles and impediments.

Secondly, the UN chief appealed to all those with influence on the conflict parties to overcome their differences and work together to put an end to the conflict, namely by contributing to the success of the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2254 (2015), which endorsed a road map for a peace process in Syria, including specific language on governance, constitution and elections.

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03/10/17. Senior officials from the European Union (EU) and IOM met in Brussels on March 9th to further strengthen cooperation on addressing the challenges and the opportunities related to global migration governance.

The annual strategic meeting, known as “The Senior Officials Meeting,” was hosted by European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.

“There is no doubt that today migration is one of the mega-trends that define our century. In Brussels, for example, more than half of the population was born in a foreign country. Building walls and fences is not only against our common humanity, it is also a bad policy,” said Commissioner Stylianides.

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing and Deputy Director General Laura Thompson took part in the high-level dialogue – the fourth of its kind – together with other senior officials from the European Commission (DG HOME, DG DEVCO, DG NEAR and DG ECHO), the European External Action Service. Officials from IOM’s Geneva Headquarters and the regional office in Brussels also attended.

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03/10/2017. 2016 was a momentous year for the United Nations as the Organization supported Member States in their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our collective roadmap to a safer, fairer and more sustainable planet.

While events in 2016 tested the United Nations and its partners, the year also proved that international collaboration lives on. The Paris Agreement was signed by a record number of Member States and entered into force less than one year after its signing. The same enthusiasm spurred Member States and civil society to adopt the Agenda 2030 and its call for global solidarity.

The world has met on the banks of Lake Geneva for over 150 years to tackle its most challenging problems. The United Nations Office at Geneva is at the heart of “International Geneva”, bringing together a unique mix of actors and providing the critical support necessary for constructive dialogue, innovative thinking and concerted action.

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03/16/2017. 2017 is already a year of brutal conflict and escalating humanitarian crises. More than 20 million people in north-east Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are facing the threat of famine over the coming six months. In Iraq, Syria and Yemen, war rages on, with women and children suffering the most.

In this context, where more than 128 million people around the world need assistance, OCHA will undertake ambitious reforms to improve our effectiveness despite a significantly restricted budget.

The global cost to support people in need has increased 12 per cent in 2017 to US$22.2 billion. To effectively coordinate humanitarian response and advocate for people who need it most, OCHA is requesting voluntary contributions of $260 million—a 16 per cent decrease from last year.

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03/10/2017. Just back from Kenya, Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia – countries that are facing or are at risk of famine – the top United Nations humanitarian official today urged the international community for comprehensive action to save people from simply “starving to death.”

“We stand at a critical point in history. Already at the beginning of the year we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the UN,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien told the Security Council today.

Without collective and coordinated global efforts, he warned, people risk starving to death and succumbing to disease, stunted children and lost futures, and mass displacements and reversed development gains.

“The appeal for action by the Secretary-General can thus not be understated. It was right to sound the alarm early, not wait for the pictures of emaciated dying children […] to mobilize a reaction and the funds,” Mr. O’Brien underscored, calling for accelerated global efforts to support UN humanitarian action on the ground.

Turning to the countries he visited, the senior UN official said that, about two-thirds of the population (more than 18 million people) in Yemen needed assistance, including more than seven million severely food insecure, and the fighting continued to worsen the crisis.

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03/20/2017 by Adam Segal. The US and China have made progress on curbing commercial cyberespionage. Now, the global powers need to set limits when it comes to digital warfare.
The US and China have significant differences on the legitimate uses and preferred shape of cyberspace. The 2011 White House International Strategy for Cyberspace, for example, states that the US will work toward an “open, interoperable, secure, and reliable information and communications infrastructure.”
In contrast, Beijing has argued for a norm of cybersovereignty, the idea that states have the right to control their own cyberspace much like they do any other domain or territory.
While China has become increasingly more vocal and assertive about how cyberspace should be governed, it has yet to offer any justifications on how and why a state may conduct computer network attacks or espionage. Still, even in the absence of any official Chinese policies, it is possible to identify the motivations of state-backed hackers. Chinese leaders view cyberspace as essential to fostering economic growth, protecting and preserving the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, and maintaining domestic stability and national security.

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