<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]><style>v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style><![endif]--><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Open Sans Condensed";}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#954F72;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.msonormal0, li.msonormal0, div.msonormal0
{mso-style-name:msonormal;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1919360875;
mso-list-template-ids:-381242660;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">UN News -
<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1035861?utm_source=UN+News+-+Newsletter&utm_campaign=47f950779e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_01_10_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fdbf1af606-47f950779e-105792637">
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/04/1035861?utm_source=UN+News+-+Newsletter&utm_campaign=47f950779e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_01_10_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fdbf1af606-47f950779e-105792637</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">WAYS TO PROMOTE & STRENGTHEN HUMANITARIAN AID & LAW-WOMEN & CHILDREN
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#C00000"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#C00000">As rape has increasingly become a weapon of war, one-in-five displaced women say they have experienced sexual violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#C00000">More than 21,000 grave violations of children’s rights were verified by the United Nations in 2017.</span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333"><img border="0" width="1025" height="463" id="Picture_x0020_22" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D53DAB.314C3EC0" alt="https://global.unitednations.entermediadb.net/assets/mediadb/services/module/asset/downloads/preset/assets/2019/02/28-02-2019-UNDP-Yemen-2015_destruction_war_38.jpg/image1170x530cropped.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">UNDP Yemen -
</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666;letter-spacing:.6pt">The port city of Aden in Yemen has been heavily bombed during the civil conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">1 April 2019 -
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">With the rights and lives of millions of women, children and men uprooted by conflict every year, the UN Security Council held a special meeting on Monday to examine
ways to promote and strengthen the rule of law, especially in the humanitarian field.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">Addressing the 15-member body, the UN humanitarian and emergency relief chief,
<a href="https://www.unocha.org/about-us/ocha-leadership"><span style="color:#00AEEF;text-decoration:none">Mark Lowcock</span></a>, proposed five areas of action. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“Where conflict persists, it is civilians who bear the brunt”, said Mr. Lowcock. “Wars have forced nearly 70 million people
to flee their homes. As combatants have resorted to siege and starvation as weapons of war, and as conflict has prevented farmers from planting and harvesting crops, destroyed vital infrastructure, and disrupted commercial trade, hunger levels have increased
again, after decades of decline.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">The UN humanitarian chief cited some concerning facts:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">60 per cent of people affected by food crises are living in countries with conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">Humanitarian workers are being directly targeted, with 317 attacks in 2018 resulting in 113 aid worker deaths.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">Medical personnel and facilities faced 388 attacks in 2018, resulting in over 300 deaths and 400 injuries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">As rape has increasingly become a weapon of war, one-in-five displaced women say they have experienced sexual violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:28.5pt;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2">
<![if !supportLists]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#333333"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><![endif]><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">More than 21,000 grave violations of children’s rights were verified by the United Nations in 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“All of these things are having a big impact on humanitarian operations,” Mr. Lowcock told the Council. “International humanitarian
law is designed to minimize human suffering in war, including by safeguarding humanitarian activities”, he added, noting the international community has a “strong legal framework to safeguard humanitarian activity in conflict”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">As the world marks 70 years since the Geneva Conventions were adopted – the internationally-agreed rules for conduct during
wartime designed to protect non-combatants, including those removed from the battlefield - here are five things the UN humanitarian chief wants Member States to focus on:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:16.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.25pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">1. Promoting policies and practices to strengthen adherence to international humanitarian law<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">Mr. Lowcock proposed that the Security Council seek much wider endorsement of political commitments made by some countries,
such as the Safe Schools Declaration, and the French Declaration on the Protection of Medical Care in Conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">He also called on Member States to develop policy frameworks that state which entities are responsible for the protection
of civilians; establish civilian casualty mitigation measures; prevent the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas; and make arms exports conditional on respect for international humanitarian law (IHL).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:16.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.25pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">2. Deepening understanding and acceptance of existing rules of war<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“Experience has shown that often, fighting parties have an incomplete understanding of IHL,” deplored Mr. Lowcock, who recommended
that training be providing for armed forces and members of non-State armed groups on the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols, among others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“Member States should help humanitarian organizations to spread such knowledge,” he added.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:16.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.25pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">3. Measures to enabling humanitarian and medical activities<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">To facilitate humanitarian access, Mr. Lowcock emphasized the need to establish civil-military coordination platforms or
humanitarian notification systems so that humanitarian operations can be respected.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“You and other Member States could do more to advocate for rapid and unimpeded access to people in need, including by adopting
clear, simple, expedited procedures, and by supporting humanitarian organizations to engage with armed groups for humanitarian purposes”, he told the Security Council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">In addition, he encouraged States to take practical measures to minimize the impact of sanctions and counter-terrorism measures
on humanitarian action. To limit the targeting of medical personnel, he recommended that legal protection be ensured for them when they act in accordance with their profession’s ethics.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:16.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.25pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">4. Incentives to boost compliance<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">The UN humanitarian chief stressed the need for incentives and penalties to boost compliance with IHL.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“For example, sanctions imposed by the Security Council can be a powerful tool, and States can exert their diplomatic, political
and economic influence over parties to conflict,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:16.5pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.25pt;margin-left:0in">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#333333">5. Accountability<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">Mr. Lowcock told the Security Council that Governments “need to do much better in holding individuals to account when they
commit serious violations of IHL.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">This includes for example: adopting legislation encompassing the full range of international crimes and jurisdiction over
them; strengthening national capacity to carry out impartial, independent investigations into allegations of war crimes and to prosecute suspects; and where needed, provide more support for international or hybrid accountability mechanisms, including the International
Criminal Court.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“Supporting – financially or otherwise – the systematic collection, analysis and documentation of evidence of violations
of IHL is important in this process”, he stressed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.25pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">“Let us never forget that accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law is required by law,” he
concluded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border:none;border-bottom:solid #00AEEF 2.25pt;padding:0in 0in 5.0pt 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;line-height:18.75pt"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Open Sans Condensed";color:#4D4D4D;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:-.25pt"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>