15 August 2017 – The joint task force by the so-called Group of Five (G5) &#8211 Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger &#8211 to tackle the threat of terrorism in Africa’s Sahel region is now operational, but a number of challenges remain, including funding, the United Nations Security Council was today told.

&#8220The creation of the G5 Sahel Joint Force has the potential to make a significant contribution to efforts already under way to stabilize the region,&#8221 the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, El-Ghassim Wane, told the 15-member Council in New York.

&#8220But we must also be realistic about the challenges that remain and the issues that remain to be resolved. The success of the Joint Force depends as much on deepening this regional partnership and on the applicable policy framework, as on the determination of its members to achieve its operationalization, and the unfailing support of their international partners.&#8221

Mr. Wane said the Joint Force offers a &#8220unique opportunity&#8221 to respond to regional challenges, but only if other aspects and cases of instability in the region are addressed.

&#8220Addressing the root causes of instability in the Sahel requires going beyond military action and tackling the governance gap, chronic poverty and unemployment, climate change and financing for development,&#8221 he said.

Abject poverty, fast population growth, climate change, recurrent food and nutrition crises, armed conflicts and violence converge dangerously and undermine the lives and assets and future prospects of millions of families across the Sahel region, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. More than 30 million people face food insecurity, one in five children under the age of five suffers from acute malnutrition and at least 4.9 million are displaced by the effects of conflicts.

Speaking to the Security Council, the senior UN official also noted the need to tackle cross-border crime and to impose targeted sanctions, as well as to create a political strategy to guide the activities of the Joint Force and align them with the Malian peace process and other regional initiatives.

He noted also that the Joint Force should work closely with the recently established working group of the Executive Committee on the Sahel chaired by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and the African Union’s peace and security architecture.

Among the greatest needs are funding, Mr. Wane said praying the five Member States for contributing funds to the project.

Those joint contribution, combined with the European Union’s pledged contribution, as announced by Commissioner Federica Mogherini in June, amount to €108 million, or 25 percent of total requirements.

&#8220While generating pledges and contributions to meet the requirements of the Joint Force will be critical, the setting up of transparent, coordinated and effective funding will be equally as important,&#8221 Mr. Wane said, noting the planned meeting in September hosted by German and French Defence Ministries to discuss further opportunities to support the Joint Force.

The Joint Force is ready to conduct its first coordinated operations along Mali’s borders with Nigeria and Burkina Faso in October, with greater capacity in spring 2018.

A written report on the workings of the Joint Force is expected in October.

Visiting injured ‘blue helmets’ in Mali

Meanwhile, in Mali today, the Head of the UN Mission, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, along with the Malian Prime Minister and governmental officials, visited the UN camp in Timbuktu and met with the wounded following yesterday’s attacks on UN camps in Douenza and Timbuktu.

A UN peacekeeper, a Malian soldier and a member of the Malian gendarmerie were killed, along with six Malian contractors in the attacks. A number of other people were also wounded.

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said the situation in Timbuktu today is &#8220calm but tense, with the presence of a large number of Malian security and defence forces.&#8221

15 August 2017 – The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) has been activated in Nepal to support response efforts in the aftermath of severe floods that have hit the nation, the office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country has said.

According to a humanitarian update issued by the office, as of 11:00 AM local time, 14 August, at least 66 people &#8211 including children &#8211 have been killed, 35 are missing, and many have been displaced following large-scale flooding and landslides in the wake of the worst rains to strike Nepal in 15 years.

&#8220The full extent of the disaster is not yet known [as] many affected areas remain inaccessible due to damaged roads and bridges,&#8221 read the update.

It also noted that rapid assessments are being conducted in the impacted districts and that initial reports show that power and Internet connectivity has been disrupted in some areas and transport infrastructure has been damaged. A major airport located in Biratnagar city (in the south of the country) has been completely inundated.

There is also growing concern for water-borne diseases and health facilities in at least two districts (Mahottari and Banke) have been completely flooded.

&#8220Anecdotal information from the field indicates that a significant number of pregnant and lactating mothers, disabled and other vulnerable groups are affected,&#8221 the update added.

The disaster comes at a time when the landlocked Asian nation was struggling to recover from the 2015 earthquakes. Some five of the 27 affected districts are also earthquake-affected, while four of them were hit by floods a year prior, the update mentioned.

The UN Resident Coordinator’s office also noted that the impact of the current floods could be exacerbated by pre-existing social and economic disparities, with some of the affected districts having the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) scores in the country.

&#8220Experience from the 2014 floods that affected Banke, Bardiya, Dang and Surkhet [districts] indicates that in [areas] where malnutrition is already a concern, the onset of such an emergency can have a sudden and severe impact on malnutrition rates,&#8221 added the humanitarian note.

15 August 2017 – The Central African Republic (CAR) has spiralled into violence and remains one of the worst countries in the world to be a child and &#8220right now there are few eyes looking at them and few hands trying to help,&#8221 the United Nations children’s agency said today.

&#8220The past year, and especially the last quarter, has seen a dramatic increase in violence,&#8221 Donaig Le Du, spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told reporters at the regular press briefing in Geneva.

&#8220There are now an estimated 600,000 internally displaced people, up from 440,000 at the end of April &#8211 a big increase in the past 2-3 months,&#8221 she continued, pointing out that 600,000 was the April 2014 count, right after the peak of the crisis.

&#8220And there are still 480,000 CAR refugees in neighbouring countries. So out of an estimated population of a little over five million, one in five is either a refugee or displaced, half of them children,&#8221 Ms. Le Du added.

UNICEF noted that as the country spirals into violence, Bangui, the capital, is quiet.

&#8220The roads are bad, and with the rainy season and insecurity, it becomes nearly impossible to travel. There is limited cell phone coverage,&#8221 the spokesperson explained.

She gave the example of six Red Cross volunteers whose deaths were not reported until after took two weeks after they were killed in Gambo earlier this month.

Two-thirds of the country is controlled by armed groups

Beyond Bangui, two-thirds of the country is controlled by armed groups.

&#8220In the cities and villages that were recently affected by violence, that means that schools are closed. That teachers don’t dare to go to schools. Several NGOs [non-governmental organizations] have retreated, which means no health care. Supplies are looted &#8211 at one health centre, solar panels were stolen from solar fridges for example, which means no immunizations,&#8221 Ms. Le Du elaborated.

Horrendous reports on children’s rights violations have surfaced over the past months and weeks.

&#8220Precise numbers are impossible to know but we know for a fact that children have been killed; there have been incidents of sexual violence, and that recruitment into armed groups is happening. But there are less direct violations with lasting consequences &#8211 having to flee or take refuge in the bush; having no education or health care, she said.

One specificity of the CAR conflict shows little fighting between armed groups, which instead attack civilians on the other side and increasingly target the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) and humanitarian actors.

An open letter to the UN Secretary-General from major international NGOs identifies the CAR as the most dangerous country in the world to deliver humanitarian assistance &#8211 with the world’s highest level of violence against humanitarian workers, accounting for one-third of all incidents targeting aid workers.

The CAR is also the world’s least developed country, placing 188th out of the 188 countries on the Human Development Index.

&#8220But the world cannot abandon CAR’s children &#8211 and right now there are few eyes looking at them and few hands trying to help,&#8221 Ms. Le Du concluded.

As of end-July, UNICEF’s $46.3 million humanitarian appeal for CAR children was 42 per cent funded. Having been revised up to $52.8 million, it now has a 63 per cent funding gap.