The Security Council does not do enough to protect humanitarians, says the UN assistance official
The United Nations official who helps supervise emergency aid efforts demanded Wednesday that The Security Council Pass and take concrete measures to protect humanitarian workers, at a time when violence directed against humanitarians in conflict areas is alarmingly high and increasingly standardized.
The Member States of the CSNU gathered to discuss Resolution 2730which was adopted last year to maintain the security of humanitarian personnel operating in armed conflicts. But almost a year and many more murders after, The UN Deputy Help Chief is drilling the advice to put actions to words and make the perpetrators accounts.
“Let’s be clear: there is no shortage of robust international legal frameworks to protect humanitarian and UN workers,” Joyce Msuya He told the Council. “The law and norms of human rights, conventions related to the activities and staff of the UN, and international humanitarian law together provide clear obligations to safeguard humanitarian personnel, assets and operations.”
“What is missing is the political will to fulfill.”
The meeting occurred only a few days after the crews of the Humanitarian UN Agency (Ocha) and the Palestinian Society Network Media recovered the bodies of 15 doctors and emergency responders of a mass tomb In southern Gaza. Israeli forces killed the workers Several days before while trying to save livesand Ocha’s team on the ground recalled that Israeli soldiers shot civilians fleeing.
In a separate attack on March 19, Israeli forces killed an UN employee And he wounded another six, bringing the number of humanitarian workers killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, at least 408, which the UN says that the Palestinian territory is the most dangerous place for humanitarian.
“We extend our condolences to the families of the victims. We demand answers and call justice,” Msuya said. “And since we are here today to discuss the protection of humanitarian workers, I should ask this advice: what will you do to help us find those answers and achieve justice, and avoid more murders?”
Last year It was the deadliest on the album for humanitianswith 377 humanitarian workers killed in 20 countries, and many more injured, kidnapped, attacked and arbitrarily detained. About 95% of these deaths are local humanitarian that Msuya described as pillars of international help efforts.
“We have become numb with this violence,” Msuya said. “Taking a shot is not … I repeat, it is not, part of our work.”
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As much as international humanitarian workers remain unprotected in conflict areas, local humanitarian workers are even more vulnerable. In addition to facing death, injuries or kidnapping, local humanitarian personnel in regions such as Palestine, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo also deal with misinformation campaigns that paint them as terrorists, putting a goal in the back and normalizing any violence against them, as long as they do not receive little media coverage.
“It is an endless loop of blood, pain, death. And Gaza has become a death trap,” Jonathan Whittall’s head, Ocha’s head for Palestine, said Wednesday. “We cannot accept, and as humanitarian, I need to emphasize this, that we cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are dehumanized to the point of being unworthy of survival.”
“And yet, today, unfortunately, marks a month without any supply that enters Gaza. That is a month without food, without fuel, without help, nothing. Nothing has entered,” he continued. “Then, 2.1 million people are trapped, bombarded, hungry, and the consequences are evident for all of us who are here. It is evident to people who live this war.”
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Msuya reminded the Member States to protect humanitarians, Make sure countries are respecting international law, And speak when they are not because “silence, inconsistency and selective outrage only emboldened the perpetrators.” The UNSC also has to move forward to impose consequences on those who damage the humanitarians “without exception,” he added.
“The Security Council should play a key role in pressing for responsibility … by asking the concerned governments to pursue justice and follow them,” Msuya said. “When national jurisdictions fail, the Council can use international mechanisms, even through the reference of situations to The International Criminal Court “.