UN
UN ocean treaty talks resume with goal to save biodiversity
United Nations members gather Monday in New York to resume efforts to forge a long-awaited and elusive treaty to safeguard the world's marine biodiversity.
Nearly two-thirds of the ocean lies outside national boundaries on the high seas where fragmented and unevenly enforced rules seek to minimize human impacts.
The goal of the U.N. meetings, running through March 3, is to produce a unified agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of those vast marine ecosystems. The talks, formally called the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, resume negotiations suspended last fall without agreement on a final treaty.
“The ocean is the life support system of our planet,” said Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Canada’s Dalhousie University. “For the longest time, we did not feel we had a large impact on the high seas. But that notion has changed with expansion of deep sea fishing, mining, plastic pollution, climate change,” and other human disturbances, he said.
The U.N. talks will focus on key questions, including: How should the boundaries of marine protected areas be drawn, and by whom? How should institutions assess the environmental impacts of commercial activities, such as shipping and mining? And who has the power to enforce rules?
“This is our largest global commons,” said Nichola Clark, an oceans expert who follows the negotiations for the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. “We are optimistic that this upcoming round of negotiations will be the one to get a treaty over the finish line.”
The aim of the talks is not to actually designate marine protected areas, but to establish a mechanism for doing so. “The goal is to set up a new body that would accept submissions for specific marine protected areas,” Clark said.
Marine biologist Simon Ingram at the University of Plymouth in England says there's an urgent need for an accord. “It’s a really pressing time for this — especially when you have things like deep-sea mining that could be a real threat to biodiversity before we’ve even been able to survey and understand what lives on the ocean floor,” Ingram said.
Experts say that a global oceans treaty is needed to actually enforce the U.N. Biodiversity Conference's recent pledge to protect 30% of the planet's oceans, as well as its land, for conservation.
“We need a legally binding framework that can enable countries to work together to actually achieve these goals they've agreed to,” said Jessica Battle, an expert on oceans governance at World Wide Fund for Nature
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Monica Medina said the treaty was a priority for the country. “This agreement seeks to create, for the first time, a coordinated approach to establishing marine protected areas on the high seas,” she said. "It’s time to finish the job.”
Officials, environmentalists and representatives of global industries that depend on the sea are also watching negotiations closely.
Gemma Nelson, a lawyer from Samoa who is currently an Ocean Voices fellow at the University of Edinburgh, said that small Pacific and Caribbean island countries were “especially vulnerable to global ocean issues,” such as pollution and climate change, which generally they did not cause nor have the resources to easily address.
“Getting the traditional knowledge of local people and communities recognized as valid” is also essential to protect both ecosystems and the ways of life of Indigenous groups, she said.
With nearly half the planet's surface covered by high seas, the talks are of great importance, said Gladys Martínez de Lemos, executive director of the nonprofit Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense focusing on environmental issues across Latin America.
“The treaty should be strong and ambitious, having the authority to establish high and fully protected areas in the high seas,” she said. “Half of the world is at stake these weeks at the United Nations.”
Ukraine in mind, US frantic to avert Mideast showdown at UN
The Biden administration is scrambling to avert a diplomatic crisis over Israeli settlement activity this week at the United Nations that threatens to overshadow and perhaps derail what the U.S. hopes will be a solid five days of focus on condemning Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken made two emergency calls on Saturday from the Munich Security Conference, which he is attending in an as-yet unsuccessful bid to avoid or forestall such a showdown. It remained unclear whether another last-minute intervention might salvage the situation, according to diplomats familiar with the ongoing discussions who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Without giving details, the State Department said in nearly identical statements that Blinken had spoken to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Munich to “reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a negotiated two-state solution and opposition to policies that endanger its viability.”
“The secretary underscored the urgent need for Israelis and Palestinians to take steps that restore calm and our strong opposition to unilateral measures that would further escalate tensions,” the statements said.
Neither statement mentioned the proposed U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate halt to Israeli settlements. The Palestinians want to bring that resolution to a vote on Monday. And neither statement gave any indication as to how the calls ended.
But diplomats familiar with the conversations said that in his call to Abbas, Blinken reiterated an offer to the Palestinians for a U.S. package of incentives to entice them to drop or at least delay the resolution.
Those incentives included a White House meeting for Abbas with President Joe Biden, movement on reopening the American consulate in Jerusalem, and a significant aid package, the diplomats said.
Abbas was noncommittal, the diplomats said, but also suggested he would not be amenable unless the Israelis agreed to a six-month freeze on settlement expansion on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.
Blinken then called Netanyahu, who, according to the diplomats, was similarly noncommittal about the six-month settlement freeze. Netanyahu also repeated Israeli opposition to reopening the consulate, which was closed during President Donald Trump's administration, they said.
The U.S. and others were hoping to resolve the deadlock on Sunday, but the diplomats said it was unclear if that was possible,
The drama arose just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which will be the subject of special U.N. General Assembly and Security Council sessions on Thursday and Friday.
The U.S. opposes the Palestinian resolution and is almost certain to veto it. Not vetoing would carry considerable domestic political risk for Biden on the cusp of the 2024 presidential race and top House Republicans have already warned against it.
But the administration also fears that using its veto to protect Israel risks losing support at the world body for measures condemning Russia's war in Ukraine.
Senior officials from the White House, the State Department and the U.S. Mission to the U.N. have already engaged frantic but fruitless diplomacy to try to persuade the Palestinians to back down. The dire nature of the situation prompted Blinken's calls on Saturday, the diplomats said.
The Biden administration has already said publicly that it does not support the resolution, calling it “unhelpful." But it has also said the same about recent Israeli settlement expansion announcements.
U.N. diplomats say the U.S wants to replace the Palestinian resolution, which would be legally binding, with a weaker presidential statement, or at least delay a vote on the resolution until after the Ukraine war anniversary.
The Palestinian push comes as Israel’s new right-wing government has reaffirmed its commitment to construct new settlements in the West Bank and expand its authority on land the Palestinians seek for a future state.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The United Nations and most of the international community consider Israeli settlements illegal and an obstacle to ending the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Ultranationalists who oppose Palestinian statehood comprise a majority of Israel’s new government, which has declared settlement construction a top priority.
The draft resolution, circulated by the United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the council, would reaffirm the Security Council’s “unwavering commitment” to a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace as democratic states.
It would also reaffirm the U.N. Charter’s provision against acquiring territory by force and reaffirm that any such acquisition is illegal.
Last Tuesday, Blinken and the top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and Italy condemned Israel’s plans to build 10,000 new homes in existing settlements in the West Bank and retroactively legalize nine outposts. Netanyahu’s Cabinet had announced the measure two days earlier, following a surge in violence in Jerusalem.
In December 2016, the Security Council demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” It stressed that halting settlement activities “is essential for salvaging the two-state solution.”
That resolution was adopted after President Barack Obama’s administration abstained in the vote, a reversal of the United States’ longstanding practice of protecting its close ally Israel from action at the United Nations, including by vetoing Arab-supported resolutions.
The draft resolution before the council now is much shorter than the 2016 document, though it reiterates its key points and much of what the U.S. and Europeans already said last week.
Complicating the matter for the U.S., the Security Council resolution was introduced and is supported by the UAE, an Arab partner of the United States that has also normalized relations with Israel, even as it has taken a tepid stance on opposing Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
The U.S. will be looking to the UAE and other council members sympathetic to the Palestinians to vote in favor of resolutions condemning Russia for invading Ukraine and calling for a cessation of hostilities and the immediate withdrawal of all Russian forces.
UN highlights key role of weather balloons in climate monitoring
Weather balloons play an important part in a vast, intricate global observation system, providing vital information for climate monitoring and forecasters, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday.
On the heels of recent news reports about Canada and the US shooting down several flying objects, including an alleged Chinese "spy balloon," inside their borders, the UN agency said weather balloons provide just a tiny fraction of the millions of observations gathered worldwide daily.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden made public remarks after days of speculation over three unmanned aerial objects shot down last weekend by the US military, saying that they were "most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions."
More than 50 satellites collect information from space, and about 400 aircraft operated by some 40 commercial companies gather input from the skies, the WMO said.
From the seas, about 400 moored buoys, 1,250 drifting buoys, and 7,300 ships provide help in addition to 10,000 automated and land-based observing stations across the planet.
Every day, free-rising latex balloons are released simultaneously from almost 900 locations worldwide. Nearly 1,000 balloons gather daily observations that provide input in real-time.
The valuable information gathered contributes to computer forecast models, local data for meteorologists to make forecasts and predict storms, climate monitoring and data for research to better understand weather and climate processes.
Computer forecast models that use weather balloon data are used by all forecasters worldwide, the WMO said.
Equipped with battery-operated radiosondes that capture observations, the floating information collectors are airborne for around two hours.
They measure pressure, wind velocity, temperature and humidity from just above the ground, to heights of up to 35 kilometres, sustaining temperatures as cold as -95°C (-139°F), before bursting and falling back to the Earth under a parachute.
Playing a key role as part of the world's global observing network for decades, they are the primary source of above-ground data.
Their valuable input feeds the Global Observing System, among the most ambitious and successful instances of international collaboration of the last 60 years, the UN agency said.
The system consists of individual surface and space-based observing systems owned and operated by a plethora of national and international agencies.
Read more: Why balloons are now in public eye — and military crosshairs
UN appeals for $5.6 billion for millions affected by Russia-Ukraine war
Almost a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN has appealed for $5.6 billion to help millions of people affected inside the war-torn country and beyond.
The situation for many in Ukraine remains desperate, amid “relentless” shelling of civilian targets and infrastructure, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, told the media Wednesday in Geneva.
Humanitarian funding is needed to continue supporting lifesaving aid convoy deliveries to communities on the front line, “into areas of great danger and difficulty and priority needs,” said Griffiths, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
To continue doing the lifesaving work, the OCHA chief appealed for $3.9 billion to help 11.1 million of the 18 million people who need humanitarian assistance inside Ukraine. Officially called the Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine, it brings together more than 650 partners, the majority of them Ukrainian organisations.
In parallel with the OCHA appeal, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is also seeking $1.7 billion to help Ukrainian refugees in 10 host countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said: “I think we’re becoming a little bit used to this; we shouldn’t, because it’s quite appalling what the Russian invasion is doing to the country,” he said.
“Refugees from the conflict have every intention of returning to Ukraine at some point. But until that happens, Tuesday’s Refugee Response Plan appeal will continue to help millions of refugees and hundreds of UN partners on the ground.”
In particular, funding will support health and nutrition services, education, livelihoods and temporary protection, the high commissioner said.
Read more: War's longest battle exacts high price in 'heart of Ukraine'
“The Ukraine refugee crisis – displacement crisis – remains the largest in the world, clearly,” he added. “Almost six million estimated internally displaced people. Plus, you know, the refugees in Europe who have registered for temporary protection are close to five million now, 4.8 million. But we know that there's many more that have not.”
Amid reports that violence is escalating in the east, the latest UN estimates indicated that more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine in the last year, with 12,000 injured. “This is almost certainly a low estimate,” Griffiths said.
Asked about UN-led efforts to secure an extension of a deal to delivery of fertilisers and foodstuffs from Ukraine and Russia to the many countries that need them all over the world, the aid official said: “The Global South and international food security needs that operation to continue.”
More than 21.3 million tonnes of corn, wheat, oil and other comestibles have been shipped across the Black Sea, as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which should be allowed to continue, the UN emergency relief coordinator added. “We don’t need it stopped in the middle of March and I hope – I hope and believe, actually – that it will be extended. And that is because it is an obvious case for international humanitarian security.”
Inside Ukraine, the UN migration agency, IOM, said the scale of destruction in the south and east has been massive – so much so, that one senior UN humanitarian worker with the agency told UN News that some towns “don’t even exist anymore.”
“We see heavy fighting on both sides (of the contact line),” said IOM Area Manager Johannes Fromholt, who described how some locations were “filled with military personnel, military equipment.”
Amid an uptick in violence in the east, Fromholt said some civilians have managed to flee from Donetsk oblast to the more central town of Znamyanka, where IOM is helping to repair collective shelters for new arrivals.
Read more: Impact of Russia-Ukraine War on Asia’s climate goals
For those unable to leave, the situation remains dire.
“In frontline locations (the conflict is) actually getting worse, with increased fighting on a day-to-day basis,” the IOM worker said. “So, people simply have to stay down in the basements into shelters where of course, it’s cold. There’s no electricity in these frontline locations.”
UN experts for immediate funding to avert food ration cuts for Rohingyas
UN experts on Thursday warned about catastrophic consequences for Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh if life-saving food aid is slashed and issued an urgent plea for donations to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) Rohingya Refugee Response.
"The planned rations reductions are the devastating consequence of the international community's failure to provide funding for initiatives that address the fundamental needs of Rohingya refugees. Rations will be slashed for Rohingya refugees starting in a few weeks, just before Ramadan. This is unconscionable," the experts said.
The WFP indicated that it would reduce rations for Rohingya refugees by 17 percent in March and said if no new funding commitments were made by April – a new round of deeper cuts would have to be made. It is appealing for $125 million in funding to avoid ration cuts.
"If these cuts are made, they will be imposed on vulnerable people who are already food insecure. Acute malnutrition levels remain high, and chronic malnutrition is pervasive among the Rohingya refugee population in Bangladesh, with more than a third of children stunted and underweight," the UN experts said.
"The repercussions of these cuts will be immediate and long-lasting, as refugees remain almost entirely dependent on this assistance for their nutritional needs," they said.
"The most vulnerable, including children under five, adolescent girls, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, will be particularly exposed."
"The Rohingya, survivors of genocidal attacks by the Myanmar military, are now further victimised by the failure of the international community to ensure their basic right to food," the UN experts said.
Reductions in vital food assistance can make refugees more desperate, which could fuel further violence and unrest in the camps. This could also lead to myriad human rights concerns, such as a heightened risk of human trafficking, particularly of children and girls, and more refugees embarking on perilous boat journeys.
"While many states have called for justice and accountability for the Rohingya, those in the camps need more than words and statements of solidarity. Rohingya refugees need immediate action from the international community to ensure that these cuts – and their generation-spanning consequences – are avoided. The stakes could not be higher," Michael Fakhri, special rapporteur on the right to food, and Thomas Andrews (US), special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said.
Read more: Rohingya response: Sweden announces $7.6m for energy, environment programme
Bangladesh has 5th highest number of leprosy cases in the world
The situation of persons affected by leprosy in Bangladesh indicates that the country’s outstanding economic growth is not reaching the entire population, a UN expert said today (February 15, 2023).
She called for draft anti-discrimination laws to formally recognise leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
“Leprosy is hidden beneath multiple layers of systemic exclusion, structural discrimination and institutional neglect,” UN Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, Alice Cruz, said in a statement at the end of an eight-day visit to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has the fifth highest number of leprosy cases in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), with relevant data indicating ongoing transmission, late diagnosis, and gaps in the health system.
Also read: UN leprosy expert to visit Bangladesh
“While I commend the Prime Minister’s commitment to eliminate leprosy by 2030, I am concerned that the state administration is failing to implement this promise,” the UN special rapporteur said.
“Adequate budget allocation with clear targets, indicators and benchmarks is essential to turn the government’s pledges into reality,” Cruz said.
The UN expert expressed deep concerns about a high potential number of hidden leprosy cases, critically delayed diagnosis, ongoing transmission and disability among children and widespread disease-related discrimination and stigmatisation.
She also highlighted limited access to care for those affected – including rehabilitation, reconstructive surgery, assistive devices and psychosocial support.
Also Read: Leprosy still infects 4000 people every year in Bangladesh
Cruz deplored the data gap and limited understanding of leprosy among the relevant authorities.
“Fundamental principles of the right to development, such as equity, self-determination, participation and justice are not being met,” the UN special rapporteur said.
“Persons affected by leprosy and their families are still not enjoying the benefits of economic growth, nor are they seeing discrimination against them duly redressed,” she said.
The expert expressed concerns about reports on corruption with regard to access to disability-related benefits and other social protection schemes, limited efficiency of oversight institutions and essentially paternalistic approaches to people living in vulnerable situations.
Read More: Karkuma Immune Plus boosts type-2 diabetic patients' immunity by 27percent: DU-BIRDEM study
She noted that the government of Bangladesh was committed to actively engaging with the international human rights system to protect the fundamental rights of persons affected by leprosy.
During her visit, Cruz met members of the government, representatives of civil society organisations, healthcare workers, and persons affected by leprosy. She visited healthcare facilities and communities affected by leprosy in Nilphamari and Bogura.
The UN special rapporteur will present her report on the visit to the Human Rights Council in June 2023.
Read More: Bangladesh built fast response capabilities for influenza, other respiratory infection using lessons learned from Covid-19: WHO
UN appeals for $397 million to help Syrian quake survivors
The United Nations chief launched a $397 million appeal Tuesday to help nearly 5 million survivors of last week’s devastating earthquake in rebel-held northwest Syria who have received very little assistance because of deep divisions exacerbated by the country’s 12-year war.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appeal a day after he welcomed an agreement between the U.N. and Syrian President Bashar Assad to open two new crossing points from Turkey for an initial period of three months. The U.N. has only been allowed to deliver aid to the northwest Idlib area through a single crossing at Bab Al-Hawa -- at Syrian ally Russia’s insistence. Since the quake, the U.N. says 84 trucks have gone through Bab Al-Hawa.
Guterres said the devastation from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that ravaged southern Turkey and northwestern Syria on Feb. 6 “is one of the worst in recent memory,” and “we all know that lifesaving aid has not been getting in at the speed and scale needed.”
He said the $397 million will provide “desperately needed, life-saving relief for nearly 5 million Syrians — including shelter, health care, food and protection” for three months.
Guterres said the U.N. is in the final stages of preparing an emergency appeal for quake-ravaged southern Turkey. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the appeal will be launched “probably in the coming days.”
He urged the international community to provide the emergency funding without delay, saying: “The human suffering from this epic natural disaster should not be made even worse by manmade obstacles — access, funding, supplies.”
The secretary-general said aid to Syria must get through by all routes to all areas without restrictions.
Read more: Rising toll makes quake deadliest in Turkey's modern history
A senior U.N. World Food Program official warned that food insecurity in afflicted parts of Syria had been rising drastically even before the earthquake struck.
“It was very bad before. Now it’s dramatic,” said Corinne Fleischer, the agency’s Middle East Director.
“Half of the population faces hunger. And that’s the worst that we’ve seen since the beginning of the crisis in Syria. Even at the height of the war, we didn’t have 12 million people food insecure,” she said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Guterres announced that an 11-truck convoy was on the move to go through one of the newly opened crossings at Bab Al-Salam, “with many more to come.” He said the second new crossing at Al Raée is also open, “and goods are flowing.”
Dujarric said the convoy went through the crossing without any obstacles and “we’re very optimistic that things will move quickly.” He noted that the two crossings have been used by relief organizations not affiliated with the U.N. and the roads are in better condition than those leading to Bab Al-Hawa.
The announcement of the two additional crossings from Turkey came as the U.N. Security Council was meeting for the first time Monday afternoon on the difficulties of getting aid to northwest Syria.
The U.N. has also been trying to send a convoy to the northwest across conflict lines within Syria, but it hasn’t gotten a green light from all parties. The convoy has reportedly been blocked by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebel group with ties to al-Qaida that controls part of the northwest.
France’s U.N. ambassador, Nicolas De Riviere, told reporters before Monday’s council meeting that there were two options — either the Syrian government grant additional access to the northwest or the council would try to adopt a resolution authorizing additional crossing points to the region.
After the meeting and the announcement of the two new crossings, De Riviere said there should be no “obstacles” to delivering aid through the three crossings. If there are, he said, the Security Council should look into adopting a resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which means it can be enforced militarily, to authorize the crossings and get aid to the millions in need.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States will be watching closely to see if aid is getting to Syrians in need and will push for a U.N. resolution if it isn’t. “It took seven days to get this decision to allow the borders to be open -- that decision should have been made on day one,” she said.
Secretary-General Guterres, asked about a possible meeting with president Assad, said what’s needed now is not high-level visits that divert resources but stepped-up relief efforts.
“I am following that very, very closely,” he said, “and whenever it would be useful and positive, I am ready to do whatever is needed.”
As for whether a Security Council resolution is needed, he reiterated that the two new crossings are open, “and we will see, of course, if the situation would change, we would adopt the necessary measures.”
Adelaide Ministerial meeting: UN agencies welcome renewed commitments from Bali Process states
As the Bali Process ministers concluded their meeting in Adelaide Friday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) welcomed the endorsement of an updated strategy for cooperation designed to reinvigorate an agile, relevant and responsive Bali Process as it moves beyond 20 years since its establishment.
The eight ministerial meeting reviewed developments in the Bali Process region and agreed priorities to address emerging challenges in relation to people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes.
Officials were tasked to reactivate the consultation mechanism in response to the increased maritime movements and explore options for Bali Process engagement and support.
The three UN agencies continued to stress the need for prompt search and rescue and timely disembarkation in a place of safety when lives at sea are in danger.
Last year was one of the deadliest years in the region since the Andaman Sea Crisis in 2015. In 2022, more than 3,600 Rohingya refugees were adrift in the sea, with over 340 dead or missing.
"We need to save lives. We need a regional conversation to establish a predictable and equitable mechanism for disembarkation and to support states where disembarkation takes place," said Gillian Triggs, UNHCR's assistant high commissioner for protection. "Not allowing disembarkation has cost human lives, and the duty to rescue is not only a legal international obligation but also a moral one."
IOM, UNHCR and UNODC also shared a proposal for action that provides practical suggestions for enhancing cooperation, including through the use of a regional consultation mechanism to address maritime movements in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. If activated, this would allow members to better engage in the response to urgent irregular migration emergencies and be an instrument for effective dialogue and coordination.
Additionally, the UN agencies continued to urge members to build the capacity of states to initiate proactive and joint investigations of criminal networks involved in transnational organised crimes, offering support in tackling common issues affecting member states in the region and beyond.
"Given the most recent trafficking trends into forced criminality, IOM reiterates the importance of screening irregular migrants for vulnerability to understand when states may be dealing with victims of trafficking who need specialized support," said Sarah Lou Ysmael Arriola, IOM regional director for Asia and the Pacific. "This would both offer better protection for people in vulnerable situations, but also provide valuable information to law enforcement on possible criminal activity."
Trafficking to commit online fraud and scams occurs in the context of growing organised criminality in the region. To address this complex challenge, a comprehensive response must entail tackling corruption, money laundering, human trafficking and cybercrime, while protecting those who were exploited and forced to participate in activities exclusively profiting organised criminal groups.
"We need a strong political commitment to take on these challenges. And it will need to be put into action through targeted responses," said Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC regional representative. "To this end, we are in discussions to develop a regional framework to address transnational organised crimes specifically related to scams and connected crimes, strategic coherence and operational results are urgently needed."
In addition to efforts to tackle people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crime, the root causes underlying displacement and factors influencing desperate boat journeys also need to be addressed.
This year also marks the second Global Refugee Forum, co-convened by Japan in Geneva this December, which would be a moment for Bali Process members to further demonstrate solidarity to address displacement issues.
The UN agencies had earlier called for the meeting to not only reaffirm previous commitments made in 2016 and 2018 but also to fully materialise and operationalise these commitments.
Read more: Bali Process: Momen calls for sustainable solution over 'painkiller'
More aid reaches Syria's quake victims but it's not enough: UN
A second UN aid convoy reached northwest Syria Friday to help victims of the still-unfolding earthquake tragedy, but humanitarians said far more lifesaving help is needed, and much more quickly.
Fourteen trucks crossed into opposition-held areas of Syria from Türkiye at Bab al-Hawa, the UN migration agency, IOM, said.
That crossing is the only one authorised for aid deliveries by the UN Security Council, which prompted calls, including from the secretary-general, "to explore all possible avenues to get aid and personnel into all affected areas."
Echoing the growing international calls for quicker and easier access into northwest Syria via new routes, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it was ready to move supplies there, although roads had been damaged by Monday's earthquakes.
"That slows down our deliveries," said Corinna Fleischer, WFP regional director in the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe. "We need to be able to go across the borders, we need customs officials to be there in sufficient numbers…We need all parties to do the right thing now."
Crossline deliveries need to restart and be stepped up from Government-controlled areas into opposition territory, the WFP official said. "A full 90 percent of people in the northwest depend on humanitarian assistance."
Prepositioned stocks supplied by crossline deliveries that were carried before the earthquakes are being distributed already, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said, adding that it hoped an agreement with the government would allow for "fast and regular access" to the northwest.
"We are running out of stocks and we need access to bring new stocks in," Fleischer said, as she noted calls for the crossing at Bab al-Salam – also into northwest Syria – to be reopened.
In the first four days since deadly earthquakes struck the region, the WFP said it delivered food assistance to 115,000 people in Syria and Türkiye.
More than 25,000 died, according to the latest reports, and many tens of thousands are too scared to move back into buildings that they fear may collapse, forcing them to sleep in cars, tents and anywhere else they can find shelter, amid freezing winter temperatures.
Hot meals, ready-to-eat food rations and family food packages that require no cooking facilities have been provided already by the WFP.
In total, WFP requires $77 million for food rations and hot meals for 874,000 quake-affected people in Türkiye and Syria. This includes 284,000 newly displaced people in Syria and 590,000 people in Türkiye, which includes 45,000 refugees and 545,000 internally displaced people.
In another update, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said it had released medical supplies in northwest Syria to 16 hospitals treating survivors of Monday's earthquakes.
On Thursday, medical and surgical trauma supplies from the WHO's logistical hub in Dubai also reached Türkiye, but needs remain massive, with hundreds of clinics in both Türkiye and Syria damaged in the disaster, along with many hospitals.
Specialist international emergency medical teams coordinated by the WHO have been deployed and there will be more coming to complement the national teams already hard at work, said WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris.
As the UN and partners step up the aid effort, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said some 5.3 million people in Syria may have been left homeless by the disaster at the start of the week.
"There are 6.8 million people already internally displaced in the country. And this was before the earthquake," said Sivanka Dhanapala, UNHCR representative in Syria.
Providing shelter and relief items remains the focus of the UNHCR response, and ensuring that collective centres for displaced people have adequate facilities, tents, plastic sheeting, thermal blankets, sleeping mats and winter clothing.
The UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, said late on Friday it began distributing 60,000 dignity kits to women and girls in the worst-affected areas of northwest Syria.
A convoy of 13 trucks arrived in Aleppo from Damascus Friday, containing 9,500 female hygiene kits, 1,000 winter blankets and clothing for 5,000 people, which will be distributed to temporary shelters in Aleppo.
And more than 20 UNFPA-supported mobile health teams were taking reproductive health and psychosocial support to women and girls in the three most impacted areas of Aleppo governorate.
Six trucks were being prepared to carry supplies from Damascus to Latakia and Hama over the weekend, the UNFPA said.
Read more: Survivors still being found as quake death toll tops 25,000
UN agencies launch emergency response as powerful quake rocks Turkey, Syria
After a massive earthquake hit southern Türkiye and northern Syria in the early hours of Monday, prompting fears of a humanitarian crisis, the UN aid agencies scrambled to help many thousands of reported victims, including those still believed to be buried under the rubble.
The initial 7.8 magnitude quake struck close to Gaziantep, followed by another 7.5 magnitude tremor several hours later.
In a situation overview, the UN aid coordination office OHCHA, said there had been "close to 2,000 deaths reported" in the two countries impacted, with at least 78 aftershocks reported, ahead of the second earthquake.
The Turkish government issued a Level 4 alarm, calling for international assistance. Northwest Syria is home to around 4.1 million people who rely on humanitarian assistance, the majority, being women and children.
Syrian communities have been hit by an ongoing cholera outbreak together with harsh winter weather. So far there is a 48 percent funding gap for the last quarter of 2022, with $371 million pledged, out of a required total of just over $800 million.
Emergency medical teams from the World Health Organization (WHO) have been given the green light to provide essential care for the injured and most vulnerable, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.
Specialist UN surge teams from the Office of UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) also tweeted that they were "ready to deploy," amid multiple horrifying social media posts showing huge buildings collapsing in heavily built-up areas.
The OCHA underscored that the initial 7.8 magnitude quake hit at the height of winter. The epicentre was in southern Türkiye, where nearby Gaziantep – an important UN aid hub for northern Syria – was among the cities affected.
Although the earthquake was felt as far away as Lebanon, closer to home, northern Syria's Aleppo and Idlib also reportedly saw thousands of buildings collapse, including two hospitals.
Humanitarian needs in northern Syria are already huge, as the region is home to millions of people displaced by the country's long-running war.
Snow and rain have hampered the work of rescue teams, whose families are also among those believed to be buried under collapsed buildings.
After an official request for international assistance from Ankara, the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, confirmed that it was ready to support the emergency response.
Echoing that message of support, the UN migration agency, IOM, said its warehouse in Gaziantep had prepared non-food items and essential relief ready to be deployed. "The IOM teams are also doing on-the-ground assessments to inform the response," said spokesperson Safa Msehli.
Read more: What to know about the big quake that hit Turkey, Syria