The climate change crisis is currently ravaging millions of peoples’ livelihoods in the Horn of Africa leading to a rapid increase in demand for humanitarian needs and assistance. As a result, the intensity of cyclic droughts are becoming more severe, diminishing water resources and multiple climate-related shocks exacerbate displacement of a larger population into desolations with little or no access to water and food.

According to theUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Djibouti, the most affected country in the region by the climate change, contains more than 280,000 people who do not have food in the country. In a recent visit to Djibouti by Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ursula Mueller, called on the international community to take immediate action towards tackling the climate change issues, particularly in Djibouti and the entire Horn of Africa.

“Climate change is real, and I could see it here. I saw the widespread drought and I met communities that can barely access safe water. They explained to me how this situation is impacting their lives. Djibouti has had virtually no contribution to the global climate emergency, but its population is suffering the consequences daily,” said Ms. Mueller.

In two days visit to the country to assess the effects of climate change and the consequences for the humanitarian situation in the region, Ms. Mueller noted a devastating impacts of climate change that has contributed to a limited livelihoods opportunities leading to a higher level of poverty and unemployment, lack of water, poor hygiene conditions and increasing risk of disease outbreaks.

“Severe acute malnutrition rates are alarming and considered an emergency according to global standards. In Bondara village, women told me how they were doing whatever it takes to put food on the table for the family, but the frequent droughts are preventing them from doing so,” Ms. Mueller added.

According to the climate change profile for the Greater Horn of Africa published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands on April 2018, Djibouti is ranked 141 out of 181 countries globally which are vulnerable to climate change as well as 51st most vulnerable and 33rd least ready to cope with impact of climate change.

With the current increase in temperature and arid conditions experience in the region, UN reports indicate that only 0.01 per cent of the land arable with minimal annual rainfall, exposing more than 58% of the rural population to food insecurity while 23% live in abject poverty.

Due to its proximity to Gulf countries. Djibouti forms a transiting point of refugees and asylums seekers to the Gulf countries with 400 to 600 migrants crossing daily, fleeing the impact of conflict, instability and harsh climate in neighbouring countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and recently Yemen. Djibouti is also home to some 30,000 refugees and asylum-seekers and an estimated 100,000 migrants.

“It was heart-breaking to hear a 20-year-old young woman mentioning that her dream is to find a job as a maid in Saudi Arabia, and she is risking her life in search of a better opportunity,” She added.

An estimated 27 million people – or 24% of the total food insecure people in the world– lived in seven of the eight countries in the IGAD region, according to a new report released by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

Ambassador (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, Intergovernmental Authority on Development Executive Secretary, acknowledged that climate change shocks are the main drivers of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa and call on the IGAD members to invest more on climate resilience and adaptation to climate change measures.

“The main drivers of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in our region are climate, conflict and economic instability. I call on IGAD specialized offices, Member States and partners to invest further in resilience, adaptation to climate change, conflict prevention and sustaining peace to overcome vulnerability and address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition” said Ambassador (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary.

The Deputy Humanitarian Chief affirmed the need for urgent action to address the underlying causes of vulnerabilities and get on a path to sustainable development in Djibouti and the region.

“But the Government needs further support to help communities build up resilience, to be self-sufficient so that the recurring shocks do not lead to further suffering and more costly crises.” She emphasized.

L'articolo The UN Calls for Action Over Climate Change Crisis in Djibouti proviene da InsideOver.

United Nations aid chief Mark Lowcock was able to breathe a sigh of relief this week as he announced that Saudi Arabia was finally going big on a multimillion-dollar pledge to tackle Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.

For weeks, Lowcock had complained that Saudi and the United Arab Emirates, who head a military coalition fighting in Yemen’s civil war, had only paid a fraction of the combined $1.5 billion they promised for the turbulent country in February.

On Monday, Lowcock, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator said a recent UAE payment of $200m and a pending Saudi transfer of $500m would help fight cholera and provide food, water and other supplies to some 24m aid-dependent Yemenis.

While the new funds will keep life-saving aid schemes running a few more months, humanitarian experts told Inside Over that Saudi and UAE pledges and payments should be seen in the context of their military operations in Yemen.

Jeremy Konyndyk, an Obama-era US aid chief, and Aisha Jumaan, a Yemen aid coordinator, said that by over-pledging funding and then under-delivering the cash had helped push millions of Yemenis closer to the brink of famine.

Abu Dhabi and Riyadh launched military operations in Yemen in 2015, hoping for a quick victory over the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Konyndyk, who headed USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance during the Obama administration, told Inside Over that “pledging bait and switch” by Saudi and the UAE undercuts UN aid projects in Yemen.

By failing to deliver on funding promises, the UN is “left in the lurch” and has to abandon life-saving schemes, said Konyndyk, now a policy analyst at the Center for Global Development, a think tank.

“The Saudi strategy isn’t explicitly designed to make the Yemeni population suffer, but the suffering of the Yemeni population is a byproduct of the strategy that they are completely willing to accept,” said Konyndyk.

“The idea is to choke off enough of the economy to weaken the Houthis and strengthen the hand of the coalition. And, if the Houthis are put under enough pressure, they will buckle.”

Konyndyk did not accuse Riyadh of malice but described a “Byzantine bureaucracy” with competing political, military and humanitarian agendas that result in more “capricious and politicised” decision-making than is found with traditional Western donors.

“The Saudi government really wants to get good PR from the aid that it provides for Yemen. At certain levels of their government, there is more interest in the PR bump they get than from the actual good” of aid work undertaken, said Konyndyk.

Jumaan, founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, an aid group, went further, describing a Saudi-UAE strategy to deliberately hurt ordinary Yemenis in rebel-held areas in a hope that they rise against the Houthis.

“It’s a war tactic; it’s not accidental. Its part of their starvation warfare on Yemeni people,” Jumaan told Inside Over. “The Saudis pledge for Yemen but they never pay up. By pledging, they deter other countries from make pledges themselves.”

At the pledging meet in February, the two Gulf monarchies each promised $750 million to Yemen. In July, a UN tracking system showed that Saudi had paid only $121.7m while the UAE had handed over about $195m of that sum.

“Yemen should get unconditional funds. They also should get it promptly with UN agencies having to beg for it. It should come without strings attached or favours. Better yet, the coalition blockade on Yemen should be lifted,” added Jumaan.

Neither the UAE nor Saudi Arabia’s mission to the UN answered Inside Over’s interview requests. Previously, both Gulf governments have rowed with the UN over how much money they routed through the world body.

The long-running war, widely seen as a proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has left more than two-thirds of Yemenis needing aid, forced millions of people from their homes, and killed tens of thousands more.

Pre-dawn strikes on Saudi oil facilities on Saturday, to which the Houthis claimed responsibility but which the United States blamed on Iran, have raised tensions in an already-turbulent region and raised the prospects of a broader conflict.

Iran has repeatedly denied organising the September 14 raids, which hit the world’s biggest crude oil processing facility and initially knocked out half of the output from Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil exporter.

L'articolo Saudi and UAE Aid Delays A ‘War Tactic’ in Yemen proviene da InsideOver.

The civil war in South Sudan between government forces and opposition forces broke out in December 2013 and is still ongoing. Almost 400,000 people have been estimated to likely have been killed, according to one report, with around half of the lives lost estimated to be due to violence. Nearly 4 million people have been further internally displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries. All parties to the conflict have been accused of committing serious abuses, including unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, attacks on civilians and civilian property, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

On 12 September 2018, Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, the leader of the People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (Splm-Io), and other rebel factions signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-Arcss) in Addis Ababa. The agreement has reduced fighting in many parts of the country, and has also facilitated the return of senior opposition figures to Juba to allow for political dialogue. In late October 2018, Machar returned to South Sudan for a nationwide peace celebration that was meant to mark the end of the civil war. However, conflict and violence continue, including a significant number of incidents of rape and sexual violence against women and girls. Many also remain vulnerable to rising food insecurity.

Further, a humanitarian emergency still affects the majority of the civilian population. Some armed groups also remain outside of the R-Aarcss, including an alliance led by the National Salvation Front Thomas Cirillo. A recent clash involving the National Salvation Front and a faction of the Splm-Io saw at least 9 people killed in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria.

On 13 July 2018, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2428 – which stipulated that until 31 May 2019, all Member States were to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to South Sudan, from or through their territories — of arms and related material, and withhold training, technical and financial assistance related to military activities or materials. However, it laid out several exemptions to the country’s arms embargo — including for material and activities related to humanitarian activities, such as those intended exclusively for support of or use by UN personnel.

Possible violations of arms embargoes

In its latest report, the Panel of Experts on South Sudan, drawing on its earlier interim report, reiterated a number of likely violations of the arms embargo. The Panel of Experts noted the ongoing arrival of cargo aircraft at Juba International airport during the night, of which there was no meaningful monitoring and which likely included foreign-registered aircraft and aviation companies originating from outside South Sudan. The Panel further noted that no inspection reports were provided by customs agencies of neighbouring States during the mandate period. The Panel emphasized that effective implementation of the arms embargo would benefit from inspections of cargo aircraft destined for Juba International Airport or airports in South Sudan where there is a military presence, and of trucks crossing the Nimule border post on the border with Uganda – which is equipped with sophisticated scanning technology.

There is already a history of possible arms embargo violations. A 2018 report by the London-based Conflict Armament Research (Car) argued that some of the military materiel re-transferred from Uganda to South Sudan was in potential violation of an EU arms embargo. Car’s weapon documentation indicated that the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (Spla) in South Sudan and non-state forces allied with the Spla in neighbouring Sudan had acquired small arms and ammunitions exported from at least three EU Member States (Bulgaria, Romania, and the Slovak Republic) to Uganda since the onset of the current South Sudan conflict.

Deadline extension for national unity government

Most recently, both South Sudan’s government and Machar’s opposition requested a six-month extension to the May 12 deadline of this year for opposition leader Riek Machar to return to the country and once again become Kiir’s deputy in a unity government. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) Council of Ministers endorsed a six-month extension for the establishment of a Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity. IGAD further stressed that the extension was ‘non-renewable.’

L'articolo South Sudan: Arms Embargo Violation and Extension of Unity Government proviene da InsideOver.