The United Nations must keep its promises to end extreme poverty and ensure no person goes hungry

• World leaders meet tomorrow (18 Sep) at the United Nations in a bid to salvage ambitious promises to lift the planet's poorest.

• But the development summit, on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly that opens Tuesday, threatens to be eclipsed by growing geopolitical tensions -- which will be symbolized by the presence at the meeting in New York of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• In 2015, UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, 17 targets to transform the world by 2030 including by completely ending extreme poverty and making sure not a single of the planet's eight billion people goes hungry.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the summit will seek a "global rescue plan" on the targets, as he acknowledged that only about 15 percent were on track to be met and that metrics on some were heading in reverse.

[NOTE from Sudan Watch Ed: Ukraine and Russia must stop their senseless war immediately. Ukraine must not be given any funds needed by the UN to keep its promises to transform the world, eradicate hunger and extreme poverty. Leaders must be held accountable if those promises are broken.]

Read full story.

FROM AFP NEWS 
Published by The Barron's Daily
Written by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS
Dated Sunday 17 September 2023 - here is a full copy:

UN Meet Looks To Salvage Promises On Helping World's Poorest

Image: Women who fled the war in Sudan await the distribution of international aid rations at the Ourang refugee camp, near Adre town in eastern Chad on August 15, 2023 (Photo credit: Mohaned BELAL)

World leaders meet Monday at the United Nations in a bid to salvage ambitious promises to lift the planet's poorest, at a time when vulnerable nations are facing a volley of crises.

But the development summit, on the eve of the annual UN General Assembly that opens Tuesday, threatens to be eclipsed by growing geopolitical tensions -- which will be symbolized by the presence at the meeting in New York of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In 2015, UN member states adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, 17 targets to transform the world by 2030 including by completely ending extreme poverty and making sure not a single of the planet's eight billion people goes hungry.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the summit will seek a "global rescue plan" on the targets, as he acknowledged that only about 15 percent were on track to be met and that metrics on some were heading in reverse.

The goals are "about the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people and the health of our natural environment," Guterres said.

"They're about righting historic wrongs, healing global divisions and putting our world on a path to lasting peace," he said.

Efforts to devote money and attention to the goals have been repeatedly set back, including by the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other tumult, worsening climate catastrophes and sharp increases in the cost of living.

Image: A light display created using drones is performed before the city skyline and United Nations headquarters as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the Amazon rainforest and the global climate crisis ahead of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (Photo credit: Ed JONES)

The United Nations summit "is a vital space to make change," said Abby Maxman, the president of anti-poverty activist charity Oxfam America.

"Leaders must be held accountable, heed the calls of those on the front lines and use this time to listen, make meaningful commitments and follow up with real action," she said.

She said that one powerful step would be for wealthy nations to back reforms of international economic institutions to address the crushing debts impacting parts of the developing world.

A Group of 20 summit in New Delhi this month took initial steps to address representation in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

"But overall, will this SDG summit reignite a sense of 'hope, optimism and enthusiasm,' as it's been billed?" asked Noam Unger, a development expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Rising authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, but also geostrategic competition and economic distress, those are likely to overshadow other fundamental issues related to climate change and global development," he said.

Developing countries' leaders will be present in force on Monday. The United States, which has pumped $43 billion in military aid into Ukraine to help defend against Russian invasion, has hoped to show it is also interested in development.

Image: People rally to end fossil fuels ahead of the 78th United Nations General Assembly and Climate Ambition Summit in New York on September 17, 2023 (Photo credit: LEONARDO MUNOZ)

"The world's most vulnerable are looking to us, like the young woman I met in Chad (in September), who fled unthinkable -- unthinkable -- violence in Sudan and had to leave her family and her education behind," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

"This young woman is counting on us. She's counting on the world in her time of need," she said.

But a senior European diplomat warned the gap was growing between the developing and developed worlds.

One goal for the summit is "making sure that that rift doesn't grow further," the diplomat said.

This story was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com. © Agence France-Presse

Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/un-meet-looks-to-salvage-promises-on-helping-world-s-poorest-b32a31d4

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UN blames Sudan's RSF over 'mass grave' in Darfur

Report at Reuters.com
By Emma Farge and Khalid Abdelaziz
Published Thursday 13 July 2023; 3:58 PM GMT+1 - here is a full copy:

At least 87 buried in Sudan mass grave, including women, children, UN says

Summary

- Victims buried in shallow grave near El Geneina

- Paramilitary force RSF denies any involvement

- Women and children among the dead, UN says

- Darfur violence recalls 'Janjaweed' killings of 2000s

GENEVA, July 13 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights office said on Thursday at least 87 people including women and children had been buried in a mass grave in Sudan's West Darfur, saying it had credible information they were killed by the country's Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

RSF officials denied any involvement, saying the paramilitary group was not a party to the conflict in West Darfur.

Ethnically motivated bloodshed has escalated in recent weeks in step with fighting between rival military factions that erupted in April and has brought the country to the brink of civil war. In El Geneina, witnesses and rights groups have reported waves of attacks by the RSF and Arab militias against the non-Arab Masalit people, including shootings at close range.

"According to credible information gathered by the Office, those buried in the mass grave were killed by RSF and their allied militia around 13-21 June...," the U.N. statement said.

Local people were forced to dispose of the bodies including those of women and children in the shallow grave in an open area near the city between June 20-21, it added. Some of the people had died from untreated injuries, it said.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the killing of civilians and hors de combat individuals, and I am further appalled by the callous and disrespectful way the dead, along with their families and communities, were treated," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in the same statement, calling for an investigation.

Sudanese people, who fled the violence in their country and newly arrived, wait to be registered at the camp near the border between Sudan and Chad in Adre, Chad April 26, 2023. REUTERS/Mahamat Ramadane/File Photo

An RSF senior official who declined to be identified said it "completely denies any connection to the events in West Darfur as we are not party to it, and we did not get involved in a conflict as the conflict is a tribal one."

Another RSF source said it was being accused due to political motivations from the Masalit and others. He reiterated that the group was ready to participate in an investigation and to hand over any of its forces found to have broken the law.

It was not possible to determine exactly what portion of the dead were Masalits, a U.N. spokesperson added.

The ethnic killings have raised fears of a repeat of the atrocities perpetuated in Darfur after 2003, when "Janjaweed" militias from which the RSF was formed helped the government crush a rebellion by mainly non-Arab groups in Darfur, killing some [SW Ed: allegedly] 300,000 people. Sudanese civilians have fled the area on foot, some having been killed or shot as they escaped.

"This report is a good first step, but more efforts are needed to uncover more violations," said Ibrahim, a refugee in neighbouring Chad, who asked to withhold his last name for fear of retribution.

Army spokesperson Brigadier General Nabil Abdullah told Reuters the incident "rises to the level of war crimes and these kinds of crimes should not pass without accountability."

"This rebel militia is not against the army but against the Sudanese citizen, and its project is a racist project and a project of ethnic cleansing," he said.

Play Video: Report from Khartoum, Sudan

(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva and Khalid Abdelaziz in Dubai; Additional reporting by Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo; Editing by Rachel More and William Maclean)

View original and video:  https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/least-87-buried-mass-grave-sudans-west-darfur-un-2023-07-13

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Sudan: Darfur rebellion started in 2003 never ended

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: When did the Darfur conflict started in 2002/3 end? It didn't end because the root causes were never resolved. See below: 'The root causes of the Darfur conflict: A struggle over controlling an environment that can no longer support all the people who must live on it'.

The report from Chad is by @paraicobrien and @Zahra_ZW of @Channel4News. The stories of individual families forced to free #darfur are terrifying. History repeats itself, more brutally than ever. https://t.co/doXrL9khPZ

— Lindsey Hilsum (@lindseyhilsum) July 11, 2023

_________________________ 

Sudan Watch - 14 July 2006
'The root causes of the Darfur conflict: A struggle over controlling an environment that can no longer support all the people who must live on it'

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2006/07/root-causes-of-darfur-conflict.html

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Sudan UN OHCHR: El-Geneina uninhabitable, infrastructure destroyed, aid continues to be blocked

Report at Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - ohchr.org
Published Saturday 24 June 2023 - here is a full copy:

Comment by UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, raising alarm on killings of people fleeing El Geneina in West Darfur, Sudan

Interviews with people who have fled El-Geneina, West Darfur, into Adre in Chad have revealed horrifying accounts of armed “Arab” militia backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killing people fleeing El Geneina on foot. Our UN Human Rights officers have heard multiple, corroborating accounts that “Arab” militia are primarily targeting male adults from the Masalit community. All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road – and the stench of decomposition. Several people spoke off seeing dozens of  bodies in an area referred to as Shukri, around 10km from the border, where one or more of the Arab militias reportedly has a base.

We are gravely concerned that such wanton killings are ongoing and urge immediate action to halt them. People fleeing El-Geneina must be guaranteed safe passage and humanitarian agencies allowed to access to the area to collect the remains of those killed.

Out of 16 people we have so far been able to interview, 14 testified that they witnessed  summary executions and the targeting of groups of civilians on the road between El-Geneina and the border – either the shooting at close range of people ordered to lie on the ground or the opening of fire into crowds. The testimonies recounted killings that took place on 15 and 16 June, but also in the past week. We understand the killings and other violence are continuing and being accompanied by persistent hate speech against the Masalit community, including calls to kill and expel them from Sudan.

One 37-year-old man said that from his group of 30 people fleeing to the Chad border, only 17 made it across. Some were killed after coming under fire from vehicles belonging to the RSF and “Arab” militia near the Chad border, while others were summarily executed, he said. Those who survived had their phones and money looted from them by armed men shouting: “You are slaves, you are Nuba”.

A 22-year-old woman gave similar accounts of killings. She told how one badly wounded young man had to be left on the ground, as they had no way of carrying him to safety across the border. “We had to leave him because we had only one donkey with us,” she said. It is difficult to estimate how many injured people may have been left to die in such circumstances.

Two interviewees testified separately that they, along with a group of people, were ordered by the RSF to leave El-Geneina. One said she was hit with sticks while being told to “get up and go to Chad – this is not your country.”

The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on the RSF leadership to immediately, unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina, and other violence and hate speech against them on the basis of their ethnicity. Those responsible for the killings and other violence must be held accountable.

El-Geneina has become uninhabitable. Essential infrastructure has been destroyed and movement of humanitarian aid to El-Geneina continues to be blocked. We urge the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor between Chad and El-Geneina, and safe passage for civilians out of areas affected by the hostilities. ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence +  +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org

In Nairobi
Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org

Tag and share

Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights

View original: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/06/comment-un-human-rights-spokesperson-ravina-shamdasani-raising

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Sudan: Violence in Darfur forces thousands to flee

Photo: A staff member with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, talks to Sudanese people who have just arrived in Adre, Chad, as refugees.   © UNHCR/Aristophane Ngargoune

Violence in Sudan’s Darfur forces thousands to flee

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. 28 January 2020 |  Español  |  Français  |  عربي

Clashes in El Geneina, in Sudan’s West Darfur State, have forced more than 11,000 people to flee as refugees into neighbouring Chad since last month. Four thousand of them have fled during last week alone and it is estimated that the clashes have displaced some 46,000 inside the country.

Most of them were already internally displaced people and when attacks happened in West Darfur in late December 2019, including on displacement camps, people fled and found temporary refuge in schools, mosques and other buildings in El Geneina.

With El Geneina only 20 kilometers from the border, thousands of refugees crossed into Chad, a number UNHCR anticipates could reach 30,000 in the coming weeks as tensions persist. UNHCR teams on the ground are hearing accounts of people fleeing after their villages, houses and properties were attacked, many burnt to the ground.

In Chad, the refugees are currently scattered in several villages along a line that spans nearly 100 kilometers near the border, around the town of Adré, in the province of Ouaddaï which already hosts 128,000 Sudanese refugees. The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed, while health conditions are a concern.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, its Government counterpart and humanitarian partners are on the ground and coordinating the response to this emergency, registering refugees and providing lifesaving aid including food, water, relief items. Refugees needing special care, including unaccompanied children, are being identified and assisted.

However, the rate of refugee arrivals risks outpacing our capacity. More resources and support will be required to bolster the response.

Together with the Chadian government, UNHCR is in the process of identifying a new site further from the border, where the refugees can be relocated and receive the security and assistance they desperately need.

Meanwhile in West Darfur, UNHCR and other humanitarian actors are also rushing relief items such as blankets, sleeping mats and jerry cans to assist displaced men, women and children at over three dozen gathering points. In the past week, trucks with additional relief items arrived from UNHCR’s warehouses in other Darfur states, with more aid on the way.

UNHCR continues to seek international community’s support for the transitional government of Sudan in addressing the root causes of the conflict in Darfur. Restoring security will be key for peacebuilding. This will also allow much needed development assistance to support sustainable solutions, including the return of Sudanese displaced inside the country and living as refugees, once conditions are conducive.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

• In Chad, Simplice Kpandji, kpandji@unhcr.org, +235 68 59 30 60
• In Khartoum, Roland Schönbauer, schoenb@unhcr.org, +249 912 179 387
• In Geneva, Babar Baloch, baloch@unhcr.org, +41 79 513 9549

View Original: https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2020/1/5e2ff3bd4/violence-sudans-darfur-forces-thousands-flee.html

Reuters exclusive interview: Mahamat Nour the Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed

[Sudan Watch Editor's Note: This entry has been updated on 05 Dec 2010 as the original hyperlinks, published here in 2006, have become broken due to Reuters archiving of the report on another page]

HERE below is a copy of an exclusive interview (by Opheera McDoom for Reuters, reporting from the Sudan-Chad border Feb 12) with 35 year old Mahamat Nour, the leader of the insurgents trying to topple the Chadian president.

In this, his first interview with a Western journalist, he said well-armed defectors are flocking to his remote camps on the Sudanese border and are eager to take power and his forces are now "eight times stronger" than when they attacked the Chad border town Adre in December, a raid he describes as a test run. Copy in full:

EXCLUSIVE-Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed
12 Feb 2006 11:55:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Opheera McDoom

SUDAN-CHAD BORDER, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Confident and relaxed, the leader of the insurgents trying to topple the Chadian president says well-armed defectors are flocking to his remote camps on the Sudanese border and are eager to take power.

In his first interview with a Western journalist, Mahamat Nour said his forces are now "eight times stronger" than when they attacked the Chad border town of Adre in December, a raid he describes as a test run.

A stocky man with a commanding presence and an organised mind, Nour, 35, comes from a family that has played a key role in making and breaking Chad's leaders over the past two decades.

His father, the head of a powerful east Chadian tribe, helped launch both the coup that brought President Idriss Deby to power in 1990 and that of his predecessor Hissene Habre.

Many of the area's tribes span the long and porous border, making it almost impossible to differentiate nationalities.

Nour himself is fluent in Arabic, French and his native tribal language Tama, speaking each with a slight stutter.

His desert bases are well defended. A jolting three-hour drive on dirt tracks through Sudan's Darfur region brings the visitor to a narrow opening between two hills, where vehicles full of armed men appear from nowhere and surround the car.

From the French spoken by the men in new green uniforms, it is clear this is one of the insurgents' camps.

Both Deby and Nour know this rocky terrain well from the days when coups were planned here. Sudan's western Darfur region is now in the throes of its own civil war.

Nour left Deby's government in 1994, disillusioned with what he calls Deby's "autocratic and corrupt ways." Since then he has remained in opposition, spending time in Khartoum and other African capitals.

FINAL CHANCE

Nour has said he has offered Deby a final chance to accept a national forum to discuss democratic change or face removal by force.

"No one wants a war, but if that's the only way, we will go to Chad," he said.

His ambitions have fuelled tension between Sudan and Chad and prompted Deby to declare a "state of belligerence" with Sudan, which he has accused of supporting Nour.

Last week the two states' presidents agreed at a mini-summit in Tripoli to ban insurgents from setting up bases in each country, but the border is remote and largely unsupervised.

Nour said December's failed attack on Adre was a test run and, with deserters arriving every day including high-level government officials, he now had thousands of troops.

Truckloads of young men and supplies, including brand new weapons, were arriving every day at the well-secured camp. Heavy weapons including rocket and mortar launchers were out of sight just beyond the deceptively simple entry checkpoint of a branch and two stones. There appeared to be no shortage of funds.

Chadian Colonel Ahmed Youssef Bishara, one of a group of senior officers who deserted recently and came to the rebel camp, said he was surprised at the strength of Nour's forces.

"There's not been anything as big as this in all my experience," he said. "Here we have many heavy weapons and many troops -- much more than Deby had."

JOIN NOUR'S RANKS

Bishara said he had some 1,800 troops in southern Chad near the border and was ready to join Nour's ranks to oust Deby.
"Deby has taken the money from the Chadian people -- now we want freedom," said Bishara, a tall, sinewy figure wearing dark glasses and green army uniform.

"We have people in the high ranks with us. When Deby is sleeping we know what he just ate for dinner," he said with a grin.
Colonel Bishara Moussa Farid, who took part in peacekeeping operations in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has also turned on Deby.

"He accused me of attempting a coup and imprisoned me for six months," said Farid, 52, a vetern who took part in the coups which installed both Deby and his predecessor Hissene Habre in power in N'Djamena.

"These troops here are much better off than the previous resistances," he said. "We didn't have equipment and heavy weapons as we do now," he added.

Some members of the opposition groups that signed an agreement in December to form the United Front for Democratic Change said there were doubts over whether Nour was strong enough to unite them.

"Everywhere in the world there are problems like this," was Nour's reply. "But I can say that as of today, it's all going well."
Nour and his troops were confident of success. "We will invite you to N'Djamena when we arrive," he said, laughing with his officers.

- - -

Further reading

Feb 10, 2006 report at Sudan Tribune says the chairman of one of the SLM two factions, Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nour his faction would sign a peace agreement on its own without involving the JEM and "Menni Minawi's group".

Jan 28, 2006 Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, West Darfur - NMRD Darfur rebels attack Sudan army base in Arm Yakui.

Jan 13, 2006 Sudan says UN peace force in Darfur unwelcome - See comment from Sudan Watch reader: "The commander in charge of the massacres in Darfur is called MAHAMAT NOUR ABDELKRIM: http://genocidedarfour.blogspot.com/
The "captain" Mahamat Nour, ex-officer of the chadian army, has commanded the Jandjawids with the sudanese logistic. He has been the principal planner of the genocide in Darfur. Thanks to his chadian nationality, he was used as an alibi by the Sudanese government."

Dec 21, 2005 Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur.