UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has emphasized that a full-scale Israeli assault on Rafah would have devastating consequences.
Speaking at the opening of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the UN Chief described Rafah in southern Gaza as the core of the humanitarian aid operation in the Palestinian enclave.
“An all-out Israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there; it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programmes.”
Antonio Guterres
He also criticised the UN security council for failing to adequately respond to Israel’s war in Gaza and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He stated that the council’s lack of unity on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and on Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, has severely – perhaps fatally – undermined its authority.
“The council needs serious reform to its composition and working methods,” he added.
Also at the opening of the UN human rights council’s main annual session, UN Rights Chief, Volker Turk decried disinformation and other attacks that aim to “undermine the legitimacy” and work of the UN and other institutions.
He described them as “profoundly destructive.”
He criticised widespread “disinformation that targets UN humanitarian organisations, UN peacekeepers and my office.”
“The UN has become a lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and a scapegoat for policy failures. This is profoundly destructive of the common good, and it callously betrays the many people whose lives rely on it.”
Volker Turk
During his speech, the UN high commissioner for human rights stressed that the UN was “uniquely equipped to enable states to discuss and resolve pressing global issues.”
“This convening power is particularly vital now, when the magnitude of conflict, planetary peril and digital transformation requires urgent solutions,” he said.
Turk pointed to “the pain and the slaughter of so many people in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Haiti and so many other places around the world,” which he described as “unbearable”.
Turk Launches Vision Document
Turk launched “Path of Solution” document with eight messages to guide renewed action for peace; economies that work for people, planet, as well as effective governance.
It contains guardrails for digital and scientific progress and “broadens the way we think about rights, in ways that can transform societies and our global community.”
The UN Rights chief said that the vision document titled, “Human Rights: A Path of Solutions,” would inform world leaders coming together for the Summit of the Future in September.
He also highlighted how the Member States and many partners came together at the December high-level event to commemorate 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights last year.
He noted that the Open Society Barometer, a survey of over 36,000 people in 30 countries – found that the vast majority agreed that human rights have been a “force for good.”
“In other words, the silent majority holds to the human rights principles that ensure progress and justice across all societies, and which keep our world safe,” he said.
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