Many Gazans have been displaced several times already. Top news of the day | Tuesday: Gaza, Russia in the Security Council, Sudan, North Korea UN
The main news of the day in the UN and in the world: military operations in Gaza, a meeting of the UN Security Council chaired by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, 800 thousand Sudanese in Darfur without access to assistance, the forced labor system in North Korea.
Humanitarian operations in Gaza
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said dozens of people were reportedly killed and injured in multiple strikes across Gaza. One of these attacks occurred in close proximity to the Joint Humanitarian Operations Centre, which is used by UN agencies and partners to coordinate work in the enclave. Aid workers say residents continue to flee Gaza City. Many of them have been moved several times already. Meanwhile, shortages of electricity and fuel continue to prevent basic services from being provided to people, disrupting health facilities and bakeries, and hampering the distribution of humanitarian aid.
Security Council
The Security Council held a meeting chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It was devoted to issues of multilateral cooperation “in the interests of creating a more just, democratic and sustainable world order.” The Russian Foreign Minister said that the “collective West” was undermining the foundations of a multilateral approach to solving international problems. In turn, many other speakers accused Russia of violating the UN Charter and called on it to withdraw its troops from the territory of Ukraine.
War in Sudan
The threat of mass starvation remains in Sudan, where 800 thousand people in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, remain without access to food, water and medical care due to fighting. This was announced on Tuesday by the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, the parties to the conflict continue to hold talks in Geneva. The process began last week under the leadership of the UN Chief of State’s Envoy for Sudan, Ramtana Lamamra. Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the UN in Geneva, said Lamamra and his team met with each delegation several times over the weekend.
Forced labour in the DPRK
Forced labour and related violence are widespread and institutionalized across the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says. The lack of free choice of work, the threat of imprisonment for absenteeism, and chronic non-payment of wages paint a picture of institutionalized forced labour in the country, according to the OHCHR report. The most serious concerns are raised by conditions in detention facilities, where prisoners are forced to work under threat of physical violence and inhumane conditions.