Tag Archives: U.N. Security Council

Gaza: Palestinian UN envoy blasts Israel for deliberately blocking aid

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, blasted Israel on Tuesday for its continued blockade in the Gaza Strip.

Israel began blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza after a ceasefire deal ended more than 10 weeks ago.

“Israel has been openly and brazenly blocking humanitarian aid for over two months now — this is engineered starvation,” Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the U.N. Security Council.

“It is the most inhumane form of torture and killing.”

Danny Danon, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N., responded to the criticism by reiterating the country’s claim the aid was being used to “prop up” Hamas.

“Israel will not accept a humanitarian mechanism that props up the Hamas terror organization that butchered our people in their homes and communities.”

Famine

Food security experts said Monday that Gaza will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign.

Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, living in “catastrophic” levels of hunger, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises.

Source: Africanews

Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, Violent Online Rhetoric, Chicago Migrant Crisis

In the U.N. Security Council, negotiators try to win U.S. support for a resolution in Gaza. Violet rhetoric swirls online after Trump ballot decision in Colorado. Leaders in Michigan say Chicago is experiencing a migrant crisis.

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African media continues to undermine its leaders at UNGA

Embarrassing! UNGA Delegates shun Malawi President Mutharika’s address

Malawi and African Media in General continued to Denigrate their own Leadership in their zeal to embarrass and settle purported political scores. Many African leaders including Malawi President Peter Mutharika gave powerful speeches that warranted full coverage, however they were mainly ignored by African Media.

President Professor Peter Mutharika Delivered at the 74th United Nations General Assembly

In his speech, Peter Mutharika did not shy away from the controversy engulfing his country Following the May 21st Elections of which he was declared the winner, but the opposition led by MCP has disputed and took MEC and Peter Mutharika to court.

Mutharika addressed the controversy head on

This year, Malawi had an Election. I have come in my second term of office.

The process was duly audited by a United Nations affiliated network called BDO. This Election was unanimously declared free, fair and credible by the European Union, the African Union, SADC and the Commonwealth observer missions.

But the Opposition, led by Malawi Congress Party decided not
to accept this very credible Election. This is the party that ruled Malawi
under dictatorship for thirty-one years.

This time, they went to court but ignored the court process and waged a vicious campaign of violence in the disguise of demonstrations. Their violence betrayed a desire for ethnic cleansing, a desire for civil war, an attempt to demolish the economy and to make Malawi an ungovernable state of lawlessness.

We responded with peaceful resistance and insisted on the rule of law. We fought violence with peace; and fought hate with love. This is what saved Malawi from degenerating into chaos.

We have seen democracy and the rule of law at its best in Malawi. And Malawi remains a peaceful and stable country that we have always known. Malawi remains a beautiful destiny for tourists and investors.

Malawi is a beautiful place where we fight to make life better for everyone.

However, Malawi Media chose to talk about the lack of attendance of foreign dignitaries to the speech. This was not Peter Mutharika’s fault but of those head of states who missed a great speech by our learned President.

Embarrassing! UNGA Delegates shun Malawi President Mutharika’s address

Mutharika like other African heads of states also demanded that Africa needs a seat at the security council which for now has only five countries, United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia.

I repeat what I have said before: there are no small or poor
nations in the United Nations. All we have are nations of the United Nations.

In fact, this organization would be more powerful, more effective if we all participated in the decision-making on security. But for some reason, there are nations that refuse to share power with African nations.

In this regard, the United Nations is undemocratic. And yet, the same countries and the UN are preachers of the gospel of democracy in

Africa. But Africans are sometimes more democratic than
Western countries.

Therefore, let me call upon the United Nations to implement the Security Council reforms. Africa must be on the UN Security Council. Let me repeat Africa must be on the Security Council.

We cannot ignore and marginalize an entire Continent of 1.3
billion

people.

We cannot marginalize and repress one third of Member States of this organization. It is a mockery that we meet to galvanize multilateral efforts while we marginalize and repress other Member States.

I therefore urge the UN and the P5, to open the Security Council membership. Increase the number of Permanent Seats with Veto Powers and make the UN Security Council a true representation of all the UN Member States.

As Africa, we will never relent on this position. Our position is for the good of the United Nations and the global community. The more we allow a few nations to monopolize power in the Security Council, the more we make the United Nations look like an undemocratic organization.

The leader of Sierra Leone in an impressive speech which went ignored by African reporters also demanded Thursday that the U.N. Security Council reconfigure itself to add permanent representation for Africa, saying the continent’s “patience is being tested” by its long-standing exclusion.

Julius Maada Bio, president of the West African nation, used
blunt words in his annual U.N. General Assembly speech to amplify calls by
African countries that they have a more robust voice on the body that
represents the most powerful political and global-security authority of the
United Nations. 

Bio, who also advocated for two additional nonpermanent seats to be held by Africans, was anything but indirect. “Africa’s patience is being tested,” he said.

For decades, there have been calls to expand the U.N.'s most
powerful body. It has 10 members elected for two-year terms and five permanent
members: The United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. 

Competing national and regional interests have prevented council reform so far.

Africa has no permanent seat on the council, and three nonpermanent seats are allocated for the continent of more than 1.2 billion people.

Elwin Mandowa is the Managing Editor and Publisher of The Maravi Post