"DISCRIMINATION"

A number of UN agencies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNAIDS have said “they are appalled that the draconian and discriminatory anti-gay bill is now passed into law in Uganda,” a UN spokesperson told reporters in New York. UNIFEED

The second Permanent Forum on People of African Descent started Tuesday in New York. The theme of the session is "Realizing the dream: A United Nations Declaration on the promotion, protection and full respect of the human rights of people of African descent". UNIFEED

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, held a wide-ranging press conference in Geneva during which he commented, among others, on the issues of systemic racism, sexual violence in Darfur, the effects of cyclone Mocha in Myanmar and the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. UNTV CH

Noting that Mocha was “the most powerful cyclone to make landfall in this part of Myanmar”, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the country, Tom Andrews, said that “what we're seeing right now is misery on top of misery.” UNIFEED

The UN top official for Africa warned the Security Council that the security situation in the Sahel has remained “very worrying”, with “non-state armed groups continue to carry out large-scale attacks against civilian and military targets, and to engage in confrontations over access to resources, territorial control, and influence.” UNIFEED

The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan and South Sudan.

Addressing the opening of the 22nd session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Secretary-General said that Indigenous Peoples live on the frontlines of the climate emergency but also hold many of the solutions to the climate crisis and are the guardians of the world’s biodiversity. UNIFEED

The General Assembly commemorated the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda, with the UN Secretary-General saying the world recognizes “the journey of the Rwandan people towards healing, restoration, and reconciliation” but also remembers “with shame, the failure of the international community.” UNIFEED

Thousands of South Sudanese revellers gathered for Aweil town’s cultural peace festivals, a two-day happening where vibrant singing and dancing kept visitors thoroughly entertained. UNMISS