- The International Conference [...] dealt with the urgent humanitarian crisis which are currently facing religious communities and cultural entities in the Middle East region caused by ongoing conflicts, tensions and extremism.

- The participants in the Conference, Patriarchs and Primates of Christian Churches, religious leaders of the Muslim and Jewish world, as well as other prominent religious personalities, representatives of international politics, academic communities and civil society, expressed their concern about the unprecedented humanitarian situation and condemned human rights violations and acts of terrorism and violent extremism perpetrated against religious and cultural communities in the context of the protracted conflicts in the area, especially in Syria and Iraq.

- The Conference sought to contribute to raising awareness of these pressing issues and enhance international efforts for the immediate humanitarian relief of these communities, their protection from violence, persecution and discrimination, their safe voluntary return and resettlement in their ancient cradles.

- Participants stressed that every effort should be made to urgently stop the conflicts and to ensure respect of fundamental rights and religious freedom of these communities, as well as their right to remain to their ancestral land, where they have maintained a constant presence for thousand years, defending universal values such as tolerance, multiculturalism, pluralism and peaceful coexistence.

- The Conference provided an opportunity to discuss initiatives that contribute to enhance unity against violence in the name of religion or caused by intolerance to cultural pluralism, with the aim to support religious and cultural diversity in the region and establish a dialogue founded on the principles of mutual understanding and cooperation. The participants shared testimonies, interreligious experience and best practices.

- Plenary discussions also focused on ways to restore damaged infrastructure, improve health education and living conditions of these communities in terms of dignity, participation and mutual understanding, and promote development in the region after the end of crisis.

- Furthermore, the deliberate destruction and looting of religious and cultural heritage assets such as churches, mosques, religious shrines and sites, monuments and museums in the region was strongly condemned and support was provided to every effort ensuring the effective protection of these cultural treasures.

- The Conference was further enriched by the experience of already assumed international initiatives. Participants reflected on ways to further proceed, address the pressing humanitarian situation and defend the rights of these communities.

- Participants highlighted the need to remain vigilant and exchanged ideas on a Greek proposal for the establishment of a follow up mechanism in Athens, which will take the form of a Centre that would examine the situation, in terms of freedom of religion or belief and cultural pluralism, would codify the various problems and would elaborate concrete proposals and viable solutions. Participants to the International Conference will be invited to take part to the activities of this Centre.

The 10-year Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) came out of the world conference held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, in 2005. It is the first plan to explain, describe and detail the work that is required from all different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses.

The HFA outlines five priorities for action, and offers guiding principles and practical means for achieving disaster resilience. Its goal is to substantially reduce disaster losses by 2015 by building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters.

Delegates at this week’s 4th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction called for immediately starting work on developing targets and indicators to monitor the reduction of risk, ahead of next year’s conference, to be held in the Japanese city of Sendai.

Martin Dahinden, Director-General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Chair of the Global Platform, said the three-day meeting confirmed that the process to develop a successor to the Hyogo Framework is well underway.

“There is consensus that the new instrument should build on the HFA and introduce the necessary innovations to address the challenges of increasing risk over the next 20 to 30 years,” he stated.

“We need to enable local action, address climate risk and recognize the central roles of both the scientific community and the private sector, which were both very present at this Global Platform.”

In addition to the scientific community and the private sector, the record 3,500 participants at the Global Platform also including representatives of government, academia and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), among others.

Organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Global Platform was established in 2007 as a biennial forum for information exchange, discussion of latest development and knowledge and partnership-building across sectors, with the goal to improve implementation of disaster risk reduction through better communication and coordination amongst stakeholders.

Also today, UNISDR released the most detailed account yet of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework. It finds that, since 2005, 121 countries have enacted legislation to establish policy and legal frameworks for disaster risk reduction.

In addition, 191 countries have established HFA focal points and 85 countries have set up national coordinating bodies for disaster risk reduction.

While noting that almost 90 per cent of countries report the integration of disaster risk reduction in some form within public investment and planning decisions, the report finds that a key challenge is finding the resources to ensure that frameworks and principles become operational.

“Since the HFA was introduced there has been a significant change in mindset. We are seeing lots more planning, legislation and new policies. There are 56 national disaster loss data bases and their numbers are growing all the time. Nearly every country in the world now has a HFA focal point,” said UNISDR Director Elizabeth Longworth.

“There is evidence that the HFA is making a difference, even if a lot more needs to be done to address the gap between policy and implementation and arrest the continuous rise in economic losses from disasters,” she added.

Among the events at this week’s forum was the launch of a new interactive tool for accessing disaster data. With the touch of a finger, users of “GAR for Tangible Earth” can access real-time weather data or check historical disaster patterns. It uses earth science data from the 2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, released earlier this month by UNISDR.

Tablet computer users can download the application for free from iTunes. Among other functions, they can request hourly weather updates or query the probability of seismic events for a given region. They can also make correlations between such phenomena as continental drift, El Niño, global warming and the growth of megacities.

“Ultimately, the women of the Sahel will be instrumental in putting the region on a path to stability,” the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahel, Romano Prodi, told the Conference on Women’s Leadership in Sahel in Brussels on 9 April.

“I want to tap into the potential of women to accelerate progress in the Sahel. The discussions that took place today and the recommendations by the participants will help us in seeking sustainable solutions for the Sahel.”

The participating group included some 40 women from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, as well as representatives from the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

They presented their recommendations to Mr. Prodi, as well as the Acting Head of UN Women Lakshmi Puri, and Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.

Today’s discussions helped shape a common vision on how to empower women to help political stability and economic prosperity in the Sahel ahead of the High-Level Donor’s Conference on Development in Mali to be held on 15 May in Brussels, speakers said.

“It is well established that for peace to be sustainable – a peace that extends beyond the simple act of signing a peace agreement – it needs to be rooted in justice and inclusion,” said Acting Head of UN Women and Assistant Secretary-General Lakshmi Puri.

“There can be no comprehensive strategy to address the sustained and systemic crisis without women’s full participation,” Ms. Puri reiterated, noting that numerous UN resolutions and the international community have stressed this idea.

“We hope this Conference will usher in concrete efforts to increase the participation of women and gender experts in conflict resolution and in the transition to peace, economic recovery, democracy and stability,” she added.

The Sahel region – which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea – suffers from extreme poverty, with human development levels among the lowest in the world, porous borders that present security challenges, as well as significant human rights problems.

The recommendations of the Conference include ensuring that at least 30 per cent of participants in decision-making and politics are women, including through the adoption of pro-active measures.

Participants also agreed on the need for national governments, regional organizations and the international community to support an increased participation of women in conflict-resolution initiatives and to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and access to services, according to UN Women. The participants also called for sustained and predictable financing for initiatives dedicated to gender equality.

At the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), delegates will examine some 70 proposals to amend the current wildlife trade system, which has been in place for 40 years.

“CITES is known for taking meaningful decisions that have an impact ‘on-the-ground,’” said the Secretary-General of the Convention, John E.Scanlon, adding that 2013 “will be of great significance to the future of many species of plants and animals.”

With 176 Member States, CITES is one of the world’s most powerful tools for biodiversity conservation, regulating international trade in close to 35,000 species of plants and animals, including their products and derivatives, ensuring their survival in the wild with benefits for the livelihoods of local people and the global environment.

Throughout the conference, which ends on 14 March, governments will consider 70 proposals submitted by 55 countries from across the world seek to improve the conservation and sustainable use of marine species – including several shark species – the vicuña population of Ecuador, polar bears, African elephants, white rhinos, freshwater turtles, frogs, crocodiles, ornamental and medicinal plants and many other species.

Delegates will also discuss how CITES can further enhance efforts to combat the illegal trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn; the potential impacts of the Convention’s measures on the livelihoods of the rural poor, who are often on the frontlines of using and managing wildlife; and whether the Convention should request the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to serve as its financial mechanism for CITES, among other measures.

“As over-exploitation of the world’s critical natural resource base puts countries on an unsustainable path, ever more pressure is being exerted on species,” said the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner.

“Yet CITES, alongside many other international agreements, provides a wealth of examples where countries are seizing opportunities to pursue much more resource-efficient development pathways,” he added.

To mark the 6th EU Anti-Trafficking Day, the Cyprus EU Presidency and the European Commission organised a high level conference in Brussels on 18th October 2012.

The conference, entitled ‘Working together towards the eradication of trafficking in human beings: The Way Forward’, focused on the recently adopted EU Strategy on Trafficking in Human Beings. It aimed to serve as a forum for exchange of views on shaping future actions to strengthen cooperation, victim protection and assistance, prevention and prosecution in the field of trafficking in human beings.

On this occasion, high-level policy makers, government officials from all EU Member States, representatives of civil society organisations, experts, front line workers, as well as artists and the media, reflected on how to best work together towards the eradication of trafficking in human beings.

Trafficking in human beings takes many different forms; people can be sold for sex, labour in agriculture, construction, or the textile industry, or forced into domestic labour. It is a severe human rights violation rooted in vulnerability to poverty, lack of democratic cultures, gender inequality, conflict and post-conflict dynamics, lack of opportunities and employment, lack of access to education, child labour and discrimination.

As findings demonstrate this kind of trafficking constitutes a very lucrative form of crime that generates profits of dozens of billions of Euro; and the business is not decreasing. According to the ILO Global Estimates Report of June 2012 on forced labour, the total number of victims of forced labour worldwide is estimated at 20.9 million, of whom 880,000 are in the EU.

Data collected by Eurostat for the years 2008-2010 demonstrate that 75% of registered victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced begging, or domestic servitude. Twenty-one EU Member States were able to give gender-specific information, according to which women and girls are the main victims of trafficking in human beings. Female victims accounted for 79 per cent and male victims for 21 per cent. EU Member States reported that most of the registered victims within the EU come from Romania and Bulgaria, while victims from non-EU countries tend to originate from Nigeria and China.

Trafficking in human beings is specifically prohibited under Article 5 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, but more needs to be done on a legal level. As for now, the Member States of the Union declared their political commitment on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings when they signed Directive 2011/36/EU; the first EU criminal law instrument under the Lisbon Treaty. This EU level legislation is expected to have an appreciable impact once fully adopted by the Member States by 6 April 2013.

On an procedural note, the conference comprised two main sessions. The first session focused on actions needed for the next five years in all different fields related to trafficking in human beings. It focused on strengthening partnerships, including new actors working in the field, identifying innovative approaches for referring victims, and investigating cases of trafficking in human beings. The first year results of the Joint Statement signed by the Heads of the EU Justice and Home Affairs agencies at the 5th EU Anti-Trafficking Day were also presented. As well as the Eurojust Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016.

The second session was dedicated to a more in-depth discussion on particular topics, to be discussed in three working groups selected on the basis of the EU Strategy priorities on Prevention, Prosecution, and Protection/Assistance, respectively: 1) reduction of demand (and supply) as key in preventing trafficking in human beings; 2) financial investigations; and 3) EU Transnational Referral Mechanisms.

Participants included, among others, Eleni Mavrou, Minister of the Interior, Cyprus; Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs; Josie Christodoulou, Policy Coordinator, Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies, NGO, Cyprus; Antoaneta Vassileva, Secretary General, National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings and NREM, Bulgaria; Mark Ovenden, former victim of human trafficking for labour exploitation, United Kingdom.

“There can be no freedom from hunger – there can be no food security – without the active participation of all sectors of society, including the private sector,” said FAO’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva.

Speaking at a high-level conference in Istanbul focused on promoting private agricultural investment and trade from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, Graziano da Silva said that apart from important investments, financial and in-kind contributions, the private sector can make another important valuable contribution, namely political support to food security. There can be no freedom from hunger – there can be no food security – without the active participation of all sectors of society, including the private sector.

“We need to build consensus and mobilize all stakeholders towards this goal. With the private sector on board, national and international efforts to fight hunger have added legitimacy,” he told the gathering of leaders in agribusiness and top level policy-makers.

The Director-General and his counterpart, EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti, stressed that the fight against hunger can only be won in partnership between governments, civil society and farmer organizations and the private sector. They also called on governments to create an enabling policy environment that fosters private sector investment.

Sir Suma said he was impressed by the positive response by all the companies that were invited to the conference. “It shows that the private sector is concerned about food security. This meeting is another step forward to helping the private sector to enhance production and employment, using the expertise of the EBRD and FAO in the food and agricultural sectors,” he told the conference.

The conference explored ways to improve the trade conditions between transition countries and the southern and eastern rim of the Mediterranean, according to a news release issued by FAO. It also discussed different models to develop farming and maximize the efficiency of food chains.

Since the start of their partnership in 1994, FAO and the EBRD have implemented over 90 technical assistance projects, totalling about $12 million, which have helped to address institutional and regulatory bottlenecks, as well as improve transparency and efficiency along the whole food value-chain in the countries in which EBRD operates.

“Children without a birth certificate have no legal status,” UNICEF’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elke Wisch, said at the opening of the Second Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration.

“Birth registration protects children from child labour, recruitment into armed forces and militias, human trafficking, early marriage as well as other forms of exploitation,” Wisch added. “Birth registration is essential for children to access health care and education, as well as for orphans to inherit from their parents.”

The two-day conference, organized by the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and other UN bodies, including UNICEF, as well as other partners, will deliberate on ways to strengthen national civil registration and vital statistics systems. In addition to the registration of births, civil registration includes the registration of death, marriage and divorce.

Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a UNICEF press release, has the lowest birth registration rates in the world, with on average only 38 per cent of children below the age of five holding a birth certificate, although there are wide disparities between countries, with South Africa, Djibouti, Burundi, Togo and Gabon all having made strong advances.

In Nigeria, Africa’s largest country with a population of 160 million, just 30 per cent of children are registered at birth. Some countries, such as Namibia, have high registration rates in urban areas, but low rates in rural zones.

UNICEF said that factors contributing to low registration rates include a lack of sustained political commitment, limited institutional capacity, costs, cultural barriers and lack of awareness among families about the importance of registering their children.

The agency stressed that innovative partnerships with the health sector and the use of mobile technologies are opportunities to achieve greater registration coverage.

In Namibia, for example, 95 per cent of pregnant women attend ante-natal care services. Within two years of introducing birth registration facilities in 23 hospitals, the number of infants registered at birth increased by 50 per cent.

In Uganda, where 43 per cent of children are not born in health facilities, UNICEF said it supported, along with Uganda Telecom, the Government’s launch of an internet-based registration system using mobile phone technology that aims to further boost registrations.

“Throughout the continent, millions of people are using the internet on a daily basis and there are few places in Africa that do not have mobile phones network coverage,” Wisch said. “But when we look at the civil registration systems, we find that some countries have not yet caught up. We have to take advantage of these new technologies to make our civil registration systems more effective.”

“I am disappointed that the Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) concluded its four-week-long session without agreement on a treaty text that would have set common standards to regulate the international trade in conventional arms,” Ban said. “The Conference’s inability to conclude its work on this much-awaited ATT, despite years of effort of Member States and civil society from many countries, is a setback,” he added.

Ending on Friday without agreement, the four-week long Conference brought together the UN’s 193 Member States to negotiate what is seen as the most important initiative ever regarding conventional arms regulation within the United Nations. According to media reports, some countries had indicated they needed more time to consider the issues.

Despite the lack of agreement, in his statement, Ban said that he was encouraged that the ATT process was not over, with States having agreed to continue pursuing “this noble goal.”

“There is already considerable common ground and States can build on the hard work that has been done during these negotiations,” Ban said, while also noting that his commitment to the pursuit of “a robust ATT is steadfast.”

“A strong treaty would rid the world of the appalling human cost of the poorly regulated international arms trade,” the Secretary-General said. “It would also enhance the ability of the United Nations to cope with the proliferation of arms.”

At the end of 2010, an estimated 27.5 million people were internally displaced as a result of conflict, while millions more have sought refuge abroad. In many cases, the armed violence that drove them from their homes was fuelled by the widespread availability and misuse of weapons.

In his statement, the UN chief also commended the President of the ATT Conference, Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritán of Argentina, for his persistence and skilful leadership of the process.

In February, the heads of several UN agencies – including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – called for a comprehensive arms trade treaty that requires States to assess the risk that serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law may be committed with weapons being transferred; includes within its scope all conventional weapons, including small arms; and ensures that there are no loopholes by covering all types of transfers, including activities such as transit, trans-shipment, as wells as loans and leases.

“We have made some progress on weapons of mass destruction issues over the years, but the international community has not kept pace on conventional arms,” Ban told Member States at the opening of the first UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty. “Nuclear issues capture headlines, but conventional arms are killing people everyday.”

Ban added that poorly regulated international arms transfers are fuelling civil conflicts, destabilizing regions, and empowering terrorists and criminal networks.

Taking place at UN Headquarters in New York over the next four weeks, the Conference has brought together the UN’s 193 Member States to negotiate what is seen as the most important initiative ever regarding conventional arms regulation within the United Nations, according to the Conference organizers.

“An Arms Trade Treaty will aim to create a level playing field for international arms transfers by requiring all States to abide by a set of standards for transfer controls, which will ultimately benefit the safety and security of people everywhere in the world,” the Conference’s website notes.

At the end of 2010, an estimated 27.5 million people were internally displaced as a result of conflict, while millions more have sought refuge abroad. In many cases, the armed violence that drove them from their homes was fuelled by the widespread availability and misuse of weapons.

“An agreed set of standards for arms exports along with strict national legislation can help begin to change all of that,” Mr. Ban told Conference attendees. “But it will do even more. It will improve our ability to deliver across the board, from promoting social and economic development to supporting peacekeeping and peacebuilding; from monitoring sanctions and arms embargoes to protecting children and civilians; from promoting women’s empowerment to fostering the rule of law.”

The UN chief highlighted that this is the first time that Member States are gathering at the UN to negotiate a treaty regulating the international conventional arms trade. “Everyone in this room is making history,” he told Conference participants.

“Our common goal is clear: a robust and legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that will have a real impact on the lives of those millions of people suffering from the consequences of armed conflict, repression and armed violence. It is ambitious – but it is achievable,” Mr. Ban added.

Ban also spoke today with the representatives from non-governmental organizations that have petitioned for arms treaty negotiations.

“With your petitions and declarations today, you are reminding the world that we need to act.” Mr. Ban said at a press stakeout. “I always feel honoured when I receive appeals from citizens of the world who are pressing the United Nations, and Member States, to address urgent issues which we are now dealing with.”

In February, the heads of several UN agencies – including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – called for a comprehensive arms trade treaty that requires States to assess the risk that serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law may be committed with weapons being transferred; includes within its scope all conventional weapons, including small arms; and ensures that there are no loopholes by covering all types of transfers, including activities such as transit, trans-shipment, as wells as loans and leases.

As 400 titans of shipping and government from 50 countries assemble today for a two-day international counter-piracy conference in Dubai, experts are urging multilateral action to stem escalating torture of seafarers kidnapped at gunpoint.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said the “threat posed by maritime piracy to global trade, and to the region’s security and economic well-being, continues to be grave. Much progress has been made since the last time leaders from government, the global maritime industry, and experts and policymakers joined together in Dubai, in April 2011. However, the persistence of pirate activity off the coast of Somalia reaffirms the UAE’s belief that more work towards a comprehensive international counter-piracy response is required.”

To date, an estimated 235 hostages remain in the hands of heavily armed high-seas marauders awaiting ransom payment by vessel owners. An estimated 35 mariners did not survive their encounters with plundering pirates in 2011.

Dr. Theodore Karasik, director of Research and Development at Institute for Near East & Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai said all indicators point to a piracy crisis that has gone from bad to worse for shipping crews caught in the crossfire.

Karasik lauded UAE senior officials for hosting the piracy conference to push for real solutions that will help curtail nightmarish hostage-taking episodes for the long term.

In 2011, 3,863 seafarers were assaulted by pirates during initial raids and 1,206 people were held captive by pirate gangs. 645 hostages captured in 2010 remained in pirate hands in 2011, whilst 35 hostages captured by Somali pirates died and 8 were killed by pirates during attacks; 19 died during rescue efforts or while trying to escape.

Sources: International Maritime Bureau, Gulf News