“Humanitarian workers in Darfur are there to improve the lives of others. They should not have to pay for their noble work with their own blood,” said United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Ali Al-Za’tari, in a statement on the events that occurred in South Darfur.

Al-Za’tari expressed the sadness of the UN System and its partners in Sudan over the killing in Nyala of two Sudanese workers from World Vision International. According to the statement, a third World Vision staff member was also critically injured during the fighting between Government forces and an armed group.

He also expressed the same feelings for the human and material losses that afflicted Nyala and its inhabitants as a result to the “horrific events” it has gone through.

Press reports say that the World Vision staffers were critically injured when fighting erupted in heavily populated areas of Nyala city late last week.

“I insist on all parties to this conflict to respect their obligation to protect humanitarian workers and other civilians. I urge the Sudanese Government to launch an investigation and bring the perpetrators of this murder to justice,” said Al-Za’tari.

While expressing his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of those killed and injured “by this heinous act,” Mr. Al-Za’tari underscored: “The events which led to the deaths of our World Vision colleagues – a shoot-out in an urban area of Darfur’s most populated city – highlights the continuing unstable security in this region that threatens to disrupt the flow of the much needed humanitarian assistance, destabilize reconciliation efforts and derail progress towards greater economic and social development.”

“If humanitarian work in Darfur is forced to scale back because of the unsafe and insecure conditions for our staff and partners, then many more people in Darfur will suffer,” he said

Al-Za’tari echoed concerns similar to those expressed last week by Hervé Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, as he wrapped up a visit to Darfur.

Speaking to reporters on 4 July in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, Mr. Ladsous noted with concern the recent intensification of conflict in Darfur and its impact on the civilian population. “We have witnessed deterioration in the security situation. More people have been displaced—over 300,000 since the beginning of this year—due mostly to tribal clashes,” the head of UN peacekeeping said.

Ladsous called on all parties to cease hostilities and praised the efforts of the joint African Union-United Nations Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), “who serve in very difficult circumstances, to protect civilians, secure the delivery of aid and support the peace process.”

He further stated that on 3 July, three peacekeepers were injured in an ambush on a UNAMID convoy near Labado, East Darfur. “Attacks on peacekeepers are a crime,” he said, adding that in violation of international humanitarian law, a UNAMID ambulance was fired upon by the unidentified armed group that had mounted the ambush.

Condemning the incident and noting the peacekeepers’ robust response to the attack, Mr. Ladsous stressed that the perpetrators of the incident must be apprehended and prosecuted.

Human Rights Watch, and East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project today expressed concern over the apparent lack of serious police investigations in the state of Kenya. The situation is even more evident when it comes to the case of violent attacks against rights activists.

Okiya Omtatah Okoiti, a prominent human rights activist, has been attacked on the evening of November 9, 2012. The executive director of Kenyans for Justice and Development (KEJUDE) Trust, a local NGO that advocates for transparency and accountability, was attacked by two unidentified men in central Nairobi. He lost six teeth and suffered serious injuries to his face and the back of his head, which required surgery. Omtatah told Human Rights Watch that the attackers demanded that he withdraw a lawsuit he filed to demand accountability in the procurement of biometric voter registration (BVR) kits because of the corruption associated with the process.

“This vicious attack was clearly meant not just to intimidate Omtatah but to seriously injure him – and perhaps even to kill him,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The aim seems to be to stop his work on corruption in the procurement of biometric voter registration kits for the upcoming elections.”

“Omtatah has been the sole voice of concern in the problematic biometric voter kit procurement process,” said Henry Maina, director of ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa. “The authorities need to get to the bottom of the procurement process and protect Omtatah’s right to seek the truth.”

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is trying to introduce biometric voter registration kits to improve the election process in Kenya, as elections in 2007 were marked by controversy and violence, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths countrywide and causing more than 600,000 people to flee their homes. However, the process has been fraught with controversy, with allegations of bribery, influence peddling, and irregularities. Last July the commission’s tender committee resigned to protest what it called external influences on the process and the IEBC.

The lowest bidder in the BVR tender, 4G Identity Solutions of India, was disqualified in August 2012. The  CEO, Sreeni Tripuraneni, said that the company was being punished for refusing to pay 30 million Kenyan shillings in bribes to senior officials in Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. In September 2012 the IEBC cancelled the tender altogether, prompting an inquiry by a parliamentary committee. The IEBC Chairman, Isaack Hassan, told the committee that his commission had come “under immense pressure from external interests” who sought to influence the tender.

After the cancellation of the tender the Kenyan government took over the procurement process amid protests from some civil society groups about possible manipulation and implications for the independence of IEBC.

Omtatah’s KEJUDE and other civil society groups have raised concerns about the rising costs – from an initial 3.9 billion Kenyan shillings for 9,750 BVR kits under the IEBC to 9.6 billion Kenyan shillings for 1,500 BVR kits when the government took over. Omtatah went to court to stop the process over the alleged corruption. He filed detailed documents in court that appeared to show that Kenya would lose up to 4 billion Kenyan shillings in the deal.

“Omtatah has been keeping the IEBC on its toes and, together with others, making sure the process is transparent and fair,” Maina said. “In the end, the credibility of Kenya’s electoral process is at stake.”

“The authorities must investigate this vicious attack and bring those responsible to justice,” said Hassan Shire, executive director of East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project. “Activists need to be able to carry their work without the fear of violent repercussions.”

Carlos Cisneros, from the International Vanguard Network of Ecuador, welcomed the initiative saying that while youth employment is regularly discussed at the international level, young people are seldom involved in those discussions.

Young people are three times more likely than adults to be jobless. Youth unemployment rates are at peak crisis levels and are not expected to drop in the next four years. “We need action. We need job opportunities for young people”, said Suheir Tabanja, from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) at the Forum.

In 2011, more than half of young women and one third of young men aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, according to an ILO report to the June 2012 session of the International Labour Conference (www.ilo.org/ilc).

Over 100 young men and women are taking part in the Youth Employment Forum, sharing their experiences. These are some of their voices:

Keselyn Lizama (Belize), of the World Scout Organization:  “This Forum is good because it involves all levels of employment – you have the employers, you have the workers and you have the organizations that work for both employers and for the workers. This gives us a better understanding of how you can change employment trends, and how this can help us move forward and can improve our economy. It’s good to learn how other countries are dealing with some of the same problems we have in Belize, like youth not being able to matriculate based on finances or graduating from university, getting a masters, and still not being able to get a job.”

Ada Luz Lopez Jimenez (Honduras), works for a youth programme: “People from all over are sharing examples of good practices, how to reach the communities, organizations involved with the youth are sharing their experiences. We now want to see how we can implement some of these ideas, set up a methodology to support the youth and ensure these policies reach local governments.”

Mutaba Ngoma (Zambia), bio-diesel company owner: “I just want to learn how to provide better employment for my workers and staff. Also, as a representative of the Alliance for Youth Entrepreneurs in Zambia, I was interested in learning about practices that can help us train entrepreneurs to provide better employment opportunities.”

Joana Bernice Coronacion (Philippines), unionist with the Alliance for Progressive Labour: “This is an opportunity that will bring concrete solutions to address the issue of unemployment. This Forum addresses issues that different countries face with regards to employment, like precarious work which puts the future of young people at risk, the future of a generation we call the hope of the nation. The economy is not producing enough jobs for the people entering the labour force and the most affected are the young people. And, there are also other issues, such as underemployment and skills mismatch.”