UAE reaffirms commitment to principled humanitarian action
Jamal Jama Al Musharakh, UAE's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, emphasised the importance of upholding the core humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
He called for a fundamental shift in the humanitarian system from reactive responses to anticipatory action, and stressed the need for 'greater investment in early warning systems and anticipatory financing, particularly for climate-related crises'.
Al Musharakh also underscored the critical importance of protecting civilians in conflict zones and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access, with a specific reference to the situation in Gaza.
He said, 'We strongly condemn Israel's continued violations and underline the need to support efforts and endeavors to ensure the immediate, safe, unhindered, and sustainable delivery of aid on a wide scale, through all possible means.'
Al Musharakh also participated in a high-level panel titled 'Reimagining the Humanitarian System: Innovative Models to Save Lives, Reduce Suffering, and Promote People's Resilience and Livelihoods'. The panel featured the participation of representatives from key international organisations, including Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at OCHA, and representatives from UNHCR, UNDRR, FAO, WFP, UNICEF, Women for Change South Sudan, and The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA).
In his remarks, Al Musharakh stressed the importance of innovation in humanitarian response. 'Innovation is no longer optional — it is essential,' he stated, calling for improved delivery mechanisms of humanitarian aid aligning with the needs of the impacted populations. He also underscored the need for 'political courage' to drive systemic reform and ensure the humanitarian system remains fit for an ever-evolving situation.
The 2025 ECOSOC HAS convened global leaders, humanitarian experts, and diplomats to discuss the evolving challenges and various opportunities facing the international humanitarian system. Key themes included innovation, resilience-building, and strengthening multilateral cooperation in the face of growing global crises such as armed conflict, climate change, and forced displacement.
The UAE's active participation reflects its ongoing dedication to fostering innovative, collaborative, and principled approaches to humanitarian responses to the world's most pressing crises.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
a day ago
- Gulf Today
UN officials say new Gaza aid system leads to mass killings
United Nations officials on Friday said a US- and Israeli-backed distribution system in Gaza was leading to mass killings of people seeking humanitarian aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was "aligning itself with Hamas". Eyewitnesses and local officials have reported repeated killings of Palestinians seeking aid at distribution centres over recent weeks in the war-stricken territory, where Israeli forces are battling Hamas militants. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 56,331 people, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry. The United Nations considers its figures reliable. Civil defence says 80 killed Gaza's civil defence agency told the media 80 Palestinians had been killed on Friday by Israeli strikes or fire across the Palestinian territory, including 10 who were waiting for aid. The Israeli military told AFP it was looking into the incidents, and denied its troops fired in one of the locations in central Gaza where rescuers said one aid seeker was killed. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP six people were killed in southern Gaza near one of the distribution sites operated by GHF, and one more in a separate incident in the centre of the territory, where the army denied shooting "at all". Palestinians help a child, as people inspect the site of an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, on Friday. Reuters Another three people were killed by a strike while waiting for aid southwest of Gaza City, Bassal said. Elsewhere, eight people were killed "after an Israeli air strike hit Osama Bin Zaid School, which was housing displaced persons" in northern Gaza. MSF said that in the week of June 8, shortly after GHF opened a distribution site in central Gaza's Netzarim corridor, the MSF field hospital in nearby Deir el-Balah saw a 190-percent increase in bullet wound cases compared to the previous week. The Israeli military has denied targeting people seeking aid and the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has denied any deadly incidents were linked to its sites. But following weeks of reports, UN officials and other aid providers on Friday denounced what they said was a wave of killings of hungry people seeking aid. "The new aid distribution system has become a killing field," with people "shot at while trying to access food for themselves and their families," said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian affairs (UNWRA). "This abomination must end through a return to humanitarian deliveries from the UN including @UNRWA," he wrote on X. The health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory says that since late May, more than 500 people have been killed near aid centres while seeking scarce supplies. The country's civil defence agency has also repeatedly reported people being killed while seeking aid. "People are being killed simply trying to feed themselves and their families," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Men carry away the body of a victim who was killed in a blaze following an Israeli strike at the UNRWA's Osama Bin Zaid school in the Saftawi district in western Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. AFP "The search for food must never be a death sentence." Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) branded the GHF relief effort "slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid". Israel denies targeting civilians That drew an angry response from Israel, which said GHF had provided 46 million meals in Gaza. "The UN is doing everything it can to oppose this effort. In doing so, the UN is aligning itself with Hamas, which is also trying to sabotage the GHF's humanitarian operations," the foreign ministry said. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a newspaper report that the country's military commanders ordered soldiers to fire at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza. Left-leaning daily Haaretz had earlier quoted unnamed soldiers as saying commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution centres to disperse them even when they posed no threat. Haaretz said the military advocate general, the army's top legal authority, had instructed the military to investigate "suspected war crimes" at aid sites. Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. Reuters The Israeli military declined to comment to AFP on the claim. Netanyahu said in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz that their country "absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels" and "malicious falsehoods" in the Haaretz article. The military said in a separate statement it "did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres". It added that Israeli military "directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians." Israel blocked deliveries of food and other crucial supplies into Gaza from March for more than two months. It began allowing supplies to trickle in at the end of May, with GHF centres secured by armed US contractors and Israeli troops on the perimeter. Guterres said that from the UN, just a "handful" of medical deliveries had crossed into Gaza this week. Agence France-Presse
Sharjah 24
a day ago
- Sharjah 24
Trump hopeful for Gaza ceasefire, possibly 'next week'
Asked by reporters how close a ceasefire was between Israel and Hamas, Trump said: "We think within the next week, we're going to get a ceasefire." The United States brokered a ceasefire in the devastating conflict in the waning days of former president Joe Biden's administration, with support from Trump's incoming team. Israel broke the ceasefire in March, launching new devastating attacks on Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also stopped all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months, drawing warnings of famine. Israel has since allowed a resumption of food through the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which involves US security contractors with Israeli troops at the periphery. United Nations officials on Friday said the GHF system was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was "aligning itself with Hamas."
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Middle East Eye
Iran blocks UN nuclear watchdog for refusing to condemn US strikes on nuclear sites
Iran appears to have blocked the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from visiting the country and carrying out inspections. On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country's parliament has "voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed," and that this is "a direct result of @rafaelmgrossi's regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency - a full decade ago - already closed all past issues." "Through this malign action, he directly facilitated the adoption of a politically-motivated resolution against Iran by the IAEA BoG as well as the unlawful Israeli and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites," Araghchi wrote on X. Grossi is the head of the IAEA. On Wednesday, he said much of Iran's highly enriched uranium survived the US and Israeli attacks because it was moved out of areas likely to be targeted. He intended to travel to Iran to inspect the state of the facilities. "In an astounding betrayal of his duties, @rafaelmgrossi has additionally failed to explicitly condemn such blatant violations of IAEA safeguards and its Statute," Araghchi said. "The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs. @rafaelmgrossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent. Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty".
