United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that Russia’s war on Ukraine holds “a sword of Damocles » over the global economy particularly affecting the developing poor countries this face prices for food, fuel and fertilizer are skyrocketing and now see their granary ‘bombed’. He also warned that women and the girls pay highest price in all crises and all conflicts, from Myanmar and Afghanistan to the Sahel and Haiti, and “the horrible war in Ukraine now joins this list.
António Guterres told reporters that “Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the worldsupply of sunflower oil and about 30% of the world’s wheat” and that “cereal prices have already exceeded those of start of the arab spring and the food riots of 2007-2008. »
He told reporters that 45 Africans and under developed countries import at least one-the third of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, and 18 of they import at least 50%. these countries include Egypt, Congo, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, he said.
“All of it’s hitting the poorest hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the world,” warned António Guterres.
women pay highest price in all conflicts
Under-Secretary-General Sima Bahous said at the opening session of the Commission on the statute of Annual meeting of women who with with each passing day, war destroys lives, hopes and futures of Ukrainian women and the girls.
And she added fact that it lies between “two wheat- and oil-producing nations menace food security and access to essential services on world overand “this too will have an impact women and the toughest girls.
Bahous did not mention men who are killed and injured in fighting against Ukraine, although she said: “I pray that they (women) — and all those who experience conflicts – will be soon know peace.”
The priority theme of this yearthe two-week meeting of women in transaction with climate change. It’s the first in-the person session of the Commission on the statute of Women in three years after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As with all crises,” Bahous said, “climate change also demands its highest price from women and the girls.
Bahou, who is executive director of UN Women, said this is particularly true for those already left behind female-headed households, rural areas women, young girls who miss school because they have to walk further to fetch water in times of Drought, women who can not access earth, older women and women without access finance.
Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that world is still dominated by men, “the results of millennials of patriarchy that excludes women and prevents their voice from being heard.
The climate crisis, pollution, desertification and the loss of biodiversity coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and son impact of the war in Ukraine and other conflicts affect everyone — but “women and the girls face the greatest threats and the deepest damage,” he said.
“Women suffer the most when local natural resources, including food and water, are threatened, and have fewer means to adapt,” the UN chief said. “Nutrition, income and livelihoods of women farmers are disproportionately affected by environmental crises and weather like droughts and floods.
Guterres said there was growing evidence linking child marriage to exploitation with the climate crisis. And when weather disasters strike, now with increasing frequency, “research shows this women and children are up at 14 times more probable than men for die.,” he said.
Gladys Acosta Vargas, President of the committee on elimination of Discrimination against Women, says war in Ukraine hit civilians, including one grand number of refugee women and children who were forced to leave their relatives at home. She urged an end to hostilities and peace efforts that ensure equal participation of women.
The committee monitors the implementation of the Agreement on elimination of All shapes of discrimination against women, which has been ratified by 189 countries. The 45-member Commission on the statute of Women are the United Nations body that promotes gender equality and empowerment of women and is one of governing bodies of UN Women.
Vargas said the pandemic “unfortunately has drawn the world divert attention from the climate crisis and gender-based violence against women and the girls.
“However, that hasn’t stopped hurricanes, floods and wildfires from posing existential threats to women and the girls in several parts of the world,” she says.
Vargas said that the degradation and destruction of natural resources exacerbate gender-based violence, citing as an example women and the girls who need travel greater distances to fetch water and face greater risks of sexual violence. She said that the committee is also alarmed by the increase in attacks, threats, harassment and killings of Indigenous women defend their environmental, land and territorial rights.
The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, urged the session for challenge discrimination and gender stereotypes.
“Young climate activists have helped stimulate a global environmental movement,” he said. “Women leaders spearheaded the Paris (2015) climate agreement. And women in development countries transform their communities by adopting sustainable practices.
He called for progressive tax regimes and “gender responsive budgeting that empowers women, economic rights and access for public services while correcting discrimination and inequalities.
Shahid also called for greater representation for women in decision-manufacturing in climate action and elsewhere, noting that in the 76-year history of the UN only four women have served one-year terms as president of the General Assembly – and there has never been a woman secretary-general.
“Personally, I would like lead forward calling for the next secretary-general to be a woman,” he says. “Meet me in this bugle call.”
