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UN Daily News
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Issue DH/7386
In the headlines:
•
UN announces first-ever World Ocean Festival
• Lives still being lost to preventable diseases in
Yemen’s war-torn Taiz city, senior UN official warns
• Haiti: Recent political advances set stage to
address pressing challenges, says UN envoy
• Lake Chad Basin crisis is both humanitarian and
ecological – UN agriculture agency
• UN calls for urgent access to reach some 400,000
civilians trapped in Syria’s Ghouta
• African migrants reportedly being sold in ‘slave
markets’ in Libya, UN agency warns
• Millions across Africa, Yemen could be at risk of
death from starvation – UN agency
• INTERVIEW: In new UN role, Malala Yousafzai
seeks to inspire girls to stand up, speak out for
rights
UN announces first-ever World Ocean Festival
11 April – With global leaders heading to the United Nations for a
major conference in June on the protection and sustainable use of the
planet’s oceans, the UN today announced that the inaugural World
Ocean Festival will kick off the week-long event, with activists and
enthusiasts taking to the streets – and waterways – of New York City
to raise their voices to reverse the declining health of our oceans.
At a joint press briefing at UN Headquarters today, Penny
Abeywardena, the Commissioner of the (New York City) Mayor’s
Office for International Affairs, joined Peter Thompson, President of
the UN General Assembly, to announce the first ever Festival which
will be held on Sunday, 4 June, the day before the opening of The
Ocean Conference, which will run from 5 to 9 June.
By absorbing much of the added heat trapped by atmospheric
greenhouse gases, the oceans are delaying some of the impacts of
climate change. Photo: WMO/Olga Khoroshunova
The Festival, organized by the Global Brian Foundation, will
galvanize people across the world to bring public attention to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal
14, on conservation and sustainable use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development, “right here in
New York City, a premier coastal city,” said Ms. Abeywardena.
“Through these gatherings, people will come together to catalyze specific steps we can take as a community to preserve our
oceans and engage our citizens and in particular, our young people,” she said, adding that, with 520 miles (about 835
kilometres) of coastline, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration recognizes the need for cities to lead on
protecting the planet from degradation through sustainable consumption and effective management of the world’s natural
resources and mitigating the worst impacts of climate change.
For his part, Assembly President Thomson said New York City is a model not only in the United States but around the
For information media not an official record
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12 October 2004
world of what cities can do in integrating the SDGs with their urban development planning, drawing attention to Mayor de
Blasio’s ‘One NYC’ initiative.
An opportunity to address major woes humanity has put upon the ocean
As for the Conference, he said “the ocean is in deep trouble,” facing threats from marine pollution; fishery subsidies at a
time when fish stocks are collapsing; and degraded coastal ecosystems planet-wide. “The Ocean Conference is [a timely
opportunity] to address these major woes humanity has put upon the ocean,” he continued, adding that also will provide an
opportunity to think about the impacts of climate change.
“With ocean acidification, we’re already seeing the effects of this; its serious business in Oregon and Washington state and
its spreading around the world and is also serious business for the tropics, where because of rising temperatures life is
leaving our waters because it is too hot,” explained Mr. Thomson, noting that 40 per cent of the cause of rising sea levels is
due to the fact that oceans are heating up.
And yet “all human problems have human solutions and that’s what the Ocean Conference is about, working to find what
the solutions are” he emphasized, noting that UN Member States are currently making good progress on the ‘call to action’
that would be agreed by the Conference. Further, in addition to a plenary, the Conference would also feature seven
partnership dialogues focused on SDG 14.
Mr. Thomson went on to highlight the registry of voluntary commitments, which the UN was promoting all
stakeholders and “everybody who gives a hoot about the ocean” register between now and the Conference “so that you stand
and be counted in our call to action to reverse the cycle of decline in which the ocean has been caught.” The roll of the
media is important in all this, to get the word out about the state of the planet’s oceans “but also that we’re doing something
about it.”
Natalia Vega-Berry, founder of the Global Brain Foundation and Executive Producer of the World Ocean Festival said the
event will aim to show world leaders gathering for the UN conference the urgency for taking action. “Our ocean is a
connective tissue for the world’s entire population. It makes planet Earth and us all one, as we are surrounded by shores. At
the same time, our ocean is at great risk of pollution, overfishing, climate change and more.”
While coastal cities and island nations feel the most pressing burden of such threats, she said that the Festival will aim to
bring together all people who care deeply about the oceans’ future to “raise their voices in support of the ocean and call to
world leaders to take action to save it.”
She said that while the Festival will be held in New York, other cities could also be inspired to organize their own events.
New York’s festival will feature a first-of-its kind grand “ocean march”, which will be a parade of sailing vessels around
lower Manhattan and along 10 nautical miles of Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfront from the Hudson to the East River. The
second main event will be the Ocean Village, which will be set up at Gentry State Park in Long Island City as a “hub for all
things ocean,” and will celebrate art, innovation and exhibits on ocean and climate action.
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Lives still being lost to preventable diseases in Yemen’s wartorn Taiz city, senior UN official warns
11 April – Despite long-standing humanitarian access restrictions in
Yemen, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the country
reported that he has been able to enter Taiz City where, amid some
gains, he observed setbacks, particularly as regards the health sector.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), on 9 April, Jamie McGoldrick got a first-hand
glimpse of the situation inside the city, which is located in the Yemeni
highlands.
Individuals displaced by recent hostilities in Mokha in Taizz
governorate, western Yemen, receive UNHCR emergency assistance.
Photo: UNHCR/Adem Shaqiri
“Compared to the last time I was in the city, over nine months ago –
and in spite of its current status as an active conflict zone – markets
seemed busier with more people, more vehicles were on the roads and
many more shops and restaurants were open,” he said in a statement.
Mr. McGoldrick also cited local relief committee members and hospital managers in emphasizing that a recent reduction in
fighting has allowed some semblance of normalcy to return to the hard-hit city, enabling some of the partially-functioning
hospitals to conduct minor repairs.
“However,” he cautioned, “they also stressed that lives are being lost to preventable diseases. Hospitals and feeding centers
struggle to cope due to problems with salary payments, insufficient essential supplies, and lack of medicines. Increasing
malnutrition rates, particularly in children, are worsening the already difficult humanitarian situation.”
The UN humanitarian coordinator then called on parties to the conflict to build on the momentum of his recent visit by
helping to establish a predictable and regular access mechanism to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to
people in need across Taiz.
“I further call on them to ensure that the mechanism does not only cover Taiz city but also helps to improve humanitarian
access to the rural areas in the governorate, where the need is also great,” concluded Mr. McGoldrick.
Haiti: Recent political advances set stage to address pressing
challenges, says UN envoy
11 April – Highlighting improvements in Haiti’s political situation,
including the recent elections and opportunities to address
longstanding disputes, the senior United Nations official in the island
nation has urged the international community to continue its
partnership with Haiti and its people to help consolidate the gains
achieved.
“The elections provided for the installation of all directly-elected
officials at all levels of Haiti’s governance structure for the first time
since 2006, including the peaceful transfer of power to the third
democratically-elected President since 2004” the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General, Sandra Honoré, told the UN
Security Council today.
“Haiti’s return to Constitutional order and the full functioning of the
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Head of the UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) Sandra Honoré (right)
visits voting stations in Port au Prince, during the country’s 29
January 2017 elections. Photo; UN/MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi
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12 October 2004
Executive, the Legislature and local government has now set the stage to address the many pressing challenges facing the
country,” she added.
In her briefing, Ms. Honoré, also the head of the UN Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH), noted that the security situation
in Haiti remains largely stable and that while the island’s police force continues to show increased capacity in planning and
executing complex operations as well as in combating crime and maintaining public order, its further development,
including in the areas of internal management and oversight, police-to-population ratio and the geographic coverage were
needed.
She went on to cite political challenges as a major impediment to consistent progress in the administration of justice and
human rights to truly anchor the rule of law and render police work more effective while creating conditions conducive for
foreign and domestic investment and job creation.
Further, noting that some deficiencies continued to undermine the effectiveness of the justice and human rights system, the
senior UN official also urged the Government to assign a ministerial-level focal point for human rights as well as to expedite
the transparent and merit-based appointment of the National Ombudsperson.
“The progress achieved during the past 13 years in Haiti’s stabilization process is notable,” she said, adding that reshaping
the partnership among the international community, the UN system and Haiti is important to ensure such progress remains
sustainable.
Also, recalling the recommendation of the Secretary-General on the closure of MINUSTAH in six months and the
establishment of a smaller operation with focus on the rule of law, with strong good offices and human rights monitoring
roles, Ms. Honoré said:
“With your support, the transition to a new and smaller Mission would be guided by a Joint Transition Plan that underpins
the gradual transfer of tasks to the Government, international partners and the UN Country Team.”
Lake Chad Basin crisis is both humanitarian and ecological – UN
agriculture agency
11 April – Critical investments in agriculture and climate change
relief are needed to address the crisis in Africa’s strife-torn Lake Chad
Basin, where hunger, poverty and a lack of rural development prevail,
the United Nations food security agency said today.
“This is not only a humanitarian crisis, but it is also an ecological
one,” José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), said at a media briefing in Rome
following his visit last week to some of the worst affected areas in
Chad and north-eastern Nigeria.
He underscored that the crisis is rooted in decades of neglect, lack of
rural development and the impact of climate change, and the only way
to ensure a lasting solution is to address these including through
investments in sustainable agriculture.
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva (right) in early April
2017 visited some of the worst affected areas in Chad and
northeastern Nigeria. Photo: FAO/Pius Utomi Ekpei
“This conflict cannot be solved only with arms. This is a war against hunger and poverty in the rural areas of the Lake Chad
Basin,” stressed the FAO Director-General.
“Peace is a prerequisite” to resolve the crisis in the region, but this is not enough, Mr. Graziano da Silva said. “Agriculture,
including livestock and fisheries, can no longer be an afterthought. It is what produces food and what sustains the
livelihoods of about 90 per cent of the region's population.”
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Some seven million people risk suffering from severe hunger in the Lake Chad Basin, which incorporates parts of
Cameroon, Chad, Niger and north-eastern Nigeria. In the latter, some 50,000 people are facing famine.
While fighting and violence have caused much of the suffering, the impact of environmental degradation and climate change
– including repeated droughts – is exacerbating the situation, continued the FAO Director-General.
He noted that since 1963, Lake Chad has lost some 90 per cent of its water mass with devastating consequences on food
security and the livelihoods of people depending on fishing and irrigation-based agricultural activities. Furthermore, while
Lake Chad has been shrinking, the population has been growing, including millions displaced from conflict areas.
Food assistance and long-term investment production
FAO and its partners, including other UN agencies, are calling on the international community for urgent support – a
combination of immediate food assistance and food production support – to make assuage hunger in the region.
Mr. Graziano da Silva reiterated that should farmers miss the coming May/June planting season, no substantial harvests will
be seen until 2018, leading to more widespread, severe hunger and prolonged dependency on external assistance.
He recalled FAO’s Response Strategy (2017-2019) for the crisis, which includes distributing cereal seeds and animal
feed and providing cash transfers and veterinary care to enable displaced farmers and voluntary returnees to get a substantial
harvest, replenish their food stocks and prevent animal losses among vulnerable herders.
The FAO Director-General warned that the situation reflects the threats facing other African countries where a combination
of ethnic or religious tensions fuelled by rural poverty and unemployment could escalate to full-scale crises.
In the Lake Chad Basin region, FAO is working with farmers and displaced people to assist with producing food and selling
surplus in the markets, which includes distributing cash vouchers that help stimulate markets for agricultural products.
Additionally, the agency, together with its partners, is exploring the possibility of introducing irrigation techniques to save
water, and then helping to train farmers in using them.
UN calls for urgent access to reach some 400,000 civilians
trapped in Syria’s Ghouta
11 April – Voicing concern over the impact of deteriorating security
and humanitarian situation on the lives some 400,000 people trapped
in eastern Ghouta in Syria, a United Nations spokesperson today
underlined the need to ensure that humanitarians have unrestricted
access to the affected areas.
“There have been continued reports of heavy aerial bombardment and
artillery shelling which have resulted in civilian deaths and injuries,”
Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told the
regular daily briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
A street in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Syria. Photo: UNICEF/Amer Al
Shami
According to reports, Government forces have prevented commercial
trucks from entering the town, located in rural Damascus, since late
March.
Lack of supplies have resulted in price hikes of basic staples and closures of many bakeries due to lack of flour and much
higher prices for fuel and gas.
“It is critical that the UN and partners be given access to the area before the conditions deteriorate further,” Mr. Dujarric
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12 October 2004
underscored.
The last UN humanitarian delivery to any of the besieged areas of eastern Ghouta was nearly six months ago, in October last
year, with other areas not having been accessed since last June.
“We also remind all parties of their obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure as required by international
humanitarian and human rights law,” said the UN spokesperson.
Last week, Jan Egeland, UN Senior Adviser on Syria had also underlined the plight of the civilians trapped in the town and
called for an urgent ceasefire to enable safe delivery of desperately needed relief and medical supplies.
He had also stressed that special arrangements needed to be made for hospitals and that medical facilities must not be targets
for attack and urged that a “notification system” be established to ensure the safety of medical premises.
“We cannot have a situation where armed actors do not, cannot or will not guarantee that medical facilities will not be
attacked,” said Mr. Egeland, adding:
“We will urge now again such notification system to be established and I have hope that this year it will for the first time be
established and will work.”
African migrants reportedly being sold in ‘slave markets’ in
Libya, UN agency warns
11 April – Hundreds of migrants along North African migrant routes
are being bought and sold openly in modern day ‘slave markets’ in
Libya, survivors have told the United Nations migration agency,
which warned that these reports “can be added to a long list of
outrages” in the country.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is sounding the
alarm today after its staff in Niger and Libya documented over the
past weekend shocking testimonies of trafficking victims from several
African nations, including Nigeria, Ghana and the Gambia. They
described 'slave markets' tormenting hundreds of young African men
bound for Libya.
A young man waits at an IOM transit centre in Agadez, Niger. He
along with his younger brother decided to return back to the country
after a failed attempt to reach Europe. Photo: IOM 2016/Amanda
Nero
Operations Officers with IOM’s office in Niger reported on the rescue
of a Senegalese migrant who this week was returning to his home
after being held captive for months. According to the young man’s
testimony, while trying to travel north through the Sahara, he arrived in Agadez, Niger, where he was told he would have to
pay about $320 to continue north, towards Libya. A trafficker provided him with accommodation until the day of his
departure, which was to be by pick-up truck.
When his pick-up reached Sabha in southwestern Libya, the driver insisted that he hadn’t been paid by the trafficker, and
that he was transporting the migrants to a parking area where the young man witnessed a slave market taking place. “SubSaharan migrants were being sold and bought by Libyans, with the support of Ghanaians and Nigerians who work for
them,” IOM Niger staff reported.
Reports of slave markets can be added to a ‘long list of outrages’ in Libya
“The latest reports of ‘slave markets’ for migrants can be added to a long list of outrages [in Libya],” said Mohammed
Abdiker, IOM’s head of operation and emergencies. “The situation is dire. The more IOM engages inside Libya, the more
we learn that it is a vale of tears for all too many migrants.”
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12 October 2004
Mr. Abdiker added that in recent months IOM staff in Libya had gained access to several detention centres, where they are
trying to improve conditions. “What we know is that migrants who fall into the hands of smugglers face systematic
malnutrition, sexual abuse and even murder. Last year we learned 14 migrants died in a single month in one of those
locations, just from disease and malnutrition. We are hearing about mass graves in the desert.”
He said so far this year, the Libyan Coast Guard and others have found 171 bodies washed up on Mediterranean shores,
from migrant voyages that foundered off shore. The Coast Guard has also rescued thousands more, he added.
“Migrants who go to Libya while trying to get to Europe, have no idea of the torture archipelago that awaits them just over
the border,” said Leonard Doyle, chief IOM spokesman in Geneva. “There they become commodities to be bought, sold and
discarded when they have no more value.
Many describe being sold “in squares or garages” by locals in the south-western Libyan town of Sabha, or by the drivers
who trafficked them across the Sahara desert.
Mr. Doyle added: “To get the message out across Africa about the dangers, we are recording the testimonies of migrants
who have suffered and are spreading them across social media and on local FM radio. Tragically, the most credible
messengers are migrants returning home with IOM help. Too often they are broken, brutalized and have been abused, often
sexually. Their voices carry more weight than anyone else’s.”
Millions across Africa, Yemen could be at risk of death from
starvation – UN agency
11 April – Warning of increasing risk of mass deaths from starvation
in many countries in Africa and in Yemen due to worsening drought
and conflict, the United Nations refugee agency has called for
international support to prevent the repeat of the 2011 tragedy in the
Horn of Africa that claimed more than 260,000 lives.
“An avoidable humanitarian crisis in the region, possibly worse than
that of 2011, is fast becoming an inevitability,” Adrian Edwards, a
spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) told journalists at the regular bi-weekly media
briefing in Geneva.
“A repeat must be avoided at all costs.”
A two-year old child is fed an infusion of neem tree leaves in Rumbek,
South Sudan. Photo: UNHCR/Rocco Nuri
According to estimates, some 20 million people are living in areas hit
hard by drought. About 4.2 million among them are refugees and the number of the displaced is rising as a result of
consecutive harvest failures, famine and insecurity.
Worst affected are children and lactating mothers.
In southeast Ethiopia, for example, acute malnutrition rates among newly arriving Somali refugee children aged between 6
months and five years is reported in the range of 50-79 per cent. Similarly, in South Sudan, children account for the majority
of the refugees (about 62 per cent).
An avoidable humanitarian crisis in the region, possibly worse than that of 2011, is fast becoming an inevitability
Nearly all refugees, including these children, are dependent on food assistance, such as those provided by the World Food
Programme – the UN's emergency food relief agency – but with lack of funds to buy food rations are being cut. Worst hit
are those in Uganda where rations have been cut by up to 75 per cent. Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda (by between 20 and
50 per cent) and Djibouti (by 12 per cent) are also witnessing this decrease.
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“Many refugees are without full access to livelihoods and agriculture or food production and their ability to take matters into
their own hands and help themselves is limited,” noted Mr. Edwards.
Almost five million children could be out of school
The severe food insecurity is also causing many students, such as those in Kenya, to drop out of school. Some 175,000
students in drought areas in the country have stopped attending school and almost 600 schools have closed in Ethiopia.
In all, some five million children could see their educations being disrupted over coming weeks and months.
The daunting humanitarian scenario has been further complicated by a range of challenges including new displacement,
economic hardships, crop failure and conflict.
In Somalia, of the half a million people displaced since November, 278,000 were displaced in the first quarter of this year
and the country continues to see a complex situation of both outflows and returns, mainly from Yemen.
Furthermore, in famine hit parts of South Sudan, increase in fighting, insecurity, lack of access to aid and a collapsing
economy have left 100,000 people facing starvation and a further one million people are now on the brink of famine.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen, too continues to decline. Already the world's largest humanitarian crisis, food needs
are being cited as the lead factor in displacement at three quarters of all locations across the war-torn country where there
are internally displaced people.
UN efforts scaled up but resources extremely scarce
Responding to the growing crisis, the UN refugee agency and its partners have been scaling up their efforts.
However, UNHCR operations in these countries are facing considerable constraints due to limited funding.
“It is now urgent that the shortfalls be addressed,” underscored the UNHCR spokesperson.
INTERVIEW: In new UN role, Malala Yousafzai seeks to inspire
girls to stand up, speak out for rights
11 April – In 2012, Malala Yousafzai made headlines all over the
world when she was shot by the Taliban for speaking out on the right
of education for girls. But instead of silencing her, the brutal attack
only served to embolden the Pakistani teenager, who has used her
voice to promote the right of every child to safe, free and quality
primary and secondary education.
Malala has received numerous accolades in recent years, including the
United Nations Human Rights Prize and the European Parliament’s
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. In 2014, at the age of 17, she
became the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Malala Yousafzai, Messenger of Peace, speaks following her
designation, as Secretary-General António Guterres looks on. Photo:
UN Photo/ Rick Bajornas
The student activist is taking on a new role, with Secretary-General
António Guterres having designated her as the UN’s youngest
Messenger of Peace, with a focus on girls’ education. She sat down
for an interview with UN News following her designation at UN Headquarters on 10 April to discuss what her new role
means to her, what her advocacy efforts have taught her and what she thinks are some of the misconceptions people have
about her.
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UN News: UN Messenger of Peace is an impressive title. How do you see yourself in this role?
Malala Yousafzai: I’m really honoured to be given this title of Messenger of Peace, and to me it is more responsibility,
which I have already had, which I was already taking, for girls’ education – raising awareness, asking world leaders to
invest more in education. And I will continue to do that. But UN Messenger of Peace, this has given me even more strength
and it will keep me strong and also will give me a bigger platform with which I can spread my voice for education.
UN News: And speaking of being an advocate for girls’ education, what has been the biggest lesson that you’ve learnt
in the years you’ve been advocating and been a role model for this issue?
If we want to make our lives better, we have to invest in girls’ education.
Malala Yousafzai: I’ve been fighting for girls’ education since I was 10 or 11, when in Swat Valley, in Pakistan, terrorism
started and girls couldn’t go to school. And I have learnt so much in my 20 years of life – from seeing terrorism, extremism,
to then being attacked at the age of 15 and now at the global stage fighting for girls’ education. And what I have learned is
that the future generation, they need education, they need quality education. And if we want to see our future bright,
developed, if we want to make our lives better, we have to invest in girls’ education. That is crucial. We cannot ignore it.
And I just sometimes wonder, why have our world leaders ignored it for so long? The thing that I have realised from my
experience in 19 years, they haven’t learnt yet in their 50, 60+ years. So that is my message, to make sure that they realise
that their investment in education can change the whole world.
UN News: Your father is here with you today and he was very instrumental in seeing that you went to school. What
can men and boys do to ensure that girls and women get an education?
Malala Yousafzai: I started speaking out but I wouldn’t have been able to go forward and speak out without my father,
without my parents. There were so many other girls who also wanted to speak out but their parents, their brothers, did not
allow them. So that is the role of men that is crucial at this stage because if men stop women from speaking out, women
aren’t able to go forward. So it is important for men to allow women to follow their dreams, to achieve their dreams. As my
father said, you don’t need to do something extra for women – just don’t clip their wings, and let them fly. Let them go
forward. So men need to come forward, be proud feminists, stand up for women, and when you empower women, when you
help women, you empower the whole society. There are economic benefits, there are social benefits…the benefits you see
are countless.
UN News: You’ve been advocating for years about girls’ education and your accomplishments are incredible: Nobel
Laureate and now UN Messenger of Peace. Everybody knows your story and I think people feel like they ‘know’
you. But as you mentioned, you’re still 19. What do you think is one of the misconceptions that people have about
you?
Malala Yousafzai: Often people think that I’m quite big but I’m actually very, very short and I’m very small, like only fivefoot something, and then I wear high heels to make myself taller but it still doesn’t work. So I’m very short. And the second
thing is that people often think that I would be, I don’t know, very good at studies and things like that but they don’t know
that I also go through difficult times in my school. I have exams; I also get C’s and D’s; I also have to work hard for my
college. I’m not given admission free of any tests or anything. I had to go through tests. I had to get three A’s in my final
exams to go into university. So, I’m going through the same things that all students go through. So, I’m quite normal. Nobel
Peace Prize and Messenger of Peace – these things don’t really help you much.
UN News: Speaking of education, you mention that you have to study just like everybody else. What’s next with
regard to your own education?
Malala Yousafzai: At university level, or as you call it ‘college’ in America, I want to study PPE which is Philosophy,
Politics and Economics. And I have applied to a few universities but it all depends on my final grades which will come in
August which university I will go to. And I’m just working hard on that. And then after that, I’m not sure what kind of
career I want to go for. One thing I’m very sure about is that I will stay focused on girls’ education. Through the Malala
Fund, I will continue to focus on girls’ secondary education and inspire more young girls like me to speak out and stand
with me so we can amplify the voices of young girls.
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UN News: As you travel the world in your new role as UN Messenger of Peace, how will you go about inspiring young
people, particularly those in areas where they feel they have no hope, that there’s no point in going to school?
Your voice is important; your voice can change the world
Malala Yousafzai: I visited many countries like Lebanon and Jordan. I have met Syrian refugee girls; I met girls in Nigeria.
I will continue to do that through this role of Messenger of Peace and I will visit different countries, meet amazing and
inspiring girls throughout the world, and make sure that I tell them that your voice is important; your voice can change the
world. And I spoke out in Swat Valley and you can see how a child’s voice was more powerful than the terrorists’ guns.
And that is what they need to realize, all children, that your voice is important for our world. And you don’t need to grow up
to bring change; you can bring change now.
UN News: Any final message?
Malala Yousafzai: I will just say that believe in yourself, stay confident, stay hopeful about the future. There will be bad
things happening but if we are united, if we stay together, we will be stronger, we can make our world better, we can bring
change, so let’s stay positive and hopeful.
The UN Daily News is prepared at UN Headquarters in New York by the News Services Section
of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information (DPI)