15 February 2015

SHARES News Items Overview: 16 January 2015-15 February 2015

This is our News Items Overview of 16 January 2015-15 February 2015, a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility.

• Ban Ki-moon urged the international community for continued support, noting that the future success of the eradication of Ebola depended on ‘collective determination and clarity of focus’.
• According to whistleblower Edward Snowden, the Dutch security agencies AIVD and MIVD do whatever the US security agency NSA tells them to do, calling the Dutch agencies ‘subordinate’.
• US troops will soon be dispatched to establish training sites for the Syrian opposition. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar reportedly agreed to host sites.
• The UNSC urged central African states to step up plans for a multinational force to fight Boko Haram.
• The Permanent Representative of the UK Mission to the UN said: ‘Where a state is failing to act to protect its own citizens or, worse, is actively persecuting and killing them, the international community has an equal and shared responsibility to do all it can to protect populations at risk.’
• At a regional conference, speakers stressed that drug trafficking and abuse required ‘concerted effort and mutual cooperation’. A UNODC Country Representative said that drug-trafficking is a ‘matter of shared responsibility’.
• According to Israel’s prime minister: ‘The Lebanese government and the Assad regime share responsibility for the consequences of the attacks emanating from their territories against the State of Israel.’
• EU leaders issued a joint statement criticising Russia for its ‘continued and growing’ support it has extended to Ukrainian rebels. The statement is seen as highlighting that Russia shares responsibility for the recent surge in violence.
• Due to a funding shortfall, the UNRWA suspended its cash assistance programme that would have helped homeless families in Gaza. The UNRWA Director said: ‘People are desperate and the international community cannot even provide the bare minimum, for example a repaired home in winter.
• Following the first major maritime tragedy this year in the Mediterranean Sea, the UNHCR called for European governments to provide Italy with ‘proper support to deal with people making irregular crossings’.
• Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said: ‘The rescue of migrants at sea, the protection of asylum seekers are shared challenges; they require a stronger exercise of shared responsibility.’
• UN Deputy Secretary-General said: ‘Together with the Israelis and the Palestinians, the international community holds the responsibility for what has been a collective failure to advance a political solution. The UN system, the GA, the SC … must work to revive negotiations for a two-State solution.’
• Yemen sits on the brink of collapse, Ban Ki-moon warned, reminding the international community of its ‘solemn obligation’ under the UN Charter to help the state prevent an escalation of the conflict and re-launch its political process.
• The UN Security Council approved measures targeting sources of funding for ISIL and Al-Nusrah Front, condemning those buying oil from the groups, banning all trade in looted antiquities from Iraq and Syria, and calling on states to end ransom payments.