We’re live as the Security Council convenes for its annual open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, with briefings from UN relief chief Tom Fletcher and the head of UN Women Sima Bahous. Ambassadors will discuss evolving threats, including use of heavy weapons and the rise of lethal autonomous killing machines such as drones. The UN has documented a spike in deaths, with Gaza, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine among the hardest-hit. Mobile app users can follow here.
These are the exact sort of urban initiatives which the UN Global Road Safety Week – kicking off on Monday – aims to celebrate and promote.
First established in 2007, this year’s week is dedicated to the theme “Make walking and cycling safe.”
“Walking and cycling should be the most ordinary, and therefore, the safest mode of transport,” said Dr. Etienne Krug, who chairs the group known as the UN Road Safety Collaboration and directs the World Health Organization’s efforts to tackle social and economic conditions which impact human health.
In September 2020, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution which established the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 and set a goal to reduce road traffic deaths by at least 50 percent by the end of the decade.
While progress has been made, WHO says that more action is needed across all policy sectors.
Each year, 1.2 million people are killed in road traffic incidents, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for over one-quarter of these deaths. These deaths are not distributed equally around the world. Rather, 90 per cent of road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Moreover, the UN estimates that at least 90 per cent of the world’s roads do not meet pedestrian safety standards and only 0.2 per cent of roads have dedicated cycle lanes, leaving pedestrians and bikers dangerously exposed.
Improving pedestrian and cyclist safety has far-reaching benefits for communities, in terms of health, economic and environmental outcomes.
“Walking and cycling improve health and make cities more sustainable. Every step and every ride [helps] to cut congestion, air pollution and disease,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Take, for example, Fortaleza in Brazil – the five-fold expansion of their cycling network led to a 109 per cent increase in pedestrian activity and made children twice as likely to play outside in the areas that were redesigned.
In Norway, the Fyllingsdalstunnelen tunnel which is decorated with murals and protected by security cameras works to reduce carbon emissions and encourage walking and cycling.
To support the continuation of improvements like these during UN Road Safety Week, WHO has provided policy-makers with a toolkit outlining tangible initiatives which include integrating walking and cycling initiatives into other policy sectors and building more extensive infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.
“We need [to] and we can do better,” Dr Krug said.
Fortaleza, Brazil.
“These attacks appear to be the latest in a series of retaliatory military operations, conducted by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, targeting airports in each other’s areas of control,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Monday.
The fighting between troops of the military Government and former allies-turned-rivals for power, the RSF, began in April 2023. The war has devastated much of the country, killing thousands and displacing over 8.6 million people, according to UN agencies.
As conflict rages in Khartoum, Darfur, and other areas, Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast has remained a relative safe haven and a key hub for UN and international relief efforts.
The RSF carried out drone attacks on a military base and other targets on Sunday near the airport – and on Monday, there was a second series of attacks targeting fuel depots in the eastern part of Port Sudan, according to latest news reports.
Mothers tend to their children suffering from severe acute malnutrition at a hospital in Port Sudan.
The RSF has not so far claimed responsibility for Monday’s strikes which left fuel storage facilities ablaze in what the army characterised as an attack on civilian infrastructure.
The Secretary-General is “concerned with the recent reports of drone attacks on military and civilian infrastructure” in the area, which until now had largely been spared from the devastation of the year-long war.
Mr. Haq stressed that the attack on Port Sudan was a “worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations” in the city, which has become a lifeline for humanitarian aid across the country.
The Secretary-General “renews his call for urgent dialogue between the warring parties towards an immediate cessation of hostilities and an inclusive political process,” Mr. Haq said. “This is essential to prevent further escalation, protect civilians, and put Sudan back on a path towards peace and stability.”
On the humanitarian front, the UN’s aid coordination office OCHA said the drone strikes have not directly affected its operations in Port Sudan.
“None of our offices, premises or warehouses have been impacted, and we continue to carry out our regular operations,” Mr. Haq confirmed.
However, he added that the situation is being closely monitored, and that UN Humanitarian Air Service flights in and out of the city have been temporarily paused.
Beyond Port Sudan, recent strikes on power stations across Sudan have disrupted electricity and clean water supplies – worsening conditions for displaced families and returnees.
“We call on all parties to this conflict to ensure that civilians and civilian infrastructure are not targeted,” the Deputy Spokesperson said. “Wars have rules, and international humanitarian law must be respected.”
Children participate in an e-learning session at the Al Seniyaa internally displaced people’s gathering site in Port Sudan.
