Germany’s Seat On The UN Security Council
Welthungerhilfe: International Humanitarian Law Must Be Enforced
Bonn / Berlin, 28 Dec 2018 Welthungerhilfe expects of the German Government to use its two-year seat on the UN Security Council to counter the threat of erosion of international humanitarian law. Access to people in need is increasingly limited and aid workers themselves increasingly become victims of attacks and abductions. In 2016 alone, 201 employees of the United Nations or other organisations lost their lives. Moreover, hunger must no longer be systematically used as a method of war, as it happens in Yemen or Syria.
“International humanitarian law is being flouted every day in many crisis regions. Germany should work with other European partners to ensure that international law is enforced globally. The four Geneva Conventions will be 70 years old next year – but attacks on helpers are on the rise, as is the starvation of entire regions as part of a war strategy. We urgently need political solutions to achieve lasting peace and stability. Today, 80 per cent of humanitarian aid takes place in war and conflict regions,” emphasises Mathias Mogge, Secretary General of Welthungerhilfe.
Germany should also work to ensure that the forgotten crises in Somalia, the Central African Republic or South Sudan are put back on the political agenda. There, the worst humanitarian disasters take place unnoticed by the global public. At the same time, aid funding for these regions is always in jeopardy.
Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organisations in Germany; politically independent and non-denominational. It is fighting for "Zero Hunger by 2030". Since its establishment in 1962, more than 8,900 overseas projects in 70 countries have been supported with 3.53 billion euros. Welthungerhilfe works on the principle of empowering people to help themselves from fast disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organisations.
