The international community has thoroughly failed to forge a global ceasefire in order to stop the coronavirus and save millions of lives, said Oxfam.
In its new report “Conflict in the time of Coronavirus,” Oxfam showed that despite UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for a global ceasefire, the conflict has continued, leaving many communities exceptionally vulnerable to COVID-19. This is compounded by a diplomatic failure at the UN Security Council and years of weak investment in peace-building efforts. International efforts have also largely side-lined the vital voices and contributions of local and women-led peacebuilding efforts.
Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead said, “As the Global Ceasefire call falters, and Security Council members fail to prioritize people’s lives over their own self-interests, we are reminded just how important it is to have local peacebuilders, and particularly women-led organizations, at the center of these efforts.”
Late on Friday, May 8, the US blocked a resolution from moving forward, largely because it urged support for the World Health Organization, which the Trump administration has publicly criticized and defunded. Many other states had raised their own objections, making the deliberations intractable. Oxfam says that this was the latest in a litany of failures to curb conflicts around the world at a time when peace and international cooperation is sorely needed.
Meanwhile, in the last year alone, the international community topped $1.9 trillion in military spending. This would have paid for the UN’s coronavirus appeal over 280 times.
These conflicts are trapping millions of people in areas where health systems are crippled and hospitals are bombed or ill-equipped, and they are forcing many to flee into crowded camps where conditions are rife for the virus to spread.
Some of the cases outlined in Oxfam’s report include:
- In the Central African Republic, The UN has just announced suspension of its humanitarian response as armed groups have broken the ceasefire amid a surge of violence.
- In Myanmar, the army has rejected domestic and international calls for a ceasefire while fighting in Rakhine state increased, with frequent airstrikes and shelling in populated areas.
- Saudi Arabia announced a two-week unilateral ceasefire in Yemen from April 9 and later extended it a month but fighting continues by all sides in the conflict. Barely half of Yemen’s health facilities are still fully-functioning and there have been over 100,000 suspected cases of cholera this year.
- In Colombia, the rebel ELN have declared a ceasefire but other armed groups and the government has not agreed.
- In Afghanistan, the intra-Afghan peace negotiations scheduled in March have been delayed and the Taliban is refusing a ceasefire without the government reciprocating.
- In Burkina Faso, ongoing violence means that people are often unable to access essentials such as water, healthcare, and food. Restrictions put in place to prevent the transmission of the virus has made it even more of a challenge.
- In South Sudan, some peacebuilding funding has been paused by donors, who are prioritizing the coronavirus response above all else.
As we continue to see in this global pandemic, early and coordinated action is the only way to curb the spread of COVID-19, and sadly we are seeing our global leaders fail to learn these lessons.
Read the report: Conflict in the time of Coronavirus.
Original source: Oxfam
Published on 12 May 2020
