Humanitarian Situation in Gaza "Beyond Breakdown', Says United Nations' Human Rights Chief

(Image source: AFP)

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is "beyond breakdown", the United Nations' human rights chief, Volker Turk, warned on 12 December 2023. Volker Turk said it was hard to find words strong enough to describe the situation in Gaza. "It is so precarious," he said. "I don't even know what words to find in terms of the precariousness. I don't know whether you can give me a better word than precarious, extremely precarious?''I mean, it's on the verge of, or well beyond, breakdown."

"There is a clarion call for everyone and for the international institutions that deal with it, to take it very serious," Turk added. He was speaking at the end of a two-day event in Geneva marking the 75th anniversary since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Especially in this very difficult but also somber moment, it was incredibly important for us to rekindle the spirit, the momentum, but also the actual content and the essence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Turk said.

"we need the political leadership to embrace human rights and make it the core essence of every and any decision that they take"."That's really the message back to everyone: Take human rights seriously, more seriously. And make it central to your policy making and decisions."