UN drafts ‘list of shame’ over child deaths in Yemen

UNITED NATIONS: An upcoming UN report featuring a blacklist of child rights violators is expected to refrain from toughening criticism of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen despite a bus bombing last year that killed scores of children, according to diplomats.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is due to release the annual list of shame later this month ahead of a Security Council meeting on children and armed conflicts scheduled for August 2.

The coalition was put on the UN blacklist in 2016 and later removed after Saudi Arabia reacted furiously, threatening to cut funding to UN programmes. To appease Riyadh, the United Nations split the list into two sections in 2017 and put the coalition on "Section B" -- which highlights efforts by the Saudi-led group to avoid killing and maiming children in Yemen.

According to diplomats with knowledge of the report, Guterres has received a draft recommendation from his UN envoy who determined that the coalition should remain on the separate section of the list that recognizes measures taken to avoid targeting children.

This recommendation comes after 40 children were killed in August last year when their bus was attacked in Saada governorate. The coalition admitted that "mistakes" were made in targeting.

The UN envoy for children and armed conflict, Virgina Gamba, also recommended that the armed forces of Myanmar, Syria and South Sudan be moved to the sub-section of the list to recognise measures that they have taken to protect children, according to the diplomats. It remains unclear if Guterres will endorse the recommendations of his envoy in his final report, but rights groups expressed dismay.