presse release

In Yemen, he said, “despite expressed support for a ceasefire by the Government, Ansar Allah and many other parties — including the Joint Forces Command — the conflict has spiked”. He added that he asked the parties “to discuss COVID19 crisis management and a nationwide ceasefire mechanism” and called on “all Governments and movements involved and their supporters to end this catastrophic conflict and humanitarian nightmare and come to the negotiating table”.

In view of that global and regional situation concerned by the evolution of COVID-19, the Non Governmental Organisation Union Nations Federation (UNF) strongly deplores and condemns the actions of the Huthis against Saudi Arabia, which consisted in firing two missiles at the cities of Riyadh and Jazan on 4 March, 2020.

The UNF unites its voice to that of the Union Nations Secretary-General and calls on for the cessation of these repeated hostile acts and for the implementation of related international resolutions.

Along with the international community, the UNF calls on for a collective action to address this COVID-19 pandemic, as a complementary alternative to the military and terrorists acts that have devastated the world in the past decades until now.

The UNF actively supports the Declaration of the Rights of Humanity. Ms. Corinne Lepage wishes to address the Members of the UNF as well as all of the Partner States of the UNF.

H.E Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF is happy to forward her message to you:

Par Madame Corinne Lepage, Présidente de la DDHU, Ex Ministre du Développement de la République Française.

The Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights is a particularly needed text for our times.

When it was requested by the President of the French Republic, written by the task force, adopted by a many public and private entities (in particular Union Cities and Local Governments which includes 240,000 cities and affects 5 billion inhabitants, very large cities of the world such as New York, San Francisco, Paris, Madrid and many others, about forty law societies, about sixty NGOs, etc.), the DHR appeared to be a declaration justified by the combination of ecological crises, the lack of access to resources for a large part of humanity, the ethical problems posed by technological progress and the risk of the disappearance of living beings.

Now, with the coronavirus pandemic and the immediate and future upheavals it is causing, this declaration of rights and duties appears even better adapted to our universal needs. Moreover, it may reinforce the objectives of sustainable development.

Almost all of humanity is confronted with this epidemic. Several billion people, albeit under very different conditions, are in quarantine and feel the fear of getting sick and the anxiety of the future. Humanity claims the right to live for everyone and accepts, with restrictive authoritarian measures,the duties that are necessary to safeguard everyone’s right to live. This is precisely the basis of the Declaration. Article 2 of the Preamble acknowledges the extreme seriousness of the situation, which is a matter of concern for all humanity and requires the recognition of new principles, rights and duties: here we are.

Article 3 of the Declaration, which is the third principle on which it is based, recalls that “the principle of the continuing existence of humankind guarantees the safeguarding and preservation of humanity through careful human activities respectful of nature, including human and non-human life”. The pandemic that we are experiencing reminds us, in a way, of the fragility of our existence, even if the virus is not the most violent that one can imagine. But the crisis we are experiencing clearly demonstrates our interdependence as human beings and our interdependence with nature. The right of humanity is the right to live, as it is the right of all living species. This is precisely what Article 5 proclaims: humanity, like all living species, has the right to live in a healthy and ecologically sustainable environment. It is precisely this right to live in an environment that does not contaminate us that is claimed and recognized.

However, this right has no meaning, value or effectiveness regarding duties, and in particular the right to ensure respect for the rights of humanity, including that of Article 5.

If these provisions might seem theoretical for some peoples, they are clearly no longer theoretical when, faced with the risk of disease which can affect everyone, the right to live in a healthy
environment takes on its full meaning as the duty to allow it, a requirement.

In the same way, Article 9 specifies that humanity has the right to human security in environmental, food, health, economic and political terms. Everyone today understands what health security means, whereas this concern may have concerned only a part of humanity until now. All countries, including the richest, all people today demand this safety.

Hence the duty contained in Article 14 to direct scientific and technical progress towards the preservation and health of the human species and other species. Today, everyone can only agree that this is the priority, because the endangerment of the health of the human species generates the endangerment of the entire economic and social organization, and consequently a vital risk for
humanity itself.

All that has just been recalled for health could be explained on the grounds regarding climate, living species and biodiversity in general.

The universal crisis that we are experiencing calls for a universal legal response that translates for humanity, conceived as the chain of generations, the rights and duties of each and every one for the benefit of all.

The Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights, already adopted by many cities, NGOs, public organizations, businesses, universities and law societies, is precisely a simple instrument, widely disseminated, which, in its flexibility, can serve as a cornerstone for the very many actions we will have to take in the future.

The UNF thanks the painter of Moroccan origin Khalid Benkaroum for his hopeful work against the Covid-19.

Following our last press release about the Covid-19, the painter Khalid Benkaroum was extremely kind to offer a work he created on the theme of the coronavirus and on the hope that we must keep before returning to a normal life. This work will soon be on sale for the benefit of the associations which are in charge of helping the nursing staff plagued by increasingly difficult and trying days.

Khalid Benkaroum is a young artist born in Salé and who grew up in Hay Moulay Ismael where he studied. Already very young he was passionate about drawing and thereafter, encouraged by his teachers, perfected until being taken under the wing of a Spanish artist. Khalid then began to paint, while retaining his passion for football as a professional player on the Salé team. The UNF thanks him today warmly for this original work, full of life and hope.

The UNF calls to sign the Declaration of the Rights of Humanity – DDHU.

A With the Covid-19, we have understood what human rights are (living) and what their duties are (allowing life for humanity). For this reason, the time has come for the recognition of the rights and duties of humanity by everyone, from individuals to states, from NGOs to businesses, from cities to regions.

On Saturday, March 28, more than 3 billion people were confined to varying degrees on a planet swept by the pandemic due to the coronavirus which has now left more than 30,000 dead, including more than 21,000 in Europe alone.

More than 640,000 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed worldwide, in 183 countries and territories, since the end of December 2019, according to a count made by Agence FrancePresse from official sources. These figures, however, only reflect a fraction of the actual number of infections, with a large number of countries now testing only for cases requiring hospital care

Under the impulse of Mrs. Corinne Lepage, Lawyer of the Great Causes of the Environment, ex Minister of the Environment of the French Republic, many personalities, including the President of the Republic Francois Hollande, Mr Banki Moon, hundreds of Mayors in the world, like Paris or Strasbourg, a State, NGOs, anticipated this commitment today even more crying out for truth.

The UNF, in agreement with its partner States, supports and requests all of governments, town halls, regions, universities and individuals to massively join the number of signatories.

You can read the Declaration of Human Rights directly and sign it on the websiten www.droitshumanite.fr or contact our general secretariat.

Nature has given us a cry of warning, let us not be deaf to this cry.

H.E Christophe Giovannetti

Union Nations Federation, all union against Covid-19, the invisible enemy.

To all our members, Ambassadors and our Government partners,

The Covid-19 Virus has changed our lives, our economy and our priorities. I ask all our members as part of our activities to prioritize the fight against this epidemic with all our means and all our
energy.

The Covid-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan in China, is still gaining ground. To date, we have more than 16,500 victims worldwide, including 11,000 in Europe, notably in Italy and Spain, the countries most affected with France who have all declared a state of health emergency. Europe as we know it is in turmoil and the contagion which has no borders spreads on all continents. Every day the number of victims explodes in all corners of the globe. Iran, the Union States, India and now Africa are not to be outdone in this burning news.

Suspended economies, closed borders, general confinement, the world is in turmoil and the population is in an altered climate, disturbed by a declared health war. All countries are organizing and using the means they have to stop this extraordinary pandemic.

Epidemiologists, virologists, biologists, the whole scientific community of the planet dialogues together on the progress of their work for the implementation on the market of a vaccine.

Everywhere, the state of emergency is programmed, everyone is at the time of mobilization and more than ever, solidarity is on the agenda of the UNF.

As President of the UNF, particularly invested in humanitarian issues, I hope that the UNF will not forget anyone and help to help suffering and disadvantaged countries. This is why it is essential to open up to the African continent which has a fragile health system and is already fighting against other epidemics such as malaria, the Ebola virus, HIV, yellow fever or cholera.

The Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the African Union gives us alarming warnings and specified that 43 African countries are affected by the coronavirus and that the hardest hits are in West Africa, Burkina Faso and South Africa, with 7.5 million people already weakened by the VIH virus.

Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Mauritania, Guinea, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt… these countries triggered the state of emergency and containment. Despite this, many african countries are likely to suffer the full devastating effects of this virus for lack of medical equipment (masks in number, beds equipped with respiratory aspirators, availability of biological tests), for lack of knowledge of limiting measures contacts as well as a lack of medical structures.

In the same vein, crowded refugee camps and war-torn countries where administrative infrastructure and hospitals have been destroyed are within our scope.

In this dramatic context, we must intervene within the framework of international humanitarian law and be union, mobilize our forces and put our resources at the disposal of the most disadvantaged. Our skills and our networks will help policy makers, senior officials, business intermediaries, and academics, to see where and how it is possible to set up a humanitarian assistance program and improve the healthcare system in countries wishing to follow our involvement in the Covid-19.

Advice, exchanges, prevention actions, aid operations, fundraising… the UNF, strong in its convictions and its networks, can, thanks to its worldwide presence and its qualified ambassadors, open a space for negotiations to governments who wish to do so, in order to provide solutions to protect the population and eradicate this virus.

As part of our commitments and the call for international cooperation, we can help improve the health system of the poorest countries and provide substantial information that will allow us to take adequate measures to eradicate this Covid-19.

I would also like to thank our Ambassadors who have put all their energy into finding protective masks and screening tests to meet the imperative demand. Thank you for the dedication of all.

H.E Christophe Giovannetti
President

Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF, is pleased to announce the support of the UNF for the construction of 12 houses for the police forces of the Arusha region in Tanzania.

Under the leadership of His Excellency Fouad Mustafa Hamdy, our General Secretary, andfinancial partners, the UNF decided to participate actively in the housing of police forces in the
Arusha Region in the Republic of Tanzania.

The choice was not made at random. Indeed Arusha is the seat of the East African Community and also the seat of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The UNF will continue its efforts to secure areas lacking the police forced needed for the protection of the population in the Republic of Tanzania.

The UNF announces with great sadness the death of its member Dr Mahmoud Jibril, former Prime Minister of the Libyan Arab Republic.

It is with infinite sadness that HE Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF and HE Bilal Ghamraoui, Vice President in charge of the Middle East are saddened to announce the death of Dr Mahmoud Jibril following Covid-19 at the age 68 years old.

In 1975, Mahmoud Jibril graduated in economic and political sciences from the University of Cairo. He then obtained a master’s degree in political science in 1980 and a doctorate in political science in 1985 at the University of Pittsburgh. He taught strategic planning in Pittsburgh for several years and published 10 books on this subject, as well as on decision-making, including Imagery and Ideology in U.S. Policy Toward Libya, 1969–19821. From 2007 to the end of 2010, he officiated in the Gaddafi regime at the head of the office of national economic development, an organization charged with carrying out the economic reforms of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. On March 23, 2011, at the start of the Libyan insurgency, the National Transitional Council (CNT) appointed Jibril to head the newly created transitional government.

Jibril is one of the CNT’s emissaries who travels to foreign capitals to obtain the support of the international community. He meets President Nicolas Sarkozy on several occasions in Paris. On March 10, 2011, after one of these meetings, France became the first country to officially recognize the CNT as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people. He also meets William Hague, secretary for foreign affairs of the Union Kingdom as well as Gene Cretz, ambassador of the Union States in Libya, persuading them to openly support the CNT. Although the press and international diplomacy often describe him as “Prime Minister”, “Acting Prime Minister” or more simply “number 2 of the CNT”, his official function is called “President of the Executive Council and responsible for International Affairs . ”

For several years he had participated with H.E Bilal Ghamraoui in many reflections to allow the UNF to participate in making the current world better especially in countries in crisis. We are of course thinking of his family and his loved ones and his memory will always be present in our thoughts.

Visit of a UNF delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prepare an international conference on the environment and human rights.

Visit of a UNF delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prepare an international conference on the environment and human rights. An official delegation composed of HE Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF, General of Division (2S) Didier l’Hôte, and Bilal Ghamraoui, Vices Presidents of the UNF, went to Saudi Arabia to share with Saudi dignitaries for public security solutions and to discuss ways to promote environmental law to protect humanity from an announced disaster.

In order to raise awareness in an increasing number of countries on environmental issues, including Saudi Arabia, it is proposed to prepare an international conference on the environment with the assistance of Mrs. Corinne Lepage and many international personalities concerned by this problem of international scope and scientists carrying concrete solutions to protect our planet for future generations.

The UNF is pleased to present the work of Yannick Monget, who has been able to alert and inform the world of the dangers facing our planet.
H.E Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF, recommends that everyone buys and offers schools the book “TERRES D AVENIR”.

Yannick  Monget  is  an  environmentalist  and  author who founded in France the Symbiom group (www.symbiom.org) with a certain number of personalities known throughout the world for their commitments  for  the  protection  of  the  environment and the promotion of peace ( starting with Bertrand Piccard – Solar Impusle, which he is very close to, but also astronauts, scientists, representatives of indigenous communities, artists…).

His  approach  is  based  on  the  art  he  puts  at  the service of science to raise awareness and inform on environmental  issues,  threats  to  humanity  and  the planet, but also the solutions that exist. He does this through books (he is a novelist and screenwriter) and author of several photodocumentary books published by Martinière in France (the home of photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand and d’Al Gore). He uses digital

technologies in particular to create photorealistic visual works which serve as a matrix for his work (his works were exhibited in a number of countries, such as the city of Paris during COP21) published in numerous media (National Geographic , Geo…) and have been the subject of major international exhibitions. “Terres d’Avenir”, (in French -), is available directly for sale at a price of €

28 (contact our secretariat for the purchase procedure).

Yannick  Monget  has  also  created  complete  educational  tools  for  schools,  with  educational advisers from national education in France (which include the book “Terres d’Avenir” * with in addition 6 textile fabrics presenting digital paintings, as well a teacher support document + a collection of environmental quotes + booklets for each student in the classes which can also be purchased for 190 euros).

This book and this educational tool have indeed been a real success with students. It is used in France in schools ranging from kindergarten to university (but especially college-high school). Some  of  its  contents  have  even  been  used  for  subjects  on  the  baccalaureate  or  in  school textbooks from other countries (such as Germany), proof of the educational value of the book

UNF – 66 Avenue des Champs Elysées – 75008 – Paris – France

which explains through images and words to students the reality of our world, challenges, climate problems and solutions for the future.

In his search for partners and patrons to sell his books and educational tools, he is supported moreover by UNESCO which proposed to take charge of the distribution of books and tools in French-speaking countries, in France, but also in African countries where we know that schools would never have the opportunity to acquire this kind of quality educational tools and books.

Personalities also support him in this educational and awareness-raising project, such as Hindu Oumarou Ibrahim from Chad who offered to sponsor the operation alongside if it was intended for schools.

The UNF is pleased to support the initiative of Yannick Monget.

Reactions and tributes are flowing and are not counted so much they are numerous on the part of the French population but also of all the leaders of the planet.
It must be said that Jacques Chirac had an extraordinary destiny. Deputy of Corrèze, Mayor of the city of Paris, Prime Minister and President of the French Republic from 1995 to 2007 before leaving public life, he is the man in hand tense in his country but also abroad.

Open to the world, we must remember that he is the first to invent the concept of organizing the Francophonie. In addition, this relaxed, uninhibited, warm and goodnatured President recognized, from an early age, non-Western civilizations and defended the primal arts, with the creation of the Musée des arts premiers Quai Branly in Paris in 2006.
Emmanuel Macron, current President of the French Republic during his televised address to pay homage to him declares «  He was an extraordinary personality who has often made good
decisions ».
This is indeed the man who said no to the war in Iraq and who recognized the Palestinian people.
This has earned him a high popularity in the Arab world. Open to the world, he was committed to Europe but also to the world and particularly to the African continent.

Jacques Chirac was a lover of Africa, of his aestheticism, his people, his memory. Heir to General de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, a man of networks, he created close ties and friendship with
the leaders of this continent and protected the allied regimes of France. He allowed the cancellation of debts of these countries and developed the global fund for AIDS and malaria. This
endearing, benevolent man accompanied the evolutions of the continent in a new spirit. Jacques Chirac will remain in our memories for what he has done and defended with conviction.
Let’s not forget that it was he proclaimed that “the house burns” while talking about our planet in danger. Premonitory sentence and terrible news.

Christophe Giovannetti – President of the UNF, joins all the tributes paid to say to him: goodbye Mr. President.