As a member of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), we are pleased to celebrate its success in 2016 and we would like to state that we will continue to support their efforts in 2017.

The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children has released a new report on “Protecting children affected by armed violence in the community,” in which it is stated that armed violence in the community compromises children’s rights and is associated with serious risks for their development and safety, causing children to be injured, disabled, exploited, imprisoned and at times killed.

Defend International coordinator in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Mr. Zar Ali khan Afridi, has issued a brief report on violations of human rights in FATA, where the residents are by law deprived of three basic human rights namely, (1) appeal, (2) wakeel and (3) daleel.

Given that President Erdogan’s crackdown on human rights has paralyzed every aspect of life, Defend International expresses solidarity with those affected, calling on the world leaders to denounce Mr. Erdogan’s move toward authoritarianism and his misuse of the emergency provisions.