Video of Gaza UN Head delivering Trócaire lecture

Trócaire's Annual Lenten lecture entitled ‘The responsibility to protect civilians during conflict’ was delivered by John Ging, head of UN operations in Gaza.

Ging came to international prominence in January this year during the conflict in Gaza. As the UN's most senior representative in Gaza he gave the world an insight into the brutality of the conflict and the humanitarian disaster that unfolded.

The lecture,  discussed what international governments must do to protect innocent people living in the world’s most violent regions. According to John Ging “the conflict in the Middle East is an example of the failure of the international community to protect civilians and the consequence of this failure is death and destruction. That’s why we need to admit our mistakes, refocus, and come up with ways to effectively protect people.”

Mr Ging concluded “We have to focus on the people and de-politicise the issues in Gaza and Israel. The issues are very complex but the consequences of failure are simple - death and destruction. The people in Israel and Gaza have had no time to pick up the pieces after the violence earlier this year. The headlines have moved on but the violence continues”.