UAE calls for Gaza ceasefire resolution after UN Secretary-General invokes Article 99

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The UAE on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to urgently adopt a draft humanitarian ceasefire resolution as the situation in war-torn Gaza is "close to irreversible".

"We cannot wait. The Council needs to act decisively to demand a humanitarian ceasefire," the UAE said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In response to a letter sent by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the president of the Security Council, invoking Article 99 of the UN Charter, the UAE drafted and submitted a resolution, seen by The National, to the 15 council members calling for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".

The text which has the support of Arab countries and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation is set for a vote on Friday, with a briefing from the UN chief expected.

"This is a moral and humanitarian imperative and we urge all countries to support the call of the Secretary General," read the UAE statement.

Article 99 of the UN charter states that “the Secretary General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.

Mr Guterres warned that he expects “public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible” in Gaza.

“The situation is fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region,” said Mr Guterres.

“Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs.”

Mr Guterres urged the 15 members of the Security Council “to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe” and repeated his appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.

“This is urgent … there is no effective protection of civilians,” he stressed. “The current conditions are making it impossible for meaningful humanitarian operations to be conducted."

“Nowhere is safe in Gaza.”

It is the first time the UN chief has invoked the article since taking office in 2017, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN criticised Mr Guterres's use of Article 99, saying the UN chief has reached a "new moral low" by sending the letter to the Security Council.

“This is more proof of the Secretary General's moral distortion and his bias against Israel,” Gilad Erdan wrote.

“The Secretary General's call for a ceasefire is actually a call to keep Hamas's reign of terror in Gaza.”

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters before the release of the UN chief's letter that Arab diplomats were “fine-tuning” a draft Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The draft resolution, which was circulated to council members on Wednesday afternoon, acts "upon the letter dated 6 December 2023 of the Secretary General, under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, addressed to the President of the Security Council".

It expresses "grave concern over the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population" and demands an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire".

Mr Mansour said Arab ministers and members of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation would be visiting Washington on Thursday to discuss a ceasefire with US officials.

“A ceasefire has to take place and it has to take place immediately,” he told reporters.

In mid-November, after four rejected draft texts, the Security Council called for “extended humanitarian pauses” in the Gaza Strip, in the first time the 15 members broke their silence on the conflict.

Past cases in which matters have been brought by the Secretary General to the Security Council include a letter from 1980 in which the secretary general at the time voiced concern over the conflict between Iran and Iraq, and urged the council to address the issue.

The last time a UN secretary general invoked Article 99 was in 1989 for Lebanon.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”