A/HRC/45/CRP.10 circumstances. No one has questioned that it was the United Nations who housed the affected community on the site, and then failed to relocate the community for years when the harmful exposure to toxic substances known, despite relocating French peacekeeping troops a matter of weeks after they showed signs of lead poisoning. No one is questioning that the community is still suffering today from what amounts to two decades of inaction, almost entirely by the United Nations. 72. It is truly remarkable that despite so much certainty of harm, causality, and wrongdoing, the United Nations has still made no meaningful progress to provide the injured community an effective remedy. The United Nations considers that the established Trust Fund constitutes the best way forward to positively impact the health and well-being of the aforementioned communities.69 However, to date, the Trust Fund has so far not initiated any full-fledged activities due to a dramatic lack of resources. The United Nations Trust Fund for victims of lead poisoning in Kosovo has received an appalling single, solitary contribution of US$10,000. No contribution has been made by any Member State of the OECD. This cannot be explained by the fiscal strains brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, as contributions were solicited since 2017. The trust fund for victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic received millions from dozens of States and other entities during this period, yet only one meagre contribution has been made to this United Nations Trust Fund for Kosovo, which speaks volumes of the discrimination endured by Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian peoples. While the Special Rapporteur is dismayed at the lack of resources in the established Trust Fund and the level of disengagement of nearly every single United Nations Member State, he reiterates his previously expressed position that this does not absolve the United Nations of its responsibility towards the victims. 70 73. The RAE community is being subject to an ongoing violation of their human rights through the failure to provide them with an effective remedy. The affected communities continue to live in conditions of economic and social deprivation, lacking access and means for receiving adequate medical services. The need to provide the victims, who continue to face economic and social hardship, known to result from lead poisoning, in addition to grave health concerns, with individual compensation, remains as critical as ever. Without undermining the potential benefits that the Trust Fund could generate for the general wellbeing of the affected communities, the Special Rapporteur believes that the Trust Fund alone cannot wholly address the serious damage suffered by the victims, nor meet their pressing health needs. 74. A more insidious, ongoing violation is the tantalizing cruelty of an illusory promise of a brighter future, which has been dashed time and again by legalistic apologies, an aimless and hopeless Trust Fund, and silence from the international community after report after report of the profound injustice suffered by the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. While visits, reports, statements and legal opinions, the Special Rapporteur’s included, have contributed to this mirage of remedy, the possibility of not meeting the community’s expectations does not excuse the United Nations from directly engaging with the victims regarding what they want, need, and expect, for the wrongs they have suffered and endured. The lack of any tangible action by the United Nations comes despite clear findings of the HRAP of violations of the human rights of community members to life, freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the United Nations must engage with the victims regarding their demands and expectations and use this information to define an effective remedy for this tragedy and plan of action. 75. The Special Rapporteur continues to believe that the United Nations has the ultimate responsibility for providing remedy and assistance to victims housed by the United Nations in camps constructed on lead-contaminated toxic wasteland. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, the best way forward is for the United Nations itself to hold frank and detailed discussions with the community about their vision of an effective 69 70 WHO letter, 8 October 2019, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=34907. See https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24319&LangID=E . 15