UN Gazeti

Wednesday 21 February 2007

Issue No. 209

UN Observances
8 March                                  International Women’s Day
21 March                               International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22 March                               World Water Day
23 March                               World Meteorological Day

UN IN KENYA

UNIFEM DEPUTY DIRECTOR VISITS KENYA

The UNIFEM Deputy Director, Mr. Moez Doraid on arrival in Kenya  yesterday stressed on the importance of strategic partnerships and resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Accompanied by the UNIFEM Regional Programme Director, Ms. Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda., the Deputy Director’s first call was with the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Social Affairs, where he met with the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Rachel Dzombo. 

Mr. Doraid affirmed UNIFEM’s commitment to fostering women's empowerment and gender equality and that it was indeed placing the realization of women's human rights and security at the centre of all of its efforts.  The next UNIFEM Programmematic cycle 2008 – 2011 in Kenya will focus on implementing the National Gender Policy and some of the existing legislations like the Sexual Offences Act.

For more Information contact Roselyn Gicira, Email: roselyn.gicira@unifem.org

UN IN AFRICA

UN MISSION IN SUDAN WORKS TO END SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Working alongside southern Sudan’s Government, United Nations agencies and international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the UN mission in the country (UNMIS) yesterday organized a workshop aimed at preventing sexual exploitation in the south, following a similar seminar held last month in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

Separately, UNMIS reports continuing deadly violence in the strife-torn Darfur region of the impoverished country, including the killing of an internally displaced person (IDP) in west Darfur last Saturday after suspected Arab militia entered an IDP camp, and also the build up of militia forces over the last five days in the same region.

UNMIS said yesterday’s workshop, which is being held in Juba, southern Sudan, aims to share information about the UN’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation, while assessing achievements and identifying gaps in preventing the crime, especially against children in the region. It will also set up a joint reporting and assessment mechanism.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

SECURITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZES AFRICAN-LED PEACE MISSION IN SOMALIA

The United Nations Security Council yesterday authorized the African Union to establish a mission in Somalia aimed at helping the war-ravaged country, which has not had a functioning government for over a decade and a half, to achieve national reconciliation and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Through a unanimous resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter – which allows for enforcement measures – the Council decided that the operation, to be known as AMISOM, will support dialogue and reconciliation in Somalia by assisting with the free movement, safe passage and protection of all those involved with the process.

The new mission overrides a previous Council-authorized operation led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body, which had a more limited mandate. It will provide protection to the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) to help them carry out their functions of government, and security for key infrastructure.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL SPEAKS OVER PRESS FREEDOM IN ERITREA

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN agency mandated to protect press freedom, yesterday voiced his “grave concern” over the treatment of journalists in Eritrea following reports that writer Fessehaye Yohannes had died in detention.

“I am concerned about press freedom in Eritrea and over the way journalists are being treated in the country,” UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement from Paris, where the agency is based.

“Reports about the conditions of detention of journalists imprisoned without trial are a source of grave concern, as are reports of the disappearance of journalists,” he said, calling for Eritrea to “shed light on these cases and to ensure respect for due process of law and basic human rights, including freedom of expression and press freedom, which are fundamental to democracy and rule of law.”

Mr. Matsuura’s remarks follow news from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that poet and playwright Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, formerly a journalist with the now-banned weekly Setit, died in detention on 11 January.

 For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UN AROUND THE WORLD

SG SAYS THAT UN REFORMS ARE CRUCIAL

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday called on the world body to draw upon its own resources and experience in reforming the security sector, as the Security Council underscored the crucial role that security plays in successful peacebuilding and development efforts in countries emerging from conflict.

“Security sector reform embraces values and principles that lie at the core of the United Nations,” Mr. Ban told an open Security Council debate. “The practical involvement of the UN in security sector reform has been shaped by decades of peacekeeping in post-conflict environments.”
In particular, he pointed to four key lessons gleaned from decades of UN peacekeeping missions: the vital nature of security in the immediate aftermath of a conflict; the need for post-conflict countries to take ownership of sustainable security Programmes; the importance of strengthening institutions themselves for a durable peace; and the necessity of cooperation among the UN and its various agencies, as well as regional organizations, financial institutions and others.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

SG SEEKS TO REENERGIZE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon meets in Berlin tomorrow with key international partners seeking to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians in what his spokesperson said yesterday “is illustrative of the Secretary-General’s desire to reenergize the process.”
The meeting of the diplomatic Quartet, comprising the UN, the United States, Russia and the European Union (EU), the second such session this month at principals’ level, will discuss the Palestinian unity government accord reached in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and yesterday’s talks between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Besides Mr. Ban and Ms. Rice, the others participants are Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, representing the EU Presidency.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UNHCR APPEALS FOR $14 MILLION FOR PEOPLE DISPLACED BY CONFLICT

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR )yesterday launched a $14-million appeal to aid hundreds of thousands of people this year in Colombia where the more than four decades of fighting between the Government, leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries have uprooted some 3 million people, killing over 40,000 people in the last 16 years alone.

“In Colombia, human rights violations, including extra-judicial killings and disappearances, are common. Illegal armed groups recruit children – often forcibly – in many areas of the country,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Director for the Americas Philippe Lavanchy said.
“More than 1 million children do not go to school, while 77 per cent of previously enrolled children are unable to continue their studies, mostly for financial reasons. It is likely that the displaced population will continue to increase in 2007, with indigenous people and Afro-Colombian groups under the biggest threat, he added

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UN IRAQ ENVOY VISITS IRAN

The top United Nations envoy to Iraq is paying a two-day visit to Iran as part of his ongoing efforts to muster regional support to bring stability to the war-torn country, the fourth such visit he has made in as many weeks.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Ashraf Qazi, who at the end of last month conferred with Syrian officials in Damascus and Saudi leaders in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and last week met with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara, held talks yesterday with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouschehr Mottaki.

“Mr. Qazi discussed with Mr. Mottakki recent developments in Iraq and the important role the neighbouring states can play in reducing violence and promoting stability in the country,” the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said in a statement.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

SG CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACK ON PAKISTAN-INDIA TRAIN

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 19 February strongly condemned the terrorist bombing of the Delhi-Lahore 'Friendship Express,' in which 67 people were killed and nearly 20 injured. “This heinous crime cannot be justified by any cause and its perpetrators should be brought to justice,” a spokesperson for Mr. Ban said in a statement. Strongly condemning the “brutal” blast, the statement conveyed Mr. Ban's condolences to the families of the innocent victims and the Governments of India and Pakistan.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UN MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED NATIONS TRUST FUND

Senior United Nations officials on 16 February marked the tenth anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women with praise for its accomplishments and a call for more action.

“Today is not only an occasion to celebrate. It is also an opportunity to renew and redouble our efforts,” said Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, whose was sworn in as Deputy Secretary-General on 5 February, making her the highest-ranking woman at the Organization. “Violence against women is an issue that cannot wait.”

Established by the General Assembly, the Trust Fund is administered by UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and has brought together 16 UN agencies, eight international and regional organizations and many women’s groups. To date it has distributed nearly $13 million to 226 innovative Programmes to address violence against women in more than 100 countries.

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

For more information on the United Nations and its activities, please visit the main U.N website at www.un.org or the U.N Kenya website at www.un-kenya.org