UN Gazeti

Wednesday 02 May 2007

Issue No. 219

UN Observances

UN IN AFRICA

UN OFFICIAL CONDEMNS ATTACK ON AID WORKERS

The United Nation’s top humanitarian official in Sudan yesterday strongly condemned the hijacking of two of the Organization’s vehicles by unknown armed men in strife-torn West Darfur, along with the abduction of six aid workers who were later released.

The office of Manuel Aranda da Silva said that staff members of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were travelling in a two-vehicles clearly marked with the UN refugee agency’s logo, for a routine visit to a refugee camp south-west of the town of El Geneina when they were hijacked.

After several hours of searching by the UN, the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and Government authorities, the staff members were found unharmed near Saraf Omra, east of Geneina, where they were brought by truck by the local population.

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

CÔTE D’IVOIRE: UN PARTICIPATES IN REBEL INTERGRATION CEREMONY

Welcoming the willingness of former rival parties to fully implement the peace deal in Côte d’Ivoire, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African country participated in a ceremony marking the official integration of former rebels into two brigades.

By attending the ceremony on Monday, the mission, known as UNOCI, hoped to shows its eagerness to support the Ouagadougou Peace Accord between President Laurent Gbagbo and Forces Nouvelles Secretary-General Guillaume Soro which commits both sides to abide by free, fair and transparent elections.

The deal also calls for the dismantling of the Zone of Confidence, which separates the Government-controlled south from the rebel-held north.

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

DSG SAYS UN TO CONTINUE WORKING CLOSELY WITH DRC AND CONGO

After returning from a weeklong visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said yesterday that the UN must continue its partnership with the two countries in helping them meet the development challenges ahead.

Regarding the DRC, Ms. Migiro said that President Joseph Kabila told her in their meeting that his Government is cognizant of the need to improve governance, build infrastructure and provide social services.

The two also discussed how the DRC could meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight targets aimed to slash social ills, including extreme poverty and hunger, by 2015.

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

UN DEEPLY CONCERNED OVER CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN SOMALIA

Twelve United Nations experts united to voice their deep concern yesterday about the recent violence in the Somali capital Mogadishu, where hundreds of people have been killed in the latest clashes and hundreds of thousands forced to flee in recent months.

“This is the second major escalation in fighting in Mogadishu in the past month alone and we are very concerned that civilian fatalities and casualties will increase in the coming days,” the experts said in a statement calling on warring sides to immediately halt the fighting.

Since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), backed by Ethiopian forces, dislodged the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) from the capital and much of the country last December, there has been an upsurge in violence. Clan-based militias have also been involved in the clashes. The break in fighting between warring sides agreed to early this month crumbled when the fighting resumed on 11 April in Mogadishu.

For more information, please contact Paulette Jones, email address: paulette.jones@wfp.org

GRADUATES OF UN SKILLS Programme IN LIBERIA URGED TO BE SELF-RELIANT

Graduates of a United Nations skills training Programme in Liberia, where the world body is working to help consolidate stability as the country recovers from conflict, should use their training to become more self-reliant, the senior UN military official has said.

Addressing 33 graduates of the Pakistani Battalion-sponsored technical skills training Programme this weekend, the Force Commander of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Lieutenant-General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor, said they should take advantage of the training to acquire skills so they will be less dependent on aid and handouts.

The graduates from the local community around the city of Tubmanburg had completed a six-week training exercise in automotive mechanics, electricity and generator repair, according to a news release from the mission.

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

SG OPENS RWANDAN GENOCIDE EXHIBITION

Opening an exhibition at United Nations Headquarters in New York on the lessons learned from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on the international community to ensure that it never forgets what took place and never stops working to prevent another genocide.

“Preventing genocide is a collective and individual responsibility,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that governments, the media, religious organizations, civil society groups and even individuals have their own role to play in this fight.

He urged governments of UN Member States to give “real meaning” to the principle that they have a 'responsibility to protect' populations in danger of genocide or war crimes – which they agreed upon at a global summit in 2005 – by making that concept operational through practical steps.

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

WFP URGES BETTER SECURITY TO BOLSTER GAINS IN FIGHTING MALNUTRITION

The United Nations World Food Programme has made dramatic progress in reducing malnutrition in Ethiopia, Sudan and Chad but the achievements risk being diminished by constantly shifting security conditions, said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran on Sunday 29th April.

Sheeran, speaking after she concluded a visit to the three countries, said she is encouraged by the gains she has seen but emphasized that sustained improvement requires long-term investment to steer a country from overwhelming crisis to gradual recovery.

Sheeran’s Africa visit, her first field mission since assuming the top job at WFP on April 5, took her to Ethiopia, Sudan and lastly to Chad, where she met yesterday with government and donor country representatives to discuss assistance for some 365,000 refugees and internally displaced.

For more information, please contact Brenda Barton: brenda.barton@wfp.org

UN AROUND THE WORLD

SG NAMES 3 PROMINENT SPECIAL ENVOYS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The first woman Prime Minister of Norway, the former President of Chile, and the President of the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly were yesterday named Special Envoys for Climate Change by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has made the issues one of his top priorities.

The three envoys named are also prominent in international environmental affairs, according to a statement released by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, Michele Montas.

Norwegian ex-Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland is the former Chair of the World Commission of Environment and Development, which is best known for developing the broad political concept of sustainable development and two decades ago published a landmark report, “Our Common Future.”

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

UNHCR TO RE-ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE IN BAGHDAD

To better serve the urgent needs of the 2 million Iraqis who have fled their home regions to other areas of the violence-torn country, the United Nations refugee agency has decided to again station international officials in Baghdad, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres said yesterday.

“All of the international staff is now concentrated in Amman, Jordan, and of course this is not the best possible way to do it,” Mr. Guterres told reporters at a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

Most international UN staff was withdrawn from the strife-torn country after the 2003 bombing of the Organization’s Baghdad headquarters, which killed 22 people, including top envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

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

HAITI: UN ENVOY HAILS SUCCESSFUL ELECTIONS

The senior United Nations envoy to Haiti has congratulated the country’s people on the successful conclusion of a number of local, municipal and legislative elections which culminated a three-round process as part of broader efforts to consolidate democracy in the Caribbean country.

“After all the reports I have received and what I have witnessed myself today in the field, I wish to congratulate everybody on the excellent collaboration between MINUSTAH and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP),” Edmond Mulet, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative and head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), said on Sunday.
“I also want to point out the very successful cooperation of the MINUSTAH Security Forces and the Haitian National Police and I want to thank them for their professional performance.”

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

NEPAL: UN ENVOY SAYS ELECTION DELAY SHOULD FURNISH TIME TO ADDRESS CONCERNS

The senior United Nations envoy to Nepal yesterday said an announced postponement in Constituent Assembly elections planned for June should offer time to address critical concerns in the country, where a decade-long armed conflict that killed some 13,000 people came to a formal end when the parties signed a peace accord last November.

“In my opinion, postponement should not be viewed as a disaster; but neither is it a guarantee of success at a later date,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative, Ian Martin, said in a press statement released in Kathmandu.

“I hope that a new date will soon be decided upon by the Interim Government, in consultation with the Election Commission, and that the time available will then be used to address the several critical issues that pose risks to the peace process,” he added.

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

UN-BACKED BODY SAYS RECONSTRUCTION PLAN FOR AFGHANISTAN ON TRACK

The high-level United Nations-backed body tasked with overseeing the Afghanistan Compact, a five-year reconstruction blueprint for the war-ravaged country, said yesterday that since its inaugural meeting last year, the implementation of the plan – which aims to bolster security, economic development and counter-narcotics efforts – is on track.

However, the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) also noted that while the Compact is capitalizing on momentum to meet both short and long-term goals, it is necessary to translate these efforts into meaningful changes for a majority of Afghans.

“Last year was successful,” said Ishaq Nadiri, JDMB co-chair, professor and senior economic adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, referring to the problem-solving mechanism established and implemented. “We are glad that there is progress to report, but we must focus more energy on implementation to ensure that this progress soon becomes more evident on the ground.”

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

SECURITY COUNCIL TEAM’S MEETINGS IN KOSOVO CAUSE FOR CONFIDENCE

The head of a United Nations Security Council team travelling in the Balkans on Saturday 28th April said its meetings in Kosovo give cause for confidence on the future of the Serbian province that has been run by the United Nations since Western forces drove Yugoslav troops out in 1999.

Following talks with the President and Prime Minister in Pristina, Belgian Ambassador Johan Verbeke said the delegation he is leading “got a message of confidence, a clear and articulated view on what the current and future policies may be.”

Commenting on meetings with Serbian political leaders, he added: “We saw that their view is also one which is one of a belief in the future of Kosovo, but that still we will have to work on further confidence and willingness to work together for a multi ethnic society.”

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

DEATH OF MASTER RUSSIAN CELLIST AND UNESCO GOODWILL AMBASSADOR MOURNED

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday 27th April expressed his “profound sadness” at the death of the great Russian cellist who also served as Goodwill Ambassador for the agency.

“I have always admired this exceptional musician, who knew how to turn his immense talent into an instrument for the defence of human rights,” Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement. “His genius enabled him to practice his art unrelentingly at the service of tolerance, the sound of his cello moving us to the quick.”

Mr. Rostropovich participated in the 1999 UNESCO-backed Programme, the International Appeal for the Arts Education and Creativity at School.

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

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