UN Gazeti
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Issue No. 235
UN Observances
| 23 August |
International day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition |
| 08 September |
International Literacy Day |
| 16 September |
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone layer |
UN IN KENYA
4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BAGHDAD BOMBING COMMEMORATED IN NAIROBI
At 10:30 a.m. on Friday 17 August more than 100 staff members gathered outside the main entrance of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Library, located in the Nairobi UN headquarters complex to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the Baghdad bombing. The event was organized by UNIC Nairobi on behalf of the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON).
Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP and Acting Director-General of UNON, read the Secretary-General's Message and also asked for a minute of silence in remembrance of our fallen colleagues.
For more information, visit: http://www.unicnairobi.org/
UN IN AFRICA
UN ACCUSES SUDANESE MILITARY AND MILITIAS OF POSSIBLE WAR CRIMES
The Sudanese military and allied armed groups abducted women and girls and kept many as sex slaves for a month after an attack on villages in Darfur near the end of last year, the United Nations human rights office reported yesterday, saying the abuses may constitute war crimes before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and naming individuals who could be held responsible.
The Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Louise Arbour called on the Sudanese Government to set up an independent investigation into the events that followed the attack on Deribat and eight other villages in the East Jebel Marra region of South Darfur state in late December 2006.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
3,500 EX-MILITIA MEMBERS IN VOLATILE DISTRICT AGREE TO DISARM
Another 3,500 ex-militia members from one of the most volatile corners of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have agreed to disarm, demobilize and try to reintegrate into the community, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the vast African country has reported.
The mission, known as MONUC, reported that three armed groups in Ituri district in the DRC’s far northeast provided lists of combatants by last Friday’s deadline to join the third phase of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, which is run by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
REFUGEES LIVING IN ZAMBIA TO RECEIVE CONTINUED ASSISTANCE
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has assured refugees from several African countries living in Zambia that his agency will continue to assist them in their efforts to either return to their homes or to settle in local communities.
During a four-day visit, Mr. Guterres held discussions with Congolese refugees at Kala camp in northern Zambia, as well as with Angolan, Rwandan and Burundian refugees from Mayukwayukwa settlement in the western part of the country.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN LIBERIA ENVOY HAILS INDIAN FEMALE POLICE UNIT FOR GENDER EQUALITY ROLE
The United Nations all-female Indian police unit in Liberia, the first such unit deployed in peacekeeping missions, not only demonstrates gender equality but also serves as an encouragement for Liberian women to become police officers themselves, the top UN envoy to the West African country has said.
Speaking at the weekend as he awarded medals to members of the Indian Formed Police Unit (FPU) in Liberia’s capital Monrovia, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alan Doss, congratulated the women for their work in responding to emergency situations, crime prevention, and the support given to Liberia’s National Police (LNP).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS AFRICAN MISSION IN SOMALIA
The Security Council on 20 August 2007 voted unanimously to extend the African Union-led mission in Somalia by six months while approving continued contingency planning for a possible United Nations peacekeeping operation in the war-ravaged country.
The mission, known as AMISOM, was created by the Council under Chapter VII this February, and is tasked with supporting dialogue and reconciliation in Somalia by assisting with the free movement, safe passage and protection of all those involved with the process.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN GRANTS MORE THAN $8 MILLION FOR RELIEF IN SUDAN
The United Nations on 20 August 2007 allocated $8.7 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Sudan, where more than 1.5 million people may soon need assistance in the wake of devastating floods.
Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes announced that he had approved the grant, which will be allocated among 11 relief projects across Sudan, where torrential rainfall has destroyed or seriously damaged more than 30,000 homes and inundated towns, villages and farmlands
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNHCR OPENS NEW PASSAGEWAY TO AID SUDANESE RETURNS FROM UGANDA
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stepped up efforts to repatriate Sudanese refugees living in Uganda with the opening of a major new return corridor in South Sudan.
The new route, which runs through the Sudanese town of Nimule, links the refugee settlements in Uganda with Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan.
Some 70 per cent of the 160,000 Sudanese refugees living in a string of 11 camps in Uganda are from Sudan’s Central and Eastern Equatoria States.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN URGES DR CONGO TO BOOST PROTECTION FOR MEDIA
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has called on the authorities to reinforce protection for the media following the murders of a journalist and local government official in the strife-torn eastern region of the vast country.
“The past week was marked by new assassinations that appear to be deliberately targeted, such as the assassination of an independent photo reporter in Goma, as well as the killing of a local official in Nyamilima village in Rutshuru,” mission spokesperson Kemal Saiki told a weekly press briefing.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
UN OFFICIAL WARNS OF WORSENING HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS IN GAZA STRIP
A senior United Nations official in the Middle East yesterday voiced concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation inside the Gaza Strip, where the closure of border crossings and other restrictions have cut exports and forced factories to shut, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians without jobs or income.
Kevin Kennedy, the Deputy UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said in a statement that while the basic humanitarian needs of Gaza’s estimated population of 1.4 million people are largely being met, the conditions remain very difficult.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN COMMENDS JORDAN FOR EDUCATING IRAQI SCHOOL CHILDREN
With the new school year kicking off on Sunday in Jordan, the United Nations refugee agency yesterday praised the country for opening the doors of its local schools to tens of thousands of Iraqi children who have fled war in their homeland.
There are currently 750,000 Iraqi refugees – half are believed to be children – living in Jordan, most of them having fled their homeland following the outbreak of violence in 2003.
Until now, Iraqi children uprooted in Jordan could not receive educations unless their parents had residency permits or paid fees.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN TEAMS ASSESSING AFTERMATH IN CARIBBEAN NATIONS HIT BY HURRICANE DEAN
As the first major Atlantic hurricane of the season made landfall in Mexico yesterday after wreaking havoc across the Caribbean region, United Nations officials are surveying the aftermath of the storm as well as the most critical needs of those affected.
Hurricane Dean has now weakened from a category 5 – the highest level for hurricanes – to a category 3 storm after striking the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico earlier yesterday, UN Spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY HOLDS TALKS IN IRAN
Experts from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are in Iran to hold talks as part of efforts to resolve outstanding issues pertaining to the country’s past nuclear programme and to clarify safeguards implementation issues.
The results of the visit – led by IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Olli Heinonen – will be reflected in the Director General Mohamed ElBaradei’s next report to the agency’s board at the end of the month.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN URGES ASIA-PACIFIC NATIONS TO SCALE UP DOMESTIC FUNDS FOR AIDS RESPONSE
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has warned that countries in Asia and the Pacific will face serious difficulties in sustaining their response to the disease unless they become less reliant on external donors and commit more national funds to their AIDS programmes.
Resources for national AIDS programmes in the region, while increasing, are insufficient for a long-term response to the pandemic, UNAIDS Asia Pacific Regional Director Prasada Rao told those gathered at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, which opened yesterday in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AGENCY URGES STRENGTHENING DISASTER EARLY WARNING SYSTEM
Early warning systems are the most efficient way to save lives in disasters such as Hurricane Dean now rampaging across Mexico and need to be further enhanced at local levels, the United Nations body seeking to mitigate their impact said yesterday.
“Early warning systems allow populations to evacuate ahead of time and take shelter in emergency and safer buildings,” UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Director Salvano Briceño stressed in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CONDOM PROMOTION CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN INDIA WINS UN PUBLIC RELATIONS PRIZE
A public awareness campaign designed to encourage the use of condoms as part of safe sex practices and family planning has won an award from the United Nations for outstanding achievement in public relations.
The campaign, which used the slogan “Condom Bindaas Bol” (“Say Condoms Freely”), was created to try to overturn a decline in condom use and sales in eight states in northern India – Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand – that together comprise 45 per cent of the national condom market.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
VISITING FRENCH MINISTER LAYS WREATH FOR UN VICTIMS OF 2003 BOMBING IN BAGHDAD
Visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari laid wreaths at the memorial centre of the United Nations compound in Baghdad yesterday to pay tribute to the 22 people killed in the terrorist bomb attack exactly four years earlier on the then-UN headquarters, the Canal Hotel.
The two ministers, who were received by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Deputy Special Representative for Iraq Michael von der Schulenburg and other staff members, emphasized the importance of the UN’s role in assisting the strife-torn country.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AGENCIES PRESS AHEAD WITH AID EFFORT WHILE IDENTIFYING KEY NEEDS
Clean water, basic sanitation, food, shelter and temporary jobs have become the priority needs in the wake of last week’s deadly earthquake in Peru, United Nations relief officials said on 20 August 2007 as they prepared to launch a flash appeal to help survivors while maintaining an emergency aid effort that has continued since the disaster hit.
UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator Jorge Chediek said the situation in the worst affected areas of Peru was starting to stabilize, five days after the quake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, struck during the evening rush-hour. At least 610 people were killed and more than 1,000 others wounded.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEW UN GROUP LAUNCHED TO CURB BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS THREAT
The United Nations inaugurated a new unit on 20 August 2007 to further bolster its efforts to reduce the threat to the international community posed by weapons of mass destruction. The Implementation Support Unit (ISU) – which will help States Parties in their efforts to bolster implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention – was launched on 20 August 2007 in Geneva as part of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs.
The decision to form the ISU was taken in December 2006 at the Sixth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, and is a landmark since the Unit is the first institutional support mechanism created to support global efforts to curb biological weapons.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SENIOR UN OFFICIAL VOICES OPTIMISM ON POLITICAL PROCESS IN NEPAL
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs in Kathmandu on 20 August 2007 voiced optimism about Nepal's upcoming elections and pledged the world body's full support for the process.
Speaking at a press conference, B. Lynn Pascoe, said that “we feel very strongly that the process in Nepal is a very positive one, very optimistic that the process will move forward, and in talking with various groups I am even more optimistic than I was when I came.”
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
|
