UN Gazeti
Wednesday 29 August 2007
Issue No. 236
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 AFRICA
UN FOR END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN LIBERIA
The United Nations envoy to Liberia has called for an end to violence against women, while stressing that security is paramount for everyone throughout the West African nation as it works to rebuild after a brutal 14-year civil war.
Special Representative of the Secretary-General Alan Doss made his remarks yesterday as he handed over a new UN-built police station to the people of Kronowroken, Webbo District, in River Gee County, along Liberia’s border with Côte d’Ivoire.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CONGO MISSION TO SEEK SOLUTION TO FIGHTING IN EASTERN REGION
Deploring clashes among opposing factions of the armed forces in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the vast country yesterday said that it is fully committed to helping find a peaceful solution to protect civilians from further violence.
The mission, known as MONUC, reported that in North Kivu province, the vehicle of the Commander of the mixed Charlie Brigade was ambushed on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring at least three more soldiers from the DRC armed forces, or FARDC.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER HEAD EXPULSION
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes has voiced his concern over the expulsion from Sudan of CARE’s Paul Barker, and urged that the matter be resolved quickly so that the Country Director of one of the world’s largest international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can resume vital humanitarian work.
“I am disappointed that Mr. Barker had to leave the country in this way. The reasons given by some Government officials to Mr. Barker for his departure appear to be specious,” said Mr. Holmes, who is also Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG VOICES CONCERN OVER POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE IN SIERRA LEONE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday expressed concern about the rising tensions and violence over the past week in Sierra Leone, which earlier this month held its first presidential and parliamentary polls since United Nations peacekeepers departed in 2005.
“He calls on all parties and their leaders to do everything necessary to prevent the situation from escalating,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN TO SEND HUMANITARIAN ASSESSMENT MISSION TO ETHIOPIA'S SOMALI REGIONAL STATE
The United Nations is sending a humanitarian mission tomorrow to Ethiopia's Somali Region, which has been affected by security operations, to assess relief needs, in particular access to food, water, health and nutrition services, and to monitor the dispatch and distribution of emergency food aid.
The Government of Ethiopia has agreed to facilitate the inter-agency mission at the UN's request.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
ICC PROSECUTOR SAY SUDAN IS NOT COOPERATING ON ARRESTS OF WAR CRIMES SUSPECTS
The Sudanese Government has not moved to arrest two suspects wanted to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s war-wracked Darfur region, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on 28 August 2007, calling on Khartoum to cooperate immediately with the court.
In an interview with the UN News Centre, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that it is “totally unacceptable” that one of the two suspects, Ahmad Muhammad Harun, is currently Sudan’s Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN-BACKED AFRICAN GREEN REVOLUTION MEETING TO KICK OFF
The United Nations-backed conference on the African Green Revolution – which supports African farming communities as they evolve from subsistence farming to sustainable modern agriculture – kicks off tomorrow in Oslo, Norway.
The first such gathering took place last year, spurred by a July 2004 call by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan to bolster agricultural productivity and food security through a “Green Revolution” in Africa, which he said is the only continent bypassed by the transformation.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG TO VISIT SUDAN NEXT WEEK TO ‘LOCK IN’ PROGRESS TOWARDS DARFUR PEACE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on 28 August 2007 that he will travel next week to Sudan, Chad and Libya, as he outlined a three-part strategy to deal with the Darfur crisis by ensuring that peacekeepers are deployed quickly and effectively, humanitarian aid and development is more easily available and the peace process pushes forward.
Mr. Ban told a press conference at UN Headquarters that he is visiting Sudan and some of its neighbours “to go and see for myself the very difficult conditions” under which the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force will operate in Darfur from the start of next year.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN FOUNDATION SENDS 40,000 ANTI-MALARIA NETS TO REFUGEE CAMPS IN CHAD
Tens of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Chad fleeing the ongoing crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region will be saved from potentially fatal bouts of malaria thanks to 40,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets being sent by the United Nations Foundation.
Without the nets dispatched by the Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign (www.NothingButNets.net), it has been estimated that 25 per cent of he 200,000 refugees and IDPs living in the camps along the Chad-Sudan and Chad-Central African Republic borders could die from malaria.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SG BEGINS FOREIGN TRIP WITH SENIOR UN STAFF RETREAT IN ITALY
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leaves United Nations Headquarters tonight for a working trip that will begin in Turin, Italy, with a three-day retreat of senior UN staff and then follow with a visit to Sudan, Chad and Libya to observe first-hand the crises in Darfur and eastern Chad and the post-conflict situation in southern Sudan.
Mr. Ban will chair the retreat, taking place at the UN Staff College, with Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General in attendance, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE OPENS EARLY THIS YEAR BUT MAY NOT BE AS LARGE
The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has emerged earlier than usual this year, but it is not yet clear whether the eventual annual depletion of the naturally occurring gas that filters out cancer-causing ultraviolet (UV) radiation will be as bad as recent years, the United Nations meteorological agency announced on 28 August 2007.
In its first Antarctic Ozone Bulletin of 2007, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said initial readings indicate that the size and the depth of the ozone hole are similar to recent years at the same stage.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
IRAN ANSWERS IAEA QUESTIONS ON PLUTONIUM PROGRAMME
Iran has addressed the questions of the United Nations nuclear watchdog about its past plutonium programme and both parties now consider that matter resolved, according to a statement posted on the UN agency’s website.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday published on its website the text of a joint work plan on how to resolve outstanding issues between the agency and Iran after a request to do so from Tehran.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DISPLACEMENTS IN IRAQ SOAR AS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION WORSENS
The number of Iraqis uprooted from their homes by the deteriorating humanitarian situation, both inside and outside the country, is rising, with the monthly rate climbing to over 60,000 people, compared to 50,000 previously, for an overall total of 4.2 million people, the United Nations refugee agency reported on 28 August 2007.
“We continue to appeal for more support and also encourage donors to provide direct bilateral support to the refugee hosting countries whose schools, hospitals, public services and infrastructure are seriously overstretched because of the presence of millions of Iraqis they have so generously welcomed,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
MALAYSIAN ‘TIGER GIRL’ WINS UN-LETTER WRITING COMPETITION TO SAVE THE PLANET
Assuming the mind of a tiger cub, a young Malaysian girl has won a United Nations letter-writing competition, beating out over 3 million other youngsters from around the world who were asked to put themselves in the position of a wild animal whose habitat is threatened by environmental or climate change.
“I want to congratulate you all. Many of you have good education and live in your so-called world of modernization. Does this mean that humans are civilized?” 14-year-old Sze Ee Lee wrote, taking on the role of the cub living in the endangered rainforest.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN SEEKS $37 MILLION TO ASSIST EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN PERU
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners on 28 August 2007 appealed for $37 million to provide more than 200,000 people with food, water, medical assistance, tents and blankets for a period of six months following the deadly earthquake that struck Peru nearly two weeks ago.
The powerful quake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and struck 161 kilometres south of the capital, Lima, has resulted in the death of over 500 people and injured more than 1,000 others, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In addition, preliminary assessments indicate that over 37,000 houses and four hospitals were destroyed, while 16 hospitals were damaged.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AMBASSADOR ANGELINA JOLIE SPOTLIGHTS PLIGHT OF IRAQI REFUGEES
Actress and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is visiting Iraq and Syria to raise awareness of the plight of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families who have fled the violence in their home country.
According to UNHCR estimates, over 4.2 million Iraqis have been displaced, with 2.2 million within the war-torn nation and two million in neighbouring countries.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN HONOURS ENVIRONMENTAL PIONEERS FROM BRAZIL, SOUTH AFRICA AND ZIMBABWE
Ground-breaking research on measuring the environmental impacts of sugar production in South Africa and newsprint paper production in Zimbabwe, as well as assessing impacts on biodiversity in Brazil, were among those recognized on 28 August 2007 by a new award from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Initiated with the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), the “UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Award” recognizes work from academics and private companies in developing and emerging economies that have begun visionary and innovative projects based on the “life-cycle approach,” which concerns the impacts on the environment of a product’s production, use and disposal.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG WELCOMES REPORTS OF RELEASE OF SOUTH KOREAN HOSTAGES
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 28 August 2007 welcomed media reports that the Taliban has agreed to free 19 hostages from the Republic of Korea (ROK) that it has held captive in Afghanistan for more than a month.
Responding to questions during a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Ban said he was pleased and now hoped the hostages could be released as soon as possible.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN-BACKED GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE MEETING KICKS OFF
United Nations-backed climate change talks drawing 1,000 representatives from over 150 Governments, business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions kicked off in Vienna on 27 August 2007, preparing the way for a global summit set for later this year in Bali.
The summit, scheduled to take place from 3 to 14 December in Bali, Indonesia, aims to determine future action on mitigation, adaptation, the global carbon market and financing responses to climate change for the period after the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol – the current global framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – in 2012.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNHCHR URGES RELEASE OF MYANMAR DEMONSTRATORS
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the immediate release of student leaders and other protesters arrested by the Myanmar authorities following a series of peaceful demonstrations against the sharp increase in fuel prices.
In a weekend statement, Louise Arbour also urged the authorities to “engage in consultation and dialogue with the demonstrators on their concerns.”
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
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