UN Gazeti
Wednesday 25 September 2007
Issue No. 240
UN Observances
| 27 September |
World Maritime Day |
| 01 October |
World Habitat Day |
| 16 October |
World Food Day |
UN IN KENYA
UNDP TO ASSIST MEDIA ELECTION COVERAGE
2007 is a General Election year for Kenya. UNDP is implementing the elections assistance programme for 2007. This programme which is funded by a multitude of donors, aims to ensure free and fair elections will take place in Kenya. The media industry is crucial to this process. In order to ensure fair and accurate reporting on electoral issues, UNDP has entered into a partnership with the Media Council of Kenya MCK to implement a media training programme.
This programme aims to enhance the skills of professional journalists and broadcasters in the area of electoral reporting. MCK will also be involved in the broader media activities such as producing a media strategy designed to examine and focus on issues such as governance, leadership and ethnicity, Another aspect of this project is on media monitoring. UNDP will carry out qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media in this election environment
For more information, visit: www.ke.undp.org
UN IN AFRICA
UN MISSIONS FOR CHAD AND CAR APPROVED
The Security Council yesterday established a United Nations-mandated, multidimensional presence, which will include European Union military forces, in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR) to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people uprooted due to insecurity in the two countries and neighbouring Sudan.
Deeply concerned about the humanitarian threat posed by armed groups on the borders of the Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, the 15-member body set up, for a period of one year, the UN presence “intended to help create the security conditions conducive to a voluntary, secure and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
FUNDING SHORTFALL MAY HURT IDPs
A shortfall of over $7 million is imperilling United Nations efforts to aid some of the more than 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and thousands of Chadian refugees in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region.
“We fear we may be compelled to scale down our existing operations in West Darfur if we do not receive additional funding very soon,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva yesterday.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
KUFUOR CALLS ON UN TO SUPPORT AU IN SOMALIA
The United Nations should expedite its planning for the deployment of a peacekeeping force to replace the existing African Union-led mission in Somalia, given the scale of the troubles faced by the African country, Ghana's President John Kufuor told the General Assembly yesterday.
Speaking before world leaders at the annual high-level general debate, President Kufuor said that while the AU's efforts to bring peace to Somalia deserve commendation, “it cannot be overemphasized that the enormity of the challenges in Somalia go well beyond the capacity of the AU and requires the concerted support of the UN.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
MBEKI SAYS DEVELOPED WORLD DOMINATES GLOBAL FORUMS
The powerful countries of the world continue to dominate global forums such as the United Nations to the detriment of freedom, justice and equality, ensuring that while there is often lofty talk of solving major international problems, little is actually done to fix them, South African President Thabo Mbeki told the General Assembly yesterday.
In an address to the Assembly’s annual high-level debate, held at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Mbeki said “the skewed distribution of power in the world – political, economic, military and technological and social – replicates itself in multilateral institutions, much to the disadvantage of the majority of the poor people in the world.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CONGOLESE RETURNS FROM TANZANIA THREATENED BY LACK OF FOOD – SAYS UNHCR
Serious food shortages are threatening the voluntary return of Congolese refugees from camps in western Tanzania, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The agency has successfully been assisting refugees return to South Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for over two years by ferrying them across Lake Tanganyika from Kigoma in Tanzania to Baraka in the DRC.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN APPEALS TO AID MORE THAN 1 MILLION AFRICAN FLOOD VICTIMS FALL ON DEAF EARS
Despite urgent appeals United Nations agencies are facing a huge shortfall in funding to help well over a million flood victims across a wide swath of sub-Saharan Africa, from Ghana in the West to Ethiopia in the east, as they face food shortages, loss of crops and even the dangers of landmines from recent conflicts dislodged by the raging waters.
Of nearly $85 million sought recently for just Uganda and Sudan, only about $1 million has been forthcoming.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS CONTINUE TO BE REPORTED IN DARFUR
Serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by all sides in the Darfur conflict continue to be reported, a group of seven independent United Nations rights experts said on 24 September in an interim report on the situation in the war-wracked Sudanese region.
The report of the Group of Experts on Darfur, presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, said they had received “excellent cooperation” from the Sudanese Government in their consultations and meetings since they issued their last report and recommendations in June.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
LOCAL FOOD PURCHASE BY WFP PROVIDES BOOST TO LESOTHO’S FARMERS
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported on 24 September that its purchase of maize directly from small farmers in Lesotho, who used conservation to produce a surplus amid the country’s worst drought in 30 years, is having a beneficial effect on local communities.
By buying the maize directly from a group of small-scale local farmers rather than in neighbouring South Africa, WFP saves $45 per ton and helps stimulate the local agricultural economy.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEW UN ENVOY TO SOMALIA HOLDS FIRST MEETINGS IN MOGADISHU
The newly appointed United Nations envoy to Somalia arrived on 22 September in country’s capital, Mogadishu, for talks with leaders of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) in a bid to encourage national reconciliation.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, met with President Yusuf, Prime Minister Gedi, Honorable Aden Mohamed Nur, Speaker of the Transitional Federal Parliament, and other officials.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN CALLS FOR MORE OFFERS OF TROOPS, SPECIALIST UNITS FOR HYBRID FORCE IN DARFUR
The United Nations said on 20 September that it has still not received any offers for some essential units of the hybrid peacekeeping force it plans to deploy with the African Union in the war-wracked Sudanese region of Darfur.
Following a meeting with potential contributors 19 September, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) said that there have been no offers so far for the medium utility helicopter units or the medium heavy transportation companies in the force, which will be known as UNAMID.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SG ADVOCATES ‘STRONGER UN FOR A BETTER WORLD’
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened his first annual debate of the General Assembly yesterday morning with a call to global leaders to back his efforts to bolster the United Nations in the interests of the world.
“Our changing world needs a stronger UN,” Mr. Ban declared in a wide-ranging speech. “My vision is an administration focused on results – efficient, directed, pragmatic and accountable, an administration representing excellence, integrity and pride in serving the global good.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS MUST ALSO TACKLE POVERTY, INDONESIAN LEADER TELLS UN
The solution to the problems posed by climate change must be linked to sustainable development so that the world’s least affluent countries can conquer poverty, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told the United Nations General Assembly yesterday.
Speaking at the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters in New York, the President said it was important to not lose sight of the fight against poverty when trying to combat climate change.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
IRANIAN PRESIDENT TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY THAT NUCLEAR ISSUE IS NOW CLOSED
The issue of Iran’s nuclear activities is a matter only for the United Nations atomic watchdog now and not the Security Council, the country’s President told the General Assembly yesterday as he accused “arrogant powers” of abusing the Council to prevent Iran enjoying its rights and entitlements.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed what he said was a shift by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) towards supporting the rights of its Member States while supervising their nuclear activities.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
COUNTRIES SHOULD JOIN KAZAKHSTAN IN RENOUNCING NUCLEAR ARMS, PRESIDENT TELLS UN
The President of Kazakhstan yesterday called on national leaders attending the annual United Nations General Assembly’s high-level debate to follow the example set by his country by renouncing nuclear arms and enjoying the peace dividend that will ensue.
Nursultan A. Nazarbayev told the Assembly that the people of Kazakhstan, having endured over 450 blasts at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground, “have lived through all the horrors of the effects of nuclear explosions.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HONDURAN LEADER URGES UN ASSEMBLY TO ADDRESS MIGRATION AS HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE
The President of Honduras yesterday urged national leaders attending the General Assembly's annual high-level debate to deal with migration not as a threat or problem but as a human rights issue.
Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales said it is a great paradox of the current age that while borders are opening for commerce and goods, they are closing for people and migrants. The issue of migration should be a central concern to both sending and receiving countries, he said.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG CONVENES LARGEST-EVER MEETING OF GLOBAL LEADERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 24 September opened the largest-ever gathering of world leaders on climate change with a call to forge a coalition to accelerate a global response to an issue which he has identified as one of his top priorities.
“I am convinced that climate change, and what we do about it, will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations,” Mr. Ban told the participants – top officials from over 150 nations, including 80 heads of State or Government – at UN Headquarters in New York.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
YOUTH COALITION CHALLENGES UN MEETING TO TAKE STAND ON CLIMATE CHANGE
A representative of environmental youth groups on 24 September challenged global leaders gathered at the United Nations to take decisive action to curb the threat posed by climate change.
“I have nothing but my future ahead of me and you have nothing but my future to protect,” Catherine Gauthier, 18, told heads of State or government or other top officials from over 150 nations, the largest-ever gathering of its kind on climate change.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TIME HAS COME FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION ON IRAQ – SAYS SG
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 22 September emerged from a high-level meeting on Iraq he convened with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki calling for international action to help the country and pledging full United Nations support in this effort.
“We face numerous challenges in Iraq, and today it was clear that the time for determined collective action has come. This meeting has helped to promote a stronger partnership between the international community and Iraq,” Mr. Ban told a news conference.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
FROM BELL RINGING IN NEW YORK TO BATTLE SCARRED AFGHANISTAN, UN MARKS PEACE DAY
From the ritual ringing of a bell at its stately Headquarters in New York to the furthest flung trenches of warfare across the world, where a record number of more than 100,000 peacekeepers are struggling to restore stability, the United Nations system on 21 September marked the annual International Day of Peace with fervent appeals for an end to violence.
“Peace is the highest calling of the United Nations - and for me personally,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared on the lawn in front of the towering UN Headquarters as he stood facing the Peace Bell, a gift from Japan cast from the pennies donated by children from 60 nations, before driving the ringing beam into it three times.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
FOUR NEW MESSENGERS OF PEACE DESIGNATED TO RAISE AWARENESS ON UN’S WORK AND IDEALS
Marking the International Day of Peace, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 21 September designated four internationally renowned individuals – an equestrian, a conductor, an author and a violinist – to join the ranks of other United Nations Messengers of Peace raising global awareness of the world body’s work and ideals.
As a Messenger, acclaimed conductor and pianistaniel Barenboim of Israel and Argentina will promote peace and tolerance through the globally shared language of music.
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 |
