UN Gazeti

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Issue No. 259

UN Observances

UN IN KENYA

GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY, END TO IMPUNITY KEY TO STABILITY IN KENYA

While the violence that swept across Kenya several months ago was triggered by disputed presidential polls, the crisis was fuelled by underlying causes including poverty and discrimination, United Nations human rights officials said on 19 March, urging greater accountability and an end to impunity to address those issues and prevent further outbreaks.

A report released on 19 March by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states that more than 1,200 Kenyans were reported killed during the violence that engulfed the East African nation since the December 2007 elections in which President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga.

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

UN IN AFRICA

WHO DECALRES SOMALIA ONCE AGAIN POLIO-FREE

In what is being described as a major victory in the global fight against polio, the United Nations health agency announced yesterday that the disease has been eradicated in strife-torn Somalia thanks to the efforts of some 10,000 volunteers and health workers across the Horn of Africa nation.

“Against a backdrop of widespread conflict, large population movements and a dearth of functioning government infrastructure, transmission of poliovirus in the country has been successfully stopped,” the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in a news release.

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

WFP DEPLORES KILLING OF THREE DRIVERS OF FOOD SUPPLIES IN SUDAN

5 March 2008 – The World Food Programme (WFP) has voiced its shock and sadness at learning of the murder of three drivers of trucks contracted by the United Nations agency in Sudan in two separate incidents over the past three days.

Mohamed Ali was shot dead and his assistant was seriously injured by unidentified assailants yesterday while travelling on the main route into Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, the agency said in a press release issued yesterday in Khartoum.

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

FURTHER PROGRESS NEEDED FOR LIBERIA TO CONSOLIDATE HARD-WON PEACE

The Liberian Government continues to make progress as it rebuilds after a devastating civil war, including the start of economic recovery and the restoration of basic services, but significant challenges such as poverty and high unemployment remain to be addressed, according to a United Nations report released yesterday.

Despite some encouraging developments, “a number of tasks that are critical to the sustainability of peace and stability still have to be fully implemented,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in his latest report to the Security Council on the activities of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

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

UNHCR URGES GHANA TO HALT DEPORTATION OF LIBERIANS

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) yesterday urged Ghana to cease with any further forcible removals after the West African nation deported 16 Liberians – 13 of whom had registered as refugees with the agency – last weekend.

“We regret the deportation of this group of refugees and hope that our ongoing negotiations with the Ghanaian authorities will help resolve the situation of the refugees still in detention,” said UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis.

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

UN HATCHES NEW SCHEME TO BOOST NUTRITION FOR DISPLACED

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has set up a new chicken-rearing and egg producing project to improve the nutrition of some of the neediest internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the volatile North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The project, in partnership with Veterinaires sans Frontieres (VSR), seeks to raise the self-sufficiency of the displaced though the consumption and sale of poultry products.

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

NEARLY A MILLION SOUTHERN AFRICANS HIT BY FLOODS, CYCLONES THIS SEASON

Almost a million people across Southern Africa have suffered as a result of floods, cyclones and heavy rains so far during the annual wet season, and although the worst of the weather is over for another year, problems could persist until the end of April, United Nations relief officials report.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest update on the situation in Southern Africa that further heavy rains are still expected, including in central Mozambique, where the rivers are already swollen after two days of intense rainfall last week.

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

UNICEF SAYS NAMIBIAN FLOOD VICTIMS NEED MORE THAN $1 MILLION OF ASSISTANCE

23 March 2008 – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is calling for $1.2 million to help with relief efforts in northern Namibia, where floods falling recent above-average rainfall have displaced tens of thousands of people and sparked fears of a surge in infectious diseases.

More than 65,000 people could eventually be displaced by the floods, the agency said in an update issued this week, which began after heavy rains in January and February in both Namibia and the area surrounding the Cuvelai River system in neighbouring Angola.

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

UNICEF DENOUNCES ABDUCTION OF ENGINEERS IN NORTH DARFUR

23 March 2008 – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on 23rd March condemned the hijacking and abduction in Sudan's North Darfur state of a team of engineers with the country's State Water Corporation and called for the immediate release of the four men and their equipment.

In a statement issued in Khartoum, UNICEF Representative Ted Chaiban said it was unacceptable that the employees of the State Water Corporation should be targeted in this way. The corporation is UNICEF's main counterpart in providing water and sanitation services across northern Sudan, including Darfur, and Mr. Chaiban called it “a valued partner” of the agency.

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

UN MISSION TO CHAD AND CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC SIGNS STATUS AGREEMENT

The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) has signed a status of mission agreement with Chadian authorities that will establish the legal principles under which the operation will run in the strife-torn African country.

Victor Da Silva Angelo, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for MINURCAT, signed the agreement yesterday in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, on behalf of the UN.

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

 UN AROUND THE WORLD

SG SAYS PAST INJUSTICES SHOULD SPUR BATTLE AGAINST MODERN FORMS OF SLAVERY

As the United Nations honoured the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed the hope yesterday that the struggle against “one of the greatest atrocities in history” will inspire the world in the battle against modern forms of slavery such as forced labour and human trafficking.

“Even as we mourn the atrocities committed against the countless victims, we take heart from the courage of slaves who rose up to overcome the system which oppressed them,” Mr. Ban said at a special ceremony at UN Headquarters marking the first International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

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

SG URGES CONTINUED TALKS DESPITE RECENT BLOODSHED IN MIDDLE EAST

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday praised Palestinian and Israeli leaders for their commitment to the Middle East political process despite the recent spike of violence, and urged that the targets for a settlement that were set in last year’s talks be kept.

Opening a Security Council briefing and debate this morning that included over 20 other speakers, the Secretary-General recalled that the parties projected reaching an agreement by the end of 2008 when they met in Annapolis, United States in November 2007.

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

MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT STRAIN OF TUBERCULOSIS CREATING PARTICULAR RISKS

The multi-drug resistant form of tuberculosis is reaching its highest levels ever recorded and overwhelming the ability of health-care systems around the world to treat sufferers, the United Nations envoy for efforts to fight the disease said yesterday, calling for more resources and attention worldwide to be focused to combating the emerging strain.

Jorge Sampaio, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis, told reporters in New York that the strain – known as MDR-TB – is becoming prevalent, with about 400,000 cases reported in 2006, the most recent year for which global figures are available.

For more information please contact http://www.un.org/news

TERRORISM IMPERILS UN STAFF, SG SAYS ON DAY OF SOLIDARITY

With 40 United Nations staff members under arrest, detained or missing worldwide, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday highlighted the heightened risk to the world body posed by global terrorism.

The threats of violence, hostility and crime UN staff have long faced are now compounded by international terrorism, Mr. Ban said in a message in observance of the 23rd International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members.

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

ON WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY, UN ISSUES CALL FOR IMPROVED CLIMATE OBSERVATIONS

The United Nations weather agency is marking World Meteorological Day by calling for improvements to climate observation technologies to help people and economies adapt to climate change, climate variability and extreme weather.

The Day – observed yesterday in Geneva – commemorates the entry into force on 23 March 1950 of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Convention, and the following year WMO was designated a UN specialized agency.

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

WFP APPEALS FOR $500 MILLION TO OFFSET SOARING PRICES

The United Nations agency that is feeding 73 million people caught up in crises around the world this year is appealing for funding to close a $500 million gap caused by a global spike in food and fuel prices.

“We urge your Government to act quickly on this request so that we may avoid cutting the rations for those who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject need,” Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said in a letter to donors send out on 20 March.

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

UN-BACKED BIOMASS GAS PROJECT PROVIDES CLEAN POWER FOR RURAL AREAS IN INDIA

The latest biomass gasifier, which converts wood or agricultural residues into a combustible gas mixture, was fired up on Monday in a remote village of southern India, as part of a project to provide clean power for rural dwellers, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“This project looks at how remote communities can have better access to electricity in an environment friendly, carbon neutral way,” Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator, said at the commissioning ceremony for the small plant in Boregunte, a village in Karnataka state.

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

SG SAYS TO FIGHT TUBERCULOSIS, ROOT CAUSES MUST BE ADDRESSED

Tackling tuberculosis – a disease which still kills 4,000 people every day – requires dealing with its root causes, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday on the occasion of World TB Day.

The theme of this year’s Day is “I am stopping TB,” and it is a pledge “we must uphold as we battle the epidemic throughout the year and into the future,” Mr. Ban said in a message.

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

SG SAYS ADVANCE OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE PRE-EMINENT LEGACY OF ANNAN

Honouring Kofi Annan at the conferral of a new MacArthur Award, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the acceptance of the principle of the responsibility to protect stood out as the culmination of his predecessor’s tenure.

“In his decade at the helm, he stood particularly tall for his contributions to international justice – fighting to end impunity, to advance the rule of law, to protect the weak and vulnerable,” Mr. Ban said as Mr. Annan was accorded the inaugural International Justice Award by the MacArthur Foundation at a dinner last Thursday night.

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

UN DISASTER TEAM CONDUCTS ASSESSMENT IN WAKE OF DEADLY ALBANIAN EXPLOSIONS

A United Nations disaster and assessment coordination team (UNDAC) is carrying out a rapid evaluation this weekend of the situation in Albania, where a series of explosions at a military ammunition depot a week ago have killed at least 21 people, injured 250 others and destroyed or damaged more than 4,000 homes.

The seven-member team, which arrived in Tirana, the capital, earlier this week, is conducting the assessment of the affected area in collaboration with the Albanian Government, according to an update released on Friday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

FORMER NICARAGUAN FOREIGN MINISTER SET TO BE NEXT GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

The former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann is likely to become the next President of the General Assembly after the Latin American and Caribbean countries at the United Nations agreed to endorse his candidature, an Assembly spokesperson said on Monday.

Ambassador Aura Mahuampi Rodriguez de Ortiz of Venezuela, who serves as the current chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Group of countries (GRULAC) at the UN, sent a letter last week to the current President, Srgjan Kerim, informing him of the group’s decision, the spokesperson told reporters in New York.

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

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