UN Gazeti
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Issue No. 262
UN Observances
3 May |
World Press Freedom Day |
8 -9 May |
Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for those who Lost their Lives during the Second World War. |
| 15 May |
International Day of Families |
UN IN KENYA
UN PROMOTES PEACEBUILDING IN KENYA AFTER ELECTION CRISIS
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have brought together 120 national leaders from around Kenya for a peacebuilding workshop following the violence and unrest that broke out after the country’s recent election.
Kenyans from the sports, music, media and education professions took part in the training, as well as members of faith organizations. The aim of the workshop, which ended on Saturday, was to promote community dialogue in collaboration with the Government.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN IN AFRICA
UN EXPERTS CONDEMN ‘INTIMIDATION, VIOLENCE AND TORTURE’ IN ZIMBABWE
Intimidation, violence and torture are being used to take retribution against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after last month’s presidential elections in Zimbabwe, according a statement issued today by a group of United Nations human rights rapporteurs.
They say there is reliable evidence that security forces, paramilitary groups and gangs have attacked the homes of MDC supporters, and of workers with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, in areas where the MDC received more votes than the ruling ZANU-PF party. The UN experts report that at least 351 people have been hospitalized, nearly 300 homes have been destroyed through politically motivated arson, 15 women have been abducted, and several people have been murdered.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES STEPS TOWARD HOLDING OF IVORIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLLS
The Security Council yesterday welcomed the news that Côte d’Ivoire will be holding previously delayed presidential elections on 30 November, and urged the West African nation to redouble its efforts to meet that vital goal on the path to peace.
The announcement of the election date, supported by all Ivorian parties, and the signing by President Laurent Gbagbo of related decrees, constitute “an important step forward,” according to a statement read out by Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, which holds the rotating Council presidency for April.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN CONDEMNS ATTACK IN DR CONGO WHICH LEAVES EIGHT CIVILIANS WOUNDED
The United Nations mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) on 28 April condemned what it called a “criminal attack” on a lorry transporting civilians in the country’s South Kivu province, which left eight civilians injured, three of them seriously.
The attack took place shortly before midday on 28 April, 60 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital Bukavu. Seven masked assailants, wearing civilian clothes, opened fire on the lorry before ransacking it. Government soldiers from a nearby military post arrived on the scene shortly afterwards and forced the attackers to flee after a twenty-minute fire-fight.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TRIAL OF CONGOLESE DEFENDANT ‘CRUCIAL STEP’ TO END IMPUNITY – SENIOR UN OFFICIAL
The trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with recruiting child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will be “a crucial step in the fight against impunity and will have a decisive deterrent effect against perpetrators of this outrageous crime against humanity,” according to the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Mr. Lubanga is the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots in the Ituri region of DRC. He will be tried for the conscription and enlistment of children under the age of 15, and the use of children for active participation in hostilities.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DARFUR SUSPECT A 'FUGITIVE,' SAYS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR
Despite an arrest warrant being issued for him one year ago by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a Sudanese minister accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the war-ravaged region of Darfur is free and is a "fugitive," the body;s Prosecutor said on 26 April.
"He attacked Sudanese people, his people, those he vowed to protect as Minister; he is an indicted minister, he is a fugitive," ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a press release. "He will end up in Court."
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES SERIOUS CONCERN AFTER DEADLY VIOLENCE IN BURUNDI
The Security Council has condemned the recent deadly spate of violent confrontations between Burundi’s National Defence Forces and the Palipehutu-FNL rebel group in and around the capital, Bujumbura.
Council members, in a presidential statement issued on 24 April, called on the two parties “to scrupulously respect” the ceasefire they reached in September 2006 and to resume dialogue to overcome any obstacles that might delay the conclusion to the peace process.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
RENEWED VIOLENCE DRIVES THOUSANDS OUT OF SOMALI CAPITAL
Some 7,000 people have fled the Somali capital Mogadishu after a new round of fighting this week that killed a significant number of civilians and reportedly wounded 200 people, including women and children, the United Nations refugee agency announced on 25 April.
“The exodus from the war-ravaged city further aggravates the situation in a country where over 1 million people are already internally displaced,” Ron Redmond, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva, adding that some 700,000 left Mogadishu last year alone. “The latest violence also prevents the internally displaced living in areas surrounding the city from returning to their homes.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG ENCOURAGES IVORIANS TO CONTINUE MAKING HEADWAY IN PEACE PROCESS
Saying that they have reached a “point of no return,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 24 April encouraged all the main political actors in Côte d’Ivoire to continue making progress in the West African nation’s peace process, as he wrapped up a regional tour that also took him to Burkina Faso, Liberia and Ghana.
Earlier on 24 April, Mr. Ban held meetings with the Ivorian Foreign Minister, political party leaders, civil society representatives and the President of the Independent Electoral Commission. He later observed the work being done by the UN peacekeeping mission, known as UNOCI.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SG TO LEAD TASK FORCE TO TACKLE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that he will lead a high-powered task force to coordinate the efforts of the United Nations system in addressing the global crisis arising from the surge in food prices.
The Task Force on the Global Food Crisis will bring together the heads of UN agencies, funds and programmes and the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as experts within the UN and leading authorities from the international community.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEARLY $1 BILLION PAID OUT BY UN REPARATIONS PANEL FOR INVASION OF KUWAIT
The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses because of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, yesterday announced the disbursement of some $972.4 million to 26 successful claimants.
Today’s amount brings the overall total compensation issued by the UNCC to individuals, corporations, governments and international organizations to $24.3 billion.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
INFORMATION CHIEF URGES MEMBER STATES TO HELP SPREAD MESSAGE ABOUT UN’S WORK
United Nations Member States must actively participate in explaining the work and role of the world body to the general public, the top UN communications official told the opening of the annual session of the Committee on Information on 28 April.
Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, told the meeting that the Organization needed the cooperation of Member States to help ensure “we can make a difference for a better world.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN GARDENING SCHEME PROVIDES FRESH START FOR AFGHAN WOMEN, EX-COMBATANTS
A United Nations gardening and literacy project for Afghan women and ex-combatants seeks to pave the way to peace and prosperity in the war-torn nation.
Aimed at reversing environmental damage wrought by decades of conflict, uncontrolled grazing and illegal logging, the Green Afghanistan Initiative (GAIN) – run by six UN agencies, led by the World Food Programme (WFP) – will give participants the chance to make a fresh start through literacy classes and setting up their own nurseries to generate an income.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
KOSOVO DUO FACING TRIAL AT UN TRIBUNAL OVER ALLEGED INTIMIDATION OF WITNESS
Kosovo’s ex-minister for culture, youth and sport and a former newspaper editor will appear on 29 April before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) after being charged with contempt of court for allegedly trying to intimidate a witness in a war crimes trial.
Astrit Haraqija and Bajrush Morina are accused by prosecutors – in an indictment filed in January and made public by the ICTY on Friday – of attempting to persuade a protected witness with the codename PW not to testify against Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNHCR DEPLORES DEATHS OF FOUR REFUGEES AFTER EXPULSION BY TURKEY
25 April 2008 – The United Nations refugee agency is seeking clarification from Turkey after 18 refugees were forced to cross a fast-flowing river on the Turkish-Iraqi border, leading to the deaths of four by drowning.
The incident took place on 23 April at an unpatrolled stretch of the border in Sirnak province in south-eastern Turkey.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
MEDIA IMPORTANT TO PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES
The media plays a vital role in encouraging democratization, strengthening the rule of law and promoting institution-building, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said on 24 April during the opening of a regional forum on the work of the media.
Speaking in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the Eurasian Media Forum is taking place, Mr. Kerim stressed that the media contributes to the process of democratization by asking difficult questions of those in power, providing access to important information and representing all views impartially.
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
|
