UN Gazeti
Wednesday 11 June 2008
Issue No. 267
UN Observances
17 June |
International Day of UN Peacekeeping |
| 20 June |
World No-Tobacco Day |
| |
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
World Refugee Day
International Day against Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking
26 June International Day in Support of Victims of Torture |
| 26 June |
World Environment Day |
UN IN AFRICA
FORMER RWANDAN OFFICIAL PLEADS NOT GUILTY BEFORE UN GENOCIDE TRIBUNAL
A former Rwandan official who is alleged to have planned the killing of up to 25,000 Tutsis during the country’s 1994 genocide yesterday pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him at the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the mass killings.
Dominique Ntawukuriryayo is facing charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) – which is based in Arusha, Tanzania – of genocide, complicity in genocide, and direct and public incitement to commit genocide for acts committed during the period from 6 April to 17 July 1994.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG WELCOMES PEACE DEAL REACHED BY SOMALI PARTIES
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the peace deal between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, reached on Monday in neighbouring Djibouti following 10 days of United Nations-facilitated talks.
Mr. Ban “commends the leadership of both parties for taking this important step towards a durable political settlement for Somalia, and hopes that other Somali groups and individuals will soon adhere to this agreement,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AFRICA’S CHANGING ENVIRONMENT EMERGES IN NEW UN ATLAS
Major changes in Africa’s environmental landscape, from disappearing glaciers in Uganda to the loss of unique vegetation in South Africa, are shown yesterday in a new atlas published by the United Nations which uses satellite images taken over the last 35 years.
The new publication, Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, which was compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), focuses on how development choices, population growth, climate change and conflicts are impacting the region’s natural assets.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
LAND DISPUTES COMPLICATE REFUGEE RETURN TO EASTERN DR CONGO
The United Nations refugee agency is helping to promote dialogue to ward off disputes over land in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) province of South Kivu, one of the largest issues facing refugees returning to the region.
Land is at the root of many quarrels between Congolese returnees and those who never left the DRC, as well as between refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) on Monday.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN OFFICIAL SPEAKS OUT AGAINST KILLING OF SOMALI JOURNALIST
The top United Nations humanitarian official for Somalia has expressed his shock and disappointment at the latest killing of a journalist in the strife-torn nation, the deadliest place in Africa for the media to work.
Nasteh Dahir Farah was fatally shot on 7 June by unknown gunmen in Kismayo. He had been working for the BBC and the Associated Press, and was also the vice chairman of the National Union of Somali Journalists.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TOP UN OFFICIAL URGES LIFTING OF RESTRICTIONS ON AID GROUPS IN ZIMBABWE
The United Nations humanitarian chief has called on the Government of Zimbabwe to rescind its decision to suspend all field operations by non-governmental aid groups.
“This is a deplorable decision that comes at a critical humanitarian juncture for the people of Zimbabwe,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said on 6 June in a statement. “I therefore strongly urge the Government to reconsider and rescind this decision as soon as possible.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN ADVISES ENDING OF REFUGEE STATUS FOR SIERRA LEONEANS WHO FLED COUNTRY
The United Nations refugee agency says it is recommending that refugee status for Sierra Leoneans who fled their country should be ended because the root causes of the West African nation’s refugee problem have ceased to exist.
“There have been fundamental and durable changes since peace was declared in January 2002,” said Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG URGES SUDAN TO COOPERATE WITH PROSECUTORS PROBING DARFUR WAR CRIMES
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 5 June urged Sudan to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure justice for the victims of crimes committed in the war-torn Darfur region after the Court’s Prosecutor reported that the country is “deliberately” attacking civilians.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said he was “deeply concerned about the reported lack of cooperation” of the Sudanese Government with prosecutors at the ICC, which is based in The Hague.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL DELEGATION TO MEET SUDANESE PRESIDENT
A Security Council mission visiting Africa is expected to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on 5 June in Khartoum, the country’s capital.
Earlier in the day, the team visited the headquarters of the UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID, in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SG TO ATTEND G8 SUMMIT AS PART OF UPCOMING EAST ASIAN TRIP
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will embark later this month on a three-nation East Asian trip that will take him to Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and then back to Japan for the Group of Eight (G8) Hokkaido Toyako summit.
Mr. Ban’s first stop will be Japan, where he will deliver a lecture on climate change at Kyoto University, his spokesperson, Marie Okabe, said yesterday. He will proceed to Tokyo for a visit that will include an audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan and meetings with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UK COUNTER-TERRORISM BILL NEEDS TO BE RE-EXAMINED
An independent United Nations human rights expert has asked the United Kingdom to withdraw or postpone action on a bill that would lower key standards regarding detention in the context of fighting terrorism.
Martin Scheinin, the Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, has expressed his concern that the bill, scheduled to be voted on today in the House of Commons, could set a negative precedent for upholding human rights as it contains a key provision to extend pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects to 42 days.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNHCR CALLS FOR PROBE INTO ATTACKS ON COLOMBIAN REFUGEES
The United Nations refugee agency is calling for a “full and speedy resolution” to investigations into allegations that Colombian refugees in Ecuador have endured forced disappearances, torture, attempted rape and death threats.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), three Colombians, including one refugee and one asylum-seeker, disappeared at the end of last month from the village of San Martin in northern Ecuador, just across the border from Colombia.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG MOURNS DEATH OF BOUGAINVILLE LEADER
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday voiced his sadness at the death of Joseph Kabui, the first president of the Autonomous Bougainville Government in Papua New Guinea.
“President Kabui was known as a skilled mediator and peacemaker who had a genuine interest in the future of his people,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement. “He played a crucial role in bringing peace to Bougainville, following the years of conflict, achieving autonomy for the province in 2005.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
PRIVATE INVESTMENT KEY IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE, SAYS ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT
With trillions of dollars needed to combat climate change in coming decades, private investments are essential, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said on Monday.
Despite the efforts of the UN and other international and regional institutions, the world body approximates that nearly 90 per cent of the funds needed to address global warming will derive from the private sector, Mr. Kerim said at an Assembly event with the theme “Global Private Investments and Climate Change.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEW WEBSITE SHOWCASES JOINT ACTIVITIES OF ILO AND FAO
Two United Nations agencies dealing with labour and agriculture on 6 June launched a new website designed to highlight the many areas in which they work together, including youth employment, safety and health and crisis management.
The website: “Food, Agriculture and Decent Work” (www.fao-ilo.org) describes the cooperation and activities of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 10 major fields and provides links to related information sources.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
ENTRY INTO FORCE OF DISABILITY PACT CLOSES MAJOR GAP IN RIGHTS PROTECTION – ARBOUR
The recent entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities closes a major gap in human rights protection for hundreds of millions of people around the world, the Organization’s top rights official said on 6 June.
The Convention and its Optional Protocol, which entered into force on 3 May, does not create new rights but aims to ensure that the benefits of existing rights are fully extended and guaranteed to the estimated 650 million people around the world with disabilities.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN WELCOMES NICARAGUAN LAWS PROTECTING REFUGEES
After four years of collaboration between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Nicaragua, the Central American nation’s Parliament has unanimously passed a new law to support refugees, it was announced on 5 June.
The legislation details the need of legal counsel for asylum-seekers, in particular unaccompanied minors and vulnerable adults; the right of asylum-seekers and refugees to work and access state services; and the obligation of immigration officers, police and army to identify and quickly refer asylum-seekers to the country’s eligibility procedure.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNICEF DEPLORES SPIKE IN NUMBER OF KIDNAPPINGS OF HAITIAN CHILDREN
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has joined a national call across Haiti to halt the surge this year in the number of kidnappings of children in the impoverished country.
“The kidnapping of children has increased exponentially over the past few days and weeks,” UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, Annamaria Laurini, said in a statement issued on 4 June in Port-au-Prince, the capital.
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
|
