UN Gazeti

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Issue No. 269

UN Observances

UN IN KENYA

KENYAN YOUTH TO RECEIVE SKILLS TRAINING FOLLOWING SG’S DONATION

Young people in two Nairobi slums will be the first beneficiaries of a $100,000 donation by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to assist a United Nations agency working to improve living conditions in the Kenyan capital’s poorest areas.

About 70 youths from Kibera and Mavoko are taking part in a course organized by the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in which participants will be trained in three techniques – making special bricks, tiles and doors – that they can use in small enterprises, the agency said in a press release yesterday.

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

UN PROMOTES SPORTS AND PEACE PROJECT IN KENYA

More than 300 children from across the Kenyan capital Nairobi will gather on 21 June to launch a three-month event to promote peace and reconciliation organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The “Play for the Planet: Play for Peace” initiative aims to use the power of sport to provide a positive environment for interaction for young people affected by the recent post-election conflict in Kenya.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news

UN IN AFRICA

GROUP TO PROBE INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNTABILITY FOR DEADLY ATTACK ON UN IN ALGIERS

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that he is setting up a group to examine whether any United Nations staff should be held individually accountable over last December’s deadly terrorist attack on the world body’s premises in Algiers.

Mr. Ban told UN staff in a letter that he was establishing the follow-up group in response to a recommendation issued by the Independent Panel on Safety and Security of UN Personnel and Premises Worldwide, itself created in the wake of the Algiers bombings, which killed 17 staff members and targeted UN offices in the Algerian capital.

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

IN SIERRA LEONE, NEW UN ENVOY ASSESSES PREPARATIONS FOR ELECTIONS

The newly appointed United Nations envoy to Sierra Leone is travelling around the West African country to assess the level of preparations for upcoming local government elections next month.
Michael Schulenburg, who is the Acting Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, is on a week-long visit to Kono, Kenema, Bo and Makeni provinces, where he is holding consultations with local councils, political parties, electoral officials, women candidates and civil society groups, as well as the police and the army.

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

SECURITY COUNCIL STRESSES NEED FOR PEACEFUL END TO DISPUTE OVER ABYEI, SUDAN

The Security Council yesterday welcomed the recent joint plan unveiled by the Sudanese Government of National Unity’s main parties to resolve their dispute over the situation in the oil-rich area around Abyei, which lies close to the boundary between the north and south of the country.

In a statement, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad of the United States, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, said that a peaceful resolution of the Abyei dispute was vital to effectively implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan.

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

WHO SENDS EXPERTS TO SENEGAL AFTER EXPOSURE TO LEAD BATTERIES KILLS CHILDREN

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has dispatched a team of experts to Senegal after the death of a number of children in one of the suburbs of the capital, apparently from exposure to lead batteries.

WHO has deployed a clinical toxicologist, an environmental health specialist and an analytical chemist to Senegal to conduct clinical examinations and further environmental investigations after a request from the Government, the agency said in a statement released on Monday.

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

UNHCR RESTORES DOZENS OF SCHOOLS ACROSS NORTHERN UGANDA

The United Nations refugee agency has restored 134 primary schools in northern Uganda, allowing thousands of children to return to classes, after the damage and destruction caused by two decades of conflict between Government forces and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

UNHCR said some of the restored schools have been rebuilt at their old sites while others have been moved to new sites as peace gradually returns to the north after a series of agreements between the Government and the LRA to end conflict that began in the mid-1980s.

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

ZIMBABWEAN POLLS SHOULD BE POSTPONED, GIVEN CAMPAIGN VIOLENCE – SG

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged authorities in Zimbabwe to postpone the presidential run-off election slated for Friday, in light of ongoing violence and the “understandable decision” by the opposition candidate to withdraw from the polls.

“Conditions do not exist for free and fair elections right now in Zimbabwe,” Mr. Ban told reporters in New York. “There has been too much violence, too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy.”

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

SG VOICES CONCERN AFTER OPPOSITION PULLS OUT OF ZIMBABWE POLLS

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed his concern over the political impasse in Zimbabwe, calling Sunday's withdrawal of the opposition leader from next week's presidential run-off election a “deeply distressing” development that does not bode well for democracy in the Southern African nation.

“The Secretary-General deeply regrets that, despite the repeated appeals of the international community, the Government of Zimbabwe has failed to put in place the conditions necessary for free and fair run-off elections,” according to a statement issued on Sunday by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

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

CENTRAL AFRICAN COUNTRIES BECOMING IMPATIENT WITH UGANDAN REBELS

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is continuing to commit atrocities in Central Africa, and the countries of the region are growing impatient with the rebel group’s actions and its failure to sign a peace deal ending its long-running conflict with Uganda, a senior United Nations envoy told the Security Council on 20 June.

Joaquim Chissano, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the LRA-Affected Areas, briefed the Council on the latest developments in efforts to end the conflict that has ravaged northern Uganda since the mid-1980s.

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

SENIOR UN POLITICAL OFFICIAL MEETS SOUTH AFRICAN LEADER

Senior United Nations political aide Haile Menkerios met with South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on 20 June, following a five-day visit to neighbouring Zimbabwe, which has been beset by deadly political violence since the first round of the presidential election on 29 March.

Mr. Menkerios, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, was dispatched to Zimbabwe by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an attempt to reduce political tensions ahead of the run-off round of the presidential election set for 27 June.

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

 UN AROUND THE WORLD

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS ‘CLIMATE REFUGEES’ ARE ALREADY A REALITY

Climate change is forcing people around the world to leave their villages or even their countries because of the increased frequency of floods and droughts and the re-emergence of diseases, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said yesterday.

“The topic of climate refugees is no longer a concept – it is a sad fact,” Mr. Kerim told the first annual meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum, held in Geneva.

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

SG WILL FOCUS ON GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS AS A KEY ISSUE AT UPCOMING G8 SUMMIT

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that he will focus his attention on raising the issue of food security at the G8 summit of major industrialized nations in Japan early next month, as well as the challenges of climate change and the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Chairing the third session of the High Level Global Task Force on the world’s food crisis, Mr. Ban said the international community needed to build on the momentum generated by the High Level Conference on Food Security held in Rome earlier this month.

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

ARAB CITIES TO LAUNCH UN-BACKED DRIVE TO COMBAT RACISM

Several cities across the Arab world are to launch a campaign to fight racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

At a ceremony today in Morocco, the municipalities of Casablanca, Doha, Essaouira, Cairo, Nouakchott, Rabat and Tangiers will announce the formation of a coalition to combat racism, following similar ventures in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

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

UNICEF AND UNHCR SIGN DEAL TO CUT COSTS OF VACCINES IN PAKISTAN

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the world body’s refugee agency have signed an agreement that will lead to significant savings in the purchase of vaccines for Afghans and locals living in and around Pakistan’s refugee settlements.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad at the weekend, UNICEF will obtain vaccines on behalf of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) based on the current UNICEF supply catalogue and price list or other estimates provided by UNICEF – which are lower than what the other agency pays.

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

UN AWARD WINNERS SHOULD INSPIRE GOVERNMENTS TO EXCEL IN PUBLIC SERVICE – MIGIRO

The winners of this year’s United Nations public service awards should inspire governments around the world to step up their efforts to deliver vital basic services and improve the daily lives of their people, the Deputy Secretary-General said on Monday.

“Governments around the world need to break with ‘business as usual’ and engage in ever more innovative ways of delivering public services and of organizing the way they function,” Asha-Rose Migiro said on Monday at a Headquarters ceremony honoring the winners of the 2008 UN Public Service Awards.

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

UNICEF REPORTS RISING TREND OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN IN STRIFE-TORN COUNTRIES

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that child kidnappings are on the rise in several countries affected by violence – including Haiti where more than 50 children have been abducted so far this year – and are often carried out with impunity.

There have been cases of kidnapped children in Haiti being raped and tortured, and in some cases even murdered, the agency noted in a statement issued on 20 June.

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

OUTER SPACE TECHNOLOGY CRITICAL TO ALL HUMANITY, UN SAYS

The use of space technology for disaster management, climate change and food security were among the main themes of the 51st session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which wrapped up on 20 June in Vienna.

During the 10-day session the committee heard reports on water resource management initiatives that use space technology to monitor and mitigate the effects of flood disasters and to improve the timeliness and accuracy of forecasts.

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

‘PROTECTION’ THE THEME AS UN ACTIVITIES MARK WORLD REFUGEE DAY

From recreations of refugee camp life in national capitals to film festivals, food bazaars and fashion shows, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is observing World Refugee Day on 20 June with a series of activities around the globe to draw attention to the plight faced by the displaced.

The events, which are supported by UNHCR’s partners, including governments, donors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the agency’s Goodwill Ambassadors and refugees themselves, also include light shows, photography exhibitions, lectures, concerts, sports competitions, quizzes, essay-writing competitions, tree-planting projects, seminars, workshops and public awareness campaigns.

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

UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIAN, IRISH AND SWEDISH RADIO SHOWS WINS AWARDS FROM UN

A programme on homeless American youth and a broadcast on breast cancer survivors in Ireland are among the winners of a series of radio awards presented by the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) on 19 June.

Radio programmes from the United States, Australia, Ireland and Sweden were all honoured as part of the New York Festivals Radio Programming and Promotion Awards.

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