UN Gazeti

Wednesday 09 July 2008

Issue No. 271

UN Observances

UN IN KENYA

UNIDO OPENS FIRST ZERO EMISSION COMMUNITY POWER CENTRE IN RURAL KENYA

The first power-generating centre using environmentally friendly hydro and solar power has been inaugurated in a Kenyan village 150 kilometres north east of Nairobi by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Apart from generating electricity, the new centre, in Kibai village in Kenya’s Kerugoya division, promotes the use of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps to replace kerosene lamps that contribute to respiratory illnesses in children and women who use them on a daily basis.

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

UN IN AFRICA

ZIMBABWE CRISIS POSES CHALLENGE NOT JUST TO AFRICA BUT TO THE WORLD – MIGIRO

The crisis in Zimbabwe, which has been beset by months of deadly violence and witnessed the recent holding of tarnished elections, not only represents a “moment of truth” for democracy on the continent but also poses a “challenge to the world,” Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said yesterday.

“When an election is conducted in an atmosphere of fear and violence, its outcome cannot have a legitimacy that is built on the will of the people,” she told the Security Council yesterday, as she briefed the 15-member body on the recent African Union Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. “Consequently, the principle of democracy is at stake.”

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

UN MISSION TRAINS POLICE OFFICERS TO PROTECT REFUGEES IN CHAD

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) yesterday began training some 200 gendarmes and police officers who will be tasked with protecting refugees and displaced people in the east of Chad.

Police officers with the UN mission, known as MINURCAT, are carrying out the programme, which aims to train 850 gendarmes and police officers by the end of September when they will form part of a new unit known as the Détachement Integré de Sécurité.

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

TOP UN ENVOY TO SUDAN SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SHOOTING OF OFFICERS

The top United Nations envoy to Sudan on Monday strongly condemned the shooting by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of a military observer with the world body and a national monitor with the Sudanese forces.

Ashraf Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, called on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to identify the SPLA soldier or soldiers responsible for wounding the two officers and to bring those behind the “egregious act” to justice.

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

TOP UN OFFICIALS DENOUNCE KILLING OF VETERAN STAFFER IN MOGADISHU

Officials from across the United Nations system have strongly condemned the killing of Osman Ali Ahmed, the acting head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) office in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Mr. Ahmed was shot on Sunday by unidentified gunmen as he left a mosque in Mogadishu with family members.

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

TOP UN ENVOY TO SIERRA LEONE WELCOMES SUCCESSFUL LOCAL ELECTIONS

The top United Nations envoy to Sierra Leone on Sunday congratulated the people of the West African nation for Saturday’s successful local council elections.

In a statement issued in the capital Freetown, the Secretary-General's Acting Executive Representative Michael Schulenburg said that he is “is pleased to observe that polling for the elections of Saturday 5 July were generally conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner.”

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

FRENCH CHILDREN DONATE TOYS TO DISPLACED YOUNGSTERS IN LIBERIA

Toys contributed by hundreds of French children are being sent to Liberia in a United Nations-backed programme to be distributed to youngsters who were forced to flee their homes during the West African nation's brutal decade-long civil war.

This is the second annual toy collected organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, with Aviation Sans Frontières arranging and bearing the cost to send the toys to Liberia. Last year's haul was delivered to refugee children in Chad.

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

AFRICAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECT TRANSFERRED TO INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Belgian authorities on 3 July transferred Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, to the Court’s detention centre in The Hague.

Mr. Bemba – President and Commander in Chief of the Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC), an armed group that intervened in the 2002-2003 armed conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) – is alleged to be criminally responsible for five counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the CAR from 25 October 2002 to 15 March 2003.

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

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ORDERS RELEASE OF CONGOLESE REBEL LEADER

The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 3 July ordered the release of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, after ruling that the Congolese rebel militia leader accused of recruiting child soldiers could not receive a fair trial.

The Court had suspended proceedings against Mr. Lubanga on 16 June, after finding that prosecutors had failed to disclose more than 200 documents to the defence that have the potential to prove his innocence.

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

SG - DESPITE PROGRESS, WEST AFRICA FACES CHALLENGES IN CONSOLIDATING PEACE

Although West Africa has made strides towards shoring up peace, the region must still overcome such obstacles as youth unemployment, rapid urbanization and irregular migration, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report made public on 3 July.

“Significant progress has been made in West Africa in the consolidation of peace and democratic governance,” Mr. Ban wrote, highlighting the peaceful elections that have been organized and increased support for peacebuilding efforts.

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

AFRICA FACES ‘DRAMATIC’ PHYSICIAN SHORTAGE BY 2015, CAUTIONS WHO

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Africa faces a “dramatic” shortage of physicians by the year 2015, according to a new study made public on 2 July.

It is projected that there will be nearly 13 million doctors by then, a figure that will meet demand and will exceed the target of achieving the benchmark of having 80 per cent of all live births covered by a skilled attendant.

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

 UN AROUND THE WORLD

EUROPEAN UNION MUST ENSURE RIGHTS OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS, SAYS UN

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling on the European Union (EU) to safeguard the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers, as senior officials from the 27-member bloc debate a proposed pact on immigration issues.

UNHCR is closely following discussions concerning the draft European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, presented on Monday by the French EU Presidency at an informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Cannes, France.

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

ANNUAL UN-CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN PARIS FOR FIRST TIME

A major United Nations conference which brings together civil society organizations from around the world each year will be held in Paris for the time, and will focus on human rights.

The conference, which is organized by the UN’s Department of Public Information (DPI), will attract some 2,000 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 90 countries.

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

UNESCO’S WORLD HERITAGE LIST NOW BOASTS TOTAL OF 27 NEW SITES

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has inscribed a total of 27 new sites to its World Heritage List, including a Canadian fossil park, a thousand-year-old temple in Cambodia and the lagoons of New Caledonia.

The latest additions include 19 cultural sites and eight natural sites chosen by the agency’s 21-member World Heritage Committee, which is currently holding its 32nd session in Quebec City, Canada.

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

AS G-8 LEADERS GATHER IN JAPAN, SG URGES ACTION ON THREE KEY CHALLENGES

As the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries gathered in Hokkaido, Japan, on Monday for their summit meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call for urgent action to tackle three key challenges the world is currently grappling with.

Efforts to address the food crisis, climate change and the slow progress towards reaching the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015 “so far have been too divided, too sporadic, and too little,” Mr. Ban told a joint news conference with World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

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

AFGHAN CHILDREN THE VICTIMS AMID ‘DETERIORATING SECURITY SITUATION

A surge in recruitment of child soldiers, the maiming and killing of children, child detention and a serious humanitarian situation are all posing major threats to children in Afghanistan, according to the United Nations envoy on children and armed conflict who has recently returned from a five-day visit to the country.

“The deteriorating security situation in the country was of concern to everybody everywhere. They are very worried about the kind of insecurity and lawlessness that is now prevailing,” Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, told reporters on Monday in New York.

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

SITES IN MAURITIUS, SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN AND CHINA JOIN UNESCO'S WORLD HERITAGE LIST

A former slave hideout in Mauritius, an archeological site in Saudi Arabia, earthen houses in China and monasteries in Iran have been inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it was announced on Sunday.

The decision to add these sites was made by the 21-member World Heritage Committee, which is currently meeting in Quebec City, Canada.

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

SG - COOPERATIVES HAVE KEY ROLE TO PLAY IN COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE

Stressing the importance of cooperation in tackling global warming, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 5 July underscored the part that in addressing the issue that can be played by cooperative enterprise.

“Every coordinated effort, no matter how small, can contribute to and form a larger, more powerful response,” Mr. Ban said in a message marking the International Day of Cooperatives, whose theme this year is “Confronting Climate Change through Cooperative Enterprise.”

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

AFGHANISTAN: TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES KILLING OF WOLESI JIRGA MEMBER

The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan on 5 July expressed shock and sadness at the assassination of Haji Habibullah, the Kandahar province member of Wolesi Jirga (People's House).

“This attack represents an assault on the democratic will of the Afghan people who voted in their millions for peace, stability and progress during historic elections” that were held in 2005, the Secretary-General's Special Representative Kai Eide said in a statement.

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

UN TEAM VOICES CONCERN OVER HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN OCCUPIED SYRIAN GOLAN

A three-member United Nations team investigative team expressed concern over the human right situation in the occupied Syrian Golan, restrictions placed on family visits, the treatment of prisoners from the Golan in Israeli prisons and attempts to change Syrian Arab identity.

The three-member Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories will tomorrow wrap up its annual field visit, which took them to Egypt, Jordan and Syria beginning 23 June, in Damascus on 5 July.

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

GERMAN SITE MAINTAINS WORLD HERITAGE STATUS – UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee announced that that Dresden Elbe Valley will retain its status, voicing hope that construction of a four-lane bridge on the German site will be halted and any damage reversed.

The Committee – whose annual meeting kicked off on 3 July in Quebec, Canada – said it regretted the building of the bridge, calling on authorities to create a tunnel instead. It noted that if the bridge construction is not stopped and undo any damage caused, the property, which is on the Danger List, would be taken off the World Heritage List next year.

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

SG - CURRENT GLOBAL CRISES DEMAND DECISIVE ACTION

Ahead of next week’s summit of the world’s leading industrialized nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued a call for decisive action to deal with the global food crisis, address climate change and eradicate poverty.

“Never in recent memory has the global economy been under such stress,”Mr. Ban says in an op-ed that appeared on 3 July in The Washington Post, as well as in news outlets in the other Group of Eight industrialized nations, prior to their summit which begins in Hokkaido on 7 July.

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

FORMER COMMANDER OF BOSNIAN MUSLIM FORCES ACQUITTED BY UN TRIBUNAL

The United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s has overturned the conviction of a former commander of Bosnian Muslim forces who was found guilty two years ago of failing to prevent the murder and torture of Serb captives in Srebrenica.

Naser Oric was acquitted on 3 July by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is based in The Hague, Netherlands.

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

SG SOUNDS ALARM ON MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 2 July voiced deep concern over incidents in Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

In a statement, Mr. Ban condemned an attack on 2 July in Jerusalem claiming several lives and injuring many others.

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