UN Gazeti
Wednesday 16 July 2008
Issue No. 272
UN Observances
| 9 August |
International day of World’s Indigenous People |
| 12 August |
International Youth Day
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| 8 September |
International Literacy Day |
UN IN AFRICA
SITUATION IN SUDAN CALM FOLLOWING ICC ANNOUNCEMENT, UN MISSIONS REPORT
The two United Nations peacekeeping missions in Sudan have reported that the situation there is calm, following Monday’s announcement by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he is seeking an indictment against President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes committed in Darfur.
Three years after being request by the Security Council to investigate atrocities committed in the war-ravaged Sudanese region, Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented evidence against Mr. Al-Bashir to The Hague-based Court in relation to 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN VOICES GRAVE CONCERN AFTER MORE AID WORKERS ARE KILLED IN SOMALIA
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia yesterday expressed grave concern at the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the country after two Somali aid workers were killed on Friday, while the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that one of its transport agents was shot dead on Sunday.
“It is intolerable and incomprehensible that humanitarian workers striving to save lives and alleviate human suffering in one of the most difficult environments in the world are being targeted and killed,” Mark Bowden said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SG APPLAUDS PROGRESS ON CONTROL OF SMALL ARMS TRADE, BUT SEES CHALLENGES AHEAD
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday that states have made considerable progress in combating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, but cautioned that many challenges still remain.
“Weapons collection and destruction activities have continued, with thousands of weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition destroyed; national coordination bodies have been established and existing ones strengthened; and States are increasingly focusing their attention on implementing the new International Tracing Instrument,” Mr. Ban told a meeting in New York on the global implementation of the Programme on Illicit Trade in Small Arms.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TAYLOR TRIAL AT UN-BACKED COURT A MODEL FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE, SAYS PROSECUTOR
The Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), which is trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity, says many commentators refer to the court as a model for international justice.
“It shows that the trial of a former chief of State can be conducted openly and fairly and we’re very proud to date of the progress that’s been made,” Stephen Rapp told reporters in New York on Monday.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN HAS NO INFLUENCE ON ICC, SG TELLS SUDAN'S PRESIDENT
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has emphasized to Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir the independence of the International Criminal Court, amid reports that ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is preparing to seek an indictment against the African Head of State.
During a telephone conversation on 12 July with Mr. Al-Bashir, Mr. Ban stressed that the UN Secretary-General does not have any influence on the ICC Prosecutor.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN REFUTES CLAIMS THAT SG IS BIASED ON ZIMBABWE
Comments by the Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe questioning Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's impartiality toward events in the Southern African nation are “highly inappropriate and unacceptable,” the spokesperson for the United Nations chief has stated.
“There is nothing one-sided about defending the right of the people of Zimbabwe to choose a legitimate government in a free and fair election,” according to a statement issued on 12 July by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN URGES SOUTH AFRICA TO HALT DEPORTATION OF ZIMBABWEANS
The United Nations refugee agency has called on South Africa to stop deporting Zimbabweans, noting that an increasing number of them are arriving as a result of political violence in their homeland.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while there were a significant number of refugees crossing the border into South Africa seeking asylum in the wake of the violence that beset Zimbabwe following the March elections, that figure has increased since the 27 June presidential run-off.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN DARFUR ‘REMAINS GRIM’ – UN RIGHTS EXPERT
Government forces and rebel groups continue to commit human rights violations in the Darfur region of Sudan, while populations in the southern part of the country also suffer from ongoing violence, according to an independent United Nations rights official.
Sima Samar, who has just completed a two-week visit to Sudan, also spoke out against this week’s attack on the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping operation in Darfur, known as UNAMID, which left seven dead and 19 wounded.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SOLAR ENERGY VIABLE OPTION FOR TIMOR-LESTE, SAYS UN
A just concluded three-year pilot project has shown that solar power can be an affordable and sustainable alternative energy source for the people of Timor-Leste, according to a senior United Nations official heading up the programme.
The solar project, just one of many initiatives carried out by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affair (UNDESA) in the tiny South East Asian nation, aimed to help rural communities harness the potential of this alternative energy source.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROMA IN ITALY WORRIES UN RIGHTS EXPERTS
A trio of independent United Nations human rights experts have voiced concern about recent actions and proposed measures targeting the Roma community and migrants in Italy which they deem as discriminatory.
The Special Rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diene, the Independent Expert on minority issues, Gay J. McDougall, and the Special Rapporteur on the Human rights of Migrants, Jorge Bustamante, said they were extremely concerned about the proposal made by the Ministry of Interior to fingerprint all Roma individuals, including children, in order to identify those undocumented persons living in Italy.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
PROSPERITY AND STABILITY BOOSTED BY TRADE AND GLOBALIZATION, SAYS WTO
Trade and globalization have had the double effect of enhancing prosperity for hundreds of millions of people and stepping up stability among nations, according to a new report by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Countries have gained from specialization and economies of scale to boost efficiency thanks to trade, the WTO’s annual World Trade Report, entitled “Trade in a Globalizing World,” noted.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN DEPLORES BOMBING AT MARKET IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has strongly condemned the suicide bomb attack that struck a marketplace in the southern province of Uruzgan, resulting in the deaths of a number of civilians and police officers.
“To target civilians who were shopping for food shows a total disregard for the sanctity of life by the perpetrators of this attack,” UNAMA’s Nilab Mobarez told reporters in the capital, Kabul.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERT NAMED GOODWILL AMBASSADOR FOR UNIDO
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has named Rajendra K. Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as one of its Goodwill Ambassadors.
In a ceremony in Vienna on Monday, UNIDO recognized Dr. Pachauri, who also serves as the Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), for his efforts in the field of energy and the environment, one of its three main priorities. Its other two are trade capacity building and poverty reduction through productive activities.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNICEF RESUMES AID DELIVERIES TO NORTH-EAST DPR KOREA
Trucks bearing food and medicine from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have begun a difficult four-day journey over mountain roads to deliver supplies to youngsters in the isolated provinces in the north-east of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Some 11 tons of therapeutic milk, 1.5 tons of therapeutic food for severely malnourished children and enough medicine for 400,000 people for three months are among the items being sent to the area.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEARLY 400 MORE HMONG RETURN TO LAOS FROM THAILAND, REPORTS UNHCR
Close to 400 Lao Hmong people were repatriated to Laos from a camp in northern Thailand on 10 July, bringing the total number of returnees to 1,228 in the past three weeks, the United Nations refugee agency said on 11 July.
The 391 ethnic Hmong people were repatriated from Ban Huay Nam Khao camp by the Thai army in Petchabun province, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which said today that it had no information that the move was not voluntary.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS ‘REPREHENSIBLE’ TERRORIST ATTACK IN ISTANBUL
The Security Council has strongly condemned 9 July’s terrorist attack on Turkish police protecting the United States Consulate General in Istanbul, which caused death and injury to Turkish police personnel.
While no staff inside the Consulate sustained injuries, three policemen and three of the attackers were killed in Wednesday’s incident.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DSG OUTLINES HOW UN CAN BETTER ASSIST COUNTRIES MEET DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The United Nations can best assist countries reach their development goals by focusing on national priorities, continually improving its programmes and ensuring adequate resources for its activities, the Deputy Secretary-General said on 10 July.
In her address to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is currently holding its annual session in New York, Asha-Rose Migiro spoke about the importance of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR).
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
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