UN Gazeti

Wednesday 17 September 2008

Issue No. 281

UN Observances

UN IN AFRICA

FORMER UN LEGAL CHIEF TO MEDIATE DISPUTE BETWEEN EQUATORIAL GUINEA, GABON

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that he has appointed the recently departed legal chief of the United Nations as his Special Adviser and Mediator to assist in resolving the continuing maritime border dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The two countries have been informed that Nicolas Michel of Switzerland – who served as UN Legal Counsel from August 2005 until the start of this month – will be the Special Adviser, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

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

UN-LED GROUP DISCUSSES HOW TO IMPLEMENT RECENT SOMALI PEACE DEAL

A United Nations-chaired international group of countries and organizations supporting the consolidation of peace in conflict-wracked Somalia has met in neighbouring Djibouti to discuss how to put a recent reconciliation agreement by the Horn of Africa nation’s warring political groups into practice.

The International Contact Group (ICG), led by Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, met yesterday to confer on how best to implement to implement the so-called Djibouti Agreement signed between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the rebel group known as the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) last month.

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

FRESH FIGHTING BREAKS OUT IN EASTERN DR OF CONGO, UN MISSION REPORTS

Intense fighting broke out yesterday between the army and rebels loyal to the former general Laurent Nkunda in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the army using rocket launchers and other heavy artillery, the United Nations peacekeeping mission reported yesterday.

To ensure that civilians were not harmed, the peacekeepers interceded with Congolese troops who agreed to cease fire by the end of the day. The fighting took place in Kirotshe, a town near Goma, which has seen several fierce battles in recent days.

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

UN OFFICIAL URGES CORRECTIONS OFFICERS TO ENSURE PROPER CARE OF DETAINEES IN LIBERIA

A senior United Nations official in Liberia has called on a group of newly-trained corrections officers to keep in mind how they care for the prisoners entrusted to them, stressing that such treatment will be key to ensuring a safe and secure facility, as well as helping the detainees to become law-abiding citizens when they are released.

“As corrections officers, you are responsible for the care, custody and control of human beings,” Marjo Callaghan, the head of the Corrections Advisory Unit of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), said at a graduation ceremony for 66 new officers at the Liberia National Police Training Academy.

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

SG RECOMMENDS 6,000-STRONG UN FORCE FOR CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday proposed that the Security Council consider sending 6,000 United Nations troops to replace a European Union force in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR), which have both been wracked by violence and civilian displacement in recent years.

The mandate of the EU’s military force, known as EUFOR, is set to expire on 15 March 2009, and currently comprises 3,300 troops.

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

MOZAMBIQUE: UN AGENCY SUPPLIES OVER $30 MILLION TO HELP POOR FARMERS

Small farmers in Mozambique, where two-thirds of the population live below the poverty line, will be able to boost their incomes thanks to a new $31 million boost from the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The new scheme seeks to help 200,000 smallholder farmers and 375 small-scale traders to market their surpluses more profitably to augment their earnings by improving the terms of trade for the planters.

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

UN AGENCIES ASSIST IN FIGHT AGAINST CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN ZIMBABWE

United Nations agencies are working with local authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Zimbabwe to combat a deadly outbreak of cholera on the outskirts of the national capital, Harare.

So far 11 people have died and 80 others have been infected in the outbreak, which was first reported earlier this month, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

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

NEARLY HALF OF MIGRATORY WATERBIRD POPULATIONS IN AFRICA, ASIA IN DECLINE

Poorly planned economic development is at the root of the more than 40 per cent plunge in migratory waterbird populations travelling across Africa and Eurasia, according to a new United Nations-backed report issued on Monday.

Waterbirds, who must travel up to thousands of kilometres to complete their breeding cycles, are extremely vulnerable to changes in the environment.

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

UN-BACKED SPECIAL SECURITY UNIT BEGINS MISSION TO EASTERN CHAD

A special security unit of the Chadian army composed of national police and gendarmes responsible for the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Monday began its first reconnaissance visit to eastern Chad, ahead of its deployment to the region, the United Nations announced on Monday.

Some 70 members of the Détachement intégré de sécurité (DIS), who have been trained by the UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad, known as MINURCAT, will tour Abeché, Goz Beida, Farchana, Iriba, Guereda and Bahai

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

UN AROUND THE WORLD

UN AGENCIES EXPAND EMERGENCY OPERATIONS IN STORM-STRICKEN CARIBBEAN

United Nations agencies are ramping up their relief efforts in hurricane-ravaged Haiti, where some 160,000 people are still living out in the open exposed to disease and malnutrition, the humanitarian wing of the UN reported yesterday.

In the last week the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has tripled the quantity of food it has distributed, feeding some 217,000 people in the impoverished Caribbean State.

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

UN ADVOCATE FOR CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT HAILS UNITED STATES LEGISLATIVE STEPS

The United Nations envoy for children and armed conflict yesterday praised the United States for the introduction of new legislation that aims to tackle the recruitment and use of the estimated 250,000 child soldiers worldwide.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said the passage of one act dealing with the scourge and the imminent passage of another was a welcome step forward.

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

UN SIGNS ACCORD TO SET INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR METEOROLOGICAL DATA

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have signed an agreement to cooperate in setting international standards for meteorological and hydrological data, products and services.

The new procedures will “clarify the authority of WMO documents and enhance their international recognition and dissemination,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said at yesterday’s signing ceremony in Geneva. “This will be of particular importance to the activities of national hydrological and meteorological services in addressing standard issues.”

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

UN AGENCY CALLS FOR RISE IN FARM PRODUCTION TO COMBAT GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

Agricultural production must be raised to end the global food crisis, which has driven more than 75 million additional people into hunger and poverty, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told the Italian Parliament yesterday.

Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Rome-based UN agency, warned a joint parliamentary committee hearing that prices are likely to remain high for several years, even though bumper cereal harvests are expected this year.

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

UN REMAINS COST-EFFECTIVE OPTION FOR GLOBAL PEACEKEEPING, SAYS TOP OFFICIAL

The United Nations, which currently deploys some 110,000 personnel in 18 peace operations worldwide at a price tag of $7.2 billion, remains the most cost-effective option for global peacekeeping, the senior official leading those efforts said yesterday.

Speaking at his first news conference since taking up the post of Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Alain Le Roy cited a 2006 study by the United States Government Accountability Office which estimated that it would cost the US about twice as much as the UN to conduct a peacekeeping operation similar to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

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

UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG CHIEF CIRCULATES LATEST REPORT ON IRAN

The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog has circulated his latest report on Iran’s nuclear programme to the agency’s Board of Directors.

It covers developments since Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), submitted his last report to the 35-member policymaking body on 26 May.

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

SECURITY COUNCIL, SG DEPLORE TERRORIST ATTACK OUTSIDE US EMBASSY IN YEMEN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have strongly condemned yesterday’s terrorist bombing outside the United States embassy in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, which has killed at least 16 people and wounded many others.

Media reports say that the casualties in the attack include Yemeni security guards at the embassy, as well as civilians outside the building.

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

UNICEF ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR CHILDREN’S DAY BROADCASTING AWARD

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) yesterday announced its nominees for the annual International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) award, presented to television and radio broadcasters for outstanding commitment to the Day.

The nominees represent the best work produced in 2007 for the Day, as well as a dedication to promoting youth participation in the media.

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

GLOBAL MODEL UN CONFERENCE SEEKS TO TAP WORLD LEADERS OF TOMORROW

The United Nations yesterday launched a mobilization campaign for the first annual Global Model UN conference in Geneva next year to enhance its cooperation with the young people who will become the world’s future leaders.

The three-day meeting will bring together 1,000 university students aged between 18 and 24 to discuss the “The Millennium Developments Goals – Lifting the bottom billion out of poverty.” The Goals, set at the UN Millennium summit of 2000, seek to slash global poverty and hunger, reduce maternal and infant mortality and vastly increase access to health care and education by 2015.

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

KILLING OF CAMERAMAN SPARKS UN CONCERN FOR JOURNALISTS IN KASHMIR

The United Nations agency tasked with promoting press freedom has deplored the death of a local television cameraman in Indian-administered Kashmir, and voiced concern for the safety of journalists in the area.

Javed Ahmed Mir, 35, was shot while covering a demonstration near Bagh-e-Mehtab on 13 August.

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

UN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES PROTECTION AMID SHARP RISE IN AFGHAN CIVILIAN DEATHS

The top United Nations human rights official has called for ensuring the protection of Afghan civilians, as new figures show an almost 40 per cent increase in conflict-related deaths in the first eight months of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

The human rights unit of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded a total of 1,445 civilian casualties in the first eight months of this year, an increase of 39 per cent compared to the same period in 2007, when there were 1,040 deaths.

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

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