UN Gazeti
Wednesday 26 November 2008
Issue No. 287
UN Observances
| 01 December 2008 |
World Aids Day
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| 02 December 2008 |
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery |
| 03 December 2008 |
International Day of Disabled Persons |
UN IN KENYA
PRESIDENT CHISSANO LAUNCHES UNICEF REPORT “THE STATE OF THE AFRICA’S CHILDREN 2008”
UNICEF’s inaugural report The State of the Africa’s Children (SOAC) 2008 was launched yesterday by Former President of Mozambique, Joachim Alberto Chissano in Nairobi, Kenya.
During a press conference hosted by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the renowned African leader called the report “An excellent blueprint on how to accelerate the attainment of health-related MDGS”.
For more information contact : Pamella Sittoni, UNICEF Kenya, Tel: +254 728600830 psittoni@unicef.org
NAIROBI INITIATIVE HOPES TO IMPROVE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CAPACITY IN WEST AFRICA
A two-week information management training course for government officials from Benin and Côte d’Ivoire was recently held in Nairobi under the auspices of the Sergio Vieira De Mello UN Library.
Participants were two staff members from Benin’s Ministry Of Urbanism, Housing, Land Reform and Coastal Erosion Prevention, and three staff members from Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Environment.
For more information contact : James Kagwe, UN Library Nairobi Tel: +254 762 2542 james.kagwe@unep.org
UN-BACKED SCHEME GIVES 3,000 KENYAN PRISONERS CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Some 3,000 prisoners, staff and their families in Kenya will have access to clean water and basic sanitation thanks to a new United Nations-backed programme.
The pilot Prisons Water Project will be rolled out in two towns in western and south-western Kenya in a joint effort by the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the Prisoners Care Programme, a non-governmental organization (NGO).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/new
UN IN AFRICA
SG ALARMED AS HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS WORSEN IN ZIMBABWE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday voiced alarm at the deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside Zimbabwe, where an estimated 6 million people could soon require food aid, a deadly cholera outbreak is spreading and health-care, education and sanitation services are collapsing.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban described the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe as “now desperate” and said it is likely to only worsen in the coming months as the country’s political crisis continues.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
NEW FIGHTING IN EASTERN DR CONGO SENDS MORE CIVILIANS FLEEING IN PANIC
Rebels in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) launched new military attacks yesterday under the cover of a so-called police and pacification operation, breaking the ceasefire and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, the United Nations mission reported yesterday.
“This fighting has sown panic among civilians who are once more in headlong flight along the highways in search of safety,” the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym MONUC, said of the attacks by the rebel Congress in Defence of the People (CNDP) against the Mayi Mayi militia in the Kinyando and Nkwenda area of North Kivu province.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SENIOR UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL BEGINS VISIT TO DARFUR
The top United Nations relief official kicked off a six-day visit to the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur yesterday by stopping at a camp sheltering nearly 90,000 people uprooted by conflict, with security issues featuring prominently in his meetings with internally displaced persons (IDPs), authorities and aid workers.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, visited the Kalma camp in Nyala, one of the largest sites for IDPs in South Darfur, where he saw first-hand the work of aid organizations, met with schoolchildren and saw a women’s handicraft project.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SOME $750 MILLION SOUGHT IN UN APPEALS FOR EAST AND WEST AFRICA
The United Nations on Monday set in motion further elements of the African regional component of its $7-billion annual humanitarian appeal, seeking help for millions of people suffering from drought, floods, high food prices and displacement in the eastern and western regions of the continent.
In Nairobi, Kenya, the humanitarian community and the Government launched the 2009 Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan (EHRP), requesting $390 million for 1.6 million victims of food and livelihood insecurity and scant health care, as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in the East African country.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TWO SOMALI PARTIES AGREE TO TACKLE PROBLEM OF IMPUNITY
Welcoming a workshop at which the parties to a recent Somalia peace accord tackled the challenge of impunity, the top United Nations official for the strife-torn country has called on the international community to support them in the endeavour, which could include a commission of inquiry and an international court.
“Impunity has been addressed in many post-conflict countries such as Burundi, Cambodia, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said in a statement on the two-day workshop “on the critical challenges of Justice and Reconciliation,” attended by the Transitional Federal Government (TGF) and the Islamic Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
BAN VOICES OUTRAGE AFTER MURDER OF JOURNALIST AT CONGOLESE RADIO STATION
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed his deep distress at hearing of the murder of a journalist working for a UN-sponsored radio station in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Didace Namujimbo, 34, died after being shot in the neck by unknown assailants about 9:30 p.m. last Friday as he returned to his home in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province in the country’s far east. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DSG CALLS ON AFRICAN LEADERS TO CLOSE GENDER GAP, WARNING OF DANGERS TO DEVELOPMENT
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has warned that glaring gender disparities experienced by African countries will undermine efforts to achieve sustainable development across the continent, adding that climate change and economic turmoil impact women’s lives disproportionately.
Speaking at the close of the Sixth African Development Forum, Ms. Migiro called on government leaders to “act decisively and urgently” to include women in all levels of decision-making, and to develop policies and legislation that promote women’s land and property rights.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
VISITING CHAD, TOP UN RELIEF OFFICIAL CALLS FOR STRONGER REFUGEE PROTECTION
The top United Nations humanitarian official wrapped up a four-day visit to Chad on Monday during which he called for stronger action to restore stability and rein in criminal activity besetting nearly half a million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the strife-torn east.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes travelled to the east, where 300,000 refugees from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region and the Central African Republic (CAR) have been joined by some 180,000 IDPs uprooted by rebel activity and a spill-over of the Darfur conflict.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
MILLIONS JOIN UN IN URGENT CALL TO STEP UP AND ELIMINATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
More than five million individuals around the world have sent a clear and unequivocal message to their governments to take decisive action in stopping the relentless cycle of violence against women, at the conclusion of an Internet-based United Nations campaign yesterday.
The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) launched its Say NO to Violence against Women awareness-raising campaign last year calling on governments to make ending violence against women a top priority.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CONTINUED TALKS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS ENCOURAGING, UN POLITICAL CHIEF SAYS
The top United Nations political official yesterday voiced regret that Israel and the Palestinians will probably not reach a peace agreement by the end of this year under the negotiating track launched last in the United States city of Annapolis, but noted that ongoing direct talks between the two sides are a positive sign.
“The parties stated that negotiations would continue uninterrupted, and that their goals remain a comprehensive peace agreement addressing all their issues, without exception,” Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council in an open meeting.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES KILLING OF ANOTHER FILIPINO JOURNALIST
The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom has condemned the killing of Philippine journalist Aresio Padrigao, the sixth media professional to be murdered in the South-East Asian nation this year.
Mr. Padrigao, 55, was shot by a motorcyclist as he was dropping his daughter off at university on 17 November in the province of Misamis Oriental. He hosted a weekly radio programme on dxRS Radyo Natin (Our Radio), in which he denounced cases of alleged corruption and illegal logging activities.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
LEADERS CONTINUE UN-BACKED TALKS ON CYPRUS PEACE PROCESS
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders continued United Nations-sponsored talks on the reunification of the Mediterranean island yesterday, focusing on the issues of federal offences and the federal police.
In May, Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat committed to a partnership that will comprise a Federal Government with a single international identity, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which will be of equal status.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AGENCY KICKS OFF FOOD OPERATION AHEAD OF KYRGYZSTAN’S BRUTAL WINTER
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday it is launching an emergency operation to help 580,000 vulnerable people this winter in Kyrgyzstan, where many families are struggling as a result of high food prices and the global economic slowdown.
“Winter is a brutal time in Kyrgyzstan. We will be providing food to those who are unable to meet their basic food needs due to the past year’s high food and fuel prices,” said Daly Belgasmi, WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
VISITING SECURITY COUNCIL TEAM HOLDS TALKS WITH TOP AFGHAN OFFICIALS
Members of the Security Council continued their visit to Afghanistan yesterday by meeting with President Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet, as well as other senior national and international officials, as part of their efforts to assess the country’s progress in nation building.
The team, led by Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata of Italy, also met yesterday with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Afghanistan Independent Election Commission.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
COUNTRIES MAKING PROGRESS AHEAD OF UN DEVELOPMENT FORUM
Countries are reaching some consensus on the key issues ahead of this weekend’s critical United Nations conference on the need to strengthen financing for development for poor countries amid a time of global economic turmoil, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto said yesterday.
Mr. D’Escoto told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York that while not many specific agreements have yet been reached for the draft outcome document expected to emerge from the Conference on Financing for Development, consensus was emerging at the ambassadorial level on many issues.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN-BACKED CONGRESS IN BRAZIL TARGETS RISING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
Nearly 3,000 participants from over 125 countries have gathered in Rio de Janeiro yesterday for a three-day United Nations-backed congress to combat the increasing scourge of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in all its dimensions, ranging from of trafficking, pornography and prostitution to rape and abuse.
“No country or region is immune, and there are no innocent bystanders,” UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said. “Sexual exploitation leaves children with psychological and at times physical scars, and diminishes their hopes of leading a life of dignity.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
GREENHOUSE GAS LEVEL REACHED ALL-TIME HIGH IN 2007
Greenhouse gases, which drive global warming, continue to increase and carbon dioxide concentrations reached their highest level ever in 2007, according to a publication released yesterday by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The burning of fossil fuels and other human activities emit greenhouse gases, which warm the planet by trapping radiation within the atmosphere.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
PREVAILING ISRAELI-LEBANESE CALM SHOULD LEAD TO GREATER PROGRESS
While pleased that relative calm continues to prevail between Israel and Lebanon, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is disturbed by the repeated exchanges of threats between Israel and Hizbollah and believes greater progress should have been made since the adoption of the United Nations resolution that helped end fighting between them two years ago.
“Further progress in the implementation of the resolution is increasingly overdue,” Mr. Ban writes in his latest report to the Security Council on resolution 1701.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECRETARY-GENERAL TO ATTEND NEXT ROUND OF UN CLIMATE TALKS IN POLAND
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the next round of United Nations climate change talks which kick off in Poznan, Poland, next month, it was announced yesterday.
At the start of the high-level portion of the two-week meeting, Mr. Ban will lay out his ideas for some key issues under negotiation, including the shared vision necessary for long-term world collaboration on climate change.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CHALLENGES EMERGE FOR UN IN KOSOVO, NEARLY A YEAR AFTER INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has faced significant challenges over the past five months to its ability to perform the vast majority of its tasks after Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
“These challenges have underscored the need to move forward with the reconfiguration of UNMIK,” Mr. Ban told the Security Council in his latest report on Kosovo, which the UN took over in 1999 after NATO forces drove out Yugoslav troops amid deadly fighting with the majority ethnic Albanian population there.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REMAINS WIDESPREAD AND LARGELY UNPUNISHED
Violence against women is the least punished crime in the world, United Nations officials said yesterday, urging governments to end the widespread impunity and to take measures to ensure that the laws and policies that aim to protect women and girls are enforced.
In separate messages to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed yesterday, the heads of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) called on policymakers to harness the momentum generated by recent global efforts against the scourge.
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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