UN Gazeti
Wednesday 07 Januar92008
Issue No. 01
UN Observances
UN IN AFRICA
UN REACHES VILLAGES IN NORTH-EASTERN DR CONGO ATTACKED BY UGANDAN REBELS
The United Nations refugee agency has reached towns in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the scene of bloody attacks carried out by the notorious Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Over the weekend, a team from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) and other UN agencies carried out a mission in the towns of Tadu and Faradje in Orientale Province.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
GUNMEN KILL UN FOOD AID WORKER IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has urged all parties to the ongoing conflict in Somalia to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers after one of the agency’s staff members was gunned down while monitoring a school feeding programme in the southern part of the war-torn nation.
WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran condemned the killing of 44-year-old Somali national Ibrahim Hussein Duale, calling it a “shocking attack on one of our staff while he was doing his job.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
9.1 MILLION PEOPLE INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN CENTRAL, EAST AFRICA, UN REPORTS
There were 9.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Central and Eastern Africa region as of December 2008, according to a United Nations report released yesterday, 400,000 less than at the end of June, but because of the fluidity of the situation officials advised against laying too much store on the reduction.
They noted that IDPs are sometimes continually moving, either returning home or being uprooted a second time.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN CONTINUES ASSISTING DISPLACED IN VOLATILE EASTERN DR CONGO
The United Nations is continuing to rush assistance to help those uprooted by clashes in the war-torn far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including victims of violence at the hands of the notorious Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).
Since 28 December, more than 300 people have been killed during LRA attacks in north-eastern DRC, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the National Refugee Commission.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
MORE RAPID-RESPONSE POLICE JOIN UN-AFRICAN UNION PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DARFUR
Two new contingents of Nigerian police officers trained in high-risk operations have joined the joint United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping mission in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan.
The new contingents – each comprising 140 personnel – bring the total number of Formed Police Units (FPUs) serving with the mission, known as UNAMID, to five, following the earlier arrival of units from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES PEACEFUL POLLS IN GHANA
4 January 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday congratulated the people and Government of Ghana on the peaceful and organized end to their recent presidential and legislative elections.
“Ghanaians can and should take pride in this democratic achievement,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson. “With their continuing show of commitment to the democratic process, Ghana and its leaders are setting an admirable example.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
FRESH FIGHTING UPROOTS ANOTHER 50,000 SOMALIS, COMPOUNDING PRESENT CRISIS
The top United Nations relief official in Somalia has voiced grave concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the strife-torn nation, where fresh clashes last week have reportedly killed more than 40 people and displaced over 50,000.
Up to 90 per cent of the population of Dhuusamarreeb and Guriceel towns, in Galgaduud region in central Somalia, have fled their homes since fighting began on 27 December. Many of them had already been displaced due to previous violence in the capital, Mogadishu.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON GAZA FIGHTING, BAN RENEWS CEASEFIRE CALL
The Security Council convened on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza this evening, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warning that yesterday’s deadly Israeli shelling of United Nations schools where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge made a ceasefire more urgent than ever.
“Three UNRWA [UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East] schools, set up by the United Nations as places of refuge for civilians fleeing the fighting, have been hit in adjacent Israeli strikes,” Mr. Ban told the Council at the start of the session, noting that the third strike at a school in Jabalia refugee camp killed dozens of civilians.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECRETARY GENERAL CONDEMNS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ ISRAELI STRIKES ON UN SCHOOLS IN GAZA
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday spoke out against Israel’s “totally unacceptable” attacks against three clearly-marked United Nations schools, where civilians were seeking refuge from the ongoing conflict in Gaza, with a senior official calling for an independent inquiry into the incidents which claimed dozens of lives.
More than two dozen schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are serving as temporary shelters to more than 15,000 Palestinians whose homes have been destroyed or who are fleeing the violence.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CIVILIANS WISHING TO FLEE GAZA MUST BE PERMITTED TO DO SO, STRESSES UN REFUGEE CHIEF
The top United Nations refugee official has stressed that civilians wishing to leave Gaza, where a military operation Israel says it launched in response to Hamas rocket attacks has entered its 11th day, must be allowed to do so, and reminded neighbouring States of their responsibility to provide access to safety for those fleeing the ongoing violence.
“Those who are compelled to flee the Gaza Strip should be able to do so and to find safety and security in other countries according to international law,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a statement issued yesterday.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TOP UN ENVOY CALLS ATTACKS AGAINST PILGRIMS IRAQ ‘APPALLING AND UNJUSTIFIED’
The top United Nations envoy to Iraq on Monday strongly condemned recent attacks which have killed at least 40 pilgrims and wounded dozens more in Baghdad ahead of a major religious celebration.
“Appalling and unjustified crimes” is how Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, described the attacks, which occurred as pilgrims were preparing for the Ashura commemorations to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AMBULANCES FACE GROWING DIFFICULTY IN REACHING GAZA WOUNDED, UN WARNS
Ambulances and medical workers in Gaza are facing increasing difficulty in reaching the wounded, some are being killed in doing so, and a “humanitarian breathing space” is vital to ensure that food and medical supplies reach those in need as Israel’s offensive entered its 10th day, the top United Nations relief official in the area said on Monday.
“Large numbers of people including many children are hungry, they are cold, they are without ready access to medical facilities, they are without access to electricity and running water, above all they are terrified. That by any measure is a humanitarian crisis,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Maxwell Gaylard told a news briefing in Jerusalem.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
JOINT UN ASSESSMENT UNDERWAY IN QUAKE-HIT INDONESIA
A joint United Nations assessment mission is being carried out in the Indonesian province of West Papua, where a series of earthquakes yesterday injured hundreds, damaged more than 800 houses and sent some 14,000 fleeing from their homes.
Local officials say at least five people were killed in the quakes, the first of which hit at 4:43 a.m. local time and measured 7.2 on the Richter scale, according to the Indonesian National Meteorological Geophysical and Climatology Agency.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECRETARY GENERAL MEETS WITH ARAB MINISTERS TO SECURE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is intensifying his diplomatic drive to secure a Gaza ceasefire, meeting with Arab foreign ministers in New York on Monday to press for an end to hostilities by both Israel and Hamas while preparing to travel to Washington tomorrow for talks with United States President George W. Bush.
“I’m going to stress the importance of bringing this violent situation to an immediate halt, with the durable and permanent systems which can be respected fully by all the parties concerned,” he said of the upcoming meeting with Mr. Bush when asked at a press encounter about US “hindrance” to an effort by the Security Council on Saturday to issue a call for a ceasefire.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
LEADERS HOLD FURTHER TALKS AS UN-LED NEGOTIATIONS ON CYPRUS RESUME
The Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders resumed their United Nations-led negotiations aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island as they held their first meeting for 2009 on Monday in Nicosia.
Last 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
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