UN Gazeti
Thursday 11 March 2009
Issue No. 09
UN Observances
| 22 March 2009 |
World Water Day |
| 23 March 2009 |
World Meteorological Day |
| 25 March 2009 |
International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff MembersUN |
UN IN KENYA
UNEP CALLS ON PEACE MISSIONS TO ADOPT ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
The impact of peacekeeping operations on critical natural resources is being highlighted this week at a gathering of military and civilian aid experts at the headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Studies from various post-conflict countries suggest that the demand for critical natural resources such as wood and water by peacekeepers can be significant. In vulnerable environments, this could have an impact on peacekeeping itself.
For more information, visit: http://www.unep.org/
KENYA: TOP UN OFFICIAL CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF KILLING OF HUMAN RIGHTS FIGURE
The United Nations human rights chief called for an investigation after the founder of a Kenyan human rights organization was gunned down, one week after meeting with an independent UN expert investigating police killings in the East African country.
Oscar Kamau Kingara, founder of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic, was killed along with a co-worker yesterday as the two sat in their car in heavy traffic near Nairobi University in Kenya's capital, Rupert Colville of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told reporters in Geneva.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN IN AFRICA
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: INCLUSIVE TALKS COULD LEAD TO PEACE CONSOLIDATION – UN
Recent long-awaited multi-party talks in the Central African Republic (CAR) have provided a window of opportunity to make strides towards consolidating peace in the land-locked nation, a top United Nations envoy told the Security Council yesterday.
François Lonsény Fall, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said that last December’s successful talks held in the capital, Bangui, were a result of two years of “tremendous effort” by various actors, both national – including representatives of the Government, opposition and civil society – and international.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
JAPAN GIVES AN ALMOST $8 MILLION BOOST TO UN MINE CLEARING EFFORTS IN AFRICA
The effort to rid the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Chad of unexploded bombs that kill and maim people years after they are laid received a multi-million dollar boost yesterday from the Japanese Government, announced the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS).
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to benefit from the donation of 762 million Japanese yen (just over $7.7 million at yesterday’s exchange rate) that will go towards improving the living conditions of people facing the daily danger of mines and explosive remnants of war.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN CLOSELY INVOLVED IN EFFORTS TO EASE POLITICAL TENSIONS IN MADAGASCAR
The United Nations is closely involved with efforts to resolve the political crisis in Madagascar peacefully, the world body said yesterday.
President Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of the capital, Anatananarivo, declared last month that they are committed to start a UN-facilitated dialogue. Nearly 100 people were killed and many more injured in violence that erupted recently amid their dispute.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DARFUR: UN-AFRICAN PEACEKEEPERS SHOT, AS CONCERN GROWS OVER HUMANITARIAN AID
Four peacekeepers were shot and wounded in an attack yesterday on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), as concern grew over the safety of aid workers who have been ordered to leave the region following the indictment of the Sudanese president.
In yesterday’s incident, a UNAMID patrol returning to its base in El Geneina, West Darfur was attacked by unknown armed men who fired at the vehicle with small arms.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DR CONGO: APPEAL TO RWANDAN FIGHTERS TO RETURN HOME IS WORKING, UN SAYS
The appeal to Rwandan rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to return home is having a positive impact on peace and security in the strife-torn area, the United Nations’ top envoy there said yesterday.
Alan Doss, Special Representative of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, cites the additional 335 Rwandan nationals who agreed to be returned to Rwanda since the start of this month.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNICEF CONDEMNS INTIMIDATION OF CHILDREN AND TEACHERS IN MADAGASCAR
Teachers and their pupils in Madagascar suffered threats and intimidation yesterday, prompting the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to call on Malagasy authorities, parties and people to “respect the fundamental rights of children and to abstain from all actions that put children in peril.”
UNICEF also condemned the abusive behavior against schoolchildren in at least one lower secondary and one upper secondary school in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar and its largest city, maintaining that “all schools must be havens of peace and security.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
BAN LAUNCHES URGENT APPEAL TO SUDAN TO REVERSE EXPULSION OF AID GROUPS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to the Government of Sudan to urgently reconsider its decision, taken after an international court’s indictment of the country’s President yesterday, to expel 13 groups aiding some 4.7 million people in strife-torn Darfur.
“The decision by the Government of Sudan to expel 13 non-governmental organizations involved in aid operations in Darfur will, if implemented, cause irrevocable damage to humanitarian operations there,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UPSURGE IN ATTACKS AS MILITIA GROUP RETURNS TO NORTH KIVU, UN AGENCY REPORTS
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it is extremely worried about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the eastern Congolese province of North Kivu, where some 160,000 people have been uprooted from their homes since January and returning militia are attacking local civilians and aid workers.
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) returned to the north and central areas of North Kivu, attacking civilians and targeting humanitarian relief convoys, after a joint military operation by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda aimed at ridding them from area ended in mid-February.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AFRICAN YOUTH REACH KILIMANJARO’S SUMMIT TO HIGHLIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE – UN
A team of disadvantaged African youth has scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as part of a United Nations-backed campaign seeking to draw attention to the negative effects of climate change.
The 10 youth – from Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana – reached the summit of Africa’s highest peak yesterday as part of the fourth annual ascent organized by Kilimanjaro Initiative, a Nairobi-based non-governmental organization, in partnership with the UN.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
JOINT UN OFFICE WILL BOOST TEAMWORK IN SUPPORT FOR LIBERIA, ENVOY SAYS
The opening of a joint United Nations office in a provincial capital of Liberia will boost cooperation in international support to the West African country, which is recovering from a devastating 14-year civil war, a UN official said on Monday.
“We have done a lot of planning and lot of work together. It is time for us to change from ‘plenty talk’ to ‘plenty work now,’” said Jordan Ryan, the Deputy UN Envoy in Liberia at the inauguration of the joint UN-office in Zwedru, the capital of southeastern Grand Gedeh County.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CHOLERA DEATH TOLL IN ZIMBABWE PASSES 4,000 AS FATALITY RATES DROP – UN REPORT
Zimbabwe’s widespread cholera epidemic has now claimed over 4,000 lives since August, and almost 90,000 people have contracted the deadly disease, according to the latest United Nations report on the outbreak.
Some 2,151 new cases of cholera were identified last week, down from 8,000 per week at the at the start of the year, noted the joint UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) report.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DARFUR: UN WORKING TO REVERSE EXPULSIONS WHILE PLANNING TO FILL VITAL AID GAPS
The United Nation’s top humanitarian official said on Monday that the world organization continues to strive at all levels to reverse the ordered departure of 13 major aid groups from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.
At the same time planning is also on-going to cover gaps opened by the expulsions in live-saving assistance that 4.7 million Sudanese – including 2.7 million internally displaced persons – depend on, according to UN Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT COULD NET 10 MILLION NEW JOBS, UN AGENCY SAYS
Ten million new “green jobs” can be created by national investments in sustainable forest management, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said yesterday.
“As more jobs are lost due to the current economic downturn, sustainable forest management could become a means of creating millions of green jobs, thus helping to reduce poverty and improve the environment,” said Jan Heino, Assistant Director-General of FAO’s Forestry Department.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS BRIEFING FROM COMMITTEE MONITORING SANCTIONS ON IRAN
The head of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme yesterday updated the 15-member body on the panel’s latest work, including the efforts of States to implement those measures.
Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan, in his first briefing as chairman of the committee, said that during the reporting period, 11 December 2008 to 10 March 2009, the Committee had received a number of reports from Member States on their implementation of sanctions and had also responded to notifications of the transfer of materials and queries seeking guidance.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SCIENTISTS LOOK AT NEW EVIDENCE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS ACCELERATING
The UN Environment Programme's 2009 Year Book is in part confirming the concerns of 2,000 scientists meeting this week in Copenhagen over the accelerating pace of climate change.
The meeting on 10-12 March, which takes place nine months before the major UN climate change talks in Copenhagen, will see the scientists look at new evidence that global warming is accelerating even faster than had been forecast by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
For more information, visit: http://www.unep.org/
GAZA: SITUATION AT BORDER CROSSINGS ‘INTOLERABLE,’ BAN SAYS
A lasting ceasefire was urgently needed to keep Gaza crossings open, which will allow the Palestinian economy to recover, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
In a message to a UN seminar on assistance to the Palestinian people in Cairo, Mr. Ban called for a “proper and durable” end of hostilities to “allow for a return of calm” to Gaza and southern Israel.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
MARKETS ALONE CANNOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE HOUSING FOR ALL, SAYS UN EXPERT
The over-reliance on private home ownership that contributed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent global financial meltdown highlights the need to view housing through the lens of human rights and not just as a commodity, the United Nations independent expert on adequate housing said on Monday.
“While political discussions are ongoing, I believe it is important to consider the linkage of the crisis with human rights, especially to look at the causes of the crisis and avoid repeating the same mistakes in any new national and global agenda,” said Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik, who presented a report to the Human Rights Council on the financial crisis, its causes and its relation to the right to adequate housing.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HUNDREDS OF NEW DISAPPEARANCE CASES TAKEN ON BY UN UNIT
Over 300 new missing-persons cases suspected to be forced disappearances will be reviewed in the current session of a dedicated United Nations unit meeting in Geneva, a UN spokesperson said yesterday.
The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances plans to review 326 newly submitted cases of enforced disappearances as well new information on previously accepted cases from 32 countries during the first of three annual sessions
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
‘LAW AND ORDER’ BECOMES FIRST TV SERIES FILMED AT UN HQ
The historic United Nations Headquarters building in New York played a starring role in the hit television series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit this weekend.
The cast and crew of the crime drama were at the landmark east side location on Saturday, 7 March, to film scenes for an episode that involves children in armed conflict as well as refugees.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DECLINING TRADE HURTS WOMEN IN POORER NATIONS, SAYS TOP UN TRADE OFFICIAL
A decline in trade resulting from shrinking global markets may cost many women in developing countries their jobs, the head of the United Nations agency that promotes commerce to fight poverty warned yesterday.
Governments should consider including measures to bolster women’s employment and support small businesses run by women as they craft economic stimulus packages, Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said at the start of a two-day meeting of experts on the theme, “mainstreaming gender in trade policy.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HUMAN RIGHTS, HARM REDUCTION KEY TO DRUG POLICY, UN RIGHTS CHIEF SAYS
Human rights and harm reduction should play a key role in the international response to drug use, a top United Nations official said yesterday.
“Individuals who use drugs do not forfeit their human rights,” Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in the run-up to an international meeting later this week that will take stock of progress in international drug control over the past decade.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
FOOD CRISIS NOT YET OVER, WARNS TOP UN RIGHTS OFFICIAL
Despite falling food prices worldwide, the global food crisis has not ended, the top United Nations human rights official cautioned on Monday, emphasizing the need to view the issue through the very basic right to adequate food.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council that it must target its work towards helping the most marginalized segments of society.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
BAN, PRESIDENT OBAMA DISCUSS BOOSTING US-UN COOPERATION
During a meeting yesterday between United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States President Barack Obama, the two leaders agreed on the potential for stepped up US-UN cooperation on a host of issues.
“The United Nations and the United States share common visions and objectives for peace, stability, development and human rights,” Mr. Ban told reporters after the meeting at the White House in Washington.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
REGIONAL ACTION AGAINST CRIME CRUCIAL FOR STABILITY IN HAITI, UN MISSION CHIEF SAYS
For lasting stability in Haiti, neighbouring countries must help foil trans-national crime through the sharing of information, patrolling, and coordinated operations, according to the head of the United Nations mission in that country (MINUSTAH).
“Over the past year, the Mission has launched with the Haitian authorities an additional effort that specifically seeks to improve security along the country’s borders,” Hedi Annabi, Special Representative for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said yesterday at the Ministerial Conference on Illicit Drug Trafficking, Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
RECENT FIRING INCIDENTS MOST SERIOUS TEST OF UN RESOLUTION ON ISRAEL, LEBANON
Recent firing incidents have posed the most serious challenge since the adoption of a resolution which helped end the war between Israel and Hizbollah in the summer of 2006, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a new report.
Rockets fired into Israel from south Lebanon and return fire at the time of the recent crisis in Gaza led to heightened tensions along the so-called Blue Line that separates Israeli and Lebanese sides and “endangered the cessation of hostilities agreement,” Mr. Ban wrote in his latest report to the Security Council on resolution 1701.
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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