UN Gazeti
Thursday 18 March 2009
Issue No. 10
UN Observances
| 21 March 2009 |
International Day for the elimination of Racial Discrimination |
UN IN KENYA
UN SEEKS $244 MILLION TO BOOST FOOD AID TO VULNERABLE KENYANS
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for $244 million to scale up its operation in Kenya, where high food prices and drought have left 3.5 million people in need of aid.
The Kenyan Government declared a national disaster in January following the failure of rains in some parts of the country. Subsistence farmers in south-eastern and coastal areas were hardest hit and have experienced almost total crop loss.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN IN AFRICA
BAN URGES MADAGASCAR PARTIES TO ACT RESPONSIBLY FOLLOWING PRESIDENT’S RESIGNATION
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all parties in Madagascar to ensure stability and a smooth democratic transition following the resignation of President Marc Ravalomanana.
“This peaceful path can only be the result of transitional arrangements arrived at by consensus and enjoying wide support,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
SECURITY COUNCIL WELCOMES BLUE HELMETS TAKING OVER IN CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Security Council welcomed this weekend’s successful transfer of authority from European forces to United Nations peacekeepers in the war-torn nations of Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR).
The UN Mission in the two countries, known as MINURCAT, took over the military and security responsibilities of European forces (EUFOR) at midnight local time on Sunday.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DR CONGO CONFLICTS THREATEN PEOPLE’S ALREADY-SHAKY LIVING CONDITIONS – UN OFFICIAL
Although the global spotlight has been on the conflict in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), violations have been occurring in other parts of the vast African nation, a senior United Nations human rights official said.
“The public space for protests and criticism in the rest of the country has diminished,” Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights told the Human Rights Council in Geneva, as she presented the latest report on the DRC.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AID PARTNERS TO ASSESS STATE OF WESTERN SAHARA REFUGEES ON UN-LED VISITS
Concern over malnutrition among long-term refugees from Western Sahara have sparked two assessment missions to their camps in western Algeria by humanitarian partners.
Staff of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) will accompany representatives of donor countries and their partners from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on a three-day mission to the camps of Sahrawi people.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN CONDEMNS FATAL AMBUSH OF DARFUR PEACEKEEPERS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have condemned an ambush that led to the death of one blue helmet, the second such attack on peacekeepers in the strife-torn region of Sudan in a week.
Mr. Ban “is deeply concerned by the increased security threats faced by UNAMID in Darfur. He calls on all parties to fulfil their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN and UN-associated personnel in Sudan,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
LACK OF FUNDS FORCES UN TO GROUND WEST AFRICA HUMANITARIAN AIR SERVICE
The United Nations said it is shutting down its Humanitarian Air Service in West Africa due to a serious lack of funding, seriously impairing aid operations in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire.
The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) flies aid workers from the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as journalists and others, to some of the hardest-to-reach emergency operations around the world.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UPROOTED CONTINUE TO RETURN HOME IN NORTHERN UGANDA, UN REPORTS
Northern Ugandans uprooted during two decades of fighting between the Government and a notorious rebel group are continuing to return home, the United Nations humanitarian arm announced.
The clashes between the Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) drove nearly two million people from their homes, devastating infrastructure and services.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CHAD: BLAZES RIP THROUGH SUDANESE REFUGEE CAMPS
The United Nations refugee agency said it was hastening to replace supplies and put preventive measures in place after five accidental fires swept through two camps for Sudanese refugees in remote eastern Chad in the past four weeks.
A 9-year old boy died and some 1,455 people were left homeless in the Amer and Djabal camps, due to the fires, which were caused by poorly tended open fires fanned by heavy winds, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TOP UN ENVOY HAILS JOINT UGANDAN, CONGOLESE OPERATION AGAINST REBELS
As Ugandan troops began withdrawing from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after a three-month joint operation to flush out a notorious rebel group, the United Nations’ top envoy in the country praised the cooperative effort, the world body’s mission there said.
Marking the end of Operation Lightening and Thunder, meant to rout the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Alan Doss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC), warned, however, that the group remained a threat.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
UN SCHEME PROVIDES $18 MILLION TO FIVE COUNTRIES TO SLASH EMISSIONS, CREATE JOBS
Five pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are set to receive $18 million in funding from a United Nations programme aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from forests while boosting local livelihoods.
The UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) was launched last September by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a way of combating climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
PAKISTAN: ABDUCTED UN STAFFER’S HEALTH REPORTEDLY WORSENING
The United Nations said it is very concerned about the condition of staff member John Solecki, who was abducted in Pakistan more than six weeks ago, after the group which claims to be holding him reported that his health was deteriorating.
“The United Nations is keen for John to receive immediate professional medical care in a clinic or hospital where the necessary medical tests can be carried out,” according to a news release issued in Islamabad.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AND BATTLESTAR GALACTICA HOST DISCUSSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND ARMED CONFLICT
The United Nations is co-hosting a discussion with the stars and creators of the television show Battlestar Galactica, exploring themes which are important to both – human rights, terrorism, children and armed conflict, and reconciliation between civilians and faiths.
“This event will show how skilful storytelling can elevate the profile of critical humanitarian issues,” said Kiyo Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary-General for Public Information. “Not only does it present an opportunity for creative discussion, but, more importantly, it offers a chance to deliver a message about the many harsh realities that still exist worldwide.”
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT DISCUSSES UN MEETING ON FINANCIAL CRISIS WITH WORLD LEADERS
The President of the General Assembly has just returned to New York from a three-week trip during which he spoke with some 20 world leaders about the upcoming high-level United Nations meeting on the global financial crisis and its impact on development.
Miguel D’Escoto said he briefed the leaders on the preparations for the meeting, to be held in early June, and stressed to them the importance of participating at the highest level.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UNICEF URGES ‘EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS’ FOR CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA CONFLICT ZONE
Deploring the mounting toll of children killed and injured in the zone of combat between Sri Lankan Government forces and Tamil rebels, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for “extraordinary efforts” to protect them.
In addition to the hundreds killed, thousands are now vulnerable to disease and malnutrition because of a critical lack of food, water and medicines in the conflict area, UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
GLOBAL CRISES, ENERGY, AFGHANISTAN TOP AGENDA AT UN-ORGANIZED CENTRAL ASIA FORUM
The impact of the global financial crisis, problems concerning water and energy supplies and developments in Afghanistan were high on the agenda at a United Nations-organized seminar that brought Central Asian nations together to address current challenges.
The meeting was organized by the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), established in 2007 to help the countries of the region – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – respond more proactively to cross-border challenges and threats, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and environmental degradation, before they become costlier and more difficult to control.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
WATER DESERVES HIGHER PRIORITY ON DEVELOPMENT AGENDA – UN OFFICIAL
Water must be given higher priority on the development agenda, a top United Nations official told a global gathering that opened in Istanbul, stressing that the problems the world faces with regard to this precious resource are enormous.
“Developing countries themselves need to increase investment in water, and systematically integrate water in poverty reduction strategies,” Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) told the opening of the 5th World Water Forum.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN TRIBUNAL HANDS DOWN 20-YEAR SENTENCE TO FORMER TOP BOSNIAN SERB OFFICIAL
The appeals chamber of the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up after the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s upheld earlier convictions of a former top Bosnian Serb official and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for deportations, forcible transfer and persecution of non-Serb civilians during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, the chamber dismissed other guilty verdicts for murder, extermination and persecution – with the exception of deportation and forcible transfer – against Momcilo Krajišnik.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AFGHAN PRESIDENT KICKS OFF UN-BACKED POLIO IMMUNIZATION DRIVE
President Hamid Karzai has kicked off a United Nations-backed polio vaccination drive targeting some 7.7 million children in Afghanistan, one of four countries, along with India, Nigeria and Pakistan, where the disease is still endemic.
By administering the vaccine to children at the presidential palace, Mr. Karzai launched the campaign, which is led by the Afghan Ministry of Health and supported by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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 |
