UN Gazeti
Thursday 25 March 2009
Issue No. 11
UN Observances
| 02 April 2009 |
World Autism Day |
| 04 April 2009 |
International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action |
| 07 April 2009 |
World Health Day |
UN IN AFRICA
JOINT UN AND SUDANESE ASSESSMENT OF DARFUR AID REVEALS CRITICAL GAPS
United Nations humanitarian officials commended the cooperation of Sudanese Government staff on an assessment of relief needs in war-torn Darfur, while they warned of high risks ahead following the ouster of crucial aid groups.
While a “significant effort” is being made by the Government, the UN and remaining aid groups to plug some of the immediate gaps, “these are band-aid solutions, if I can put it that way, not long-term solutions,” John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator told reporters in New York.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DR CONGO: UN ENVOY HAILS NEW PACT WITH REBELS IN STRIFE-TORN EAST
The top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has hailed an accord signed between the Government and a rebel group that was a key combatant in fierce fighting, which uprooted hundreds of thousands of people last year, in the country’s east.
“The population of the eastern DRC, above all women and children, have been for too long the victims of armed conflict, displacement and sexual violence,” Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said after taking part in the signing ceremony of a political and security agreement between the Government and the National Congress for People’s Defence (CNDP).
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
STEPS TO BOOST FOOD SECURITY SHOULD BENEFIT BENIN’S MOST VULNERABLE – UN EXPERT
An independent United Nations human rights expert has welcomed Benin’s efforts to boost food security, while stressing that they should not only increase production but also improve the lives of the country’s most vulnerable.
Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, focused his 11 to 20 March visit on the situation of three vulnerable groups: small farmers, the urban poor and detainees. Small farmers, the largest of the three in terms of size, deserved particular attention, according to a news release issued at the end of his visit.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
CENTRAL AFRICAN REFUGEES CONTINUE FLEEING INTO CHAD, UN REPORTS
More than 100 CAR refugees crossed the volatile border to south-eastern Chad over the weekend, joining over 6,800 others who began arriving earlier this year in two sites near the remote Daha village registered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Another 2,500 new arrivals are sheltering just across the border in the Chadian village of Massambaye, 125 kilometres east of Daha.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
VIOLENCE THWARTS REFUGEE RETURN TO SOUTHERN SUDAN – UN
The deteriorating security situation in some parts of Southern Sudan is preventing the return of refugees from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported.
Last week, coordinated violent protests organized by war veterans from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) – who have not been paid their benefits for five months – paralyzed some towns in the Central and Eastern Equatoria region and disrupted lives for several days.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
BAN WELCOMES RELEASE OF ONE OF THREE UN STAFF HELD IN NIGER
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the release of one United Nations staff member who was taken hostage in Niger late last year and reiterated his call for the freeing of two others, including an envoy to the country, Canadian Robert Fowler.
“The Secretary-General is pleased to know that Mr. Soumana Mounkaila, one of the three UN staff members who was abducted in Niger on 14 December 2008, has been released unharmed,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
DEFEATING PIRACY REQUIRES RESTORATION OF LAW IN SOMALIA, BAN SAYS
Despite the launch of “one of the largest anti-piracy flotillas in modern history,” the clan-organized taking of vessels off the coast of Somalia will only cease when order is restored to the Horn of Africa nation, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a report.
“There is a critical need to tackle the problem of piracy with a multifaceted approach” to ensure that the political process, the peacekeeping efforts of the African Union (AU) and the strengthening of institutions work in tandem, Mr. Ban wrote to the Security Council.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
UN AROUND THE WORLD
UN UNVEILS SPEEDIER TESTS IN POORER NATIONS FOR DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS
The inhabitants of developing nations will find out whether they have been infected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in two days, not the standard two to three months, thanks to two new United Nations-backed initiatives.
Currently, it is estimated that only 2 per cent of cases of MDR-TB – which does not respond to first-line drugs – are being properly diagnosed and treated, and 400,000 new cases are reported every year, according to the UN.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
HAITI: UN COUNCIL MISSION REPORTS STRIDES IN SECURITY, WORRISOME POVERTY
Haiti is making strides in security sector and judicial reform but continues to grapple with widespread poverty and vulnerability to disasters, the leader of a United Nations Security Council mission to the impoverished Caribbean nation said.
“It does appear that there is a window of opportunity to enable the consolidation of stability and the undertaking of a process of sustainable development,” said Ambassador Jorge Urbina of Costa Rica,” who had led the four-day fact-finding visit that concluded on 14 March.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
AHEAD OF INTERNATIONAL DAY, UN AGENCY URGES RELEASE OF DETAINED STAFFER IN PAKISTAN
On the eve of the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, the UN refugee agency is again appealing for the immediate release of John Solecki, who was abducted in Pakistan nearly eight weeks.
“The last we heard, John’s health was deteriorating and we are increasingly worried about his medical condition,” Ron Redmond, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva, the 50th day of captivity for the agency’s head of office in Quetta.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
COUNTRIES IN TURMOIL FUELLING RISE IN ASYLUM APPLICATIONS, FINDS UN REPORT
The number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries rose in 2008 for the second year in a row, partly due to an increase in applications by people from Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries experiencing turmoil or conflict, says a new United Nations report.
Released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the report contains provisional asylum statistics for 51 industrialized countries last year.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
TOP UN OFFICIAL MEETS WITH US LEADERS ON AFGHANISTAN
The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan is in Washington D.C. ahead of a key international meeting later this month which will assess the current political, security and development issues in the South Asian nation.
Kai Eide met with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Adviser James Jones, both of whom expressed their “full support” for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative and for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
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
UN INTERNATIONAL DAY HIGHLIGHTS LATEST CURRENTS IN THE ‘AIR WE BREATHE’
With an estimated two million people dying prematurely due to air pollution each year, the United Nations weather-monitoring agency is focusing on the movement of pollutants around the globe as it marks World Meteorological Day.
Under the theme of “Weather, climate and the air we breathe,” the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is using the day to draw attention to the work of its 188 members’ National Meteorological and Hydrological Services in air quality data, research and forecasts.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
IMPUNITY FOR RIGHTS ABUSES COULD DERAIL NEPAL'S PEACE PROCESS, WARNS UN OFFICIAL
The United Nations human rights chief warned that Nepal's peace process could be at risk unless justice is ensured for victims of past and ongoing abuses.
During her five-day visit to Nepal, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay met several families whose loved ones were victims of serious rights violations, both during and after the decade-long civil war that claimed some 13,000 lives before it ended in 2006.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE SITUATION OF IRAQI WOMEN AIM OF UN BAGHDAD FORUM
With the illiteracy rate among Iraqi women twice as high as that of men and women making up only 18 per cent of the country’s labour force, a United Nations conference that opened in Baghdad is seeking ways to improve the situation of women in the fledgling democracy.
According to information compiled by various UN agencies, some of the greatest disparities between women and men in Iraq are in the areas of literacy and labour force participation.
For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/news
EDUCATION MUST BE KEYSTONE OF CRISIS RECOVERY – UN ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT
The President of the United Nations General Assembly urged that children’s education be made central to the assistance given to communities devastated by violence and disaster, as he opened a dialogue on the topic in New York.
“Let us find ways to assure that we are feeding young minds, as well as bodies, creating safe havens for learners as well as their larger communities,” Miguel D’Escoto told the representatives of Member States, education experts and aid organizations gathered for the debate.
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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