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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
9 February, 2007
=========================================================================
FOR 'CONTINUITY WITH CHANGE,' BAN KI-MOON NAMES NEW TOP UN OFFICIALS,
RETAINS OTHERS
Acting on his pledge to achieve continuity with change, United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who took office on 1 January, today named
four new senior officials to his cabinet while retaining a dozen others.
Mr. Ban named a United States diplomat as chief political officer, a
Chinese veteran of international organizations to head economic and social
affairs, a Japanese international civil servant to manage public
information and an Egyptian diplomat to oversee General Assembly
management.
“In making these decisions, the Secretary-General has taken into account
various factors, among others the need to apply change with continuity,
ongoing discussions on restructuring plans and the need to promote mobility
at all levels,” the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, Vijay Nambiar,
told a press briefing in New York.
Responding to questions on the selections, Mr. Nambiar said the
Secretary-General “is conscious that he needs to take advantage and in a
sense leverage the experience that is there; he is also conscious of the
need to build new talent and experience.”
Shortly after assuming office on 1 January, Mr. Ban asked nearly all
assistant and under-secretaries-general to tender their resignations to
allow him “the flexibility he needs in forming his new team.”
B. Lynn Pascoe, currently US Ambassador to Indonesia, was appointed
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, succeeding Ibrahim Gambari,
a Nigerian. He has previously served as US Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs and US Special Negotiator for
Nagorno-Karabakh and Regional Conflicts.
He was US Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group seeking negotiated resolution to the conflict
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. He has also served as
Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Province of China, Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary in the East Asian and Pacific Bureau of the
State Department, and Deputy US Chief of Mission in Beijing.
In over three decades of his diplomatic career, he has held positions on
the Soviet and China desks, and has been posted to Moscow, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur and Bangkok, as well as to Beijing twice, Taipei and Kuala Lumpur.
He speaks mandarin Chinese.
Ambassador Sha Zukang, currently China’s Permanent Representative to the UN
Office at Geneva, was named Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social
Affairs in succession to José Antonio Ocampo of Colombia. Mr. Sha, who has
wide experience on disarmament issues, is also well-versed in economic and
social development.
Over his 37 years of a diplomatic career, his portfolios covered a wide
range of fields including security, economy, social affairs, human rights
and humanitarian affairs. In recent years, he served respectively as the
Chairperson of the Government Group of the Governing Body of the UN
International Labour Organization (ILO), President of the UN Trade and
Development Board, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee and the Committee
of the Whole of UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
He was also elected or appointed as president, vice-president, chairman,
coordinator and expert in many international conferences in the field of
trade, intellectual property, social affairs and telecommunications.
Kiyotaka Akasaka of Japan, currently Deputy Secretary-General of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), becomes
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information,
succeeding Shashi Tharoor of India. He has been closely involved throughout
his career with the work of multilateral organizations.
Mr. Akasaka was Deputy Director-General in the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s
Multilateral Cooperation Department from 1997 to 2000, participating as one
of his country’s top negotiators in the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change
and various other international conferences. Between 2000 and 2001 he was
Japan’s UN Ambassador.
He has also held posts at the Secretariat of the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), precursor of the UN World Trade Organisation
(WTO), and at the UN World Health Organization (WHO). He has held a number
of positions in the field of communications and public relations, serving
in the Japanese Foreign Ministry as Deputy Director of the Press Division
and spokesman on climate change. He has also been deeply involved in OECD
public information activities.
Muhammad Shaaban of Egypt, currently National Coordinator for Reform
Initiatives in the Middle East, was named Under-Secretary-General for
General Assembly and Conference Management, succeeding Jian Chen of China.
No stranger to the UN and multilateral diplomacy, Mr. Shaaban has served as
Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs and was National
Coordinator for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the Mediterranean Forum
and the OSCE. He also served as Assistant Minister for Information,
Research and Assessment and National Coordinator for Information, Research
and Assessment.
Between 1984 and 1988, he was Egypt’s representative to the UN Second
Committee dealing with economic and financial affairs, the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Among those who Mr. Ban retained from the former administration of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan were Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs
Nicolas Michel, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security David
Veness and Under-Secretary-General at the UN Office for Internal Oversight
Services (OIOS) Inga-Britt Ahlenius.
* * *
QUARTET HOPES CALM WILL PREVAIL WITH PALESTINIAN NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
– UN
Reacting to the agreement to form a Palestinian national unity Government,
the diplomatic Quartet – made up of the United Nations, Russian Federation,
United States and European Union – today voiced hope that it would serve to
foster calm in the region.
In a statement released at UN Headquarters in New York following telephone
talks, the grouping welcomed the role Saudi Arabia played in reaching the
agreement. “The Quartet expressed hope that the desired calm would
prevail.”
While awaiting its formation, the Quartet reaffirmed previous pledges of
support for a Palestinian government committed to non-violence, recognition
of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including
the Road map , an outline plan that envisages two States – Israel and
Palestine – living side by side in peace and security.
“Quartet members will meet February 21 in Berlin to continue their
consideration of these developments, and to review formation and
implementation of the agreement on the government,” according to the
statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, High Representative
for European Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and European Commissioner for External
Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
The statement also welcomed a planned meeting between Ms. Rice, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian National Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, set to take place on 19 February.
Last night Mr. Ban called the agreement on a national unity government a
“very important step forward,” voicing the hope that it “will curb the
violence, creating a better future for the Palestinian people.” He also
praised King Abdullah for his role in helping to bring it about.
* * *
IVORIANS HAVE ‘HISTORIC CHANCE’ TO RESOLVE DIFFERENCES, SAYS OUTGOING UN
ENVOY
The people of Côte d’Ivoire now have “an historic chance” of ending the
long stalemate in its peace process, the outgoing United Nations envoy to
the divided country said today.
Pierre Schori, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, told
journalists that the current dialogue being organized by the African Union
(AU) and mediated by Blaise Compaore, President of neighbouring Burkina
Faso, offered the Ivorian Government and the rebel Forces Nouvelles an
opportunity to resolve their differences.
“Don’t blow it this time,” Mr. Schori said, pointing out that the peace
process is Côte d’Ivoire is “still at square one” despite 22 resolutions
and 20 presidential statements on the subject from the Security Council in
the past four years.
Mr. Schori, who is ending a two-year stint as Special Representative and
head of the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), briefed the Security
Council today on the latest efforts to find peace in a country that has
been divided between the Government-controlled south and the rebel-held
north since 2002.
Commending Mr. Schori on his work, the Council later issued a presidential
statement welcoming recent pledges by President Laurent Gbagbo and Forces
Nouvelles Secretary-General Guillaume Soro to participate in the talks with
Mr. Compaore, which it stressed must take place within the framework of
earlier Council resolutions.
Last month in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a one-day summit to try to
find ways to revive the peace process.
National elections originally scheduled for last October had to be
postponed for a year because of the tensions, which have been exacerbated
by partisan media outlets. One of the key disputes has been over the
identification of citizens, which will help determine voter lists.
Today’s Council statement, read out Ambassador Peter Burian of Slovakia,
which holds the rotating presidency this month, said that “neutral and
impartial official media” as well as the disarmament of armed groups and a
programme of citizen identification “are necessary to create the conditions
for the organization of free, fair and credible elections” by 31 October
this year.
Mr. Schori said an estimated 3 to 4 million people who live or work in Côte
d’Ivoire have been artificially excluded from access to some forms of
political life because of a lack of identification papers.
Reflecting on his term in Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Schori said that while it had
been rewarding, he had also felt frustrated by some elements of the UN and
the mission itself, such as the presence of an “old-boys network,” a lack
of awareness about gender issues and an excessive reliance on hierarchical
structures.
He found “some lack of sense of urgency and crisis awareness. This is a
mission under Chapter VII [of the UN Charter], dealing with peace and
security, life and death. Then you can also work on Saturday mornings, for
instance. That was not appreciated by all,” he said.
Mr. Schori added that it was “a difficult but a noble cause to be sent out
to work for peace and development and democracy, and it’s not like in
ordinary jobs.”
* * *
POULTRY TRADE, NOT WILD BIRDS, NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREAD OF AVIAN FLU – UN
EXPERT
Avian influenza, last season transmitted by migrating wild birds, is now
being spread through the poultry trade, the top United Nations expert on
the issue said today, warning that despite some successful efforts of
States to contain the virus, no one can afford to be complacent as it could
potentially mutate into a human pandemic.
“I’m generally and personally very happy with the way in which countries
have organized themselves to try to respond to these challenges,” David
Nabarro, Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human
Influenza, told reporters at a briefing at UN Headquarters.
However, he cautioned, “We have to not only maintain focus on the
challenges of avian influenza, but we must get more pandemic ready.”
Since late last year, outbreaks of avian flu have been confirmed in ten
countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, China, Japan, Egypt,
Nigeria, Hungary and the United Kingdom. There has been a report, as yet
unconfirmed, of an occurrence in Turkey, and there have been no confirmed
outbreaks in North and South America. Dr. Nabarro said that he forecasts
that more outbreaks are to come, yet currently, it is not possible to
predict their geographic distribution.
This season’s wave of avian flu, unlike that of last season, is largely
believed to be passed on through the poultry trade as opposed to migration
of contaminated wild birds. Other methods of transmission of H5N1 include
water and soil contamination as well as handling of infected poultry.
Since 2003, there have been 272 confirmed cases of the H5N1 virus in
humans, with 166 deaths according to the UN World Health Organization
(WHO). UN agencies are continually concerned that the virus could mutate
and be transmitted readily between people, causing a global pandemic.
Dr. Nabarro said that necessary measures to be taken against the virus
include high-level political government commitment, fortified veterinary
and human health services, robust compensation and rehabilitation schemes,
private sector and civil society involvement and effective messages
conveyed to the general public about the flu.
In some instances, mass culling, or extermination, of infected birds will
be necessary to prevent a further spread of the virus. Already more than
200 million birds have died worldwide from either the virus or preventive
culling in the current outbreak.
One of the greatest concerns, according to Dr. Nabarro, is that “in an
effort to control the avian virus in countries that are very heavily
affected, mass culling of birds, particularly among poorer people, can have
really dramatic social, economic and nutritional consequences.”
To stave off such outcomes, funds are necessary for both compensation, to
reimburse poultry farmers and laborers, and rehabilitation, to allow people
to restart their businesses. The World Bank has a fund which distributes
grants, of which Nigeria has already been a recipient. In emergencies, the
UN has a central account which can dispense money quickly.
* * *
INEQUALITY RISING DESPITE PROMISES OF GLOBALIZATION, UN EXPERT SAYS
Much of the world has seen “a significant and disturbing increase of
inequality” in the last two decades, contradicting predictions that
globalization and liberalization would foster more equal opportunities, a
senior United Nations economist said today.
“The evidence is quite clear,” Assistant Secretary-General for Economic
Development Jomo Kwame Sundaram said at a press briefing at the world
body’s Headquarters in New York. “Inequality has grown at two levels:
between countries and within most countries – with the notable exceptions
of Northern Europe and some Middle Eastern and North African countries.”
The increase of inequality across the world “is very contradictory to the
proponents of the ‘flat world idea,’” he said. “They basically argue that,
as a consequence of globalization and economic liberalization, the result
will be a much more equitable world with equal opportunities, and
unfortunately the contrary has been the case.”
This surge of inequality had very important implications for efforts to
reduce poverty, Mr. Sundaram said. Much of the world had experienced slower
economic growth in the last three decades, and with increasing inequality
it was not surprising there had not been a significant decrease in the
hundreds of millions of people who are poor.
The remedy was to try and create full, productive and decent employment, he
said. “There is no real way we can reduce poverty except by creating jobs,
and this is something we need to recognize.” Despite the improved economic
growth in the last five years, there had been a worldwide decline in the
number of jobs and an increase in unemployment and underemployment.
Inequality should be moved at the top of the development agenda, he said,
and the focus should remain on the close interrelationship between
inequality, poverty and unemployment.
Mr. Sundaram was presenting the new book Flat World, Big Gaps, which he
co-edited with social development expert Jacques Baudot, who was also
present at the briefing.
“The book tries to restore the linkage between the reduction of inequality
and reduction of poverty,” Mr. Baudot said. “It shows that the question of
economic growth is not simply a matter of increasing the aggregate of
income, but is a matter of the kind of growth, the composition of it and
whom it has benefited.”
* * *
DARFUR: UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL’S HIGH-LEVEL MISSION TO START TRIP TOMORROW
The United Nations Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission to Darfur
heads to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, tomorrow for meetings with
African Union (AU) officials, the first leg of a two-week trip to evaluate
the situation in the war-ravaged region of Sudan.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva on the eve of departure, mission leader
Jody Williams stressed that the five-member team wanted to come up with
“recommendations that we hope are implementable [and] not just grand
thoughts” after the visit.
“I hope that our mission will be able to make some recommendations… that
the [Human Rights] Council can use to proceed,” she said.
The high-level mission has been tasked with assessing human rights in
Darfur, which has witnessed countless instances of abuses, among them mass
rape, abduction and forced relocation, since fighting broke out between
Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups in 2003.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others displaced
from their homes, and an estimated 4 million people now depend on aid to
survive. Last month Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the situation “the
largest humanitarian crisis in the world.”
After meeting AU officials in Addis Ababa, the mission is scheduled to head
to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for talks with Government officials and
others, before proceeding on to Darfur itself.
Council President Luis Alfonso de Alba last month appointed Ms. Williams,
winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her campaigning against landmines,
to lead the mission.
Its other members are: Mart Nutt, an Estonian parliamentarian and member of
the Council of Europe’s European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance;
Bertrand Ramcharan, the former Acting and Deputy UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights; Patrice Tonda, Gabon’s Permanent Representative to the
International Organizations in Geneva; and Indonesian Ambassador Marakim
Wibisono, President of the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights.
The members will serve in their personal capacity.
The human rights assessment mission will follow a five-day visit to West
and South Darfur by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) senior
official Judy Cheng-Hopkins to review the agency’s operations and determine
way to better help the vast population of internally displaced persons
(IDPs).
Ms. Cheng-Hopkins, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations,
wraps up her visit tomorrow after talks with Government officials, AU
peacekeepers, UN staff and representatives of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).
UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis said leaders of the IDP camps told Ms.
Cheng-Hopkins that they urgently need water supplies, latrines and better
access to schools for children.
Ms. Pagonis said UNHCR’s efforts to assist IDPs are being restricted
because of the volatile security situation, with a rising number of attacks
against humanitarian workers, including the hijacking of vehicles.
* * *
UN OFFERS UP TO $2 MILLION FROM EMERGENCY FUND FOR INDONESIA FLOOD RELIEF
The top United Nations humanitarian official today released up to $2
million from the world body’s emergency fund to help Indonesia’s Government
deal with the deadly floods that have already killed at least 50 people and
displaced half a million others in the capital Jakarta and surrounding
areas.
Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Margareta Wahlström decided to make the
money available from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to boost
international assistance to Indonesia, where the Government says there is
still immediate need for food, clothes, blankets, medicines and other
essentials.
“The timely availability of CERF support greatly facilitates the United
Nations current humanitarian response in the Jakarta area,” said Bo
Asplund, the world body’s Humanitarian Coordinator for Indonesia. “These
funds will help significantly boost the provision of immediate and ongoing
assistance to Indonesia by the international community.”
At least 512,000 people have been displaced by the flooding, according to
the latest figures released by the National Coordination Board for Disaster
Management, and at least 50 others are confirmed dead. In total, more than
half of the sub-districts in Jakarta province continue to be affected by
the floods, and heavy rains are still expected in Greater Jakarta and in
the Cianjur Districts.
UN agencies, along with many countries and international non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), continue to provide humanitarian assistance and the
Government has asked the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) to serve as the main focal point with the international
community.
The World Health Organization (WHO), through the Indonesian Ministry of
Health, has provided emergency kits and rubber boats to assist temporary
health posts, while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has
provided $25,000 to the Government. The World Food Programme (WFP) has also
provided emergency rations.
Supplies valued at more than $150,000 have been provided by the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), while the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has
allocated $96,000 for hygiene kits that will be distributed through the
Health Department’s Crisis Management Centre.
Although the Government is encouraging displaced people to move into one of
the six temporary shelters that are equipped with health posts, public
kitchens and sanitation facilities, many of the displaced prefer to stay in
alternative shelters close to their homes, to ensure the security of their
possessions, OCHA said. The Government is providing food and non-food
assistance to those in need.
* * *
LAKESIDE TOWNS IN EAST AFRICA TO BENEFIT FROM UN SCHEME ON WATER,
SANITATION
The United Nations agency tasked with promoting socially and
environmentally sustainable housing has launched a joint project with
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to improve the water and sanitation facilities
of six towns around Lake Victoria.
The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) project, which is being
funded by the Netherlands, is designed to help achieve the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) that calls for a halving by 2015 of the number of
people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Work on the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative has already begun
in four of the towns and construction contracts have been signed for the
remaining two.
The work will include building public water kiosks and establishing
sanitation facilities for local schools. Existing infrastructure,
especially pumps, pipes, water storage tanks and treatment works, will be
repaired or rehabilitated. Training and capacity-building will be the focus
of the project’s second phase.
The six towns involved are Homa Bay and Kisii in Kenya, Muleba and Bukoba
in Tanzania, and Masaka and Kyotera in Uganda.
* * *
UN DEVELOPMENT AND LABOUR AGENCIES JOIN FORCES TO PROMOTE GROWTH FOR JOBS
Despite a time of unprecedented prosperity, the world is also suffering
“exploding inequalities,” the heads of the United Nations development and
labour agencies warned today, as they signed a joint agreement
strengthening collaboration to fight poverty and create more decent work.
UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Kemal Dervis and
International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavia
gathered in Geneva to sign the agreement, which is aimed at promoting
economic growth with social development to benefit the bottom 20 to 40 per
cent of the population.
“We urgently need much more inclusive growth,” the joint letter signed by
the two agency chiefs said. “Although we live at a time of unprecedented
prosperity, it is also one of exploding inequalities that hamper poverty
reduction. Alongside democratic participation, we need economic
empowerment, which means decent work for all.”
The agreement is a direct follow-up to last year’s UN Economic and Social
Council Ministerial Declaration on decent work and full employment, and it
will also bolster the world body’s efforts to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), a set of targets that aim to deal with a host of
social ills – including eradicating extreme poverty – by 2015.
The two agencies have already identified a number of countries that offer
the greatest opportunities for combined support from UNDP and the ILO to
work together towards making decent work a central element in UN country
programmes. The agreement is open to other UN agencies and funds and
programmes and will contribute to ongoing UN reform efforts.
* * *
WORLD CEREAL PRODUCTION OUTLOOK POSITIVE FOR 2007, SAYS UN AGRICULTURAL
AGENCY
The overall prospects for global cereal production this year are favourable
but civil conflicts, bad weather and localized crop losses mean some
countries will still face food crises, according to the latest forecast by
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), released today.
The overall prospects for global cereal production this year are favourable
but civil conflicts, bad weather and localized crop losses mean some
countries will still face food crises, according to the latest forecast by
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), released today.
The FAO report anticipates that “generally satisfactory” weather conditions
and expanded plantings across Europe and North America will drive solid
production levels during 2007.
Last year cereal output worldwide reached almost 2 billion tons, 2.7 per
cent lower than the previous year, but still considered above average,
thanks in part to significantly increased production in States classed as
low-income food-deficit countries.
In those countries in Africa, cereal imports – including food aid – are
expected to decline by as much as 10 per cent in 2006-07, according to the
report, Crop Prospects and Food Situation.
But it stresses that at least 34 countries around the world remain
extremely vulnerable to food crises. In eastern Africa, the combination of
floods, an outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF), localized drought and
conflict poses problems.
Civil conflicts – either recent or ongoing – are jeopardizing food security
in Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Zimbabwe, Angola,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, Mauritania and Niger
are also under threat because of economic or political strife or poor
recent harvests.
Elsewhere, the sharp reduction of food aid to the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK) means the food supply to millions of people there
has been placed at risk; political instability and abnormally heavy monsoon
rains are causing difficulties for Sri Lanka; and assistance is still
required in Haiti because of insecurity and economic problems.
* * *
SOMALIA: UN ENVOY CALLS FOR INCREASED DIALOGUE AMONG WARRING PARTIES
The top United Nations envoy for Somalia met today with key officials to
discuss how to promote enduring peace and development in the war-ravaged
country, which has not had a functioning government since the toppling of
Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime in 1991.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, ***
Lonsény Fall, represented the world body at the meeting of the
International Contact Group – a set of countries and organizations
including the UN – which took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the
southeastern African coast.
According to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson, the meeting’s
participants, including representatives from the African Union (AU), the
European Union and the League of Arab States, discussed the need for
reconciliation through an inclusive dialogue between the Somali parties,
the proposed deployment of an AU peace support mission and international
development assistance to the country.
Late last year, the transitional Government, backed by Ethiopian troops,
dislodged Islamist forces from much of Somalia. The Council then authorized
the deployment of a peace support mission to Somalia, to be run by the
African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an
east African grouping.
Due to years to warfare and recurring droughts, there are currently almost
half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia.
* * *
IN SYRIA, IRAQI REFUGEES GREET UN OFFICIAL SPOTLIGHTING THEIR PLIGHT
The head of the United Nations refugee agency was greeted by hundreds of
Iraqis refugees eager to share their stories of hardship during his visit
to Syria, host to almost half of the 2 million who have fled the violence
in Iraq, where he is continuing an official regional tour aimed at
spotlighting their plight.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres visited a
Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) basement clinic in the Sayyida Zainab
district of Damascus, where tens of thousands of Iraqis who have escaped
their homeland currently reside.
Praising the “excellent work” of the SARC, Mr. Guterres said, “We are going
to increase the level of cooperation to make sure that more people are
effectively assisted.”
Lifting his shirt and pant leg, one refugee showed the High Commissioner
scars from wounds he claimed to have received by the militia. “I can’t go
back to Iraq,” he said. “I’m sick with fear and my wounds.”
Another refugee shared her fears, saying, “My home was burned down and my
husband murdered by the militias in front of our children. My eldest son
couldn’t bear seeing his father killed and is now severely traumatized. I
can’t go back to Iraq. Everyone is after us.”
Mr. Guterres is in Syria on the last leg of his weeklong Gulf region tour
to draw the world’s attention to the plight of Iraqis displaced by
violence, and to call for broader world support for Iraq’s neighbours –
including Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey – to ease the
humanitarian burden being placed on these countries sheltering refugees.
UNHCR estimates that in Iraq, there are 1.8 million internally displaced
persons (IDPs) out of a total population of 26 million, with this number
potentially swelling to 2.3 to 2.7 million by the end of the year. An
additional 2 million refugees reside outside the country’s borders in the
largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since Palestinians
fled after the creation of Israel in 1948.
In Syria, the High Commissioner met with several Syrian officials,
including Vice President Farouk Shara, Interior Minister Bassam Abdelmajied
and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Faisal Mikdad, and thanked Syria for
its support of displaced Iraqis.
“Syria and Jordan in particular have been extremely generous to Iraqis and
the international community needs to do its share now as well,” he said of
the countries hosting refugees despite a tremendous strain on their social
services and infrastructure systems.
Last month, UNHCR launched a $60 million appeal to allow the agency to
continue providing humanitarian assistance in Iraq, where one in six have
been forced to flee their homes, and surrounding areas.
In a related development, UNHCR voiced concern at the growing number of
Palestinians within Iraq, who face mounting intimidation and violence,
stranded in Al Waleed on the Iraq-Syria border. More than 750 Palestinians,
with 73 arriving over the past two days, who have fled Baghdad are maroonedin either a no-man’s land or on the Iraqi side due to Syria’s refusal to
allow them in. Despite delivery of food and relief items by UNHCR and the
International Committee of the Red Cross, some resources have been
stretched to the limit, as an abandoned school accommodating refugees is
already full, with any new arrivals being forced to live in tents.
For the past few months, UNHCR has issued numerous appeals for assistance
for the Palestinians who fled to Iraq following Israel’s creation in 1948.
Some received preferential treatment under ousted President Saddam Hussein,
but they have become targets for attack since his overthrow in 2003. Nearly
20,000 of them have already fled Iraq, but an estimated 15,000 still remain
in the country, mostly in Baghdad.
According to UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis in Geneva, in recent
weeks, “the Iraqi authorities have become increasingly uneasy with the
growing numbers at the border and would like to see alternative solutions.
There are signs they may force the group to leave the border area but
currently there is no safe alternative for these refugees.”
* * *
FRESH ATTACKS FORCE HUNDREDS OF CENTRAL AFRICANS TO FLEE INTO CHAD – UN
AGENCY
A new and particularly brutal round of attacks on villages in the north of
the Central African Republic (CAR) has driven hundreds of people into
neighbouring Chad over the past month, the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today.
Some 400 refugees arrived in Bekoninga, a southern Chadian village, late
last month, and an estimated 200 others are expected to cross the border
soon, according to Jennifer Pagonis, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Geneva.
The latest arrivals – mostly women and children and a mix of ethnic Peuls
and Arabs – join about 46,000 refugees from the CAR living in four
UNHCR-operated camps in southern Chad. About 300 have already been
transferred to one of the camps.
Ms. Pagonis said the refugees told UNHCR staff that armed rebels, sometimes
in groups as large as 100, tortured and executed locals, raped women, took
children for ransom and then burned the villages.
The towns attacked since mid-January include Paoua and Herba, located in
the Bozomom commune about 300 kilometres northwest of Bangui, the capital
of the CAR. The villages of Betoko, Bemal and Pougol were also hit by
anti-government forces.
Last month, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator to the CAR Toby Lanzer warned
that the country was experiencing violence “unlike that previously seen,”
with wave after wave of attacks on villages in the northwest and northeast,
widespread gender-based violence and distressingly high rates of maternal
mortality.
The Security Council has asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to submit his
recommendations by the middle of this month on the possibility and scope of
a UN presence in eastern Chad and northern CAR to help the two impoverished
nations deal with the increasingly frequent rebel attacks.
* * *
THREE UN AGENCIES JOIN FORCES TO IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN UGANDA
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP)
and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have announced plans to
conduct a three-year joint programme in north-eastern Uganda to combat food
insecurity and improve residents’ nutrition.
In an agreement signed yesterday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the three
UN agencies formalized their partnership to provide help in three districts
in the northeast: Abim, Kaberamaido and Kotido.
The project – funded by UNICEF and Belgium and expected to cost $6.1
million – will include preventative health activities for families,
awareness-raising exercises on nutrition and efforts to increase family
income and access to food.
UNICEF’s representative in Uganda, Keith McKenzie, said the combination of
joint resources, expertise and commitment would be one of the greatest
benefits of the project.
“We are encouraged by such a unity of purpose being brought to bear to some
of the most marginalized and disadvantaged communities in Uganda, and
remain committed to enabling these families to secure their own nutrition
needs, particularly in the face of harsh, cyclic climactic conditions,” he
said.
WFP representative Tesema Negash stressed the importance of promoting
self-sufficiency in the country’s northeast, where the people “have lagged
behind too long.”
FAO representative Percy Misika said his organization would draw from its
experience in carrying out community-based programmes in helping farmers.
The northeast has been plagued by insecurity since the long-running civil
war between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
began in the mid-1980s. The area is also troubled by the proliferation of
illegal firearms, widespread cattle rustling, looting and ambushes.
Late last year a Government disarmament campaign led to the deaths of at
least 55 civilians and prompted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Louise Arbour to urge Kampala to review its strategy.
* * *
HAITI: UN PEACEKEEPERS LAUNCH LARGE-SCALE OPERATION AGAINST CRIMINAL GANGS
United Nations peacekeeping soldiers in Haiti launched an early morning
operation today in Port-au-Prince, the capital, to establish the strongest
security presence ever in the Boston area in the continuing battle against
criminal gangs.
“There will be no tolerance for the kidnappings, harassment and terror
carried out by criminal gangs,” UN Military Force Commander Maj. Gen.
Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Cruz said after over 700 UN soldiers from seven
countries launched Operation Jauru Sudamericana, forming a secure perimeter
around the Boston area to restrict gang movement.
The soldiers then systematically began to control key points, including a
building gang members used as to hold kidnap victims and for other criminal
activities. “I will continue to cleanse these areas of the gangs who are
robbing the people of their security,” Maj. Gen. Dos Santos Cruz added.
The presence of UN peacekeepers will be the starting point for
humanitarian, human rights and Haitian police activities aimed at
stabilizing and rebuilding the area.
Maj. Gen. Dos Santos Cruz recently announced he would intensify efforts
against criminal gangs in the capital city. To help carry out this mission,
an additional battalion of soldiers from Nepal will be used to conduct
manoeuvres in the Cite Soleil area, notorious for its high crime rate. “Our
aim is to provide a safe and secure environment where people can live
without fear,” the general said.
The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), set up in 2004 to help
re-establish peace in the impoverished Caribbean country after insurgency
forced then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile, has reported
that armed criminal gangs are forcing children to take part in their
operations, often under threat of killing them, and using them as human
shields in confrontations with the police.
“These children are being forced to become criminals,” the head of
MINUSTAH’s child protection unit, Massimo Toschi, told a news conference
yesterday. He presented a video, entitled ‘The lost children of Cité
Soleil,’ with the testimony of one of these youngsters from the
Port-au-Prince slum notorious for its high crime rate.
Preventive measures should include promoting the fight against poverty,
strengthening families, enabling these children to go to school and
reinforcing the capabilities of the Haitian police child protection
brigade, MINUSTAH child protection officer Carline Allen said.
Lack of funding is also a serious concern. Haiti’s Social Welfare
Institute, entrusting with caring for vulnerable children, had a budget of
less than $450,000 last year, of which all but some $35,000 went on staff
salaries. “It is easy to understand that no shelter, no project can be
undertaken this institute,” Ms. Allen said.
* * *
UN FOOD AGENCY TO EXTEND OPERATIONS IN NEPAL IN RESPONSE TO ONGOING DROUGHT
The United Nations food agency in Nepal will extend its aid operations to
three drought-affected districts of the eastern Terai – an area seized with
political violence over the last month – while continuing assistance until
the end of June to drought victims in the mid- and far-western regions,
efforts that will directly benefit around 400,000 people.
The move follows a request for additional support from the Government based
on findings from a recently completed crop and food supply assessment
mission, supported by the UN World Food Progame (WFP) and the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO). These extended operations will double the
number of people reached in the first phase of assistance, as the report
warns of nearly 190,000 metric tonnes of food grain shortages.
Since June last year, WFP has provided emergency aid to nearly 200,000
drought-affected people in eight districts in mid- and far-western Nepal,
the first emergency operation of its kind in the agency’s 40-year history
of working in the Himalayan country. Many of these recipients lived in
extremely isolated and remote areas.
“During the first phase of the operation, the pilots and our NGO
(non-governmental organization) partners did a heroic job overcoming major
obstacles such as bad weather, transportation strikes and extremely remote
and mountainous terrain to get the food out,” said Richard Ragan, WFP
Representative in Nepal.
“We learned a great deal about how to operate in such a difficult
environment and are now much better prepared to start the second-phase of
food aid relief for drought-affected families in the mid- and far-west at
the end of the month.” Communities in Saptari, Siraha, and Udayapur
districts within the Terai will also receive WFP food aid.
Last month, WFP appealed to all parties in the Terai region to allow safe
passage for food convoys, warning that transport strikes and violence have
severely disrupted aid deliveries and threaten the health of hundreds of
thousands of people, including children.
In Nepal, nearly 1.5 million people receive WFP food assistance to support
their basic food needs. The agency’s programmes include supplemental
nutritional support to 64,000 breastfeeding women and their young children,
hot mid-day meals to 450,000 school going children, vegetable ghee rations
for girls’ families, daily rations to over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees, and
supplemental rice rations through food-for-work programmes to over 800,000
people facing food shortages.
* * *
OVER 300,000 SERBIAN CHILDREN LIVE IN OR AT RISK OF POVERTY, UNICEF REPORTS
There are still over 300,000 children in Serbia who are living in poverty
or are at risk of poverty despite important steps that have been taken to
improve the situation since the late 1990s, according to a new United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report.
“The future of Serbia depends on a healthy and educated generation, which
requires inclusive policies that target specifically the poor and excluded
children and a better use of resources,” UNICEF Serbia Representative
Ann-Lis Svensson said.
The State of Children in Serbia 2006 Report – Poor and Excluded Children,
produced jointly by the Republic Statistical Office in Serbia, the Council
for Child Rights of the Republic of Serbia and UNICEF Belgrade Office,
finds that over 155,000 children are poor and an additional 155,000 are at
risk of falling below the poverty line.
These are the children who due to material, social and cultural deprivation
are limited in the realization of their rights to education, healthcare,
equal development and protection. Analysis of data from rural and urban
areas, from households of different sizes and structures reveal significant
disparities within the country.
The largest percentage of children who are above the average risk of
poverty are those from large families, those living in rural areas,
especially Southeast and Western Serbia, children belonging to certain
minority groups, particularly Roma, and internally displaced and refugee
children.
These youngsters are growing up beyond the reach of development and are
often invisible in everything from public debate and laws, to statistics
and news stories.
Over 80 per cent of Roma children living in Roma settlements are poor and
practically all indicators point to their unacceptable deprivation and
multidimensional discrimination, UNICEF said. They more often suffer from
illness and stunting as a result of malnutrition and hunger, with four
times as many Roma children stunted compared to the national average.
Surveys indicate that infant and under five mortality rates are three times
higher among Roma children than in the general population. These children
have to take on adult roles due to lack of government assistance, often
live in slums or cardboard and tin houses and have little access to
services. Overall, only 33 per cent of children attend pre-school
institutions, but this is drastically lower among Roma children – only 4
per cent.
Six per cent of children living under the poverty line do not go to primary
school and only 13 per cent of Roma children complete primary school. One
of the most often cited reasons for non-attendance is poverty. And yet,
education is a key area for breaking the inter-generational cycle of
poverty and exclusion.
Children with disabilities are not only excluded from the healthcare and
educational system, but are also exposed to isolation and non acceptance by
the community.
The report also notes that corporal punishment of children is still present
in both the family and in schools, and that other forms of violence are
also frequent. Interfering in inter-family relationships is still
considered unacceptable, and it seems that there is still insufficient
public condemnation of ‘disciplining’ children. A significant number of
children are exposed to violence from peers, and also to violent behaviour
from teachers.
* * *
UNESCO OFFERS HELP TO RESTORE BURNED DOWN WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN CHILE
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) today offered Chile assistance in repairing damage
caused by the fire that destroyed part of the historical centre of the port
city of Valparaiso last week, killing several people.
“We are in touch with the authorities and will do all we can to help them
preserve this outstanding landmark,” UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro
Matsuura said in a statement, noting that Valparaiso was inscribed on the
agency’s World Heritage List in 2003.
“I remember the city as a place of great beauty, bearing rich testimony to
the region’s cultural, economic and social history,” he added, referring to
his visit there at the time.
A mission of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will visit the city in early
March to discuss restoration plans with the local authorities. The fire is
reported to have been caused by a gas explosion in the historic centre of
the colonial city, Chile’s main sea port.
A remarkable late 19th century building, the Edificio Subercaseaux, a
timber and brick construction in the Neo Classical style, was burned to the
ground, and several other buildings are reported to have collapsed or to
have been severely damaged.
* * *
FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN FIGHTING HIV/AIDS – UN STUDY
Faith-based organizations play a major role in HIV/AIDS care and treatment
in sub-Saharan Africa and greater collaboration between them and public
health agencies is needed if progress is to be made towards the goal of
universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010,
according to a new United Nations study.
“Faith-based organizations (FBOs) are a vital part of civil society,” UN
World Health Organization (WHO) Department of HIV/AIDS Director Kevin De
Cock said. “Since they provide a substantial portion of care in developing
countries, often reaching vulnerable populations living under adverse
conditions, FBOs must be recognized as essential contributors towards
universal access efforts.”
According to the report – Appreciating assets: mapping, understanding,
translating and engaging religious health assets in Zambia and Lesotho ¬–
FBOs play a much greater role in HIV/AIDS care and treatment in sub-Saharan
Africa than previously recognized.
The report, released by WHO yesterday at the National Cathedral in
Washington DC, concludes that greater coordination and better communication
are urgently needed between organizations of different faiths and the
private and public health sectors.
It estimates that between 30 and 70 per cent of the health infrastructure
in Africa is currently owned by faith-based organizations, yet there is
often little cooperation between them and mainstream public health
programmes.
The study focused on Lesotho and Zambia, which had HIV prevalence rates of
23.2 and 17 per cent respectively in 2005. It found that Christian
hospitals and health centres are providing about 40 per cent of HIV care
and treatment services in Lesotho and almost a third in Zambia.
The pilot study was undertaken by partners in the African Religious Health
Assets Programme (ARHAP) at the Universities of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal,
and Witwatersrand in South Africa, and researchers from the Rollins School
of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, United States.
It argues that health, religion and cultural norms and values define the
health-seeking strategies of many Africans and the failure of health policy
makers to understand the overarching influence of religion, and the
important role of FBOs in HIV treatment and care, could seriously undermine
efforts to scale up health services.
“WHO has done a great service in quantifying the role of the faith
community in providing HIV/AIDS care and treatment in sub-Saharan Africa,”
the Reverend Canon John L. Peterson, Director of the Center for Global
Justice and Reconciliation at Washington Cathedral said.
“Pastors, imams, and volunteers who minister to those who are suffering
from deadly diseases are fully aware of their constituents’ needs, and have
responded with care on the front lines. This report provides great
encouragement to the faith community to continue to expand its role and to
work in close partnership with governments and NGOs (non-governmental
organizations),” he added.
The report calls for greater dialogue and action between religious and
public health leaders in expanding community workshops to engage more FBOs
in community health work; extending health mapping to identify FBOs that
could help in scaling up services; and further collaborative research.
“We have only scratched the surface of what is happening and it is already
clear that there is so much more to learn,” WHO Department of HIV/AIDS
Partnerships Officer Ted Karpf said. “Donors and health-care funders need
to take the role of FBOs into account. Without the FBOs, the hope of
universal access to prevention, treatment and care is lost.”
* * *
UN REFUGEE AGENCY CALLS FOR 400 PEOPLE ADRIFT OFF WEST AFRICA TO BE ALLOWED
TO DISEMBARK
The United Nations refugee agency is seriously concerned about the
situation of some 400 people of various nationalities on a ship drifting
off the West African coast, who have not been allowed to disembark for
several days.
“At this point in time, the main priority should be to help these people
and not let them drift on the high seas in precarious conditions,” UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Director for Protection George Okoth-Obbo
said. “UNHCR urges on humanitarian grounds that people on board this ship
be allowed to disembark as soon as possible.”
The Spanish Red Cross and the Mauritanian Red Crescent are delivering
relief supplies to alleviate the immediate needs of the passengers aboard
Marine I, which was spotted by the Spanish air rescue service on 30
January, apparently adrift. A day later a tugboat from the Spanish rescue
service approached the ship and has since been accompanying it.
The seas off West Africa have seen an increasing exodus of migrants seeking
to reach Spain’s Canary Islands with sometimes deadly consequences as
rickety boats succumb to the waves. In the first five months of last year
alone, 7,400 people reached the islands after undertaking the perilous
journey.
Thousands of lives have been lost over the last decade in this exodus
across the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea, according to UNHCR
officials.
It is not clear whether there are people on board the Marine I seeking
asylum. “Measures must be in place to identify persons who wish to seek
asylum or may be in need of international protection and to channel such
claims appropriately,” Mr. Okoth-Obbo said.
In the past, vessels fulfilling their duty to rescue those in peril at sea
have encountered problems disembarking those rescued. “This state of
affairs can seriously threaten the integrity of the time-honoured
humanitarian tradition and legal obligation to assist people in distress at
sea,” Mr. Okoth-Obbo added.
To help ship captains, ship owners, government authorities, insurance
companies, and other interested parties involved in rescue at sea
situations, UNHCR and the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) have
issued an information leaflet that provides guidance on relevant legal
provisions and procedures.
* * *
UN APPEALS FOR URGENT AID TO HELP HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MOZAMBICAN FLOOD
VICTIMS
Floods across southern Africa are wreaking havoc for hundreds of thousands
of people caught by rising waters that have washed away crops, homes and
claimed the lives of dozens of people, the United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) reported today, calling on the international community for
speedy aid to alleviate the suffering.
“We have been using pre-positioned stocks to respond to the floods across
the region but the severity of flooding in Mozambique will require urgent
additional funding,” WFP Regional Director for Southern Africa Amir Abdulla
said in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Our response in the region is hampered by a critical funding shortage and
the need is now most acute in Mozambique. With the situation likely to
worsen in the coming days, we are going to need the full support of the
international community,” he added.
WFP plans to launch an appeal early next week to support Mozambican
Government efforts to contain the crisis. The appeal is expected to include
food aid, air operations to participate in the rescue and delivery of
relief supplies, and telecommunications to facilitate the government’s
coordination of the humanitarian response.
It is estimated that some 285,000 Mozambicans may need food aid for the
next few months as many have had to flee the rising flood waters, leaving
behind their meagre possessions and food stocks. WFP already faces a
critical shortfall in funding for all its operations in southern Africa,
requiring $105 million to the end of this year.
While it is too early to predict the impact on agricultural production
across the region, crops are currently in their peak growing and
development period ahead of the April/May harvest. Early estimates are that
15,000 hectares of crops have been lost in Mozambique.
Flooding has also affected Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
WFP has rolled out responses across the region, but the full effect of the
flooding in Mozambique is likely to be delayed due to it being the main
repository for water from several countries.
The worst flooding is in central Mozambique. Persistent heavy rains there
and in neighbouring Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe over the last three weeks
have flooded the Zambezi, Chire and Rivubue rivers. The Lower Zambezi in
Mozambique, which is 800 kilometres long, has been above alert levels for
nearly a week.
The Government has deployed the military to help evacuate people from the
worst-affected areas and WFP has already begun distributing 300 metric tons
of pre-positioned emergency food rations to 2,000 people gathered in
centres in Mutara, one of the worst-affected areas.
Since early December, floods have destroyed more than 4,600 homes, 100
schools and four health centres, and displaced 46,500 people, killing 29.
Several primary and dozens of secondary roads are underwater, isolating
many communities.
In addition, heavy rains in Zambia during the whole of January filled the
Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique’s Tete Province above capacity levels and
the outflow is likely to worsen flooding in the Zambezi River basin to
levels not seen since the catastrophic floods of 2000 and 2001.
-----------------------------------------
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