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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
20 May, 2008 =========================================================================
HEADING FOR MYANMAR, BAN KI-MOON PLEDGES TO DO ‘UTMOST’ TO SPEED AID EFFORTS
As he prepared to leave for Myanmar today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he will do all he can to reinforce the immediate relief effort in the cyclone-devastated country and will also draw attention to the need for long-term reconstruction and development.
“I will do my utmost for the people of Myanmar,” Mr. Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. “I want to see the conditions under which relief teams are working and I intend to do all I can to reinforce their efforts in coordination with the Myanmar’s authorities and international aid agencies.”
Mr. Ban will arrive in Yangon, Myanmar, early Thursday morning and is set to tour the Irrawaddy delta area – the part of the country most affected by the cyclone. He said the UN had a functioning relief programme in place but cautioned that it is a “critical moment” for the country and said that so far aid workers had been able to reach only about 25 per cent of people in need in Myanmar. According to UN estimates, some 2.4 million people have been severely affected by Cyclone Nargis.
On Sunday, the Secretary-General will participate in a pledging conference co-sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to raise funds for the aid effort from international donors.
Mr. Ban said he was travelling to Myanmar to “demonstrate my sympathy to the people and Government at this time of crisis and challenge, and to see for myself the situation on the ground.” He described the disaster caused by the cyclone as “unprecedented in Myanmar’s history.”
The Secretary-General said he would coordinate closely with ASEAN and Myanmarese officials and said he was confident that relief efforts could be scaled up quickly. He added that the UN had received Government permission to operate nine World Food Programme (WFP) helicopters which would allow aid workers to reach areas that have so far been largely inaccessible.
Mr. Ban also stressed that the international community had to give thought to Myanmar’s long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation. He said that Cyclone Nargis had “devastated Myanmar’s agricultural heartland” and that it may already be too late for farmers to plant the next harvest. “In this sense the economic effects of the natural disaster that has struck Myanmar could be more severe and longer lasting than the 2004 tsunami,” he added.
Major relief efforts continue in Myanmar from the WFP, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), who among them have delivered food, medical supplies, shelter materials and water purification equipment, and have been monitoring for the outbreak of disease.
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SITUATION IN BURUNDI STILL VERY FRAGILE, SECRETARY-GENERAL WARNS
The fresh outbreak of fighting in Burundi could roll back valuable progress made since a peace agreement was reached in 2000, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cautioned in a new report made public today.
“The recent rapid relapse into violent conflict is alarming evidence of the extreme fragility of the situation in Burundi,” Mr. Ban wrote in his report, covering the period from 23 November last year to 7 May, to the Security Council.
Strongly condemning the continued deadly clashes between the Government and the Palipehutu-FNL – the last major rebel hold-outs after the end of the brutal civil war between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority – he said that “nothing justifies the loss of innocent lives resulting from this fighting.”
More than 100 people have been killed in and around the capital Bujumbura in the past few weeks, despite the signing of the Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement in 2006.
The Secretary-General warned that unless this pact is not “put back on track, the new cycle of violence could undo all the gains painstakingly made by the people of Burundi since the signing of the Arusha Agreement eight years ago.”
Furthermore, he voiced concern that the resumption of hostilities and political instability in the small Central African nation could threaten the stability of neighbouring States and the entire Great Lakes region.
Ultimately, the responsibility for ending over 10 years of clashes rests with the Government and the FNL, Mr. Ban stressed, calling on both parties to end fighting and jump-start dialogue in a bid to push the peace process forward.
He urged the FNL to return to Burundi and take part in the Joint Verification and Monitoring Mechanism and the Political Directorate, which are components of the ceasefire, while appealing to the Government to prioritize that Agreement’s implementation.
In addition to putting the ceasefire into place and breaking the political stalemate, the Secretary-General said other issues spurring insecurity must be tackled.
Reintegration of ex-fighters must press ahead, and “in an environment characterized by abject poverty, high unemployment, and sharply rising fuel and food prices, former combatants are likely to turn to violent crime or join armed elements,” he said, adding that the current global food crisis is also a cause for concern.
On human rights, the report noted that while numbers of violations committed by the national defence forces remained the same, those committed by the police have risen while new cases of torture and summary executions by the national intelligence service have been reported.
Mr. Ban welcomed the work of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, established to help countries recovering from war from sliding back into conflict, for its “valuable support to efforts at promoting stability in Burundi.”
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BOOSTING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION VITAL TO SOLVING FOOD CRISIS, ECOSOC CHIEF SAYS
The world has the necessary knowledge and expertise to fight the current food crisis but it needs to muster the political will and the resources to ensure there is a lasting solution for the millions of people now suffering, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said today.
Léo Mérorès told a special meeting on the global food crisis, held at UN Headquarters in New York, that the crisis of soaring food prices and shortages of basic crops is not only threatening the health of survival of ordinary people, but jeopardizing the political and economic stability of many governments.
The urban poor, rural landless peasants, women, children and other members of the world’s most vulnerable are among those suffering the hardest from the current crisis, he said.
“The time to act is now,” Mr. Mérorès said, stressing the need for both immediate action to meet humanitarian needs and for longer-term increased agricultural production.
“It is my view that agriculture has to be put back in the centre of the development agenda,” he said. “We need to concentrate efforts on minimizing greenhouse emissions, deforestation and global warming, while finding ways to promote investments in agriculture [and] maximize the use of agro-science and technology, with the aim of reducing the costs of production and substantially increasing the productivity and output of every hectare of arable land.”
The ECOSOC President welcomed the recent establishment by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of a high-level task force on the crisis, adding that ECOSOC would do all it could to contribute.
During its substantive session in July the Council will convene round-table and panel discussions on food security and its humanitarian segment is expected to focus in part on the challenges related to the provision of food aid.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro told today’s special session that the crisis is driving an estimated 100 million people or more into deep poverty, on top of the 830 million others already facing acute shortages of basic foods.
“That represents seven lost years in the global fight against poverty and hunger,” she said, adding that the progress so far towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the set of eight anti-poverty targets which world leaders have agreed to work towards by 2015 – could be virtually wiped out.
“Everywhere, families on the edge are cutting back. Those who ate two meals a day now get by with one. In many countries, even people with jobs and salaries are buying rice by the cup rather than the bag. Such deprivation is degrading. It breeds violence. We have seen it already in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.”
Stressing that much of the problem is man-made, Ms. Migiro urged policymakers to carefully examine the many cases, including the increasing use of biofuels, especially those that are grain-based.
“The trade-off between the energy, environment and social issues involved is subtle and immensely complex,” she cautioned.
General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim also emphasized the need for greater investment in agriculture so as to boost production to meet the global demand.
“We need to use our best science, tools and technologies to optimize efficiency and boost production,” he said. “We also need to implement policies that support land and resource ownership. Trade policy reforms are overdue. We need to create more of a level playing field for developing country farmers to benefit from higher prices.”
Mr. Kerim said the spike in oil prices had contributed significantly to the surge in food costs.
“A sustainable solution to the crisis must therefore be linked to oil price stability and our efforts to tackle climate change.”
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TOP UN RELIEF OFFICIAL MEETS MYANMAR OFFICIALS, URGING MAJOR AID PUSH
The top United Nations relief official met in Myanmar today with key Government officials, including the Prime Minster, and said that a major push was required to assist victims of the cyclone that has devastated large areas of the country.
Speaking to the press, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said he had noted the need for early recovery in agriculture and fisheries, in parallel with the emergency relief effort, in his discussions with Prime Minister Thein Sein.
He stressed that supplies of clean water, food and medicines will be needed for some months and that recovery was a protracted process.
Mr. Holmes, who also serves as UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said he had discussed all aspects of the response to the disaster, including access and coordination, and how to improve relief operations. Yesterday, he travelled to the hard-hit Irrawaddy delta area, visiting Labutta and Wakema townships and meeting with survivors and speaking with them about their situation.
The UN estimates that 2.4 million people have been affected by Cyclone Nargis and that more than half of them are in need of urgent, priority assistance, with about 500,000 people having so far received some form of international assistance. One concern is that heavy rains are continuing to hamper the relief effort.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of today, some $99.6 million has been committed to relief operations with a further $107.9 million pledged.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is on his way to Myanmar where he intends to help boost the country’s recovery effort. As well as meeting with senior Myanmarese officials, he will attend a pledging conference for international donors, which is co-sponsored by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on Sunday.
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GREATER FUNDING NEEDED TO IMPROVE PEACEBUILDING PROCESS – SECURITY COUNCIL
Calling for the United Nations to play a lead role in coordinating international efforts to help countries recovering from conflict stabilize and eventually prosper, the Security Council stressed the need today for greater funding to assist in peacebuilding and to lay the groundwork for longer-term reconstruction and development.
In a presidential statement issued at the end of a day-long open debate, Deputy Permanent Representative Karen Pierce of the United Kingdom said that Council members recognized that financing should be “available from the outset” for recovery and peacebuilding activities, as well as to help later in the longer-term processes.
The statement highlighted that the UN should lead the coordination in the field in countries emerging from conflict, working closely with regional organizations, international bodies, individual Member States, international financial institutions, civil society and the private sector to support the process.
It also welcomed the efforts of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, set up in late 2005, in providing advice and leadership and called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to give advice within the next year on how best to improve the UN system’s handling of peacebuilding.
Earlier, he told the debate that the UN must become more coherent in coordinating its activities, increase its capacity on the ground and build up its civilian expertise.
In the presidential statement, Ms. Pierce noted that post-conflict countries face a vast array of challenges, ranging from re-establishing the institutions of government, disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating the national armed forces, reforming the security sector, respecting human rights and revitalizing the economy.
“The Security Council underlines that civilian expertise in post-conflict peacebuilding is essential in helping to meet these needs,” she added.
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LAST UN COLLECTIVE CENTRE FOR REFUGEES IN MONTENEGRO SHUTTERED
The United Nations refugee agency has ended its emergency shelter programme for refugees in Montenegro, closing its last collective centre in the Balkan nation which is home to 24,000 people who fled from Croatia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On Monday, the Trudbenik Collective Centre, which opened in 1993 in the central cit of Niksic, was shuttered.
Its 65 residents were moved into family apartments in a new building called the European House, which is owned by municipal authorities. The move was made possible by funding from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners.
The new residence “offered a more dignified life and future for all those who have moved into it,” said Serge Ducasse, UNHCR’s Representative to Montenegro.
But he stressed that many refugees require assistance in accessing proper housing, as they still reside in sub-standard, privately-owned homes or are squatting in informal collective centres.
One of the last residents of the Trudbenik Collective Centre could not contain her delight at moving to their new home after 9 years.
“We still cannot believe it,” said Gordana Vekic. “Although the flat is owned by the municipality, this is now our home! We finally have our own door, our own bathroom, our freedom.”
But Mr. Ducasse warned that international support is still crucial to help refugees integrate who can or will not return to their home countries. “It is time they are provided with a legal status that gives them real local integration opportunities and allows them to contribute to their new society of adoption.”
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UN VOICES CONCERN OVER WORSENING HEALTH CONDITIONS OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
Calling for a boost in funding to continue its operations, a United Nations agency expressed its concern over the deteriorating heath conditions of Palestinian refugees, especially in the West Bank and Gaza, in a new report launched today.
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in the report that many Palestinian refugee families must now spend nearly two-thirds of their incomes on food.
Rising poverty rates and the lack of access to quality food are further threatening their health, Guido Sabatinelli, UNRWA’s Director of Health Services, told reporters in Geneva today. The agency has also witnessed an increase in diabetes, hypertension, post-traumatic stress and other behavioural disorders related to the violence.
Though a network of 129 health clinics and 11 mobile clinics, UNRWA was able to provide 9 million health consultations to the refugees, he said, adding that the agency was satisfied that it has full control over communicable diseases, with no epidemic outbreaks.
Surging prices globally have impeded UNRWA’s ability to provide all the medicines necessary to refugees. With its staff encountering problems of access, the agency has also found its ability to assist those in need has been impeded.
UNRWA is appealing for a further 30 per cent of their budget to be able to provide the same level of services to 4 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.
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SECRETARY-GENERAL OUTLINES PATH FOR PEACEBUILDING IN SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE
To help countries in their struggle to stabilize and prosper after years of conflict, the United Nations must become more coherent in coordinating its activities, increase its capacity on the ground and build up its civilian expertise, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council today.
Addressing a day-long open debate on post-conflict peacebuilding, Mr. Ban said the world body’s lengthy experience in helping countries emerge from conflict – from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Liberia to Timor-Leste and Haiti – showed that while each country is different, there are always common short-term priorities.
Viable political processes that put in place legitimate national authorities must be established first to buttress nascent peace agreements, he said.
Security and the rule of law must also be restored through the development of professional and accountable justice systems and the affected population must receive immediate and tangible benefits to strengthen their support in the long-term for development.
Mr. Ban said the UN is working to streamline and improve its coordination and coherence in the field to better assist countries in the immediate aftermath of conflict.
“We have put in place structures, planning and monitoring processes to support this effort in the immediate term and throughout the transition to longer-term peacebuilding,” he said, adding that the Organization aims to work even more closely with Member States, regional bodies and international financial institutions.
“Where we work together, as in Liberia and Sierra Leone, we deliver a vastly more effective response. Coordination and clarity of leadership is critical to ensuring that each partner brings its distinctive strength to the broad collective effort.”
The Secretary-General said the UN needs to boost its capacity so that it can lead on the ground, with his Special Representatives given the means to identify strategic priorities, elaborate plans and mobilize funds with others.
He also stressed that the world body should expand its civilian expertise, citing the “small but agile” standing police capacity of the UN and the launch of a standby team of mediation experts as key steps in the right direction.
“But we remain desperately short of judges, prison wardens, state administrators and managers – particularly those with knowledge and experience of the countries and systems in which we operate. Not only should these be well-equipped when they are deployed; they need start-up funding at their disposal.”
The extra civilian expertise is necessary in the recovery and development fields, as well, he said, noting that “all this requires early and flexible funding.” He called for the explorations of a possible common start-up fund.
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EXPERIENCED ACADEMIC CHOSEN TO HEAD UN ANTI-NARCOTICS PANEL
A renowned Iranian physician and professor who is resident in the United Kingdom has been elected the next President of the independent body which monitors the implementation of United Nations drug control conventions.
Hamid Ghodse becomes the new head of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the Vienna-based panel announced today, and will serve in the post for one year. A professor at the University of London, he is author of more than 300 scientific papers on drug-related issues.
Professor Ghodse, who was chosen during the board’s current annual session, has been a member of the INCB since 1992 and during that period has served eight times as its President, with the most recent stint occurring in 2005.
This year’s INCB session is expected to review the global supply and demand of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical purposes and discuss the growing problem of chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of drugs. They will also consider drug control situations in Ethiopia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.
INCB members serve in an individual capacity and monitor compliance with the provisions of the international drug control treaties. The panel ensures that adequate supplies of legal drugs are available for medical and scientific purposes, and makes certain that no leakage from licit sources of drugs to illicit trafficking occurs. It also identifies and helps to correct weaknesses in drug control systems and determines which chemicals used to manufacture drugs should be under international control.
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UN TO HELP MAASAI PEOPLE FROM KENYA PRESERVE THEIR HERITAGE
Two people from the Maasai community of Laikipia in Kenya are to be given training in documenting and archiving their cultural heritage through a new project launched today by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The two people from the Maasai community will travel with an expert from the National Museums of Kenya to the United States for intensive, hands-on training in documentary techniques and archival skills at the American Folklife Center and the Center for Documentary Studies, which are collaborating on the project with WIPO.
“Our goal is to empower tradition-bearers to preserve and pass on their own traditional cultures if they wish to do so while safeguarding their intellectual property rights and interests,” Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General of WIPO, said today.
New technologies provide communities with fresh opportunities to document and digitize expressions of their traditional culture, but these can be vulnerable to unwanted exploitation, according to a statement released by WIPO.
WIPO will also provide the Maasai people with a basic kit of field equipment, computers and software for their own use when they return to Kenya.
The pilot programme announced today stems from a request made directly to WIPO by the Maasai community, and is aimed to empower indigenous communities to manage their intellectual property in a way that corresponds with their development goals.
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CYPRUS: UN-BACKED MISSING PERSONS GROUP LAUNCHES WEBSITE IN GREEK, TURKISH
The United Nations-backed group in Cyprus tasked with identifying the remains of missing persons and returning those remains to the families concerned announced today that it has launched Greek and Turkish versions of its website.
The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) took the step to make its work more accessible to the people it is aiming to help.
In a press release issued in Nicosia, it voiced hope that its website will encourage those with information regarding the whereabouts of Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots missing since 1964 or 1974 to come forward.
To date, the remains of 399 individuals have been exhumed, with 84 of them having been identified and returned to their families.
Created in 1981 by agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities under UN auspices, the CMP is one of the only institutionalized, bi-communal committees in Cyprus.
It is composed of three members: one appointed by each of the two communities and a third selected by the International Committee of the Red Cross and appointed by the UN Secretary-General.
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KOSOVO JOURNALIST FACING CONTEMPT CHARGES BEFORE UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
A Kosovo Albanian journalist is being brought before the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the war crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s on charges of contempt of court after he allegedly identified a secret witness in a trial.
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) allege that Baton Haxhiu, the editor of a newspaper last year, obtained information about a witness with a protected identity and then revealed the witness’ identity in an article he published.
Mr. Haxhiu was arrested today, the ICTY said in a press statement issued in The Hague, and will now be transferred to the detention unit of the tribunal. He is expected to enter a plea tomorrow.
Mr. Haxhiu is the third Kosovo Albanian to be charged with contempt of court in the past month, with all three cases relating to the recent trial of Ramush Haradinaj, the former prime minister of Kosovo, and others.
On 25 April, Astrit Haraqija and Bajrush Morina were indicted for allegedly attempting to persuade a witness with the codename PW not to testify against Mr. Haradinaj. The duo has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been granted provisional release until the trial begins next month.
Mr. Haradinaj, who was a prominent commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict with Serb forces in 1998-99, was acquitted by the ICTY last month of a series of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, torture, abduction, cruel treatment, imprisonment and the forced deportation of Serbian and Kosovar Roma civilians.
When they announced the verdict, the judges said the tribunal had encountered many difficulties in securing testimony from witnesses during the trials of Mr. Haradinaj and his two co-accused.
Earlier this month prosecutors filed an appeal in the Haradinaj case, describing what they called the “prevailing circumstances of intimidation and fear.”
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LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES NEED LOW-COST COMPUTERS, EXPERT TELLS UN MEETING
Mobile phones were not the solution to the problems of least developed countries, an information and communication technologies (ICT) expert said today at a United Nations meeting in Kuala Lumpur that brought together 150 participants from around the world.
“You cannot improve the well-being of citizens with just telephony,” said Tunisia Telecom President Ahmed Mahjoub at the UN Global Forum on Access and Connectivity, adding that least developed countries needed low-cost computers as well. He said WiMAX, a technology that provided wireless data over long distances, was a good solution: it was cheaper than copper wire, was quicker to deploy and provided broad bandwidth for Internet access.
Mauritania was a good example of a successful policy, Mr. Mahjoub said. The country five years ago only had 17,000 fixed-line telephone subscribers. Mauritania had privatized its public telephone company and allowed two private companies to enter. Not only had the number of mobile subscribers greatly increased, but new state-of the art technologies and new investment had poured into the country.
“There is no digital divide – it is an economic divide pure and simple,” said Cliff Missen Director of the Iowa-based eGranary Digital Library. “To improve access and connectivity we have to improve the economy.”
“We are Internet-centred and broadband-obsessed,” he said, adding that universities in Ghana paid $20,000 a month for five megabytes – the annual salary of a professor. Compact disks were equally effective for education, and “we have to look at low-cost, effective training.”
“It is an Internet-centric proposition that you have to be on the Internet to get information, that you must be able to connect at any time,” he said. “It is a proposition not applicable in the developing world, and an unnecessary one when it comes to a doctor’s or to a nurse’s training.”
While the world was waiting for the convergence between computers and television, said Richard Fuchs of Canada’s International Development Research Centre, a divergence was increasing between high-end ICT users and mobile phones users in poor countries. Social investment was required to meet the need of low-end users. Governments had to choose whether to provide the best possible services to the high-end users or adopt policies that brought down overall costs.
The idea that “telephony is the poor man’s information society” should be challenged, said Parminder Jeet Singh of IT for Change, an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO). It was doubtful that the private sector would extend the Internet as it had done for mobile phones. What was needed was a rights-based approach, which did not exclude markets. But if the markets did not ensure access, everyone’s right to access should be ensured, as it was a public interest issue.
Mobile phones are going to connect the least developed countries, said Isabelle Mauro of GSM Association, the trade organization representing 740 mobile operators in some 200 countries. A priority was to provide voice services to small communities, focusing on data transmission.
Each additional 10 per cent of mobile phone penetration resulted in a 1.2 per cent increase in a country’s gross domestic product, she said. In the past 12 months Africa had connected 70 million people via wireless phone, yet handsets in many developing countries were still taxed as luxury goods.
Kamran Elahiah, chairman of the venture capital firm Global Catalyst Partners, cited a project his company had done for refugee camps of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the Rwandan-Tanzanian border. At very small cost, the project had established an Internet telecentre powered by biofuel – the result of animal waste brought by local farmers. As a result, refugees were now using the telecentre 24 hours a day, lining up for its services.
Jim Lynch of TechSoup, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization, said TechSoup collected discarded personal computers around the world, fixed them, installed new software and distributed them to schools, non-profits and low-income families around the world. “It is a big job,” he said, adding that there were some 150-200 million discarded computers in the world. One problem was that no major organization was creating human capacity, he said.
Forty-three panellists – including four ICT ministers – addressed the two-day Global Forum, which examined access and connectivity in Asia and the Pacific, in island States and in least developed countries, as well as innovative funding for ICT for development.
The results of the Forum, organized by the UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development, will be fed into the ICT 2008 Conference, to be held in Lyon on 25-27 November, and the second Global Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Doha from 29 November to 2 December.
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BAN KI-MOON ‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’ AT FIGHTING IN DISPUTED SUDANESE TOWN
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is deeply concerned about renewed fighting between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces in the area around the disputed town of Abyei, which lies in an oil-rich area near the boundary between north and south Sudan.
The clashes, which began on 13 May, have resulted in the destruction of Abyei town and the displacement of between 30,000 and 50,000 people.
Mr. Ban, in a statement released today by a spokesperson, urges both parties to immediately observe a ceasefire agreement that was reached on Sunday under the auspices of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
An impasse over the boundaries and status of Abyei has been one of the major stumbling blocks preventing the full implementation of the January 2005 comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan.
Fighting in Abyei has displaced between 30,000 to 50,000 people southwards, leaving the town almost deserted.
“If the situation is not urgently addressed, the achievements thus far of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement could be placed at serious risk,” the Secretary-General added.
The UN has set up five humanitarian hubs to help the displaced population, but operations are being endangered by continuing insecurity. Aid workers reported aerial bombing of a position to the north of one of the hubs.
In his statement, Mr. Ban stresses that there can be no military solution to the dispute over Abyei, and he reminds both the Government and rebels of their commitment to find a peaceful solution which respects the rights and needs of both sides and of the people of the area.
In a related development, the UN’s top envoy to Sudan appealed to both sides to exercise the utmost restraint and to take immediate steps towards disengaging their forces.
Ashraf Qazi the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Sudan said this would enable UNMIS to revive ceasefire monitoring mechanisms and pave the way for full implementation of the CPA with respect to Abyei.
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