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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
6 June, 2008 =========================================================================
$6 BILLION IN NEW FUNDING FOR GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS, SAYS UN AID CHIEF
The top United Nations relief official said today that $6 billion in new funding to tackle the global food crisis has been pledged following the food security summit that concluded yesterday in Rome.
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs ohn Holmes announced the new funding as he briefed reporters in New York on a comprehensive plan to meet the crisis.
“We need to focus both on the immediate needs and on the longer-term issues starting right now and the focus is on the smallholder farmers in developing countries,” he said. “These are the people who need most help and where there is the most potential for increasing agricultural productivity and production.”
Mr. Holmes, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said the $6 billion figure was in addition to existing pledges of up to $7 billion that were also announced at the High-level Conference on World Food Security.
He stressed that the new “Comprehensive Framework for Action” was reached by consensus among the members of the international task force convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which brings together the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and key UN agencies.
The plan focuses on a series of measures to meet immediate needs and also to build longer-term resilience to food crises in the future.
Among the immediate measures proposed in the plan are increasing nutritional and other feeding programmes, as well as supplying fertilizers, seeds, animal feed and veterinary services to help smallholder farmers in the current planting season. The plan also calls for a reduction in export bans on food commodities, and focuses on the need for much greater investment in agricultural production in the longer term.
Noting that there was broad agreement on the way forward, Mr. Holmes said the World Bank estimated that global food production had to rise by at least 50 per cent by 2030 to meet worldwide demand.
“We’re looking at this in a much broader context than just the current price levels,” he said. “Everybody’s attention has been grabbed, including ours, by the sudden dramatic increase in food prices over the last few months, but there’s a broader underlying problem about agriculture that lies behind that,” he added.
The three-day summit in Rome, which was attended by more than 40 heads of State and government, and representatives from 181 countries, adopted a declaration at its conclusion that called on increased assistance for developing countries, especially for those hardest hit by the recent rises in food prices.
Commenting on the summit declaration, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Olivier De Schutter, said that the international community needed to address the questions of power and accountability.
“Hunger is man-made. What misguided policies have caused, better focused policies can undo,” he said.
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BAN: CYPRIOTS MUST SEIZE OPPORTUNITY TOWARDS REUNIFICATION
Welcoming recent progress, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Cypriots to build on the momentum and make great strides towards reunification.
“A window of opportunity for Cypriots to finally resolve the Cyprus problem is clearly open,” Mr. Ban wrote in his latest report to the Security Council on the work of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
He said that it is “particularly heartening” that the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have taken important steps towards resuming negotiations.
“What is especially encouraging is that the leaders reconfirmed, at their meeting on 23 May, the broad outline of a solution, based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined by the Security Council in its relevant resolutions.”
That partnership, announced by the leaders Demetris Christofias (Greek Cypriot) and Mehmet Ali Talat (Turkish Cypriot) after a UN-backed meeting, is to comprise a Federal Government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which will be of equal status.
Such steps clearly indicate “the renewed political will to seek a solution to the Cyprus problem,” the Secretary-General wrote, commending the efforts of Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat.
The recent opening of the long-closed crossing at Ledra Street between the two communities in Nicosia illustrates what can be achieved with the political will needed to address problems, he added.
Mr. Ban voiced his firm support for the talks between the two leaders later this month, and said he will appoint a Special Adviser.
But he warned that “the coming period will not be easy and may require major compromises,” stressing the importance of fostering an environment favorable to pressing ahead towards a settlement.
In the absence of a comprehensive settlement, the Secretary-General recommended the extension of UNFICYP’s mandate for an additional six months, in spite of recent positive steps.
The UN mission has been in place since 1964 following the outbreak of inter-communal violence, entrusted with preventing a recurrence of fighting and contributing to a return to normal conditions and the maintenance of law and order.
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ZIMBABWE: TOP UN OFFICIAL URGES LIFTING OF RESTRICTIONS ON AID GROUPS
The United Nations humanitarian chief has called on the Government of Zimbabwe to rescind its decision to suspend all field operations by non-governmental aid groups.
“This is a deplorable decision that comes at a critical humanitarian juncture for the people of Zimbabwe,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said today in a statement. “I therefore strongly urge the Government to reconsider and rescind this decision as soon as possible.”
Pointing out that much of the UN’s humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe is channeled through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Mr. Holmes said that aid for two million of the most poor and vulnerable among Zimbabwe’s people would be severely restricted.
He said that organizations under the current suspension are “engaged in vital humanitarian work, fully respecting the principles of impartiality and neutrality,” and called for unrestricted access for the groups as well as guarantees for their safety and security.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Mr. Holmes said that the UN was in daily contact with Government ministers in Zimbabwe through its Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, in an effort to have the decision changed.
He added that the UN was assisting more than 4 million people in the country, about a third of Zimbabwe’s population.
“Clearly that’s a very large number and it comes against a background of a deteriorating humanitarian situation in general which is a result of the general economic and political situation in the country, but also a drought in recent months as well, so that’s why it’s such a worrying situation,” he said.
Earlier this week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described reports that the aid groups’ work had been suspended in advance of presidential elections later this month as “an unconscionable act.”
“To deprive people of food because of an election would be an extraordinary perversion of democracy, and a serious breach of international human rights law,” Louise Arbour said.
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NEW WEBSITE SHOWCASES JOINT ACTIVITIES OF UN LABOUR AND AGRICULTURE AGENCIES
Two United Nations agencies dealing with labour and agriculture today launched a new website designed to highlight the many areas in which they work together, including youth employment, safety and health and crisis management.
The website: “Food, Agriculture and Decent Work” (www.fao-ilo.org) describes the cooperation and activities of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 10 major fields and provides links to related information sources.
The site showcases work related to decent employment, child labour, youth employment, cooperatives, small and medium enterprises, rural workers, safety and health, crisis management, crops, fisheries and forestry, and labour statistics.
The ILO seeks to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The goal of FAO is to help reduce hunger and rural poverty through the sustainable development of agriculture, rural areas and their natural resources.
“Both organizations share a commitment to support people-centred, sustainable development and fair and inclusive globalization,” according to a news release issued by ILO.
“A coordinated strategy is a critical option in order to complement and enhance the work currently being carried out by each organisation, respectively, on labour and agriculture and rural development and promote rural work,” the agency added.
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UN ADVISES ENDING OF REFUGEE STATUS FOR SIERRA LEONEANS WHO FLED COUNTRY
The United Nations refugee agency says it is recommending that refugee status for Sierra Leoneans who fled their country should be ended because the root causes of the West African nation’s refugee problem have ceased to exist.
“There have been fundamental and durable changes since peace was declared in January 2002,” said Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The official ending of refugee status for Sierra Leoneans will take place on 31 December this year, following consultations with the Governments of the main countries where they have sought asylum, and also with the Government of Sierra Leone.
During the height of Sierra Leone’s civil conflict as many as two million of the country's six million citizens were displaced with some 490,000 fleeing to Liberia and Guinea.
With UNHCR's help more than 179,000 Sierra Leonean refugees returned home voluntarily between September 2000 and July 2004, while many others returned by their own means.
UNHCR says that around 43,000 refugees from Sierra Leone continue to live in exile, mainly in neighbouring countries, including the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.
The agency stressed that refugees in these countries who want to return voluntarily will be given assistance, and also that those still in need of international protection will be able to remain in their current host country.
According to the UN, individuals most responsible for the atrocities committed during the country’s conflict have been indicted and tried – or are in the process of being tried – by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
The UN also says there have also been significant improvements in the rule of law and respect for human rights throughout the country, while two sets of elections – in 2002 and in 2007 – were determined to be free and fair by the international community.
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IN MESSAGE TO GLOBAL CLASSROOM, BAN URGES FUTURE LEADERS TO “DREAM BIG”
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged students to aim high and prepare for a life as global citizens for a better and more just world.
“No matter what you choose, I urge you to dream big,” he said in a video message to the Global Classrooms Meeting in Los Angeles. “Not to make the most money, or to become the most famous, but to help the most people.”
Touching on his own experience in a Model UN in his youth, Mr. Ban told participants that he dreamt of one day becoming Secretary-General. “Little did I imagine that it would happen,” he said, adding that it is now the students’ turn to dream.
Taking part in today’s meeting showed that the students care about the world at large, he said. “You are thinking about the problems we face, as humankind, and you are thinking about solutions. For this I salute you.”
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SAN MARINO ‘DYNAMIC CONTRIBUTOR’ TO UN’S WORK, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL
Stressing that the reach of San Marino goes far beyond its size, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the numerous contributions made by the small European nation to the work of the United Nations in fields ranging from the rights of the disabled to reform of the world body.
“San Marino is an excellent example of indispensable role played by small States,” Mr. Ban said in a video message for an event on San Marino and international organizations.
“It is often among them that the United Nations – and its Secretary-General – can find the surest and most consistent support,” he added.
Mr. Ban noted that as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, San Marino spearheaded a “vibrant” campaign to end violence against women, and thereby provided support for his own campaign on the same subject.
The country was also among the first countries to sign and ratify the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, he said, pointing out that “this is a landmark instrument and the latest in long list of human rights conventions that San Marino has joined.”
In addition, last year, the European nation organized an important event on Religions for Peace and Development with panellists representing the world’s great religions, highlighting the priority the country gives to the religious dimension of the intercultural dialogue.
Mr. Ban also noted that San Marino – a “driving force” on UN reform – has co-facilitated the important working group on revitalizing the General Assembly.
“The country is a dynamic contributor to the work of the United Nations, and an eloquent advocate of human rights, development and peace,” the Secretary-General said.
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SECRETARY-GENERAL TO HEAD TO EUROPE, SAUDI ARABIA
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon departs next week for France, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia to meet with the countries’ leaders and to attend a global meeting on Afghanistan.
On 12 June, Mr. Ban will attend the International Conference on Afghanistan – as part of global efforts to help with reconstruction and development in the country – in Paris. While in the French capital, he also expects to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The following day, he will be in London for meetings with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other senior officials, and will also address the UN Association of the UK on the theme, “Securing the Common Good: the United Nations and the Expanding Global Agenda.”
From London, the Secretary-General will travel to Saudi Arabia for meetings with the country’s King, Foreign Minister and others.
Returning to the UK on 16 June, he will take part in marking the 60th anniversary of the London-based UN International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Prior to his overseas trip, Mr. Ban heads today to the United States city of Jackson, Wyoming, to open the inaugural Global Insight Summit convened by the UN and the Jackson Hole Film Institute.
The event brings UN officials together with entertainment leaders to explore how film and television can better be put to use to heighten awareness of key global issues and the world body’s role in tackling them.
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SECURITY COUNCIL TEAM AND SUDANESE PRESIDENT HOLD TALKS IN KHARTOUM
A visiting Security Council delegation and Sudanese President Omar al Bashir discussed the country’s north-south peace process, the situations in Abyei and Darfur, as well as the African nation’s non-cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), during a meeting in the capital, Khartoum, a United Nations spokesperson said today.
Last night’s meeting capped off a three-day visit to Sudan by the Council delegation which is currently on a 10-day mission to Africa.
On the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government and the former southern rebels, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York that President al Bashir has informed the Council delegation that an agreement was reached yesterday between his side and the Government of South Sudan to resolve the dispute over Abyei – a town which lies in an oil-rich area near the boundary between north and south Sudan.
“That agreement will be debated by the Parliament of South Sudan today and, if approved, will become effective on 10 June,” Ms. Montas said.
She added that President al Bashir also welcomed a greater role for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in its area of operation, including the region around Abyei.
Regarding the Darfur peace process, the delegation said that President al Bashir has welcomed the proposed creation of the position of Chief Mediator as outlined in Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on war-torn Sudanese region.
In addition, Council members said they regretted that the President continues to reject any possibility of Sudan cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC), contrary to its obligations under Security Council resolution 1593, which also Sudan to arrest and surrender those indicted by the Court.
Yesterday ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo told a meeting of the Security Council in New York that “citizens from the Sudan are being deliberately attacked by Sudanese officials…. The entire Darfur region is a crime scene. Despite promises and denials, over the last five years, millions of civilians have been targeted by officials who vowed to protect them. Impunity reigns.”
Despite arrest warrants being issued last April for Ahmad Harun, former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior and now the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a leader of a pro-Government Janjaweed militia, the two men – accused of committing war crimes – have yet to be apprehended.
The Council delegation is currently in Chad, where it is expected to meet with President Idriss Deby in the capital, N’Djamena.
Earlier today, the team arrived in Abeche, in eastern Chad, where they met with the Force Commander of the European Forces (EUFOR) and with Victor Angelo, head of the UN mission in Chad and Central African Republic (MINURCAT), who briefed the Council on their respective operations.
From there, the Council team flew to Doz Baide, near the Sudanese border, and met with the governor of the region before visiting a camp for refugees from Darfur. Elders at that camp identified security as their main problem.
The Council mission also visited a camp for Chadians displaced by fighting in the region, and received briefings from UN and other humanitarian workers, who also cited security concerns and restrictions on their movement.
The delegation is expected to also visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Côte d’Ivoire during its current visit to Africa, which has already taken Council members to Djibouti and Sudan.
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KILLING OF IRAQI JOURNALISTS SPARKS CONDEMNATION FROM UNESCO HEAD
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the recent killing of two Iraqi journalists, and called for ensuring the safety of media professionals in the strife-torn nation.
Expressing his outrage over the deaths of Wissam Ali Ouda and Haidar Hashem Al-Husseini, who were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad and in Diyala, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura noted that journalists in Iraq have been paying “an unacceptable toll” for their right to practice their profession.
“Freedom of expression and the public’s right to know are essential for democracy and I urge the Iraqi Government to step up measures to improve the safety of media workers,” he stated.
Mr. Ouda, a 32-year-old cameraman with Afaq TV, was shot by a sniper on 21 May as he was returning to his home in the Al-Obeidi district of Baghdad.
The body of Mr. Al-Husseini, 36, a reporter for the independent daily Al-Sharq, was found on 21 May in a common grave near Baquba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. He had been kidnapped a day earlier and was then shot dead.
According to Reporters Without Borders, these two cases bring to seven the number of journalists killed in Iraq since the start of the year and to 215 the overall media death toll since March 2003.
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ENTRY INTO FORCE OF DISABILITY PACT CLOSES MAJOR GAP IN RIGHTS PROTECTION – ARBOUR
The recent entry into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities closes a major gap in human rights protection for hundreds of millions of people around the world, the Organization’s top rights official said today.
The Convention and its Optional Protocol, which entered into force on 3 May, does not create new rights but aims to ensure that the benefits of existing rights are fully extended and guaranteed to the estimated 650 million people around the world with disabilities.
“The speedy entry into force of both instruments attests to their centrality in the fullest possible reach of human rights protection,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, which held a celebration of the entry into force of the landmark treaty today.
“As a major gap has now been closed, it is imperative that these obligations take real effect in the lives of all persons with disabilities,” she added.
The treaty asserts the rights of people with disabilities to education, health, work, adequate living conditions, freedom of movement, freedom from exploitation and equal recognition before the law for persons with disabilities.
It also addresses the need for persons with disabilities to have access to public transport, buildings and other facilities and recognizes their capacity to make decisions for themselves.
The Convention’s Optional Protocol allows individuals to petition an international expert body with grievances.
The High Commissioner underscored that the new treaty is about change. “It requires us to move away from charity-oriented or medical-based approaches to a human rights-based approach to disabilities. These traditional approaches and attitudes, no matter how well-intentioned they might have been, regarded persons with disabilities either as passive recipients of good will or deeds or as problems to be fixed, or both,” she stated.
The Convention embodies the celebration of diversity and the empowerment of the individual as essential human rights messages by envisaging a fully active role in society for persons with disabilities.
“It asserts that they are free to live independently in their community, to make their own choices, and to contribute to society so that we can all learn and benefit from their diverse experiences and knowledge,” Ms. Arbour said.
She added that the Council has an important role to play in the future of the treaty, noting that as the principal UN body dealing specifically with human rights, the Council is “perfectly positioned, and indeed expected, to advance the Convention’s goals among States and within the UN system.”
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