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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
30 June, 2008 =========================================================================
BAN WELCOMES HUMANITARIAN EXCHANGE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HIZBOLLAH
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed recent progress on resolving the humanitarian aspects of the Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hizbollah.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban noted the Israeli Government’s recent decision that involves the return of two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who had been abducted and a solution to the cases of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel.
“He looks forward to the signing and the full implementation of the negotiated agreement in the near future,” the statement said.
“He hopes that the envisaged humanitarian moves will encourage further steps on implementing other parts of the resolution [1701] and contribute to further humanitarian moves.”
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UN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA HAS REACHED ‘CRITICAL JUNCTURE,’ BAN SAYS
The United Nations has reached “a critical juncture” in the implementation of its development agenda, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, with soaring oil and food prices, turmoil in the financial markets, inequality and climate change all threatening to strike hardest at the world’s poorest people.
In a message to the opening of the annual high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), held at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Ban said urgent collective action was needed, particularly to address imbalances in the global economy.
Scepticism about globalization is widespread, amid concerns that it is leaving the most vulnerable behind and increasing economic security among the middle classes worldwide, Mr. Ban added, in a message delivered by Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.
“No social or economic order is secure if it fails to benefit the majority of those who live under it,” he said.
“From this perspective, we all should have serious concerns about a system whose wealthiest 400 citizens command, as a group, more resources than its bottom billion. Yet we also need to beware of the risks of a severe backlash against globalization, which could significantly curtail the opportunities and benefits of a more closely integrated world.”
The Secretary-General said this session of ECOSOC, especially its Development Cooperation Forum, should give new impetus to achieving economic growth, social development and environmental protection in an integrated fashion.
Addressing the Forum’s opening later in the day, ECOSOC President Leo Mérorès said it was time “to come up with bold and innovative ideas and recommendations” to improve the situation in poor countries and to spur greater development cooperation.
He said the Forum had been established in 2005 to help make development activities within and outside the UN more coherent and streamlined, particularly as more and more groups and entities become involved in the delivery of aid.
In a separate message to the Forum, delivered by Thomas Stelzer, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Mr. Ban voiced concern that development assistance is still provided inconsistently.
“Some countries enjoy the attention of the international community, while others find it harder to attract funding. As a result, some countries receive less aid than would be expected on the basis of their needs or performance.”
Aid is also spreads unevenly between sectors, he said, with agriculture experiencing a marked decline in aid in recent decades, “a particularly worrying trend” given the soaring prices of foods and other basic commodities.
He noted that stronger mutual accountability was one way to develop a more balanced relationship between donor and receiver countries, and added that increasing South-South cooperation and private philanthropy were welcome moves.
ECOSOC’s high-level segment, which includes many round-table discussions, policy dialogues and debates, is scheduled to run until Thursday.
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BAN APPOINTS FRANCE’S ALAIN LE ROY AS NEW UN PEACEKEEPING CHIEF
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Alain Le Roy of France as the new head of United Nations peacekeeping, tasked with overseeing almost 110,000 personnel serving in 20 peace operations around the world.
Mr. Le Roy, 55, will replace Jean-Marie Guéhenno of France, who has held the post since October 2000.
“The Secretary-General is grateful for Mr. Guéhenno’s dedicated service to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations [DPKO] and for his important contribution to the achievement of its goals,” UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters. “He recalled the strong sense of commitment and professionalism shown consistently by Mr. Guéhenno to the fulfilment of his responsibilities.”
As the new Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Le Roy brings to the job an extensive experience in public administration, management and international affairs, both at the political level and in the field.
After serving in the private sector as a petroleum engineer, he joined the public service as Sous-préfet, then as Counsellor at the Cour des comptes (French Audit Office). He is currently Conseiller Maître à la Cour des comptes and has served since September last year as Ambassador in charge of the Union for the Mediterranean Initiative – a proposed community of European Union member States and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea which is set to be established next month.
He has previously served the world body as Deputy to the UN Special Coordinator for Sarajevo and Director of Operations for the restoration of essential public services. He also went on missions for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Mauritania and was appointed UN Regional Administrator in Kosovo (West Region).
After having been National Coordinator for the Stability Pact for South-east Europe in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed EU Special Representative in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. He was subsequently appointed Assistant Secretary for Economic and Financial Affairs in the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, before serving as the French Ambassador to Madagascar.
Mr. Le Roy holds a degree in Engineering from the Ecole nationale supérieure des Mines de Paris; and a DEA (Master of Advanced Studies) in Economics from Paris I. He also completed the program for senior managers in government at the Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
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UN AGENCY CONDEMNS KILLING OF FOOD AID DRIVER IN SOUTHERN SUDAN
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has condemned the “senseless killing” of one of its truck drivers who was ambushed in southern Sudan after delivering vital food supplies to the agency’s warehouse in Juba.
Muzamil Ramadan Sida, a 28-year-old Ugandan, was shot by unidentified gunmen on 27 June. Mr. Sida’s assistant escaped after steering the truck to a stop 300 metres from the site of the attack.
“We are all saddened by this senseless killing and send our deep condolences to Mr. Sida’s family,” said Daniela Owen, WFP Coordinator in southern Sudan. “Drivers of food relief trucks risk their lives to bring urgently needed food to vulnerable people. Such attacks are completely unacceptable.”
Mr. Sida’s death brings to five the number of WFP-contracted drivers or their assistants killed in attacks in southern Sudan this year. Two drivers were killed in March and a driver and his assistant were killed in April. Both incidents occurred in southern Sudan’s Unity State.
The perils of road travel in Sudan highlight the vital role played by the WFP-run Humanitarian Air Service (HAS), which flies aid workers to critical areas of the strife-torn nation.
WFP announced today that, thanks to nearly $15 million in contributions from donors, the agency will be able to continue running the service until the end of September. Earlier this month, WFP had warned that the service may have to be grounded to a severe lack of funds.
“These donations have arrived just in time. Our passengers – relief workers from more than 200 aid organizations operating in Sudan – would be unable to do their vital work without WFP-HAS,” said Kenro Oshidari, WFP Representative in Sudan.
“The air service is especially important at this time of year, when the rains make most roads impassable. Added to that, banditry and insecurity have made it too dangerous for humanitarians to travel by road in many parts of Darfur,” noted Mr. Oshidari.
WFP-HAS carries about 15,000 humanitarian passengers per month on routes throughout Darfur and southern Sudan. It links both regions with the capital Khartoum.
While Mr. Oshidari thanked donors, he stressed that some service cuts must remain in place and warned that WFP-HAS has no funds confirmed beyond September – meaning it still risks closure in the fourth quarter of 2008.
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UN RIGHTS EXPERT CALLS ON UNITED STATES TO ENSURE DEATH PENALTY IS APPLIED FAIRLY
The United States should take immediate steps to ensure that the death penalty is applied fairly and justly in states where it is practised, a United Nations human rights expert said today, voicing particular concern that officials in the state of Alabama “seem strikingly indifferent to the risk of executing innocent people.”
Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, also called for the country’s military justice system to be improved so that victims of possibly unlawful killings can receive justice.
In a preliminary statement issued after completing an official visit to the US, where he met with federal and state officials, judges and civil society groups in Washington, DC, New York, Alabama and Texas, Mr. Alston said he was disturbed by how authorities in Alabama and Texas had responded to recognized flaws in their systems.
“When we are talking about a situation in which innocent people have probably been executed, you would expect a greater sense of urgency about reforming the criminal justice system,” he said.
“In Texas, there is at least significant recognition that reforms are needed,” Mr. Alston said, noting that in Alabama officials give a range of standard responses to criticisms, “most of which are characterized by a refusal to engage with the facts.
“The reality is that the system is simply not designed to turn up cases of innocence, however compelling they might be. It is entirely possible that Alabama has already executed innocent people, but officials would rather deny than confront flaws in the criminal justice system.”
Since 1973, 129 people across the US have been exonerated while waiting on death row and this number continues to grow, according to Mr. Alston.
He called for a multi-pronged strategy to reform the criminal justice systems in Alabama and Texas, starting with the immediate tackling of problems such as judicial independence and the lack of an adequate right to counsel.
Partisan elections for judges have placed them under popular pressure to impose and uphold death sentences whenever possible, the Special Rapporteur said.
“Yet the role of the judiciary is to ensure that justice is done in individual cases and to avoid the execution of innocent persons. It is not to ensure that the popular will prevails over other considerations.”
He called on the US Congress to enact laws that would allow federal courts to review all issues in state and federal death penalty cases on their merits, and he also criticized Texas for failing to review the cases of foreign nationals on its death row who have been deprived of the right to consular assistance from their home countries.
Turning to Guantánamo Bay, Mr. Alston called on the US Government to release the results of investigations and autopsies into the death of five detainees who died in 2006 and 2007.
The text of the Military Commissions Act, under which six “alien unlawful enemy combatants” at Guantánamo Bay are being tried, “indicate clearly that these trials utterly fail to meet the basic due process standards required for a fair trial under international humanitarian and human rights law.”
Access to counsel has been severely limited, second- and third-hand hearsay evidence can be used, the prosecution can withhold evidence from the accused, and the defence’s ability to obtain witnesses is restricted.
Any death sentence imposed as a result of such trials would clearly violate international law, Mr. Alston said.
He also urged the Government to publish information on civilian casualties resulting from its operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and to make it possible for US citizens and ordinary Afghans and Iraqis to follow the workings of the military justice system.
“As it stands, following a case through the military justice system is remarkably difficult, and outside observers have no basis upon which to conclude that the system is in fact operating fairly.”
Although some steps have been taken to ensure accountability for killings carried out by private military contractors, more needs to be done, the Special Rapporteur added.
“It’s the Department of Justice’s job to prosecute private security contractors who commit unlawful killings, but it has done next to nothing.”
Mr. Alston, who serves in an unpaid and independent capacity, will report on his findings to the UN Human Rights Council later this year.
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COST OF CURBING CLIMATE CHANGE NOT AS HIGH AS ASSUMED, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
The price tag of addressing climate change is not as great as believed, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized today.
Global warming has resulted in an average temperature increase of 0.74 degrees Celsius in the last century and the sea level has climbed 17 centimetres, Rajendra K. Pachauri told reporters in New York.
“But the good news is that the cost of taking action is really not all that high,” he said.
One scenario assessed by the IPCC showed that limiting temperature surges to 2 to 2.4 degrees Celsius would cost at most 3 per cent of global GDP by 2030, “but that is really the upper limit as a matter of fact,” Mr. Pachauri noted.
He also stressed that the cost will actually be negative, which “means you might actually gain by taking some of those measures.”
Seizing the window of opportunity to take decisive action is key, said Mr. Pachauri, who was a co-laureate of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“We have up to 2015 by when we could allow emissions to increase,” he said, adding that the more rapid their decline, the more that severe impacts could be avoided.
Along with Lord Stern of Brentford, author of the Stern Review on the economics of climate change, Mr. Pachauri was one of the keynote speakers at the high-level segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which kicked off today at UN Headquarters in New York.
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SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS MANDATE OF AL-QAIDA SANCTIONS MONITORING GROUP
The Security Council today extended by 18 months the mandate of the monitoring team set up in 2004 to help track the application of the world body’s sanctions against the Taliban, Al-Qaida and their operatives.
The eight-member Analytical Support and Sanctions Implementation Monitoring Team, based in New York, reports periodically to the Council.
In a resolution, adopted unanimously, the 15-member body reaffirmed that “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations.”
Tackling the scourge requires the cooperation of all States and international and regional organizations, the Council stressed.
It called on Member States to “continue their efforts to act vigorously and decisively to cut the flow of funds and other financial assets and economic resources to Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden and the Taliban and other individuals, group, undertakings and entities associated with them.”
The resolution also directed the Council committee concerning Al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions to review by 30 June 2010 the names of individuals and entities that it agrees are members of or associated with Al-Qaida, Usama Bin Laden and the Taliban on the so-called Consolidated List.
Council members were also briefed on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), which is tasked with observing the efforts of countries to combat global terrorism, by its head.
CTED Executive Director Mike Smith presented a survey on the implementation of resolution 1373, which was adopted in the wake of the September 2001 attacks on the United States and calls on countries to adopt a number of measures to enhance their ability to counter terrorist activities nationally, regionally and globally. This resolution also established the CTED.
In a related development, today marks the last day of the Council’s United States presidency, and Viet Nam will assume the monthly role beginning tomorrow.
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HEAD OF UN SECURITY PROBE STRESSES NEED FOR VIGILANCE AMID INCREASING THREATS
The head of the panel set up to review United Nations staff security worldwide in the wake of last year’s deadly Algiers bombing has underscored the need for vigilance amid growing threats to the Organization.
The report of the Independent Panel on Safety and Security of UN Personnel and Premises Worldwide, led by Lakhdar Brahimi and comprised of international experts in the field, did not identify individual accountabilities for the December 2007 bombing in the Algerian capital, which killed 17 UN staff members.
“The Algiers bombing has definitely shown that a few things were not right in Algeria,” Mr. Brahimi told a news conference in New York today. “But more importantly it has shown that the UN system was not working as it should.”
The report – released to the public last week – did find “ample evidence that several staff members up and down the hierarchy may have failed to respond adequately to the Algiers attack, both before and after the tragedy.”
Mr. Brahimi added that in saying that, the Panel “definitely didn’t say that anybody was responsible for what happened in Algiers.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced last week that he is setting up a separate group to examine whether any UN staff should be held individually accountable over that attack.
The most important message from the report to Member States, the Secretary-General and mangers is “you need to be awake all the time,” because the UN is now a target for a lot of people for all sorts of reasons, he stated.
In carrying out its probe, the investigators found that the UN is not perceived by a lot of people as impartial, independent and neutral, he noted. “What’s happening in the Middle East has a lot to do with it. But it’s not only that. I think the perception is that the big powers are using their muscles to influence the United Nations and that the United Nations, not always, but from time to time does not speak on behalf of its 192 members but on behalf of a one, two, three, four or five members.”
The report underlined the fact that security needs to be improved all the time, he said, stressing that “vigilance is really the order of the day.”
Mr. Brahimi said the UN is definitely protected much better than it was before the 2003 attacks on the world body’s offices in Baghdad, which resulted in the deaths of over 20 UN staff members. At the same time, the Panel discovered that the improvements that have taken place since Baghdad “still have some faults and some shortcomings.”
Last week Sir David Veness stepped down as UN security chief, saying he will shoulder full responsibility for any security lapse that may have occurred concerning the Algiers attacks. Mr. Brahimi expressed regret at the decision, but said he hoped Sir David would use the rest of his time in office to implement some of the report’s recommendations.
The report calls, among other things, for a review of the size of the UN staff presence and the manner in which the UN system does business given overall security considerations and the opportunities presented by modern information and communication technology.
“The United Nations has to have the right appreciation of what the security situation is and take corresponding measures,” Mr. Brahimi stated.
He added that it was important to recognize that not all countries are equipped to provide the security. “In fact, quite often it is in those countries that are less equipped to provide security that the UN has the largest presence because that is where the services of the United Nations [are] needed.”
While the Panel has not requested a specific amount of money for UN security, some of the recommendations do have financial implications, he noted. “Our recommendations are modest enough and affordable enough for Member States that care for this Organization, for them to implement all of them or at least most of them.”
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NEW JOINT UN-AFRICAN UNION MEDIATOR FOR DARFUR CONFLICT APPOINTED
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the African Union Chairperson today appointed an experienced official from Burkina Faso as the new joint AU-UN Chief Mediator for Darfur as they seek new momentum in their efforts to resolve the five-year conflict.
Djibril Yipènè Bassolé, who has been Foreign Minister of Burkina Faso since 2007, will conduct the mediation efforts in the new post on a full-time basis from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and the headquarters of the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force to the region (UNAMID).
The current UN and AU Special Envoys for Darfur, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, will remain available for advice and engagement as required, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists.
Mr. Bassolé, 51, has extensive experience in mediation process and in multilateral diplomacy, Ms. Montas said.
Between 2000 and 2007 he served as Security Minister in Burkina Faso and played a key role in devising last year’s Ouagadougou Agreement, which Côte d’Ivoire’s President Laurent Gbagbo and the rebel Forces Nouvelles leader (and now Prime Minister) Guillaume Soro signed to resolve their conflict.
Mr. Bassolé also worked as a member of the mediation committee for the Tuareg conflict in Niger in 1994-95 and was a member of the international committee for the monitoring of elections in Togo in 1993-94.
The appointment comes as Mr. Eliasson and Mr. Salim warned just last week that there is reason to seriously question whether the parties to the conflict are ready to negotiate and make the compromises necessary for an accord to end the fighting that has raged between rebels, Government forces and allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed.
An estimated 300,000 have been killed in Darfur since 2003, either through direct combat or disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, while another 2.7 million people have been displaced from their homes.
Insecurity and unrest continue to plague Darfur, an arid and impoverished region on Sudan’s western flank, and attempts to broker a peace deal have also been hampered by the splintering of the many rebel movements.
Armed members of one of those groups, the Minni Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), held 38 UNAMID peacekeepers hostage at gunpoint for more than five hours today.
The incident began this morning at the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in North Darfur, when 21 UN police advisers, 12 military protection force members and five language assistants were confronted by SLA/M commanders carrying AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and other weapons as they tried to conduct a patrol of the camp.
The rebel soldiers surrounded the UNAMID staff and demanded money, claiming it was in compensation for an injured member involved in a motorcycle accident last week with a UNAMID vehicle. The accident is being investigated by both the Sudanese Government and the mission’s military police.
After UNAMID reinforcements were sent to the camp, the patrol group was finally released following negotiations between the mission and the leadership of the SLA/M.
UNAMID’s deputy head of mission Henry Anyidoho said the detention of the mission staff could not be justified.
“We condemn the attack and we condemn restrictions over the movements of peacekeepers,” he said. “Protection of civilians and bringing peace to Darfur define the main purpose of UNAMID’s mandate. We must be allowed to carry out our mandate without harassment.”
Mr. Anyidoho stressed that in the case of the traffic accident involving the motorcyclist, legal procedure must be respected.
“We respect the law of the land and, in the same vein, we do not condone any party taking the law into its own hands.”
This is the second time in less than three months that SLA/M members have targeted UNAMID peacekeepers at Zam Zam. On 9 April a police adviser was beaten and two vehicles were hijacked.
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CANADIAN PUBLIC INTEGRITY EXPERT TAPPED TO HEAD UNDP’S ETHICS OFFICE
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has named Canadian Elia Armstrong as the new head of its Ethics Office, it was announced today.
Ms. Armstrong, who will replace Karunesh Bhalla, has been working as a Senior Governance and Public Administration Office for the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) since December 2006. Before that, she assisted in setting up the Secretariat’s Ethics Office.
She has also worked as a Public Administration Officer for DESA as well as having served as a consultant on Civil Service Reform, focusing on Public Sector Ethics.
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SECRETARY-GENERAL MOURNS DEATHS OF SENIOR GUATEMALAN OFFICIALS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced sadness over the deaths of two senior Guatemalan officials.
Interior Minister Vinicio Gómez and Vice-Minister Edgar Hernández were killed in a helicopter crash last week.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban offered his condolences to the Central American nation’s Government, people and the victims’ families, “both personally and for the important work they were doing at the head of the Ministry.”
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UN UNVEILS SPEEDIER TESTS IN POORER NATIONS FOR DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS
The inhabitants of developing nations will find out whether they have been infected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in two days, not the standard two to three months, thanks to two new United Nations-backed initiatives.
Currently, it is estimated that only 2 per cent of cases of MDR-TB – which does not respond to first-line drugs – are being properly diagnosed and treated, and 400,000 new cases are reported every year, according to the UN.
The new schemes – launched today by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the Stop TB Partnership, the international drug purchase facility UNITAID and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) – hope to boost that proportion to over 15 per cent over the next four years.
In poorer countries, most TB patients are tested for MDR-TB only after it is found they do not respond to standard treatments, but do not receive crucial second-line drugs until their diagnosis is confirmed two months or more later.
One of the two projects announced today is a rapid molecular method, known as line probe assays, to detect the strain in less than two days, and it will be employed in 16 countries, including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and Uzbekistan.
The second entails increasing the supply of drugs to treat MDR-TB in 54 countries, and seeks to slash by 20 per cent the price of second-line drugs by 2010.
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MEETING JAPANESE LEADERS, BAN PRAISES TOKYO’S CONTRIBUTION TO UN WORK
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met Japanese leaders in Tokyo on Monday and praised the “immense contribution” Japan has made to the work of the United Nations.
Speaking to the press after meeting Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Mr. Ban said that “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of Japan’s leading and active role in the Organization.”
“Japan should be proud of being ‘a peace-fostering nation’ and its commitment to multilateralism,” Mr. Ban added. “The Japanese people should know how much Japan’s global role is appreciated in the United Nations and worldwide.”
The Secretary-General welcomed the announcement made by Mr. Fukuda today that Japan will send Self Defense Forces personnel to the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and will provide financial support to establishing a peacekeeping training centre.
Mr. Ban said he and Mr. Fukuda “had an excellent discussion on the major challenges the world faces, as well as practical ways to address them through the United Nations.”
“I have expressed my appreciation to the Prime Minister for his strong personal leadership and tireless efforts to make the coming G-8 summit meeting in Toyako a great success. It will be a major milestone in our common effort to mobilize international action on such challenges as climate change, the food crisis and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
The Secretary-General will attend the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations, which will take place in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido from 7 to 9 July. Mr. Ban has said that climate change, the food crisis and the MDGs are top on his agenda at the summit.
“I hope that the leaders of the G-8 summit will come out with concrete measures to address the challenges in a comprehensive manner. I commend the Prime Minister’s leadership in this process, in particular his efforts to combat climate change.”
The Secretary-General said his discussion with the Prime Minister paid particular attention to Africa, “given Japan’s long-standing effort to turn it into ‘a continent of hope’.”
“I am particularly encouraged by the Prime Minister’s commitment to increase Official Development Assistance (ODA) and its contribution to implement the Millennium Development Goals.”
The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula. Mr. Ban expressed his hope that participants in the six-party talks – China, Japan, Russia, United States, and the two Koreas – will build on recent encouraging progress to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister also exchanged views on the need to move Security Council reform forward.
Earlier on Monday, Mr. Ban and Mrs. Ban Soon-taek had an audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and held a meeting with Crown Prince Naruhito. The Secretary-General also held meetings with Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura, Chief Cabinet Secretary and Minister of State for the Abduction Issue [of Japanese nationals by DPR Korea] Nobutaka Machimura, and leaders of the governing coalition partner, the New Komei Party.
Japan is the first leg of Mr. Ban’s two-week, three-nation East Asian tour. He will travel to China on Tuesday before visiting the Republic of Korea and then back to Japan to attend the G-8 summit.
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RECENT QUAKE SENDS SHOCKWAVES THROUGH CHINA’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR – UN
Last month’s earthquake in Sichuan, China, has caused some $6 billion in damage to the province’s agricultural sector, severely affecting over 30 million people in rural communities, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today.
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake of 12 May devastated the mountainous Sichuan province, killing an estimated 69,000 people and causing extensive property damage.
A recent FAO assessment mission to the area found that more than 30 million rural inhabitants have lost most of their assets. In addition, thousands of hectares of farmland were destroyed, millions of farm animals died, houses and grain stores collapsed and thousands of pieces of agricultural machinery were damaged.
“In addition to the human tragedy caused by the disaster – mainly the loss of family members – many rural communities in Sichuan province have lost their means to produce food and create income,” said Rajendra Aryal, FAO Senior Regional Emergency Coordinator.
“People in the villages have demonstrated great resilience and have expressed their strong willingness to return back to their fields and resume farming and food production. It will probably take three to five years to rebuild the agricultural sector in Sichuan,” he added.
Most of the wheat crops could not be harvested after the earthquake due to the lack of labour as a result of deaths and injuries in farming families. Much of the wheat that was harvested before the earthquake – some 350,000 tonnes in Mianyang Prefecture, one of the areas hit by the quake – was damaged with the collapse of grain storages. Shortages of pesticides and fertilizers are jeopardizing future food production, FAO adds.
In addition, thousands of greenhouses have collapsed causing severe losses of vegetable crops. Major seed growing areas in the province, producing up to 20 per cent of China’s rice seeds, have been badly hit by the earthquake with more than 20,000 hectares affected. In some villages, up to 70 percent of rice fields have been damaged. The next harvest could face a shortfall between 10 and 50 per cent, due to delayed planting, pests and water shortages.
In addition, FAO noted that livestock losses are estimated at about $2 billion. Over three million pigs have been killed by the earthquake, with some villages having lost up to 70 per cent of their livestock.
“Urgent provision of fertilizers, pesticides, farm tools and machinery, livestock and reclaiming damaged fields will be the main challenge for the next six months,” Mr. Aryal said, adding that Chinese authorities have asked FAO to coordinate agricultural rehabilitation efforts in the province.
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NEW AGREEMENT PAVES WAY FOR INCREASED UN FOOD DELIVERY TO DPR KOREA
A new agreement between the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) paves the way for the agency to step up its food assistance to more than five million hungry people in the country.
The agreement, which was signed on Friday, was hailed by WFP as a significant breakthrough in its long-standing efforts to ensure that all those in need of food aid in the DPRK are able to receive it.
On Sunday a United States ship arrived in the port of Nampo carrying 37,000 tons of wheat, the first instalment of a US food aid pledge of up to 500,000 metric tons, which would provide enough food to allow WFP to expand feeding operations from the 1.2 million people it currently feeds to more than five million.
“WFP is grateful for the cooperation and commitment of the DPRK and United States governments,” said WFP’s Regional Director for Asia, Tony Banbury. “With their support, WFP will now be able to dramatically expand our food assistance operation, and provide aid to millions of people who would otherwise be at risk of increased hunger and malnutrition.”
The agreement will also enable WFP to send nearly 50 more international aid workers to the country, who will oversee and monitor the delivery of food to make sure it reaches hungry people most in need.
In addition, WFP will be expanding into 128 counties, up from just 50, including the remote and traditionally food-insecure Northeast and some counties never before accessible to humanitarian agencies.
“With this agreement, WFP will be in a position to reach more hungry people and put an expanded and more comprehensive monitoring system in place,” said Mr. Banbury. “The presence of a larger number of international staff will ensure improved targeting and monitoring of food deliveries on behalf of WFP beneficiaries.”
“The challenge will now be to put words into action and quickly expand distributions of badly needed food aid to the hungriest people of DPRK,” said WFP Country Director Jean-Pierre de Margerie in Pyongyang. “We appreciate the enhanced collaboration with the DPRK Government and look forward to full implementation of the agreement.”
The expansion of food aid comes at a critical time when the country is facing a cereal shortfall of more than 1.5 million tons – the largest food gap since 2001, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Compounding the situation is the rise in domestic prices for staples such as rice, wheat, maize and potatoes.
WFP and FAO are currently examining the extent of the needs throughout the country. The results of what is the most comprehensive assessment on food and nutrition undertaken in the DPRK since 2004, is expected by mid-July.
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UN AGENCY LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF CITIES AGAINST RACISM
An international coalition of cities against racism and discrimination is being launched today by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the World Forum on Human Rights in Nantes, France.
The new coalition brings together the world’s regional coalitions against racism under an initiative launched by UNESCO in 2004. The UN agency is calling on municipalities in each region to create networks of cities to improve their policies to fight discrimination and promote diversity, mutual respect and dialogue.
The goal is for each regional coalition to implement its own 10-point action plan to tackle discrimination specific to its region, covering areas such as education, housing, employment and cultural activities. In addition, the international coalition will invite municipalities outside the coalition to benefit from its platform.
A round table is being organized today in Nantes with representatives from the regional coalitions in Africa (Durban, South Africa), the Arab region (Casablanca, Morocco), Asia and the Pacific (Suva, Fiji), North America (Toronto, Canada) Europe (Nuremberg, Germany) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Montevideo, Uruguay). They will discuss regional challenges cities have to address when they deal with racism and discrimination, concrete municipal action to implement the regional action plans, and obstacles they face during the process.
This year’s World Forum is dedicated to the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some 3,300 participants from 80 countries are expected.
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OUTCOME OF ZIMBABWE POLLS ILLEGITIMATE, SAYS BAN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the outcome of Friday’s run-off presidential election in Zimbabwe – which went ahead despite international appeals for a postponement given the violence and intimidation that preceded it – as illegitimate.
“The outcome did not reflect the true and genuine will of the Zimbabwean people or produce a legitimate result,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement issued today in Tokyo, where the Secretary-General is currently on an official visit.
“The Secretary-General has said repeatedly that conditions were not in place for a free and fair election and observers have confirmed this from the deeply flawed process,” the statement added.
President Robert Mugabe was sworn in yesterday for another term after being declared the winner of the 27 June run-off. He was the sole candidate in the polls after violence and intimidation directed towards the opposition forces led to the withdrawal of Morgan Tsvangirai, the candidate of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The Southern African nation has been plagued by deadly violence and a worsening humanitarian situation since the first round of elections was held on 29 March.
Many MDC activists have reportedly been killed or injured in recent weeks and human rights defenders and staff with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been harassed.
“The Secretary-General encourages efforts of the two sides to negotiate a political solution that would end violence and intimidation,” according to the statement.
The situation in Zimbabwe is high on the agenda of the African Union Summit, which began today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Mr. Ban expressed support for the efforts of the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to promote an agreement acceptable to the people of Zimbabwe, adding that Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro and senior UN political aide Haile Menkerios – who are both at the Summit – are ready to help in any way possible.
Addressing the Summit, Ms. Migiro called the Zimbabwe crisis “the single greatest challenge to regional stability in southern Africa, not only because of its terrible humanitarian and security consequences, but also because of the dangerous political precedent it sets.”
Backing the Secretary-General’s call for a negotiated solution, she stressed that only dialogue between Zimbabwean parties, supported by the AU and other regional actors, can restore pace and stability to the country.
Ms. Migiro also welcomed the Summit’s focus on the global anti-poverty targets world leaders pledged to achieve by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – including the targets on water and sanitation. “With only seven and a half years to go, we must do everything possible to accelerate progress on the Goals,” she stressed.
A mark of this urgency, she recalled, was the convening by Mr. Ban of the MDG Africa Steering Group to support enhanced action by Africa and the international community. She encouraged AU leaders to endorse the Group’s recommendations, noting it will give additional leverage to the MDG agenda.
It will also send a strong message to the Group of Eight (G-8) ahead of its Summit next week in Japan. “The world’s most industrialized countries must live up to their global responsibilities, their past commitments, and their obligations to future generations –knowing that the African Union will do the same,” she stated.
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