UN_NEWS

UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
24 September, 2008 =========================================================================

GLOBAL LEADERS SET TO MEET AT UN TO CHART PROGRESS TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Almost 100 world leaders are converging on the United Nations on Thursday for a high-level meeting to assess how to translate commitments into effective action to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.

The gathering at UN Headquarters in New York, convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto, seeks to pinpoint gaps and identify steps to take to accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs.

“It is my firm hope that we will be able to look back on this day as the moment when the world got back on track to reaching the Goals,” Mr. Ban said in advance of the day-long event.

A recent UN report found that soaring food and fuel prices and the global economic downturn are impeding advances in such targets as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and reducing child mortality, jeopardizing the likelihood of achieving some of the Goals.

Nearly two dozen of the world’s biggest philanthropic foundations will also take part in Thursday’s meeting, which comes on the heels of a high-level gathering held on Monday to examine Africa’s development needs.

Several events will also be held on the sidelines of Thursday’s event, such as the launch of the Global Malaria Action Plan.

That plan aims to slash malaria deaths to near zero by 2015 and will be launched by the Secretary-General, along with rock star Bono, philanthropist Bill Gates, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, World Bank head Robert Zoellick, and others. Billions of dollars in new funding to curb the spread of malaria and boost research will be announced.

Thursday is also the third day of the General Assembly’s annual high-level segment, and it is slated to hear from the heads of State and government of such nations as Tajikistan, Iraq, Timor-Leste, Zimbabwe and Spain.

* * *

DPR KOREA CUTS OFF UN ATOMIC WATCHDOG AGENCY’S ACCESS TO NUCLEAR FACILITIES

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will restart nuclear activities at its reprocessing plant in Yongbyon, shut down last year, and is terminating the United Nations atomic watchdog agency’s access to the facilities, it was announced today.

On Monday, Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said that the DPRK had asked the body to remove seals and surveillance from the Yongbyon plant.

“This work was completed today. There are no more IAEA seals and surveillance equipment in place at the reprocessing facility,” the agency said in a news release.

The Asian nation’s authorities informed the IAEA that they will begin introducing nuclear material to the reprocessing plant in one week and that its inspectors are being barred from the site.

Last July, the agency verified that the Yongbyon plant had been taken off line.

At the time, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the shut-down as “a very important and encouraging step.”

* * *

NEW ELECTION LAW WILL HELP CONSOLIDATE IRAQ’S POLITICAL PROGRESS, SAYS BAN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed Iraq’s new provincial election law, which followed months of intense discussions and will now facilitate the holding of elections in the fledgling democracy.

“This is a very important step forward which should contribute to political normalization in Iraq,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by his spokesperson.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) “was able to support this process significantly by facilitating dialogue and offering compromise proposals,” the statement added.

In a report issued last month, Mr. Ban had warned that unless a new electoral law was passed in time, Iraqis would be deprived of the chance to vote this year, which he said could alienate various communities in the country.

The UN, today’s statement said, “will continue to assist the Iraqi High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to ensure timely preparations of the provincial elections with the view of holding elections that are credible and accepted by the Iraqi people, including the nation’s minorities.”

UNAMI, whose mandate was extended by the Security Council last month for one more year, is also assisting the Government on a number of other issues, including the question of internal boundaries.

* * *

WELCOMING RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, BAN URGES FURTHER STEPS BY MYANMAR

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has once again called for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar, following yesterday’s “welcome” move by the Government in freeing several detainees as part of an amnesty procedure.

Those released included the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, U Win Tin, and six other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.

The other six are Dr. May Win Myint, U Aung Soe Myint, U Khin Maung Swe, Win Htain, Dr. Than Nyein and U Thein Naing.

“The Secretary-General reiterates that all political prisoners should be released and that all citizens of Myanmar should be able to enjoy political freedoms, as necessary steps towards the process of national reconciliation and dialogue,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

“He looks forward to any further action by the Myanmar Government in this regard.”

The release of political prisoners was one focus of discussion between the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, and the Myanmar Government during his latest visit to the country in August.

The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed his “immense joy” at the release of the 79-year-old U Win Tin, a writer and former newspaper editor who was detained for nearly 20 years, and the laureate of a press freedom prize instituted by the agency.

“In freeing U Win Tin and other prisoners, the authorities have taken a wise and positive step towards respecting the fundamental human right of freedom of expression, an indispensable component of democracy and rule of law,” UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said.

U Win Tin was arrested in July 1989 and was accused of belonging to the banned Communist Party of Myanmar. Sentenced to 14 years jail, he received an additional term of five years in 1996 for breaking prison regulations prohibiting the possession of writing materials.

In 2001, he was honoured with the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize, named after the Colombian newspaper publisher assassinated in 1987 for denouncing the activities of powerful drug barons in his country.

News of the release of the seven prisoners was also welcomed yesterday by the independent UN expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, who said he hoped the move “would be the first in a series of releases of other prisoners of conscience, some 2,000 of whom are currently estimated to be still detained in Myanmar.”

* * *

SECURITY COUNCIL DEFERS DECISION ON UN TROOPS FOR CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

The Security Council today put off until December a decision on the size of a military component to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, for which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed 6,000 troops.

The military addition to the mission, known as MINURCAT, is to replace a European Union force (EUFOR). Both Chad and CAR have been hit by rebel activity and a spill-over from neighbouring Sudan’s Darfur conflict.

The 15-member Council unanimously extended MINURCAT’s mandate until 15 March 2009 and expressed its intention to authorize the deployment of a military component, “taking fully into account” Mr. Ban’s recommendations.

It asked him to submit a new report by 15 November on progress towards the full deployment of MINURCAT at its current target of 1,549 personnel – at present there are 768 people on the ground – with options on the size, structure and mandate of the proposed UN military presence in north-eastern CAR to take over from the 3,300-strong EUFOR, whose mandate expires on 15 March.

The Council said it intended to adopt a decision by 15 December.

In a report earlier this month, Mr. Ban said the situation in CAR remained volatile and there had been no notable progress towards implementing a year-old agreement between Chad’s Government and the main rebel groups confronting it.

The Council set up MINURCAT a year ago with a mandate to help bring stability to eastern Chad and north-eastern CAR, which have both been wracked by violence and civilian displacement in recent years involving hundreds of thousands of people.

Eastern Chad currently shelters 290,000 refugees, mainly Sudanese escaping from the Darfur fighting, and 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who depend on humanitarian aid to survive.

* * *

PRIVATIZATION POLICIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, BOLIVIA TELLS UN

The current worldwide financial crisis has been caused largely by policies of privatization of basic public resources, Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma has told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

Speaking last night before world leaders at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Morales said the annual debate was taking place at a time of rebellion by peoples against the existing economic order.

“This is a rebellion against misery and poverty; against the effects of climate change; a rebellion against the privatization policies which is what has caused the financial crisis,” he said.

Mr. Morales, who became President of the Andean country in early 2006, said many social movements had emerged in Bolivia in recent years – involving indigenous peoples, farmers and other often marginalized groups – that questioned the economic models and systems that “simply privatized resources.”

Since he took office, the nationalization of the oil and gas industries had changed the Bolivian economy for the better, he said, ensuring drastically increased profits that could be spent on the people.

But Mr. Morales said his efforts to bring change to Bolivia had also prompted sometimes violent resistance from conservative or imperialist elements, which he added had been supported by the United States.

“When you work for equality and social justice, you are persecuted and conspired against by certain groups [that are] not concerned about equality.”

* * *

MONGOLIA ISSUES CALL AT UN FOR STRATEGY TO ENSURE GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY

A comprehensive, global strategy is needed to ensure all countries have energy security, Mongolia’s Prime Minister told the General Assembly tonight, voicing concern about the impact of recent oil price hikes and the need to develop greener sources of energy.

Addressing the Assembly’s annual general debate, Sanjaa Bayar said it was critical to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels such as coal given the impact they have on the environment.

“Ensuring energy security is a challenge that requires a comprehensive solution both nationally and internationally,” he said. “No country in the world is endowed with or has developed all possible energy sources. So each country has a vested interest in energy cooperation and has something to contribute to it.”

Mr. Bayar praised the efforts of some UN Member States and international organizations to research, develop, deploy and transfer innovative energy technologies, particularly those from renewable or low-carbon sources.

By contrast, “the use of inefficient coal-burning technology causes air pollution, impacting negatively on the population’s health and the environment.”

The Prime Minister added that the development of clean coal technology is a priority for Mongolia, where coal is a major source of energy for electricity and heating.

* * *

KOSOVO SHOULD BECOME UN MEMBER STATE – ALBANIAN PRESIDENT

Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia earlier this year, deserves to be a United Nations Member State as soon as possible, Albanian President Bamir Topi told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate tonight.

In an address to the debate, Mr. Topi said any political, economic, military or diplomatic effort against Kosovo’s consolidation as a State “would be a hopeless attempt against the integrating processes towards NATO and the European Union.

“It would be a regressive move against foreign investments and progress which we need so direly,” he added.

Mr. Topi said “this new political, economical and social reality” that is Kosovo is an irreversible development, adding that formal recognition of it as a State “is to the interest of Kosovo, of Albania, of Serbia and of all its close and distant neighbours, of Europe and Mediterranean space.”

He said the independence move would help with efforts in the region to promote the rule of law, encourage long-term peace and stability and spur closer integration with the rest of Europe.

“The independence of Kosovo finally frees this part of Europe from the nightmare of war, of inter-ethnic conflicts, of ethnic cleansing and genocide; it fulfils and respects the free will of a people to break free from the political oppression, from historical injustices and inability to develop.”

The President noted that Albania was helping the people and government of Kosovo – where ethnic Albanians outnumber other groups by nine to one – to build a society that is genuinely democratic, secular and multi-ethnic.

He added that he was confident that the precise role of the UN peacekeeping mission to Kosovo, known as UNMIK, would soon be reconfigured to take account of the changed circumstances.

* * *

EXCESSIVE MILITARY SPENDING IS A PERVERSION OF VALUES, COSTA RICA SAYS AT UN

Universal literacy, the eradication of many preventable diseases and safe drinking water for everyone could all be achieved if the world spent as much on those causes as it already does on military forces, Costa Rica’s President told the General Assembly tonight in a call for a radical re-think of global spending.

Óscar Arias Sánchez told the Assembly’s high-level debate that many governments were hurting their citizens by indulging in excessive military spending.

“On a p***t where one-sixth of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, spending $1.2 trillion on arms and soldiers is an offence and a symbol of irrationality,” Mr. Arias said.

He voiced particular concern about his own region, Latin America, where military spending last year topped $39 billion, even though the region “has never been more peaceful or more democratic.”

Mr. Arias said that even tiny percentage reductions in military spending by countries could make a major difference to important causes and at the same time not jeopardize those nations’ defence.

“I know no greater perversion of values, and no greater misplacement of priorities,” he said of the current spending arrangements. “With a small percentage of world military spending, we could give potable water to all of humanity, equip all homes with electricity, achieve universal literacy, and eradicate all preventable diseases.”

The President called for international support for the Costa Rica Consensus, an initiative that would allow the debts of poor countries to be forgiven and increase spending on the environment, education, health care and housing in those States at the expense of funding arms and soldiers.

“I also ask for your support for the arms trade treaty that Costa Rica is pushing forward in the heart of this Organization, to prohibit the transfer of arms to States, groups or individuals if sufficient reason exists to believe that those arms will be used to violate human rights or international law.

“The destructive power of the 640 million small arms and light weapons that exist in the world, most in the hands of civilians, deserves the same or even more attention than military spending.”

* * *

POORER NATIONS NEED URGENT HELP TO MITIGATE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, UN TOLD

The leaders of Nauru and Suriname, two developing nations struggling to protect their vulnerable environments from the ravages wrought by climate change, issued a call to the General Assembly today for increased assistance to boost their resilience to the effects of global warming.

Phosphate mining has stripped Nauru of its farmable land, and greenhouse gas emissions are leading to a sea level rise – one metre in this century by conservative estimates – that will flood the remaining habitable terrain, President Marcus Stephen told the Assembly’s high-level debate.

“Our people will be literally trapped between the rising sea and an ancient, uninhabitable coral field,” he said.

But Mr. Stephen said that “the cost of rehabilitating 80 per cent of our lands is well beyond our immediate means,” appealing for support from the United Nations, along with other donors, to help restore Nauru.

Similarly, Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan, President of Suriname, urged increased funding to help the South American nation maintain its forests.

Due to its low deforestation rates, he said that his country is “forgotten in mechanisms devised to compensate for deforestation.”

However, he stressed “the importance of new financing mechanisms, since good management of forests and other natural resources cannot and should not be at the expense of the development of our own peoples, the peoples of countries with high forest coverage and low deforestation rates.”

* * *

BAN APPEALS TO BUSINESS LEADERS TO HELP TACKLE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS

Warning that the high cost of food and fuel is causing millions of people to go hungry, Ban Ki-moon opened a meeting of business leaders today by urging that “we have to boost our private-public alliance.”

Mr. Ban was speaking to the inaugural UN Private Sector Forum on Food Sustainability, which brings together chief executives, government leaders and senior UN officials in a partnership aimed at fighting hunger and advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

On the day before world leaders gather at the UN to chart a course of action aimed at galvanizing world leaders into action on achieving the eight MDGs, Mr. Ban said: “Markets can flourish only in societies that are healthy. And societies need healthy markets to flourish.”

Currently, over 900 million people are estimated to be suffering from hunger. An additional 75 million people were pushed into hunger and poverty last year, largely as a result of high food prices. If an additional estimated 1.6 billion people by 2030 are to be fed, world agricultural production will have to increase by 50 per cent. Private investment is crucial to boost agricultural production and rural development.

“We are facing a development emergency,” according to the UN chief. “Insecurity and even violence could easily follow.”

He called for more investment in agriculture and expressed confidence that private sector expertise will help tackle such issues as water access and management, agricultural inputs, technological innovations, and energy and biofuels.

Engaging the business community towards achieving greater food sustainability is one approach to addressing the long-term response to the global food crisis. The forum will attempt to mobilize corporations to identify and scale up best practices.

A guide called Food Sustainability and the Role of the Private Sector, compiled by the UN Global Compact Office, highlights how companies from different sectors can have an impact on food sustainability through their activities will also be made available.

The forum will launch a Global Partnership for the Business Call to Action, which will track commitments companies make toward meeting the MDGs.

“The Business Call to Action is the next natural step in our effort to catalyze, inspire and support increased private sector investments that can help achieve the MDGs,” said Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

“Meeting our challenges in our fight against poverty takes creativity,” he added, emphasizing the need for business initiatives to harness the resources and talents of global business.

According to Amir Dossal, head of the UN Office for Partnerships, there are inherent difficulties in forging private-public partnerships but collaboration with private sector foundations and philanthropic organizations is essential to improve food security. “In short, the UN is open for business.”

The forum was organized by the UN Global Compact Office, UNDP, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the UN Office for Partnerships and the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) – which functions as coordinator of the High-level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis.

* * *

SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN SPAIN

The Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms recent deadly terrorist attacks in Spain and urged all States to cooperate with the Spanish authorities in bringing the culprits to trial.

“The members of the Security Council reiterated that all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, and reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,” the 15-member body said in a press statement read out by Ambassador Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso, which currently holds the Council’s rotating presidency.

At the same time the Council reminded States that they must ensure that measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law.

Two days ago Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also strongly condemned the series of car bombings in northern Spain that left at least one person dead and wounded several others.

* * *

SECOND DAY OF UN EVENT SPARKS FURTHER UPTAKE OF MULTILATERAL TREATIES

Seven Member States participated today in the second day of the 2008 United Nations treaty event, which helps to promote the universal participation of countries in more than 500 multilateral pacts, by signing or ratifying 10 separate conventions, agreements, treaties and optional protocols.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, intended to protect the rights of more than 600 million people across the globe, was signed today by Russia and Ukraine, the later Member State also signing its Optional Protocol.

Russia also took the opportunity to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement in armed conflict, while Monaco ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Strongly advocated by Argentine President Christina Fernández de Kirchner, the Convention on Enforced Disappearance was today signed by Bulgaria.

Malaysia followed Tunisia’s lead from yesterday by ratifying the Convention against Corruption, while Australia followed in the footsteps of Spain and the Czech Republic’s signing the International Tropical Timber Agreement.

Burundi ratified both the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which contains rules relating to the investigation and prosecution of acts of nuclear terrorism.

So far during this year’s treaty event 15 states have undertaken 26 treaty actions.

* * *

EASTERN EUROPEAN LEADERS VOICE CONCERN ABOUT GEORGIA DURING UN DEBATE

The presidents of three Eastern European countries today spoke out at the General Assembly against the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia, warning that the United Nations’ role in international peace and security has been undermined by what happened last month. Addressing the Assembly’s annual high-level debate in New York, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said the world “must realise that the principles governing relations between States has been seriously damaged” as a result of the fighting between Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian forces. “We have the right to demand and ensure that the UN is capable of convincing one member to withdraw its military forces from the territory of another sovereign Member State, and to terminate its aggression,” he said. The UN loses its reason for existence, Mr. Ilves warned, if Member States are selective according to their convenience about whether they follow international law. He called for the UN to have greater capacity to regulate and resolve conflicts. “Russia’s behaviour in the weeks following the cessation of combat activity showed us that, unfortunately, even in the first decade of the 21st century, it is possible to refuse to adhere to international treaties, to interpret them arbitrarily, and to observe international laws only when it serves one’s self-interest.” Latvian President Valdis Zatlers called for a clear plan to solve the Georgian crisis, which he said must start with the implementation of the six-point ceasefire agreement by Russia. “Foreign troops must be removed from all of the Georgian soil,” he said. “Equally important is the establishment of [the European Union] EU monitoring mission for normalization of situation in Georgia.” Mr. Zatlers voiced concern that “protection of nationals abroad” had been used as a pretext to use force in another country without the approval of the Security Council. He also called for the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), which has monitored a separate ceasefire accord between Georgian and Abkhaz forces in the northwest of the country since the early 1990s, to be allowed to continue its work without obstacles. Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, told the Assembly that “illegal military aggression” had taken place in Georgia. “Fundamental principles of international law, i.e. [the] inviolability of borders and territorial integrity were infringed. We may not allow for relativization of the principles of international law and for their free interpretation by some countries,” he said. Mr. Kaczynski said the recent developments in Georgia had also raised important questions about energy security across Europe. “Poland’s concern arises from the fact that certain States use energy supplies in order to achieve political goals in relations with our neighbours.” He added that it was pivotal to establish more diverse sources of energy supply, to increase the transparency of the rules regulating trade in fuels and to expand transport infrastructure so that fuels from Central Asia and the Caspian Sea basin can reach European Union member countries along different routes.

* * *

CENTRAL AFRICAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR STRENGTHENING UN MISSION IN HIS COUNTRY

President François Bozizé of the Central African Republic (CAR) today called for a strengthened United Nations peacekeeping mission in his country, which has suffered from violence and instability in several regions, in the face of the imminent departure of a European Union force (EUFOR).

The UN Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) currently has 768 personnel on the ground out of the 1,549 authorized in both countries, but in his latest report earlier this month Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed sending 6,000 troops to replace the 3,000-strong EUFOR, whose mandate is set to expire on 15 March.

“With the end of EUFOR in March 2009 and taking into account the fragility of the situation not only in the north-east but also of the developing insecurity in the south-east, the revision of MINURCAT’s mission and its scope is to be desired,” Mr. Bozizé told the UN General Assembly on the second day of its annual general debate.

Today the Security Council adopted a resolution authorizing an extension of MINURCAT’s mandate through March 2009 and said it intends to authorize the establishment of a UN force to succeed EUFOR.

* * *

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL RENEWS MANDATE OF SUDAN INVESTIGATOR

The United Nations Human Rights Council ended its ninth session in Geneva today with the adoption of 24 texts, including a decision to extend until June 2009 the mandate of its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan.

The Council’s President, Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibi, welcomed the adoption of the resolutions and decisions. “The fact that nearly all these drafts were adopted by consensus, in my view, is very significant,” he told reporters in Geneva.

The President said the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan was “a very important message from the international community of their understanding of the situation in that country.” He added that the resolution on the issue had been co-sponsored by the African Group and the European Union, showing that the two sides had reached a consensual outcome on the situation in Sudan.

“It… also gives room and recognition to some of the positive steps that the Sudanese Government has taken,” the President said. “The idea is not to be punitive. The idea is to encourage. It is meant to do what is needed in the interest of human rights and the rights of all citizens.”

Council members adopted resolutions on maintaining Special Procedures mandates in Cambodia, Haiti and Burundi, on the adverse effects of toxic wastes, and on the Working Group on People of African Descent.

They also endorsed the recommendations of a fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to assist the Government of Liberia by helping it to implement its various human rights policies and programmes. Other decisions included those on the human rights of migrants and indigenous peoples and on the right to truth.

Mr. Ihoeghian Uhomoibi praised what he described as “the general atmosphere of frankness and conviviality, and the accent on dignity and respect for the human person that was a constant refrain and rightfully respected by all” during the session.

* * *

GUATEMALA ASKS UN TO FORM EMINENT PANEL TO STUDY MIGRATION WORLDWIDE

Guatemala’s President proposed today that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up a panel of eminent figures to investigate the scope and effects of migration around the world, stressing that people who leave their homelands for other countries have inviolable rights.

Álvaro Colom Caballeros told delegates at the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate that their countries should be able to show the “same drive and devotion” to devising “an international structure that guarantees the fundamental rights of migrants” as they do already towards the cause of free trade.

“If we globalize what’s material, I am convinced we are morally compelled to globalize what’s human to pave the road to hope for millions of migrants in the world,” he said.

“With this idea in mind, I allow myself to suggest to the Secretary-General that the creation of a panel comprised of former presidents from origin and recipient migrant countries to examine the nature, scope and consequences of the migratory phenomenon, and to disseminate its findings during the next substantive session of the General Assembly.”

The President said the free flow of labour migrants should take place as part of “a human movement to eliminate the suffering of millions of human beings that simply seek opportunities of work and welfare.”

In his address, he also warned that social inequality, hunger and global warming pose just as big a threat to security as more traditional causes, such as terrorism and organized crime, including illegal drug trafficking.

He urged renewed international commitment towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of eight anti-poverty targets that world leaders pledged at a UN summit in 2000 to try to reach by 2015.

* * *

COLOMBIA MAKING HEADWAY IN BOLSTERING SECURITY, UN HEARS

Colombia’s citizens have shed their fear and have more confidence in the State, thanks to the consolidation of democracy and security in following years of fear imposed by terrorists, the South American nation’s President said today at the General Assembly’s annual high-level segment.

Over two-thirds of the 60,000 terrorists who had “ravaged the country at the start of the Government” have turned their back on criminal activity and are taking part in a reintegration programme, Álvaro Uribe Vélez said.

But he noted that terrorists continue to be active, pointing to recent incidents such as the murder of a group of teachers and a deadly car bomb attack on the Justice building in the city of Cali, both perpetrated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Mr. Uribe stressed the importance his country places on the role of human rights in sustaining “democratic security.”

He emphasized Colombia’s “respect for liberties in the midst of the fight against terrorism; the openness for vigilance” and “criticism and debate at the national and international level,” among others.

Now, “citizens have greater faith in the State, and they seek their protection, overcoming the past indifference of some and the inclination of many to address their risks by their own means… citizens have lost their fear to denounce, give testimony and cooperate with the Armed Forces and with Justice.”

The President recalled his address to last year’s general debate, in which he voiced his frustration at not having been able to rescue former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and those held in captivity by FARC with her.

“Today, thanks to the heroism, planning and bloodless effectiveness of our soldiers, she is a symbol of freedom, a freedom that we claim to liberate those that are still kidnapped and to put an end to this shameful crime in our homeland,” he said.

* * *

ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CRITICAL TO ACHIEVING GLOBAL ANTI-POVERTY GOALS – MIGIRO

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today highlighted the vital role played by local authorities in efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the globally agreed set of eight targets for slashing poverty, illiteracy and other socio-economic ills by 2015 – and improving the lives of their communities.

“Local governments are critical because of their proximity to the very people who are the beneficiaries of the MDGs,” Ms. Migiro said during an event at UN Headquarters in New York focusing on the contribution of local authorities to the Goals.

“Indeed, local authorities have a major role to play in the determination of the specificities of means of livelihood, in the running of primary health and educational facilities, and the provision of basic services such as water and sanitation,” she added.

Ms. Migiro noted that, for a number of years now, the UN has helped governments to ‘localize’ the MDGs. “Initially, this meant adapting the global MDG targets to the national level, to better reflect existing national contexts and ownership.

“In recent years, the emphasis has shifted to translating such ‘national’ MDG targets into sub-national or local targets and on supporting local efforts to achieve them,” she said.

Stressing that the role of local actors is critical, she urged that they be provided with the necessary financial and technical support to be able to carry out their important work.

Tomorrow Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto will be convening a high-level gathering to review progress to date, identify gaps and commit to concrete steps to ensure that all countries can achieve the MDGs.

Ms. Migiro said that while many countries have made significant progress, aggregate figures can conceal local disparities. “Without efforts that extend all the way to the local level – villages, districts, cities and regions can slip backwards,” she cautioned.

* * *

CYPRUS: UN PLAYS KEY ROLE IN DETERMINING FUTURE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY HEARS

The United Nations plays a crucial role in helping the Mediterranean island of Cyprus move forward towards a “bizonal, bicommunal federation” through its assistance in inter-Cypriot negotiations and its definition of the framework of the future Cypriot State, President Demetris Christofias told the General Assembly today.

Although most of the numerous Security Council and Assembly resolutions regarding Cyprus have “regrettably” not been implemented, Mr. Christofias said that they nonetheless provided the country with “the sword and shield that has ensured that it has remained and will continue to remain an undivided independent country, with a single sovereignty, single citizenship and single international personality.”

Such resolutions also set up the Secretary-General’s good offices for Cyprus, which assisted and supported negotiations between the two sides.

“Good offices is not arbitration. It is not mediation,” the President said. “Recent experience has shown that any attempt to impose – even import – non-Cypriot-inspired and improvised models will meet with rejection by the Cypriot people.”

Further, Council resolutions also provide the legal and political framework for Cyprus, he noted, one which embodies the principle of political equality between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in all federal organs.

This arrangement “represents a compromise and indeed the only possible compromise on which a political arrangement can be built,” Mr. Christofias said. “Relevant resolutions of the Security Council as well as the Constitution of Cyprus exclude partition, secession or union with any other country.”

Recalling his own background as an internally displaced person (IDP) following fighting in 1974, he assured the delegates at the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that is “political will to do what is necessary to solve the problem is firm and deep-rooted.”

The President expressed his determination to work with Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, to agree on what Cypriots want.

“But this is not enough for reaching a solution,” he said, calling on Turkey – which he said has more than 40,000 troops and “tens of thousands of settlers” on the island – to take an active role.

“We believe that the solution should benefit everybody and will benefit everybody,” Mr. Christofias said. “It would allow the Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to live together and work together in an independent prosperous country, within the family of the European Union, without the presence of foreign armies and illegal colonists under conditions of security and respect for their identity and their rights.”

After making a “fruitful” start earlier this month, according to the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Alexander Downer, talks between Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat aimed at reunifying Cyprus will resume next month.

The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) has been in place on the island since 1964 after the outbreak of inter-communal violence. It is tasked with preventing a recurrence of fighting, contributing to a return to normal conditions and the maintenance of law and order.

* * *

UN’S ROLE IN WORLD SHIPPING OVER 60 YEARS CELEBRATED ON WORLD MARITIME DAY

In the 21st century where communications are instantaneous, 90 per cent of world trade still reaches its destination via the commercial shipping industry, which has been shaped over the last six decades by the practices and standards set by the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO).

“It is because of the extensive network of global regulations that IMO has developed and adopted over the years that shipping is, nowadays, a safe and secure mode of transport, clean, environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient,” noted agency chief Efthimios Mitropoulos, in remarks today in celebration of World Maritime Day, whose theme this year is ‘IMO: 60 years in the service of shipping.’

When IMO was created in 1948, it addressed the needs of a world hugely dependent on naval passage for transporting goods. Today, the agency continues to develop safe, secure and efficient shipping services even as it helps to protect waters and coasts, especially for developing countries.

In recent times, IMO has also turned its attention to environmental concerns and has attempted to address the challenges posed by climate change. It is also a facilitator of economic growth as many smaller countries earn revenues by taking advantage of the shipping industry.

Recent issues taken up by IMO member States include piracy and armed robbery, particularly in the waters off the coast of Somalia. In June 2008, the Security Council, in resolution 1816, requested the IMO Secretary-General to take appropriate action to promote a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea and to hold a high level meeting to conclude the MoU at the earliest possible time.

IMO has made it a practice to pursue the universality of regulation in shipping without detracting from regional practices. As ships move between different waters and jurisdictions, it is imperative that they are governed by uniform standards, applied to and recognized by all.

As Mr. Mitropoulos pointed out, the organization’s work demonstrates that “international standards – developed, agreed, implemented and enforced universally – are the only effective way to regulate such a diverse and truly international industry as shipping.”

* * *

BAN URGES ACCELERATED EFFORTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

Warning that a world without water will be very unstable, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a three-pronged strategy to ensure that the poorest inhabitants of the developing world have access to clean water and basic sanitation within seven years.

Mr. Ban told participants at “One World One Dream: Sanitation and Water for All,” an event held at United Nations Headquarters in New York, that the world faces an uphill battle to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) calling for the proportion of people with access to safe drinking water by the target year of 2015.

“Current trends are disturbing,” he said. “To meet the sanitation target by the year 2015, about 173 million people will need to gain access to sanitation each year between now and then. That will be an immense undertaking; over the past decade-and-a-half, new sanitation services reached an average of about 76 million people per year.”

The situation is especially alarming in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people with access to basic sanitation needs to be increased six-fold by 2015 to reach the target.

Mr. Ban said the extreme weather phenomena associated with climate change is exacerbating the problem, and forecast that as many as 2.8 billion people will live in countries facing water stress or water scarcity by 2025.

“A world short of water will be an unstable world. Yet the worst need not happen. We know what the problems are, and what to do about them.”

The Secretary-General said the first step is to take concrete measures to build infrastructure, transfer technology and scale up good agricultural practices so as to produce more food with less water.

The management of water resources, including by public utilities and in rural areas, needs to be improved, he added, particularly given the impact of climate change.

Investment must also be expanded so that poor countries can close the gaps to achieve the MDG concerning water and sanitation.

“The estimated cost of closing the gap between current trends and what is needed to meet the target ranges from $10 billion to $18 billion per year. That is in addition to the $54 billion per year required to maintain existing water and sanitation systems.”

Today’s event brought together leaders from civil society, the private sector and governments, including Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and top officials from Tajikistan, Germany, Japan and Tanzania.

* * *

FORMER RWANDAN PROSECUTOR FOUND GUILTY OF GENOCIDE BY UN TRIBUNAL

A former prosecutor was sentenced to life in prison today after being found guilty of genocide, extermination and murder by the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the 1994 killing spree in Rwanda.

The trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found that Simeon Nchamihigo, former deputy prosecutor in Cyangugu Prefecture, instructed the Hutu-dominated rebel group known as the Interahamwe to seek out and kill Tutsis and moderate Hutus with the intent to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group and accomplices of the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front.

The chamber also found that Mr. Nchamihigo took part in attacks on refugee places, with some of the massacres planned during meetings of the prefecture Security Council which he attended.

In sentencing him, the ICTR – based in Arusha, Tanzania – took into consideration that he had committed such crimes while serving as a Rwandan prosecutor.

The chamber noted that Mr. Nchamihigo, “as a deputy prosecutor of Cyangugu Prefecture, was in a position of public trust, yet he exhibited zeal in the perpetration of these serious crimes,” according to a press release issued by the Tribunal.

More than 800,000 people were massacred, mostly by machete, for being ethnic Tutsis or Hutu moderates during a period of less than 100 days starting in April 1994.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to all four counts against him when he first appeared before the ICTR in 2001.

* * *

RECORD FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN 2007, BUT FINANCIAL CRISIS PROMPTS NEW CAUTION – UN

Global foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 30 per cent in 2007 to reach an all-time high of $1.8 billion, but the economic downturn and financial instability is prompting a new sense of caution for the coming years, according to a United Nations report released today.

“The worldwide slowdown appears to augur lower FDI activity for 2008,” the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in World Investment Report 2008: Transnational Corporations and the Infrastructure Challenge, its yearly review of investment trends.

The 2007 flows surpassed the previous record set in 2000 by some $400 billion, despite the global financial and credit crises which began in the second half of the year.

But the number of trans-national corporations (TNCs) planning large increases in investment overseas over the next three years has dropped significantly from 2007, although a majority still plan increases, albeit at a more moderate level, according to the report, based on 226 responses to queries sent to the world’s largest TNCs.

The upward trend in 2007 was apparent in nearly all regions and sub-regions and in all three economic groupings: developed countries, developing countries, and transition economies of South-East Europe and the former Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

The stock of FDI worldwide reached $15 trillion, representing the significant scale of activities of some 79,000 TNCs worldwide which own about 790,000 foreign affiliates.

FDI to developed countries amounted to over $1.2 billion, with the United States remaining the largest recipient, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and the Netherlands.

FDI to developing countries reached their highest level ever at $500 billion – a 21 per cent increase over 2006. While South Asia, East Asia, South-East Asia, and Oceania accounted for half of all FDI into developing countries, Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the largest increase – 36 per cent at $126 billion.

Inflows to West Asia – $71.5 billion in 2007 – have been growing in recent years and have exceeded those to Africa since 2004. All the same, investment in Africa also reached a historic high at $53 billion. The least developed countries (LDCs) attracted $13 billion, also a record.

As for 2008 and beyond, the report demonstrates the quickly growing international ambitions of companies from the developing world, particularly Asia, while FDI prospects for companies from developed countries, especially North America and Japan, have dimmed as compared to a year ago.

* * *

TEN BUSINESSES HONOURED WITH UN-BACKED AWARD FOR FIGHTING POVERTY

A family-owned soybean business in Ghana and one of the leading telecommunications firms in the Philippines were among 10 private companies recognized today with a United Nations-backed award for their work to improve the lives of millions of people, and proving that fighting poverty is good for business.

The 2008 World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) spotlights initiatives by companies that apply their business expertise to efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the globally agreed set of eight targets for slashing poverty, illiteracy and other socio-economic ills by 2015.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s most recent report on the MDGs, released ahead of a high-level event on the issue to be convened tomorrow, showed that many countries, particularly in Africa, are lagging in the race to reach the Goals by the target date.

This year’s winners, selected from104 applications from 44 countries, include projects that provide Nigerian farmers with commercial finance and technical assistance to produce higher quality crops, expand electricity to the poorest neighbourhoods of Brazil, raise awareness about HIV/AIDS with pioneering mobile games in India and provide credit services to the poor through mobile phones in Kenya.

“As the world becomes more interdependent, doing business with the poor has shown not only to be a potential boost to a company’s competitiveness, but also – with the right business model – to be a force in the fight against poverty,” said Kemal Derviº, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), one of the sponsors of the award.

“We are presenting a new approach to develop long-term business initiatives to harness the resources and talents that are the central strength of global business. This is a potent demonstration of our collective commitment to being a strong partner to the private sector in furthering shared aims,” he added.

The award, established by the International Chamber of Commerce in 2000 and also sponsored by the International Business Leaders Forum, is one of several initiatives that recognize the contributions of the private sector to the achievement of the MDGs.

* * *

RICH COUNTRIES ABUSE POWER AT EXPENSE OF THE POOR, CUBA SAYS AT UN DEBATE

Poor countries continue to bear the brunt of “the irrationality, wastefulness and speculation” of some wealthy nations that wield unfair economic and technological power and perpetuate deep inequalities, Cuba’s First Vice-President told the General Assembly today.

José Ramón Machado Ventura, First Vice-President of his country’s Council of State and Ministers, told delegates at the second day of the Assembly’s annual high-level debate that the gap between rich and poor “widens with every passing day.”

He said “the very modest Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) constitute an unreachable dream for the vast majority,” referring to the eight anti-poverty targets which world leaders agreed in 2000 to try to achieve by 2015.

The situation had become especially acute for some countries in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Mr. Machado Ventura said, because of the combined impact of the spike in food and fuel prices over the past year.

“Our nations have paid, and they will continue to pay the cost and the consequences of the irrationality, wastefulness and speculation of a few countries in the industrialized North who are responsible for the world food crisis,” he said.

“They imposed trade liberalization and the financial prescriptions of structural adjustment on the developing countries. They caused the ruin of many small producers; they denied, and in some cases destroyed, emerging agricultural development in the countries of the South, turning them into net food importing countries.”

The First Vice-President added that those same countries “maintain obscene agricultural subsidies while they force their rules on international trade. They set prices, monopolize technologies, impose unfair certifications and manipulate the distribution channels, the financing sources and trade. They control transportation, scientific research, genetic banks and the production of fertilizers and pesticides.”

He called, among other measures, for the cancellation of the foreign debt of developing countries “since it has been already paid more than once” and for the money saved to be channelled into economic development and social programmes.

The funds spent by rich nations on farm subsidies should also be directed to agriculture in the developing world, Mr. Machado Ventura said.

“By doing this, our countries would have about a billion dollars per day available to invest in food production.”

* * *

UN-BACKED PROJECT SEEKS TO BOOST POOR FARMERS’ INCOME IN DEVELOPING WORLD

Hundreds of thousands of small farmers, especially in Africa and Central America, are expected to benefit from a United Nations-backed initiative announced today to provide them with reliable markets for surplus crops at competitive prices, thus bolstering fragile local economies.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Government of Belgium have committed $76 million to Purchase for Progress (P4P) to transform the way the UN World Food Programme (WFP) purchases food in developing countries.

“The world’s poor are reeling under the impact of high food and fuel prices, and buying food assistance from developing world farmers is the right solution at the right time,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said.

“Purchase for Progress is win-win – we help our beneficiaries who have little or no food and we help local farmers who have little or no access to markets where they can sell their crops.”

Developed in partnership with the foundations, P4P will be launched in 21 pilot countries over the next five years. Innovations in WFP’s local food procurement practices, which are central to the agency’s new business model, aim to strengthen the role of smallholder and low-income farmers in agricultural markets and enable them to gain more from supplying food to WFP’s global operations.

WFP, the world’s single largest purchaser of food for humanitarian operations, will explore different ways to maximize gains for small farmers while minimizing any distortion to local markets. By supporting small farmers’ ability to produce and supply food to WFP’s global operations, P4P will help them increase their incomes, which is critical in addressing hunger and poverty at their roots.

“Developing new ways for WFP to purchase food locally represents a major step toward sustainable change that could eventually benefit millions of poor rural households in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has committed $66 million to fund pilot projects in 10 countries in Africa.

“P4P will help large numbers of small-scale farmers to become net producers rather than net consumers, ensuring that they stand to gain rather than lose from the current climate of rising food prices,” said Howard G. Buffett, President of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which has committed $9.1 million to support pilot projects in seven countries. The Government of Belgium contributed $750,000 for the project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Three other countries have not yet been funded.

* * *

OVER 20 REFUGEES FEARED DEAD IN SUDAN RIVER CROSSING – UN AGENCY

Twenty-one refugees are feared dead after their overloaded boat capsized during a smuggling incident in eastern Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

Among those missing, according to eyewitnesses, are 11 Eritrean and Somali families, including eight women and at least three children. They were part of a larger group that tried to cross the Atbara River – which is near the Shagarab refugee camp in eastern Sudan – in four boats. One of the four boats, which are meant to carry a maximum of 15 people, was packed with 26 and capsized several hundred kilometres from shore.

Four Eritrean men survived by swimming to shore, along with one Somali woman who clung to a floating log. One of the men said he was travelling to Khartoum in search of work, and he and several others were offered the trip across the river and onward to the capital by road for a fee of $100 each.

Two suspected smugglers – also refugees – now are in police custody.

“Last night’s tragic incident highlights the plight of refugees in eastern Sudan and the inherent risks of smuggling people,” UNHCR said in a news release.

The agency noted that the boat crossing was meant to bypass road blocks out of the camp, since refugees are required by government laws to remain in camps and receive assistance there. However, poor living conditions and lack of prospects force some, including women and children, to make dangerous journeys – often aided by smugglers – in search of a better life.

Eastern Sudan is home to an estimated 130,000 refugees, most of them from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, according to UNHCR. Close to 100,000 of them live in 12 camps where they receive international assistance.

* * *

CHINA HAS NO HEGEMONIC ASPIRATIONS, UN HEARS

China is pursuing a path of peaceful development, building its military strength only to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the General Assembly’s high-level debate was told today.

“China does not seek hegemony now, nor will it do so in the future,” Premier Wen Jiabao told delegates at United Nations Headquarters.

Noting that it poses no threat to others, he said that China takes great pride in its economic development, social justice, civility of the people and moral strength.

“China will, through its own development, contribute to the peace and development of the world,” the Premier said.

The Asian nation believes in resolving differences through dialogue and negotiation, he said. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China will continue to play an active and constructive role in promoting peaceful settlement of international hotspot issues and regional conflicts.”

But Mr. Wen also declared that his country will make its own decisions regarding international issues based on both its national interests and the welfare of the world’s people.

“We will neither blindly follow the position of others nor give way to the pressure of any forces,” he said. “In international relations, China does not seek to build [alliances] or become a leader and will never do so in the future.”

* * *

AFRICAN LEADERS AT UN CALL FOR AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT TO REPLACE FOOD AID

Investments in the agriculture of developing countries should replace food aid as part of the reforms needed to face the challenges of this century, African presidents told the General Assembly on the second day of its annual high-level debate today.

“We can no longer continue to apply 20th century solutions to the more complex problems of the 21st century,” Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said. “The moment has therefore arrived for an in-depth reform of the mechanism of cooperation for development.”

President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso said the crisis of soaring food prices showed the irrelevance of current agricultural policies and the fragility of the system of production and trade.

Meanwhile, Mozambican President Emilio Guebuza highlighted the importance of global cooperation to enhance agricultural productivity in developing countries by improving access to inputs and boosting investment in infrastructure to increase market access.

For his part, President Bingu Wa Mutharika of Malawi pointed to the detrimental impacts of severe climate changes on food production, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, lamenting that little concrete international action has been taken on the issue.

Mr. Wade advocated replacing financing measures that involved long and complicated procedures with investments based on direct assistance to beneficiaries, putting equipment, other agricultural input, and technical training at their disposal.

“In contrast to traditional financing, this innovative partnership offers an immediate and credible response to the food crisis, the rural exodus and the troubling phenomenon of illegal immigration,” he said.

He assailed the agricultural subsidies in rich countries, which “continue to poison international trade and seriously afflict the economy of developing countries, particularly in Africa.”

Mr. Compaoré called for massive investment in rural areas, greater control of water and a more efficient distribution of seeds and fertilizers, citing a decrease in recent years both in the volume and effectiveness of development aid.

He also called for international help in combating drug trafficking and the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.

Mozambique’s President said the causes of the current global food crisis are myriad, and that countries must join forces to help poorer nations make the leap from “their current subsistence farming into commercial agriculture.”

Mr. Guebuza noted that his country is home to natural resources that are favourable to mixed-farming.

“However, the shortage of financial resources and the weak [banking network] in the rural zones, associated with the lack of infrastructures and technology to secure the development of a commercial agriculture, have not allowed us to scale up our production to the levels that could meet the food needs of our population,” he said.

Mr. Mutharika, the Malawian leader, said that food production has been affected by climate events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts and desertification.

“The high dependence on rain-fed agriculture, especially in developing sub-Saharan countries, has also placed such nations at the mercy of the vagaries of nature,” he said.

Characterizing global food insecurity as a “collective challenge,” he called on the international community to increase investment in agriculture, especially food production.

President Pedro Rodrigues Verona Pires of Cape Verde also underlined the need to boost agricultural production. “The food crisis has endangered hundreds of millions of people,” he told the Assembly. “It is clear that urgent action is needed to guarantee greater agricultural production able to satisfy present and future needs.

“This goal requires the promotion of agricultural policies that are consistent with the needs of the situation, the participation of rich and technologically advanced states as well as the technical support of international organizations.

“It demands that attention be paid to modernization, increased production and agricultural productivity in the affected countries and regions,” he added, citing his own country and Africa at large.

Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor said the various forms of economic and other assistance to developing countries need to better coordinated if the globally agreed targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are all to be achieved on time.

“The whole idea of aid is to empower beneficiary countries to stand on their own feet to become effective partners in the global market, from which neither the rich nor poor countries can abstain, given the increasing inter-dependence of the world,” he said.

* * *

MIDDLE EAST PEACE TALKS COULD BE COMPLETED WITHIN A YEAR, ISRAEL TELLS UN DEBATE

The current track of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations can still be completed within the next year, leading to two States living side by side in peace, security and mutual respect, Israeli President Shimon Peres told world leaders gathered at the General Assembly today.

Speaking at the Assembly’s annual high-level debate in New York, Mr. Peres said the so-called Annapolis process – named after the United States city where the negotiations began late last year – will not be successfully wrapped up by its initial planned deadline.

“We tried to conclude the negotiations this year, [but] it will take longer,” he said. “But I believe it can be accomplished within the next year. I know that our Prime Minister is more than ready to conclude an agreement. Knowing [Palestinian] President [Mahmoud] Abbas, he will not miss this opportunity.”

Mr. Peres said progress can be made despite the imminent change in the Israeli leadership, with Ehud Olmert stepping down as Prime Minister.

“Gaps have been narrowed through negotiations – particularly the territorial ones. But peace is not just a matter of territorial compromise.”

The President said “rogue politics” still have the potential to disrupt the process, citing the actions of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s withdrawal of forces.

“These militants carry no positive alternative… They added kidnapping to bombings, bringing strife to innocent families,” he said, calling for the immediate release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006.

The General Assembly should place the release of Mr. Shalit at the top of its agenda, he stressed. “Holding a hostage in Gaza determines its isolation and further deterioration.”

For its part, Israel wants a wider peace in the region, the President said, including with neighbours Lebanon and Syria, and he proposed face-to-face talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He invited Arab leaders “to come and discuss peace in Jerusalem, which is holy to all of us.” In addition, he said that Israel would “gladly accept an Arab invitation at a designated venue where a meaningful dialogue may take place.”

But he warned that Iran continues to threaten hopes for peace “its quest for religious hegemony and regional dominance,” its support for Hamas and its backing of Hizbollah in Lebanon.

Turning to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the General Assembly yesterday, Mr. Peres said he had “renewed the darkest anti-Semitic label – the protocols of the elders of Zion. An attempt to bring to life one of the ugliest plots of history.”

“Their despicable denial of the Holocaust is a mockery of indisputable evidence, a cynical offence to survivors of the horror [and] contradictory to the resolutions adopted by this Assembly.”

* * *

UN HEARS CALL FOR ‘AFGHAN-IZATION’ OF MILITARY, DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES

Afghan ownership of its military, police and development operations are essential to allow the country to counter terrorism and further its reconstruction efforts, the South Asian nation’s President told the General Assembly’s high-level segment today.

Since addressing the body last year, “my country Afghanistan has grappled with a number of important challenges, none more troubling than the problem of international terrorism,” Hamid Karzai said. “Terrorist forces have significantly increased their attacks and brutality and enjoyed freedom in their sanctuaries.”

He pointed to terrorists’ “growing reach” as evidenced by recent attacks, including last weekend’s attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul and attacks in the Indian cities of Bangalore and Ahmedabad.

The “Afghan-ization of the military operations is vital if the problem of civilian casualties is to be addressed effectively,” since they “seriously undermine the legitimacy of fighting terrorism and the credibility of the Afghan people’s partnership with the international community,” the President said.

The battle against terrorism will only succeed if the local population is able to tackle it, Mr. Karzai noted, stressing the importance of fostering the country’s economic growth and development.

“Much like the security sector, Afghan-ization of the development process is not just to the goal of ensuring ownership but also the effective implementation of our development strategy,” he said, calling on the global donors for its assistance to boost aid effectiveness and the United Nations for its help in coordinating the international’s community in Afghanistan’s development and state-building efforts.

The Afghan President said that the country’s reconstruction is under way. “Today our people are more educated, healthier, better off, and more optimistic about their future,” with double digit growth in its economy boosting the standard of living for its people, he said.

Earlier this week, the Security Council voted unanimously to extend the mission of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for another year and called for it to be strengthened in the face of increased violence and terrorism from the Taliban, Al-Qaida and drug smugglers.

The nearly 50,000-strong force was created after United States-led forces ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 to help the then-interim authorities maintain security across the impoverished nation.

* * *

NEW UN SCHEME SEEKS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE FROM DEFORESTATION

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced a pioneering initiative aimed at combating climate change through creating incentives to reverse the trend of deforestation, at an unveiling with Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg.

The UN Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Programme is designed to tip the fiscal balance in favour of sustainable management of forests, simultaneously bringing economic benefits to participating countries and contributing to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Reducing deforestation in developing countries is a key element of addressing the global climate change challenge,” Mr. Ban said at the ceremony in New York.

“Sustainable forest and land use management are efficient adaptation, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation strategies, he noted, adding that the initiative is “a concrete illustration of the UN system’s commitment to provide coordinated support to Member States in responding to their climate change challenges.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that the cutting down of forests is now contributing close to 20 per cent of the overall greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere.

“Fighting greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation is a priority for Norway now and also in the years to come. If we are successful with stage one, Norway will certainly continue support for the UN-REDD Programme,” said Mr. Stoltenberg, whose government is financing the initiative’s start up with $35 million.

Initially nine countries – Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zambia – will receive assistance through the Programme to reduce the role deforestation plays in amassing greenhouse gases.

The REDD initiative will support these countries as part of an international move to include REDD in new and more comprehensive climate change multilateral agreements to start post-2012, when the current Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction targets will end.

If REDD is included in a post-2012 UN climate change agreement it may lead to developed countries being able to pay developing nations for the emissions they have saved. Developing countries could receive significant payments which in turn could be used on much needed development projects.

A country such as Indonesia could potentially receive up to $1 billion a year if its deforestation rate was reduced to one million hectares annually, according to some estimates.

The UN agencies coordinating the REDD project are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Development Programme http://www.undp.org/">(UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

Mr. Ban has pledged to do all he can to facilitate a global deal by the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, which seeks to create a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol.

Today in New York, the Secretary-General met with President Kaczynski of Poland, Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark and Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Hassan Wirajuda – the current and future presidencies of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Ban noted that the next round of talks slated to take place in Poznan, Poland, in December is “a crucial bridge to Copenhagen.”

He added that there was a consensus that real progress must be made in Poznan in several key areas, including developed countries sending a clear signal that they are ready to discharge their responsibilities with regards to emissions reductions and financing to support developing countries’ own actions on climate change.

* * *

UNESCO CONDEMNS LATEST KILLINGS OF IRAQI JOURNALISTS AND SUPPORT WORKERS

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with preserving press freedom today condemned the latest killings of journalists and media support workers in Iraq and urged the country’s authorities to devise stronger measures to try to protect the media.

Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), issued a statement today in which he condemned the murder of Musab Mahmood al-Ezawi, Ahmed Salim, Ihab Mu’d and Qaydar Sulaiman in Mosul on 13 September.

“These killings are yet another intolerable attack on the Iraqi people’s struggle to rebuild their country and establish a democratic society,” he said.

“In view of the importance for democracy of freedom of expression and informed public debate, I call on the authorities to give priority to finding effective measures to protect the media.”

Mr. al-Ezawi was a senior correspondent with al-Sharqiya television network, Mr. Salim and Mr. Mu’d were cameramen for the same network and Mr. Sulaiman was their driver when they were kidnapped while filming a show in Mosul.

The independent Committee to Protect Journalists reported that the bodies of the four men – all believed to have been aged in the 20s – were later found a short distance away from where they were attacked.

Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists to operate, and since the United States-led invasion in March 2003 at least 135 journalists have been murdered while on duty and 51 media support workers have also been killed.

* * *

RISING EXTREMISM WARRANTS GLOBAL RESPONSE, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed the need for forging common solutions to shared problems, in particular the growing threat of extremism, which like many of today’s challenges affects all countries, large and small.

In today’s world, “extremist violence in one place can have a ripple effect across many others,” Mr. Ban said in remarks to a high-level gathering of representatives comprising the “Group of Friends” of the global campaign known as the Alliance of Civilizations.

“Friction between communities spreads, causing mistrust, resentment and hatred to spill across borders. Old myths about cultures and religions get new life on the Internet, driving an even bigger wedge between diverse groups,” he stated.

“Rising extremism, like everything else in our interdependent world, demands a global response,” he added.

The Group of Friends can contribute to this effort by supporting the Alliance of Civilizations, a campaign created in 2005 at the initiative of Spain and Turkey and under UN auspices, aiming to help overcome prejudices between nations and cultures and to promote interfaith dialogue.

Through political, financial and strategic support for the Alliance, the Group can help overcome divisions and build trust, provide a platform to discuss sensitive issues creatively and constructively, and cut through polarized positions.

“You can tackle difficult questions from new angles, and encourage new ideas. You can support concrete initiatives that build understanding,” Mr. Ban said.

The “Group of Friends” network – a growing community of over 80 States and international organizations that support the objectives of the Alliance – was set up to foster partnerships and deepen cooperation on a range of initiatives across different regions.

* * *

MEXICO URGES RICH NATIONS TO BACK PROPOSED UN-RUN FUND TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

Mexico’s President today appealed to wealthy countries to contribute to the setting up of its proposed Green Fund, which would be managed by the United Nations and aim to help poor nations combat the effects of climate change.

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, taking place at UN Headquarters in New York, that the fund has been proposed to deal with a paradox of climate change – those countries which have contributed the least to the phenomenon are often the most vulnerable to its impact.

“Climate change is not a problem to be faced by nations according to their degree of development,” he said. “It is a task that requires the translation of words into deeds that are to be substantiated by concrete proposals that are based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities.”

Mr. Calderón said the planned fund – first announced in May this year – would be set up within the framework of the UN so as to allow incentives for individual States to redouble their efforts to fight global warming.

“It is a great satisfaction for us to see that organizations like the World Bank have already taken the initiative to broaden the availability of resources for the benefit of the countries that need them,” he added.

“I respectfully call upon all nations, especially the most developed, to contribute to the establishment of this Green Fund for the creation of financial instruments to protect the environment on a global scale.”

Echoing that theme, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo Mendez called for short- and long-term global responses to the problems caused by climate change that are compatible with the economic and social development of each country.

“It is ironic that the poorest, those that are least responsible for climate change, are those who suffer most from its consequences,” he said.

“In terms of major responsibility we frequently witness the irony of conservation levels demanded from those areas of the world that are already oppressed by poverty and exclusion while we see a sustained indifference and low level of self-criticism from the political circles that lead the fate of the world.”

Mr. Lugo Mendez also called for strengthening the powers of the 192-member General Assembly as the most representative body in the UN, where the 15-member Security Council’s resolutions are binding but the Assembly’s are not.

“It should be transformed into a true parliament of the world where the great themes besetting humankind are debated and not hijacked by other organs, where the decisions that are adopted are restricted to a small number of countries who very often do not pay attention to the opinions of the majority of members,” he said.

* * *

DOMINICAN LEADER URGES WALL STREET-STYLE ‘BAIL-OUT’ TO REACH UN POVERTY GOALS

President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic today called on the world’s richest countries to provide the same emergency funding to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at slashing global poverty, hunger and other social ills as they have to bailing out failed financial institutions.

“The peoples of the world who suffer from hunger and misery raise their voices to urge the international community to pay the same prompt attention to solving their needs as it has in rushing to the rescue of banking institutions on the brink of collapse,” he told the General Assembly on the second day of its annual high-level debate.

Mr. Fernandez noted that while the world’s richest countries had pledged extraordinary development aid at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 to achieving the MDGs, only five – Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden – had fulfilled the goal of contributing the equivalent of 0.7 per cent or more of their gross domestic product (GDP).

“What is certain is that at this moment, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, we need from the international community a financial rescue plan, a kind of ‘bailout,’ as they say these days,” he said, citing World Bank figures that $50 billion is needed annually to reach the MDGs by their target date of 2015.

“That means that in order to achieve the goals of raising the quality of life and the conditions of dignity of the world’s poor nations we need an international economic financing plan that is as bold and urgent as the one that is presently being put into effect to save Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Sterns, Merrill Lynch, AIG and other financial institutions,” he declared.

In fact, the amount needed would total $350 billion, according to the World Bank figures, “just half of what is currently being debated in the United States Congress to save from collapse those Wall Street financial business that are responsible for their own failure,” he added.

Mr. Fernandez also assailed unregulated speculation in selling and buying futures contracts in oil and foodstuff, which “through excessive speculation, fraud and manipulation” lead to the distortion of economic fundamentals.

“It is incomprehensible that someone sells what he does not have and somebody else buys something that he does not want to have,” he said. “Yet that is what has been happening these days in the clearest demonstration of what is being called ‘casino capitalism’.”

Referring to the “stupefying” rise in the price of oil, he said that the extra $5 billion that the Dominican Republic has had to pay since 2004 could fund all public investments needed to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

President Elías Antonio Saca Gonzalez of El Salvador also broached the financial crisis, calling for reform. “The financial economic order can be at the mercy of speculative markets,” he told the Assembly.

“We must jointly reconstruct a prudent capitalism which finances economic development and not speculation,” he said. “We must help to prevent and mitigate the grave financial fluctuations, bring some equilibrium to balances and stabilize credit.”

He applauded French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for a speedy meeting of those countries most affected to work out a joint solution to the worst financial crisis in 75 years.

Mr. Saca Gonzalez also called for reform of the Security Council to make it more democratic and representative of the real world.

Honduran President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales said the financial crisis and “financial fraud perpetrated by the big transnational companies” were endangering all the relative advances his Central American country had made economic growth and poverty reduction.

“Today when they rush in to save the big banks from failure in a crisis created by speculative and fraudulent capital, to the value of some $700 billion, we must remind them that with just a third of that amount poverty could be eliminated in Africa, America and Asia,” he told the Assembly.

“Capitalism is devouring humanity, especially the poor and the very capital that created it,” he said, adding that the goal must be not to destroy the market but to build a social market economy, defining the limits of capitalism and ending the rule of the law of the jungle.

* * *

CLEAR POLITICAL WILL NEEDED TO MEET DEVELOPMENT TARGETS, CHILEAN LEADER TELLS UN

The current turbulence in international financial markets demonstrates that the world needs a renewed sense of purpose in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their 2015 deadline, the President of Chile told the General Assembly today.

“A better world is possible, but this requires determination to move forward,” Michelle Bachelet told delegates at the annual high-level debate on its second day.

But she cautioned that the current economic crisis is proof that such determination is lacking.

“The greed and irresponsibility of a few, combined with the political negligence of others, has plunged the world into a situation of great uncertainty,” the President said, noting that the funds earmarked for bailing out global banks could be put to use to stamp out world hunger.

States and civil society must band together to set out a course of action to tackle global food crisis and take measures to ensure that economic fluctuations do not impede the achievement of the MDGs, she said.

“That is why I appeal for an urgent and genuine commitment to multilateralism,” Ms. Bachelet told the Assembly.

Chile is on track to meet the Goals well ahead of the 2015 target, she said, with its economy nearly tripling in size since the end of the dictatorship in 1989.

“We have advanced strongly on all fronts: health, education, housing, quality of life, social cohesion,” the President said, noting that the poverty rate has plummeted from 40 per cent nearly two decades ago to 13 per cent in 2006.

The South American nation’s successes have been propelled by “a clear political determination, shared by the majority,” she said.

Despite differences that occur in any democracy, Ms. Bachelet said, Chileans are united behind the understanding that economic growth, political democracy and social justice are its main goals.

* * *

PORTUGAL AND SLOVENIA CALL FOR GREATER REPRESENTATION ON SECURITY COUNCIL

The leaders of Portugal and Slovenia today called for the membership of the Security Council to be expanded, saying broader representation is needed to ensure effective multilateralism in dealing with the biggest global challenges.

Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva told the General Assembly on the second day of its annual high-level debate that with the United Nations providing the best forum for tackling such challenges, its organs such as the Security Council must have greater diversity and transparency.

“In a globalized and interdependent world only strong multilateral organizations can promote the fundamental values of peace, democracy, human rights and sustainable development,” he said.

Mr. Cavaco Silva laid out three essential premises – giving the UN the necessary means to fulfil its mission, assuring greater representation within the 15-member Security Council and other UN organs, and guaranteeing full compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Is it reasonable to continue with a Security Council without reforming its methods of work, in which countries like Brazil and India do not have a permanent seat?” he asked.

He also said Africa should continue to receive priority attention. “Peace, sustainable development, access to education and health [and] the integration of African economies in international markets are essential goals on the road to building a more just, peaceful and equitable social order,” he declared.

Turning to terrorism, he said implementation of a global strategy was vital for fighting this “common enemy,” but respect for human rights and fundamental liberties were essential in this battle.

“Another ‘common enemy,’ slower but equally destructive, is hunger and extreme poverty,” he added. “Here, too, there have been many words and some action, but much more is needed.”

Slovenia’s President proposed that the Security Council be expanded to include as many as 25 members, saying a transformation of the world’s major structures for maintaining peace and security was long overdue.

Danilo Türk told the General Assembly that incremental improvement of the Council’s methods was far from sufficient.

He called for six additional permanent members from all regions of the world to join China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“There should be an additional category of non-permanent members with a more frequent rotation, six in any particular composition of the Security Council, elected in accordance with a formula to be determined by the General Assembly and alternating every second two-year term,” Mr. Türk said.

He added that the remaining eight non-permanent members would be elected in line with the principle of equitable geographic distribution, thus ensuring the new, expanded Council would not have more than 25 members.

Mr. Türk said a spirit of major change should infect the wider international system, given that “we live in a turbulent world at a turbulent time,” especially considering the recent turmoil in the global financial markets.

“We live at a time requiring transformation… The UN should look to policies with a transformational potential and capable of producing transformational effects in a not too distant future.”

* * *

BAN APPEALS FOR FURTHER RATIFICATIONS OF KEY NUCLEAR TREATY

Despite its ratification by nearly 150 nations, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) still has yet to go into force, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon lamented today, calling on countries to take urgent action to promote global peace and security.

The pact “would outlaw all nuclear tests and move us towards the larger goals of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and preventing their proliferation,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks to the fourth biennial ministerial meeting in support of the Treaty.

The event, held at UN Headquarters in New York, was attended by a number of high-level officials and featured a special presentation by former United States Defense Secretary William Perry and Academy Award-winning actor and UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas.

Almost 180 nations have signed the CTBT and 144 have ratified it. However, of the 44 States whose ratifications are required, nine have yet to do so – China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.

The Secretary-General said he rejects the “pessimistic view” that the stalemate in the areas of disarmament and non-proliferation will preclude the CTBT from becoming a reality.

Achieving disarmament under effective international control depends on the state of global security, “but we cannot wait for the perfect security environment to come along,” he said.

“Rather, I believe that the process of moving forward in disarmament, non-proliferation and against the uses of weapons of mass destruction by terrorists will itself contribute to international peace and security.”

* * *

COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE COULD CREATE MILLIONS OF JOBS, SAYS UN-BACKED STUDY

Tackling climate change could potentially generate millions of new employment opportunities, according to a new United Nations-backed study – the first of its kind on the emergence of a “green economy” and its impact on labour – released today.

Entitled “Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World,” the publication shows how efforts to address global warming and slash greenhouse gas emissions are leading to new “green” jobs in many sectors. This, in turn, has resulted increased investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The report – a joint effort by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Trade Union Confederation and the International Organization of Employers – includes recommendations in the run-up to next year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which seeks to create a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, whose first-round commitments end in 2012.

“What this report is about from the perspective of sustainability is to show the policymakers that with the right incentives, the right research and development support programmes, there is massive potential here for new economic sectors to emerge,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said at a news conference in New York.

He noted that amid the current financial turmoil seen in different parts of the world, countries will spend hundreds of billions of dollars in coming months to stabilize the global economy.

“Imagine for a moment if some of the stimulus packages that are now being developed could be targeted towards not maintaining and sustaining the old economy of the 20th century but investing in the new economy of the 21st century,” he stated.

The report highlights the importance of boosting investment access for developing countries and increasing energy efficiency in buildings and industry, among other things.

But it also points to how climate change is adversely affecting workers and their families who depend on agriculture and tourism for their livelihoods.

Too few green jobs are being created for the most vulnerable, the study warns, with 1.3 billion of the world’s working poor – or 43 per cent of the global workforce – earning less than $2 a day.

It also stresses the need for “just transitions” for those affected by the switch to a more green economy with access to new employment opportunities, noting the importance of dialogue among governments, workers and employers to ease potential tensions and to ensure that all sectors are involved in developing more coherent environmental, economic and social policies.

“We need to make sure that green jobs are decent jobs,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. “As the report makes clear, building a low-carbon economy is not only about technology or finances, it’s about peoples and societies. It’s about a cultural change to a greater environmental consciousness and opportunities for decent work.

“New jobs will be created, others adapted and some will fade out. In order to keep the political will and the public support, we will have to put policies in place that have to focus from the beginning on those at the receiving end of this transition,” he stated.

* * *

UKRAINE PROPOSES NEW UN BODY TASKED WITH ECOLOGICAL PROTECTION

A new United Nations entity that has authority for ecological protection around the world should be set up, Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko told the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly today.

Ukraine puts forward an initiative to develop a framework binding agreement – [the] World Environmental Constitution – and to establish a system of a single structure for ecological protection with relevant authority and mechanisms of work in the UN,” Mr. Yushchenko said.

He told world leaders gathered for the debate at UN Headquarters in New York that the initiative is part of Ukraine’s call “for a more active global cooperation in the sphere of ecology.”

The President noted that strategies for protecting the environment should be linked to international attempts to resolve the global food crisis caused by the recent spike in the price of many staples and also to efforts to develop a more “effective and just energy policy.”

Turning to the recent conflict in Georgia between Georgian, Russian and South Ossetian forces, he said that Ukraine “vigorously denounces violation of the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Georgian borders and armed annexation of its territory.

“Ukraine does not recognize the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” he added.

Mr. Yushchenko called for the Security Council’s role, stressing that “we need its balanced decisions and effective actions.”

* * *

TAMIL ‘TERRORISTS’ MUST LAY DOWN ARMS, SRI LANKAN LEADER TELLS UN DEBATE

Sri Lanka’s President today issued a call during the General Assembly’s annual high-levels segment to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a group he branded as “terrorists” – to renounce violence and engage in dialogue with the Government.

“Our Government would only be ready to talk to this illegal armed group when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning of its illicit weapons and dismantling of its military capability, and return to the democratic fold,” Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

He stressed that the Government will not allow the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka to be undermined.

Noting that Tamils hold ministerial posts in his Government, the President said that the Tamil community has lived in harmony with other Sri Lankans for centuries.

“But a malicious group has turned all of this upside down,” he said, adding that efforts over the past 25 years to resolve the problem has been “treated with contempt by the terrorists,” who indiscriminately target civilians.

Mr. Rajapaksa voiced hope that northern areas currently affected by terrorist activity could follow the example of eastern Sri Lanka, where former LTTE members are now provincial councillors and a former child soldier conscripted by the group holds the post of Chief Minister.

“Significantly, the restoration of democracy in the east of Sri Lanka was achieved in less than one year of it being freed from the clutches of terror.”

The President’s address to the Assembly also touched on the global food crisis.

“Achieving food security would require strengthening and revitalizing the agriculture sector,” he said, pointing out that this requires small- and medium-scale farmers to be empowered.

* * *

WORLD SKYSHIP RACE TO PROMOTE WORLD HERITAGE SITES AND ENVIRONMENT – UNESCO

Zeppelins and skyships will take part in a global race in 2010 promoting world heritage sites as well as sustainable tourism that reduces the pollution and environmental stress on natural and cultural locations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced today.

The agency, in partnership with the World Air League, has scheduled 16 back-to-back races in which Zeppelins and skyships will cover 30,000 miles stopping at iconic sites including many on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

These include the Taj Mahal (India), the Coliseum (Italy), the Pyramids (Egypt), the Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan (Mexico) and Greenwich (United Kingdom).

The event is designed to generate publicity for world heritage, as well as raise awareness of and funding for preservation, while demonstrating the skyship’s potential contribution to sustainable tourism.

Skyships can reduce fuel consumption by 89 per cent when compared to long haul jet aircraft, and can cut energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent when measured up against road transportation, according to a UNESCO press release.

UNESCO and World Air League, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the United States, will also use the World Sky Race to develop educational activities, as well as raise awareness of environmental issues, as the skyships make additional stops at notable sites such as Mount Fuji (Japan), and Kilauea Volcano, Golden Gate Bridge and Statue of Liberty (US).

* * *

-----------------------------------------
Click here for a PDF version of the UN Daily News: http://www.un.org/News/dh/pdf/english/2008/24092008.pdf
For more details go to UN News Centre at: http://www.un.org/news
To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/

---------------------------------------------------------
To change your profile or *** go to: http://www.un.org/apps/news/email/

Back to newsletter list

Date:

From:

Subject:

UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST - 24 September