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Date:

Thu, September 25, 2008 10:10:05 PM

From:

UN_NEWS

Subject:

UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST - 25 September

AROUND $16 BILLION IN NEW COMMITMENTS UNVEILED AT UN ANTI-POVERTY EVENT

Governments, foundations, businesses and civil society groups have rallied around the call to action to slash poverty, hunger, disease and other socio-economic ills by 2015, by announcing an estimated $16 billion in new commitments to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), at a high-level event at United Nations Headquarters.

“Today we did something special. We brought together a broad coalition for change,” Mr. Ban told a news conference at the end of the day-long event, which he convened with General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto.

The gathering “exceeded our most optimistic expectations,” he stated, noting that it generated an estimated $16 billion, including some $1.6 billion to bolster food security, more than $4.5 billion for education and $3 billion to combat malaria.

“If so, that expression of global commitment would be all the more remarkable because it comes against the backdrop of financial crisis,” said the Secretary-General, who recently reported that soaring food and fuel prices and the global economic downturn are impeding advances in meeting the internationally agreed anti-poverty targets.

“Today, we have strengthened the global partnership for development,” Mr. Ban told participants at the event’s closing. “Your resolve to act is evident. Yes, you have stepped up to confront growing challenges. Now, I urge you to move with more speed and focus.”

Mr. Ban has called for a summit on the MDGs in 2010 to further assess the delivery of the commitments undertaken.

Mr. D’Escoto said the new initiatives will inject new energy, resources and hope into global efforts to achieve the Goals. “However, these good efforts, as important as they are, are not enough,” he noted.


“The only way we can alleviate the suffering of the world’s poor is by creating a sound and just international economic system,” he stated, urging participants to work towards progress on the stalled Doha round of trade liberalization talks. “Ultimately, all countries are responsible for their own development. But everyone must have fair opportunities to do so.”

Nonetheless, he acknowledged the great strides made today. “We must go forward in partnership, for what we can achieve together is far greater than what any country or organization can accomplish alone.”

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero today added his voice to the chorus of those expressing disappointment at the lack of progress in alleviating the lot of the world’s hundreds of millions of poor people.

“We have not advanced as much as we should have. We have not progressed as we had planned. We have done something wrong,” he told the General Assembly on the third day of its annual General Debate.

“And yet the urgency is the same if not greater than it was when the Millennium Goals were adopted,” he said. “We cannot hold back. We cannot blame our failure to fulfil our obligations on the situation in the markets. We cannot hide behind circumstances to avoid our pledges.

“It is not only a matter of heeding ethical imperatives, which in themselves cannot be delayed. It is a matter also if acting responsibly in support of international stability and equilibrium.”


* * *

LEADERS AT UN LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE MALARIA DEATHS BY 2015

Government, business and civil society leaders gathered at the United Nations today to launch a global campaign to reduce malaria deaths, currently at more than 1 million each year, to near zero by 2015, with an initial commitment of nearly a $3 billion.

The Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP) aims to cuts deaths and illness by 2010 to half their 2000 levels by scaling up access to insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying and treatment, and achieve the near-zero goal through sustained universal coverage. Ultimately it seeks to eradicate the disease completely with new tools and strategies.

Fully implementing GMAP will require $5.3 billion worldwide in 2009, $2.2 billion of it for Africa, and $6.2 billion in 2010, $2.86 billion for Africa, to expand malaria control programmes. An additional $750 million to $900 million per year is needed for research on vaccines drugs and other new tools.

“This $3 billion commitment is really encouraging,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the launching ceremony. “Of course, you know, we need more. There are so many areas we need urgent funding, but this is a good will demonstration to the international community, as a part of your participation.

Leaders present with Mr.Ban included, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, News Corporation president Peter Chernin and U2 lead singer Bono.

“To halt and reverse the incidence of malaria is not only a specific Millennium Development Goal (MDG),” Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers said, referring to the targets set by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000 which aim to slash poverty, hunger, preventable illness and a host of other socio-economic ills by 2015.

“It is also essential to improving maternal and child health, improving education and significantly reducing poverty,” he added, citing some of the other MDGs.

The commitments announced today include $1.6 billion over two years from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with a plan to distribute 100 million additional bed nets; $1.1 billion from the World Bank; $168 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for vaccine research; $40 million from the United Kingdom Department for International Aid; and $28 million from Marathon Oil/Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria/Equatorial Guinea.


* * *

THOUSANDS OF SOMALIS FLEE CAPITAL AFTER FRESH FIGHTING THIS WEEK – UN AGENCY

At least 12,000 civilian residents of Mogadishu have fled their homes in the Somali capital since last weekend because of a surge in fighting between Islamist insurgents and Government forces backed by the Ethiopian military, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

Half of the newly displaced have found shelter in different neighbourhoods within Mogadishu, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while the remainder have escaped to the town of Afgooye, about 30 kilometres away.

Afgooye is already home to an estimated 350,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), mostly from Mogadishu, where the fighting between the Government forces and the Islamists has been particularly intense over the past year.

Catherine Weibel, a spokesperson for UNHCR, told UN Radio that many residents panicked as the shelling stepped up at the weekend and they left their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Ms. Weibel said UNHCR and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the region expect that the number of displaced to keep rising as the fighting is continuing.

She added that humanitarian workers are finding it difficult to reach those in need and distribute aid because the city is so insecure.

The latest fighting is taking place despite the signing of a UN-brokered peace deal between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the rebel Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) in June that was supposed to end the armed clashes.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991, and the current fighting has combined with a drought in parts of the country to create a humanitarian crisis. At least 3 million people, or more than a third of the population, are now dependent on aid.

The efforts of the UN to deliver aid are often hampered by pirate attacks against aid ships off the coast of Somalia, prompting the naval forces of individual States – including France, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada – to provide escorts.

Today the World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed the decision by Canada to extend its naval escort mission by a further month, instead of ending this Saturday as originally slated.

“Make no mistake – Canada’s generous act of extending naval protection will allow us to get food in and will save lives,” WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement. “We urgently call on other nations to step up to the plate.”


* * *

SECRETARY-GENERAL SIGNS UP TO GLOBAL CALL TO ARMS TO DEFEAT POVERTY

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today joined celebrities, dignitaries and anti-poverty activists from around the world in signing his name on a glass wall outside United Nations Headquarters in New York as part of a global initiative to raise pressure on governments to accelerate their efforts to end poverty.

“I am proud to have added my name to this pledge wall, a powerful symbol in our mobilization to make poverty history,” Mr. Ban said after writing his name this morning on the plexiglass wall during the launch of the “In My Name” initiative.

Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Bollywood star Rahul Bose, the model and actress Elle Macpherson and the singer Angelique Kidjo were among those who also participated in the launch, while the hip-hop singer Will.i.am performed a new song composed for the event.

“In My Name” has been organized by the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Oxfam, Save the Children, Comic Relief and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, and aims to hold governments to the pledges they made at a UN summit in 2000 to eliminate or drastically reduce poverty and associated deprivation by 2015.

“I signed my name as a citizen of Korea, but above all as a citizen of the world,” Mr. Ban added. “As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I will be taking your message back to the many world leaders I am meeting here this week. I am determined to push them to keep the promises their governments made here eight years ago.”

The Millennium Declaration adopted at the UN summit in 2000 vowed to “spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty.”

Mr. Ban – whose signing of the wall will be part of a video to be posted on YouTube –noted today that “this is a profound pledge which will be even more meaningful when we fulfil it.” A video from Will.i.am will also invite members of the online audience to submit their video signatures showing support for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).


* * *

UN-BACKED SCHEME AIMS TO REDUCE MATERNAL MORTALITY BY BOOSTING HEALTH SYSTEMS

The United Nations has teamed up with world leaders to launch a new initiative to strengthen health systems in an effort to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth, one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) world leaders with a 2015 deadline.

The task force on maternal mortality, which will be co-chaired by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, will focus on innovative financing to strengthen health care systems and pay for health care workers.

The recommendations that will flow from the group, which will include UN World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan and several global leaders, will potentially save the lives of 10 million women and children by 2015. They will be presented to next year’s meeting of the leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations, to be held in Italy.

“Despite two decades of efforts, the world failed to make a dent in the high number of maternal deaths,” Ms. Chan told a news conference in New York, attributing the lack of progress to insufficient investment in health systems, the training of health workers and the strengthening of facilities and services.

“We still have time, but just barely, to make up for this failure,” she added.

Welcoming the task force announced today, she stressed that it will take additional resources, “over and above what has already been committed,” to strengthen health systems.

According to WHO, around 500,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth every year – about one woman every minute. Nearly all maternal deaths – 99 per cent – occur in developing countries, and half of those are in Africa.

“The number of maternal deaths will not go down until more women have access to skilled attendants at birth and to emergency obstetric care,” Ms. Chan stressed.

In a joint statement issued, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank and WHO pledged to enhance support over the next five years to the countries with the highest maternal mortality.

Their efforts aim to help countries achieve the two MDG 5 targets of reducing maternal mortality by 75 per cent and achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015, as well as contribute to achieving MDG 4 on reducing child mortality.

UNFPA’s Executive Director, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, has called on Member States to speed up efforts for reproductive, maternal and newborn health, noting that the world will not achieve the MDGs without more investment in the health and rights of women and ensuring universal access to reproductive health.

“It would cost the world $6 billion, less than a day-and-a-half of military spending, to stop women from dying in childbirth. We urge all governments to step up funding for reproductive health and save women’s lives.”


* * *

BAN WARNS LEADERS OF PERILS OF INACTION ON FOOD CRISIS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened a high-level gathering tonight on the combined impact of the global food crisis and climate change with a call to world leaders to hold each other accountable for making real progress to helping the hundreds of millions of people in need.

“The poor and hungry of this world are looking at us for leadership and solutions. We must not fail them,” Mr. Ban said at the event, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

“The cost of inaction – even in what may constitute tough economic times – will be devastating, and the effects will be felt all over the world in the form of sharp increases in migration, social and political instability, losses of investment opportunities and stunted economic growth.”

Tonight’s meeting consists of a series of discussions that will examine issues including: how to bolster agricultural productivity; developing alternative approaches to managing food security risks; and building consensus on the political objectives for the next round of climate change talks, which are scheduled for Poznan, Poland, at the end of this year.

The heads of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank are participating, as are representatives of at least 32 countries and some regional organizations.

Mr. Ban told the meeting that his High-Level Task Force on the food crisis has devised concrete policy proposals aimed at both improving food security and advancing on efforts to mitigate and combat the effects of global warming.

He called for a reverse of “the negative trend of chronic under-investment into the agricultural sector” and the liberalization of trade rules to allow the estimated 400 million small-holder farmers around the world to compete fairly on the international market.

The price of many basic foods, such as rice, has soared over the past two years, and the Secretary-General noted that the most recent UN data indicates that at least 75 million additional people slid into hunger and poverty, joining over 800 million others.

“The nutritional status of many poor, among them millions of children, is further declining. A moral outrage in my view.”

Earlier today, in remarks to the presentation of the Irish Hunger Task Force Report, he stressed the need for a coordinated response to the food crisis.

“We need to… [bring] together governments, the UN and Bretton Woods institutions, donors, civil society and the private sector. We need to provide the political commitment to make policy changes.”

Mr. Ban said as much as $40 billion a year in funding will be required for the next three to five years to alleviate the food crisis and ensuring long-term improvement in agricultural production.

In a separate address today to a New York gathering hosted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mr. Ban said the Poznan summit in December will be the first real test of international commitment to the issue after last year’s breakthrough in Bali.

He called for the world’s countries to make sure they emerge from Poznan with “a strong political signal on strengthening financial and technology transfer mechanisms to help developing countries with adaptation and mitigation.”

The Secretary-General added that a concrete work plan is also needed for next year so that countries can engage in substantive negotiations immediately, given that a long-range global deal on greenhouse gas emissions is supposed to be concluded by December 2009.


* * *

AUSTRALIA, AT UN, CALLS FOR REFORM OF FINANCIAL SYSTEMS AFTER MARKET MELTDOWN

The international financial system needs to be substantially reformed to ensure that the current crisis in the global markets is not repeated, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate tonight.

Mr. Rudd said he would work with other countries to promote a wide-ranging reform programme that would change the regulatory system and encourage much greater stability and less systemic risk in the financial markets.

He warned that the need for reform was especially urgent, given that the world did not seem to have learned the lessons of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

“There has been a failure of internal governance within financial institutions. There has been a failure of external oversight. Regulators have not always recognized the systemic risk posed by significant financial institutions,” he said.

While the immediate task was to rebuild confidence in the financial system by ensuring adequate liquidity and the continued solvency of key institutions, in the long term the reforms must be more profound.

Financial institutions deemed “systemically important” – Mr. Rudd said this could include commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and clearing houses – should be licensed to operate in major economies only under the conditions they are far more transparent about their balance sheets.

The central banks of countries should have increased responsibility for financial system stability, banks and other financial institutions should have to build up larger capital reserves in good times to serve as a buffer when the markets are weak, and institutions must have stronger incentives and mechanisms “to promote responsible behaviour rather than unrestrained greed,” according to the Prime Minister.

He added that regulators should set higher capital requirements for any financial firms that have executive pay packages that reward excessive risk-taking or short-term returns.

Mr. Rudd also called for an enhanced role for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and for accounting rules to be adjusted to promote long-range perspectives.


* * *

RESPECT FOR DIFFERENT CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS VALUES VITAL, COUNTRIES SAY AT UN

Encouraging dialogue and mutual respect between peoples of different faiths, beliefs and values is essential in modern societies where citizens come from diverse backgrounds, the representatives of three countries told the General Assembly’s high-level debate today.

Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, said every government faced a challenge in balancing the need to affirm the cultural and religious values and customs of citizens with building bridges with the rest of the world.

“Governments are there for everyone,” he said. “For men and women. For people of all backgrounds and all religious convictions. For monks, priests, rabbis and imams. And equally for those who do not believe in a supreme being.”

Mr. Balkenende called on everyone to “cherish and defend” both the freedom of religion or belief and the freedom to express one’s views, saying they went hand in hand and should be viewed as universal rights.

“At the same time, we must remind everyone who enjoys these freedoms of their responsibility – the responsibility to show the same respect to others that we claim for ourselves.”

San Marino’s head of Government and Foreign Minister Fiorenzo Stolfi stressed the importance of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, saying they affirmed the guiding principles of the UN.

Mutual respect between individuals and peoples are prerequisites to peace and justice, Mr. Stolfi told the Assembly debate, adding that they help to reduce tensions or prevent them from emerging.

For his part, Brunei’s Crown Prince Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzadin Waddaulah said his country has long supported the need for worldwide dialogue between faiths to promote tolerance and understanding.

“We affirm the right of all small nations and the fragile societies and values they uphold to continue their way of life with security today and hope for the future,” he said.


* * *

FAILURE TO REDUCE MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES SHAMES US ALL, NORWAY TELLS UN

The world’s failure to make substantial inroads in reducing the number of women who die in pregnancy or childbirth is a damning illustration of the wider treatment of women, Norway’s Prime Minister told the General Assembly tonight.

Addressing the annual high-level debate at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Jens Stoltenberg said it was clear that the world had not taken the issue of maternal mortality – the focus of one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – seriously.

“The fact that we have not made any significant progress at all in reducing the number of women who die in pregnancy or childbirth is appalling,” he told delegates. “There can only be one reason for this awful situation – and that is persistent neglect of women in a world dominated by men.”

Mr. Stoltenberg said “all this human tragedy is avoidable by simple means,” and a report issued last week by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that more than 500,000 women die unnecessarily every year because of complications from pregnancy or childbirth – nearly all of them in the developing world.

“Just think of all these millions of young girls and young women who know, and who fear and dread, that giving life may cause their death,” the Prime Minister said.

He noted that “money doesn’t seem to be a problem when the problem is money,” referring to the current crisis on Wall Street and the wider financial markets around the world.

“There, unsound investment threatens the homes and the jobs of the middle class. There is something fundamentally wrong when money seems to be abundant, but funds for investment in people seem so short in supply.”

Mr. Stoltenberg called for stronger international frameworks so that more funding can be directed to such projects as building schools in Afghanistan, supporting hospitals in Rwanda or providing vaccinations for residents of slums and ghettos worldwide.


* * *

UN IS ‘A BEACON OF HOPE’ FOR MILLIONS WORLDWIDE, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS SAYS

The United Nations is the only hope for millions of people around the world, the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis told the General Assembly today, saying he was confident that the world body can successfully defend the rights of the poor against the often narrow national interests of UN Member States.

Denzil Douglas told the 192-member Assembly’s annual high-level debate that it was easy to side with cynics when the Security Council becomes deadlocked on an issue or political posturing by individual countries prevents the UN from taking concerted action on a crisis.

“But the history, particularly of the past two decades, instructs me that the United Nations is far more than the sum of its weakness,” he said. “Because for millions of people around the world, this Organization is their only hope – a bridge between life and death, a bastion of freedom and a beacon of hope.”

Given that responsibility, Mr. Douglas urged the Assembly to provide “a sober and unrelenting analysis of the human consequences” of the current global financial troubles, as well as the impact caused by trade and economic regimes imposed in wealthy countries.

“It is also my hope that the economic uncertainties now being experienced in some of the world’s larger economies will sensitize us all to the breadth of the uncertainty, the depth of the anxiety, and the real psychological trauma that often grip small States when policies that are formulated far beyond their shores, and are utterly unresponsive to their entreaties, are nonetheless thrust unflinchingly upon them.”

Also emphasizing the UN’s crucial role in addressing the key challenges of our time was the Prime Minister of Kuwait.

Overcoming obstacles such as terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and human rights violations requires “prompt, collective, unified and firm action under the umbrella of the United Nations,” Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al Jaber Al-Sabah told delegates.

However, he noted that the UN must evolve in line with “the constant changes and transformation in the world order,” calling for Security Council reform in the form of increased transparency and number of members.


* * *

JAPAN UTILIZES UNIQUE FORM OF DIPLOMACY TO FOSTER WORLD PEACE, LEADER TELLS UN

Japan contributes to promote peace and stability throughout the world through its own form of diplomacy, its new leader said in an address to the General Assembly’s high-level debate today.

Taro Aso, who was designated as Prime Minister just yesterday, told delegates that the country was helping, in a unique way, to bring a lasting peace to the Middle East.

He cited the example of a reconciliation initiative pairing up Israeli and Palestinian high school students, who share in the tragedy of having lost at least one relative to terrorism, and invites them to visit Japan.

“These young people come to understand that religion and ethnicity make no difference when it comes to the sorrow felt at losing a parent, and they often cry tears upon coming to this realization,” the Prime Minister said. “Through these tears of understanding they will come to see ties between their futures.”

By investing in changing the attitudes of the next generation, Japan is laying the groundwork needed to bring peace to the region, he noted.

In another scheme, Japan is providing assistance in introducing Israeli irrigation technology to Palestinians in the West Bank to help that land become more fertile.

“Here, Japan desires to act as a catalyst, serving as a mediator between the two sides,” Mr. Aso told the Assembly, adding that his country hopes to boost trust, the “scarcest resource of all in the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, as the world’s second largest economy, the Asian nation is also uniquely positioned to address the current global financial turmoil, Mr. Aso said.

“The task ahead for Japan is already quite clear, namely, that Japan’s primary responsibility lies in invigorating its own economy,” he said, calling this “the most immediately effective contribution that Japan can deliver.”


* * *

STRENGTHENED POLITICAL WILL NEEDED TO ADDRESS GLOBAL INEQUITIES, UN TOLD

Political will must be reinvigorated to address the “endemic crisis of development,” the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China known as the G-77, said in New York today.

Addressing the General Assembly’s high-level debate, Winston Baldwin Spencer said that development policies have not taken into account the unique needs of countries and regions, resulting in growing imbalances within and across countries.

Despite numerous United Nations resolutions passed that lay out timetables and proposals, “many have become more technically complicated and with less and less political commitment to unified and mutually reinforcing implementation action,” he said.

Although there has been some progress in areas such as the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria, on the whole, the global record has been one worthy of “embarrassment,” Mr. Spencer pointed out.

The world faces a confluence of crises, he said, citing climate change, the global economic downturn, energy problems, the food crisis and water supply.

The international community must “move immediately into implementation mode – a mode where our focus is on how to do rather than how not to do,” the Prime Minister told the Assembly.

The world is in danger of not achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their 2015 deadline due to insufficient resources, as well as the lack of necessary global support and cooperation, he added.

Speaking also as Antigua’s representative, Mr. Spencer hailed the efforts of the United States and other developed nations towards assisting Haiti and other hurricane-ravaged Caribbean nations.

“I must, however, call on the international community to lend additional support to the United Nations in his humanitarian efforts in the developing world” by focusing more on new energy sources and fighting crime.


* * *

AFRICAN LEADERS SPEAK OUT AT UN AGAINST DEVASTATING IMPACT OF FUEL, FOOD CRISES

The soaring cost of fuel and basic foods over the past year has left many countries in sub-Saharan Africa unable to adequately fund critical activities, such as health care and the provision of safe drinking water, their leaders told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate today.

Guinea-Bissau’s President João Bernardo Vieira said the sharp rise in the cost of oil had been particularly destabilizing on the economy of his country, which is already among the poorest in the world.

“The lack of energy compromises seriously all socio-economic activities, hospitals in particular and the distributions of potable water, which is indispensable to guaranteeing hygiene and public health,” he said.

Mr. Vieira said it was unfair to expect that countries such as Guinea-Bissau will have the economic wherewithal to absorb or adjust to the rise in energy costs when it still has to fund basic services for its citizens.

“What means do we have at our disposal to face the perverse consequences of a system which is poorly based in speculation and which has nothing to do with the law of offer and demand?” he asked.

“How can we invest and improve our infrastructure in such vital areas like health, education and agriculture if we are compelled to continuously spend large parts of our already limited resources to buy fuel?”

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said it was crucial that national efforts to tackle the food and energy crises are complemented by appropriate international measures, including debt cancellation for low-income food-deficient countries.

“Adequate support for food production programmes is absolutely necessary” he told the Assembly. “We call for more research into better seed varieties and assistance in irrigation technology and improved water harvesting methods necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

He reiterated his country’s faith in multilateralism and called for greater democratization in the UN, saying that the present configuration made it subject to the use of the 15-member Security Council by the powerful countries “as a readily available legitimizing forum for their political machinations.”

The Council, whose decisions are binding, must therefore be democratized through increasing its membership, he added, also calling for the Assembly, whose decisions are not, to be revitalized to make it more effective, reasserting “its pre-eminent role, its authority and its capacity to guide and direct other organs of the UN system.”

Swaziland’s King Mswati III said the high fuel and food prices were compounding existing stresses on poor countries caused by climate change, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.

“It is encouraging to note that the United Nations, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP), continue to assist developing countries in finding lasting solutions to the food crisis,” he said.

He added that developing countries such as Swaziland were hopeful that the current Doha round of global trade negotiations, which have stalled, can still be successfully concluded.


* * *

BAN PRAISES RISE IN SCHOOL ENROLMENT RATES IN LATIN AMERICA

Latin America has posted impressive improvements in school enrolment rates, particularly among girls, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has told a gathering of countries from the region.

Speaking last night at the Ibero-American Dinner in New York, he said it was fitting that the Ibero-American Conference’s next summit – to be held in El Salvador – will focus on youth and development, given the gains in school enrolment.

“That is a real contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said, referring to the set of eight targets for slashing social and economic ills, all by 2015.

He also thanked Conference members for their commitment to boosting so-called South-South cooperation between developing nations and their increased participation in UN peacekeeping operations, particularly the world body’s mission in Haiti (known as MINUSTAH).

The Ibero-American Conference comprises the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America and Europe, and also Equatorial Guinea in Africa.


* * *

AT UN, REPUBLIC OF KOREA URGES NEIGHBOUR TO RESUME NUCLEAR DECOMMISSIONING

The Republic of Korea (ROK) today appealed to its northern neighbour to resume decommissioning its nuclear weapons programme a day after the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) said it would restart nuclear activities and ended the United Nations atomic watchdog agency’s access to its facilities.

“We urge the DPRK to resume disablement measures immediately so that the positive momentum generated by the Six-Party talks can be maintained and the denuclearization process can move forward,” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo told the General Assembly, referring to the diplomatic process that had led to earlier progress on the issue.

Last year the six parties – China, DPRK, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States – reached agreement on the DPRK’s denuclearization in return for economic aid but the agreement has since bogged down on measures for implementation.

Yesterday the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the DPRK had said it would begin introducing nuclear material to the Yongbyon reprocessing plant within a week and asked the agency to remove seals and surveillance from the site, where a cooling tower had earlier been blown up as part of the decommissioning agreement.

“The Republic of Korea is making every effort to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue within the framework of the Six-Party talks,” Mr. Han said, adding that his Government was willing to discuss with the DPRK how to implement properly all past inter-Korean agreements.


* * *

BATTLE AGAINST TERROR IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL, PAKISTANI LEADER TELLS UN

Tackling terror demands a multi-faceted approach that goes beyond military means, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan said at the General Assembly’s high-level segment today, calling on the support of the international body to address the scourge.

“Fighting it requires political will, popular mobilization and a socio-economic strategy that wins the hearts and minds of nations afflicted by it,” Mr. Zardari, the husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last December.

He stressed the need to generate jobs and provide education for the people, adding, “to mobilize them we have to give them hope and opportunity for the future.”

Unlike those who only know about terror from what they read, “we live with it,” the President told delegates. “We do not learn about terror from reading newspapers or watching the evening news.”

The President trumpeted democracy as the only means to triumph in the struggle against extremism.

He noted that his late wife “understood that democracy was not an end, but a beginning: that a starving child has no human rights; that a father who could not support his family was someone ripe for extremism.”

But he underlined that Pakistan needs the support of other nations to succeed, having contributed its military facilities, air space, intelligence and armed forces to the international community. “In our stability lies the world’s security,” Mr. Zardari said.

“Better relations between Pakistan, Afghanistan and India would help create the regional environment that is more conducive to reducing militancy in our region,” he added.


* * *

ANNUAL UN EVENT CONTINUES WITH NINE STATES ENDORSING MULTILATERAL TREATIES

Nine Member States today participated in the third day of the 2008 United Nations treaty event, further helping to promote universal participation in more than 500 multilateral global pacts, by signing or ratifying 22 separate conventions, agreements, treaties and optional protocols.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has again been a focus of the event with New Zealand and Uganda both ratifying the pact, and Uganda also ratifying its Optional Protocol. Meanwhile, Pakistan has signed the Convention and Romania its Optional Protocol.

Romania joined the list of signatories to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, which also includes Australia, Spain and the Czech Republic.

Following Malaysia’s lead from yesterday, Belgium ratified the UN Convention against Corruption.

Liberia has become party to the Law of the Sea Convention and the Agreement related to its implementation. Guyana likewise ratified the Agreement, while also becoming party to the Convention on Road Signs and Signals.

The Convention for Migrant Workers and the Convention on the Prohibitions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons was ratified by Jamaica, which also adopted its four related protocols and amendments.

Comoros today signed two human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the separate Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As 2008 also marks the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year’s event focuses on the theme “Universal Participation and Implementation – Dignity and Justice for All of Us.”

In total this year’s treaty event has prompted 48 treaty actions by 24 States.


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CAMEROON OPTIMISTIC AFTER UN-BACKED TRANSFER OF PENINSULA FROM NIGERIA

The United Nations-backed transfer of authority of a once-disputed peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon, successfully completed last month, has the potential to transform relations between the African neighbours, Cameroonian President Paul Biya said today.

Speaking at the General Assembly’s annual general debate, Mr. Biya said the peaceful hand-over of the Bakassi Peninsula was a credit to the leaders and the peoples of the two countries.

The transfer “is one of the best examples of the remarkable results that can be generated by an authentic desire for peace that is shared by the parties, with the judicious support of the international community,” he told delegates attending the third day of the debate.

Mr. Biya thanked the UN, which supervised the process through a Mixed Commission, as well as key countries – including the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom – that helped implement the Greentree Agreement, the 2006 accord which resolved the dispute.

“It is, thus, the dawn of a new era in relations between Cameroon and Nigeria, geared towards the quest for progress and development to which our two peoples aspire. It goes without saying that the two countries must henceforth do everything possible to consolidate the settlement and seize the opportunities offered them to develop their relations in all areas.”

Mr. Biya also pledged that the Cameroonian Government would respect all its commitments under the Greentree Agreement.

The Bakassi Peninsula is an oil-rich region on the Gulf of Guinea that had been the subject of intense and sometimes violent disputes between the African neighbours for decades until they agreed to the UN-backed process.


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FAST-FOOD OPERATOR KICKS IN $80 MILLION TO HELP UN FEED SCHOOLCHILDREN

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will be able to provide over 200 million meals to hungry schoolchildren in the developing world, thanks to commitment of $80 million announced today by leading restaurant company YUM! Brands.

The pledge was made during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York, which coincides with the UN high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the eight targets for slashing poverty, hunger, illiteracy and other socio-economic ills by 2015.

Set up in 2005 by former United States president Bill Clinton, the CGI – rather than giving away money – creates an opportunity for people with ideas to connect with people with resources. Its members have made commitments designed to, among others, reduce poverty and hunger, work toward education for all and combat disease.

“We are ever so grateful to President Clinton, who acted as catalyst to draw together some of America’s most dynamic corporate actors in this groundbreaking initiative,” said WFP chief Josette Sheeran, after the announcement by YUM! Brands, a conglomerate that is the parent firm of TACO Bell, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“This incredible expression of generosity shows what can be done when the private sector joins with a major humanitarian agency to help meet the needs of some of the world’s most vulnerable children,” said Ms. Sheeran.

WFP has made a commitment to provide meals for an additional one million children for an entire academic year. Daily meals offer an enormous incentive for poor families in the developing world to send their children to school and commonly lead to drastically improved attendance rates.

The push comes as part of a multi-pronged effort by WFP to help nations manage the impact of high food prices that have driven millions more into hunger and poverty.

President Clinton has also announced a partnership with WFP to combat intestinal worm infections among children, a huge and debilitating health problem in developing countries. WFP hopes to reach more than 2 million schoolchildren a year with de-worming tablets.


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RELIGIOUS LEADERS ADD THEIR VOICE TO UN DRIVE TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Religious leaders from Africa, Asia and North America pledged today to help end one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world by signing on to the “Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign,” organized by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).


Representing such diverse faiths as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam, the leaders added their voice to an ever-growing list of governments, civil society groups and individuals who want to eliminate a scourge that affects as many as one in three women and girls.

“Violence against women and girls is a crime and an internationally recognized human rights violation – stopping it is one of the great challenges of our time,” said UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi.

“Engaging religious leaders and communities of faith is essential to weaving a fabric of equality and respect for all persons, their potential, and their right to live a life free from violence,” she added.

The leaders who joined the campaign are all members of Religions for Peace – the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition – which today launched a new partnership with UNIFEM to engage communities of faith around the world to lead efforts to end violence against women.

“People of faith around the world believe that it is a moral responsibility to end violence against women,” said Dr. William F. Vendley, Secretary-General of Religions for Peace. “While religious traditions vary, it is clear that religious men and women around the world are increasingly convinced that their respective traditions call them to work as partners to end this violence.”

The “Say NO to Violence against Women” drive is designed to support Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s multi-year UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign.

UNIFEM seeks to gather 1 million names through its “Say NO to Violence against Women campaign” website. The campaign will run until 25 November, when the signatures will be handed over to Mr. Ban in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Mr. Ban today renewed his personal pledge “to lead our worldwide campaign to stop violence against women, once and for all,” at an event on promoting gender equality and empowering women – goal number three in the set of anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

At the event, which coincides with the high-level gathering convened today to track progress towards the Goals, Mr. Ban was presented with the final MDG3 Champion Torch, which symbolizes the global call to action on gender equality.

“By accepting this torch number 100, I commit to strengthening the United Nations’ ability to respond to the needs of the world’s women,” Mr. Ban said, as he joined a list of torch bearers from different walks of life – from international organizations to grassroots groups, from ministers to educators, and from CEOs to artists.

“Women are not just the target of special measures to promote development – they are the driving force to overcome poverty, reduce hunger, fight illiteracy, heal the sick, prevent the spread of disease and promote stability,” added the Secretary-General.

He stressed the need for strong political leadership and a major increase in resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment, noting that while there had been progress in some areas, much more needed to be done to achieve MDG3.


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UN-BACKED REPORT HIGHLIGHTS SPREAD OF HIV THROUGH DRUG INJECTION

More than 40 per cent of injecting drug users from several low- and middle-income countries are HIV positive, according to a United Nations-backed study released today, which also advocates strengthening prevention activities such as needle exchanges.

According to the Reference Group to the UN on HIV and Injecting Drug Use, which conducted the study, there are an estimated 16 million people worldwide who are injection drug users. More than 40 per cent of them are believed to be living in China, the United States and Russia.

The report warns, however, that the true extent of the problem is unknown. “Existing data are far from adequate, in both quality and quantity, particularly in view of the increasing importance of injecting drug users a mode of HIV transmission in many regions.”

Additionally, the study – published today in The Lancet – has suggested that countries and regions at a high risk, such as Africa and the Middle East, were not reporting on the issue, while in Asia there has been little assessment of the impact of a growing methamphetamine epidemic on the spread of HIV.

The Reference Group – which provides advice to UN agencies working on the issue such as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) – called for boosting HIV prevention activities among injecting drug users, and treatment and care for those living with the virus.

“Creating an enabling environment for provision of effective HIV services still remains a serious challenge for stakeholders including governments and civil society organizations in many countries,” noted UNODC’s Global Coordinator for HIV/AIDS, Christian Kroll.


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TIMOR-LESTE ENTERING PERIOD OF PEACE, ITS LEADER TELLS HIGH-LEVEL UN MEETING

Timor-Leste has entered a new phase of peace, economic growth and reduced crime since the unsuccessful assassination attempts against the leaders of the small South-East Asian nation in February, the country’s President told the United Nations today.

Addressing the General Assembly’s annual high-level segment, José Ramos-Horta said the attacks against him and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão “shocked the nation” and “served to unite the people in opposing violence.”

The period following the attacks “has been the most peaceful in many years without any politically motivated violence registered so far and even common criminality has been significantly reduced,” he said.

Mr. Ramos-Horta praised Mr. Gusmão and the Government for the positive steps made in consolidating stability and delivering services to the population.

“The progress is visible,” the President said, noting that a growing number of people displaced during the violent 2006 clashes – attributed to differences between the eastern and western regions – are returning to their homes.

Timor-Leste can also take pride in its economic growth, with real GDP rising 7 per cent this year, with that figure being revised upwards to 19 per cent when oil and gas revenues are taken into account.

“However, we would not have succeeded in pulling back from the brink without the prompt and steadfast support from the international community,” Mr. Ramos-Horta, co-laureate of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, said, highlighting the assistance received from the UN and countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

In August, the Security Council commended Timor-Leste’s Government and public institutions for the “rapid, firm and responsible manner” in which they responded after the attempts on the lives of the President and Prime Minister.


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SMALL ISLAND NATIONS’ SURVIVAL THREATENED BY CLIMATE CHANGE, UN HEARS

Small island developing nations, which contribute least to climate change but are under imminent threat of inundation due to rising sea levels, appealed to the United Nations today for immediate measures to be taken to ensure their survival.

The representatives of four Pacific island nations – Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Micronesia – called on delegates at the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate to translate words into action.

Although numerous global conferences on climate change have touted the need for adaptation and mitigation measures, they are not enough to help these countries, Kiribati’s President Anote Tong said, noting that his country has only several decades before its islands are uninhabitable.

Kiribati is not a major emitter of greenhouse gases, making mitigation measures on its part limited, and it lacks sufficient resources to build seawalls to protect private property, he said. Further, adaptation is impossible because the islands are too small and narrow, lacking higher ground for their inhabitants to seek refuge from rising waters.

Therefore, the country has had no choice but to formulate a “long-term merit-based relocation strategy,” given the possibility that all 100,000 people in Kiribati must one day move elsewhere.

“This strategy involves the upskilling of our people to make them competitive and marketable at international labour markets,” Mr. Tong said.

The leader of the Marshall Islands urged the UN to elevate the threat posed by the “nightmare” of climate change, noting the need by the world’s largest emitters to shift their moral, economic and political behaviour.

“If wars have been waged to protect the rights of people to live in freedom, and to safeguard their security, why will they not be waged to protect our right to survive from the onslaught of climate change?” President Litokwa Tomeing asked the delegates.

Micronesia’s leader emphasized the strong links between food security and climate change, with its farmlands existing barely a few metres above sea level.

“Already, many islands have experienced inundations of their taro patches and other food crops by saltwater, resulting in decreasing production and crop destruction,” President Emanuel Mori told the debate.

Vice President Elias Camsek Chin of Palau framed global warming as a security issue “which has gone unaddressed.”

Palau and other members of the Pacific Islands Forum will, as they did last year, submit a resolution to the Assembly asking the Security Council to consider the security implications of climate change.

“In the meantime, we cannot wait,” Mr. Chin said, adding that while contributing little to global warming, Palau continues to seek out ways to curb its reliance on fossil fuels.


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AT UN, SIERRA LEONE CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN AGRICULTURE TO COMBAT FOOD CRISIS

A “massive investment in agriculture” is needed across Africa if the continent is to respond to the global food crisis sparked by soaring prices of basic crops, Sierra Leone’s President told the General Assembly’s high-level segment today.

In an address to the third day of the annual debate, Ernest Bai Koroma said that the resources of many African countries were so drained by programmes to deal with the impact of the food crisis that the stability of those nations were now at risk.

“It is vital that Africa increases food productivity and achieves food self-sufficiency,” he said, adding that the continent must become less dependent on donor hand-outs. “African farmers need to adopt higher-yielding land practices, with increased use of improved seeds, fertilizers and irrigation.”

Calling for a major increase in agricultural investment, Mr. Koroma backed the work of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which is chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and aims to help small-scale farmers boost their productivity and incomes.

“Sierra Leone, like many other countries in Africa, is suitably positioned to benefit from such investment because of its vast arable land, abundant water resources and the fact that over 70 per cent of its population is engaged in farming or farming-related activities.”

But Mr. Koroma stressed that it was also essential for affluent nations to end their agricultural subsidies and trade barriers, which he said were impoverishing African farmers.

Also addressing the General Assembly, President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi of Comoros said the twin food and energy crises, which affect developing countries more severely than others, demanded a new surge of international solidarity.

“The better endowed nations should pay more attention to the fate of certain parts of the world, and more particularly the developing countries, where violence, hunger, disease, all sorts of injustices, conflicts and their consequences constitute their daily lot,” he said.

For his part, President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea called for a concerted effort to help Africa overcome poverty, hunger and other ills based on strengthening the continent’s socio-economic fabric.

“A good part of Africa’s fertile lands are still uncultivated but its productivity index is the lowest in the world because of the exodus from the countryside and the lack of incentives for farmers due to the high cost of input and the comparative prices in the international market,” he said, citing the high agricultural subsidies in rich countries.

He attacked excessive trade liberalization policies favoured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO) for exacerbating the soaring food price crisis for allowing highly subsidized food products to invade African markets and finish off the agriculture of our countries.”


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IRAQ NO LONGER POSES THREAT TO GLOBAL PEACE AND SECURITY, UN GATHERING HEARS

Iraq no longer jeopardizes international peace and security, given its successes in promoting national dialogue, consolidating security and improving relations with its neighbours, the President of the war-torn Middle Eastern country told the United Nations today.

“The initiative of reconciliation and national dialogue launched by the Iraqi Government draws its strength from the heritage of the Iraqi people which rendered great services to humanity,” Jalal Talabani said at the General Assembly’s high-level General Debate.

The process is a “shared responsibility” among political forces, religious scholars, academics, civil society and all other sectors of Iraqi society, he added.

“Advancements have been achieved on the ground due to ongoing national reconciliation activities, bringing forth the end of sectarian killings and the improvement of the security situation, coupled with the return of thousands of displaced families to their homes and the commencement of construction projects and the offering of services to citizens.”

The country’s security and military forces have greatly improved their ability to respond to gangs, militias and terrorist organizations, the President said. They have extended their successes beyond the capital Baghdad to Basra, Mosul, Diyala and other provinces.

The troops have also been replacing multinational forces in many parts of Iraq, most recently in Anbar. “The forces are also working to take over full responsibility to defend and preserve the democratic gains of our people,” he told delegates.

The Government acknowledges that much work remains to be done, and Mr. Talabani appealed to the world – and neighbouring countries in particular – for continued support.

In line with the new Iraqi constitution, the country has made strides towards “building good relations with neighbouring countries with common interests, while not interfering in their internal affairs, and relying on diplomacy and direct lines of communication and peaceful channels to resolve arising difference,” he said.

“Based on this, Iraq no longer threatens international peace and security, and therefore calls upon the international community to take steps towards removing Iraq from Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter,” the President added.


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UN JOINS EUROPE, WORLD BANK TO BOOST RECOVERY OF STATES AFTER CONFLICT, DISASTER

In an effort to more effectively help countries recover from conflicts and natural disasters, the United Nations, European Union and World Bank signed an agreement today to harmonize their collective assistance, developing common tools, training and evaluation mechanisms.

“We believe a common platform for partnership and action is central to the delivery of an effective and sustainable international response after disaster- and conflict-related crises,” the three partners said in a joint declaration at UN Headquarters in New York.

“We are engaged in significant work to reform the processes used by national and international partners to assess, plan, and mobilize support for recovery to countries and populations affected by natural disasters or violent conflicts.”

The accord was signed by UN Development Group (UNDG) Chair and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Kemal Dervis, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and World Bank Vice President for Operations Policy and Country Services, Jeffrey Gutman.

“We’ve been working for over a year on this agreement, and I think it’s a very good step forward,” Mr. Dervis said. “The UN system’s expertise can provide real support for these efforts.”

The UN Development Group, created in 1997 to coordinate operational activities for development at the country level, unites 33 UN funds, programmes, agencies, offices and departments, and five observers to deliver more effective support to the developing world.


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GUINEA-BISSAU: UN AGENCIES MAINTAIN FIGHT AGAINST DEADLY CHOLERA OUTBREAK

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) continue to help authorities in Guinea-Bissau combat an outbreak of cholera that has claimed at least 133 lives since May and forced thousands of others to be hospitalized.

WHO has sent an epidemiologist and UNICEF has deployed water and sanitation experts to assist in the response to the cholera epidemic, which can be a frequent occurrence in the poor West African nation.

In its latest update on the outbreak, released yesterday, WHO said that the UN agencies are working with health authorities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to treat patients, educate the public about hygienic practices and de-stigmatize the disease among populations at risk.

Cholera is mainly transmitted through contaminated water and food and long-term prevention depends on access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation to prevent exposure. But the water and sanitation infrastructure in Guinea-Bissau is both limited and dilapidated.

UNICEF reported earlier this month that it has already provided materials to disinfect the water system and wells in the capital, Bissau, home to more than two-thirds of all cases.

In total, 7,166 cases had been reported as of 21 September, with as many as 3,000 new cases recorded this month. The number of fatalities has also risen from 96 to 133 since early September.

Nearly 400 people died in the last previous major outbreak of cholera in Guinea-Bissau, in 2005-06.


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GLOBAL TRADE REGIME DETRIMENTAL TO DEVELOPING NATIONS, SEYCHELLES TELLS UN

The distorted world trade regime is an obstacle to development, the leader of the Seychelles told the General Assembly today, calling for increased justice and fairness to recognize the specific needs of small island nations.

“We should abandon ‘solutions’ which continue to enrich the rich and impoverish the poor and the vulnerable,” President James Alix Michel told the body’s annual high-level event today.

Subsidies handed out to farmers of wealthy nations reduce the competitiveness of poorer nations’ exports, he said.

“Yet developing countries are obliged to follow WTO [World Trade Organization] rules to the letter, even to the extent that they may undermine domestic economic policies formulated to protect vulnerable sections of society.”

Foreign investors have exploited the Seychelles’ natural resources and made great profit, while the Indian Ocean archipelago nation receives a “pittance,” Mr. Michel noted.

“It is like taking a bowl of food from the poor and giving them back a spoonful as a generous donation!” he exclaimed.

The Seychelles receives only 7 per cent of the revenue from tuna caught and shipped in its waters by foreign fishing vessels annually. “This, to my mind, is unacceptable,” the President said. “I ask you, is it unreasonable to fight for a better share of the proceeds?”

Further impeding development for his country, he pointed out, is the “middle-income” trap in which donors withhold grants and soft loans to the Seychelles, which ranks 50th in the Human Development Index, even after donor organizations have confirmed that all assistance given to the nation has been used to benefit the population.

“It is as if we are being penalized for our success in raising the standard of living of our people,” Mr. Michel declared.


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AGREEMENT ON NAME POSSIBLE, FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA TELLS UN

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is ready to accept “a fair compromise” in its long-running dispute with Greece over its official name, so long as it does not deny its national and cultural identity, President Branko Crvenkoski told the General Assembly today.

Addressing the Assembly’s annual general debate, Mr. Crvenkoski said his country would continue to participate “actively and constructively” in the negotiation process mediated by United Nations envoy Matthew Nimetz, “despite the obvious absurdity of the issue.”

Mr. Nimetz, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, has been holding talks with both Skopje and Athens on the name issue, with the most recent round taking place in New York earlier this month.

The Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, which was brokered by the UN, details the difference between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece on the name issue. It also obliges the two countries to continue negotiations under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General to try to reach agreement.

Mr. Crvenkoski said that, as part of that negotiation process, “we are consistently respecting the undertaken legal obligations and continuously affirming our constructive role by numerous suggestions and concessions.”

But he said Greece has “not exercised the same level of dedication to the undertaken obligations,” leading to what he described as “a flagrant breach” of the Interim Accord.

According to that document, the President said, Greece cannot object to applications by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for membership of international, multilateral and regional institutions and organizations of which Athens is already a full member.

Yet at a NATO summit in April, Greece objected to an invitation for admittance offered to Skopje, insisting that the name dispute be resolved first. Similar arguments have been used as well over possible membership of the European Union.

“With such an act, the very logic of the negotiations was seriously undermined, and simultaneously, the principles of the UN Charter were derogated.”

Mr. Crvenkoski stressed that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia “is ready to accept a fair compromise and reasonable solution which is not going to deny our national and cultural identity.

“It is understandable that we are not ready to give consent to just any kind of solution, in the case when such an important national issue is in question,” he added.

“If the reason for our integration into the international institutions is the contribution to the stabilization of our State, then we should not allow ourselves to be humiliated and to experience internal destabilization due to ill compromise.”


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UN SEEKS $15 MILLION TO HELP FLOOD-BELEAGUERED NEPALIS

The United Nations and its humanitarian partners have issued a $15.5 million appeal today to help 70,000 victims of flooding in eastern Nepal.

The flooding began in August when heavy monsoon rains caused a dam to break, breaching the eastern embankment of the Kosi River, one of the largest river basins in Asia. The force of the water led to 80 per cent of the river changing course, and the resulting flooding has impacted an already vulnerable population.

Robert Piper, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nepal, called on donors for their assistance to help communities – who, in spite of widespread poverty, have helped affected families and sheltered those forced from their homes by the flooding – and local governments. “As it will be many months before these families will be able to go home, their support will prove crucial to stabilize the precarious conditions of the displaced.”

Those who escaped the flooding are taking refuge in dozens of temporary sites in Sunsari and Saptari districts, while many families are also staying in shelters along river embankments and highways.

Today’s call for funds is supplementing a $102 Transition Appeal for Nepal for 2008, which has received less than half of the support needed.

Parts of the country’s western region have also been hit hard by separate flooding and landslides this month, claiming more than 30 lives. Kanchanpur and Kailali districts have suffered the most, with over 24,000 families affected by flash floods alone.


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EDUCATION VITAL FOR ACHIEVING OTHER ANTI-POVERTY TARGETS, BAN STRESSES

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today highlighted the key role of education for reaching the globally agreed set of eight targets for slashing poverty, illiteracy and other socio-economic ills by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“We have ample evidence that education improves individual incomes, economic growth, child and maternal health, resistance to disease and environmental practices,” Mr. Ban told an event focusing on the goal of “education for all,” which the world’s governments agreed in 1999 in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to try to achieve by 2015.

“With an education, people flourish. Without it, they remain trapped in poverty,” he said in a message delivered by Ann Veneman, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), to the gathering of leaders from the private sector, academia, the faith community and governments.

The Secretary-General to the “great” progress achieved so far in the area of education, noting that more children are in school than ever before and that more girls are getting the equal education that they deserve. “We have to build on this momentum based on the conviction that education can drive economic and social progress,” he stated.

Mr. Ban stressed that one of the best investments that any country can make is to educate girls and women, “so they can earn more income, improve their family’s well being, and show their daughters, in turn, what is possible once you can read and write.”

At the same time, he pointed to a need for a commitment to equity, noting that currently children from poor communities, rural areas and minority groups are almost always struggling to learn under worse conditions than others in society.

“If we do not close this gap, we put a whole generation at risk, and we allow problems to fester,” said the Secretary-General. “But if we ensure that all children get the education they deserve, we put both individuals and countries on a sure footing toward a stable future.”

The six “education for all” goals are to expand early childhood care and education; provide free and compulsory primary education for all; promote learning and life skills for young people and adults; increase adult literacy by 50 per cent; achieve gender parity by 2005 and gender equality by 2015; and improve the quality of education.


* * *

UN CALLS FOR BETTER CHINESE REGULATION OF INFANT FOODS IN TAINTED FORMULA CRISIS

United Nations agencies today called for better regulation of foods for infants and young children in China in light of the contaminated infant formula crisis, reiterating their insistence that breast milk should be used exclusively for the first six months of life.

“Whilst any attempt to deceive the public in the area of food production and marketing is unacceptable, deliberate contamination of foods intended for consumption by vulnerable infants and young children is particularly deplorable,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO) Offices in China said in a joint statement.

Melamine-contaminated formula produced by Sanlu and other companies has caused more than 6,000 cases of kidney stones in infants and three deaths across the country.

“We are confident that swift and firm actions are being taken by China’s food safety authorities to investigate this incident fully,” the statement said. “We also expect that following the investigation and in the context of the Chinese Government’s increasing attention to food safety, better regulation of foods for infants and young children will be enforced.”

Noting that global health authorities agree that breast milk is unquestionably better for infant feeding than any formula, the agencies stressed that no formula contains the perfect combination of proteins, carbohydrates and fats to enhance infant growth and brain development as breast milk does.

“No infant formula contains antibodies to protect against infection as breast milk does. No infant formula is as safe to administer as breast milk is. And no infant formula is as affordable to families as breast milk is, providing the perfect nutrition for infants while protecting them from infections,” they said.

Ideally, all infants should be fed exclusively with breast milk for the first six months of life, receiving thereafter adequate and safe complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed up to at least the age of two years.

Working mothers who cannot breastfeed during working hours can express breast milk and save it in a clean container for feeding the child whilst she is away, they added. Breast milk can be stored safely for up to eight hours at room temperature.


* * *

TAJIK LEADER CALLS ON UN FOR URGENT ASSISTANCE ON WATER-RELATED ISSUES

The leader of Tajikistan today called on the General Assembly to take urgent action to boost the supply of water to meet development challenges.

“It is quite obvious that water is irreplaceable because it is needed not only for sustaining human lives but also for industrial purposes, environmental protection and the entire development process,” President Emomali Rahmon said at the start of the third day of the Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

He noted that international cooperation is essential to meet the targets set for the 2005-2015 “Water for Life” campaign proclaimed by the Assembly – which include coping with water scarcity and pollution; sanitation, safe drinking water and health; transboundary water issues; and disaster risk reduction.

“Despite numerous water events held the world over at different levels in recent years, the water issue remains urgent,” the President said.

To this end, he urged the Assembly to convene a special session to review steps taken towards meeting water-related goals and identify what steps can be taken to accelerate progress.

Mr. Rahmon invited Member States to attend the upcoming UN-backed World Water Forum to be held in his country’s capital, Dushanbe, in 2010.

Tajikistan understands first-hand the importance of the issue, having experienced the climate change-induced shrinking of its glaciers by nearly one-third.

Furthermore, three consecutive years of low water levels in its rivers have resulted in social and economic problems due to drought and locust invasions.

“Without implementing hydropower projects our country will not be able to achieve the MDGs, or ensure sustainable growth, which was vividly proved by the unprecedented severe winter of the last year that revealed all the difficulties of the transitional period,” the President said.

“The forthcoming winter and summer are expected to be even more challenging.”

In a related development, the UN today launched an appeal for nearly $35 million to provide a temporary food safety net for 800,000 of the most vulnerable people in Tajikistan until the end of next year.

It is estimated that a further 1.3 million people, out of a total population of nearly 7 million, are in danger of going hungry due to reduced agricultural output and the global food crisis.

The Central Asian nation experienced its most severe winter in over four decades, with drought and locust infestations threatening the supply of food for many.

“Despite good economic growth over the past years in Tajikistan, the food security situation for the most vulnerable groups has been deteriorating, and it requires urgent humanitarian assistance from the international community,” said Michael Jones, UN Resident Coordinator in the country.

The appeal seeks to provide both short- and long-term relief though food and cash assistance, as well as boosting infrastructure and the agriculture sector.


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NUMBER OF CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBERS TO HIT 4 BILLION THIS YEAR, UN SAYS

The number of mobile cellular subscribers worldwide will reach the 4 billion mark by the end of 2008, the head of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced today.

The number of subscribers has surged nearly 25 per cent annually for the past eight years. Mobile penetration stood at only 12 per cent in 2000, growing to reach over 60 per cent by the end of 2008.

“The fact that 4 billion subscribers have been registered worldwide indicates that it is technically feasible to connect the world to the benefits of ICT [information and communication technology] and that it is a visible business opportunity,” ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said in New York at a high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets agreed upon by world leaders in 2000.

“Clearly, ICTs have the potential to act as catalysts to achieve the 2015 targets of the MDGs,” he added.

The ITU emphasized the need to carefully interpret data. A 61 per cent penetration rate does not mean in reality that every other person in the world is using a mobile phone; rather, the statistics reflect the number of subscriptions, not people. Double counting could occur if people have multiple cellular subscriptions, while some could be sharing their phone with others.

The agency also cautioned that penetration rates vary by region and even within countries.

Rapidly developing economies such as Brazil, Russia, India and China are driving the growth in the number of cellular subscribers, with these nations alone accounting for over 1.3 billion of them by the end of 2008.


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TIME TO INJECT NEW ENERGY INTO GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT – BAN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a gathering of world leaders and top figures from the private sector, foundations and civil society that it is time to inject new energy into the global partnership to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if countries are to slash poverty, illiteracy and other socio-economic ills by the target date of 2015.

“While we are moving in the right direction, we are not moving fast enough,” Mr. Ban declared, as he opened a high-level event at United Nations Headquarters in New York to pinpoint gaps and identify further steps to accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs.

Convened jointly by Mr. Ban and General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto, today’s meeting comes just days after a new UN report found that soaring food and fuel prices and the global economic downturn are impeding advances in meeting such targets as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and reducing child mortality.

“The current financial crisis threatens the well-being of billions of people, none more so than the poorest of the poor,” said Mr. Ban, adding that this only compounds the damage being caused by much higher prices for food and fuel.

The Secretary-General pointed out that there have been many successes, including the 7.5 million lives saved thanks to measles vaccinations, the inroads made against AIDS and surging school enrolment in several African countries.

At the same time, the number of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa has actually risen between 1990 and 2005. In addition, there are “disturbing” gender gaps in health, education, employment and empowerment.

“We must rise to all of these challenges immediately,” stated Mr. Ban. “We must inject new energy into the global partnership for development.”

Mr. D’Escoto said the progress made so far towards the Goals, with few exceptions, has been “limited,” with many countries having fallen behind and unlikely to achieve the Goals by the target date.

“Eight years after we adopted the Millennium Declaration, global inequality remains exactly the same or has even deteriorated since 2000, and the p***t is at serious risk of not meeting the basic needs of the poorest of the poor,” he told the gathering.

The President stressed that a significant increase in international aid for the world’s poorest countries is essential for global development. While all donor countries have pledged to allocate 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to development cooperation, very few have lived up to this commitment, he stated, adding that “for every dollar that the developed countries spend on international assistance, they invest $10 in military budgets.

“It is calculated that the amount spent so far on the Iraq war could have paid for a full course of primary schooling for all of the world’s children and youth who are not in school. The price of a single missile is enough to build about 100 schools in any country in Africa, Asia or Latin America,” Mr. D’Escoto stated.

Today’s day-long gathering features several roundtables on poverty and hunger, education and health, and environmental sustainability, as well as a series of side events, including the launch of the Global Malaria Action Plan during which billions of dollars in new funding to curb the spread of the disease and boost research will be announced.


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