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UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
26 September, 2008 =========================================================================
WORLD LEADERS ENDORSE BAN’S CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD CRISIS
Some 30 world leaders have pledged to take action to address the global food crisis and climate change, voicing support for proposals put forward by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to tackle two of today’s most pressing challenges.
“The poor and hungry of this world are looking at us for leadership and solutions. We must not fail them,” Mr. Ban said last night at a high-level event he hosted 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,” he told the gathering, which included representatives of governments, regional organizations and agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank.
Leaders were in agreement with Mr. Ban on the urgent need to increase productivity, especially for smallholder farmers, and to invest more into agricultural development, research, and technology transfer. They called for a “second green revolution,” particularly in Africa, and for increases in private sector investment and public funding.
Mr. Ban expressed his gratitude to President José Manuel Barroso of the European Commission for his reaffirmation of Europe’s commitment to provide an additional 1 billion Euros for urgently needed food aid and productivity inputs.
The Secretary-General has estimated that it will take as much as $40 billion a year in funding over the next three to five years to alleviate the food crisis and ensure long-term improvement in agricultural production.
There was also recognition of the close linkages between the food crisis and climate change and the urgent need for an ambitious global agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in Copenhagen in 2009. In that regard, the upcoming climate talks in Poznan, Poland, later this year should result in a concrete work programme for negotiations in 2009, the leaders stated.
Last night’s meeting followed a day-long event during which governments, foundations, businesses and civil society groups announced an estimated $16 billion in new commitments to slash hunger, poverty, disease and other socio-economic ills by 2015, and thereby achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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UN-BACKED MIDDLE EAST QUARTET CALLS ON ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS TO DISCUSS CORE ISSUES
The international grouping, including the United Nations, which is seeking to promote peace in the Middle East today called on all Palestinians to commit themselves to non-violence and recognition of Israel, and on Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.
The so-called diplomatic Quartet – comprising the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States – commended Palestinian Authority efforts to reform the security sector and confront militias and terrorism, as well as Israeli steps to ease access and movement.
“We had a very fruitful meeting and exchange of views on the way forward and agreed to support the negotiation process between the parties and to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters after the Quartet’s meeting at UN Headquarters in New York
The Quartet, which champions the Road Map plan foreseeing a two-State solution with Israel and the Palestinians living side by side in peace, reaffirmed its support for the bilateral and comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and commended the parties for their serious and continuous efforts.
“The Quartet expressed its desire to see the continuation of the solid negotiating structure, involving substantive discussions on all issues, including core issues without exception,” the group said in a communiqué.
It encouraged further steps to ease conditions for Palestinian civilian life and the economy, and called on the parties to re-double their cooperative efforts on security to ensure that both Israelis and Palestinians live in peace and safety.
“The Quartet expressed deep concern about increasing settlement activity, which has a damaging impact on the negotiating environment and is an impediment to economic recovery,” the communiqué added.
It called on the parties to avoid actions that undermine confidence and could prejudice the outcome of the negotiations, condemning the recent rise in settler violence against Palestinian civilians and urging the enforcement of the rule of law without discrimination or exception.
It also condemned acts of terrorism against Israelis, including any rocket attacks emanating from the Palestinian territories, and stressed the need for further Palestinian efforts to fight terrorism and dismantle the infrastructure of terror, as well as foster an atmosphere of tolerance.
The Quartet commended Egypt for its efforts to overcome Palestinian divisions and reunite the West Bank and Gaza under the legitimate Palestinian Authority, and voiced the hope that continuing calm between Gaza and southern Israel would lead to further relief for Gaza’s civilian population, including the regular opening of crossings for both humanitarian and commercial flows.
Mr. Ban was joined today by European Union (EU) High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Also present were European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Representative for the Quartet.
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UN STEPPING UP AID AS NEW FIGHTING DISPLACES AT LEAST 15,000 FROM SOMALI CAPITAL
Aid agencies in Somalia are scaling up their efforts to assist some 15,000 people uprooted by the recent fighting in Mogadishu, which has reportedly killed 80 civilians and wounded hundreds more and is some of the worst violence to hit the Somali capital in over a year and a half, the United Nations said today.
Those fleeing the fresh clashes this week between Islamic insurgents and Government forces bring the total number of people uprooted so far this year in Mogadishu to 160,000, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“This week’s fighting in Mogadishu, described by witnesses as the worst since the beginning of the latest insurgency in February 2007, has forced at least 15, 000 people from their homes,” UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.
UNHCR, which is working to provide shelter materials for those that have fled, reported that almost half of the newly displaced have moved to safer parts of Mogadishu, while most of the others fled west towards the Somali town of Afgooye, an area already jammed with an estimated 350,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Meanwhile, the agency said that about 5,000 Somali refugees have been arriving every month at the Dadaab refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya, some 80 kilometres from the border with Somalia, bringing the population in the camp to over 215,000.
Despite the insecurity in the capital of the strife-torn nation, humanitarian agencies are scaling up their response to assist those affected.
“We are managing to get aid to those who desperately need it. We have stepped up response for those who have been uprooted by the violence in the past few days and there is no break in ongoing assistance programmes,” said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Bowden.
“The renewed fighting in Mogadishu over the weekend worsens an already desperate and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia. A huge proportion of the population is in dire need of assistance.”
Those displaced since the weekend are receiving food aid along the Afgooye corridor and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is currently transporting more food to the outskirts of Mogadishu. Health facilities in the capital have also been supplied with drugs and supplies.
In addition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners will distribute non-food items to 8,000 families in need. The agency also plans to continue to the ongoing blanket supplementary feeding programme for 10,000 children under five in and around Mogadishu and the surrounding IDP camps.
The latest crisis comes as the Horn of Africa nation, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, is grappling with an already dire humanitarian situation owing to a combination of conflict and drought.
Some 3.2 million people in Somalia, or around 43 per cent of the population, are in urgent need of food and other humanitarian assistance.
The latest violence comes just weeks after 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) aimed at ending the fighting.
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UP TO 170,000 FLOOD VICTIMS IN WESTERN NEPAL TO RECEIVE UN EMERGENCY AID
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it is mobilizing emergency assistance for up to 170,000 people in western Nepal who have been displaced by the severe flooding that claimed more than 30 lives earlier this month.
Flash floods have affected over 24,000 families in the worst hit districts of Kanchanpur and Kailali.
WFP will provide a “mixed-commodity basket” of rice, lentils, vegetable oil and salt, as part of this new $2.5 million emergency operation.
Yesterday the UN and its humanitarian partners launched a $15.5 million appeal to help 70,000 people in eastern Nepal who were displaced after 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.
The appeal launched yesterday is supplementing a $102 million Transition Appeal for Nepal for 2008, which has received less than half of the support needed.
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FINAL DAY OF UN EVENT SPARKS ENDORSEMENT OF 11 TREATIES
On the final day of the United Nations treaty event to promote universal participation and implementation of multilateral pacts, six Member States undertook nine treaty actions by signing or ratifying separate conventions, agreements, treaties and optional protocols.
Following Uganda’s lead from yesterday, Austria ratified both the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet personally ratified a second optional protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at eliminating the death penalty.
Timor-Leste’s President, José Ramos-Horta, similarly took part in the event, signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
The Bahamas actively endorsed four treaties, ratifying the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and three additional protocols concerning human trafficking and the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms.
Small island nation Kiribati followed Burundi’s example and ratified the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
In total 30 States took 57 actions during this year’s treaty event, the tenth in the series held on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s General Debate at UN Headquarters.
As 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year’s event – which began on 23 September – centred on the theme “Universal Participation and Implementation – Dignity and Justice for All of Us.”
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CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS INTERNATIONAL PEACE, PACIFIC ISLAND STATES TELL UN DEBATE
Pacific Island States spoke out at the General Assembly today on the issue of climate change, promising to table a draft resolution during the climate session that will call on the United Nations to investigate the threat posed by global warming to international peace and security.
Tonga’s Prime Minister Feleti Vaka’uta Sevele used his address to the Assembly’s annual General Debate to urge other Member States outside the region to show their support for the draft resolution.
“The prospect of climate refugees from some of the Pacific Island Forum countries is no longer a prospect but a reality, with relocations of communities due to sea level rise already taking place,” he said. “Urgent action must be taken now.”
The resolution is expected to ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to commission a report on climate change and security, and to invite the Security Council and the General Assembly to work together on possible recommendations to deal with any problems identified.
Speaking earlier today, Tuila’epa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa, urged countries to convert the commitments they made about greenhouse gas reduction – whether during the landmark summit in Bali last year or elsewhere – into reality.
“Only through selfless and concerted efforts by all countries led by the major greenhouse gas emitters can we have a fighting chance of lessening the destructive impact of climate change,” he said, adding that it also enhances the chances of a credible agreement beyond the current Kyoto Protocol.
Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Derek Sikua said he feared that the magnitude of climate change has already outgrown the existing capacity of the UN system to respond.
Many smaller countries were being left to fend for themselves against the impact of global warming, as regional groups and other organizations charted their own course.
The Prime Minister called for the UN’s Small Islands Developing States Unit to be strengthened so that it can help countries, such as those in the Pacific Ocean facing rising sea levels, with special needs.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY: AFRICAN STATES URGE RICH NATIONS TO MEET AID, TRADE PLEDGES
Wealthy countries need to fulfil their much-vaunted commitments to spend more on aid and development to the world’s poorest nations and to liberalize international trade rules, the representatives of four African States have told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate in New York.
Speaking during this morning’s session of the debate, Burundi’s Second Vice-President Gabriel Ntisezerana called on developed countries to live up to their collective pledge to contribute the equivalent of 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) for aid and development, despite the current turbulence in international markets.
“Special attention must be paid to the problem of order in international financial markets, the need to increase investments in Africa, the rational management of hydraulic and energy resources, the transfer of technology and international trade agreements, the issue of climate change and the management of toxic wastes,” he said.
“It is more urgent than ever that we harmonize the procedures and instruments to realize our common goals, namely the battle against hunger, the reduction of world poverty and the consolidation of peace,” Mr. Ntisezerana added.
Guinea’s Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane added his voice to the chorus calling for greater assistance from affluent countries to those in need, noting the massive inequalities between different States.
“I call on world leaders, especially those of rich and emerging countries, to increase their support for poor nations,” he said. “A lasting peace cannot be built on the present asymmetrical fissures of our world.”
Mr. Tidiane cited the removal of all barriers to exporting poor countries’ produce as essential to their emergence from marginalization and said a reformed and revitalized UN adapted to the changes of the world was the appropriate forum for facing the current global challenges.
João Bernardo de Miranda, External Relations Minister of Angola, said it was critical that the international trade rules be liberalized if the world is going to resolve the food crisis. The latest set of talks, known as the Doha round, has stalled amid disagreements between rich and poor countries.
“The agricultural subsidies provided by developed countries to their farmers are ruining the production of farmers in poor countries, limiting their access to international markets,” Mr. Miranda said.
He noted that the collapse of the Doha round has “eliminated the chances of concluding, in the short term, a general trade agreement that would remove such subventions and other obstacles to international commercial exchanges.”
Mr. Miranda urged the key participants in the trade liberalization talks to “show the necessary flexibility so that countries that are underprivileged as a result of the lack of a global trade agreement will not remain eternally marginalized from the global economy.”
In his address yesterday, the President of São Tomé and Príncipe said the international community must translate its promises and commitments into action, or risk many countries in sub-Saharan Africa missing out on achieving the anti-poverty targets know as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the scheduled date of 2015.
Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes said his own country, a small archipelago, had made strenuous efforts to eradicate poverty and ensure food security, but was struggling to meet the Goals because of the combined impact of the current global food and financial crises.
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BLUE HELMETS SHOULD BE DEPLOYED IN SOMALIA, GENERAL ASSEMBLY TOLD
Somalia urgently needs a fully-fledged United Nations peacekeeping force to restore peace and stability in the war-torn country, the Foreign Minister of its Transitional Federal Government (TFG) told the General Assembly tonight.
Addressing the high-level segment of the General Assembly, Ali Ahmad Jama Jengeli said the deployment of a force of UN blue helmets would also help “create a secure environment for institution-building and socio-economic development.”
The UN-backed African Union Mission to Somalia, known as AMISOM, is currently trying to stabilize Somalia, which has been wracked by protracted war and humanitarian suffering since its last functioning national government was toppled in 1991.
But a peace accord between the TFG and the rebel Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), signed last month in neighbouring Djibouti, calls on the UN to replace AMISOM with its own peacekeeping force, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has begun contingency planning for such an operation.
“We are now in the process of implementation [of the Djibouti Agreement] – hopefully without undue delays,” Mr. Jengeli told the Assembly. “But we are also mindful, after 18 years of conflict, that delays occur… [because] of the tactics of those who have developed vested interests in anarchy and chaos.
“It is also important that the leadership, both on the Government side and on the opposition, show resolve and leadership in order for this process to succeed, and succeed it must.”
He also called on the international community to take “resolute action” against piracy in the waters off Somalia, which has become a massive problem in recent years. Many ships trying to deliver humanitarian relief supplies have been hijacked or robbed before they can reach their destinations.
“These criminal acts of piracy are unacceptable and should be put to an end,” he said, adding that the French Government deserves credit for its support of Somalia on this issue.
Mr. Jengeli’s address to the General Debate took place amid mounting concern from UN aid agencies after at least 15,000 residents of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, fled their homes this week because of deadly fighting in the city between the rebels, Government forces and the allied Ethiopian military force.
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CURRENT GLOBAL CRISES REQUIRE MULTILATERAL SOLUTIONS, GERMANY TELLS UN
Key issues facing the world today – ranging from bringing stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan, promoting peace in the Middle East and achieving disarmament – can only be solved by having all of the world’s nations pool their efforts, Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister told the General Assembly today.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier stressed that we must resist viewing the world through the lens of “oversimplified categories” such as good and evil, East against West and North against South.
“This is yesterday’s thinking,” he told the Assembly’s annual high-level debate. “It no longer has a place in today’s world. For us to resolve the problems of today and tomorrow, we all need more partners and not more opponents.”
Problems in areas such as Georgia, Afghanistan and the Middle East underscore the need for the establishment of a new stable world older, Mr. Steinmeier, who is also Deputy Federal Chancellor, said.
Likewise, the disarmament movement would gain momentum if a “global responsibility partnership” were to be created, he added.
Germany believes in dialogue and reconciliation, but “this does not mean dialogue for the sake of discussion without any results. Nor does reconciliation of interests imply we are prepared to abandon our own principles,” the Minister said.
But he reminded delegates of other pressing matters, such as the fight against hunger and poverty. “The pledges we made at the turn of the millennium must not remain a mere piece of paper,” he said, referring to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.
To accelerate progress towards these Goals, Germany will boost its poverty reduction and global fairness efforts, raising its Official Development Assistance (ODA) by $1.2 billion in the coming budget alone, Mr. Steinmeier declared.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today underscored that the United Nations and the European Union (EU) share a responsibility to show that multilateralism works, that it delivers results and can address current and future crises.
“As organizations, the United Nations and the European Union embody a belief in the power of multilateralism,” Mr. Ban told a seminar on UN-EU cooperation in crisis management and security.
However, “if we are not effective, or are seen as compromised, competing visions based on more traditional balance of power concepts could take hold. Unilateral action could increase,” he cautioned.
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ITALY SAYS UN MUST CONTINUE TO LEAD EFFORTS TO RESOLVE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
The United Nations should be at the forefront of efforts to tackle the global food crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told the General Assembly tonight, saying the world body’s agencies are best placed to both alleviate hunger and guarantee food security.
But Mr. Frattini stressed that a partnership involving governments, the business sector and others is also necessary if the world is to successfully ameliorate the effects of the food crisis or any other of today’s major challenges, such as climate change.
“We must enable the Organization to tackle it effectively,” he said, referring to the food crisis and citing the work so far of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which are all headquartered in Rome.
The UN held a major summit in June in the Italian capital to discuss the crisis and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also set up a global high-level task force to spearhead efforts to find solutions, such as boosting agricultural production.
“We also encourage a direct involvement of the private sector in bringing agriculture back to its rightful place at the centre of economic policies,” Mr. Frattini said. “A global partnership that will increase the flow of investments and know-how, increase productivity, and contribute to the development of national agro-industry.”
The soaring cost of many basic foods, such as rice, over the past two years has driven at least 75 million people into poverty, taking the total number of hungry poor to over 900 million people, according to the most recent UN figures.
The food crisis has undermined efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of eight internationally-backed targets for slashing social and economic ills, all by 2015.
Mr. Frattini urged delegates at the Assembly to make the pursuit of the MDGs “an absolute priority” so as to bring meaningful difference to the lives of nearly a billion people.
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MOROCCO SAYS ITS AUTONOMY PROPOSAL FOR WESTERN SAHARA SHOULD END STALEMATE
Morocco’s proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara is the result of broad international consultation and should end the stalemate on the issue at the United Nations, the country’s Prime Minister told the General Assembly today.
Speaking at the annual General Debate, Abbas El Fassi said the Initiative for Negotiating an Autonomy Statute for the Saharan Region was proposed “in the aim to put an end to this artificial conflict and overcome the stalemate.”
He added that the initiative has already been described as serious and credible by the Security Council and follows international negotiations and “a process of extensive national negotiations with the population of the Sahara region.”
Mr. El Fassi stressed that Morocco remained strongly committed to the UN-backed negotiations with the Frente Polisario to find a solution to the conflict in Western Sahara “that is respectful of its national sovereignty, territorial integrity and where the autonomy applied to this region benefits its population.”
He added that a solution to Western Sahara would also help bring a stronger and more integrated Arab Maghreb Union in North Africa.
The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been in the Territory since September 1991 to monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Frente Polisario.
Morocco holds that its sovereignty over Western Sahara should be recognized, while the Frente Polisario’s position is that the Territory’s final status should be decided in a referendum that includes independence as an option.
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TWO FORMER CONGOLESE REBEL LEADERS TO STAND TRIAL AT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
The International Criminal Court (http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/425.html) has ruled that there is sufficient evidence to pursue criminal cases against two former Congolese rebel leaders for crimes allegedly committed by their militias in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2003.
Germain Katanga, a senior commander from the group known as the Force de Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI), faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes for a deadly assault on the village of Bogoro, in the province of Ituri. Hundreds of people were killed and many women forced into sexual slavery in that February 2003 attack.
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is a former commander of the rebel National Integrationalist Front (FNI). He faces three counts of crimes against humanity and six of war crimes, and is alleged to have played a key role in designing and carrying out the Bogoro attack.
Among the crimes the two men are accused of is using children under the age of 15 in active hostilities, including as bodyguards and combatants, during the deadly assault on Bogoro.
The ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern – namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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NUCLEAR SOURCES COULD DELIVER ENERGY, MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE, INDIA TELLS UN
India’s rapid economic growth is driving it to pursue all avenues to locate sources of clean energy, the South Asian nation’s Prime Minister told delegates at the annual high-level segment of the General Assembly today.
“The opening of international civil nuclear cooperation with India will have a positive impact on global energy security and on efforts to combat climate change,” Manmohan Singh said in New York.
“This is a vindication of India’s impeccable record on non-proliferation and to our long-standing commitment to nuclear disarmament that is global, universal and non-discriminatory.”
The Prime Minister called attention to the ties that poverty alleviation and livelihood security have with energy security. “We need to think of ways and means, such as early warning mechanisms, to help countries cope with oil shocks.”
He also cited the need for the creation of a new global network bringing together both developed and developing countries to research energy efficiency, clean energy technologies and renewable sources of energy.
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ICELAND URGES SCHOOL CURRICULA WORLDWIDE TO HIGHLIGHT WORK OF UN
Iceland today called for the work of the United Nations to be included on the school curriculum in every Member State of the Organization, saying this offers an effective method of spreading the world body’s multilateral ideals to future leaders.
Addressing the General Assembly’s annual General Debate, Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde said his country intends to make the UN’s work “an integral part of the curriculum at the primary and secondary levels of education in our country, in addition to the existing and more selective activities at higher levels.”
Mr. Haarde said Iceland strongly encouraged all Member States to do the same with their school curricula.
“This may prove to be an effective means of offering the multilateral ideal of the UN as a part of the world-view imparted to future leaders and citizens around the globe.”
He added that he was optimistic that the UN will be able to rise to the challenges posed by globalization and become more efficient at delivering results.
“The UN is a long way from being a perfect mechanism, but its role in the international system is indispensable. If we settle for a UN which sometimes appears to be an abstract objective in itself, we will never fully realize the potential of this universal gathering of nations.
“On the other hand, if we encourage a high-level of ambition and adaptability, I am convinced that the UN will live up to the ideals of its founders and be celebrated as a cornerstone of the international architecture on the centenary of the [UN] Charter in 2045.”
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UN AGENCY URGES GLOBAL UPTAKE OF FLOOD DEVASTATION PREVENTION MEASURES
With 200 million people worldwide living in coastal flood zones, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) is urging States to take measures to prevent flooding from turning into a disaster.
The devastation caused by floods was evident recently in Bangladesh, Nepal and India, where thousands of villages were submerged as rivers burst their banks, according to a news release issued by the ISDR Secretariat in Geneva.
“Flooding is already on the rise due to increasing populations living in flood plains, and climate change will make floods more frequent and severe, with a particular impact on deltas. The recent floods… are glimpses of a future that we need to start adapting to now,” said ISDR chief Sálvano Briceño.
Successful flood control systems have been implemented across several countries such as Viet Nam, which has used mangrove reforestation to considerably reduce the impact of flooding on coastal populations. Meanwhile, China has spent around $3 billion in flood control efforts between 1960 and 2000, helping to avert an estimated $12 billion in losses.
Cost-effective methods to prevent flooding from turning into disaster include risk assessments, evacuation plans, education and not building in flood-prone areas, all of which would require community participation.
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UN CO-CHAIRS AUTISM AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
The United Nations today co-launched a conference on autism designed to promote quicker intervention, more compassion and greater acceptance of those afflicted.
“Not too long ago, those affected by autism-related disorders were set aside: placed in institutions or dismissed as untreatable ‘lost cases’,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s wife, Ban Soon-taek, who co-sponsored the event with First Ladies Laura Bush of the United States and Dorrit Moussaieff of Iceland.
“Today, sadly, this reality is still prevalent in some parts of the world. That is why it is crucial that professionals and society at large become more involved, compassionate and accepting of this complex condition,” she added, at the UN World Focus on Autism conference held on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s annual General Debate.
The Mission of Qatar, Autism Speaks, and the Autism Society of America, joined the UN in launching the conference to advance the concept of an annual observance devoted to promoting awareness of the condition on 2 April, which the General Assembly last year proclaimed as World Autism Awareness Day.
Mrs. Ban cited data showing that one child in 150 is affected with autism, which is now the fastest-growing neuro-developmental condition. “These boys and girls need early intervention – such as appropriate assistance on developing communication, social and cognitive skills,” she said
“I would like to highlight the international dimension of this condition. Autism affects all countries, regardless of race, creed, educational levels or financial income.”
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UN-EUROPEAN UNION TIES CAN PROVE THAT MULTILATERALISM WORKS – BAN
The United Nations and the European Union (EU) share a responsibility to show that multilateralism works, that it delivers results and can address current and future crises, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.
“As organizations, the United Nations and the European Union embody a belief in the power of multilateralism,” Mr. Ban told a seminar on UN-EU cooperation in crisis management and security.
However, “if we are not effective, or are seen as compromised, competing visions based on more traditional balance of power concepts could take hold. Unilateral action could increase,” he cautioned.
To avoid this, the Secretary-General stressed the need to ensure that joint efforts are coherent, noting that, in specific instances, a division of labour may be desirable, based on the strengths and added value of each organization.
Also important was better information-sharing, both to keep situations from turning into crises and, once a crisis has erupted, to clarify common objectives.
In addition, he emphasized that multilateralism means inclusiveness. “UN-EU cooperation must not be a private club. It should reach out to other regional and subregional organizations, as well as to international financial institutions and civil society actors, to build the global networks required to address today’s crises,” he stated.
In a new report released today, the Secretary-General highlighted cooperation between the UN and other regional and intergovernmental organizations, including the African Union (AU), the League of Arab States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He noted that the UN and AU have deepened their collaboration with the establishment of the AU-UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and the planning and support for the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
Meanwhile, Alexander Stubb, Foreign Minister of Finland and Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), today briefed the Security Council, telling the 15-member body that recent crises, such as last month’s conflict in Georgia, had underlined the critical importance of collaboration between the UN and the OSCE.
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PALESTINIAN LEADER VOICES HOPE AT UN THAT ARAB-LED INITIATIVE WILL BRING PEACE
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the General Assembly’s annual high-level gathering today that an Arab-led peace proposal provides a “historic opportunity” to bring peace and security to the region.
The Arab Peace Initiative, a plan based on the principle of land for peace adopted in Beirut in 2002, calls for Israel to withdraw from all Arab lands occupied since 1967, recognize an independent Palestinian State and provide a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees. In return Arab countries would recognize Israel, end their conflict and normalize relations.
Mr. Abbas reiterated his call “to all concerned parties, including Israel, and all concerned regional and international powers to seize the opportunity provided by the Arab Peace Initiative, an opportunity that should not be missed or treated lightly.”
In the context of that proposal, he expressed his support for the indirect talks between Israel and Syria under Turkey’s auspices. “We hope this process will succeed in the achievement of justice and the implementation of international resolutions and the affirmation of international legitimacy.”
Also paramount is the peace proposal launched in the United States city of Annapolis late last year, the President noted.
An agreement on all final status issues “would lead to the realization of peace within our region, allowing it to enter a new era of relations characterized by good neighbourliness, mutual recognition, security and open borders and not by walls and barriers,” he told delegates at United Nations Headquarters.
The conference held in Annapolis in November 2007 witnessed the largest number of countries come together to discuss the issue, resulting in the consensus that obstacles – namely Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, especially East Jerusalem – be removed, Mr. Abbas said.
Earlier this month, a senior UN official told the Security Council that the peace process is at a crossroads and needs to make decisive advances in the months ahead, as disturbing developments counter-balance recent positive steps. “It appears so far that no agreement has been reached on the core issues,” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) Robert Serry told the 15-member body. “However, it also appears that there have been substantive discussions, the potential of which must be built on with a continuation of intensive negotiations.”
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HAITI: SENIOR UN RELIEF OFFICIAL SURVEYS STORM-RAVAGED COMMUNITIES
The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today began a two-day visit to assess the devastation across hurricane-ravaged Haiti, which was grappling with chronic food security even before the recent series of storms.
Successive hurricanes and tropical storms struck the Caribbean island nation – the poorest in the Western Hemisphere – in late August and early September, destroying large portions of its agriculture and infrastructure, and almost entirely wiping out the harvest for the current season. This only compounded the suffering of those who were already impacted by the rise in food prices.
“Hunger is no stranger to Haitians who have been struck by more than their fair share of crises,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “Now is the time for concerted global action to get food to the hungry, and to support President [René] Préval’s goal of longer-term solutions to help the country, and its people, feed themselves.”
Ms. Sheeran flew directly to the town of Gonaïves on her arrival in the country today, to speak with people who have been devastated by the storms, and witness first-hand WFP’s emergency and recovery response.
On Saturday, she will meet the Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis and other government officials in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as international donors, partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN representatives, to discuss the best way forward.
Accompanying the WFP chief on her visit is David Novak, head of restaurant company Yum! Brands, which yesterday committed $80 million to help the agency provide over 200 million meals to hungry schoolchildren in poor countries, including Haiti.
WFP has delivered more than 2,200 metric tons of food since the start of its emergency operation – enough to feed almost 500,000 people. More than 300,000 of them are in Gonaïves, the city worst hit by flooding. It has appealed for $54 million to support its work in Haiti, but has so far received only $1 million.
* * *
DARFUR PEACE HOPES DAMAGED IF SUDANESE PRESIDENT IS ARRESTED, UN HEARS
The decision of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors to seek an arrest warrant for Sudan’s President over alleged war crimes in Darfur will only undermine existing efforts to bring peace to the region, the country’s Vice-President has told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.
Ali Osman Mohamed Taha told delegates yesterday that the Sudanese Government in Khartoum had taken great strides to implementing the peace and reconciliation process in Darfur, an arid and impoverished region where rebels have fought Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen since 2003.
The commitment to this process has been guaranteed by President Omar al-Bashir himself, Mr. Taha said. Given that national elections are planned for next year, he added that the issuing of an indictment against Mr. al-Bashir would be detrimental to the peace process.
The Vice-President stressed that while his Government fully supported the accountability that the indictment was supposed to bring about, it was already implementing measures to achieve that accountability, and therefore the ICC prosecutor’s move was “corroding” the peace process.
Mr. Taha said the decision of Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor, should be reversed by the Security Council, noting that many States have made public their objections to the indictment.
He also said that the Government was committed to improving humanitarian relief efforts across Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed through direct combat, disease, malnutrition or reduced life expectancy, and another 2.7 million have been displaced.
In addition, the Vice-President said Khartoum was supporting the work of the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.
* * *
BRITISH LEADER ISSUES CALL AT UN FOR NEW FINANCIAL ORDER TO END MARKET TURMOIL
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom today called for a new global financial system to bring an end to the current economic turmoil, laying out five principles on which the order should be based as he addressed the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.
“This has been an era of global prosperity. It has been an era also of global turbulence,” Gordon Brown said at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
To bring an end to the culture of irresponsibility, “we must now build a new global financial order founded on transparency, not opacity; rewarding success, not excess; responsibility, not impunity; and which is global, not national.”
He proposed five key principles for all nations to abide by: transparency and improved accounting standards; sound banking practices and more effective regulation; increased responsibility to be taken by senior management; integrity; and oversight of global capital flows.
Mr. Brown also urged urgent action to tackle what he called the “global scramble for resources” by addressing the problem of high commodity prices and “taking tough decisions on energy security and climate change.” To this end, he said he will host a global energy summit in London to push for agreement on key issues later this year.
Cooperation among nations is more important than ever, he said, as it is the only vehicle through which “we can make the most of the world’s scarce resources and harness the power of our ever great interdependence for our common good.”
Resorting to isolationism and protectionism is not the solution to the crisis holding the world in its clutches, the Prime Minister said. “It is only by maintaining our open, flexible and dynamic economies that we can best secure people’s jobs, homes and standards of living in a global age.”
* * *
BHUTAN, AT UN, HITS OUT AT IMPACT OF CONSUMERISM ON SCARCE NATURAL RESOURCES
Bhutan’s Prime Minister warned today at the General Assembly that consumerism is draining the world of key natural resources and helping spark or exacerbate recent crises over fuel prices, water reserves and the financial markets.
Too much of the global population had developed a “way of life that is just not rational and sustainable,” Jigmi Y. Thinley told the fourth day of the annual General Debate at the Assembly.
“It is not difficult to see how all these crises are the outcomes of a way of life that is dictated by the powerful ethics of consumerism in a world of finite resources. Our life is all about fear of not having enough, about wanting more and doing better than our dear neighbour and friend. We spend and consume beyond our means and those of generations unborn, bringing upon ourselves the kind of crises that were inevitable.”
Mr. Thinley said the problems caused by over-consumption have been made worse by the impact of climate change, especially the apparent rise in extreme weather phenomena.
“Striking unpredictably, unseasonably and with greater fury and frequency, natural disasters such as drought, cyclones, hurricanes, floods and landslides are destroying life, property and crops. Weather patterns have changed and continue to change with far more profound implications for our civilization than we can fathom.”
He also warned against a tendency towards private profiteering and socializing risks, adding that “unfortunately, the possible solution seems to lie in transferring our debt to future generations who are not here to argue against it.”
The Prime Minister of the Himalayan country noted that since the early 1970s, Bhutan has pursued a philosophy of working towards gross national happiness as a marker of success, rather than gross domestic product (GDP).
* * *
VANUATU ASKS UN TO REVIEW CRITERIA FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRY STATUS
Vanuatu today called on the United Nations to urgently review the criteria for classifying some nations as least developed countries (LDCs), a status that brings increased international aid and trade assistance, saying that the interpretation of the rules could lead to some struggling States missing out on vital funding.
President Kalkot Mataskelekele told the General Assembly’s high-level debate that poor countries could find themselves having “graduated” out of LDC status, even though they remain highly vulnerable to external economic shocks.
“The decision of graduating a country from LDC status, in our view, must imply the recognition of undisputed sustainable socio-economic progress in the country,” Mr. Mataskelekele said.
There are currently 49 LDCs, classified in that group by the UN because they have the lowest socio-economic indicators in the world.
To graduate out of that status, as Cape Verde did last year, the countries must meet two out of three criteria: a boost in per capita incomes, significant progress in human capital or assets (such as in nutrition, health and literacy), and a resilience to economic shocks.
But Vanuatu’s President said the vulnerability criterion should be treated as paramount. “It is indeed the only criterion that ultimately matters to small and vulnerable States such as ours.”
He added that many small island developing States were especially vulnerable, as they faced not only major economic challenges but also the potentially catastrophic effects o rising sea levels because of climate change.
“The reform we are calling for is a mild and reasonable one, one that could easily be adopted by ECOSOC [the Economic and Social Council] and the General Assembly without altering the main components of the established methodology.
“We believe the time has come for the UN to come full circle by making the same criterion a superior one, so that no highly vulnerable country be forcibly reclassified and bound to lose the level of concessionary support it remains in need of. Such a reform would do justice to countries that have not achieved the implied structural progress.”
Tuvalu's Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia echoed Mr. Mataskelekele in his address to the Assembly, stressing that small island developing States remain highly vulnerable to economic and environmental turmoil.
"The enormous threat of more severe weather events and sea level rise hangs over us like a large storm cloud," Mr. Ielemia said. "This threat hinders investment in our country and potentially puts into question our very survival."
* * *
AUSTRIA EXHORTS UN TO TAKE LEAD IN FIGHT TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
The United Nations must take lead in global efforts to eliminate violence against women by setting clear reduction targets and establishing a network so that countries can exchange their best ideas for the cause, Austria told the General Assembly today.
Speaking at the Assembly’s annual General Debate, Ursula Plassnik, the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, said “appalling reports of discrimination and violence against women” continue to be received around the world, despite the recent progress by women in so many spheres of life.
“How can we speak of human rights for women, as long as one out of every three women worldwide has been beaten or abused?” Ms. Plassnik asked. “It is the responsibility of each and every government to act on this.”
She added that women have become “the politically and socially most relevant ‘emerging power’ of the 21st century. Their contribution must be valued publicly, their participation encouraged, their potential fully used.”
Ms. Plassnik paid credit to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for appointing a number of women to senior positions in the UN, both at Headquarters in New York and in the field.
She also called for strengthened efforts to support women involved in peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions, as well as mediation processes.
Ms. Plassnik addressed the General Assembly a day after religious leaders from around the world pledged to add their voices to a campaign organized by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to cut violence against females.
* * *
BANGLADESH OUTLINES DETAILS OF GLOBAL FOOD BANK PROPOSAL DURING UN DEBATE
A global food bank that allows needy countries to borrow grains on preferential terms would help alleviate the devastating impact of the food crisis, Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate today.
Fakhruddin Ahmed, who serves as head of his country’s caretaker Government, told delegates that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should examine the possibility of creating such a food bank to assist countries that have a short-term shortfall in production.
“Once they overcame the shortfall, these countries could return the quantum to the food bank,” he said. “We could also explore the possibility of determining special drawing rights for each country, using criteria such as population, level of poverty and annual variation in their level of food production.
“Such an arrangement would allow us to prevent hoarding and price gouging by speculators in anticipation of, and during, a food crisis, and we believe that a mechanism can be put in place to guard against any moral hazard issues that might arise.”
Mr. Ahmed warned that the current food crisis is likely to deepen – and return frequently in the years ahead – unless the world undertakes an array of short-term and long-term measures to prevent a recurrence.
He also detailed the impact of the crisis in Bangladesh, noting that the rise in basic food prices has been “acutely felt” despite the fact that most cereals consumed were grown locally.
“Domestic rice prices spiked by nearly 60 per cent during the year through February 2008, against the backdrop of two devastating floods and a tropical cyclone that caused large-scale devastation of one of our key harvests.
“For a country like Bangladesh, where roughly 40 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line and where poor households spend as much as 70 per cent of their income on food items, such a steep increase in food prices has had significant adverse effects on food security, poverty and human development.”
* * *
UN HELPS ETHIOPIA IMPROVE EMERGENCY HEALTH READINESS
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today pledged support to strengthen Ethiopia’s emergency preparedness and improve conditions for people confronted by the food security crisis, cross-border displacement and communicable diseases.
“WHO wants to help these health actors expand and strengthen these efforts so we build on the health gains that have been made and improve the level of health and nutritional care available to the population,” Eric Laroche, the agency’s top humanitarian relief official, said in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
Dr. Laroche, Assistant-Secretary-General for WHO’s Health Action in Crises, welcomed major achievements that have been made in the Horn of Africa country, including the control of meningitis, in which a major outbreak was contained with the distribution of at least 2 million doses of vaccine, and acute watery diarrhoeal diseases, where mortality has been cut by 50 per cent. WHO contributed in both cases.
WHO has placed increasing emphasis on strengthening community-level health facilities by preparing guidelines, training and health materials to make local workers more able to respond to the various challenges they face.
During his visit Dr. Laroche met with Ethiopian Health Minister Shiferaw Teklemariam.
* * *
ANGRY PROTESTERS ATTACK UN POST, WOUND TWO PEACEKEEPERS IN DR CONGO
Hundreds of Congolese civilians, enraged by violent incursions by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Ugandan rebels, attacked United Nations posts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) yesterday, wounding two UN peacekeepers.
The violence erupted during protests in Dungu, Orientale province, against LRA attacks which have uprooted thousands from their homes in many areas within a 90 kilometre radius of Dungu, the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC) said in a news release today.
Hundreds of demonstrators encircled the MONUC observation post, wounding two Blue Helmets from the Moroccan contingent and destroying equipment and material, it added. The crowd also destroyed and plundered the liaison office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and tried to raid the residence and offices of the territory’s civilian administrator.
MONUC was sending a multidisciplinary team to Dungu today to evaluate the security and humanitarian situation following the displacement of thousands of people by the LRA attacks, as aid agencies fear more serious and massive human rights violations.
“The priority is to carry out fast preliminary investigations on the various violations, to identify the victims and to determine their number, and to collect testimonies of displaced persons around Dungu,” MONUC said in a statement.
MONUC and the DRC army jointly deployed troops to Ituri and Orientale in August to protect civilians after LRA attacks. Since the mid-1980s, the LRA has waged war in northern Uganda against that country’s government and became notorious for its abduction and use of child soldiers during the conflict.
Its fighters have often been based in neighbouring southern Sudan or in north-eastern DRC. The LRA and Uganda have recently signed several peace agreements, raising hopes of a comprehensive accord to formally end the entire conflict.
* * *
BAN WELCOMES BOLIVIA’S EFFORTS AT DIALOGUE TO DIFFUSE DOMESTIC TENSIONS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the Bolivian Government’s efforts to pursue dialogue with opponents in search of peaceful, mutually-agreed solutions to the problems facing the country, an issue he discussed with President Evo Morales this week on the margins of the annual general debate of the United Nations General Assembly.
Reiterating an appeal made earlier this month, Mr. Ban said he expected that “all parties will refrain from the use of violence to further their positions,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson today.
Several people lost their lives during violent clashes related to Bolivia’s gas revenues that erupted in the Andean nation over two weeks ago.
Mr. Ban welcomed the “determined” diplomatic efforts of the Association of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU) and the Catholic Church, who – together with the UN – are serving as witnesses to the process of dialogue in Bolivia.
He also welcomed the creation of a UNASUR commission of inquiry into the deplorable killings in the department of Pando, Bolivia on 11 September, adding that those responsible should be punished in accordance with the law.
“At this moment of challenge and change in Bolivia, the Secretary-General wishes to express his strong support for the country’s democracy and democratic institutions,” the statement added.
* * *
AT UN, CARIBBEAN NATIONS CALL FOR RETHINKING OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
The international financial architecture must be revised to advance the development of poorer nations, Caribbean leaders told the annual high-level debate of the General Assembly today.
In the face of skyrocketing food prices which have triggered riots worldwide, countries of the region are “buffeted by the winds of unequal trade liberalization, in which the agricultural subsidies of developed States force our own nascent agro-industries to an uncompetitive demise,” Prime Minister Ralph E. Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines said.
Improving the plight of the world’s poor and hungry can only be achieved by addressing “systemic issues,” such as trade barriers, biofuels, climate change and “anemic development assistance,” he said.
“The banana farmers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines continue their heroic struggles to eke out a living in the face of corporate greed, thinly disguised as principled globalization,” Mr. Gonsalves said.
“The evidence to date suggests that the international community has inadvertently institutionalized and entrenched poverty within a system of global winners and losers,” labelling the Doha development round as a “suicide pact” within the World Trade Organization (WTO), he pointed out.
The Prime Minister lamented the limited progress in meeting the targets set by the 2002 landmark anti-poverty agreement known as the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development, which produced “grand, unfilled commitments” to poorer nations.
Developed and developing countries must join hands to implement these “carefully calibrated” initiatives of integrating aid, debt relief, market access, good governance and foreign direct investment,” Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica, said.
“Proceeding with some elements without the others will not achieve the goals we have set,” he told the Assembly. “Indeed, it might make it worse.”
The Prime Minister also called on wealthier countries to live up to their commitment to contribute 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to Official Development Assistance (ODA).
“This is a modest amount. Yet only five countries have to date done so.”
Hubert Alexander Ingraham, who serves as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Bahamas, underscored the need for “effective, permanent representation of developing countries, particularly small developing countries, in international economic, trade and financial organizations,” such as the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO.
Further, global tax issues must be discussed in an open forum to address issues crucial to smaller nations, he said.
“It is for this and other important reasons that the Bahamas calls for the convening of a major international conference to review the international financial and monetary architecture and global economic governance structures,” Mr. Ingraham said.
The current global market crisis, the Prime Minister of Barbados said, cannot be solved by those responsible for it because they also “created, controlled and manipulated the global financial system for their own advantage.”
David Thompson – who also serves as his country’s Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs, and Development, Labour, Civil Service and Energy – told the General Debate that developing countries must take the lead in finding a way out of the problem.
Poorer nations must also be given a greater say in decision-making processes in international financial institutions, he said.
“The causes of the present global financial crisis are firmly rooted in the failure of the international community to reform an undemocratic and antiquated system of international economic governance that has not kept pace with the rapid growth of global interdependence,” the Prime Minister added.
Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica, recalled one its worst economic crises, which occurred when the banana industry, on which the country is heavily reliant, was devastated from 2002 to 2003.
The emergency was triggered by United States-supported challenges to the European Union Banana Import Regime of the WTO.
“What might have been an academic argument for some became an issue of survival for us,” the Prime Minister said, adding that Dominica’s farmers have yet to recover.
His country was ravaged by “decisions taken by representatives of developed nations and multilateral agencies, who seemed totally unmindful of or indifferent to the impact of such actions on the small and vulnerable economies,” he told delegates.
Despite the best efforts of small island developing states (SIDS) to grow their economies, “policies that are ill-conceived and ill-advised will continue to negate our efforts and reverse some of the gains that have been made,” said Stephenson King, who serves as Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Development, Labour, Civil Service and Energy.
Mr. King also said he looks forward to “meaningful progress” at the November follow-up conference in Doha, which will review implementation of the Monterrey Consensus.
Saint Lucia calls on its “development partners to give practical expression to the numerous commitments that have been offered in the past, but which remain unrealized.”
Also addressing the General Debate was Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada, who listed the steps his country is taking to build a new and prosperous economy, including revitalizing the cocoa and nutmeg industries; boosting labour productivity; fostering a knowledge-based export services sector; and modernizing the tax system.
But these efforts are thwarted by “unfavourable external factors” such as high energy costs, soaring food prices and the slowdown in global financial markets, he said.
Mr. Thomas, also Grenada’s Minister of National Security, Information and Legal Affairs, said, therefore, that a global partnership for development is essential to assist States.
“Serious attention should be paid to addressing the special needs of the least developed countries, in the areas of trade debt relief and the environment,” he said.
* * *
CURRENT CRISES THREATEN TO ROLL BACK DEVELOPMENT GAINS, WARNS BAN
The challenges posed by the weakening world economy, steep rises in food and energy prices, and climate change threaten to reverse previous development gains, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, addressing the countries most likely to bear the brunt of the impact of these problems.
“This is especially true in the least developed countries,” Mr. Ban told the annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, noting that recent data suggests that the number of people living in extreme poverty in LDCs is much higher than previous estimates.
“This complex development emergency makes it all the more imperative that we take urgent action,” he added.
The Secretary-General said he was heartened by the pledges made at yesterday’s high-level event, during which governments, foundations, businesses and civil society groups announced an estimated $16 billion in new commitments to slash hunger, poverty, disease and other socio-economic ills by 2015, the targets that make up the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
“With only seven years to the MDG target date, the world cannot afford to spare any effort,” said Mr. Ban, stressing that consolidating the global partnership for development, which is MDG 8, is particularly important.
“This will drive progress in the areas of aid, trade and access to new technologies and affordable essential medicines, where implementation is far behind schedule,” he noted.
On that note, he renewed his appeal to Member States to rapidly conclude the Doha round of trade liberalization talks, which broke down this summer, stating that a pro-development Doha round would be a strong catalyst for integrating developing countries in the international economy.
“If we truly wish to take the lead in our own development efforts, we must begin to transform an international economic system that affords some and denies others the benefits of development,” General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto told the meeting.
He also cautioned that even if all actors meet their commitments, the MDGs mark only a beginning. “We must insist on long-term reallocation of resources to national priorities, the stepped-up transfer of technologies, reduction of agricultural subsidies and the opening of markets, all of which require significant resources and commitments from our partners in the North,” he stated.
* * *
HAITIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR UN REFORM AND NEW PARADIGM FOR HELPING WORLD’S POOR
The President of Haiti today told leaders gathered at the United Nations to “break the paradigm of charity in our approach to international cooperation” and invest instead in helping poor countries develop their own potential through such steps as a genuine liberalization of trade.
“Charity has never helped any country escape from underdevelopment,” President René Préval told the General Assembly on the fourth day of its annual General Debate, even as he thanked the international community for its invaluable “surge of sympathy” in rushing aid to the impoverished Caribbean nation, stricken by four devastating hurricanes since August.
“If the international community wants to do something useful with us, let it help Haitians realize their potential,” he said, citing the work ethic of his people and noting that the region’s original Indian inhabitants and the Africans who were later brought there “helped a good part of humankind build their present wealth.”
Mr. Préval stressed that trade liberalization could help the world’s poor by giving them the chance to produce for a larger market, “but only if this liberalization is carried out without hypocrisy or mystification and on the basis of clear, transparent rules that are the same for all and which the powers that promote them are the first to respect.”
He also called for in-depth UN reform to make the world body more efficient, more transparent and truly democratic, declaring his support for the stand of Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto, who earlier this week said too many important decisions did not go through the 192-member Assembly, even though it is supposed to represent the peoples of the world, with its decisions often casually ignored.
Only decisions of the 15-member Security Council are binding.
“Without that (reform), it (the UN) risks becoming an object of resentment for the less powerful, and a source of derision for the big powers,” he declared.
Nicaragua also called for deep democratic reform of the UN and greater contributions from rich countries and international financial institutions to realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to slash poverty, hunger, maternal and infant mortality and lack of access to health care and education, mainly in developing countries, by 2015.
“Those sources and organizations must give a clear proof and demonstration that they a have a genuine political will to achieve the MDGs and that it is not mere rhetoric,” Foreign Minister Samuel Santos Lopez told the Assembly.
He called on industrialized countries to fulfil their pledge to contribute the equivalent of 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) for aid and development to the world’s poorer nations.
* * *
NEPAL’S INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT IS ONE OF ITS STRONGEST ASSETS, UN GATHERING HEARS
All segments of the population are banding together to usher in a new era in Nepal, the world’s newest republic, displaying a type of inclusiveness that could serve as a model for the rest of the world, the Asian nation’s leader said at the United Nations today.
In May, the Constituent Assembly – whose members were elected in April – abolished Nepal’s 240-year-old monarchy.
“This was in keeping with long-standing aspirations of the Nepalese people,” Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by the name Prachanda, said on the fourth day of the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.
He called the Constituent Assembly “the most inclusive representative body,” with all marginalized and oppressed groups, ethnic communities, indigenous people and so-called “untouchables” known as Dalits taking part in deliberations.
“This may very well be an example of representativeness to the world in the first decade of the 21st century,” the Prime Minister said.
The country is rebuilding after a decade-long civil war, which ended in 2006, claiming an estimated 13,000 lives.
“Nepal’s peace process is unique in its characteristics and is based on multi-party democracy, inclusiveness, accommodation, dialogue and the recognition of the people as the ultimate arbiter,” the Prime Minister told delegates.
But he noted that the least developed countries (LDCs) such as his own have specific needs in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.
“We are trapped in a vicious circle of poverty,” the Prime Minister said. “For many historical reasons, we have low economic growth, low productivity, underdeveloped industries and traditional agriculture.”
Further, conflict and crisis persist due to lower levels of social indicators and fewer opportunities for the people, he said.
“I strongly urge that the issue of the LDCs should be looked at by the United Nations separately and with special and focused programmes,” the Prime Minister said. “They should be ensured dedicated support and cooperation if we want to make our world just and inclusive that the United Nations so proudly espouses.”
* * *
UN AGENCIES CALL FOR VIGILANCE ON CONTAMINATED MILK PRODUCTS
Given the ongoing crisis in China over melamine-contaminated powdered food which has hospitalized nearly 13,000 children, United Nations agencies today urged countries to ensure the safe feeding of infants and to be on alert for the possible spread of tainted dairy products.
Commonly used in such materials as containers and labels, melamine can also be found in agricultural products such as fertilizer. Alone, it is of low toxicity, but animal studies have suggested that kidney problems occur when combined with cyanuric acid.
“Restoring consumer confidence is critical,” said Eddeddine Boutrif, Director of the Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “Melamine-contaminated products should be removed from the food chain in order to prevent further exposure.”
Both FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) have advocated breastfeeding and advised against replacing powdered infant formula with other products such as condensed milk, honey mixed with milk or fresh milk.
“While breastfeeding is the ideal way of providing infants with the nutrients they need for healthy growth and development, it is also critical to ensure that there is an adequate supply of safe powdered infant formula to meet the needs of infants who are not breastfed,” said Jørgen Schlundt, Director of WHO’s Food Safety Department.
That agency recommended that all infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, receiving safe foods and breast milk up to two years of age and beyond.
With the possibility that melamine-contaminated products could spread to other countries through both formal and informal channels, both WHO and FAO said that both public authorities and the food industry are responsible for ensuring a safe food supply.
“It is critical that the industry strongly invests in food safety and adopts a food safety culture covering the food chain from raw materials through to the final products,” Mr. Boutrif said.
The recent crisis not only threatens human health, but put the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of dairy farmers at risk. “There is a need for countries to do major investment in strengthening their food control and food-borne disease surveillance systems as it could minimize the potential occurrence of food safety incidents like this one,” he added.
* * *
AS NEWEST UN MEMBER, MONTENEGRO VOICES HOPE IN MULTILATERALISM
As the newest United Nations Member State, Montenegro is imbued with a strong sense of political responsibility and committed to multilateralism, the South-East European nation’s leader told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate today.
President Filip Vujanović said that statehood “represents political freedom, but also a responsibility,” qualities that can be found in the UN and its Charter which promulgate mutual equality and respect among all nations.
“Multilateralism as the core of the international system inspires strong motivation and commitment,” the President said, adding that the UN provides a dependable structure to promote peace and security, human rights, democracy, respect for international law and development.
Mr. Vujanović also called for a pragmatic reform process at the United Nations. “As a small State, we are particularly interested in strengthening authority of the General Assembly and other main UN bodies.”
He added that at the heart of the overall reform process should be transforming the Security Council, taking into account “equitable regional representation, transparency and improvement in working methods.”
Regarding the country’s security policy, which is “centered around multilateral cooperation, Montenegro is making a step forward with the aim to create a legislative framework for deployment of our police, military and civilian personnel to the UN peacekeeping missions,” he said.
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