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Observing that every day Security Council discussions go on, “the death, the killings and the destruction continues” in the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this morning that he was hopeful the Council can vote on a resolution to halt the conflict in the region before the end of the day. Mr. Annan, speaking to reporters as he arrived at UN Headquarters in New York, said: “I hope we should be able to do it [adopt a resolution] today. The will is there. We are close.” The Council has scheduled a meeting for later today to discuss the violence that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month. As many as 1,000 civilians have been killed in Lebanon alone, according to authorities there, while Israel has said 41 of its civilians have also lost their lives in the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes. Mr. Annan stressed that it was vital “that we make progress today. Every day that the discussions go on, the death, the killings and the destruction continues in the region, and civilians on both sides continue to suffer.” There have been “enough discussions,” he said. “The issues have been discussed all around and it is time for decision, and I hope the Council will take firm action today. I see no reason why they shouldn’t. Most of the Council members are determined to go ahead. They are frustrated themselves, and I hope today they will have the opportunity to pronounce themselves.” The Secretary-General, who has a meeting scheduled today with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also said he has been in regular contact with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to discuss how to sort out the differences between the parties on the wording of a resolution. Since the start of hostilities, the Security Council has adopted a resolution temporarily extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (known as UNIFIL) through August, as well as two presidential statements on the violence. 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS) to help ensure free, timely, universal birth registration for children in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2015. Joined by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, newly inaugurated to a second term, the leaders of the three organizations gathered in Bogota this week to support the initiative, which aims to grant an official identity to millions of the region’s unregistered children who remain largely invisible in their own countries. “This partnership seeks to end the economic, political and social exclusion of undocumented citizens,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman. “When children are not registered, they are not counted and included in statistics. Without reliable statistics, we cannot have reliable programmes and services for the children who need them most.” The alliance will strengthen IDB’s and UNICEF’s ongoing efforts to eliminate barriers that impede registration in Latin America and the Caribbean through measures such as improving the collection and dissemination of data relating to birth registration, supporting the modernization of civil registry systems, and linking birth registration with other social services. Although the region exceeds world averages in birth registration, there are considerable disparities both among and within countries. For example, while Cuba (99 per cent) and Chile (95 per cent) can boast nearly universal registration, Haiti (70 per cent) and the Dominican Republic (75 per cent) are still a long way from achieving that goal. In the region, it is estimated that more than one in six children who are born every year go unregistered, UNICEF said, for an overall estimated total of close to 2 million of the 11 million annual births. Citizens who lack identity documents have difficulty obtaining employment, accessing credit, opening a savings account and inheriting property, according to the agency. Voting and being elected to office may also be restricted. For children, lack of registration can sentence them to a life of exclusion and invisibility by creating a barrier to access health, education and social services, while placing them at greater risk of abuse and exploitation. 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

The three officials serving on the United Nations Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste today completed the first of two visits aimed at looking into the violence that exploded in the country earlier this year, causing dozens of deaths and forcing 15 per cent of the country’s entire population to flee. At a departure news conference, Commission Chairman Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil said its aim was to “to provide an honest, truthful, narrative of the establishment of the facts” of the shootings of April and May and their causes. The violence broke out after the government dismissed some 600 soldiers who had been on strike, claiming discrimination in promotions and benefits. A total of 37 people were killed and an additional 155,000 were forced to flee their homes and seek shelter in makeshift camps or with host families. Mr. Pinheiro said the three commissioners – himself, Zelda Holtzman of South Africa and Ralph Zacklin of Great Britain – would return in September and complete their report to the Secretary-General Kofi Annan by the first week in October. He noted hat the body aims to gather facts. “We do not have power to summon individuals, no power to prosecute or to judge anyone,” he said, stressing that the experts did not form a court or a tribunal. But he added that their recommendations “will include some measure of accountability for individuals or institutions for the crisis that erupted in April and May.” During their visit, commissioners met the Timorese President, the Prime Minister, and the former Prime Minister, leaders of political parties, military leaders, police authorities, church leaders, the diplomatic community, the UN country representative and the UN country team and leaders of other institutions. In another development today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Timor-Leste, Sukehiro Hasegawa, visited Becora Prison, east of Dili, to assess the conditions of the detention facilities and the well-being of the prison inmates. He said he found that the basic needs of inmates were met but that prison facilities need improvement. Mr. Hasegawa’s visit to Becora Prison followed a period of unrest and insecurity that has led to an increased number of arrests and detentions over the last few weeks. While there, Prison Manager Carlos Sarmento told the UN envoy that there was a need for further improvement of existing prison facilities. Mr. Hasegawa agreed that, “Proper maintenance of detention facilities is vital to ensure that human dignity and respect for human rights are preserved.” 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

As part of ongoing efforts by the United Nations to help Liberia prevent and fight crime as it consolidates stability, the UN peacekeeping operation in the country has renovated a police sub-station just outside of the capital, Monrovia. At a ceremony Thursday which was attended by senior Liberian officials, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative, Alan Doss, hailed the restoration of the Soul Clinic Police Community Depot restored after being destroyed by the war. Mr. Doss also assured residents of the community, located in the Paynesville suburb, that the UN is committed to working to restore the effectiveness of the Liberian National Police. The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has to date trained over 1,800 Liberian officers and several hundred others are undergoing training. Mr. Doss the UN aims to properly train and equip 3,500 and deploy them throughout the country by next year. “To do that, we need infrastructure, and this Soul Clinic Police sub-station is part of a bigger programme funded by our Quick Impact Projects to construct police stations all over the country,” he said. UNMIL has already committed to constructing 10 police stations in six counties, of which three had been completed, and that another 12 police stations in nine counties were under consideration for funding during the next few months. Mr. Doss hoped that the Paynesville community “will not just see this as a building that the UN has put up and LNP occupies, but see this as a community center in which they have a great investment, and which they have a responsibility to help maintain and to help function properly.” Also on Thursday, Mr. Doss turned over the Paynesville Community Town Hall, which contains magistrate courts and was also renovated by UNMIL. 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

The United Nations refugee agency, which is currently caring for thousands of Somalis who fled to Kenya to escape fighting between warlords and the Union of Islamic Courts, today warned that that if violence intensifies, more will cross the border. Some 100 Somali refugees are arriving every day at Dadaab in north-east Kenya “but UNHCR is concerned that the figure could rise much higher if hostilities in neighbouring Somalia escalate,” Jennifer Pagonis, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva. “Many of those who have arrived in the past week said they had fled Mogadishu to escape fighting between the Union of Islamic Courts and a loose alliance of warlords, who controlled the Somali capital for years.” The Union took over the capital in June. Since the beginning of the year, some 18,000 Somali refugees have arrived in Dadaab, where three refugee camps already hosted some 134,000 mainly Somali refugees. “If the current rate of arrival continues, we can expect another 12,000 refugees by the end of the year,” Ms. Pagonis said. The refugees who arrive in the semi-arid region of Dadaab are generally in good health, but many are visibly exhausted from the long trek, according to UNHCR. One man, who fled Mogadishu after his two brothers were killed in a gun battle in the capital, said he had been on the road for more than three weeks, travelling mainly on foot. Upon arrival in Dadaab, the refugees are received at a registration centre where UNHCR staff carry out a rapid screening exercise. They then receive basic household items such as blankets, jerry cans, mats and kitchen utensils, but Ms. Pagonis said the agency’s current stocks “are very limited.” There are 227,400 refugees in Kenya, mainly from Somalia and Sudan. 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is calling for a thorough investigation into the murders of five Awá indigenous people in Colombia on Wednesday – a attack which directly followed the agency’s appeal to warring parties to leave those groups out of their conflict. “UNHCR is saddened at the killings and especially shocked that the murders occurred on World Indigenous Day, when we were drawing attention to the plight of indigenous people in Colombia,” said agency spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis, calling on the Colombian Government to fulfil its duty to protect its citizens. “We are especially concerned at the tragic death of five people who were registered as displaced and in clear need of state protection,” she added. The killings occurred just in the village of Altaquer in the south-eastern department of Nariño and followed warnings by UNHCR that same day that Colombia's indigenous people were facing terrible consequences of the conflict. The murdered five – three men and two women – were registered as forcibly displaced and were part of a group of some 1,700 Awá who fled their territory last month to escape fighting between the military and an irregular armed group. One of those killed was a former governor, or leader, of the Awá people, and one of the women killed was a teacher who left behind four orphaned children, Ms. Pagonis said. According to eyewitnesses, nine armed men conducted a house-to-house search shortly before dawn, took the five people and shot them. “The men also went to the house of the current leader of the Awá people who was in Bogota with her husband and four-year-old daughter to take part in events organised by UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies on the occasion of World Indigenous Day,” Ms. Pagonis told reporters at a press briefing in Geneva. A UNHCR staff member is currently in Altaquer to support the displaced community following the killings. On the day the killings occurred, UNHCR had called on all armed groups in Colombia to leave the indigenous population out of the armed conflict. “These latest murders add to the urgency of this appeal,” said Ms. Pagonis, noting that indigenous people have increasingly been the victims of Colombia’s violence in recent years. “To make matters worst, when they are forced to displace, they often come under suspicion of collaborating with the very armed groups they have tried to escape. More than ever, UNHCR is calling for this persecution of innocent people, which threatens the very survival of entire groups, to stop.” 2006-08-11 00:00:00.000

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced the appointment of a Dutch climate expert to lead the United Nations body responsible for monitoring an international climate change treaty. Yvo de Boer will become the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC), which is responsible for gathering and sharing information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices, and launching national strategies for addressing the issue, among other measures. Mr. de Boer will assume his role on 4 September, in time to lead the Convention at the UN Climate Change Conference, which takes place in Nairobi, Kenya, in November. “I am very enthusiastic about taking up the job ahead of this conference,” said Mr. de Boer in a statement released by UNFCCC. “The conference is significant because some of the biggest challenges related to climate change which are presently facing humanity will be dealt with there.” The meeting, the first ever of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, will focus on issues such as adaptation to climate change, technology transfer and talks and negotiations on the future of the climate change process, both under the UNFCCC and under the Kyoto Protocol, a binding pact which sets targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Mr. de Boer, who is 52 years old, is currently Director for International Affairs at the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. He has also served as Vice-President of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC and as Vice-Chair of the Commission on Sustainable Development. “He has actively sought broad stakeholder involvement on the issue of climate change,” said the Secretary-General in a statement, noting that Mr. de Boer launched an international dialogue on the clean development mechanism and has partnered in international discussions with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, aimed at increasing private sector involvement. Before serving the Dutch government, Mr. de Boer was Chief of the UN Information Office for North America and the Caribbean, of the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in Canada and Human Settlements Adviser with the Habitat in Nairobi. Mr. de Boer will succeed the late Joke Waller-Hunter, also from the Netherlands. She was appointed to the position in 2002 and died last year at the age of 58. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

Stressing that Israeli civilians and ordinary Lebanese were the “biggest losers” in the conflict in Lebanon, the top United Nations emergency official said today it was a “disgrace” that Hizbollah and Israel were preventing humanitarian supplies getting through to more than 100,000 people in the devastated south of the country. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said there were over 200,000 people throughout Lebanon who humanitarian workers have been unable to reach because of the escalating violence, adding that the war-ravaged country was one of the worst places in the world in terms of getting aid to those most in need. “We have not had any access for several days to the besieged population of southern Lebanon. It is a disgrace really, because the parties to the conflict, the Hizbollah and the Israelis, could give us access in a heartbeat and then we could help 120,000 people in southern Lebanon,” he told a press conference in Geneva. “The civilian population in Lebanon and in northern Israel have been the biggest losers in this senseless cycle of violence that is now exactly one month old… Civilians were supposed to be spared and in this conflict they are not.” Despite the enormous difficulties, UN humanitarian agencies continue to do what they can and a spokesman in New York said 15 trucks carrying relief items travelled from Beirut to the town of Baalbek this morning, but he confirmed that another convoy was unable to go to Nabitiyeh in the south after failing to get clearance from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The World Food Programme (WFP) also appealed today for a cessation of hostilities by both sides to allow the passage of desperately needed relief assistance, as food, fresh water and fuel stocks in particular are running dangerously low in Lebanon. “Our aid operation is like a patient starved of oxygen – facing paralysis, verging on death – if we can’t open up our vital supply lines to help an estimated 100,000 people stranded south of the Litani river,” said Zlatan Milisic, WFP Emergency Coordinator in Lebanon. A combination of 70 bridges destroyed and the denial of “concurrence on safety” by the IDF for aid convoys is crippling WFP’s efforts, on behalf of the entire humanitarian community, to organise overland transport of relief items, including food for one quarter of the Lebanese population displaced from their homes, the agency said in a press release. “We are all the more worried, because we have been given to understand that there is no point in WFP even applying for concurrence to go to Tyre, one of the areas of highest concern,” Mr. Milisic added. In terms of shortages inside Lebanon, Mr. Egeland told the reporters in Geneva that the lack of fuel was the single most worrying humanitarian crisis at the moment, adding that it had already run out in four hospitals in the south and the nation’s electric grid would stop working if no more supplies came in. He said that according to Lebanese health authorities, at least 1,000 people have been killed so far in the conflict, although this figure could rise because many areas are not accessible and hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. Israel’s Government has said that 41 of its civilians have been killed. “The war will not be over unless there is restitution to the hundreds of thousands of victims. There is a national emergency in Lebanon like no other in the history of Lebanon,” Mr. Egeland said. “There has to be a comprehensive political solution connected with a security solution that provides security to both Lebanese and Israelis. Nobody wants to go back to a situation with a potential for conflict breaking out at any moment.” 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

Increased killings of aid workers worldwide and lack of humanitarian access to those people most in need, especially in conflict areas like Lebanon, Darfur and Sri Lanka, have made the past month one of the “worst ever,” the top United Nations emergency official said today. Dozens of humanitarian field workers have lost their lives in the last month, including the execution-style killings this week of workers from French organization Action against Hunger in Sri Lanka and the deaths of more aid workers in the last two weeks in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan than in the preceding two years. “This last month has been one of the worst ever in terms of providing assistance to vulnerable populations worldwide and safety and security to humanitarian workers in the field,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland told reporters in Geneva. Highlighting the deaths of aid workers in Lebanon, he said it was one of the worst places in the world in terms of getting aid to those most in need, and added there was also a record low access for humanitarian workers to Darfur. "The situation in Darfur was going from really bad to catastrophic," he said, adding the number of violent clashes in the first half of 2006 was twice the amount of the first half of last year. On the situation in Gaza, he told reporters that there were still major problems in terms of lack of water and electricity and deteriorating humanitarian conditions overall. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

The Security Council today extended the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for one year, responding to a request from the country’s Government, which said the world body has a “vital role” in fostering peace and prosperity there. By a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council reaffirmed that “the United Nations should play a leading role in assisting the efforts of the Iraqi people and Government in strengthening institutions for representative government, and in promoting national dialogue and unity.” In a recent letter to the President of the Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan highlighted UNAMI’s successful efforts to facilitate the country’s political transition in the past year, particularly with regard to the holding of two national elections and the adoption of a new Constitution. He noted, however, that Iraq “continued to face formidable political, security and economic challenges” and still needed support from the international community. Insurgent, militia and terrorist attacks had continued unabated in many places, and sectarian violence posed an increasing threat to the Iraqi people. The Foreign Minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari, >wrote to the Secretary-General earlier this month to request UNAMI’s extension for one year. He noted that while the political transition has formally come to an end, “there remains much work for Iraqis to do to continue to build democratic legal and political institutions, to reintroduce the rule of law and civil society, to engage in a national dialogue to build peace and security and to rebuild Iraq’s shattered physical and economic infrastructure for the benefit of this and future generations of Iraqis.” UNAMI, he said continues to have a “vital role” in working with Iraq to build a productive and prosperous country at peace with itself and its neighbours. Set up by the Security Council in August, 2003, UNAMI is headed by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ashraf Qazi, who formerly served as a career diplomat for his native Pakistan. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

The senior United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today called on the Congolese to focus on the results of the recent parliamentary polls there as much as they are on the election to be president of the vast and impoverished African country. William Lacy Swing, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the DRC, told a press conference in Kinshasa that it was premature to talk about the results of the presidential race, where less than 5 per cent of the total votes have been formally counted so far by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Mr. Swing reminded voters that the National Assembly – there were more than 9,600 candidates contesting 500 seats in the historic polls on 30 July – will have the responsibility of approving the president’s choice of prime minister and voting on the annual budget. He also reiterated his earlier plea to the Congolese media to not publish speculative reports about the presidential polls as he said that could exacerbate social tensions. The UN Organization Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, announced today that the official results are still expected to be released on 20 August. A run-off race between the two leading presidential candidates will be held in October if no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote. The elections, the largest ever supported by the UN, were the first free and fair polls in the DRC in at least 45 years. Turnout was high across the country, and voting took place in relative calm, with the exception of the Kasai region, where there were some incidents, such as the burning of electoral stations and kits. Meanwhile, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland told a press briefing in Geneva today that more than 500,000 people have become internally displaced in the DRC since the start of the year. The rate of displacement – an average of 84,000 people each month – is three times higher than the rate during the same period last year, he said. About nine out of every 10 people displaced this year have had to move because of continuing armed conflict. The DRC has been plagued by armed clashes between militia groups and the national armed forces in recent years, with the far east of the country the worst affected. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

The top United Nations human rights official warned today that the four Uzbek refugees and one asylum seeker sent home by Kyrgyzstan earlier this week face a “serious risk” of torture, as she called for immediate international access to the five detainees and urged Kyrgyz authorities. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour also said that Kyrgyzstan’s deportation of the five on Wednesday contradicted the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment to which the Government is a party. “The extradition exposes them to a serious risk of being subjected to torture and is in violation of the non-refoulement principle contained in article 3,” said a statement from her office in Geneva, referring to the Torture Convention’s provisions against forced returns. She also urged the Kyrgyz authorities to “refrain from further deportation of refugees and asylum seekers to countries where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture.” The High Commissioner further called on Uzbekistan to treat those extradited in accordance with its human rights obligations, to grant immediate access by international observers to the five detainees and to release them from detention or promptly charge and try them in accordance with international fair trial principles. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has also criticized the deportations, with Commissioner António Guterres expressing fears for the safety of the detainees, as well as highlighting that Kyrgyzstan’s actions violated the 1951 Refugee Convention, which the country has also ratified. The four had arrived in Kyrgyzstan after violent events in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May 2005 and were detained, along with the asylum seeker, in a detention facility in Osh. Shortly after last year’s Andijan violence, Ms. Arbour expressed fears that asylum-seekers and refugees forced to return to Uzbekistan “may face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture and extra-judicial and summary executions.” The Uzbek Government claimed fewer than 200 people were killed in the unrest. However, more than 450 of the Uzbek refugees subsequently provided testimony to Ms. Arbour’s office regarding the events of 13 May 2005 and a report in July concluded that based on consistent, credible testimony, military and security forces committed grave human rights violations that day. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is working “very intensely” with Security Council members and key leaders to push for a resolution concerning the situation along the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon. A spokesman for Mr. Annan issued a statement in New York saying the diplomacy is taking place “both here and in capitals.” The statement also reiterated Mr. Annan’s long-standing call for a cessation of hostilities. “The fighting must stop to save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured for the past four weeks.” The spokesman voiced Mr. Annan’s conviction that the Security Council should be able to adopt a resolution by the end of the week. At a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Qatar’s Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, speaking for the League of Arab States, accused the 15-member body of doing nothing while the Lebanese people have become engulfed in a “bloodbath” since the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah erupted in mid-July. Since the start of hostilities, the Security Council has adopted a resolution temporarily extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) through August, as well as two presidential statements on the violence. The Council President, Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng of Ghana, was asked on 4 August about a view among the general public that the Council has not done enough to stop the fighting. “We have tried our best as members of the Security Council to get action taken on the issue but there are certain realities that one has to contend with and because of those realities we have to be pragmatic and we have to be realistic and look at the option which will enable us come to a quick decision on this issue, and I think that is what we have been doing,” he said. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

With injecting drug use accounting for up to 80 per cent of HIV infections in some regions of Russia and Eastern Europe, the United Nations agency charged with combating drugs and crime today received 20 million euros from the Netherlands to fight the deadly epidemic. The money will be used to help countries implement a comprehensive package of HIV/AIDS prevention and care measures, including outreach programmes, information on risk reduction and referral to services, voluntary counselling and testing, and access to treatment, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a press release. “Injecting drug use accounts for up to 80 per cent of HIV infections in some regions,” said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. “This is a staggering figure. We need an all-out effort to halt and reverse this epidemic. This generous donation by the Netherlands will make a real difference to the lives of many vulnerable people and their families.” The agreement was signed today between Mr. Costa and Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Hans Hoogervorst, who said the high incidence of HIV/AIDS was putting enormous pressure on the healthcare systems of many countries in the region. High-risk groups, such as prisoners and sex workers who inject drugs, will benefit from special interventions, and attention will also be given to the specific needs of minorities and pregnant women, the UNODC said, although Mr. Costa stressed the importance of not stigmatizing drug users. “We must be inclusive in what we do. Stigmatizing the vulnerable only drives people further into marginalization and increases the risk of HIV/AIDS.” 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

A United Nations expert just back from a visit to the Maldives today hailed the country’s efforts at human rights reform but stressed that these must respect religious freedom. Welcoming the adoption of the law on the country’s Human Rights Commission, Asma Jahangir noted, however, that it does not fully satisfy the requirements of international principles. “I am fully aware that all Maldivians are Muslim, yet to unduly stress this as a qualification of the members of the Human Rights Commission defeats the very spirit of seeking to uphold human rights,” she said in a statement released in Geneva. “Maldivians are eagerly looking forward to, and preparing to embrace, the political changes in the country, yet open and honest discourse on the question of freedom of religion or belief is vigorously denied and the few that dare to raise their voices are denounced and threatened,” said Ms. Jahangir, who, as the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, serves in an unpaid, independent capacity. “Any reform in the field of human rights has to go hand in hand with freedom of expression and association, independence of the judiciary, and the mainstreaming of freedom of religion and belief,” she stressed. Commenting on her visit to Maafushi Prison, Ms. Jahangir said she plans to recommend in a report to the Human Rights Council the introduction of religiously sensitive rules in places of detention, concerning, for example, respect for the spiritual and dietary needs of foreign prisoners in the Maldives. During her 6 to 9 August trip to the country, she also met with government officials, members of civil society, including the law society and members of the press, political parties, religious scholars and citizens. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

Expressing deep concern about recent statements made by some political leaders in Côte d’Ivoire which could set back the peace process, the United Nations mission in the country today called for all parties to overcome their differences through dialogue. The mission, known as UNOCI, said the remarks come at a critical stage in the peace process, when fragile achievements in such areas as identification and disarmament, must be consolidated. “UNOCI calls on all Ivorian parties to use dialogue to overcome their misunderstandings and differences,” the mission said in a news release, appealing to all concerned “to maintain their support for, commitment to and participation in the peace process as there is no other way of achieving a viable and lasting solution to the crisis.” 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

With exchanges of fire intensifying over the past 24 hours throughout the southern Lebanon, the United Nations mission there sustained extensive material damage, though no one was hurt during the attacks. Hizbollah fired rockets in “significantly larger numbers from various locations,” the UN Interim Force in Lebanon UNIFIL) said in a news release, adding that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) intensified shelling and aerial bombardment across the south. “Four mortar rounds from the Hizbollah side impacted directly inside a UNIFIL position in the area of Deir Mimess yesterday evening, causing extensive material damage, and destroying a fuel storage tank, but with no casualties,” the mission said. Two rockets from an unknown source impacted directly inside a UNIFIL position in the area of Tibnin within one hour yesterday evening, also causing extensive material damage, but no casualties, it added. There were five incidents of firing from the Israeli side close to UN positions in the areas of Ghanduriyah (2), Deir Mimes, Brashit and Tibnin, according to the release. There was one incident of firing from the Hizbollah side close to a UNIFIL position in the area of Hula. Hezbollah also fired rockets from the vicinity of UN positions in Labouneh, Tibnin and At Tiri. As it has been doing for weeks, UNIFIL strongly protested all the incidents to the Lebanese and Israeli authorities respectively. All UNIFIL positions remain permanently occupied and maintained by the troops. 19 UN positions, including the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, are currently in the areas where the IDF operates inside Lebanese territory and where intensive shelling and ground exchanges are taking place. But the mission’s freedom of movement and the ability to re-supply positions and provide humanitarian assistance were denied because of the lack of security clearance from the IDF and due to the intensive hostilities on the ground. Attempts are being made today to re-supply UNIFIL forward positions which are facing critical shortages of fuel, but the mission cautioned that if it is not able to re-supply these positions in the next 24 hours, “it may face the situation where it would be impossible” to maintain them. Further, the IDF has not responded yet to the repeated requests by UNIFIL to reopen the road between Tyre and Beirut by putting up another provisional bridge over the Litani River. A humanitarian convoy to distribute food to the villages in the western sector, and other humanitarian activities planned by UNIFIL, could not proceed for a fourth consecutive day due to the denial of consent by the IDF. 2006-08-10 00:00:00.000

The United Nations received separate requests today from the Government of Nepal and the country’s Maoists calling for wide-ranging UN assistance, including ceasefire and human rights monitoring, in a peace process that aims to end 10 years of conflict which has killed 15,000 people in the Himalayan kingdom. Staffan de Mistura, who led a week-long assessment mission to Nepal that returned last Thursday, said the requests were in the form of identical letters, one from the Prime Minister and the other from the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M). “Just today we got two letters… both have agreed on a five-point platform requesting the UN to get involved in the electoral process, in the arms management – which means cantonment both of the combatants and of the army, in the monitoring of the ceasefire and human rights,” he told reporters in New York. “The good news is everybody wants the UN involved, everybody wants the UN in assisting the peace process which is potentially fragile and should not be allowed to be kept fragile,” he said, adding that the mission’s report would be presented to the Secretary-General today and it would then be up to him to decide the next step. Mr. de Mistura also highlighted that the Maoists had recently agreed to extend their ceasefire and said he was “strongly encouraged” by today’s requests, particularly the fact that both sides had asked the UN how best to proceed on the “most delicate aspect” which is arms management. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

The disarmament and reintegration of former combatants, an end to the threat from the illegal trafficking of small arms and light weapons, and much stronger national institutions and civil society groups are just some of the necessary steps that West Africa must take if peace is to consolidate across the region, the Security Council said today. In a statement read out by Nana Akufo-Addo, Foreign Minister of Ghana, Council President for August, the 15-member body underlined the importance of the United Nations’ new Peacebuilding Commission in helping countries emerging from conflict to achieve lasting peace and stability. The statement also urged the UN, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to integrate their efforts and to maximize their resources so that peace initiatives in the region are given the best possible chance to succeed. Voicing concern about the threat posed by the continuing illegal trafficking of small arms and light weapons, the statement called on all States in the region to ratify a pact limiting the sale and distribution of small arms and light weapons. But it stressed that “a comprehensive and coordinated manner” is required if West African countries are to consolidate peace and promote security and economic development. The presidential statement followed an open debate in which almost three dozen speakers – including Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his Special Representative for West Africa Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah – addressed the Council on peace consolidation in the region. Mr. Annan told the Council meeting that all too often the international community’s hard-won achievements in ending wars are reversed or undermined because of its frequent response to post-conflict situations – a “shortage of funds, lack of international coordination, and a tendency to leave too soon.” He said West Africa is not taking advantage of its rich natural resources and fulfilling its economic and social potential because of “grave and widespread shortcomings of governance,” as well as a lack of political stability and prosperity. The Secretary-General added that the region’s problems must be tackled holistically, given that “insecurity has no respect for national boundaries.” But he pointed to an accord signed by Nigeria and Cameroon in June, ending a decades-long dispute over the border region of Bakassi, as proof that the UN can help countries of the region to make progress on the road towards stability. Noting that nearly 60 per cent of its population is under the age of 30, Mr. Ould-Abdallah told the Council that this demographic fact must be considered by the international community when devising solutions to problems in West Africa. Many of these young people, he said, are unemployed and have little hope of finding jobs, given they have few skills and are emerging from a period where the region’s wars have been their chief employers. Mr. Ould-Abdallah said the next 12 months will be a crucial period for the region, as national elections are due in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali and Sierra Leone among others. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

Expressing shock at Kyrgyzstan’s extradition of four Uzbek refugees and one asylum seeker back to Uzbekistan, the United Nations refugee agency said today it feared for their safety, stressed that the forced return violated the 1951 Refugee Convention and called on the Uzbek authorities to grant humanitarian access to the deportees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR) had already found resettlement places for the four who had fled to Kyrgyzstan immediately after violence in the Uzbek city of Andijan in May 2005 and were part of a group of some 500 asylum seekers, all of whom were later recognized as refugees. Uzbekistan had been seeking their extradition. “We fear for their safety. This refoulement [forced return] is an extremely serious violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention – which Kyrgyzstan has ratified – under which no refugees should be forcibly returned to their country of origin,” said Commissioner António Guterres. “What is even more disturbing is that we had secured resettlement places in different countries for the four refugees months ago and had been asking the Kyrgyz authorities to allow us to transfer them.” The Uzbeks were deported by Kyrgyz authorities, through the Dostuk border crossing, to neighbouring Uzbekistan on Wednesday morning. In mid-June, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld a department of migration service decision not to grant refugee status to the four while the fifth Uzbek, who was arrested in October 2005 after a request from Uzbekistan, still had his asylum appeal claim pending. “Since the beginning of these proceedings over the four refugees we have repeatedly asked the Kyrgyz authorities to maintain their commitment to their international obligations. This grave breach is a huge disappointment as the deportees’ lives may be at stake. Kyrgyzstan has failed to protect these refugees,” said Mr. Guterres. “This is an even greater disappointment given everything Kyrgyzstan has done for Uzbek refugees in the past,” he added. UNHCR left Uzbekistan in mid-April after a government request in March asked the agency to end its work in the country within one month. Shortly after last year’s violence in Andijan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed fears that asylum-seekers and refugees forced to return to Uzbekistan “may face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture and extra-judicial and summary executions.” 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

United Nations relief agencies are rushing emergency food stocks and supplies such as buckets and water purification tablets to the Ethiopian city of Dire Dawa, where more than 200 people are reported to have been killed and about 3,000 others displaced by flash floods earlier this week. The UN World Food Programme WFP) has released enough rations to feed 10,000 people for a month, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is sending 2,000 family kits to the affected area, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs statement released today. The family kits dispatched by UNICEF include buckets, soap and water purification tablets. WFP has already distributed tents, blankets, jerry cans and plastic cups and plates to some of those struck by the floods. The humanitarian effort follows the joint assessment mission on Monday by officials from OCHA and the Ethiopian Government, one day after the Dechatu River burst its banks by as much as 200 metres on either side in Dire Dawa, destroying entire buildings in some cases and sweeping away homes, trees and fences. The death toll is expected to climb as some 300 people have been reported missing. OCHA warned that the risk of flooding remains high because heavy rain continues to fall in the highlands outside Dire Dawa, Ethiopia’s sixth-largest city and home to about 400,000 people. It is situated about 525 kilometres east of the national capital, Addis Ababa. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

With shortages of fuel in war-ravaged Lebanon threatening hospitals and other vital services, the United Nations is continuing to work with Lebanese authorities to try and bring shipments in but the world body was again unable to send emergency supplies by road to the south which remains cut off after Israeli forces bombed highways and bridges. “We are working to facilitate the passage of existing shipments, and the United Nations hopes to help provide some fuel to meet some of the needs of essential services, such as hospitals and bakeries, through the Government of Lebanon,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York. “We continue to have access problems to southern Lebanon, and no convoys are headed there today,” he said, while adding that one was on its way to Sidon with essential supplies and UN agencies are continuing their humanitarian work on the ground. Describing the fuel shortages in Lebanon as “becoming dramatic and threatening to paralyze all lifeline systems,” the UN World Health Organization WHO) is supporting the national authorities and working with other agencies to provide safe drinking water, vaccines and other essentials to the rapidly increasing number of displaced people. More than 900,000 Lebanese have been forced to flee their homes because of the fighting and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA) said today that 500,000 are sheltering in and around Beirut “moving from one part of the city to another as the bombing continues.” Most of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are in South Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Chouf and Aaley, with others in around Bekaa and in northern Lebanon, the UN said. Few people remain in southern villages and many of those who initially moved to southern cities have now fled further north to escape the fighting. The UN World Food Programme WFP) today distributed almost 400 tonnes of food to displaced people in the Lebanese capital, while the regular food distribution continues there and in the surrounding area, Mr. Dujarric said. Also on the humanitarian front, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR) is assessing the needs of the internally displaced but again emphasized today that its emergency stocks inside Lebanon have been largely exhausted and new supplies are required to meet the increased needs. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

Continuing his campaign to spotlight the deplorable killing of journalists worldwide, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO) today condemned the beating death of a Chinese reporter by a police officer. “I condemn the killing of Xiao Guopeng,” declared Koïchiro Matsuura in a statement released in Paris on the incident, which took place in the province of Guizhou on 18 July. Welcoming the fact that the alleged perpetrator has been arrested, he said: “I trust that there will be a transparent investigation and trial to help prevent the recurrence of such events in the future.” According to Reporters Without Borders, the officer Pan Dengfeng beat the 39-year old reporter outside the building of his newspaper, Anshun. The police officer is said to have continued hitting Mr. Xiao when he was already on the ground, despite protests from a crowd of onlookers. Mr. Xiao was finally rushed to hospital where he died of cerebral haemorrhaging, Reporters Without Borders said. He is the second journalist to die as a result of a police beating in China this year. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

Educating young people on the devastating impact of the world’s water crisis got a boost today as Secretary-General Kofi Annan joined Def Jam President and CEO Jay-Z and MTV President Christina Norman, along with representatives of key UN agencies, at United Nations Headquarters in New York to launch a joint initiative aimed at spotlighting the issue. Next month during his international concert tour, Jay-Z will travel to Turkey and South Africa, and several other areas affected by water crisis, while being documented for the MTV special, <i>Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life</i>. The series is part of MTV’s ongoing initiatives to educate, empower and involve young people regarding global issues. The networks first-person biographical series, and will air on November 24, reaching 179 counties on 50 of MTV locally programmed channels. “Most of us take water for granted,” the Secretary-General told reporters at a press conference in New York held to launch the initiative, “but, for more than a billion people who lack access to safe drinking water, this is an inconceivable dream.” He pointed out that some 2.6 billion people have no access to proper sanitation, with “devastating” consequences. “The water crisis - like many issues confronting our world - can only be fully addressed with the active participation of young people everywhere.” “Working with MTV and Jay-Z, all of us at the UN hope this campaign will motivate youth to take action both in their own lives, and in support of broad eco-friendly initiatives,” Mr. Annan said. The internationally renowned recording artist said at times he uses his voice to entertain, and at other times to raise awareness. “Partnering with someone with a huge voice such as MTV, people that knew what they was doing, who know their way around countries, like the UN; it was a smart partnership for myself,” Jay-Z told the UN News Service of his collaboration with the UN and MTV for the special documentary series about his learning process. “They have a track record of getting the message out to young people, so they can become involved.” “How could I be out there and not do anything?” said the CEO of the influential record company, adding that “most young people are unaware” but if they knew about the “staggering numbers” of people affected by water issues, they would be moved to act. Voicing his conviction that the problem can be solved, Jay-Z said his involvement with MTV and the UN could contribute to positive change. “After hearing and reading some of the startling statistics about the lack of clean water, I realized that I needed to bring attention to this issue. I know through joining with experts through the UN and partnering with MTV to bring the word to our communities, we can make a difference.” “MTV has a long history of partnering with artists and experts to raise awareness and educate our audience,” said Christina Norman, President of MTV, of the obvious partnership with the UN, MTV and Jay-Z. “By allowing MTV to document his journey, Jay-Z will be mobilizing a whole new generation of young people who may not be familiar with the water crisis to learn about and take action to help those suffering.” “We have had an incredible experience with the UN,” she said when interviewed by the UN News Service. “The UN has the expertise, they’re the authority, and there is no one better.” The special documentary series will follow Jay’s learning process as he meets people who are among the 1 billion worldwide without access to safe drinking water. It will also follow the artist as he visits places where sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions are working to bring fresh water to devastated communities. MTV has previously partnered with the UN on initiatives such as the Millennium Project, with economist Jeffery Sachs and screen actress Angelina Jolie, which documented a village in Kenya, and more recently sent Gideon Yago to Pakistan to document the earthquake in that country. All over the world, pollution, over-consumption and poor water management are decreasing the quality and quantity of water. Nearly 2 million children die every year because of unclean water and poor sanitation - far more than the casualties from violent conflicts, the UN says. Competition among nations for fresh water is already a factor in many conflicts, and has the potential to become much, much worse in the future. The peacebuilding potential of shared water resources was one of the 10 Stories the World Should Hear More About compiled earlier this year by the UN Department of Public Information. Jay-Z’s documentary, through his enormous influence, coupled with the scope of the UN agencies involved and MTV, aims to inspire and motivate young people everywhere to care, conserve, and join in the search for solutions to our water crisis, and to take action both in their own lives, and in support of broad eco-friendly initiatives. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

The United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced today that it has received a contribution of $500 million over five years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We are extremely grateful to the Gates Foundation for this show of confidence in the Global Fund,” said Richard Feachem, the fund’s Executive Director. “The Global Fund has proven itself to be an effective way to reach millions of people with urgently-needed medicines and other services. This new commitment by the Gates Foundation will enable us to reach millions more.” The announcement comes the week before more than 25,000 researchers, health workers, advocates, and policymakers meet in Toronto to discuss progress and prospects in the fight against AIDS. Mr. Gates said the Global Fund “has an excellent track record,” and called for efforts “to support its continued success, which will save millions of lives.” Since its launch four years ago, the Global Fund has financed international efforts to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. With grants from the Global Fund, 132 countries have begun to produce substantial results, including 544,000 people provided with life-extending HIV/AIDS treatment, more than 1.4 million people treated for TB, and more than 11 million bed nets distributed to protect children from malaria. “As we move from crisis management to a sustained AIDS response, we will continue to rely on the Global Fund as the best model to provide strategic and predictable funding,” said Dr Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “A fully-funded Global Fund is absolutely critical to the AIDS response. Without it, it will be difficult to turn all of the good ideas and strategic plans into reality on the ground.” The Gates Foundation grant is structured so that $100 million will be provided each year from 2006 through 2010. The contributions for 2006 and 2007 will be available to support the Global Fund’s sixth round of financing, which is slated to be approved by its board in November. Today’s grant brings the Gates Foundation’s total support for the Global Fund to $650 million. The foundation pledged $100 million in 2001 and an additional $50 million in 2004. Proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001, the Global Fund is a unique international public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing funds to fight the three diseases by strengthening health systems and paying for drugs, diagnostics, mosquito nets and other commodities. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000

The number of attacks by terrorist groups against Afghan schools during the first half of this year was almost three times the level for the whole of 2005, prompting a United Nations expert on the right to education to express his “profound condemnation” and to voice concern that girls are suffering the most from the terrorists’ campaign. Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to education, said in a statement issued yesterday that the attacks have killed many children, forced numerous schools to close down and resulted in hundreds of thousands of children missing out on attending classes. Between January and June this year, there were at least 172 recorded attacks on schools, compared with 60 violent incidents for all of last year, Mr. Muñoz Villalobos said. As many as 500,000 children may now be unable to go to school because of those attacks. “I am appalled that anyone would target children and their teachers,” he said, calling for an immediate halt to the campaign being conducted by anti-government groups. The rapporteur said Afghanistan’s girls are suffering the most, even though both girls’ and boys’ schools seem to have been targeted indiscriminately. “The attacks have a disproportionate impact on girls because of the lower number of girls’ schools and the particular reluctance of parents to expose their daughters to insecure schools and schools’ areas,” he said. Mr. Muñoz Villalobos urged the Afghan Government to intensify its efforts to protect the security of school buildings and the safety of students, teachers and other school personnel. Special rapporteurs are unpaid experts serving in an independent personal capacity who received their mandate from the defunct UN Commission in Human Rights and will now report to the newly established and enhanced Human Rights Council. 2006-08-09 00:00:00.000