MBN: THE MONTE BUBBLES NETWORK

INTRA-PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE IN GAZA ENDANGERS UN HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS New York, Dec 21 2006 11:00AM

Armed clashes between rival Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip are endangering United Nations humanitarian operations “and taking a population that has been living in abject misery for the entire year to breaking point,” the UN agency that tends to Palestinian refugees has warned. “We need an immediate end to this mayhem before more innocent people are killed or injured,” UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Director of Operations John Ging <" http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/releases/pr-2006/hqg20-06.pdf">said, noting that a 13-year-old schoolgirl and an UNRWA teacher were injured in crossfire near agency schools on Tuesday while an UNRWA driver on duty narrowly escaped injury when his vehicle was hit by gunfire in Beach Camp, north of Gaza City. <"http://www.un.org/unrwa/english.html">UNRWA, created in 1949 to care for Palestinian refugees after the foundation of Israel, now provides education, health and humanitarian aid to over 4 million people in the Middle East. UNRWA schools have been closed in those areas of the Gaza Strip where the violence has affected the safety of children and teaching staff. In total, the agency operates 194 schools in the Gaza Strip, educating 197,000 students. 2006-12-21 00:00:00.000

TURN GUNS INTO GUITARS, UN TELLS COLOMBIA IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST VIOLENCE, ARMS TRAFFICKING

New York, Dec 21 2006 11:00AM In biblical days the injunction was to beat swords into ploughshares. Now the United Nations crime-fighting agency is calling on Colombia, with one of the highest homicide rates in the world, to do more to crack down on organized crime and arms trafficking, citing one initiative that turns guns into guitars. The perception that the country is plagued by a culture of indiscriminate violence is incorrect as the use of firearms is highly controlled and regulated by different actors, including criminal gangs, rebel groups and the Government, according to a just-released report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (<" http://www.unodc.org/unodc/press_release_2006_12_20.html">UNODC), which calls for stiffer penalties for illegal arms carrying and trafficking. The fact that carrying weapons illegally does not necessarily entail a prison sentence has extremely serious consequences since this is often the only evidence authorities can use to prosecute suspects for serious offences such as drug and arms trafficking, and crimes against humanity, it notes. “Preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit manufacture and trafficking in firearms is not an impossible dream,” UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa writes in a forward to the report – <" http://www.unodc.org/pdf/Colombia_Dec06_en.pdf">Violence, Crime and Illegal Arms Trafficking in Colombia. “Whereas in the past people have talked about the importance of beating swords into ploughshares, some inspired Colombians are showing the world that you can turn guns into guitars,” he says, citing musician and peace activist Cesar Lopez who has built several ‘escopetarras’– part rifle (escopeta) and part guitar (guitarra). “With more activists like Mr. Lopez, greater domestic gun control and greater regional and global cooperation, Colombia and the rest of the world will have less guns and more guitars,” he adds. The report notes that although illegal arms are relatively 'controlled,' they are used very efficiently “to generate levels of lethal violence unlike those in the rest of the world,” and the Government faces a major challenge to disarm these groups. Regional cooperation and improved border controls are essential to cut the links between drug trafficking, organized crime and insurgency. The report shows that the flow of illegal weapons into the country is limited, but weapons are constantly recycled, making it all the more important to control the flow of ammunition. “This could potentially become even more critical than the illegal trafficking of arms,” it says. It notes that demobilization and reintegration programmes for rebel groups have had marginal effect in reducing violence, which is mainly carried out by criminal groups. It praises Colombia for regional and international efforts to regulate small arms and light weapons but cites weaknesses, including lack of institutional capacity, insufficient international cooperation especially on the part of neighbouring countries, control of arms in the hands of private security companies, and data processing. “With respect to illicit trafficking in arms, preventive intelligence is practically non-existent,” the report says, noting that law enforcement agencies lack operational capacity and autonomy, with a significant gap between intelligence and operations. 2006-12-21 00:00:00.000

UN ENVOY ON DARFUR CRISIS BEGINS THREE-DAY VISIT TO SUDANESE CAPITAL

New York, Dec 20 2006  3:00PM
A senior United Nations envoy today began his three-day diplomatic
mission to Sudan to clarify details of recent agreements aimed at ending
the spiralling violence and humanitarian suffering engulfing the war-torn
Darfur region.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah met Sudan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Ali Karti, in the capital, Khartoum, and also held talks with
Tayé-Brook Zerihoun, the Officer-in-Charge of the UN Mission in Sudan
(<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmis/">UNMIS).

Mr. Ould-Abdallah is scheduled to meet Sudanese President Omar
el-Bashir tomorrow, when he is expected to deliver a letter from
Secretary-General Kofi Annan regarding the deal reached at last month’s High-Level
meeting on Darfur, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At that meeting the UN, the African Union (AU) and Sudan agreed that
the UN would provide extra support to the current AU peacekeeping mission
– known as AMIS – as part of a three-phase process culminating in
AMIS becoming a hybrid UN-AU mission.

The hybrid force is expected to have about 17,000 troops and 3,000
police officers, compared to the current AMIS strength of around 7,000.

Mr. Ould-Abdallah and Mr. el-Bashir are also expected to discuss the
outcome of a subsequent AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, which endorsed the conclusions reached in Addis Ababa.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others
displaced from their homes since clashes first erupted between Government
forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy. The UN
estimates that 4 million people now depend on humanitarian assistance.

Yesterday Mr. Annan
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10809.doc.htm">announced
that he had appointed the former General Assembly president and Swedish
foreign minister Jan Eliasson as a separate envoy on the Darfur crisis,
tasked with re-energizing the international political process on Darfur
and raising additional funding for AMIS.

The Security Council endorsed the conclusions reached in Addis Ababa
and Abuja in a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sc8912.doc.htm">presidential statement read out yesterday by Ambassador Nassir
Abdulaziz al-Nasser of Qatar, which holds the rotating Council presidency.

The peace initiatives come as the situation remains tense in Darfur, an
impoverished region roughly the size of France on Sudan’s western
flank. UNMIS reported today that 25 vehicles, mostly belonging to AMIS or
the humanitarian community, have been stolen or car-jacked in only the
last two to three weeks.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

ANNAN URGES IVORIAN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP TO SEEK COMMON GROUND TO
RESOLVE DIFFERENCES

New York, Dec 20 2006  3:00PM
Voicing concern about the escalating tensions in divided Côte
d’Ivoire, where the peace process remains stalled, Secretary-General Kofi
Annan today urged its political leadership to find common ground to
resolve their many differences.

In a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10810.doc.htm">statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan called on President Laurent
Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny to “initiate a sustained
political dialogue, with the participation of all Ivorian political
leaders” to revive the peace process.

The Secretary-General urged Mr. Gbagbo and Mr. Banny to seek common
ground on the key issues of resuming the disarmament process, identifying
the population ahead of scheduled elections and developing possible
post-election arrangements.

“The Ivorian people and the international community have invested
considerable efforts in the political process,” Mr. Annan observed in
his statement.

National elections originally slated for October this year had to be
postponed until next year because of tensions inside the West African
nation, which has been divided between the Government-held south and the
rebel-controlled north since 2002. The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire
(UNOCI) has more than 9,000 military or police personnel in place to
maintain peace.

Last month the Security Council endorsed an African Union (AU) decision
to renew the mandate of Mr. Banny and Mr. Gbagbo “for a new and final
transition period not exceeding 12 months.”

Today’s statement added that Mr. Annan supports the efforts of the AU
and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to try to
revive the peace process.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000 

 

 DR CONGO: UN REPORTS SECURITY IMPROVEMENT WITH MANY MILITIA GROUPS
DEMOBILIZING

New York, Dec 20 2006  4:00PM
Security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has improved,
with numerous militia groups joining the United Nations-run disarmament
programme, and calm returning in the east after fighting between the
Congolese Army and partisans of a rogue general, the UN Mission in the DRC
(MONUC) reported today.

“The good progress made in the DDR [disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration] process has had a positive impact on the improvement of
the general security situation in the DRC, with 4,896 militia surrenders
between the month of June and the start of December,” MONUC military
spokesman Lt. Col. Didier Rancher told a news conference in Kinshasa,
the capital.

The positive news came just two weeks after President Joseph Kabila was
sworn in following the first democratic elections in the strife-torn
country in more than 40 years, the largest and most complex elections
that the UN has ever helped to organize.

The polls crowned a seven-year UN effort to bring peace and democracy
to the vast country after a brutal six-year civil war that cost 4
million lives through fighting and attendant hunger and disease, widely
considered the most lethal conflict in the world since World War II.
Factional fighting has remained a problem, especially in the east.

“MONUC welcomes what one could call a ‘general tendency’ in the
area of surrenders and demobilization, which will reduce considerably
the tension and unease in the provinces,” Lt. Col. Didier Rancher.
“In this sense, a framework of engagement was signed by the dissident
leaders on December 14 and 15.”

In Ituri and Kivu provinces hundreds of militia members joined the DDR
process just this week. In North Kivu, at a UN-brokered meeting with
Congolese military leaders, commanders loyal to rogue General Laurent
Nkunda, who launched an attack near the town of sake last month, agreed to
ensure total freedom of movement for civilians as well as an imminent
withdrawal of his fighters from occupied areas in the province.

<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/monuc/index.html">MONUC
welcomed the fact that Gen. Nkunda was now at the negotiating table. A second
meeting between the Army and Gen. Nkunda’s dissidents is scheduled
for next week. UN peacekeepers backed by attack helicopters intervened on
the side of the army last month to stall the advance of his troops on
the provincial capital, Goma.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(<"http://ochaonline.un.org/webpage.asp?Page=873&Lang=en">OCHA) reported
today that the fighting there had forced 65,000 people to flee the town
of Sake and other localities.

The UN Rapid Response Mechanism, which OCHA operates jointly with the
UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/index2.php">UNICEF), aided
35,000 people with blankets, plastic sheeting and cooking sets.

Water and sanitation services have also been provided, including the
construction of latrines and distribution of chlorination tablets.
Another 20,000 people received food aid from the UN World Food Programme
(<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP).
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

AS BLUE HELMETS PREPARE TO LEAVE BURUNDI, UN OFFICIALS PLEDGE CONTINUED
SUPPORT

New York, Dec 20 2006  6:00PM
With the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) ending its mandate
on 31 December, officials from the world body today
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/pko157.doc.htm">pledged
continued support to the country as it seeks to consolidate peace.

Since the mission was first deployed in 2004, the Central African
country has held its first democratic elections in 12 years, installed a new
national Government, and disarmed and demobilized nearly 22,000
combatants.

“The continued engagement and commitment of both the Security Council
and the Secretary-General have been crucial to ONUB’s success,”
said Nureldin Satti, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General
for Burundi.

He paid tribute to all those who made this achievement possible. “We
were able to carry out our mandate thanks to the support of the
Burundian people, our Great Lakes Region neighbours, and the international
community.”

Speaking at a press briefing in New York, Mr. Satti said, “I leave
with the feeling that the national identity has been further reaffirmed
and people refer to themselves more as Burundians than along ethnic
lines. And for me this is the biggest reason to hope that Burundi will make
it.”

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support Carolyn McAskie,
who previously served as the world body’s top envoy in Burundi, noted
that although most blue helmets are leaving, the new UN Integrated
Office in Burundi (BINUB) will continue the process of peace consolidation.

The Office, to be headed by the Secretary-General’s Executive
Representative, Youssef Mahmoud, will also be in charge of coordinating the UN
system’s activities in Burundi for an initial period of one year.

Ms. McAskie emphasized the importance of this continued assistance.
“Burundi has come a long way from its darkest days of conflict but there
is still a long way to go,” she said. “It is critical that the
international community support the country now as it moves past this
fragile post-conflict stage towards long term and sustainable development,
based on a broad commitment to peace.”

BINUB’s proposed responsibilities include support for demobilization
and reintegration of ex-combatants and reform of the security sector as
called for by the 7 September Comprehensive Ceasefire Agreement.

In addition, the Office will promote and protect human rights and
measures to end impunity through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and
Special Tribunal, while backing efforts to reduce poverty.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

 DPR KOREA: UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT MEETS REFUGEES ADJUSTING TO NEW LIFE

New York, Dec 20 2006  6:00PM
An independent United Nations human rights expert on the situation in
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has met refugees from
the troubled country and visited a facility that helps them acclimatize
to life in the Republic of Korea.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights
in the DPRK, issued a
<"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/133D193BB08E1B2BC12572490057C820?opendocument">statement
yesterday after wrapping up a five-day visit to the Republic of Korea,
his second to that country since assuming the post in 2004.

Mr. Muntarbhorn met with some DPRK refugees and toured the Hanawon
facility, where the refugees receive initial training to adapt to life in
the ROK. He also held talks with Government officials, lawmakers, UN
agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society
groups.

“He felt it a great privilege to meet them and to reflect their
concerns in his work for the UN,” the statement said, adding that Seoul
should continue its policy of accepting refugees from the DPRK and
offering them help to integrate with the society.

The DPRK, which has declined to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur,
continues to refuse to invite him to visit the North Asian nation.

In October, Mr. Muntarbhorn warned that international donors have cut
drastically their amounts of food aid this year following the
country’s reported nuclear test, leaving almost 2 million people without
adequate calorific intake.

But in his statement he voiced hope that this week’s resumption of
the six-party talks aimed at achieving a denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula would resolve key issues and thus “contribute to the
space” so that humanitarian progress can be made.

He also encouraged the DPRK and the ROK to maximize opportunities for
family reunions and called on Pyongyang to “clarify and resolve
effectively the long-standing problem of missing persons.”

Special Rapporteurs are unpaid experts serving in an independent
personal capacity that received their mandate from the defunct UN Commission
on Human Rights and now report to the recently established and enhanced
Human Rights Council.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

DESPITE SLOW PROGRESS ON WORLD DEVELOPMENT GOALS, STILL REASON FOR
OPTIMISM: UN ADVISER

New York, Dec 20 2006  7:00PM
Progress on attaining the United Nations Millennium Development Goals
(<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), which seek to tackle
poverty, hunger and other social ills by 2015, remains slow but countries
are realizing the importance of the life-and-death targets and
increasingly know what needs to be done to attain them, the UN adviser on the
project said today, sounding a note of optimism.

However Jeffrey Sachs, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the
MDGs, said he was under no illusion that while talk about the goals by
donor countries or organizations was welcome, it means little unless
concrete action is taken to back up their words.

“I think we can end this year on a note of optimism that many
important things are being done. Many different governments are joining the
effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The biggest reason
for optimism is that we are a world that is rich in knowledge, science
and technology and proven approaches to fighting poverty, hunger and
disease and I think the world’s going to get the job done,” he told
reporters.

“But you know I have no illusion, it’s one thing to have the words,
it’s another thing to make the processes work and that’s part of
the practice. And I see things happening right now, I of course, would
like to see them happen faster,” he added, referring to a vast range of
global initiatives from combating malaria and other diseases to
reducing poverty in Africa.

Mr. Sachs paid tribute to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who leaves
office at the end of this month, for initiating the idea of the MDGs –
which were agreed by world leaders in 2000 – and said they will be one
his “great legacies.” He acknowledged that progress remains slow
but expressed confidence that Ban Ki-moon will continue to stress their
importance when he takes over at the UN’s helm on 1 January.

“There was a long, slow start after 2000 to actual implementation and
indeed it remains slow in many ways, promises remain far ahead of
reality on the ground. The good point though is that there is more and more
understanding of what it would take to actually accomplish the
goals,” Mr. Sachs said, highlighting for example getting bed-nets out to
children to protect them from malaria as a relatively quick fix to help
fight this deadly disease.

“My sense is that the incoming Secretary-General’s going to make a
very central focus on these [MDG] issues, I have no doubt about it,
he’s mentioned them on many occasions and I have little doubt that they
will be very high on his priorities,” he added.

The MDGs were agreed by world leaders at the UN’s Millennium Summit
in 2000. They cover eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving
universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child
mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and fostering a
global partnership for development.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

RECENT WAVE OF HAITIAN KIDNAPPINGS SPARKS ALARM FROM UN PEACEKEEPING
MISSION

New York, Dec 20 2006  6:00PM
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti today expressed alarm
at the sudden spate of kidnappings, especially of children, across the
impoverished Caribbean country, and vowed to maintain its operations
against the gangs responsible for the crimes.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN
Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/">MINUSTAH), Edmond
Mulet, condemned the wave of kidnappings and called on the public to
cooperate with the national police and MINUSTAH to help bring those who
committed the crimes to justice.

Some two dozen people have been arrested in the past week, including
the chief of one armed gang, and at least six kidnapping victims freed
following a series of joint operations involving MINUSTAH and the
national police. A number of weapons have also been seized.

Kidnappings are a perennial problem in Haiti, the poorest country in
the Western Hemisphere, especially in the run-up to Christmas, when gang
members regard ransom money as a key source of income.

The numbers have been particularly high this December – 29
schoolchildren were reported kidnapped across the capital, Port-au-Prince, during
a three-day period last week. Many other kidnappings go unreported.

MINUSTAH acting spokesperson Sophie Boutaud-de-la-Combe told the UN
News Centre that the Mission has two special intervention or
anti-kidnapping units working with the national police to conduct arrests, searches
and security operations.

During one operation last week in the Martissant neighbourhood of
Port-au-Prince, 13 suspects were apprehended and one victim liberated. Other
operations are being conducted in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien.

“We will not stop our operations,” Ms. Boutaud-de-la-Combe said
when asked if activities would cease if there is a lull in kidnappings
after the Christmas-New Year period. “This was just an increase in
operations… but we are not going to stop. We will keep going.”

Haitians are also being encouraged to contact either the MINUSTAH or
the national police telephone hotline with any information they might
have on kidnappings, armed gangs and related matters. The Mission’s
hotline has already received more than 1,900 calls so far this year.

As of 30 November, MINUSTAH – which was created in June 2004 – has
8,360 uniformed personnel (comprising troops and police), 1,017
international and local civilian staff and 186 UN Volunteers. Its current
mandate runs out on 15 February next year.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES GREATER COOPERATION AMONG DEVELOPING NATIONS

New York, Dec 19 2006  5:00PM
Marking United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on developing countries to work together
more to tackle some of their greatest common threats and challenges, from
extreme poverty to HIV/AIDS.

“Amid the perils and promise of globalization, South-South
cooperation enables developing countries to share their experiences and successes
with others,” Mr. Annan said in a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10808.doc.htm">message for
the Day.

He noted that expanding trade within the South and the emergence of
multinational corporations from that region, generating jobs and wealth,
is helping to increase the strength and scope of developing country
partnerships. The faster-growing nations in the South are also serving as a
key source of investment, remittances and development.

Recent gatherings such as this year’s China-Africa Summit in Beijing
and last year’s South America-Arab Summit have indicated, he said,
“a strong commitment among developing countries to maintain and
increase this momentum.”

The Secretary-General added that “by itself, South-South cooperation
may not be sufficient to attain the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). But as one piece of a larger global partnership for development, it
is already making valuable contributions. The international community
must not only applaud this trend, it must make every effort to support
strengthened ties between developing countries.”

The MDGs are a set of time-bound targets for tackling a host of global
ills, from extreme poverty to HIV/AIDS.

In Bangkok, the UN held a gathering of representatives from agencies,
Member States, civil society organizations and other groups to mark the
Day, which was established in 2003 by the General Assembly.

Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(<"http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2006/dec/g60.asp">UNESCAP), told
participants that the wide diversity between countries in the South offers
individual nations the best opportunity to learn from each other and
prosper.

Yiping Zhou, Director of the UN Special Unit for South-South
Cooperation, said he wished that there were more concrete mechanisms being
developed to deliver results on the ground and to mobilize resources, whether
financial, institutional or human, to help poor countries develop.

Meanwhile, the UN representative for some of the world’s poorest
countries has welcomed the signing of an agreement by 11 countries last
Friday promoting security, stability and development in Africa’s Great
Lakes region.

Under the pact, a $2 billion fund will be established to finance
humanitarian needs, rebuild conflict-affected areas, provide basic services,
build infrastructure and promote democracy. Countries that are
signatories are mandated to contribute to the new fund, which will be run by
the African Development Bank.

The 11 signatories are Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic
(CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Anwarul K. Chowdhury, UN High Representative for the Least Developed
Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing
States, welcomed the pact’s focus on such goals as eradicating poverty,
fostering good governance and developing infrastructure.
2006-12-19 00:00:00.000

ONLINE FOOD AUCTION HELPS UN AGENCY PROVIDE MEALS TO WORLD’S HUNGRY
New York, Dec 19 2006  6:00PM

A global community of Internet users and culinary devotees has raised
almost $31,000 in little more than a week to help the United Nations
World Food Programme (WFP) provide meals to some of the hungriest and
poorest people.

Three years ago, Pim Techamuanvivit, a renowned United States blogger
on restaurants, devised the “Menu for Hope” auction programme where
foodies around the world can buy $10 tickets to bid on items ranging
from complimentary meals at top restaurants to rare cookery books to
baskets of unusual gastronomic items.

All proceeds from the auction – which is located at
http://chezpim.typepad.com – are being given to the
<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2326">WFP.

This year’s target of $25,000 has already been exceeded, with the
total reaching $30,986.70 as of 4.15 pm New York time today. Menu for
Hope, which began on 10 December, is scheduled to keep running through
Friday. Last year the project raised $17,000 to help the UN Children’s
Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/index2.php">UNICEF).

Ms. Techamuanvivit said one of the key reasons for the success this
year has been that so many donors value the work of the WFP.

“The opportunity to help the world’s hungry galvanizes this
community of people who share a passion for food,” she said. “Here is a
chance to make a difference, to share some of the privileges we enjoy –
that’s why so many people have so generously and enthusiastically
shown their support.”
2006-12-19 00:00:00.000

UN BIRD FLU EXPERTS ARRIVE IN SOUTH KOREA TO ASSESS RISK FOLLOWING
OUTBREAKS IN POULTRY

New York, Dec 19 2006  8:00PM
A team of bird flu experts from a joint United Nations crisis centre
set up to deal with the emergency arrived today in South Korea to assess
regional risks and protective measures following three recent outbreaks
of the disease among domestic poultry in rural areas south of the
capital Seoul.

A nine-person team from the Crisis Management Centre (CMC), an
initiative between the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), will conduct a
10-day mission collecting epidemiological data at the invitation of the
Government, the agency said.

“The… team includes international and Korean veterinary
epidemiologists, wildlife veterinarians, biologists and poultry specialists who
will pay particular attention to the relationships between poultry
production, marketing and wildlife sectors to… better understand potential
disease movement among chickens and risks to or from wild birds,” FAO
said.

“The team will be looking at any wild bird deaths on infected farms
or adjacent wetlands, as well as collecting environmental samples that
may lead to a better understanding of disease emergence in the area…
Besides the wild bird angle, the CMC experts hope to investigate many
other potential risk factors, such as the handling of sick and dead
birds.”

By the end of the mission, the first full-scale multidisciplinary
deployment by the CMC since it was established in October, the team hopes to
be able to provide answers to some of the questions surrounding the
mechanisms of disease introduction and its spread.

Although well over 200 million birds have died worldwide from either
the H5N1 flu virus or preventive culling, there have so far been only 258
human cases, 154 of them fatal, since the current outbreak started in
South-East Asia in December 2003, and these have been ascribed to
contact with infected birds.

But experts fear the virus could mutate, gaining the ability to pass
from person to person and, in a worst case scenario, unleash a deadly
human pandemic. The so-called Spanish flu pandemic that broke out in 1918
is estimated to have killed from 20 million to 40 million people by the
time it had run its course two years later.

FAO says winning the battle against the virus demands a long-term
vision with more surveillance as well as stronger emphasis on hygiene and
movement control throughout the animal production and marketing chain.
2006-12-19 00:00:00.000 
 

UN MUSTERS PARTNERS TO FIGHT HEALTH RISKS THREATENING MILLIONS IN EAST
AFRICAN FLOODS

New York, Dec 20 2006 11:00AM
With increased risks of cholera, dysentery, measles and malaria
threatening millions of people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia due to severe
drought followed by the worst floods in recent memory, the United Nations
health agency has <"
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EKOI-6WN7ZH?OpenDocument">called
for concerted action to ensure the continuation of vital services
including vaccination programmes.

“The health risks and the operational challenges are daunting and
call for a commensurate mobilization of resources,” the UN World Health
Organization (<"
http://www.who.int/hac/crises/international/hoafrica/en/index.html">WHO)
said in its latest update on the crisis, noting that it was mobilizing
its own “surge capacity” to strengthen its presence at regional,
country and field levels in line with evolving needs and the displacement
of hundreds of thousands of people.

“Preliminary estimates are that the health and life-saving aspects of
the operation may demand from the Health Cluster [WHO and its partners]
as much as $5 per beneficiary per month,” it added.

The agency said that at this early stage, it was looking at an affected
population of about 2 million as far as immediate and medium term
threats are concerned, but severe food shortages caused by the prolonged
drought throughout the region are affecting up to 8.5 million people.
Outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases have been reported in Ethiopia and Kenya
amid a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation.

The risks of outbreaks have been exacerbated by population displacement
and gatherings in camps as well as by the interruption of programmes
which are critical for global health such as polio eradication.

“In this context, WHO, as the leader of the <"
http://www.who.int/hac/network/interagency/healthcluster/en/index.html">Global
Health Cluster, is calling on all concerned partners to harmonize their
activities around three strategic objectives,” the agency said.

It cited the need to counter the immediate risk of outbreaks of
communicable diseases; prepare for all contingencies over the next six months
in light of increased political tensions and social distress,
population movements and new weather vagaries and epidemics; and strengthen
public health programmes such as polio control so that they can operate in
an increasingly difficult environment.

Specific measures include monitoring priority health threats to ensure
early warning and response; speedy coordination both nationally and
across borders; identifying and filling gaps that can kill people or limit
effective delivery of care such as equitable access to medicines,
health workers, safe water and sanitation; and strengthening and integrating
national capacities into the cluster approach.

Citing “the common humanitarian goal of reducing avoidable death and
suffering,” WHO pledged its technical and advocacy services to all.
2006-12-20 00:00:00.000

ANNAN HAILS JAPAN’S COMMITMENT TO UN, MARKING ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY AS
A MEMBER

New York, Dec 19 2006  7:00PM
Japan’s commitment to the UN has been demonstrated across a range of
areas, from providing funding to advocating for multilateralism,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said, marking the country’s 50th
anniversary as a member of the world body.

“Japan’s wide-ranging support for UN activities has substantially
improved the Organization’s ability to address chronic challenges of
social and economic development.  Its contributions in humanitarian
relief are legendary, along with its longstanding efforts to promote global
nuclear disarmament, its valiant efforts against global warming, and
its strong and growing support for UN peacekeeping efforts,” Mr. Annan
said in a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10806.doc.htm">message on the milestone delivered by Under-Secretary-General for
Disarmament Affairs Nobuaki Tanaka in Tokyo on Monday.

He said this support is about more than just funding. “Japan is
recognized worldwide as a leading champion of multilateralism, democracy, as
well as of conflict prevention and human rights.”

Voicing his expectation that Japan will continue to play a major role
in the future work of the UN, Mr. Annan observed: “A State does not
need to possess nuclear weapons to achieve greatness in this world.”
2006-12-19 00:00:00.000

New York, Dec 19 2006 10:00AM
The head of the United Nations refugee agency leaves tomorrow on a
two-day mission to Chad to strengthen efforts to maintain a vital lifeline
for 370,000 refugees and internally displaced persons
(<"http://www.unhcr.org/protect/3b84c7e23.html">IDPs) that is increasingly
threatened by violence spilling over the border from Sudan’s war-torn
Darfur region.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres is expected
to meet with senior Chadian officials, including President Idriss Deby,
to discuss the dire humanitarian situation facing some 232,000 Darfur
refugees and 90,000 Chadian IDPs in remote eastern Chad, as well as
48,000 Central African Republic (CAR) refugees in the south.

“The volatile and deteriorating security situation, which has led to
UNHCR working on a skeleton staff basis in six of the 12 refugee camps
in the east since late November, is of critical concern to the High
Commissioner,” UNHCR spokesman William Spindler <"
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4587c4d44.html">told a news briefing in
Geneva today, noting that Mr. Guterres will travel to eastern Chad to
meet with Darfur refugees and Chadian IDPs.

“During his mission, he will be stressing the fragility of the vital
humanitarian lifeline in eastern Chad and seeking ways to strengthen it
and protect the hundreds of thousands of victims of violence in the
region,” he added, calling the situation, which has forced UNHCR and
other aid organizations to withdraw staff from several camps, one of the
world’s most difficult and urgent humanitarian crises.

Over the past three years, UNHCR has established a dozen remote refugee
camps for hundreds of thousands of Darfurians scattered along a
600-kilometre stretch of eastern Chad near the border with Sudan. In the last
12 months, 90,000 Chadians have themselves been displaced by marauding
groups of armed men on camels and horseback whose tactics mirror those
of the notorious Janjaweed across the border in Darfur.

Just last Friday and Saturday, in the latest deadly episode of
inter-ethnic fighting that has been increasing in intensity since November,
attacks on villages in the Koukou Angarana area in south-eastern Chad
close to Goz Amer refugee camp killed 30 people, including local villagers,
refugees and IDPs. Another 30 people were wounded.

Government forces countered the attack in heavy fighting around the
village of Habile, which is also the site of a makeshift camp for IDPs,
and 22 villagers and IDPs were killed and 93 homes burned. Some 50
humanitarian workers in the area have been temporarily located until the
situation calms down. More than 70 villages have been attacked, burned or
emptied since early November. In late November, UNHCR lost more than $1
million in aid supplies looted from its main warehouse in Abeche
following clashes there.
2006-12-19 00:00:00.000

UN APPEALS FOR $98 MILLION TO FUND AGRICULTURE, GOOD GOVERNANCE IN
POST-ELECTION HAITI