MBN: THE MONTE BUBBLES NETWORK: United Nations News

Jan 19

NFL STAR AND UN FOOD AGENCY TEAM UP TO SCORE TOUCHDOWN AGAINST WORLD HUNGER

New York, Jan 19 2007 6:00PM National Football League star Reggie Bush and the United Nations World Food Programme WFP) have partnered up to raise awareness in the United States about global hunger. Mr. Bush, a running back in his rookie year for the New Orleans Saints, appears in a new televised Public Service Announcement and print advertisement in which he cooks his perfect meal: “pigskin,” or a US football, on a plate. The spot, targeted at raising awareness of global hunger across the United States, ends with the proclamation, “Unfortunately, not everyone can live off football – help those who can’t.” “These days, more people are worried about their waistlines than the problem of global hunger,” said WFP Director of Communications Neil Gallagher. Worldwide, there more than 800 million people – more than the combined populations of the United States and the countries of the European Union – who are hungry. Children account for half of all deaths, approximately 25,000 daily, attributed to hunger and hunger-related causes. “I want to do whatever I can do to help,” Mr. Bush announced. “It’s surprising but there are more hungry kids in the world than ever before. They need our help.” The television ad uses music by the Rolling Stones who performed at the halftime show of the 2006 Super Bowl, the pinnacle of US football. The band has given the WFP the rights to use one of their songs. 2007-01-19 00:00:00.000

UN STAFF CAN SOON SEEK JOBS IN BAN KI-MOON’S OFFICE AS PART OF PUSH FOR MORE MOBILITY New York, Jan 19 2007 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced plans today to circulate advertisements within the United Nations system for a dozen positions in his own office as part of his broader campaign to encourage staff mobility. Staff will have 10 days to express their interest for any of the positions, which range in seniority from the lowest professional rank to the grade immediately below Assistant Secretary-General, once they are advertised, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Michele Montas said. In a letter to staff, to be published on the UN’s internal web portal, Mr. Ban said “as I undertake these efforts to lead by example, I look to all senior managers to follow suit and promote mobility among their staff, beyond the requirements of managed mobility.” 2007-01-19 00:00:00.000 ___________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To listen to news and in-depth programmes from UN Radio go to: http://radio.un.org/

UN’S LIBERIA MISSION CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE SEXUAL ABUSE New York, Jan 19 2007 6:00PM The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has called for an immediate internal investigation after receiving information about possible sexual exploitation by some of its staff, a UN spokesperson said today. “The UN Mission in Liberia has requested the Office of Internal Oversight Services to conduct an immediate investigation, following the Mission’s receipt of information suggesting that some of its personnel have been involved in sexual exploitation and abuse,” Michele Montas told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. “The UN is deeply concerned by this development and wishes to reiterate its determination to take action against any of its personnel who are found to have committed any act of sexual exploitation or abuse.” The world body maintains a zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and has worked to stamp it out wherever it occurs, whether in the various UN headquarters worldwide or perpetrated by any of the nearly 200,000 people from well over 100 countries that rotate through its peacekeeping missions every year. This latest move by the UN in Liberia comes a day after the world body agreed with the Government of Sudan to set up a joint task force to deal with the issue there, which in turn followed recent media reports of abuses by UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other top officials have declared that any form of sexual exploitation will not be tolerated and the UN has set up conduct units in all of its major peacekeeping operations to address the problem. 2007-01-19 00:00:00.000

Jan 16

RECORD NUMBER OF COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTE RECORD AMOUNT TO UN POPULATION FUND

New York, Jan 15 2007 6:00PM One hundred and eighty countries contributed $360 million to the regular resources of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) last year, the highest number of donors and the largest total since the organization began its operations in 1969 to promote a raft of activities from ensuring safe births to reducing poverty. “We are very thankful for the continuous and growing support from nearly all United Nations Member States,” <"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=925">UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said today. “We take this new record as a solid sign of the global commitment to our work and mandate. It also highlights the importance of sexual and reproductive health, as well as HIV prevention, for development.” The number of UNFPA donor countries has steadily increased over the last few years, from 69 in 1999, to 172 in 2005, to last year’s record. The top six donors were the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Japan and Denmark. In addition, every nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as all sub-Saharan Africa, pledged funds to UNFPA in 2006. In 2005, co-financing income, earmarked to specific projects, reached $158 million, which included contributions for two highly visible emergencies, the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. Co-financing income in 2006 reached the same high level, even though there were no emergencies of the same scale. The number of donors committed to multi-year funding also rose from 55 countries in 2005 to 73 countries in 2006. “Achieving universal access to reproductive health is vital for poverty eradication, and it requires partnerships and efforts from governments and the civil society,” Ms. Obaid said. “Seeing so many different countries supporting our work is heart-warming, and I hope this support will continue to grow in the years to come.” UNFPA promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. It supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. 2007-01-15 00:00:00.000

WOMEN AND GIRLS MUST BE PROTECTED FROM VIOLENCE, UN OFFICIAL TELLS RIGHTS COMMITTEE

New York, Jan 15 2007 6:00PM States who have signed on to the United Nations international bill of rights for women must continue to press for an end to gender-based violence, a senior UN official today told experts gathering in New York to evaluate compliance with the treaty. “Regrettably, violence against women and girls remains unabated in whatever form and manifestation, depriving them of the full enjoyment of their human rights,” said Rachel Mayanja, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, according to the text of her remarks. Ms. Mayanja was addressing the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, a panel comprising 23 international experts on women’s issues, which opened a two-week session at UN Headquarters in New York. Established in 1982, the Committee tracks the status of women in countries that have ratified the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Currently, the Convention has 185 States parties. Ms. Mayanja also welcomed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of three women in top posts within the Organization. “His tenure as Secretary-General has started very auspiciously for women,” she said. “Of the five appointments he has made so far three are women, translating into 60 per cent.” She pointed out that Deputy Secretary-General designate Asha-Rose Migiro previously served as Committee member. During this session, the Committee’s 37th, panel members will examine the reports of 15 countries – Austria, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Suriname, Tajikistan and Viet Nam – regarding their implementation of measures to eliminate discrimination against women. 2007-01-15 00:00:00.000

‘EXTREME MARATHON’ RUNNERS CROSS TWO THIRDS OF SAHARA IN UN BID TO FOCUS ON WATER NEEDS

New York, Jan 15 2007 6:00PM Running the equivalent of two marathons a day in some of the harshest conditions on Earth, three young athletes have pounded approximately two thirds of their way across the Sahara Desert in a United Nations-backed bid to raise awareness of the burgeoning global water crisis. Charlie Engle of the United States, Ray Zahab of Canada and Kevin Lin from Taiwan, province of China, crossed from Niger into Libya on Saturday, completing some 3,800 kilometres of their 6,437-kilometre-long extreme quest that is taking them from Senegal on the Atlantic Ocean to Cairo, UN Development Programme (UNDP) spokesperson Irena Mihova told the UN News Service today. They expect to cross into Egypt on 13 February, reaching the Red Sea on 23 February before turning north to Cairo, in an awareness-raising odyssey that will be the subject of a feature documentary film, “Running the Sahara,” directed by Oscar winner James Moll and narrated by another Oscar laureate, Matt Damon, executive producer, with UNDP as co-producer. Pounding over endless sands and camel tracks, past towering dunes, stark rock mountains and mud-brick mosques, through oases and nomad settlements, the three left St. Louis in Senegal in early November and passed through Mauritania, Mali and Niger before reaching Libya. “For the runners, water is a daily necessity,” Ms. Mihova said. “For the people of the Sahara, and throughout the developing world, it is a lifelong concern.” This is made clear in the UNDP 2006 Human Development Report – Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis – which offers fresh new data on how many poor people go without water and sanitation, the inequality of access within and between nations, and how clean water affects child survival rates. It calls on the Group of Eight (G-8) developed nations to spearhead an urgent global action plan to resolve the world’s growing water and sanitation crisis, which causes nearly 2 million child deaths every year and holds back countries’ development, especially in Africa. Against the backdrop of the world-wide challenges the water crisis presents to development, the three athletes are interacting with the people who live in the 5.6 million square kilometres of the Sahara, witnessing some of the work by UNDP and others in the region. “Each runner brings his own unique story and motivations, but all unite around a love for Africa and a profound desire to make a difference in the lives of the people of the Sahara in the best way they know how – by risking their lives running coast-to-coast across the Sahara Desert to prove that the impossible is possible; and in the process bring people into a new relationship with the Sahara and its people,” UNDP said. Among projects by the agency and Global Environment Facility, an independent financial organization, that the runners have already visited or will soon visit during their extreme marathon are water-management, governance and peace-building efforts in Mali and Niger, a conservation project for medicinal plants in Egypt, dam construction in Mauritania and a school in Senegal. In addition to the 90-minute film, slated for international release in late 2007, a Web site tracks the progress of Engle, Zahab and Lin, providing information about the people and projects they visit. Web visitors can also pledge support on a per-mile basis for water projects through H2O Africa, the charitable component of Running the Sahara. 2007-01-15 00:00:00.000

UN’S AFGHANISTAN ENVOY HAILS NAMING OF NEW POLICE OFFICIALS AS STEP TOWARDS STABILITY

New York, Jan 15 2007 6:00PM The senior United Nations envoy to Afghanistan has welcomed a Presidential decree confirming the appointment of 40 new police officials to the country's national force as a step towards stability. "Strengthening the rule of law across Afghanistan needs to be a priority for all our efforts in 2007, reform of the Afghanistan National Police is central to this if we are to build a police force able to serve the people of Afghanistan with professionalism and integrity," Tom Koenigs said in a statement released in Kabul on Saturday. All of the officials had been selected based on "merit, integrity and experience," he said, voicing confidence that "their skills, experience and commitment to public service will serve them well as they continue the work of cementing much needed peace and stability across Afghanistan." Mr. Koenigs heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), a political operation with some 1,000 personnel. The vast majority of those staff members -- 80 per cent -- are Afghan nationals, reflecting UNAMA's focus on building capacity within the country rather than hiring expatriates. 2007-01-14 00:00:00.000

Jan 13

CHINA AND RUSSIA VETO US/UK-BACKED SECURITY COUNCIL DRAFT RESOLUTION ON MYANMAR

New York, Jan 12 2007 7:00PM China and Russia today vetoed a draft resolution in the Security Council – the first use of multiple vetoes at the Council since 1989 – that had called on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, begin widespread dialogue and end its military attacks and human rights abuses against ethnic minorities. Sponsored by the United States and the United Kingdom, the text received nine votes in favour, the necessary number for a majority. Those in favour were Belgium, France, Ghana, Italy, Panama, Peru, Slovakia, the UK and the US. But the permanent members China and Russia issued vetoes, and South Africa also voted against the resolution. There were three abstentions: Indonesia, Qatar and the Republic of the Congo. Opponents of the text said that while Myanmar was experiencing clear social and economic problems, the country was not a serious threat to international peace and security and therefore the issue should not be dealt with by the Security Council. Speaking before the vote, Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said the problems in Myanmar were largely the internal affairs of a sovereign State and the Government and other groups should be allowed to continue their efforts towards reconciliation. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the issue would be better handled by other UN organs, particularly the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly and humanitarian agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO). The ambassadors also said the resolution would hamper diplomatic efforts being carried out through the good offices of the Secretary-General, which included the recent visit to Myanmar by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari. After the vote, US Acting Ambassador Alejandro Wolff and UK Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry both expressed deep disappointment, saying the resolution would have sent a much-needed signal from Council members. Mr. Wolff said Myanmar’s military regime “arbitrarily arrests, tortures, rapes and executes its own people, wages war on minorities within its own borders, and builds itself new cities, while looking the other way as refugee flows increase, narcotics and human trafficking grow, and communicable diseases remain untreated.” But Myanmar’s Ambassador Kyaw Tint Swe said the draft resolution was based on “patently false” information and, citing UN Development Programme (UNDP) data, said his country was making economic gains. He added that the Council was clearly exceeding its mandate by considering the issue. The draft text called on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, including the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 10 of the past 16 years, and to allow the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other political parties to operate freely. It also demanded an end to human rights violations against the members of ethnic minorities, “including widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence carried out by members of the armed forces.” Last September the Council agreed to focus on the situation inside Myanmar in a vote taken during a procedural meeting, in which no member’s vote has the power of veto. The most recent Council veto was used in November, when the US blocked a draft resolution that would have called, among other measures, for the withdrawal of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. Sponsored by Qatar, that text followed an Israeli military operation in the town of Beit Hanoun that killed 18 civilians. The last time multiple vetoes were used was in 1989, when the US, the UK and France blocked a resolution on the situation in Panama. The last time China and Russia both vetoed a resolution was in 1972, and that concerned the Middle East. 2007-01-12 00:00:00.000

Jan 12

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN URGES ALL SIDES IN BANGLADESH CRISIS TO ‘REFRAIN FROM VIOLENCE’

New York, Jan 10 2007 7:00PM Warning that the political crisis in Bangladesh has “severely jeopardized the legitimacy” of this month’s planned elections, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged all sides to refrain from violence and seek compromise, adding he hopes the army will continue to play a neutral role. “The announced cancellation of numerous international observation missions is regrettable. The United Nations has had to suspend all technical support to the electoral process, including by closing its International Coordination Office for Election Observers in Dhaka,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2405">statement referring to the country’s capital. “The United Nations is deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation in the country, and urges all parties to refrain from the use of violence. It is hoped that the army will continue to play a neutral role, and that those responsible for enforcing the law act with restraint and respect for human rights.” “The United Nations urges the non-party Caretaker Government and Election Commission to create a level playing field and ensure parties can have confidence in the electoral process.” “The United Nations is concerned that Bangladesh’s democratic advances and international standing will be negatively affected if the current crisis continues. It urges all concerned to seek a compromise that will serve the interests of peace, democracy and the country’s overall well-being.” The impoverished South Asian nation is slated to hold national elections on 22 January, but demonstrations and clashes between supporters of rival political groups since late October have left many people dead, according to media reports. A multi-party opposition alliance has also reportedly boycotted the polls. 2007-01-10 00:00:00.000

SECURITY COUNCIL STRESSES NEED FOR POLITICAL DIALOGUE AND INCREASED AID FOR SOMALIA

New York, Jan 10 2007 7:00PM Voicing concern at the instability and violence across strife-torn Somalia, the Security Council today called for greater humanitarian assistance and more inclusive political dialogue and reiterated its backing for the creation of an African protection and training mission to the volatile nation. Speaking to the press following a closed-door briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds this month’s Council presidency, said members regarded the situation in Somalia – which has been beset by fighting and widespread displacement in the past month – as one of its top priorities. The United Nations announced yesterday it is sending a humanitarian assessment mission to Somalia’s border area with Kenya, where thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have gathered to escape fighting between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and supporters of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). The assessment team will examine how to re-start humanitarian deliveries into Somalia and how to handle the large-scale population movements that have followed the intense fighting in recent weeks as the Government, backed by Ethiopian troops, has reclaimed the capital, Mogadishu. Aid operations had to be suspended and international staff evacuated because of the dangers posed by the fighting. Mr. Churkin said the Council’s 15 members agreed that inclusive political dialogue among Somalia’s various political forces is necessary to end the deadly clashes and alleviate the humanitarian situation in one of Africa’s most impoverished nations. Last month the Council unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the creation of an African protection and training mission to help protect Somalia’s transitional federal institutions. To be known as IGASOM, the new force is to be set up by the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African group, and will have an initial mandate of six months. No countries bordering Somalia will be able to deploy troops. Mr. Gambari told journalists he stressed during his Council briefing that IGASOM must be deployed as soon as possible to stabilize Somalia, and he added that several countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Malawi, are considering committing troops. 2007-01-10 00:00:00.000

UN’S CÔTE D’IVOIRE MISSION EXTENDED WITH NEW MANDATE TO COOPERATE ON LIBERIAN BORDER

New York, Jan 10 2007 7:00PM The Security Council today extended through June the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and French forces supporting it while authorizing them to cooperate with blue helmets in Liberia in preventing arms from crossing the border. By a unanimously <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sc8937.doc.htm">adopted resolution, the Council adjusted the tasks carried out by the mission, which has been deployed in Côte d’Ivoire since April 2004 helping the parties to implement a peace agreement signed in January 2003 ending their north-south civil war. The country has been divided between the rebel-held north and government-controlled south since 2002. Under today’s resolution, UNOCI will coordinate closely with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) in carrying out a voluntary repatriation and resettlement programme for foreign ex-combatants. This is part of UNOCI’s efforts to bolster the Ivorian Government in its bid to disarm former fighters, which the Council said should be carried out “with special attention to the specific needs of women and children.” UNOCI will be responsible for destroying any weapons, ammunition or other military materiel surrendered by the former combatants, according to the resolution. The UN’s Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia missions will also work together in implementing an arms ban including “by inspecting, as they deem it necessary and without notice, the cargo of aircraft and of any transport vehicle using the ports, airports, airfields, military bases and border crossings.” UNOCI must “carry out its mandate in close liaison with UNMIL, including especially in the prevention of movements of arms and combatants across shared borders and the implementation of disarmament and demobilization programmes,” the Council said. In helping the relief effort for the beleaguered people of Côte d’Ivoire, UNOCI will “facilitate the free flow of people, goods and humanitarian assistance,” including by helping to establish the necessary security conditions and taking into account the special needs of vulnerable groups, especially women, children and the elderly. The mission is also tasked with supporting the organization of “open, free, fair and transparent elections, presidential and legislative, by 31 October 2007 at the latest.” The most recent report of the Secretary-General to the Council, issued last month, contained a strong call to the parties to restart their stalled peace process and resolve their disputes. The report emphasized that the mandate of both Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny and President Laurent Gbagbo was renewed for a “final transition period not exceeding 12 months” and called on the two leaders to “eschew confrontation and maintain a constructive working relationship.” As of late last year, UNOCI had nearly 9,000 uniformed personnel supported by some 360 international civilian personnel, 500 local staff and 220 UN Volunteers. 2007-01-10 00:00:00.000

BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND UN MUST CARRY ON PARTNERSHIP, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

New York, Jan 10 2007 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today stressed the symbiotic relationship between business and the United Nations at a meeting in New York with leading executives from the private sector. “We need your innovation, your initiative, your technological prowess,” Mr. Ban said in an <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2400">address over breakfast at the Grand Hyatt hotel to the UNA-USA Business Council for the United Nations and the Association for a Better New York. “But business also needs the United Nations,” he added. Business is driven by growth and profit incentives, while the UN is concentrates on peace and security, poverty reduction and human rights, Mr. Ban said. However, “many of our objectives are the same: building and supporting strong economies and communities, providing opportunities for people to pursue a livelihood, and ensuring that everyone can live in dignity,” he pointed out. The Secretary-General identified the UN Global Compact, an initiative started in 1999 advancing business practices rooted in good corporate citizenship and universal principles, as the embodiment of the partnership between the business world and the UN. Mr. Ban, who took office on 1 January, took the opportunity to thank New York City for its support of the Organization and for welcoming him to his new post. Having served as an officer in his country’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York in the past, as well as having been in the city in 2001 at the time of the September 11th attacks, he stated, “I am glad to be back here again, and proud to call New York my home.” The UN Headquarters in New York will undergo a massive renovation at a cost of over $1.8 billion, scheduled to begin in this year and conclude in 2014. The refurbishment, widely viewed as essential from a health and security standpoint, is forecast to save costs in the long-run. The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to the people of the City and to Mayor Michael Bloomberg for their cooperation in the project and for their understanding of the possible disruptions to both the neighbourhood and commuters an undertaking of this scale could cause. Today’s meeting with Mr. Ban was part of the “United Nations and Corporate Global Issues Breakfast Series” sponsored by the UNA-USA Business Council for the United Nations, a New York-based organization which promotes stronger ties between its member companies and the UN. 2007-01-10 00:00:00.000

DARFUR: UN ENVOY HOLDS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TALKS WITH SENIOR SUDANESE FIGURES

New York, Jan 10 2007 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Envoy for Darfur met the Sudanese Foreign Minister, a key former rebel and other senior figures today as he continues his mission to promote United Nations efforts to find a permanent solution to the conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million others. Jan Eliasson, the former Swedish foreign minister and General Assembly president, described today’s talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as fruitful and constructive, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists. Mr. Eliasson met with Foreign Minister Lam Akol and Minni Minawi, a senior presidential assistant and the chairman of a wing of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) that signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) last May. He also spoke with two presidential advisers. Tomorrow Mr. Eliasson is scheduled to hold talks with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir, who informed the UN last month that Khartoum accepts a three-phase plan culminating in the deployment of a hybrid UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force to replace the existing AU monitoring force. Such a force is expected to comprise up to 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. The envoy is then scheduled to head to El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. Mr. Eliasson was appointed last month to help re-energize diplomatic efforts to obtain a durable solution, based on the DPA, to a conflict that has left more than 4 million people dependent on outside aid. Fighting erupted in 2003 between Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy for Darfur, an arid and impoverished region roughly the size of France on Sudan’s western flank. Several rebel groups have not signed the DPA and deadly clashes have continued since the pact was struck in May. Senior UN officials have repeatedly described Darfur as the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and Mr. Ban has called the crisis one of his top priorities in office. The conflict and resulting massive displacement is threatening the stability of neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), and this morning Security Council members heard a closed-door briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi about the work of a UN team examining the situation on the Chadian-Sudanese border. The Secretary-General’s latest progress report to the Council on the situation in Darfur, covering the period from the start of October to mid-December, concluded that “the time has come to turn declarations into actions” so that the violence stopped and Darfur’s inhabitants can “live a normal life, free of fear, with hope for a better future.” The report detailed the grim conditions on the ground, with villages being destroyed, killings and other human rights abuses continuing and rampant impunity for such acts. 2007-01-10 00:00:00.000

Jan 5

SUSPECTED KILLER OF TWO BLUE HELMETS IN HAITI ARRESTED BY UN MISSION, NATIONAL POLICE

New York, Jan 5 2007 3:00PM The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the country’s national police today announced the arrest of a gang member wanted in connection with the killing last November of two blue helmets serving with the peacekeeping operation. The arrest of ‘Zachari’ took place following a joint operation which began at dawn in the Drouillard quarter of Cité Soleil, MINUSTAH said in a press release on Thursday. No shots were fired. The suspect is wanted in connection with the assassination of two Jordanian peacekeepers from MINUSTAH in November 2006. He is “is thought to be the chief of the cell responsible for kidnappings” within the Belony gang. Another presumed kidnapper was also arrested, according to MINUSTAH, and both suspects are being detailed by the Haitian National Police. “MINUSTAH and the Government of Haiti continue to work together to stop armed gangs and their criminal activities in the capital,” the mission said. On 10 November 2006, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a MINUSTAH patrol near the Port-au-Prince airport, fatally injuring Jordanian peacekeepers Ahmad Mohammed Hassan Ba’irat and Rami Wasif Taha Al Mohammed. Also last year, on 17 January, two other Jordanian blue helmets serving with MINUSTAH, Tareq Al Jaafreh and Rabi Merei, were shot and killed while manning a checkpoint in Cité Soleil. Armed gangs have been a constant concern of <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah">MINUSTAH since it was set up by the Security Council to help to re-establish peace in the impoverished Caribbean country after an insurgency forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile in February 2004. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

TANZANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED NEW UN DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

New York, Jan 5 2007 3:00PM Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro today became the third person – and second woman – in history appointed United Nations Deputy Secretary-General when she accepted the post offered to her by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Through her distinguished service in diverse areas, she has displayed outstanding management skills with wide experience and expertise in socio-economic affairs and development issues,” Secretary-General Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2392">said of Ms. Migiro, who was selected from a short list of candidates including men and women. Mr. Ban, who took office on 1 January with revitalization of the UN as a top priority, today stated that he intends to “delegate much of the management and administrative work” to Ms. Migiro “under a clear line of authority to ensure that the Secretariat will function in a more effective and efficient manner.” She has worked in the past with Secretary-General Ban when they both served as Foreign Ministers of their respective countries. He called her “a highly respected leader who has championed the cause of developing countries over the years.” Salim Ahmed Salim, the African Union (AU) Special Envoy on the Darfur conflict who is in New York for meetings with the Secretary-General, welcomed the appointment of Ms. Migiro, a fellow Tanzanian. Hailing her “skills and commitment,” Mr. Salim asserted, “I know she can do the job and I wish her well.” Dr. Migiro, who in her new capacity will be the highest ranking woman at the UN and the second-highest among all officials, also served as Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children's Affairs until she was asked to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in January 2006. She entered the Government of Tanzania after leaving her position as Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. Ms. Migiro, 50, replaces Mark Malloch Brown who took office in April 2006. Meanwhile, in another action pertaining to the creation of his cabinet, the Secretary-General today asked all assistant and under-secretaries-general, with a number of exceptions, to voluntarily tender their resignations. The aim, said his spokesperson, Michele Montas, is to “allow the Secretary-General the flexibility he needs in forming his new team.” She added that after reviewing the offers of resignation, he may decide to retain some senior officials. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

UN HOPES ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS AVOID VIOLENCE IN LIGHT OF ‘POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS’ New York, Jan 5 2007 6:00PM The chief United Nations spokesperson today voiced the hope that Israel and the Palestinians would exercise restraint in the light of some recent positive developments and avoid violence such as yesterday’s Israeli military incursion into the main Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah. In response to a question at the daily briefing, spokesperson Michele Montas referred specifically to last month’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel’s decision to release some Palestinian taxes and Mr. Olmert’s meeting yesterday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “We would hope that all parties would act with restraint to encourage these small steps back towards dialogue and away from violence, such as the Israeli military incursion into Ramallah yesterday,” she said. Last year, Israel stopped the transfer of Palestinian value added taxes (VAT) following the election victory of Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction.

INTERNATIONAL GROUPING, INCLUDING UN, SAYS SOMALIA HAS ‘HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY’ New York, Jan 5 2007 7:00PM Meeting today for the first time since last week’s heavy fighting in Somalia, which may have given the Transitional Government of the long-troubled country the chance to establish its full authority, the International Contact Group for Somalia – which includes the United Nations – called the current moment “a historic opportunity.” In a communiqué issued in Nairobi, the Group welcomed a commitment by Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf to inclusive governance and the prevention of a resurgence of warlord activities. The communiqué also stressed the importance of immediately launching a process of political dialogue and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa country, which has not had a functioning government since the regime of Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled in 1991. Last month the Security Council adopted a <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/res/1725(2006)">resolution authorizing the creation of an African protection and training mission in Somalia to help protect its transitional federal institutions, and today’s communiqué emphasized the urgent need for that force. To be known as IGASOM, the new force is to be set up by the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African group, and will have an initial mandate of six months. No countries bordering Somalia will be able to deploy troops. Today’s meeting of the International Contact Group for Somalia was held following a wave of heavy fighting between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) – backed by Ethiopian troops – and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) last month. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonsény Fall, represented the UN at the meeting. Yesterday, in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm10824.doc.htm">statement released by his spokesperson, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all sides in Somalia to “seize the moment and end the bloodshed” and urged the rapid deployment of IGASOM. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

UN WILL ENFORCE ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ POLICY AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE, PEACEKEEPING OFFICIAL SAYS New York, Jan 5 2007 6:00PM The United Nations, which fields nearly 200,000 people from well over 100 countries rotating through its peacekeeping missions every year, is determined to reinforce its policy of zero tolerance and remains constantly vigilant to fight the scourge, a senior official said today. “We recognize that this is a structural problem and that we need to deal with it structurally and systemically and that the behaviour of a relative few has tarnished the entire reputation of peacekeeping and we will not allow that to continue to occur,” Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York following media reports of abuses in southern Sudan. “The reputation of UN peacekeeping is one of our most powerful assets, which is why we have responded over the past couple of years so strongly,” she said, stressing the UN’s three-point strategy of prevention, enforcement and remediation, with repetitive training and the establishment of complaint mechanisms. The UN has also set up conduct units in all of its major peacekeeping operations, including Sudan, specifically tasked with addressing the problem. The problem of sexual exploitation surfaced in 2004 when a UN report found that a “shockingly large number” of peacekeepers had engaged in such practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with payments for sex sometimes ranging from two eggs to $5 per encounter. The victims included many abandoned orphans who were often illiterate. Between January 2004 and November 2006, 319 peacekeeping personnel in all missions had been investigated, resulting in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military personnel. Ms. Holl Lute noted that the most recent cases in Sudan were based on a 2005-2006 report by the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF) and said the “the expectation is that these are not new allegations” but concern 13 ongoing incidents. Four Bangladeshis involved have already been sent home to be dealt with by their own authorities. “Every time I’m made aware of an allegation of sexual exploitation and abuse I’m outraged,” Ms. Holl Lute said. “I’m outraged at every level, as a peacekeeper, as a professional, as a colleague of the tens of thousands of men and women who serve honourably in peacekeeping. I share their anger that some of our number may be engaging in this behaviour. “I’m angry as a woman, I’m angry as a mother, I’m saddened that the world has not come as far as we would like to believe in our treatment of women and vulnerable populations and I’m determined to continue to do whatever it is we can to strengthen this comprehensive programme of prevention, enforcement and remediation,” she added. She underscored the considerable challenge the UN faced in deploying tens of thousands of peacekeepers to societies that have been wracked by conflict and war sometimes for generations. “It keeps happening because that potential is going to exist in this kind of an environment.” But, she stressed, “the record of peacekeeping is an honourable one, it’s a good one, it’s a strong one.” And she highlighted the crucial importance of “the collective message we are sending now as a community of international servants, international peacekeepers, international humanitarian aid workers, of the troop contributing countries, of all of the global organizations, of our determination that this behaviour will not be tolerated.” 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

SUSPECTED KILLER OF TWO BLUE HELMETS IN HAITI ARRESTED BY UN MISSION, NATIONAL POLICE

TANZANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED NEW UN DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HOPES ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS AVOID VIOLENCE IN LIGHT OF ‘POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS’

New York, Jan 5 2007 6:00PM The chief United Nations spokesperson today voiced the hope that Israel and the Palestinians would exercise restraint in the light of some recent positive developments and avoid violence such as yesterday’s Israeli military incursion into the main Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah. In response to a question at the daily briefing, spokesperson Michele Montas referred specifically to last month’s meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel’s decision to release some Palestinian taxes and Mr. Olmert’s meeting yesterday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “We would hope that all parties would act with restraint to encourage these small steps back towards dialogue and away from violence, such as the Israeli military incursion into Ramallah yesterday,” she said. Last year, Israel stopped the transfer of Palestinian value added taxes (VAT) following the election victory of Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction.

INTERNATIONAL GROUPING, INCLUDING UN, SAYS SOMALIA HAS ‘HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY’

New York, Jan 5 2007 7:00PM Meeting today for the first time since last week’s heavy fighting in Somalia, which may have given the Transitional Government of the long-troubled country the chance to establish its full authority, the International Contact Group for Somalia – which includes the United Nations – called the current moment “a historic opportunity.” In a communiqué issued in Nairobi, the Group welcomed a commitment by Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf to inclusive governance and the prevention of a resurgence of warlord activities. The communiqué also stressed the importance of immediately launching a process of political dialogue and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa country, which has not had a functioning government since the regime of Muhammad Siad Barre was toppled in 1991. Last month the Security Council adopted a <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/res/1725(2006)">resolution authorizing the creation of an African protection and training mission in Somalia to help protect its transitional federal institutions, and today’s communiqué emphasized the urgent need for that force. To be known as IGASOM, the new force is to be set up by the African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an east African group, and will have an initial mandate of six months. No countries bordering Somalia will be able to deploy troops. Today’s meeting of the International Contact Group for Somalia was held following a wave of heavy fighting between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) – backed by Ethiopian troops – and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) last month. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonsény Fall, represented the UN at the meeting. Yesterday, in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm10824.doc.htm">statement released by his spokesperson, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all sides in Somalia to “seize the moment and end the bloodshed” and urged the rapid deployment of IGASOM. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

UN WILL ENFORCE ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ POLICY AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE, PEACEKEEPING OFFICIAL SAYS

New York, Jan 5 2007 6:00PM The United Nations, which fields nearly 200,000 people from well over 100 countries rotating through its peacekeeping missions every year, is determined to reinforce its policy of zero tolerance and remains constantly vigilant to fight the scourge, a senior official said today. “We recognize that this is a structural problem and that we need to deal with it structurally and systemically and that the behaviour of a relative few has tarnished the entire reputation of peacekeeping and we will not allow that to continue to occur,” Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute told a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York following media reports of abuses in southern Sudan. “The reputation of UN peacekeeping is one of our most powerful assets, which is why we have responded over the past couple of years so strongly,” she said, stressing the UN’s three-point strategy of prevention, enforcement and remediation, with repetitive training and the establishment of complaint mechanisms. The UN has also set up conduct units in all of its major peacekeeping operations, including Sudan, specifically tasked with addressing the problem. The problem of sexual exploitation surfaced in 2004 when a UN report found that a “shockingly large number” of peacekeepers had engaged in such practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with payments for sex sometimes ranging from two eggs to $5 per encounter. The victims included many abandoned orphans who were often illiterate. Between January 2004 and November 2006, 319 peacekeeping personnel in all missions had been investigated, resulting in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military personnel. Ms. Holl Lute noted that the most recent cases in Sudan were based on a 2005-2006 report by the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF) and said the “the expectation is that these are not new allegations” but concern 13 ongoing incidents. Four Bangladeshis involved have already been sent home to be dealt with by their own authorities. “Every time I’m made aware of an allegation of sexual exploitation and abuse I’m outraged,” Ms. Holl Lute said. “I’m outraged at every level, as a peacekeeper, as a professional, as a colleague of the tens of thousands of men and women who serve honourably in peacekeeping. I share their anger that some of our number may be engaging in this behaviour. “I’m angry as a woman, I’m angry as a mother, I’m saddened that the world has not come as far as we would like to believe in our treatment of women and vulnerable populations and I’m determined to continue to do whatever it is we can to strengthen this comprehensive programme of prevention, enforcement and remediation,” she added. She underscored the considerable challenge the UN faced in deploying tens of thousands of peacekeepers to societies that have been wracked by conflict and war sometimes for generations. “It keeps happening because that potential is going to exist in this kind of an environment.” But, she stressed, “the record of peacekeeping is an honourable one, it’s a good one, it’s a strong one.” And she highlighted the crucial importance of “the collective message we are sending now as a community of international servants, international peacekeepers, international humanitarian aid workers, of the troop contributing countries, of all of the global organizations, of our determination that this behaviour will not be tolerated.” 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

SUSPECTED KILLER OF TWO BLUE HELMETS IN HAITI ARRESTED BY UN MISSION, NATIONAL POLICE New York, Jan 5 2007 3:00PM The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the country’s national police today announced the arrest of a gang member wanted in connection with the killing last November of two blue helmets serving with the peacekeeping operation. The arrest of ‘Zachari’ took place following a joint operation which began at dawn in the Drouillard quarter of Cité Soleil, MINUSTAH said in a press release on Thursday. No shots were fired. The suspect is wanted in connection with the assassination of two Jordanian peacekeepers from MINUSTAH in November 2006. He is “is thought to be the chief of the cell responsible for kidnappings” within the Belony gang. Another presumed kidnapper was also arrested, according to MINUSTAH, and both suspects are being detailed by the Haitian National Police. “MINUSTAH and the Government of Haiti continue to work together to stop armed gangs and their criminal activities in the capital,” the mission said. On 10 November 2006, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a MINUSTAH patrol near the Port-au-Prince airport, fatally injuring Jordanian peacekeepers Ahmad Mohammed Hassan Ba’irat and Rami Wasif Taha Al Mohammed. Also last year, on 17 January, two other Jordanian blue helmets serving with MINUSTAH, Tareq Al Jaafreh and Rabi Merei, were shot and killed while manning a checkpoint in Cité Soleil. Armed gangs have been a constant concern of <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah">MINUSTAH since it was set up by the Security Council to help to re-establish peace in the impoverished Caribbean country after an insurgency forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to go into exile in February 2004. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

TANZANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED NEW UN DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL New York, Jan 5 2007 3:00PM Tanzanian Foreign Minister Asha-Rose Migiro today became the third person – and second woman – in history appointed United Nations Deputy Secretary-General when she accepted the post offered to her by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Through her distinguished service in diverse areas, she has displayed outstanding management skills with wide experience and expertise in socio-economic affairs and development issues,” Secretary-General Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2392">said of Ms. Migiro, who was selected from a short list of candidates including men and women. Mr. Ban, who took office on 1 January with revitalization of the UN as a top priority, today stated that he intends to “delegate much of the management and administrative work” to Ms. Migiro “under a clear line of authority to ensure that the Secretariat will function in a more effective and efficient manner.” She has worked in the past with Secretary-General Ban when they both served as Foreign Ministers of their respective countries. He called her “a highly respected leader who has championed the cause of developing countries over the years.” Salim Ahmed Salim, the African Union (AU) Special Envoy on the Darfur conflict who is in New York for meetings with the Secretary-General, welcomed the appointment of Ms. Migiro, a fellow Tanzanian. Hailing her “skills and commitment,” Mr. Salim asserted, “I know she can do the job and I wish her well.” Dr. Migiro, who in her new capacity will be the highest ranking woman at the UN and the second-highest among all officials, also served as Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children's Affairs until she was asked to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in January 2006. She entered the Government of Tanzania after leaving her position as Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. Ms. Migiro, 50, replaces Mark Malloch Brown who took office in April 2006. Meanwhile, in another action pertaining to the creation of his cabinet, the Secretary-General today asked all assistant and under-secretaries-general, with a number of exceptions, to voluntarily tender their resignations. The aim, said his spokesperson, Michele Montas, is to “allow the Secretary-General the flexibility he needs in forming his new team.” She added that after reviewing the offers of resignation, he may decide to retain some senior officials. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

UN WILL ENFORCE ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’ POLICY AGAINST SEXUAL ABUSE, PEACEKEEPING OFFICIAL SAYS

New York, Jan 5 2007 11:00AM United Nations agencies are helping to draw up an action plan to fight a new outbreak of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in the Horn of Africa amid concerns that climate change with successive droughts and floods, some of it human-caused, could increase the 5-15 year cyclical frequency of the sometimes fatal viral haemorrhagic disease. “The outbreak of Rift Valley fever is just another example that requires a quick and coordinated answer,” the Manager of the new Crisis Management Centre (CMC) launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last October, Karin Schwabenbauer, said of the current <"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6X5N3B?OpenDocument">outbreak in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. “I am glad that CMC was able to assist the team in the region in setting up the appropriate activities from the beginning of the outbreak,” she added of the battle against the mosquito-borne virus that primarily affects ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, camels, goats, but can cause outbreaks in humans as well. Since the latest outbreak began there in November, 47 deaths have been reported in the flood-affected areas of Garissa, capital of Kenya’s North Eastern province. The Kenyan Ministry of Health, with international aid, is distributing mosquito nets and taking steps to reduce animal-to-human transmission through animal husbandry and slaughter. People become infected either by being bitten by mosquitoes or through contact with the blood, other body fluids or organs of infected animals. Such contact may occur during the care or slaughtering of infected animals or possibly from the ingestion of raw milk. Wind can sometimes help carry the virus-bearing insects long distances. <"http://www.fao.org/ag/aga/agah/empres/info/rvf/rvf198.htm">RVF can cause serious economic losses in livestock, particularly sheep and cattle, although goats, camels, Asian water buffaloes and wild antelopes may also be susceptible. Outbreaks often follow major flooding, since heavy rains trigger a kind of wake-up call for the mosquitoes that carry the disease. Since 1998, when flood-related RVF flared up in the Horn of Africa and encroached into the Arabian Peninsula, FAO has been working to demarcate the areas in sub-Saharan Africa at greatest risk and pinpoint hot spots across East and West Africa to forecast where the next outbreaks will occur and put adequate response strategies in place. Though RVF has historically occurred in 5-15 year cycles, climatic changes, including a succession of droughts and floods or human modifications of ecosystems, could change these intervals in the future, FAO said. Together with officials from the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en">WHO) and various international aid agencies present in the area, the FAO team is helping draw up preparedness, communication, surveillance and response activities. The <"http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000421/index.html">CMC was set up in collaboration with the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (<"http://www.oie.int/eng/en_index.htm">OIE) to bring rapid-response capacity to trans-boundary animal and plant diseases amid growing concern at the rapid spread of bird flu. Supported by advanced communications technology and operating with a staff of up to 15 specialists and veterinarians who continuously monitor and update disease information from around the globe, the CMC can dispatch its experts to any hotspot in the world in under 48 hours of a suspected outbreak. 2007-01-05 00:00:00.000

Jan 4

SECRETARY-GENERAL ALARMED BY REPORTS OF SEXUAL ABUSE BY UN PEACEKEEPERS IN SUDAN

New York, Jan 3 2007 6:00PM Voicing deep concern at media reports that United Nations peacekeepers in southern Sudan have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse of locals, including children, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon soundly denounced the practice while pointing out that the world body’s own investigations have already resulted in the dismissal of four blue helmets there. In a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sgsm10823.doc.htm">statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban emphasized that “the UN standard on this issue is clear – zero tolerance, meaning zero complacency and zero impunity.” He said the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was examining the substance of the press reports to determine if the allegations are new or refer to existing cases under investigation. “It is the UN’s policy to treat credible allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse as serious offences to be investigated by the Office of the Internal Oversight Services (OIOS),” the statement said. The statement added that OIOS already has a team based permanently in Sudan and that four UNMIS peacekeepers have been sent home over the past year as a result of the Office’s investigations. “The UN is working closely with local authorities and all operational partners, including our troop-contributing countries, to ensure that UN personnel adhere to the highest standards of accountability. When necessary, strong disciplinary action will be taken.” The problem of sexual abuse and exploitation by blue helmets surfaced in 2004, when a UN report found that a “shockingly large number” of peacekeepers had engaged in such practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with payments for sex sometimes ranging from two eggs to $5 per encounter. The victims included many abandoned orphans who were often illiterate. The UN responded with forceful policy decisions and disciplinary action. By the end of last November, 319 peacekeeping personnel in all missions had been investigated. These probes resulted in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military personnel. 2007-01-03 00:00:00.000

BAN KI-MOON LEADS FIRST MEETING OF UN TASK FORCE ON DARFUR CRISIS

New York, Jan 4 2007 5:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will today chair the first meeting of the United Nations-wide Darfur Task Force, a new grouping set up by the Organization to help guide and streamline efforts to end the spiralling humanitarian and security crisis in the strife-torn Sudanese region. The Task Force includes the heads of the UN departments of peacekeeping, political affairs, public information, legal affairs, and safety and security, as well as the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/webpage.asp?Page=873&Lang=en">OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news">UNHCR). The Special Adviser on Africa, Under-Secretary-General Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, and the Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan Méndez, are also part of the grouping. Today’s inaugural gathering follows Mr. Ban’s meeting this morning with the UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, who recently travelled to Khartoum for talks with the Sudanese Government about accepting an eventual hybrid UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur. Mr. Ould-Abdallah and Jan Eliasson, the former General Assembly president and Swedish foreign minister who is acting as a separate UN envoy on the Darfur crisis, were both expected to take part in today’s Task Force meeting. Mr. Ban and Mr. Eliasson will also meet with AU envoy Salim Ahmed Salim in New York tomorrow to discuss ways to end the bloodshed in Darfur, a remote and impoverished region roughly the size of France. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others displaced from their homes since 2003 when clashes erupted between Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy. The UN estimates that 4 million people now depend on humanitarian assistance. Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir informed the UN late last month, following the visit by Mr. Ould-Abdallah, that his Government had agreed to the hybrid force, which will take over from the existing AU monitoring force – which is known by the acronym AMIS. The new force is expected to comprise about 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. Meanwhile, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has reported that two AMIS personnel kidnapped during a carjacking early last month in Darfur – part of a wave of such incidents last year – remain missing. Some 118 vehicles were seized in 2006, according to the Mission, including five UN-marked vehicles. 2007-01-04 00:00:00.000

UN CALLS FOR SPEEDY ACTION IN TIMOR-LESTE ON COMMISSION REPORT INTO 2006 VIOLENCE

New York, Jan 4 2007 5:00PM Strongly backing last year’s inquiry into deadly violence in Timor-Leste, the United Nations today called for speedy action on its recommendations, which include further investigation as well as prosecution of those responsible for the clashes that led to at least 37 deaths and forced 155,000 people – 15 per cent of the population – to flee their homes. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Atul Khare, who heads the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), stressed the need for the world body to work closely with the authorities on the findings of the Independent Special Commission of Inquiry report, which was released on 17 October and submitted to the Timorese parliament. “It is clearly of the greatest importance that the Government of Timor-Leste and the United Nations work together to ensure adequate follow-up to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry,” he told a press conference in the capital Dili. “First and foremost, I must say that United Nations and UNMIT support the report of the Commission of Inquiry and strongly encourage expeditious action to be taken on its recommendations.” He voiced satisfaction at public acknowledgements of responsibility by some institutions and leaders regarding their roles in the crisis. The Parliament’s review of the Commission of Inquiry Report should address reparation for the victims and proposals for the establishment of independent oversight covering the police and military, he added. Mr. Khare also emphasized that UNMIT does “not support impunity for crimes committed in April and May,” referring to last year’s crisis that was attributed to differences between eastern and western regions of the small South-East Asian country that the UN shepherded to independence from Indonesia in 2002. He also said that the mission, along with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and other partners, was working to strengthen the justice system, while UN police officers (UNPOL), who are in charge of policing throughout the country, continue to train national officers while helping to maintain law and order. Also speaking at today’s press conference was the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Security Sector Reform Rule of Law in Timor-Leste, Eric Tan Huck Gim, who confirmed that security in the country continues to improve, as he also looked ahead to this year’s elections. “The situation in Dili and across the country continues to be relatively stable with UNPOL being in control of the security. There were recent events surrounding New Year’s eve which caused a small spike in isolated events of security incidents around Dili but on the whole it was very good to see the citizens enjoying the New Year and welcoming the New Year with peace and calm.” 2007-01-04 00:00:00.000

FOUR PEACEKEEPERS ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE ALREADY REPATRIATED – UN MISSION IN SUDAN

New York, Jan 4 2007 5:00PM The United Nations Mission in Sudan (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmis/">UNMIS) has already repatriated four of its peacekeepers to Bangladesh following investigations into allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, and the cases of those personnel will now be dealt with by that country, the UN spokesperson said today. Michele Montas told journalists that the blue helmets were repatriated a few months ago as a result of investigations by a UN team that began in February last year. Inquiries are continuing into misconduct allegations – not all of which involve sexual exploitation – against 13 other staff at UNMIS, some dating back to 2005. Ms. Montas stressed that when individuals are accused of such acts they are halted from performing their regular duties pending the outcome of the investigations. She added that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) will follow up with Bangladeshi authorities on the outcome of the cases of the four repatriated peacekeepers to find out what action has been taken. Investigators are looking into whether the cases of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers are the same as those discussed in recent media reports. In a statement released by his spokesperson yesterday Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon denounced the practice of sexual exploitation and promised that strong disciplinary action would be taken when necessary. “The UN standard on this issue is clear – zero tolerance, meaning zero complacency and zero impunity,” the statement said. Ms. Montas, who noted that the UN deploys tens of thousands of peacekeepers to broken societies, added today that DPKO has made definite efforts to change the culture, listen to alleged victims and conducting thorough investigations into accusations. The problem of sexual abuse and exploitation by blue helmets surfaced in 2004, when a UN report found that a “shockingly large number” of peacekeepers had engaged in such practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with payments for sex sometimes ranging from two eggs to $5 per encounter. The victims included many abandoned orphans who were often illiterate. The UN responded with forceful policy decisions and disciplinary action. By the end of last November, 319 peacekeeping personnel in all missions had been investigated. These probes resulted in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation on disciplinary grounds of 17 police and 144 military personnel. 2007-01-04 00:00:00.000

DARFUR: BAN KI-MOON EXPECTED TO MEET AFRICAN UNION ENVOY LATER THIS WEEK

New York, Jan 3 2007 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he may hold a meeting as early as Friday with envoys from the United Nations and the African Union (AU) about the continuing humanitarian and security crisis in the Sudanese region of Darfur. Mr. Ban spoke with his Special Envoy on the issue, the former General Assembly president and Swedish foreign minister Jan Eliasson, at UN Headquarters in New York this morning to discuss Mr. Eliasson’s work so far and his plans for the weeks and months ahead. Mr. Eliasson – who was appointed last month – has been tasked with working the diplomatic channels, especially outside Sudan, and encouraging governments in their home capitals to remain engaged on this issue. A spokesperson for Mr. Ban said the Secretary-General suggested a meeting be held with Mr. Eliasson and the AU Special Envoy for the Darfur conflict, Salim Ahmed Salim, possibly as soon as Friday. Mr. Ban has already spoken by telephone with Mr. Salim and with AU Commission President Alpha Oumar Konaré since taking office on Monday, and he told reporters yesterday that resolving the crisis in Darfur would be one of his top priorities. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others displaced from their homes since 2003 when clashes erupted in Darfur between Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy. The UN estimates that 4 million people now depend on humanitarian assistance. Last month the Sudanese Government announced it had agreed to a three-phased approach leading to the deployment of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur, a remote and impoverished region on Sudan’s western flank. The eventual force is expected to comprise about 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers. 2007-01-03 00:00:00.000

CHINESE BIRD FLU EXPERT TAKES OVER AS NEW HEAD OF UN HEALTH AGENCY

New York, Jan 4 2007 11:00AM Margaret Chan, a Chinese doctor who played a key role in United Nations efforts to prevent bird flu from mutating into a deadly human pandemic, took office today as <"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr01/en/index.html">head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), vowing to improve the health of Africans and women worldwide – and pledging reform but not upheaval. “WHO has a long history of commitment to those in greatest need, including the most vulnerable groups,” the new Director-General of the 193-member state organization said on assuming office in Geneva. “I want my leadership to be judged by the impact of our work on the health of two populations: women and the people of Africa.” Dr. Chan was elected in November by the World Health Assembly, WHO’s decision making body, to succeed Lee Jong-wook, who died suddenly last May. She set out six priority areas on which she intends to focus WHO’s work: development for health, health security, building the capacity of health systems, developing better information and knowledge, enhancing partnerships, and improving the Organization’s performance. She told staff these priorities would not mean a major restructuring of WHO and she would be looking for ways in which different parts of the organization can work better together. “I will stick with my promise. Reform, yes. Upheaval, no,” she said. “I believe these are optimistic times for health. Never before has our work enjoyed such a high profile on the political agenda,” she added. One of the key challenges facing WHO is to “manage all this vigorous interest in health in ways that ensure lasting improvements and do not overburden recipient countries,” she said. “As the acknowledged leader in public health, we need to ensure that the growing number of health initiatives meets comprehensive health needs, in a coordinated way, in line with the priorities of countries and their populations.” Dr. Chan was previously WHO’s top official for communicable diseases and point person for pandemic influenza. In 2003, she became Director of the Department of Protection of the Human Environment, and in 2005 Director, Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Response, and Representative of the Director-General for Pandemic Influenza as well as Assistant Director-General for the Communicable Diseases cluster. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, joined the Hong Kong Department of Health in 1978, and in 1994 was appointed Hong Kong Director of Health. She effectively managed outbreaks of bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a flu-like disease that over a nine-month period in 2002- 2003 infected more than 8,000 people, killing 774 of them, mostly in China and elsewhere in Asia. In her 30-year career in public health, she has covered all areas, ranging from health policy and chronic disease prevention and control to food and drug regulation and anti-tobacco work. Her first job was taking care of children and pregnant women. 2007-01-04 00:00:00.000

UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT DEPLORES SADDAM’S TRIAL AND EXECUTION; CALLS FOR LEGAL OVERHAUL

New York, Jan 4 2007 11:00AM Citing “glaring flaws” in the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who was hanged on Saturday, and his co-defendants, an independent United Nations human rights expert has called on the Iraqi Government to halt the other executions and overhaul its judicial system to comply with international law. “The trial and execution of Saddam Hussein were tragically missed opportunities to demonstrate that justice can be done, even in the case of one of the greatest crooks of our time,” Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/771742A22EA6FE2EC125725800678C7D?opendocument">said in a statement. He called for far-reaching reforms, and said a number of basic measures must be taken at once, including commuting the other death sentence to life imprisonment or other long terms, eliminating the Government’s powers to remove a judge “for any reason,” and amending the 30-day time period between final judgement and execution to ensure full respect for the right to appeal. Mr. Alston, a law professor at New York University, cited three major flaws. First, the trial was marred by serious irregularities denying Mr. Hussein a fair hearing. Secondly the Government “engaged in an unseemly and evidently politically motivated effort to expedite the execution by denying time for a meaningful appeal and by closing off every avenue to review the punishment,” he declared. “Finally, the humiliating manner in which the execution was carried out clearly violated human rights law,” he said. “The right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment was violated when Saddam Hussein Al-Majeed was mocked by his executioners and then shown to the world by video as a morbid, public spectacle.” While acknowledging “an understandable inclination to exact revenge in such cases,” he warned that “to permit such instincts to prevail only sends the message that the rule of law continues to be mocked in Iraq, as it was in Saddam’s own time. “If the current Government of Iraq is serious about marking a departure from the predetermined and arbitrary justice meted out by Saddam himself, a number of reforms should be adopted urgently,” he said, adding that as a first step, the reportedly imminent execution of two co-defendants, Barzan Ibrahim Al-Hassan and Awad Hamad Al-Bandar, should be halted. This echoed a <"http://www.ohchr.org/english/press/media.htm">call made yesterday by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. Mr. Alston stressed that the trials “were characterized by glaring flaws” with the legal right of defendants to challenge evidence severely impeded. The statements of at least 23 prosecution witnesses were read into the court record without giving the defendants any opportunity to question them. He cited “the disarray” of the trial with an 80 per cent turnover among the judges and the murder of three defence lawyers. He said the right to have one’s conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal appears to have been treated as a mere formality, with all the complex issues disposed of in less than a month. “This undue haste mocks the due process requirements of international law. The process to date has given the clear sense of a predetermined rush to execute rather than of a commitment to achieve justice,” he declared. Special Rapporteurs are unpaid, independent experts who report to the UN <"http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil">Human Rights Council. 2007-01-04 00:00:00.000

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN REAFFIRMS UN SUPPORT FOR BURUNDI AS NEW OFFICE TAKES OVER

New York, Jan 2 2007 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated the people of Burundi on the successful completion of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the country, as he pledged the world body’s continuing commitment to help the impoverished nation shake off the ravages of civil war and political instability. The UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) ended its mission on Sunday, when it was replaced by the UN Integrated Office (BINUB) and Mr. Ban said he looked forward to the new office working closely with the Government “to overcome the many remaining challenges.” In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2385">statement released by his spokesman, the Secretary-General congratulated Burundi on the successful implementation of ONUB and reaffirmed the UN’s continued commitment to assisting the country, “together with other partners, in efforts to overcome the many remaining challenges to the consolidation of peace.” He also voiced hope that the Government of Burundi “will extend its full cooperation in ensuring the successful implementation of BINUB’s mandate.” Late last month, a report to the Security Council warned that human rights abuses, political tensions and other “troubling developments” in Burundi could cause the hard-won peace process there to unravel. It added that despite the progress that has been made during the ONUB mandate, “the situation in Burundi is still fragile and major peace consolidation challenges remain.” Like neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi has also been ravaged by an ethnic conflict between its Hutu and Tutsi populations. Since gaining independence in 1962, the small Central African country has been the victim of violent coups and political instability. The death of some 300,000 people after the first free elections took place in 1993 led to increased international involvement and the establishment of the first UN mission in Burundi three years later. 2007-01-02 00:00:00.000

SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEDGES TO GIVE RESOLUTION OF DARFUR CRISIS HIS ‘HIGHEST ATTENTION’

York, Jan 2 2007 5:00PM Describing the Darfur crisis as one of his top priorities in office, the new Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced plans today to enter immediately into diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed in the Sudanese region, holding a meeting with his senior envoy tomorrow and attending an African Union (AU) summit later this month. <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=964">Addressing reporters at UN Headquarters, Mr. Ban said he spoke to his Special Envoy, the former General Assembly president and Swedish foreign minister Jan Eliasson, by telephone yesterday and would discuss Darfur further during their meeting, scheduled for tomorrow morning. Mr. Eliasson – who was appointed last month – has been tasked with working the diplomatic channels, especially outside Sudan, and encouraging governments in their home capitals to remain engaged on this issue. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million others displaced from their homes since 2003 when clashes erupted in Darfur between Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy. The UN estimates that 4 million people now depend on humanitarian assistance. Mr. Ban said he hoped to meet Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir and other African leaders, including AU Commission President Alpha Oumar Konaré, when he attends the AU summit later this month. “I will pay my highest attention on this…. By engaging myself in the diplomatic process, I hope that we will be able to resolve peacefully, as soon as possible, this very serious issue,” he told reporters. Last week the former Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Mr. Bashir had accepted a three-phased approach leading to the deployment of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force in Darfur. That agreement followed a visit to Khartoum earlier last month by the UN envoy, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, to press the Sudanese Government on the need for stronger and more urgent action to stop the suffering in Darfur. Under the first phase, which was already agreed upon, the UN is providing a $21 million “light support package” to the existing AU force in Darfur, known as AMIS. This includes the deployment of 24 police advisers and 43 staff officers. Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Michele Montas said the UN is working with the AU to submit details to the Sudanese Government of its plans for the second phase, which includes the deployment of several hundred UN military, police and civilian staff to help AMIS. The eventual hybrid force is expected to comprise about 17,000 troops and 3,000 police officers, compared to AMIS’ current total of just 7,000 troops to monitor an area roughly the size of France. Ms. Montas added that Mr. Ban is also expected to chair a taskforce meeting on Darfur on Thursday. The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reports today that the overall security situation inside Darfur has remained fairly calm so far during the Islamic period of Eid al-Adha, although there have been a number of isolated cases of killings and robberies. 2007-01-02 00:00:00.000

Jan 2

NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN TAKES OVER AT UN’S NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS

New York, Jan 2 2007 10:00AM Passing an honour guard and welcomed with applause from staff, new United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived at the world body’s New York Headquarters today for his first official day of work. Mr. Ban, who succeeded Kofi Annan to become the UN’s eighth Secretary-General as the New Year came in on 1 January, smiled broadly as he entered the towering landmark building on New York’s East River. After paying tribute at the memorial for UN personnel who have fallen in the line of duty, he was to address staff on his hopes and aspirations. 2007-01-02 00:00:00.000

Dec 30

UN FOOD AGENCY RESUMES AID FLIGHTS TO SOMALIA

New York, Dec 29 2006 11:00PM Following a temporary suspension caused by a recent flare up of violence in Somalia, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today announced a resumption of air aid deliveries to the country, where it is struggling to feed half a million people affected by floods. The UN Common Air Services (UNCAS) which is managed by WFP, resumed humanitarian flights into Somalia today with a plane leaving Nairobi for Hargeisa in northern Somalia carrying humanitarian workers and cargo. Another flight is planned for Saturday, with an aircraft scheduled to go from Nairobi to the southern Somali town of Wajid. These flights follow the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) giving permission for humanitarian flights to resume after declaring Somalia's land, air and sea borders closed on 25 December, WFP said in a news release. Despite the fighting between the TFG and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in Somalia -- where Ethiopia has also admitted sending troops -- the agency distributed an estimated 2,000 metric tons of food to 93,000 people affected by floods in Lower Shabelle and Middle and Lower Juba regions, largely thanks to improved access by land. A WFP-chartered ship loaded with 4,500 metric tons of WFP food docked in Mogadishu port on 26 December and started discharging the same day. On 27 December, WFP announced the suspension of its helicopter operation delivering humanitarian aid from the Somali port of Kismayo and both its air drop operation and passenger flights from Kenya into Somalia. "WFP hopes to resume all its air operations using airdrops and helicopters in Somalia as soon as possible and is in contact with authorities on the ground in an attempt to achieve this," according to the news release. More than 100 national staff in Somalia operating from 15 offices across the country are continuing to distribute food to victims of the floods and other vulnerable people. 2006-12-29 00:00:00.000

DEC 29

BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL GREAT RONALDINHO KICKS-OFF INSTITUTE TO HELP POOR
YOUTH THROUGH SPORT

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldinho, one of the world’s best known
sports figures and a United Nations goodwill ambassador, has launched an
institute in Porte Alegre, Brazil, to help disadvantaged children through
sport and education, an initiative that shows the way forward in global
development, a senior UN official said in welcoming the move.

“With the launch of the institute, that dream of helping the most
vulnerable children and youth in Porto Alegre has come true,” said an
emotional Ronaldo Assis de Moreira, better known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho,
at Wednesday’s launch.

The UN is cooperating with the institute and will provide technical
advice and assist in recruiting professional staff before the programme
begins next March, as it shows the power of sport to help countries
achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of targets to slash
poverty and other global ills by 2015, the world body said.

“The United Nations salutes Ronaldinho and his family for launching
this new initiative that shows how sport can contribute to improving the
lives of children and young people and progress towards achieving the
MDGs,” said Djibril Diallo, Director of the Office of Sport for
Development and Peace (UNOSDP), in a statement on behalf of Adolf Ogi,
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the same issue.

The Ronaldinho Gaúcho Institute aims to provide poor children and
youth access to education, health care and cultural activities, with a
capacity of 3,500 youngsters a month. These young people will take part in
football, tennis and other sports, as well as attending workshops on
information technology, languages, theatre, music and other classes.
Along with health care, the institute will also offer dental treatment.

Ronaldinho, who plays with the FC Barcelona team, met with
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and was appointed UN Spokesperson for Sport for
Development and Peace in August 2006 by UNOSDP, which is cooperating with his
initiative on behalf of the world body. He also serves as a UN World
Food Programme (WFP) Ambassador Against Hunger.

“If a young person develops his or her talent in sport through the
project, then that is great. However, this is not our main focus. We want
to create opportunities for growth and education,” said Roberto Assis
de Moreira, brother of Ronaldinho and Executive President of the
institute.

During Wednesday’s launch, names were collected for an auction to
raise funds for the institute involving items from the Nike 10R product
line developed especially for Ronaldinho. The auction will take place
from 5 to 15 January on the website of E-bay international at
www.ebay.com/ronaldinhogaucho.
2006-12-28 00:00:00.000

Dec 28

UN PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE EXODUS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SOMALIS FLEEING FIGHTING

New York, Dec 28 2006 11:00AM The United Nations refugee agency is mobilizing staff and resources in preparation for a possible exodus of tens of thousands of people fleeing fighting in Somalia. Although no large-scale refugee movements have yet been recorded in neighbouring countries, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/459297094.html">UNHCR) is immediately positioning relief items in the region as well as trucks and emergency staff. The agency is reinforcing its operational capacity in north-eastern Kenya and Ethiopia in response to the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia, where thousands of people have been displaced by recent fighting between Ethiopian forces aligned with the Somali Transitional Federal Government and the Islamic Courts Union. Relief items, including plastic sheets and jerry cans for up to 50,000 people, are being sent from UNHCR regional warehouses and positioned along the Somali border. At the same time, the agency’s fleet of vehicles is being expanded with the deployment of 10 extra trucks. Beyond the immediate pre-positioning of relief items, UNHCR will also increase its existing stockpiles in the region by purchasing enough supplies for a further 100,000 people, both refugees and internally displaced persons (<"http://www.unhcr.org/protect/3b84c7e23.html">IDPs). UNHCR emergency response teams are on standby, ready to be sent to the region from around the world, and staff on holiday have been recalled as agency offices in Kenya, Ethiopia and across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen closely monitor the situation for any increase in cross-border movements. So far, only small numbers of refugees have been crossing into both Kenya and Ethiopia. Inside Somalia, thousands of people fleeing the conflict are reported to be in a desperate situation. UNHCR staff in Puntland, in the north-east, report some 3,000 IDPs who fled the fighting further south. The agency has also received reports of several thousand IDPs in the Bay, Hirann, Mudug, Juba, and Shabelle regions and is particularly concerned about reports of civilians, including children, being forcibly recruited to join the fighting. On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres expressed <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/45914aaa4.html">concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia and appealed to all sides to respect humanitarian principles and the rights of the civilian population. Before the latest upsurge in fighting, more than 30,000 Somalis had already fled the conflict to north-east Kenya this year amid fears that the influx could climb to 80,000 by the end of 2006. The region already shelters some 160,000 Somalis who had fled earlier fighting and droughts. 2006-12-28 00:00:00.000

ENVOY CONFIDENT ABOUT EFFORTS TO DETERMINE FINAL STATUS OF UN-RUN KOSOVO

New York, Dec 28 2006 11:00AM The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo today voiced confidence on reaching a decision on the final status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province that the world body has run since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting. “We have come a long way in the status process led by Special Envoy Ahtisaari,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Joachim Rücker <"http://www.unmikonline.org/pio.htm">said in a message marking the Kurban Bajram Muslim festival, referring to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who is overseeing the status talks. “We have not reached the finish line yet, but I am confident that we will stick together and keep Kosovo on track as we reach the culmination of this process.” Independence and autonomy are among the options for the province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, but Serbia rejects independence. A UN proposal for the future status, which was to have been submitted this year, has been postponed until after Serbia’s parliamentary elections on 21 January. In his most recent report on the province last month, Mr. Annan said Kosovo’s provisional ethnic Albanian Government and Serbia remained “diametrically opposed” in their views of the future status. Mr. Rücker cited progress in implementing the so-called Standards, eight overall targets that include building democratic institutions, enforcing minority rights, creating a functioning economy and setting up an impartial legal system. He also noted that the economy had grown by almost 5 per cent, much higher than predicted at the beginning of the year, for the first time driven by the private sector. “Of course, this growth is not sufficient yet to reduce unemployment and we have to work even harder,” he said. “Important steps have been taken to attract foreign direct investment to Kosovo, especially in the energy sector, where we need it most.” He pledged to bring a successful conclusion to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) by planning an orderly transition from international administration to institutions set up under the final status. “Everything we do continues to be a partnership between internationals, our partners in the PISG (provisional government) and you, the people of Kosovo,” he said. “It is this partnership that gives me confidence that we will overcome the challenges ahead, and keep Kosovo secure and a home to all of its people.” 2006-12-28 00:00:00.000

AFGHANISTAN: UN REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO HELP REINFORCE HUMAN RIGHTS

New York, Dec 28 2006 10:00AM The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today pledged the world organization’s support in entrenching fundamental human rights in the strife-torn country. Welcoming President Hamid Karzai’s recent decree confirming the appointment of three new commissioners to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Tom Koenigs <"http://www.unama-afg.org/_latestnews/SRSG%20statement%20AIHRC.pdf">stressed the crucial role played by the rights body. “Since its establishment in June 2002, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has played a vital role in protecting and promoting the human rights of all of Afghanistan’s peoples,” he said in a statement. “I welcome President Karzai’s recent confirmation of three new appointments to the commission and hope that the new commissioners will continue their work with the same commitment and effort that the AIHRC has demonstrated since it was established. “The United Nations remains committed to supporting the work of the AIHRC and we will continue to work with the commission as it strives to build recognition and respect for fundamental human rights across Afghanistan,” he added. 2006-12-28 00:00:00.000

Dec 27

ETHIOPIA: UN BACKS MASS MEASLES IMMUNIZATION AMID CONCERN AT NEW CASES
New York, Dec 27 2006 11:00AM
A mass United Nations-backed measles immunization campaign is currently
underway in
<"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EVOD-6WUJ3Z?OpenDocument">Ethiopia,
targeting more than 5.8 million children aged under the age of 5
following growing fears earlier this year over the rise in new cases of the
disease.

The first phase of the campaign was conducted from May to June
targeting about 5.7 million children from 6 to 59 months with 91 per cent
coverage amid increased concern that the numbers of new cases could be the
result of low levels of routine immunization in 2005 with only 59 per
cent coverage.

Over 70 cases occurred from March to September 2006 in Addis Ababa, the
capital. Some 1,350 cases have been reported from other areas from
August to November as news of fresh outbreaks comes in.

The campaign is being carried out by federal and regional health
bureaus in collaboration with the UN Children’s Fund
(<"http://www.unicef.org/index2.php">UNICEF) and the UN World Health
Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en">WHO).
2006-12-27 00:00:00.000

DEC 26

UN MARKS TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY WITH RELIEF AIRLIFT FOR FRESH FLOODS IN
INDONESIA

Dec 26 2006 11:00AM
The United Nations marked the second anniversary of the devastating
Indian Ocean tsunami today with calls for enhancing early warning systems
that can save hundreds of thousands of lives, expressions of regret
that the catastrophe failed to unite Sri Lanka’s warring sides in
pursuit of peace, and an aid airlift for victims of new flooding.

In a cruel twist of fate UN humanitarian agencies are flying in food
and other aid to Indonesia’s Aceh province, the area worst hit by the
tsunami two years ago, after widespread flooding over the weekend struck
170,000 people, leaving over 100 dead, several hundreds more missing,
and nearly 130,000 displaced.

The head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), which has taken a leading role in setting up early warning
networks, noted that such a regional system now exists to warn authorities
in 27 countries of the impending arrival of another killer wave such as
that which left more than 200,000 people dead in a dozen nations on 26
December, 2004.

“This means that the future certainly looks safer,” UNESCO
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura
<"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=36265&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">said.
“But I must stress that this is no reason for complacency. After all,
the technology that makes up the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System,
is only as good as the commitment of the people using it to make it work
over the long-term and for all.”

Experts say that if such a system – based on quake and tidal sensors,
fast communications, alarm networks ranging from radio to cell phones
and text-messaging, and disaster preparedness training of vulnerable
coastal populations – had existed two years ago, it could have saved
scores of thousands of lives.

It would have given hundreds of thousands of people several hours
between the time the quake spawned the tsunami off the Indonesian island of
Sumatra and its landfall in places like Sri Lanka and Thailand to flee
to higher ground.

Mr. Matsuura announced a new partnership between UNESCO’s
Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
(<"http://ioc.unesco.org/iocweb/index.php">IOC), which has coordinated
planning and implementation of the system, and the global satellite
communications leader INMARSAT to provide free satellite links to 50
sea-level sensors in the Indian Ocean, the most advanced real-time sea-level
network in the world for such a warning project.

“However, accurate warnings can only be issued safely and surely when
all necessary data beamed up from this impressive array of instruments
are shared by all at the same time, without delay. This is still not
happening, and it remains a major handicap,” he said.

He warned that work remained to be done to ensure that vulnerable
communities are prepared for such catastrophes, with the means still lacking
in many places to get warnings to coastal populations in time. Public
information and education programmes are also needed to teach people how
to recognize the signs of an imminent tsunami, as are revised building
and development codes to limit physical and economic damage.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan regretted that the solidarity between
warring sides that emerged in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe
did not last in Sri Lanka, where Government and Tamil separatists are
engaged in fierce fighting, even as it endured in strife-torn Aceh.

“I am deeply disheartened by this turn of events,” he said in a
message. “In Sri Lanka, more than 35,000 lives were lost on the fateful
day of the tsunami. More than 67,000 lives – 3,000 in the past year
alone – have been lost in over 20 years of conflict.

“No one could have prevented the tsunami’s wave of destruction. But
together, we can stem the tide of conflict, which threatens once again
to engulf the people of Sri Lanka. I urge all parties in Sri Lanka to
cease hostilities immediately, and return to the peace process,” he
added.

In Indonesia today, the UN humanitarian coordinator
<"http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6WU4Y2?OpenDocument">called
for an extraordinary meeting of UN agencies, donors and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Jakarta, the capital, to aid the victims of
Aceh’s latest floods. At the request of the Government, the UN is
leading the coordination of relief distribution in partnership with the
NGOs.

Yesterday, a UN helicopter brought in 1.5 metric tons of aid from the
UN World Food Programme
(<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=1858">WFP), with a further
2.5 metric tons ready on the ground for delivery. In view of limited UN
air logistics, several NGOs have expressed support to fund chartering
an additional commercial helicopter.

A convoy of 21 WFP trucks loaded with approximately 40 metric tons has
left the provincial capital of Banda Aceh for the stricken area. Some
roads are still blocked while others are passable only for 4x4 vehicles,
and in some cases only for 10-wheel trucks.
Yesterday, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund
(<"http://ochaonline2.un.org/Default.aspx?alias=ochaonline2.un.org/cerf">CERF)
granted an initial $2 million for relief efforts.

The water level appears to be receding in most affected sub-districts
to the 30-60 centimetre level compared to the earlier 1.5-2 metres,
according to the latest UN field assessment.
2006-12-26 00:00:00.000

Dec 25

WARRING PARTIES MUST PREVENT VIOLATIONS AGAINST JOURNALISTS, SECURITY
COUNCIL SAYS

Dec 25 2006 12:00PM
Reaffirming the civilian status of journalists, the United Nations
Security Council has adopted a resolution urging warring parties to prevent
abuses against them and to respect their professional independence and
rights.

The Council's unanimously adopted measure comes amid numerous deadly
attacks on media professionals. Reporters without Borders said earlier
this month that in Iraq a total of 137 journalists and media assistants
had been killed since the start of the war in 2003.

The resolution recalled the Council's demand that "all parties to an
armed conflict comply fully with the obligations applicable to them under
international law related to the protection of civilians in armed
conflict, including journalists, media professionals and associated
personnel."

States and all other parties were urged "to do their utmost to prevent
violations of international humanitarian law against civilians,
including journalists, media professionals and associated personnel."

Parties were also urged to respect the professional independence and
rights of these individuals.

Pointing out that to deliberately target civilians and other protected
persons may constitute a threat to international peace and security,
the Council reaffirmed its readiness to take steps in response.

On the other side of the equation -- where the media is used to further
inflame a volatile situation -- the Council reaffirmed its condemnation
of all incitements to violence and the need to bring to justice
individuals responsible for it.

The resolution, adopted Saturday, also indicated the Council's
willingness when authorizing peacekeeping missions, to consider, "where
appropriate, steps in response to media broadcast inciting genocide, crimes
against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian
law."

2006-12-25 00:00:00.000

SECURITY COUNCIL IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON IRAN OVER URANIUM ENRICHMENT

Dec 23 2006 9:00PM
Capping months of intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security
Council today unanimously decided to impose a set of sanctions against
Iran in response to its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehran says
are for peaceful purposes but which other countries contend are driven
by military ambitions.

The adoption of the sanctions resolution -- immediately rejected by
Iran -- came after successive reports by the UN International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based global nuclear watchdog, indicating
its inability to certify that the country's motives are entirely
peaceful. Agency Director-General Muhamad ElBaradei has said the IAEA is
unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or
activities in Iran.

Iran has not suspended all enrichment-related and reprocessing
activities or taken a number of other steps required by the Council to build
confidence, the resolution noted.

Iran's nuclear programme has been a matter of international concern
ever since the discovery in 2003 that it had concealed its nuclear
activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Today's resolution calls for steps required by the IAEA Board of
Governors, including re-establishing full and sustained suspension of all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and ratifying and
implementing the Additional Protocol, which grants the IAEA expanded rights of
access to information and sites, as well as additional authority to use
the most advanced technologies during the verification process.

The Security Council decided today that Iran must suspend the
"proliferation sensitive nuclear activities," including all enrichment-related
and reprocessing activities and work on all heavy water-related
projects. Both these steps are to be verified by the IAEA.

The Council banned trade with Iran of all items, materials, equipment,
goods and tech
enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities, or
to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.

States are also required to prevent the provision to Iran of any
technical assistance or training, financial assistance, investment, brokering
or other services, and the transfer of financial resources or services,
related to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture or use of the
prohibited items, materials, equipment, goods and technology.

The Council called on all States "to exercise vigilance regarding the
entry into or transit through their territories of individuals who are
engaged in, directly associated with or providing support for Iran's
proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of
nuclear weapon delivery systems."

The resolution contains a list of persons and entities involved with
Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes that are subject to a
freeze on their financial assets, with some exceptions built in. It also
established a new Committee to monitor compliance with its terms, add to
the lists and rule on any exemptions.

The IAEA Director-General was requested to report within 60 days to the
Council on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment activities. If
that report shows that Iran has not complied with the resolution, the
Council threatens "further appropriate measures."

At today's Council session, Iranian Ambassador Javad Zarif delivered a
lengthy rebuttal of the premise for imposing the sanctions, and argued
that this action represented only the latest in a decades-long history
of bias against Iran.

"Bringing Iran's peaceful nuclear programme to the Council by few of
its permanent members, particularly the United States, is not aimed at,
nor will it help, seeking a solution or encouraging negotiations. Even
their stated objective has always been to use the Council as an
instrument of pressure and intimidation to compel Iran to abandon its rights,"
he said.

2006-12-23 00:00:00.000

Dec 23

UN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES THAILAND NOT TO FORCIBLY RETURN LAO HMONG, OVER
HALF ARE CHILDREN

Dec 22 2006 6:00PM
Expressing concern that around 150 Hmong tribes-people, over half of
whom are children, may be subjected to “serious human rights
violations” if forced to return home to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
the top United Nations rights official today urged Thailand to halt
their imminent deportation.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour called upon Thai
authorities to “fully respect” their international rights
obligations, pointing out that the whereabouts of 53 Lao Hmong deported from
Thailand last month, along with 26 Lao Hmong children deported last
December, remains unknown.

“The High Commissioner said it is believed the 152 Lao Hmong,
including 85 children, may be subjected to serious human rights violations if
returned to their country of origin,” Ms. Arbour’s office said in a
press release.

“The High Commissioner urged the Royal Thai Government to fully
respect the principle of non-refoulement prohibiting the return of a person
to a country where he or she faces persecution or the risk of serious
human rights violations.”

“The High Commissioner recalled that Thailand is party to a number of
international human rights instruments – including the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights
of the Child – that contain the obligation of non-refoulement,” the
statement concluded.

Last month, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news">UNHCR) expressed its
concern over the fate of the 53 Hmong who were deported in November, and has
offered to help the Thai Government find viable solutions for the
roughly 6,000 Hmong living in makeshift camps.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

ANNAN PUTS IN PLACE ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR UN
PROCUREMENT STAFF

Dec 22 2006 7:00PM
In an effort to avoid any repeat of scandals involving United Nations
staff working in procurement, outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan
today put in place restrictions on current and former employees working in
its purchasing department, his spokesman announced, describing the
measures as “unprecedented.”

The restrictions, which will enter into force on 1 January 2007,
outline clear limitations on UN staff currently or formerly involved in the
“procurement process” in the broadest sense, including signing or
managing contracts, handling bids, reviewing contractor or vendor
performance to auditing the process.

“There are two lengths of ‘restriction:’ one year and two years
– one year of no employment with a company with which a staff member
has had procurement dealings, and two years of no retroactive contact
with the UN if the new job relates to his/her former responsibilities,”
spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

“It also sets out sanctions, such as blacklisting of vendors who have
hired former staff with procurement dealings within these timeframes,
and placing a note in the personnel file to prevent future re-employment
of the individuals,” he said.

Responding to a question, Mr. Dujarric said the scope of these measures
is “unprecedented” for the UN Secretariat and on par with best
practices in the public sector.

UN procurement has been plagued by scandal in recent months. Most
recently, the Secretary-General waived the immunity of Sanjaya Bahel, a UN
procurement officer who has been the subject of an internal fact-finding
investigation into allegations of misconduct conducted by the
Organization’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

The November waiver came in response to a request from United States
authorities.

In January, then-UN Under-Secretary-General for Management Christopher
Burnham said OIOS was conducting some 200 investigations into UN
procurement activities, estimating that the funds involved could top the tens
of millions of dollars.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

UPSURGE IN SOMALI FIGHTING PROMPTS CONCERN FROM SECURITY COUNCIL AND
ANNAN

Dec 22 2006 7:00PM
The Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan today each voiced
grave concern at the recent intensified fighting in Somalia between the
strife-torn country’s Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) and
the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Media reports say that hundreds of people may have been killed this
week during clashes between the two groups wresting for control of a State
that has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

In a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10815.doc.htm">statement released by his spokesman, Mr. Annan warned that the latest
outbreak of fighting “will have disastrous consequences for civilians, who
are already suffering from the effects of years and instability and
deprivation, compounded by the severe flooding that has recently affected
parts of the country.”

The Secretary-General urged both the UIC, which controls the nominal
capital, Mogadishu, and the TFIs, based in the provincial city of Baidoa,
to cease hostilities immediately and resume peace talks in the Sudanese
capital, Khartoum.

The third round of peace talks, to focus on security and power-sharing,
were slated to begin in October but then postponed after both sides
came with preconditions. They were then scheduled to resume this month.

Today’s statement added that Mr. Annan was particularly concerned
about “continuous reports of the involvement of foreign forces in the
current conflict,” and he called on all nations to respect Somalia’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sc8927.doc.htm">presidential statement issued today, the Council also voiced its concern about
the situation, and urged both the UIC and the TFIs to “refrain from
any actions that could provoke or perpetuate violence and violations of
human rights, contribute to unnecessary tension and mistrust, endanger
the ceasefire and political process, or further damage the humanitarian
situation.”

The 15-member body stressed that the Transitional Federal Charter
offers “the only route to achieving peace and stability in Somalia,” an
impoverished nation in the Horn of Africa region. The charter
emphasizes the need for institutions to be broad-based and widely representative
and for any political process to be inclusive.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

UN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF DIPLOMATIC ‘QUARTET’ BACK CONTINUED AID TO
PALESTINIANS

Dec 22 2006 7:00PM
Members of the diplomatic ‘Quartet’ on the Middle East – the
United Nations, the United States, the Russian Federation and the European
Union (EU) – today endorsed the continuation of a stop-gap measure
for providing aid directly to the Palestinian people.

In a statement, the Quartet backed the continuation for three months of
the Temporary International Mechanism, the means devised by the EU and
the World Bank to provide aid directly to the Palestinian people by
bypassing the Hamas-led Government, which has been isolated
internationally because it has not renounced violence and does not recognize Israel.

After the three-month period, the Quartet said it would “again review
the need for such a mechanism.”

Commending the World Bank and EU efforts to facilitate needs-based
assistance directly to the Palestinian people through the Mechanism, the
Quartet encouraged donors to “respond to humanitarian and other
assistance requests by international organizations, especially UN agencies,
active in the West Bank and Gaza.”
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

ANNAN HOPEFUL OF SUDANESE GREEN LIGHT TO DEPLOYMENT OF HYBRID
UN FORCE

Dec 22 2006 7:00PM
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he was hopeful Sudanese
President Omar el-Bashir would indicate as early as tomorrow that he has
agreed to a full ceasefire in the war-torn Darfur region and to the eventual
deployment of a hybrid force of United Nations and African Union (AU)
peacekeepers.

In his
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10813.doc.htm">farewell speech to the Security Council before he leaves office at the end
of the month, Mr. Annan said he “fervently hope[s] that we are now at
last close to rescuing the people of Darfur from their agony.”

Earlier this week he dispatched a senior envoy, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah,
to Khartoum for talks with Mr. el-Bashir and other senior Sudanese
Government ministers to clarify details of two recent agreements on how to
end the widespread suffering in Darfur.
Since 2003, more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million
others forced to flee their homes to escape fighting between Government
forces, allied militias and rebel groups seeking greater autonomy. An
estimated 4 million people now depend on outside humanitarian aid.

Mr. Annan told the Council that the reports he has received from Mr.
Ould-Abdallah “encourage me to think we may tomorrow receive a green
light from President Bashir for a full ceasefire, a renewed effort to
bring all parties into the political process, and deployment of the
proposed hybrid African Union-United Nations force to protect the
population.”

But the Secretary-General cautioned that it was important to wait to
see the letter from Mr. el-Bashir that Mr. Ould-Abdallah will bring with
him when he returns to New York.

“After so many disappointments I take nothing for granted. What I do
know is that the Council will work, ably helped by my successor [Ban
Ki-moon], on these and many other crises.”

At last month’s High-Level meeting on Darfur, held in the Ethiopian
capital, Addis Ababa, the UN, the 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 also discussed the outcome of a
subsequent AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, which
endorsed the conclusions reached in Addis Ababa.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

DEPARTING ANNAN LAUDS SECURITY COUNCIL FOR EFFORTS TO RESOLVE OR
PREVENT CRISES

Dec 22 2006 8:00PM
Although some international crises continue to rage, many others have
been peacefully resolved, show signs of ending or were prevented from
even taking place thanks to the efforts of the Security Council,
departing Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the 15-member body today.

In his
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sgsm10813.doc.htm">final address to the Council ahead of his retirement on 31 December after
10 years as Secretary-General, Mr. Annan said it had been his privilege
to work with its members, “both in success and in failure,” to try
to fulfil the UN’s stated duty to “save succeeding generations from
the scourge of war.”

Mr. Annan said the Council’s work has strengthened over the past
decade, giving the Secretariat more coherent and more robust mandates,
following up their decisions with greater vigilance, and more often
matching the enhanced mandates with close to the necessary resources.

“While change for the worse is often dramatic, change for the better
is generally incremental,” he said. “Many conflicts have been
peacefully resolved. Many have been at least brought under control, with
hope of better times on the horizon. And I believe – though this is much
harder to prove – that many have been prevented.”

Noting the ongoing fragility of the Middle East and the humanitarian
suffering in Darfur as two examples of continuing crises, he warned that
there was no room for complacency.

“We have all learned, from some bitter experiences, that we cannot
afford to take governments’ word for it when they assure us that all is
well in their country, or that they have the situation under control.

“We have also learned that the Council needs to be fully briefed on
issues of human rights, since gross violations of these not only occur
during conflict but are often harbingers of it.”

Later, Council members paid tribute to Mr. Annan by adopting by
acclamation a resolution acknowledging his contribution to international
peace, security and development.

Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser of Qatar, which holds the
rotating Council presidency, then read a
<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/sc8922.doc.htm">statement on
behalf of members expressing their appreciation for Mr. Annan.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

UN RELEASES RULES ON OIL-FOR-FOOD INQUIRY DOCUMENTS TO HELP STATES
STILL INVESTIGATING

Dec 22 2006 8:00PM
To facilitate continuing investigations by Member States into the
findings of the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) that examined the
scandal-ridden Iraq Oil-for-Food Programme, the United Nations today released
rules regarding the management, preservation and use of the myriad
documents and files produced by the Committee.

The 27 October final report of the Committee, under its former head
Paul Volcker, revealed a network of kickbacks and surcharges involving
companies registered in a large number of countries and Secretary-General
Kofi Annan called on Member States to take action against illegal
practices by companies under their jurisdiction.

Also in response to the report, the Secretary-General instituted a
number of reforms aimed at promoting greater transparency and
accountability across the UN system.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

UN AGENCY UPGRADES COMMUNICATIONS TO KICK-START AID RESPONSE TO
DISASTERS

Dec 22 2006 3:00PM
In a fast moving world that is increasingly struck by disasters, where
speedy communications can make the difference between life and death,
the United Nations World Food Programme
(<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP) has teamed up with The Vodafone
Group Foundation (VGF) to enhance the humanitarian response to global
emergencies.

“When an emergency hits, technological support is critical in
kick-starting the disaster response initiative because being able to
communicate not only enables us to plan, prepare and provide humanitarian relief
as quickly as possible, but mostly saves lives,” WFP Director of
Information and Communications Technologies Ernesto Baca said.

Under the partnership a joint donation of $832,000 from VGF and the UN
Foundation is being used to train information and communications
technology (ICT) team leaders and technicians, develop new WFP technology and
best practices, and update the agency’s deployment technologies and
technical standards.

This funding will support UN emergency response teams around the world
and significantly affect the way the entire humanitarian community
copes with disasters.

“Communications technologies have become critical to every phase of
emergency response for the UN and we’re pleased to partner with the
World Food Programme as it continues to use these technologies to save
lives around the world,” UN Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth said.

“We’re proud that our partnership with The Vodafone Group
Foundation can foster public-private partnerships that pair valuable corporate
resources, knowledge, and experience with the lifesaving work of the
UN.”

VFG Director Andrew Dunnett noted that strengthening communications
resources for emergency response teams are essential in enhancing relief
operations.

“Vodafone Group Foundation has a long term commitment to this work
and we are pleased to be scaling this up with WFP,” he said.

WFP takes the lead role for the UN in emergencies for food, security,
communications and logistics. Amid devastation in almost every corner of
the globe – from the massive Indian Ocean tsunami to the drought and
locust infestation in Africa, the earthquake in Kashmir, the hurricanes
that have battered Central America, and the floods across Europe and
Asia, WFP is pivotal in ensuring rapid communications that save lives and
livelihoods.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000

ASIA-PACIFIC ENVIRONMENT AT BOILING POINT; GREEN GROWTH CRUCIAL, UN
REPORT WARNS

Dec 22 2006 1:00PM
Asian and Pacific societies are already living beyond their ecological
means, and if they are to continue their much-needed economic
expansion, they will have to shift towards efficient ‘green growth’
patterns, according to a new United Nations report released today.

Meeting human development needs based on current ‘grow first, clean
up later’ economic growth patterns is likely to result in mounting
ecological problems, according to the latest regional State of the
Environment <"http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2006/dec/g61.asp">report
published by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP).

Problems cited include a population density 1.5 times the global
average, the lowest freshwater availability per capita of all global regions,
a biologically productive area per capita that is less than 60 per cent
of the global average, and arable and permanent crop land per capita
that is less than 80 per cent the global average.

Meanwhile several highly polluting industries are growing more rapidly
in regional developing countries than in regional developed countries,
agro-industry is highly chemical-, energy- and water-intensive and, as
incomes increase, lifestyles are becoming increasingly waste- and
energy- intensive.

While plantation forests advance, natural forests are retreating,
especially in South-East Asia, water extraction rates are already
unsustainably high in at least 16 countries and irrigation systems, the biggest
user of water, are highly inefficient and poorly maintained in most
countries.

The long term sustainability of the water supply is further threatened
by climate change, which may increase the severity and incidence of
drought and cause long-term reductions in water flows in freshwater
systems dependent on glacier melt.

The report stresses that more economic growth is needed and inevitable,
as nearly 670 million people are living on less than $1 a day, 665
million have no access to improved drinking water but countries must meet
the series of looming development challenges.

Countries in South Asia, over 40 per cent of the region’s population,
will face some of the toughest issues in coming decades as population
growth, changing water regimes and climates, and rising demand for
energy, water and other necessities all come to a head.

The report finds that, on the one hand, pollution control in production
is becoming more effective and market forces are pushing firms towards
greater resource efficiency as the prices of natural resources spiral
upwards. On the other hand, as incomes increase and as globalization
spreads, consumption patterns become less environmentally sustainable,
making more eco-efficient consumption crucial.
2006-12-22 00:00:00.000