Yearly Archives: 2005
Annan Reaffirms UN Commitment to Peace in the Eastern DR Congo
“In the face of deadly clashes between United Nations peacekeepers and armed rebel groups in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reaffirmed the UN’s determination to work closely with the Congolese authorities in restoring peace in the region.” [More] Read more
UN Official Calls Iraq Election Credible
“A United Nations official said Wednesday that Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections, which have given a strong lead to the Shiite religious bloc dominating the current government, were credible and that there was there was no justification in calls for a rerun.” [Full Story] Read more
Darfur Still Scene of Rape and Banditry
UN News Service: “With both Sudanese Government and rebel troops violating the ceasefire agreement, the security situation in the Darfur provinces is volatile as banditry and looting are reported in the area, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.” Read more
Annan Says Toughest Yet to Come After Tsunami
“The toughest time after last year’s devastating tsunami may be yet to come, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a video message broadcast in Banda Aceh on Monday.
“A year on, there has been tremendous progress in many areas. Children are back in school. Epidemics have been prevented. Tens of thousands of survivors are employed in cash-for-work activities,” the secretary-general said. “And yet in some ways, the most challenging days lie ahead.”
“Breadwinners desperately need to regain secure livelihoods, hundreds of thousands of families need to re-establish themselves in permanent homes, and communities need to rebuild.” [More] Read more
News Roundup #69
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Kenyan UN peacekeeper
in Ethiopia/Eritrea
UN Says Tension Remains Between Eritrea and Ethiopia Despite Redeployments
UN Probes Death of Canadian in Haiti
U.N. Budget Talks Focus on Ending Reform Impasse
PAKISTAN: UN Foundation Establishes Earthquake Responses Fund
Report from UN Special Envoy Clinton Says Tsunami-hit Countries Make Good Progress
The Tsunami: One Year After the Disaster
“Nearly one year has passed since the devastating waves of the Indian Ocean Tsunami destroyed the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
However, through the combined of public and private sectors around the world, the United Nations in cooperation with national governments, NGOs and local communities was able to respond immediately and effectively to the disaster – assessing damages, rebuilding schools so children can resume their studies, preventing major outbreaks of diseases through sanitation projects and vaccination campaigns, and reconstructing shelters and permanent housing for the hundreds of thousands of homeless. The UN has effectively coordinated the immediate relief and rehabilitation efforts over the last 12 months, and will continue its work to work with to sustain and strengthen recovery efforts to “build back better” for many years to come.” [Link]
Also see: UNDP & Tsunami Recovery Read more
Blog Roundup #74
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Chicken Foot Stew: “The UN General Assembly and Security Council passed resolutions creating a Peacebuilding Commission to help insure that post-conflict societies do not slide back into conflict. Apparently, over half of the conflicts in the past 20 years have reignited after their initial cease-fires.”
Rose Colored News: “UN Launches $500 Million Emergency Relief Fund – “The U.N. General Assembly approved the establishment Thursday of a new $500 million emergency fund aimed at providing swift relief following natural disasters. The new Central Emergency Response Fund is 10 times larger than an existing standby relief fund of $50 million. U.N. officials hope the creation of a standing account will allow for relief to reach areas hit by disasters and famine quickly.” Full Story: Environmental News Network.”
Agonist: “NYT – The General Assembly and Security Council passed resolutions on Tuesday founding a Peacebuilding Commission to help stabilize and rebuild societies emerging from war.”
Meat-Eating Leftist: “Bolivia is now yet another South American neighbor that officially rejects American imperialism and unregulated, free-trade capitalism. Evo Morales, a Che-styled leftist who denounced U.S. influence in his country, and vowed to fight the same imperialist forces that have ensnared his people into poverty, looks to be the winner in the country’s presidential election: “Mr Morales’ win has raised eyebrows in the US, after he expressed his admiration for the Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He has also pledged to fight to remove the coca plant from the United Nations list of poisonous plants…”
Opinio Juris: “Secretary General Kofi Annan today announced the adoption of a whistleblower protection policy for the U.N. The policy, which goes into effect next month, is intended to protect U.N. employees who report misconduct and/or who cooperate with investigations. This is welcome news for the project of creating genuine accountability at the U.N. and should help promote the kind of cooperation and good citizenship necessary to effective internal audits and investigations. It sets a standard higher than those available to government employees of many — if not most — member states.”
Shanghai Daily: “FOUR people died last night in a fire in a seven-storey building in the famous Hanzheng Street … one of the longest and most renowned commercial thoroughfares in China. It acts as the largest small commodity distribution place and wholesale market in central China. The street is also the sister street of Fifth Avenue in New York, according to an agreement signed in September between the management bodies of the two streets. The United Nations Refugee Agency also set up its procurement information center on the street in September. The center is in charge of direct purchases, releasing the UN’s needed items list and showing samples from Geneva, headquarters of the UN refugee agency.” Read more
Annan: UN Reform Among Top Priorities for 2006
“Outlining his major priorities for 2006, his last year as United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan said today that alongside efforts to promote peace and security and combat poverty and disease he was determined to follow through on his wide-ranging agenda of reform and renewal of the world body.
“If there’s one thing I would like to hand over to my successor when I leave office next year, is that it should be a UN that is fit for the many varied tasks and challenges we are asked to take on today,” Mr. Annan told an end-of-year press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, stressing that a strong programme to do that was already embraced by Member States at the 2005 World Summit.” [Read more] Read more
News Roundup #68
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Canadian Peacekeeper Killed in Haiti
UN Establishes New Body to Prevent Countries From Sliding Back into War
Kosovo Could One Day Be Self-sufficient: UN Envoy
Afghan Parliament Begins Tough Job
Aid Effort in Africa Undermined by New Violence, U.N. Reports
Annan Urges Developing Nations To Use Creativity
UN Approves Long-delayed Whistle-blower Rules
UNHCR-Organised Repatriation to South Sudan Starts
Leaving years of exile in a refugee camp in Kenya
behind them, Sudanese refugees travel through
the dramatic scenery of South Sudan on the first
convoy of UNHCR’s organised repatriation which
officially started on Saturday.
“This is a joyous day, the day we welcome refugees home from exile after decades of war,” a representative of the government of South Sudan said at a ceremony on Saturday in Nadapal, just inside South Sudan on the Kenyan border, where local residents waved paper flags of what they call “New Sudan” to welcome their kinfolk home.” [Read more]
See also: South Sudan Repatriation Outlook Read more
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The top United Nations refugee official today voiced his alarm at new inflows of refugees into Rwanda and Uganda, fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 8,200 refugees have crossed from DRC into Rwanda since 27 April, according to staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These are in addition to the 55,000 Congolese refugees that Rwanda is already hosting.
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Syria: U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan is urging Syria’s government to accept U.N. conditions for expanding the distribution of humanitarian aid to roughly 1 million Syrians in need of assistance, the United Nations said today. Meanwhile, three vehicles belonging to … Read more
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Sustainable Future Symposium; ICT for Development; IAEA/Iran; Global Financial Transaction Tax; and more
Partnerships and development cooperation among countries will play a key role in accelerating sustainable development, the Secretary-General of the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), Sha Zukang said today, stressing that assistance will need to focus on helping developing countries find longer-term solutions to eradicate poverty and transition into a green economy.The two-day Australia High-Level Symposium, “Shaping a Sustainable Future – Partners in Development Cooperation,” which began today, seeks to facilitate an informal dialogue on development cooperation among high-level policymakers, multilateral and civil society organizations, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
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DR Congo; South Sudan; UNHCR and OIC; and more
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, today voiced concern over the human rights situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has experienced a recent upsurge in violence. Mr. Šimonovic said he was “appalled” by the heightened levels of recent violence triggered by defections in the Congolese armed forces, including former members of certain militia groups, and welcomed joint efforts between the peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), humanitarian actors and the authorities to protect civilians and respond to human rights violations.
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Asia-Pacific Human Development Report; Syria; Horn of Africa; UNRWA
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must find ways to continue to grow economically and lift millions out of poverty while also responding to climate change and environmental concerns, according to UN report released today, which stresses that new methods of production are needed to meet this goal.UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 argues that policies and actions in the region will have a global impact as it is home to more than half of the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities.
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SG on Rio/Post-2015 Development; Syria; Middle East; Global Fund; and more
Appealing for flexibility in reaching agreement on a final outcome document, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today, emphasized the need for Member States to agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the Rio+20 conference while also announcing the appointment of three co-chairs to his High-Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Planning. We should agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals that build on the Millennium Development Goals … find better ways to measure progress that goes beyond Gross Domestic Product …and advance action to improve people’s lives through decent work, social protection and the empowerment of women and young people,” the UN chief said in his address to the UN General Assembly.
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Syria; Guinea-Bissau; UNAIDS; Afghanistan; and more
Amid concerns from the international community over the prospects of a “full civil war” in Syria, the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, said today that the ongoing levels of violence and human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country are unacceptable and the UN observer mission is possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize it.
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Peacebuilding; South Sudan; Indigenous Issues; Rwanda
The United Nations is determined to do everything possible to assist societies torn by war from sliding back into conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an audience in the United States capital today, adding that while there have been setbacks, peacebuilding remains a crucial element of the world body’s efforts.In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D. C., Mr. Ban highlighted the work of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping operations and 15 political missions in the area of peacebuilding – a core mandate of the Organization.
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Counter-terrorism; South Sudan; Iran; Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and more
At the Security Council’s high-level debate on Counter-terrorism today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he hoped Member States will decide to create the position of a UN Counter-Terrorism Coordinator to promote better coordination, collaboration and cooperation among all players.Mr. Ban told the Security Council, during its debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, that terrorism is a significant threat to peace and security, prosperity and people, and the global community continues to pursue a robust and comprehensive response.
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Sudan/South Sudan; North Korea; Afghanistan; “Born too Soon” report; and more
The Security Council today adopted a unanimous resolution calling on Sudan and South Sudan to immediately end hostilities and resume negotiations within two weeksto resolve all outstanding issues, and voiced its intention to take appropriate measures if the parties do not comply. The Council decided that the two countries shall, among other measures, “immediately cease all hostilities; unconditionally withdraw all of their armed forces to their side of the border; activate, within one week, the necessary border security mechanisms; and immediately cease hostile propaganda and inflammatory statements in the media”.
