"A mass polio immunization campaign began on Friday across Africa, targeting 100 million children, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported. The 22-nation synchronised campaign, dubbed the Coast-to-Coast Polio Drive, comes as reports from Ethiopia indicated that a child there had contracted polio, the first case in the country in four years." Learn More...
UN Dispatch has received a fair amount of attention from bloggers this week:
Henry from Crooked Timber says, "[B]logs like the newly created UN Dispatch can fill an unmet need, giving us a take on the UN that isn't limited to cheap gotchas about corruption and sex scandals.... it appears to be rather stronger on actual factual information about the strengths and weaknesses of the UN than any of the other blogs opining on UN-related issues. One that I'll be reading."
Talk Left adds, "There is a dearth of blog coverage on U.N. activities (other than oil for food) so this is a welcome addition to the blogosphere."
Porphyrogenitus, a self-described "harsh critic" of the UN, writes, "I recommend checking out [UN Dispatch], which gives a rounded view of the institution as a whole, and presents another side."
Some other blogs talking about UN Dispatch:
In The Agora
Centerfield
Michelle Malkin
Bob Harris
Belgravia Dispatch
Oxblog
Blogenlust
Majikthise
CommonSenseDesk
One Hand Clapping
Lean Left
Liberals Against Terrorism
Matthew Yglesias
From the UN News Service: "More than $1 billion will be needed to fund the first year of the proposed United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan, set up to help the vast region stabilize and its people rebuild their lives after a 21-year civil war."
"For six decades disarmament has been a key item on the UN agenda but "this year is also one in which we must think ahead, and help plant the seeds of long-term global security," [Kofi Annan] said, adding that next month he will put before Member States the most far-reaching international security reform in the life of the UN, based on the proposals from the 16-member High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change." Read More...
From AlertNet: "Cereal stocks could run out by next month in Ethiopia where 2.4 million people are in immediate need of food aid, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. Some 11 percent of the emergency food aid required in March has been provided by donors, leaving a shortfall of 39,000 metric tons of cereals, the U.N. Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported."
"Tragically, the [Oil-for-Food] scandal comes at a time when the world body is needed more than ever to care for millions of refugees, keep the peace in places where it can be kept and stabilize countries prostrate from civil war." Read the editorial...
"Changes to the environment that are sweeping the planet are bringing about a rise in infectious diseases, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has warned. Loss of forests; the building of roads and dams; urban growth; the clearing of natural habitats for agriculture; mining; and pollution of coastal waters are promoting conditions under which new and old pathogens can thrive, according to research published today in Unep's Global Environment Outlook Year Book for 2004/2005." More...
In today's WSJ (subscription required):
Our Mission Remains Vital
By KOFI A. ANNAN
February 22, 2005
In the past year I have read many attacks on the United Nations -- quite a few, but by no means all, in the pages of this newspaper.
That pains me, because I have served the U.N. all my life. I have done, and am still doing, everything I can to correct its imperfections, and to improve and strengthen it. And I believe profoundly in the importance of that task, because a strong U.N. is of vital importance to humanity.
Disturbing numbers published by UNICEF: "One in 12 of the world's children is involved in the worst forms of child labor, including slavery, forced labor, hazardous work, militant action and the commercial sex industry, according to a report published Monday by the U.N. child welfare agency, UNICEF." Full Article