Monthly Archives: March 2006
Annan: UN Should Cut Down on Reports
“In 2005, the United Nations delivered 1,200 reports on issues from Guinea-Bissau to the rights of women in the developing world. Its human rights office alone produced 44,000 pages of documents which in turn had to be translated into six official languages.
Such a huge volume of information, and the bureaucracy needed to produce it, threatens to overwhelm the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a study released Thursday. The 191 member states must fund the things they ask for, and stop demanding so much if the world body is to live up to the ideals and promises of its founders, he said.” [More]
News Roundup #77
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Annan Hails UN Security Council Call on Iran
to Suspend Nuclear Activities
Victims of Sierra Leone War Rejoice at Taylor’s Arrest
Eastern Congo Militias on Offensive Before Polls-UN
Recruiters of Child Soldiers Targeted for Prosecution
UN Torture Investigator to Visit Russia, Chechnya
Serbia Urges Patience Over Mladic
United Nations Praises India’s Decision
to Provide all Women Police Unit
Security Council Calls on Iran to Halt Uranium Enrichment
CNN: “The U.N. Security Council has unanimously called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities within 30 days and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Wednesday’s vote came after the five permanent members of the council reached an agreement on the document, a presidential statement written by the British and French ambassadors.”
Preval Asks UN for Support
Security Council open meeting on Haiti
held at UN Headquarters in New York
“Haiti’s president-elect appealed for urgent international help Monday to spur development in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country and called on all Haitians to join in a national dialogue to promote peace, democracy and stability.” [Read more]
See also:
Aid Vital to Haitian Democracy, Preval Tells UN
United States Committed To Helping Haitian People, Says Bolton
UN Ready to Help Arab World Overcome ‘Many Formidable Challenges’ – Annan
“In a wide-ranging review of the “many formidable challenges” facing the Arab world, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to help resolve issues ranging from sectarian violence in Iraq to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse to the continued killings, rape and displacement in Sudan.
This Virus Has an Expert ‘Quite Scared’
“Dr. David Nabarro, chief avian flu coordinator for the United Nations, has become gun-shy about making predictions – in particular about if and when the A(H5N1) virus, now devastating bird populations around the world, will do the same to humans.
But Dr. Nabarro describes himself as “quite scared,” especially since the disease has broken out of Asia and reached birds in Africa, Europe and India much faster than he expected it to. “That rampant, explosive spread,” he said, “and the dramatic way it’s killing poultry so rapidly suggests that we’ve got a very beastly virus in our midst.” [Read more]
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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