Monthly Archives: November 2006
‘Hybrid Force’ Planned for Darfur
BBC: “A package of measures, including an enhanced peacekeeping force, aimed at solving the Darfur crisis are to be discussed at UN-led talks in Ethiopia.
Plans for a hybrid African Union (AU)-UN force are among proposals being considered after Sudan refused to allow a UN force to replace AU troops there.”
An Improbable Meeting
On Sunday, the world’s top humanitarian official met one of the world’s worst war criminals in a remote jungle outpost on the Congo-Sudan border. Jan Egeland, the UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator met Joseph Kony, leader of the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, in the depths of the jungle in an effort to promote peace in the devastated region.
Sri Lanka’s Children ‘At Risk From All Sides’
“Elements of Sri Lanka’s security forces are helping a breakaway rebel group abduct children to fight the separatist Tamil Tigers, while the rebels themselves continue to use child soldiers in their conflict against the Government, a United Nations adviser has said after a 10-day assessment mission to the strife-torn country. “It is increasingly clear that children are at risk from all sides,” Allan Rock, the Special Adviser to the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict on Sri Lanka said yesterday.” More
Send a Net, Save a Life
A couple of weeks back, we told the story behind the creation of Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign asking people to donate $10 toward the purchase of bed nets to combat malaria. Today, Nothing But Nets officially goes online.
WASHINGTON, DC (November 14, 2006) – The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today the launch of Nothing But Nets – a grassroots campaign asking individuals to donate $10 to “send a net, save a life.” Each $10 donation pays for an insecticide-treated bed net, distributes it to a family in need in Africa, and provides education on its proper use to prevent malaria. Founding partners of the campaign are NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church, and Sports Illustrated.
Human Trafficking Now ‘Worse than African Slavery’
CNN: “Human trafficking, including women forced to become prostitutes or minors forced to do child labor, is worse now than the trade in African slaves of past centuries, a top Vatican official said on Tuesday.
“This trafficking in human beings has intensified, persons put into slavery because they depend on certain criminals who take possession of these human beings,” said Cardinal Renato Martino, former longtime Vatican envoy to the United Nations and current head of the Holy See’s office concerned with migrant and itinerant peoples.”
More here
Promoting the Rule of Law in Lebanon
At various times, blogs like Atlas Shrugs and Michelle Malkin hurl sundry invectives at the UN and its Secretary General for allegedly coddling terrorists in Lebanon. Invariably, these criticisms are always more bluster than fact-based, so I am hardly surprised that these two have been silent on a recent positive development in Lebanon.
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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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