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World Food Programme and African Union renew partnership

The African Union (AU) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have renewed their partnership to fight hunger and enhance food security, education and emergency response. Their cooperation agreement was signed by African Union Commissioner Rosebud Kurwijila and WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran.
"The African Union is an important ally in our fight to ensure food security in Africa," said Ms. Sheeran during a two-day visit to Ethiopia, her first overseas mission as chief of WFP. She voiced hope that the partnership would serve as "the wind beneath our wings" in aiming to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving global hunger by 2015.
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Ban speaks out against violence in Somalia

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to the violence in Somalia, where hundreds of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee their homes.
"The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the continuing heavy fighting in Mogadishu, which has reportedly killed more than 250 people and forced more than 320,000 from their homes in the past six days alone," spokesman Michele Montas told reporters in New York.
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International Compact for Iraq to launch next month

The United Nations-sponsored International Compact for Iraq (ICI), which seeks to consolidate peace and pursue political, economic and social development, will be launched in Egypt early next month. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would attend the launch in Sharm el-Sheikh on 3 May.
The Compact is a five-year national plan that includes benchmarks and mutual commitments from both Iraq and the international community, all with the aim of helping Iraq on the path towards peace, sound governance and economic reconstruction.
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UNEP honors seven with “Champions of the Earth” awards

Actress Daryl Hannah was among the awardees. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized seven winners for its 'Champions of the Earth Award' at a ceremony in Singapore. UNEP chief Achim Steiner, who presented the awards, said "If we are to shape a new partnership between human-kind and the natural environment upon which all life ultimately depends then we need leaders, we need champions - champions in public life, champions in business and champions in our communities." For a list of the winners, click here. More

UNHCR conference takes on the plight of displaced Iraqis

In a UNHCR-organized conference in Geneva, some 450 delegates met to discuss the nearly 4 million Iraqis who have fled their homes.
"There was truly a humanitarian spirit that allowed us to work together, to work together in a committed way for the same purpose - the people we care for, the Iraqis displaced inside and outside Iraq," UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres told a concluding news conference after the two-day gathering that drew representatives of 60 nations. There are some 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Iraq and 2 million refugees abroad.
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WHO: Violence in Iraq threatens health services

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) says that the escalating violence in Iraq combined with a shortage of health workers is putting severe pressure on the health of the Iraqi population. A release from the WHO relays concern that health services will not be able to help the millions of people who have been displaced.
The government estimates that almost 70 per cent of critically injured patients with violence-related wounds die while in the Emergency and Intensive Care Units due to a shortage of competent staff and a lack of drugs and equipment, WHO said in a news release published in conjunction with a conference in Geneva being organized by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to address the needs of the nearly 4 million uprooted Iraqis.
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UNCHR calls for international humanitarian effort for Iraq refugees

unchr1.jpg Today the UN refugee agency opened an international conference on the humanitarian crisis facing nearly 4 million refugees and displaced people in Iraq. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called for a sustained international response. "The humanitarian dimension of the problem can no longer be overlooked...Almost 4 million Iraqis are watching us today. Their needs are as obvious as the moral imperative to help. All of us - representatives of governments, international organisations and civil society - are now compelled to act." More

UN envoy condemns latest bombings in Iraq

The senior United Nations envoy to Iraq, the Secretary-General's Special Representative Ashraf Qazi, condemned weekend bombings which targeted hundreds of civilians. Qazi "denounced in the strongest terms the bombings in Karbala, and Al Jaderyia Bridge in Baghdad on Saturday, 14 April, and Al-Ottaeefia neighborhood on Sunday, 15 April, which caused the death and injury of more than two hundred innocent civilians."
Mr. Qazi described these wanton acts of deliberate violence against men, women and children while going about their daily lives as "heinous."
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UN envoy on children: Schools must be “zones of peace”

Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy, after completing a three-day fact-finding mission to Lebanon, called on all sides in the Middle East to respect international humanitarian law to ensure that schools are "zones of peace."
After visiting the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, [Coomaraswamy] said she was shocked to see the destruction caused by last year's conflict between Hizbollah and Israel and its considerable impact on children. "All parties should respect International Humanitarian Law with regard to the protection of children and ensure that schools are zones of peace. For the sake of future generations, a framework for a permanent peace should be negotiated with Israel," she said.
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