The UN’s mission in Sudan has agreed to set up a task force in collaboration with the government and UNICEF in order to stamp out sexual exploitation.
“The Task force’s mandate is to coordinate measures to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation; ensure more effective communication on the subject between all actors concerned from the UN and the Government of Sudan; and review existing mechanisms for reporting, response and follow up on allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation.” More
UNEP announced their Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign today, an effort to help dampen global warning.
“Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, individuals, children, youth and community groups, schools, non-governmental organizations, business and industry, farmers, local authorities, and national governments are urged to plant trees as a small but practical step to combat what UNEP says is probably the key challenge of the 21st century. So far over 157 million tree planting pledges have been received.” More
The campaign was inspired by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.
Get involved: Tree-planting pledges can be entered on the campaign website.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that he has called on U.S. President George W. Bush and Congressional leaders to drop their spending cap on UN peacekeeping, noting that the limited funding creates “very difficult constraints in smoothly carrying out peacekeeping operations.”
“The US Government is the largest financial contributor to the regular budget, as well as the peacekeeping operations budget. The US Congress has imposed a cap of 25 percent in peacekeeping operations…I have raised this issue in my meetings with President Bush and all the Congressional leaders. I strongly appealed and requested that the US Congress lift this spending cap…They said they will discuss this matter.” More
For a transcript of Ban’s remarks to the press, click here.
Ban Ki-moon finished his trip to Washington yesterday with a capstone speech on UN priorities and US-UN relations delivered to a distinguished audience of government, media, and civil society leaders at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Notably, resolving the crisis in Darfur and building consensus for the deployment of a joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force ranked as his very first priority. Ban then cited several other items of concern and ticked off a laundry list of challenges before the world body. He called Iraq “the whole world’s problem” and pledged to continue reconstruction support through the International Compact. And in a statement sure to upset some, Ban stated his intention to make the “Quartet” a more central actor in helping to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. On non-proliferation, Ban gave a nod to the punitive Security Council resolutions against North Korea and Iran and called on member states to boost their overall commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament on a global level.Though most of his speech centered on security issues, Ban also pledged to work with member states on the Millennium Development Goals. He further reiterated pledges to pursue management and oversight reforms and to “operationalize” the 2005 Responsibility to Protect agreement.
Ban then turned to US-UN relations. And in words that echoed Kofi Annan’s valedictory address at the Harry S. Truman Library, Ban affirmed America’s indispensable role at the United Nations. “With the US actively and constructively engaged, the potential of the UN is unlimited. And with the UN’s potential fulfilled, the US can better advance its aspirations for a peaceful, healthy, prosperous world.” Indeed, Ban called for the United States to run for a seat in the new Human Rights Council, which it decided against pursuing last spring.
Also, in unusually explicit terms, Ban called on the United States to make good on its financial pledges to the United Nations. “If I am to succeed as Secretary-General, I will need our partnership to be strong, deep, and broad — politically, morally, operationally and, not least, financially. With demands exploding on virtually every front, from peacekeeping to humanitarian assistance to health, a sound financial base is not only a matter of survival for the Organization; it is a matter of life and death for millions of people around the world. Such a financial base requires the timely and full engagement of the United States Government — Administration and Congress alike.”
Finally, during the question and answer session, Ban showed an American audience precisely how he earned his peculiar nickname among the South Korean press corps. After taking a tough question from ABC’s Sam Donaldson about the legitimacy of pre-emptive military strikes, Ban feigned to being star-struck by a man he’s “seen so many times on TV, but never in person.” This brought the room to an uproar, and let Ban slip away from answering the question head-on.
Click here for a video of Ban’s speech.
According to a UN report released yesterday, over 34,000 civilians were killed in Iraq last year, with over 36,000 injured.
“In virtually every sphere, and building on earlier reports, the latest study amounts to a litany of abuses ranging from attacks on women, minorities and professional groups to forced displacements, to the activities of the police and security forces and the United States-led Multi-National Force (MNF-I).” More
Also see The New York Times, BBC News.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that his first meeting with United States President George W. Bush since assuming office was “a very good, very useful meeting.”
“The United Nations needs the strong and active participation and strong support of the United States, as the UN and the US have a shared objective of promoting human rights, democracy and freedom and peace and security, as well as mutual prosperity,” said Ban. More
Click here to read remarks from both Ban and Bush.
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.
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.”
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.
