22 February 2014 – Ahead of Afghanistan’s national elections, the top United Nations official in the country is calling on Afghan authorities and independent electoral bodies to ensure the polls are credible, while also urging the Taliban to stop attempts to disrupt the electoral process.p> “My message [to the Taliban] directly or indirectly, allow the people to vote. This is their right. These are your people. This is your country as well,” the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Ján Kubiš, said in an interview with Tolo TV. “My second appeal, allow also those, not only those that will vote, but the…
Author: UN News
23 February 2014 – The next wave of investment and innovation in Africa will be driven by the need for new energy resources, wealth generation and job creation, the head of the United Nations environment agency told regional leaders, making a case for the need to place value on natural resources. “As the continent undergoes such unprecedented development, wealth accounting and the valuation of ecosystem services are critical to Africa’s future growth,” Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, told the high-level African ministerial conference on green economy in Oran, Algeria. Natural accounting and valuation in not a…
22 February 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has again taken to the airwaves to deliver a personal appeal to the people of strife-riven Central African Republic (CAR) to lay down their weapons, come together, and end the spiralling bloodshed and inter-communal violence that has plagued the country for months on end. “You are not alone. Many countries are working for peace,” the Secretary-General says in a video and audio message, informing the war-weary people of the Car that he has appealed to the international community to do much more: to provide more troops and police to protect people;…
21 February 2014 – The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today expressed concern after a political rally in South Kivu turned violent, leaving dozens of people injured, including several who have detailed their stories to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country. “Such events appeal to everyone’s conscience,” said Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN mission, known by the French acronym MONUSCO. “I wish to remind the shared responsibility of political actors as well as administrative and security officials,” he added. “Preserving peace and security for all…
21 February 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Representative in Somalia, Nicholas Kay, joined members of the Security Council in strong condemnation of the attack against the compound of the President of Somalia in the capital, Mogadishu, and urged the authorities and people to fight against extremism. In a statement from his spokesperson in New York, Mr. Ban paid tribute to the Somali National Forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) for their “efficient and professional response” in repelling the attackers from the palace, known as Villa Somalia. The UN chief also reached out…
21 February 2014 – A new United Nations report released today outlines the human rights abuses committed by both sides in the conflict that erupted in South sudan at the end of last year, including rapes, mass killings and torture, and warned that civilians in the world’s youngest nation are continuing to be targeted. “It is clear that civilians bore the brunt of much of the fighting and that gross violations of human rights were committed,” states the interim report prepared by the UN Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) for the Security Council. The report provides an initial account of…
21 February 2014 – Almost 20,000 people from the Central African Republic (CAR) have crossed into Cameroon since the beginning of February to escape the ongoing violence in their homeland, the United Nations refugee agency reported today. This is up from 4,764 Car refugees in the first week of this month, and it brings to 35,142 the total number of Car refugees who have fled to Cameroon since March 2013, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The conflict in CAR erupted when mainly Muslim Séléka rebels launched attacks in December 2012 and has taken on increasingly sectarian…
22 February 2014 – The United Nations Security Council today unanimously approved a resolution to boost humanitarian aid access in Syria, a move Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said can ease some civilian suffering, if it is implemented quickly and in good faith. Through Resolution 2139 (2014), the Council demanded “that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, promptly allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, including across conflict lines and across borders”. The 15-member Council also called for an immediate end to all forms of violence in the country and strongly condemned the…
21 February 2014 – The United Nations human rights office today urged the Iranian Government to immediately halt executions, after voicing deep concern about reports that 80, and possibly up to 95, people have been put to death in the country since the beginning of this year. “We regret that the new Government has not changed its approach to the death penalty and continues to impose capital punishment for a wide range of offences,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva. “We urge the Government to immediately halt executions…
21 February 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency is urging countries to offer increased resettlement or other forms of admission, including scholarships, for an additional 100,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had earlier called on States to provide such solutions for 30,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees by the end of 2014. To date, 20 countries have offered more than 18,800 places towards this goal. The agency remains confident that the 30,000 goal will be met by the end of the year through a significant number of submissions to the…