28 January 2014 – Despite Burundi’s request that the United Nations mission helping it recover from decades of ethnic war end by mid-2014, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is recommending its renewal for another full year as the country moves towards crucial elections amid political violence and intra-party tensions. “Our best efforts to consolidate peace in Burundi, as advanced as they are, remain incomplete,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Parfait Onanga-Anyanga told the Security Council today in presenting the latest report on the small Central African country, where hundreds of thousands of people have perished in largely inter-ethnic fighting between Hutus and…
Author: UN News
28 January 2014 – The United Nations humanitarian chief continued her visit to South sudan today with a stop in Malakal in Upper Nile state, where she met with communities displaced by the recent conflict and observed the efforts of aid agencies that have been assisting those affected by the violence. The Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, said she was concerned about the current situation and the impact of the violence across the country. She added that humanitarian organizations were supporting the Government’s efforts to respond to the immediate crisis, but said they also…
28 January 2014 – Seriously concerned by widespread human rights violations and the “increasing cycle of violence and retaliation” in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacebuilding office in the country, authorized the use of force by European Union troops, and added travel bans and asset freezes to an arms embargo already in place. The 15-member Council unanimously adopted a new resolution expressing deep concern at the “continuing deterioration of the security situation in the CAR” which it said is characterized by a “total breakdown in law and order, the…
29 January 2014 – With a little over a week to go before the Winter Olympics open in Sochi, Russia, General Assembly President John Ashe today urged United Nations Member States to observe the historic tradition of ceasing hostilities ahead of the Games. “I solemnly appeal to all Member States to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce for the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Mr. Ashe said reading his Solemn Appeal at the UN Headquarters in New York. He urged Governments “to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a…
27 January 2014 – The United Nations today paid tribute to the 6 million Jews and countless others massacred in the Nazi Holocaust with a solemn ceremony in the General Assembly Hall, a rebuke to Holocaust deniers, and a warning from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the perils of anti-Semitism and hatred of any kind. “The United Nations was founded to prevent any such horror from happening again. Yet tragedies from Cambodia to Rwanda to Srebrenica show that the poison of genocide still flows,” he said in a message marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of…
28 January 2014 – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today condemned the separate killings of four television journalists in Pakistan and Iraq, calling for those responsible to be brought to trial. “Violence against the media cannot be allowed to continue with impunity,” said the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova. In the Pakistani city of Karachi, technician Waqas Aziz, security guard Ashraf Yusuf, and driver Khalid Khan – all three employed by ‘Express News’ – were fatally shot on 17 January while in their television van. An…
28 January 2014 – Amid reports that riot police have been deployed in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to break up anti-Government protests, the United Nations labour agency today urged everyone to remain calm and reiterated its calls for a probe into police action. The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) is “deeply disturbed” by the continuing violence in Cambodia, including reports of another crackdown on protesting workers on Sunday, the UN agency said in a statement. “The ILO urges all parties to refrain from further violence, and to take all steps necessary for the release of the trade union leaders…
27 January 2014 – Coconut farmers in the Philippines are in urgent need of assistance to recover their livelihoods nearly three months after Typhoon Haiyan tore through the country, the United Nations food relief agency today warned, calling for donors to support its $38 million call for severely affected Philippine households. “Coconut farmers are replanting, but what makes the situation so dire is that newly planted trees take between six to eight years to reach maturity and return to full production,” said Rajendra Aryal, acting UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Representative in the Philippines. Philippines is the second largest…
28 January 2014 – An independent United Nations human rights expert has urged the Rwandan Government to lift undue restrictions on the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association so that the country can expand its economic achievements since the 1994 genocide to the fields of multiparty democracy and human rights. “I commend Rwanda for its remarkable progress in developing infrastructure, building institutions and ensuring stability and security over the past 20 years,” said Maina Kiai, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. “The next step is to build upon that foundation by developing…
28 January 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency said today it has released updated guidelines on the needs of people fleeing southern and central Somalia that underscore the need for Governments to assess applications for protection on the basis of reliable, up-to-date information about the situation in Mogadishu and other areas. “Notice needs to be taken of the impact of the armed conflict on civilians,” Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news conference in Geneva. She said that while security has improved in some parts of southern and central Somalia, armed conflict…