25 November 2014 – While humanitarians have made some progress in delivering much-needed supplies to the growing numbers of people in conflict-riven Syria, efforts by the United Nations and its partners are still falling short, a top UN relief official has said today, calling on the Security Council to push for an end to the violence that is destroying the country and destabilizing the region. “This is a conflict that is affecting every Syrian,” said Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, in a briefing to the Security Council this afternoon on the humanitarian…
Author: UN News
26 November 2014 – The newest outpost of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) became operational today, while a new head of its Guinea office was named and the World Health Organization reported that the number of cases had stabilized in Guinea, had stabilized or declined in Liberia but may still be on rise in Sierra Leone. The World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors, meanwhile, approved a $70 million project for Côte d’Ivoire to promote the West African country’s pro-active measures to prevent the spread of Ebola. “So far, the Ivorian Ebola response plan has been…
26 November 2014 – The United Nations Security Council has condemned in the strongest terms the massacres perpetrated against civilians on 20 November near the city of Beni in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as well as the ongoing attacks targeting peacekeepers. “These attacks have increased to more than 200 the number of civilians killed since mid-October in this region,” said a statement released by the 15-member Council Tuesday evening. Members of the Council expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the victims and also condemned attacks against peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization…
25 November 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced deep concern over an uptick in violence across Libya and urged all parties to recommit to the values of the revolution that inspired the North African country’s break towards democracy, according to a statement issued today by his spokesperson. The UN has reported a recent escalation in hostilities in Libya amid air strikes in Tripoli and the Nafusa Mountains in the west as well as in Benghazi and its environs in the country’s east. The outburst of fighting comes just days after a UN-mediated ceasefire brought temporary relief to…
25 November 2014 – Expressing “grave alarm about the further deteriorating political, security and humanitarian crisis” in South Sudan, the Security Council today extended the United Nations Mission the country (UNMISS) for an additional six months, maintaining the operation’s mandate to focus on civilian protection, facilitation of relief assistance, and human rights monitoring. In an adopted resolution, the Council decided to extend the Mission until 30 May 2015. In doing so, the Council authorized, as it had previously, UNMISS to use “all necessary means” to protect civilians, monitor and investigate human rights, create the conditions for delivery of humanitarian assistance,…
24 November 2014 – The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned Saturday’s attack in Mandera, Kenya for which Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility and which has caused the deaths of numerous innocent people. In a press statement, the Security Council extended its condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and Government of the Republic of Kenya. According to media reports, militants claiming to belong to the Al-Shabaab extremist group hijacked the commuter bus travelling to Nairobi, the country’s capital, in the early morning hours of 22 November, executing at least 28 of the passengers. The…
24 November 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all appointed transitional leaders in Burkina Faso to work in a “collaborative and harmonious manner,” as the inaugural Cabinet meeting of the transitional Government was held today. Noting the appointment in Burkina Faso yesterday of the 26-member transitional Government, Mr. Ban also urged in a statement attributed to his spokesperson that all national stakeholders engage in dialogue to guide the country to elections next year. “The Secretary-General calls on all appointed transitional leaders to work in a collaborative and harmonious manner to ensure that the aspirations of the…
21 November 2014 – The next phase in reconstruction efforts for war-ravaged Gaza is slated to begin as early as next week following an updated “understanding” between Israeli and Palestinian stakeholders, the United Nations special envoy in the region has announced. In a statement released today, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, hailed what called a “further understanding” to the trilateral agreement between Israel, the Palestinian Government of National Consensus, and the UN, permitting some 25,000 home owners in Gaza to access building materials for the repair of their homes damaged in the recent…
22 November 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the brutal killing of 28 people on a bus in Mandera, Kenya in the latest spate of terrorist violence to afflict the East African nation. In a statement issued today by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban conveyed his “profound condolences” to the families of the victims while pledging the UN’s “continuing support” to Kenya and the countries of the region “in their multidimensional efforts to address the scourge of terrorism.” According to media reports, militants claiming to belong to the Al-Shabaab extremist group hijacked the commuter bus travelling to Nairobi,…
21 November 2014 – Following her first official visit to Slovenia, the United Nations independent expert on the human rights of older persons hailed efforts by the country’s Government in ensuring the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, but urged authorities to focus on those being ostracized, as they are “the vulnerable of the vulnerable.” In a press release issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, UN Independent Expert on the human rights of older persons, noted that poverty among older persons in Slovenia is an area of concern, notably…
21 November 2014 – Key steps have been taken recently to deliver food vouchers to some 10,000 internally displaced people in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported today, while underscoring that ensuring access to food in the country’s crisis-gripped eastern region remains a “priority concern.” “The initial round of food voucher distribution has injected close to half a million dollars into the economy of local host communities,” Elisabeth Byrs, WFP spokesperson, highlighted in a briefing to journalists in Geneva. She also explained that the vouchers, through partnerships with non-governmental organizations and a foundation,…
20 November 2014 – Almost 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since a tenuous ceasefire was established there in early September amid efforts to end the violence between armed rebel groups and the Government, the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said today as it released its latest report on the situation in the country. According to the report, violations of international human rights and humanitarian law “persist” as the situation in the conflict-affected area in Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk becomes “increasingly entrenched, with the total breakdown of law and order and the emergence of parallel…
19 November 2014 – A group of United Nations human rights experts today have voiced alarm over the potential imminent release of Milorad Trbic, who was convicted in 2009 by the Bosnian State Court of committing genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The experts’ call comes after the Bosnian Constitutional Court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial. “The release of convicted criminals undermines efforts made by the Bosnian State Court and the international community to achieve justice, especially in light of the wider failure by the Government to adopt and implement a…
18 November 2014 – Against a backdrop of aging populations and persistently low economic growth, few European governments are doing enough to help recent immigrants move from low-skilled precarious jobs and into decent work, says a new report out today from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Migration Policy Institute. According to the report,Aiming Higher: Policies to Get Immigrants into Middle-Skilled Work in Europe, while some countries have made sizeable investments in labour market integration policies throughout the past decade, they have focused primarily on getting immigrants into work. As a result, these policies have struggled to facilitate career…
21 November 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his call for all Burkinabé stakeholders to ensure Burkina Faso’s seamless transition to democracy amid an ongoing constitutional crisis in the West African country, a United Nations spokesperson has confirmed. “The Secretary-General continues to follow the situation in Burkina Faso very closely. He looks forward to the installation of the Transitional Government and the Transitional National Council,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, briefing the press at UN Headquarters this afternoon. “He reiterates his encouragement to all parties to continue to use dialogue during the transition period and resolve all outstanding issues.”…
21 November 2014 – Concluding a three-day mission to South Sudan, a senior United Nations relief official has called on all parties to the conflict there to respect their ceasefire commitments, while urging the international community to continue providing support to enable humanitarians to scale up and expand critical aid operations. In a press release issued today by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, noted that while the humanitarian community has reached more than 3.5 million people with assistance this year, the situation in South sudan remains “bleak” and…
20 November 2014 – On the eve of a meeting of United Nations agency chiefs to discuss ways to jointly tackle the Ebola outbreak, the World Bank reported today Liberia’s labour sector has suffered a huge blow since the start of the crisis, as a “massive effort” was underway in mali to halt the spread of the re-emerged virus. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will tomorrow discuss the common effort to counter the Ebola outbreak with the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), made up of 29 Executive Heads of UN Funds and Programmes, specialized agencies, including the Bretton Woods…
19 November 2014 – The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned yesterday’s “despicable terrorist attack” in a synagogue in Jerusalem, resulting in the murder of four innocent civilians worshipping there and a police officer, as well as the injury of many more. In a statement to the press, the members of the Council strongly condemned all such acts of violence, and expressed concern about increased tensions, “which have affected both the Israeli and Palestinian people, and urged all sides to take immediate steps to restore calm.” In addition, the Council emphasized the importance of all statements condemning the attack…
19 November 2014 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today that the number of Ebola cases is “no longer increasing nationally in Guinea and Liberia, but is still increasing in Sierra Leone”, and that preparedness teams have been sent this week to Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Senegal. Earlier today, UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Robert Piper, had appealed for funding for Ebola preparedness in the swath of Africa consisting of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal making up one of the poorest regions in the world. WHO, in its…
18 November 2014 – The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has begun relocating nearly 15,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been stranded for a few months at a way station in western Ethiopia after the refugee camp where they were due to live was flooded. In a press release today, UNHCR said that a first group of 125 refugees left Matar Way Station on Monday and headed along the Baro River to the Itang Transit Centre, where they spent the night before resuming their journey today by road towards Pugnido Refugee Camp, some 300 kilometres away. The refugees are expected to…