9 January 2014 – There is a real danger of further upheaval along religious lines in the Central African Republic (CAR), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today warned a regional gathering in Chad, stressing that the past year’s events have profoundly damaged the relationship between Muslim and Christian communities and pose a long-term danger to the country. “The horrific cycle of violence and retaliation between communities must stop immediately,” Mr. Ban said in his message to the extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), hosted by Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno in the capital, N’Djamena. “Distrust is high…
Author: UN News
8 January 2014 – Warning that the critical humanitarian situation in Iraq’s Anbar province is likely to worsen as fighting rages between Government forces and militias, the United Nations is working with national and regional authorities and its humanitarian partners to ensure safe passage for emergency aid to stranded and displaced families. “The situation in Fallujah is particularly concerning as existing stocks of food, water and life-saving medicines begin to run out,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement in Baghdad. “According to our preliminary assessment, over 5,000 families have fled the fighting and sought refuge…
9 January 2014 – While the United Nations has released $15 million from its rapid response fund for immediate humanitarian operations in war-torn South Sudan, even amid “very substantial progress”, it could take up to eight weeks before the full 5,500-strong surge in UN peacekeepers and equipment is deployed on the ground. “But our goal is to go as quickly as possible and we are grateful to those countries who are helping us to do the transportation because that’s no small feat,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Security Council on the situation in…
7 January 2014 – The United Nations human rights office today strongly condemned the killing of more than 20 people, and the wounding of dozens of children and other relatives, during a funeral procession in southern Yemen, and urged authorities to hold those responsible to account. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that the shelling on 27 December at Al-Dhalai Governorate killed 21 civilians and injured 30 others, prompting President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi to set up an investigation committee. The move has been welcomed by OHCHR, according to spokesperson Rupert Colville. He told journalists…
8 January 2014 – The top two United Nations officials in South Sudan are today meeting with families displaced by the ongoing violence between pro- and anti-Government forces, as aid agencies aim to reach civilians with urgently needed supplies. There is continued instability, fighting and mobilization of armed forces in a number of locations, including around Bor in Jonglei State and in areas in Unity and Upper Nile States, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) confirmed today. In the city of Malakal in Upper Nile State, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative, Hilde Johnson, visited the internally displaced persons camp…
7 January 2014 – The process of removing Syria’s most critical chemical weapons material outside of the country for destruction began today, the head of the Joint Mission of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations confirmed. “A first quantity of priority chemical materials was moved from two sites to the port of Latakia for verification and was then loaded onto a Danish commercial vessel today,” OPCW-UN Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag said in a statement from the Joint Mission. Accompanied by naval escorts from Denmark, Norway and Syria, the ship has now sailed for…
8 January 2014 – A United Nations human rights expert today called for urgent protection and increased assistance to the growing number of persons displaced by violence in the Central African Republic. “The number of displaced persons has increased dramatically over the past few weeks, and immediate access by humanitarian agencies, including to those sheltering in the airport in Bangui, must be granted without delay,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani. The UN expert specifically noted the need to strengthen the international community’s response to protect and assist those fleeing the violence,…
7 January 2014 – The United Nations and its humanitarian partners today appealed for $1 billion to save millions of Syrian children from becoming a “lost generation,” doomed by the civil war in their country to a life of despair, diminished opportunities and broken futures. “The future for these children is slipping away, but there is still a chance to save them,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said at the unveiling of the “No Lost Generation” initiative in Geneva, one week ahead of a major donor conference in Kuwait for humanitarian aid for Syria. “The world must answer…
10 January 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) confirmed today that it is seeking details from Australian authorities about recent media reports of the navy forcing boats, presumed to be carrying asylum-seekers on their way to Australia, back to Indonesian territorial waters, as well as reports of plans to buy and provide vessels for future “push-backs.” Briefing reporters in Geneva, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said the agency would be concerned by any policy or practice that involved pushing asylum-seeker boats back at sea without a proper consideration of individual needs for protection. “Any such approach would raise significant…
8 January 2014 – The top United Nations official in Somalia today hailed the election of a new president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland as the harbinger of a peaceful, federal solution for the entire Horn of Africa country, which has been wracked by civil war, factional fighting and Islamist extremism for over two decades. “Puntland is leading the way on the development of a federal Somalia,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Nicholas Kay said in a statement released in Garowe, Puntland’s capital. “The United Nations support the people of Puntland and all of Somalia as they move together…