24 March 2015 – The United Nations refugee chief António Guterres began a two-day visit to Cameroon today to see the impact of the displacement crises in neighbouring Nigeria and Central African Republic (CAR), which have sent over hundreds of thousands fleeing for safety. “The High Commissioner will discuss both humanitarian crises with President Paul Biya and thank the Cameroonian Government and people for their generous open door policy and hospitality towards refugees,” Karin de Gruijl, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva. “They will also discuss the support that is needed to…
Author: UN News
23 March 2015 – At the end of a four-day visit to Ebola-affected communities in Liberia, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and actor Orlando Bloom praised the efforts of people there who have been combatting the deadly virus. “Everyone I met was determined to beat Ebola so that they can resume their normal lives,” said Mr. Bloom after meeting with religious and youth leaders in the capital, Monrovia. “Communities have been at the centre of the fight against Ebola and must continue to be supported because of their crucial role in getting to zero cases.” Mr. Bloom met…
23 March 2015 – Violations of human rights “fuel and shape the conflict” in the occupied Palestinian territories, a senior United Nations official reported to the Human Rights Council today. “Human rights violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are both cause and consequence of the military occupation and ongoing violence, in a bitter cyclical process with wider implications for peace and security in the region,” said Flavia Pansieri, the UN’s Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. Ms. Pansieri presented a total of six documents to the Council, which is meeting in Geneva, including reports by the Secretary-General and…
23 March 2015 – An ongoing decline in overall elephant numbers remains likely as the poaching of African elephants continued to exceed population growth rates throughout 2014, a new United Nations-backed report warned today. “African elephant populations continue to face an immediate threat to their survival from high-levels of poaching for their ivory, especially in Central and West Africa where the situation appears to have deteriorated,” said John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The latest figures released by CITES’ programme for Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants,…
22 March 2015 – Yemen stands on the brink of civil war amid deepening political tensions and an uptick in sectarian violence, United Nations Special Adviser Jamal Benomar warned today as he explained that only through dialogue could the country achieve a peaceful political transition. Briefing the Security Council via video conference in a rare Sunday session, Mr. Benomar told the UN body that Yemen was on a “rapid downward spiral” as the conflict took on “worrying sectarian tones and deepening north-south divisions.” “Emotions are running extremely high and, unless solutions can be found, the country will fall into further…
18 March 2015 – The Government of Haiti has made progress towards the holding of elections critical for the country’s stability and development, the top United Nations official in the Caribbean nation told the Security Council today. Presenting the Secretary-General’s report on the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Sandra Honoré reported that the country had made “measurable gains towards the holding of long-overdue elections” by the end of 2015, despite the lingering “uncertainty” caused by the absence of a functioning Parliament. The first-round vote has been scheduled for 9 August, setting the stage for legislative, presidential and local elections…
20 March 2015 – Negotiations between Libyan parties are entering a “decisive round” as continued fighting and the menace of terrorism cast a sense of urgency to the United Nations-facilitated talks, a senior official for the Organization said today. The Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Bernardino Léon, warned that fighting and airstrikes in Libya and recent terrorist attacks elsewhere in the region had sounded “another alarm” regarding the delicate nature of the country’s peace-building process. Mr. Léon was speaking in Morocco, where stakeholders resumed the political dialogue aimed at reaching an agreement…
19 March 2015 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has reported the highest weekly number of Ebola cases in Guinea so far this year and noted that while transmission was confined to a narrow geographically contiguous arc straddling the capitals of Guinea and Sierra Leone, the population is highly mobile, thus creating a challenge “to prevent the seeding of new outbreaks.” In the latest update on Ebola reissued today, Liberia reported no new confirmed cases for the third consecutive week and Sierra Leone had the lowest weekly total recorded since June 2014. And to date, there have been…
19 March 2015 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is unified with a “clear, shared and celebrated” identity, the top United Nations envoy there told the Security Council today, as he briefed on the latest developments in the vast African nation. “It is no longer at war, neither in transition. It is a proud nation,” said Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC (MONUSCO). “When [the original mission in the country] MONUC arrived, some 15 years ago, the country was socially, economically and politically shattered. When MONUC arrived, the country…
17 March 2015 – The United Nations Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, welcomed the lifting of the house arrest of the country’s Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and other Cabinet members as a “good gesture that may restore the missing confidence in the current political negotiations.” “This step could help normalize the security and political situation in Yemen if complemented by the implementation of the remaining demands of the Security Council, and a genuine commitment to reaching a political solution to the current crisis,” Mr. Benomar said in a statement issued yesterday in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Mr. Benomar expressed…