16 October 2014 – The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today condemned a recent upsurge in deadly attacks in the eastern territories linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group. “I strongly condemn the criminal attacks perpetrated during the night of 15 October in the Ngadi and Kadou localities near the town of Beni in the North-Kivu Province,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC, Martin Kobler, said in a statement. At least 20 people were slain in “this extremely violent attack,” according to the UN peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, which Mr.…
Author: UN News
15 October 2014 – The United Nations continues to ramp-up its Ebola response, reaching more than 530,000 people with food assistance in hard-hit Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, and, in the latter country, gathering survivors for a meeting to help deal with the psychological aftermath and stigma they face re-entering their communities. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that its logistical support to the global Ebola response is in “high gear” – with the latest supply en route from Italy to Liberia. The flight, carrying 58 metric tons of supplies including water tanks, washing units and generators, is…
15 October 2014 – The United Nations envoy for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, today voiced condemnation for the killing of an Iraqi politician amid an increase of violence in the Middle Eastern country. According to media reports, Ahmed Al-Khafaji, a Shiite Member of Parliament, was among 23 killed in a suicide car bombing which ripped through a Baghdad checkpoint. “Those who use terror, violence and fear against the people of Iraq will fail,” Mr. Mladenov, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, said in a statement in which he also extended his condolences to the families of those killed…
14 October 2014 – The Ebola outbreak is “winning the race” against attempts to contain it, the head of the United Nations mission working to stop the deadly virus warned the Security Council today as he urged the international community to help expand on-the-ground efforts across the affected nations in West Africa. In his briefing, Anthony Banbury, head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), told the 15-nation Council that he is “deeply worried” that the steps implemented by the international community are “not nearly enough” to halt the advance of the fatal disease. “Ebola got a head…
13 October 2014 – During a visit to the Garamba National Park, the top UN official in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) urged national and international actors to step up efforts in preserving the natural resources and rich biodiversity of the Park located in the north-eastern part of the country. “Armed group activity is eastern DRC is largely funded by the proceeds from illegal trade and trafficking of the country’s rich natural resources,” said Mr. Martin Kobler, who heads the UN Organisation Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). “Our efforts to track down these negative forces must also address…
12 October 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today that he will travel to Gaza on Tuesday to visit several sites destroyed during last summer’s conflict, spotlighting the need to help the enclave “look ahead and build a better future” and advance reconstruction efforts. “I believe it is important to be on the ground. That is why I am announcing today that I will visit Gaza on Tuesday to listen directly to the people of Gaza, survey the situation for myself,” Mr. Ban said as he briefed journalists in Cairo following an international conference on Gaza reconstruction. Mr. Ban said…
9 October 2014 – The Government of Malta has made strides towards preventing the torture and ill-treatment of people in detention, a group of independent United Nations rights experts confirmed today, but added that more needed to be done for the island nation to comply with its international obligations. “We acknowledge the first step the Maltese authorities have taken towards preventing torture and ill-treatment by ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and designating two monitoring bodies,” said Mari Amos, who headed the delegation from the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture. “But through our meetings with…
8 October 2014 – While the fragile month-long ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is a welcome step towards ending the conflict, armed groups continue to terrorize the population in areas under their control, pursuing killings, abductions, torture, ill-treatment and other serious abuses, the United Nations Human Rights Office said today as it released its latest report on the situation in the country. “Further prolongation of this crisis will make the situation untenable for the millions of people whose daily lives have been seriously disrupted,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement from his Office…
11 October 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tripoli today where he urged all Libyan parties to press forward on peace talks in order to restore stability to their crisis-ridden country, declaring “enough killings, displacement of people and destruction.” “Libyans launched their revolution because they wanted freedom and democracy. They wanted human dignity, they wanted prosperity and a better life for their children,” said Mr. Ban at a meeting with several of the country’s high-level politicians. “But let me be clear: if violent confrontations do not cease immediately, if sustainable peace is not restored, prosperity and a better life…
11 October 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Tripoli today to urge Libyan parties to press forward on peace talks and restore stability to their crisis-ridden country. According to a statement released to the press, the Secretary-General will meet later today with the Deputy President of Libya’s elected House of Representatives, other members from the House and parliamentarians who had boycotted the House sessions. The Foreign Minister of Italy as well as special envoys of a number of countries will attend the meeting as well. Mr. Ban is also accompanied by this Special Representative for Libya Bernardino Leon. The…
9 October 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined global partners, including the head of the World Bank, at a high-level conference in Washington, D.C., to combat water borne diseases like cholera in Haiti and, raise commitments to provide clean water, improved sanitation and health services in cholera endemic areas over the next three years. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim pledged $50 million ahead of the high-level conference on “Haiti: Clean Water, Improved Sanitation, Better Health” , co-hosted with the UN Secretary-General to substantially improve water and sanitation coverage in Haiti, and strengthen health services. “We have made…
10 October 2014 – Strongly condemning the recent deadly ambush of a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Security Council today deplored all attacks and provocations by armed groups against the UN stabilization mission in the country, known as MINUSCA, and underlined that such attacks may be considered war crimes. In a statement to the press, the Council “condemned in the strongest terms” yesterday’s attack against a MINUSCA convoy in the Car capital, Bangui, in which one Pakistani peacekeeper was killed and several other peacekeepers from Pakistan and Bangladesh were severely injured. In a…
6 October 2014 – The horrors of sexual violence in South sudan did not end with the ceasefire agreement, a senior United Nations official today said calling on citizens of the world’s youngest country to stand together and say “enough is enough.” Speaking at a press conference on her first visit to the country, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Bangura, said that armed men – civilians and soldiers from all parties to the conflict – are responsible, and some carry on the acts. “If allowed to continue, these rapes will haunt South sudan…
3 October 2014 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today welcomed the release of 70 Kurdish children, who were kidnapped in May while traveling from their home-town of Ai’n Al Arab in the northern Syrian governorate of Aleppo to take their final school examinations. “The physical and psychological well-being of these children is currently being assessed. We remain deeply concerned about the safety of children and teachers who are still in captivity,” said Hanaa Singer, UNICEF’s representative in Syria in a statement today. The children were kidnapped on 29 May and held in captivity for 120 days. Ms. Singer…
3 October 2014 – The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “saddened and disturbed” to learn of the death of an international humanitarian aid worker, killed when a shell landed near the International Committee of the Red Cross Headquarters in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. This incident follows the “appalling” shelling of a school in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, which resulted in the death of a number of civilians, the Secretary-General said in a statement released by his spokesperson yesterday evening. Mr. Ban is also seriously concerned over the “dangerous surge” in fighting in recent days and mounting civilian casualties. “These…
2 October 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency reported today that new data on irregular crossings of the Mediterranean in the third quarter of 2013 show an alarming increase in the numbers of people perishing while attempting to make the journey to Europe. “We are failing to heed the lessons from the terrible events of last October, and more and more refugees are drowning trying to reach safety,” said António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), referring to the tragic incident a year ago this week in which a boat carrying migrants from Libya caught fire and sank…
30 September 2014 – As the international community lays the foundation for a sustainable development agenda that will follow the Millennium Development Goals in 2016, the Foreign Minister of Belarus today urged the United Nations General Assembly to make globalization more even and equitable than it has been up to now. “Rising inequality in the world in the biggest scourge,” Vladimir Makei told the 69th high-level debate on its last day of speeches. He said the world faces a paradox, having made significant advances in strengthening various forms of equality among genders and ethnicities, and yet faces a “stubborn rise…
29 September 2014 – In attempting to seal their borders, European nations are facing an “impossible” task, the United Nations independent expert on the human rights of migrants said today, as he encouraged the European Union (EU) to identify new legal channels of migration in an effort to save lives. “Sealing international borders is impossible, and migrants will continue arriving despite all efforts to stop them, at a terrible cost in lives and suffering,” Special Rapporteur François Crépeau wrote today in an Open Letter to the EU’s Committee on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. “If Europe is to witness a significant…
29 September 2014 – Addressing the General Assembly this afternoon, Liechtenstein’s Foreign Minister, Aurelia Frick, said acts of aggression perpetrated against Ukraine and the illegal annexation of parts of its territory underline the need to enforce international law. The call for accountability is growing louder, said Ms. Frick. Victims of the gravest crimes around the world are placing their hopes for justice with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). But for truly collective work to maintain peace and security, we need a collective sense of purpose. It is difficult to reconcile that a single Security Council member…
30 September 2014 – Addressing the General Assembly this morning, Suriname’s Foreign Minister Winston Guno Lackin called on the United Nations to “develop the muscles” needed to democratize itself and move away from the “restrictive” veto power. The Latin American and the Caribbean region was a “nuclear free” zone, he said, adding that political interdependence and regional organizations have become the driving force of mutual respect and mutual benefit. On a national level, Suriname has recently reached an average per capita income of approximately $10,000 with its GDP primarily based on the mining sector, which is responsible for 90 per…