13 December 2014 – Somalia’s Government and the international community must work to strengthen the country’s rule of law institutions and safeguard its full transition to peace, stability and democracy, a United Nations human rights expert urged today. “The Federal Government together with the international community need to allocate adequate resources to strengthen the rule of law institutions and ensure that the interim regional administrations benefit from the New Deal Compact for Somalia,” Bahame Tom Nyanduga, a UN independent expert on the situation of human rights in the East African nation, said in a press release as he ended his…
Author: UN News
12 December 2014 – Addressing the Congress of Peru today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that despite impressive development achievements, big challenges remain – to address inequality and insecurity, deepen democracy, improve the quality of education, and protect the rights of all people regardless of gender, ethnicity, culture, religion or sexual orientation. “Your impressive achievements have moved the world closer to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” Mr. Ban said, commending the Latin American nation for advances in poverty reduction, universal education, and water supply and sanitation. “This week, Lima became the centre of global efforts toward an ambitious…
12 December 2014 – As Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman wrapped up his visit to Burundi, he met today with President, Pierre Nkurunziza, to discuss issues related to the drawdown of the United Nations Office in Burundi (BNUB), and establishment of the UN Electoral Observation Mission (MENUB). Mr Feltman welcomed both the commitment of the Government to continued political dialogue, and of the opposition to participate in the electoral process, congratulating the President on success of the Round Table held yesterday with partners of Burundi. “This was an opportunity for the partners of Burundi to lay the foundation for closer cooperation after…
11 December 2014 – Welcoming recent talks between Presidents of sudan and South Sudan, the United Nations Security Council today called on both governments to hold a high-level security meeting as soon as possible and urged all parties to refrain from violence against civilians and to expedite humanitarian access for the timely delivery of aid to all civilians in need of assistance. In a statement to the press issued this afternoon, Council members also reiterated their grave concern about the dire situation resulting from continued fighting in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in sudan. Earlier this week, the…
11 December 2014 – The United Nations atomic agency has made an appeal today for 4.6 million euros so that it can continue to undertake its monitoring and verification activities in Iran until June 2015 under the Joint Plan of Action with Iran agreed to by China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States last December. Speaking at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting this morning in Vienna, Director General Amano Yukiya Amano told the IAEA’s 35-nation board about the need for voluntary budget contributions and reiterated that the agency remains…
10 December 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he is “deeply saddened” by the death of Palestinian Minister Ziad Abu Ein, which occurred after a demonstration near Ramallah that resulted in clashes with Israeli security forces. “The Secretary-General urges the Israeli authorities to conduct a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstance of his death and appeals for calm,” Mr. Ban said in a statement by his spokesperson. “He expresses his condolences to Minister Abu Ein’s family, the Palestinian people and its leadership.” Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, also commented…
10 December 2014 – The Security Council today expressed its concern at the grave security situation in parts of Central Africa, particularly the ongoing crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) and its regional impact, the continuing threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the expansion of Boko Haram terrorist activities into countries in the sub-region. “The Security Council reiterates its strong condemnation of the appalling attacks, war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out by the LRA,” the Statement said, also citing the group’s “violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of human rights, including the LRA’s recruitment…
9 December 2014 – Despite a volatile security situation and ongoing fighting throughout the country, the Central African Republic (CAR) is now entering “a critical phase” in its transition to stability and democracy, the top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today, as he urged the international community to remain engaged in the war-torn country. In his briefing to the 15-member Council, Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, Hervé Ladsous, spotlighted a potentially explosive situation in the Car amid continuing violent clashes between the Séléka alliance and anti-Balaka militia in areas surrounding the capital, Bangui. Thousands of people are…
9 December 2014 – The United Nations Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) has destroyed a deadly assortment of weapons confiscated from internally displaced persons (IDPs) living at its civilian protection sites, the Mission has announced, amid broader efforts to defuse tensions in the young country. In a press release issued today, UNMISS declared it had fed 25 firearms, including AK-47s, and hundreds of knives, machetes and similar weapons, into a weapons shearing machine that “sliced” the items into unusable pieces. The weapons had been previously removed from residents of the Mission’s IDP camps situated in Juba, South Sudan’s capital and…
8 December 2014 – Ahead of dialogue due to begin tomorrow that is aimed at peacefully resolving the current political crisis in Libya, the top United Nations official in the country, Bernardino Leon, met with Libyan parties. According to the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Mr. Leon met with Nouri Abu Sahmein in the framework of “intense consultations” being held by the Mission to create an environment conducive to the proposed Libya-owned dialogue, which aim to explore ways to identify and agree on mechanisms for the monitoring and implementation of a ceasefire. The dialogue’s primary objective will be to…