7 August 2014 – The head of the UN agency mandated to defend press freedom today condemned the death of journalist Timur Kuashev in russia and called for a thorough investigation. In a press statement released from her officer, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, called for a detailed inquiry into the death of the journalist Timur Kuashev in Kabardino-Balkaria. “It is important for press freedom and for journalists to be able to carry out their professional duties without fearing for their lives. I trust that the authorities will spare no efforts in shedding light into the circumstances of the…
Author: UN News
8 August 2014 – A United Nations human rights expert today urged the international community to “act now” to avert a humanitarian disaster in Somalia, where a widening hunger crisis has sparked fears of a repeat of the 2011 famine that devastated the war-ravaged country. “The food shortage situation in Somalia is deteriorating rapidly,” warned Bahame Tom Nyanduga, a UN independent expert on the situation of human rights in the East African nation. As it stands now, around 203,000 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished while about 2.9 million people need urgent life-saving support a situation which…
8 August 2014 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today declared the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public health emergency, saying: “our collective health security” depends on urgent support for containment in the affected countries. “I am declaring the current outbreak of the Ebola a public health emergency of international concern,” WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan told a press conference in Geneva, endorsing the unanimous recommendation made by Emergency Committee of International Experts on the current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and which has now spread to Nigeria. “This is the largest,…
7 August 2014 – As Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists continue to overrun areas of northern Iraq, the United Nations has begun coordinating humanitarian assistance for displaced vulnerable ethnic and religious minorities, while Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community to support Iraq and help the Government alleviate the suffering of all those impacted by the spiralling violence. “The Secretary-General is deeply appalled at today’s reports of attacks by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Kirkuk, and Qaraqosh, and earlier attacks in Tal Afar and Sinjar district, affecting mainly the vulnerable communities of…
7 August 2014 – The challenge for the international community remains how best to impress upon all the parties involved in the Darfur conflict that a military solution and the status quo are untenable, the African Union-United Nations envoy on the region said today, urging the Security Council to play a more proactive role in supporting the holding of a successful national dialogue in Sudan. “There is broad and general consensus that the national dialogue [proposed by Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir] represents an opportunity to resolve the Darfur crisis and other crises in the Sudan,” said Mohamed Ibn Chambas,…
7 August 2014 – Two senior UN officials warned today that although the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has vastly improved since this time last year, it remains fragile and the gains are “not irreversible.” Briefing the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC and the head of the UN mission there (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler, recalled that in August 2013, the “M23 [armed militia] was knocking on the gates” of Goma, the main city in the vast country’s restive eastern region. “I am pleased to note some tangible progress. A number of…
6 August 2014 – While noting Burundi’s efforts to ensure an inclusive political climate ahead of elections in 2015, the United Nations envoy for the country warned today that the socio-political situation there remains characterized by “deep-rooted divergences and persisting mistrust between the Government and opposition parties, and between and within opposition formations as well.” “There is a lack of genuine political dialogue on major national issues; and the effect of a number of restrictive laws on freedoms of expression and assembly is still a source of controversy and concern, which is disconcerting just nine months away from the 2015…
6 August 2014 – A senior United Nations peacekeeping official today warned that after just three years of independence, South sudan is now on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and a protracted internal conflict. Briefing the Security Council on the situation there, Assistant Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations, Edmond Mulet urged the international community to “caution [all parties] with one voice on the consequences of impeding the peace process.” An estimated 1.5 million people have been uprooted in fighting that started with a political impasse in mid-December 2013 between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. The…
5 August 2014 – A final group of Congolese refugees have returned to their homes in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) under a voluntary repatriation programme by the United Nations refugee agency. A convoy of 81 refugees crossed into the DRC from the Republic of the Congo last week “marking the end of five years in exile for the group,” said UNHCR spokesperson Ariane Rummery. In 2009, some 160,000 people fled Equateur province to neighbouring Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. They were fleeing clashes that erupted between the Munzaya and Enyele communities over traditional…
7 August 2014 – The United Nations flag is flying at half-mast today at the world body’s New York Headquarters in memory of the UN staff members killed since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza on 8 July, and in solidarity with the families and friends of those injured. In Gaza, flags at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fields and installations were lowered yesterday in honour of the 11 UNRWA colleagues killed in shellings in Gaza, as well as in Syria and other field operations. “We are honoured and touched…
6 August 2014 – The top United Nations official in Iraq today urged the country’s political leadership to set aside its difference and work together to form an inclusive government that could overcome “the grave challenges” faced. The call comes ahead of an 8 August Constitutional deadline for the newly elected President Fuad Ma’soum to nominate a prime minister, who would then form a new Government. In a statement, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Nickolay Mladenov, said the new body should have “wide parliamentary approval and support from all Iraqi components.” “Only by adhering to the Constitution and upholding the democratic…
6 August 2014 – As the temporary ceasefire continues to hold in Gaza, senior United Nations officials today urged Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table, and called on the 193 Member States to respond to calls for emergency humanitarian funding. In an informal meeting of the General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that for the moment, the near constant firing of Hamas rockets and Israeli missiles and mortars has subsided. “But…we cannot rest as the suffering continues. This ceasefire has come at a price that is almost too much to bear,” said Mr. Ban, underscoring that the…
5 August 2014 – With thousands fleeing the intensifying violence in eastern Ukraine, senior United Nations officials today urged the Government to establish a central registration system which would help coordinate relief efforts for the already 117,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). “In the past seven days more than 6,200 people have been forced from their homes,” Vincent Cochetel, the Director for the European Bureau at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told reporters in Geneva today. “The current lack of a systematic and uniform system hampers the coordination and implementation of relief efforts. This is also important as the Ukrainian authorities…
4 August 2014 – Encompassing political intrigue, obsession and violence, William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Hamlet’ is being re-enacted today at the United Nations headquarters in New York by a roving troupe from the renowned Globe Theatre Company from London. An abridged version of the play, organized by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom, is being staged to mark the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. The event, ‘Globe to Globe,’ also coincides with the launch of the United Kingdom’s Presidency of the Security Council for the month of August. “It is a huge pleasure to see just how far Shakespeare has…
4 August 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced his opposition to the renewed fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, urging the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to respect a ceasefire agreement. In a statement from his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said he shares the deep concerns expressed by the Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, the group driving efforts to find a peaceful solution to conflict, and other international partners. Mr. Ban “urges all parties to respect the ceasefire agreement, refrain from further violence and commit themselves to…
31 July 2014 – In the wake of the recent downing of a passenger plane over eastern Ukraine, the United Nations and its partners have set up a task force to reduce the risks of civilian planes flying over conflict areas and ensure that the “right information reaches the right people at the right time.” The decision came at a special meeting convened earlier this week in Montreal, Canada by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), along with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airports Council International (ACI) and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO). The meeting was…
30 July 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for an immediate halt to hostilities in eastern Ukraine so that international investigators can gain access to the site where a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight crashed earlier this month. Both Mr. Ban and the United Nations Security Council have called for a full investigation into the crash of flight MH17, which went down in Donetsk Oblast on 17 July, resulting in the loss of 298 lives. They have also urged armed groups to allow unfettered access to the crash site and ensure that its integrity is maintained. A statement issued by…
5 August 2014 – As violence escalates in Libya, the United Nations today said it was deeply concerned for the safety of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers who are currently stranded in areas heavily damaged by the continuous fighting. “In Tripoli alone, more than 150 people from Eritrea, Somalia and other countries have phoned our protection hotline seeking help with medicines or a safer place to stay,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Ariane Rummery told journalists in Geneva. “We are also receiving calls from many of the mainly Syrian and Palestinian asylum-seekers and refugees in Benghazi who are in dire…
5 August 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency today sounded the alarm on behalf of the nearly 1,000 people who recently arrived in the uninhabited Chadian island of Choua after fleeing attacks by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. According to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the island of island of Choua, in Lake Chad, is about four kilometres from where the borders of Chad, Nigeria and Niger intersect. Refugees arriving there reported that they have fled violence and attacks on their village that resulted in the destruction of their houses and food reserves. The…
5 August 2014 – A unit of United Nations peacekeepers is heading to South Sudan’s Maban County after at least five South Sudanese humanitarian workers were killed earlier today by a community-based self defence militia calling itself the Mabanese Defence Forces. The UN Mission in South sudan (UNMISS), which condemned the killings, confirmed that it had dispatched four armored personnel carriers from its base in the Upper Nile State town of Melut to protect UN and humanitarian personnel. The ‘blue helmets’ will also protect some 125,000 civilians seeking shelter on the UN compound in the area, where they had fled…