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…