Author: UN News

2 April 2014 – A senior United Nations official today urged Afghans to use this Saturday’s presidential and provincial council elections to shape the future of the country through peaceful, democratic means. “This is your chance, this is your right; you should not allow anyone to deprive you of your right to go and vote and determine, by peaceful democratic means, the future of your country,” said the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Jan Kubiš. His comments came at a press conference in the capital, Kabul, ahead of the end to the official campaigning period tonight for candidates in the…

2 April 2014 – The United Nations humanitarian wing is warning that life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in Myanmar’s Rakhine state have been seriously disrupted following the recent attacks on the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). “Life-saving assistance to displaced people, isolated villages and Rakhine communities have been seriously disrupted,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated in a news release. “The provision of water, health services, food, and protection are of particular concern.” The UN is working with the Myanmar authorities to ensure that conditions are put in place to allow humanitarian…

3 April 2014 – Now in its fourth year, the Syrian conflict hit yet another bleak milestone today, as the United Nations refugee agency reported that the number of displaced seeking refuge in neighbouring Lebanon has passed the one million mark, putting more pressure on a host community that is already stretched to the breaking point. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) now estimates that Lebanon has become the country with the highest per capita concentration of refugees worldwide, struggling to keep pace with a crisis that shows no signs of easing. Syrian refugees in the…

2 April 2014 – The United Nations confirmed today that Palestinian Authority officials have presented letters for accession to 15 international conventions and treaties. UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that the documents had been presented to Robert Serry, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. “Once we receive the letters at Headquarters, we will be reviewing them to consider the appropriate next steps,” Mr. Haq said. He added that the Palestinian leadership, including President Mahmoud Abbas upon signing the accession letters on Monday night, has repeatedly emphasized that it wants to continue the negotiations with Israel…

31 March 2014 – A group of eight United Nations human rights independent experts today urged the Egyptian authorities to quash the 529 death sentences announced in Egypt last week and give the defendants new and fair trials, in line with international human rights law. “The right to life is a fundamental right, not a toy to be played with. If the death penalty is to be used at all in countries which have not abolished it, international law requires the most stringent respect of a number of fundamental standards,” the experts said in a news statement. On 24 March…

28 March 2014 – A senior United Nations official expressed deep concern today about the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the destruction of their private property following the Israeli authorities’ recent demolition of a two-story building there, which affected a family of refugees as well as some Palestinian 15 children. The demolished building in At Tur – which included two apartments, a mosque and a medical centre – displaced a family of seven refugees, including five children, and directly affected 24 other Palestinians, including 10 children. “I am deeply concerned about the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in…

1 April 2014 – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paints a picture of persistent nutrition problems due to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and stunted growth in its latest snapshot of the Europe and Central Asia. On the eve of its biennial Regional Conference for Europe – in Bucharest, Romania – FAO concludes that although caloric intake in the 53-country region should see hunger fall to less than 1 per cent by 2050, nutrition problems continue in some of the countries today. “Caloric intake as a measure of undernourishment is currently not the major problem,” reveals the document.…

31 March 2014 – Domestic and sexual violence, sexual bullying and harassment, forced and early marriages, and female genital mutilation – all these issues and more will be on the docket as the United Nations expert tasked with monitoring violence against women launched her first mission in the United Kingdom. United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Rashida Manjoo, today began a two week investigative mission to the United Kingdom to study the manifestations of violence perpetrated in the family and in the community. “Violence against women continues to be one of the most pervasive human rights violations globally,…

28 March 2014 – A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced serious concern over the Turkish Government’s measures, taken in the context of upcoming elections, to prevent access to video-sharing website YouTube, a week after social media platform Twitter was shut down. “The right to freedom of opinion and expression is a central pillar of modern democratic societies,” the Special Rapporteur monitoring protection of that fundamental right, Frank La Rue, said. “Blocking access to YouTube and Twitter entirely unduly restricts this fundamental right. This is all the more surprising following the recent temporary court injunction against…

31 March 2014 – Our two white UN vehicles are carefully moving down the dusty and bumpy road between Kenema and Koindu in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. We pass dozens of burnt, abandoned ruins of what were once sturdy brick and stone homes, some with hundreds of bullet holes in their walls – eerie remnants of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war that started in this very spot. About 1,200 of the former warlord Charles Taylor’s rebels launched their devastating campaign here, leading to years of fighting that killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million people…

31 March 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced concern at the latest upsurge in violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), and reminded all those involved that they will be held accountable for their actions and brought to justice. A statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that the further deterioration of the security situation in the country has resulted in additional fatalities, a high number of injured, and increased hardship for the population. “The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible terms all acts of violence against civilians, and against international forces working in the Central African Republic to…

31 March 2014 – The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled against Japan in a case involving charges by Australia that the country was using a scientific research programme to mask a commercial whaling venture in the Antarctic. The Hague-based UN judicial arm ordered a temporary halt to the activities, largely involving fin, humpback and minke whales, finding that the Japanese Whaling Research Programme under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA II) is “not in accordance with three provisions of the Schedule to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).” In May 2010, Australia instituted…

31 March 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Government of Myanmar to ensure the safety and security of all staff members and their property in the wake of recent attacks against the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Rakhine state. In a telephone conversation on Sunday with President Thein Sein, Mr. Ban stressed that impunity cannot be tolerated in the context of Myanmar’s reform process and called for the protection of all civilians and the full respect for the rule of law. He also welcomed the initial measures undertaken by the authorities so far, according to…

31 March 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has followed with keen interest the electoral process in El Salvador, whose outcome has been confirmed in the election of Mr. Salvador Sánchez Cerén as President. “The United Nations looks forward to working closely with the incoming President and his Government to continue to promote human and sustainable development for all Salvadorans, in the spirit of the Peace Accords,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued by a UN spokesperson in New York. “The Secretary-General wishes to commend the Salvadoran people for their high turnout in the election as well as…

31 March 2014 – Senior United Nations relief officials began a visit to South sudan today to meet conflict-affected people and to review the ongoing response and needs amid a spiralling humanitarian crisis in the world’s youngest nation. The two-day visit by Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, and António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, comes amid the “alarming” spread of hunger and displacement in the wake of the conflict that flared up in mid-December, according to a joint news release issued by WFP and UNHCR. The fighting between Government and opposition forces has displaced…

29 March 2014 – The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned today’s attack on the Kabul headquarters of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), the second attack on an Afghan election facility in the past four days, with presidential and provincial council polls just a week away. “The Mission denounces this latest violent attack on a civilian location. It reiterates that electoral institutions and their staff should not be the targets of deliberate attacks,” UNAMA said in a statement, which confirmed that while its own neighbouring base in Kabul was hit by small arms fire during the attack, all…

28 March 2014 – Voicing concern about attacks this week on United Nations and non-governmental organization premises in Sittwe in Myanmar’s Rakhine state by unidentified groups of demonstrators, a senior UN official called on authorities to ensure the safety of aid workers there. “I call upon the Government to ensure the protection of the humanitarian and development community in Rakhine state,” Toily Kurbanov, the acting UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar, said in a statement. He stated that the UN and its partners remain determined to continue providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, and reiterated concern that any reduction of humanitarian…

28 March 2014 – The United Nations peacekeeping chief today expressed his solidarity with the Afghan people on the eve of next week’s elections and reaffirmed the world body’s support for the country through the polls and beyond. “The upcoming elections are a crucial part of Afghanistan’s political transition. I am here to underscore the UN’s commitment to transparent elections and to show solidarity with all those Afghans determined to take part and make them work,” Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous said in the capital, Kabul, as he wrapped up a three-day visit. Following Tuesday’s deadly suicide attack and…

27 March 2014 – The United Nations Human Rights Council today voted to open an international inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the final stages of a decades-long conflict that ended in 2009. Adopted by a vote of 23 in favour to 12 against with 12 abstentions, the Geneva-based Council requested the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to undertake a “comprehensive investigation” into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes by both parties, and to establish…

27 March 2014 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today certified as polio-free 11 countries in Asia that together are home to a quarter of the global population. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste constitute WHO’s South-east Asia Region. This is the fourth of six WHO regions to be certified, marking an important step towards global eradication of polio – a highly infectious virus that attacks the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. With this step, 80 per cent of the…