8 May 2015 – While Efforts have been made in Mauritius to ensure that older persons fully enjoy their rights, the United Nations rights expert on the issue stressed today that “law is not enough” and encouraged the authorities to make detection of elder abuse and law enforcement a priority. “The authorities’ firm commitment to putting older people first needs to translate into deeds,” said Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, at the end of her first official visit to the country. “Their situation cannot be seen in isolation as…
Author: UN News
8 May 2015 – The eruption of pre-election violence in Burundi last month has seen over 50,000 people flee to neighbouring countries and threatens to undo some of the most promising developments in recent refugee history in Africa, the United Nations body tasked with protecting displaced people said in Geneva today. “Many of these have crossed into Rwanda (25,004), but over the last week we have also seen a sharp increase in people seeking asylum in Tanzania (17,696) after entry restrictions there were lifted,” said, Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),…
7 May 2015 – Thousands of women and children in regions where Boko Haram violence has spilled into Cameroon, Niger and Chad, face a gruelling lean season and worsening malnutrition, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned today. “Women displaced by conflict have lost their husbands, walked for days to safety and rely on the support of already-vulnerable communities,” said Denise Brown, WFP Regional Director for West Africa, stressing that “the lean season is upon us, and as local granaries are emptying, women tell of their families going hungry.” The current lean season – when food needs among the…
7 May 2015 – Sexual violence is being committed strategically, in a widespread and systematic manner, and with a high-degree of sophistication by most parties to the conflict in Syria and Iraq, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, said today as she briefed journalists on her “scoping mission” to the region in April. “Women and girls are at risk and under assault at every point of their lives,” Ms. Bangura declared, emphasizing that the threat of brutality followed them “every step of the way…in the midst of active conflict, in areas under control…
6 May 2015 – The United Nations Special Envoy on Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, is conducting intensive consultations aimed at getting the political process back on track for the country, where conflict erupted in late March. Starting the process with a visit to Paris, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed met officials from the Office of the French President and the Foreign Ministry, as well as the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperative Council. Tomorrow, the Special Envoy will travel to Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, for meetings with President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, Vice President Khaled Bahah and other Yemeni officials, as…
6 May 2015 – As Liberia bounces back from the “national nightmare” of a devastating Ebola epidemic which claimed more than 4,000 lives, the country must also prepare for a series of future challenges – from the build-up of its security sector to the undertaking of critical presidential elections in 2017, according to Karin Landgren, the head of the United Nations Mission there (UNMIL). On the heels of her presentation of the Secretary-General’s latest report on UNMIL to the Security Council, Ms. Landgren voiced optimism that the West African nation had weathered the worst of the Ebola crisis as the…
5 May 2015 – Liberia is expected to be declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) within the week if no more new cases of the disease are discovered before then, the top United Nations official in Liberia said today as she briefed the Security Council. “After almost 14 months spent under the cloud of Ebola, this will be joyful news for the country,” said Karin Landgren, Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Liberia. “Liberians and their Government, with support from the UN and ineternational partners, have gotten firmly ahead of the epidemic. Now, all Liberians must remain vigilant.”…
4 May 2015 – The head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has condemned today’s attack on a UN helicopter near the city of Beni as “unacceptable and intolerable.” “I strongly condemn the firing at one of our helicopters in Beni territory,” declared Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a statement released from the capital, Kinshasa. The attack took place in the morning of May 4th, in the area of Oicha, 20 km north of Beni. The helicopters were fired upon…
4 May 2015 – The United Nations has hailed South Sudan’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as the African nation takes a critical step towards protecting and promoting the rights of all children. “We applaud South Sudan for ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” declared the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in a press release issued earlier today. “We urge States that have ratified the Convention, now including South Sudan, to fulfil their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of all children. Ratification is an…
2 May 2015 – After a reported overnight attack on Yarmouk refugee camp, the United Nations relief agency assisting Palestinians across the Middle East has called on the Syrian Government to refrain from using explosive weapons in populated areas, “including airborne weapons, whose indiscriminate effects expose civilians to imminent danger and suffering.” In a press release, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said it is increasingly alarmed about the safety of civilians in Yarmouk, amid reports overnight of armed clashes, the use of heavy weapons and air strikes. “Civilians in the camp…
21 April 2015 – The road to peace is a complex and winding one, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said today during her visit to Colombia, a country with a “unique opportunity to evolve into a society” where everyone enjoys rights equally and without discrimination. “I am aware that not everyone is convinced that peace is the best option for Colombia. But it is clear that peace is the best – the only – option,” said Flavia Pansieri, who travelled to Bogotá, Putumayo and Cauca where she met with authorities, ministers, representatives of civil society, as…
1 May 2015 – The United Nations is proceeding with its investigation of the events surrounding the release to a third party of an internal report on allegations of sexual misconduct by French military personnel in the Central African Republic (CAR), a spokesperson for the Organization has confirmed. In a statement issued on 29 April, the UN spokesperson’s office said the report – the result of an investigation conducted by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the CAR in late spring of 2014 – was provided to “an external party” in mid-July 2014 in…
1 May 2015 – The number of South Sudanese refugees who have fled to Ethiopia since fighting broke out in South Sudan in mid-December 2013 has passed the 200,000 mark and more are expected amid fresh conflict across the border, the United Nations refugee agency reported today. “We have to save lives. We are conducting registration of refugees with an increased number of staff at entry points,” said Alexander Kishara, who heads the activities of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Gambella, Ethiopia. “UNHCR is also working with partners to provide water, sanitation and shelter,”…
30 April 2015 – Civil unrest continued for a fourth day in areas of Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura, after current President Nkurunziza was nominated by the ruling National Council for the Defence of Democracy – Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party as their candidate for upcoming presidential elections, the United Nations relief arm reported today. According to a report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region, Said Djinnit, is currently in Burundi meeting with Government representatives to urge them to ensure security,…
30 April 2015 – On his first visit to Gaza, the new United Nations envoy on the Middle East peace process pledged today the Organization’s ongoing support for efforts to reconstruct the war-ravaged enclave, lift Israel’s years-long blockade there and help strengthen Palestinian unity. UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, appointed in February, said he met with the various political entities, government representatives, civil society and the business community, “to identify how best the United Nations can contribute both to the reconstruction effort, but also to the effort to strengthen the unity of Palestine.” “Let…
30 April 2015 – The head of the United Nations body mandated to defend freedom of expression and press freedom called today for an investigation into the killing of a journalist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 16 April. Soleil Balanga was killed in the town of Monkoto, in the northern province of Equateur, after having used a megaphone to broadcast news in the streets of his town after the transmitter of his local radio station, Monkoto Soso Aleli, had broken down. “I am shocked by the brutal murder of Soleil Balanga, which I strongly condemn,” Irina, Bokova,…
29 April 2015 – The Secretary-General has today strongly condemned the shelling and aerial bombardment of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, which occurred despite assurances from the Syrian Government that the camp would not be targeted while civilians remained inside. “Thousands of civilians in the camp are besieged by terrorist and other armed groups on the inside and Government forces on the outside,” said the Ban Ki-moon in a statement released today by his Spokesperson. “The Secretary-General calls on the Government to immediately end any military operation that could endanger the lives of civilians in Yarmouk camp and abide…
29 April 2015 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today said that surveillance and community engagement still require improvement in some areas of Guinea and Sierra Leone where new cases continued to surface, a day after the new Special Representative for UN Ebola Response, Peter Graff, was informed of a continued transmission epicentre on the border between those two countries. Mr. Graff joined outgoing Special Representative Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, on a visit to Freetown, Sierra Leone, during which they were briefed by the National Ebola response Centre (NERC)…
29 April 2015 – Somalia in 2014 exported a record five million livestock to markets in the Gulf of Arabia thanks to heavy investments in animal disease prevention backed by the European Union and the United Kingdom, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today. This is the highest number of live animals exported from Somalia in the last 20 years. The FAO data indicates that Somalia exported 4.6 million goats and sheep, 340,000 cattle and 77,000 camels in 2014, worth an estimated $360 million. Livestock is the mainstay of the Somali economy, contributing 40 per cent to…
28 April 2015 – Amid an upsurge in violence in Mali, the top United Nations official there today warned parties about the serious consequences their actions could have on the country’s peace process. “I urge the parties to immediately cease hostilities and to return to their positions. This resurgence of tensions imperils everybody’s efforts to restore lasting peace in Mali,” said Mongi Hamdi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). At around noon today, MINUSMA was informed about an attack conducted by GATIA and MAA-Plateforme in the town of Ménaka, which is currently…