14 February 2014 – The United Nations today is warning against the return of 130,000 South Sudanese who have fled to neighbouring countries due to the continued violence despite last month’s ceasefire accord between Government and opposition forces. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is recommending that States refrain from returning South Sudanese to the country unless cases involve people who may have committed serious human right violations, spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a news briefing in Geneva today. “UNHCR’s advisory against forced returns to South sudan remains in effect until security, rule of law and the human rights conditions improve enough…
Author: UN News
14 February 2014 – The United Nations children’s agency says it is horrified by the cruelty and violence being perpetrated against children in the Central African Republic (CAR), where at least 133 children have been killed or maimed in the past two months. Children have not been spared in the conflict in CAR, which erupted when mainly Muslim Séléka rebels launched attacks in December 2012 and has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones as mainly Christian militias known as anti-Balaka (anti-machete) have taken up arms. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), recent weeks have witnessed “unprecedented” levels of violence against…
13 February 2014 – Welcoming the start of the latest round of talks between South Sudan’s sparring factions aimed at resolving the crisis in the country, the Security Council today stressed that the dialogue will only succeed if “fully inclusive”, and called for all detained and formerly detained political leaders to be allowed to take part in the process. In a wide-ranging statement to the press that also addressed the Security Council’s ongoing concerns about human rights violations and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the world’s youngest country, the 15-nation body expressed strong support to the mediation effort being led…
12 February 2014 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged the Government of Tajikistan to fully implement its policies to eradicate and prevent torture and ill-treatment. “Tajikistan still needs to breach the gap between policies and reality,” said the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, following a three-day follow-up mission to the evaluate the implementation of the recommendations issued after his 2012 visit. “I find it very satisfying to see that my recommendations were taken so seriously and that systematic action has been initiated by the Government to implement some of them,” he stressed. Mr. Méndez…
13 February 2014 – Some 90 per cent of the 11th century archaeological site of Gao Saneye in northern mali was pillaged by Islamic extremists during their seizure of the region in 2012, traditional musical instruments and costumes were destroyed, and a World Heritage site mosque needs urgent repairs, United Nations cultural officials reported today. The report on the damage to cultural heritage in the town of Gao, addressing both sites and the cultural practices of local people, follows a UN assessment last year of Timbuktu, another major heritage site in northern Mali, which found that damage there was more…
13 February 2014 – The Security Council today renewed until the end of the year the United Nations mission helping Burundi recover from decades of ethnic war, despite the Central African country’s request to end it earlier, as it moves towards crucial elections amid political violence and intra-party tensions. In a unanimous resolution the 15-member body welcomed the continued progress that Burundi, a centrepiece of UN peacebuilding efforts to ensure that countries once ravaged by war do not relapse into bloodshed, has made towards stability, but it endorsed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s recommendation not to wrap up the UN Office in…
13 February 2014 – The United Nations has allocated an additional $10 million from its emergency humanitarian fund to support the most critical relief operations in Central African Republic (CAR), where hundreds of thousands have been uprooted by violence across the country. This is the second $10 million allocation in about two months from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support aid efforts in CAR, which has plunged into chaos and deadly violence following months of political crisis and lawlessness. An estimated 2.5 million people – well over half of the country’s 4.6 million residents – are in…
13 February 2014 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the head of the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) strongly condemned an attack near the airport in Mogadishu that resulted in a number of deaths and injuries, as well as damage to a UN vehicle. A vehicle exploded close to a UN convoy near the airport at about 12:30 local time, according to a statement issued by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Nicholas Kay. The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, which media reports say killed at least six people. “The UN in…
12 February 2014 – Standing on his hind legs to peer at a United Nations vehicle in South Sudan, he poked his head under the hood and sniffed, brown curls shaking around as he searched for explosives. This water cocker spaniel is one of eight sniffer dogs that arrived last week from the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to help with random searches in and around UN bases and some displacement camps in strife-torn South sudan . “They are here to search and indicate if people are bringing in weapons or explosives or other contraband,” said Robert Thompson, UN Mine…
12 February 2014 – Rural development is key to Africa’s prosperity, yet it has been undervalued by Governments, international lenders and policy advisers, the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a paper released today, calling for increased investment in the field. “Boosting agriculture and building around it a strong rural economy is crucial for Africa. Done right, it would create millions of much needed jobs, as well as wealth, inclusion, food security, crisis resilience, and social and political peace,” ILO Deputy Director-General for Field Operations and Partnerships, Gilbert Houngbo wrote in a commentary. “A key lesson from ILO rural…
12 February 2014 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today began to airlift food into the Central African Republic where 1.25 million people are affected by violence that the top UN refugee official now fears is “ethnic-religious cleansing”. A WFP-chartered Boeing 747 from neighbouring Cameroon landed in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), with 82 metric tons of rice the agency in a shipment, which along with 24 other flights expected over the next four weeks, the agency is calling “a lifeline”. “We are launching these airlifts at a high cost but we have no choice,”…
13 February 2014 – The United Nations/Arab Joint Special Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said officials from Russia and the United States today promised to keep working with the UN to unblock stalled Syrian peace talks, as food and medical supplies continue to reach people in long-besieged Homs. Speaking to the press in Geneva after a two hour meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov and US Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Mr. Brahimi said the officials, whose countries initiated the talks, “promised to help here, in their capitals, and elsewhere, to unblock the situation, because we are [still]…
12 February 2014 – More relief moved in today for Syrians trapped in the Old City of Homs for nearly two years without aid, and more evacuees moved out, as Government and opposition delegates met in Geneva in United Nations-sponsored talks seeking to end the bloody conflict.UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi, who yesterday said scant progress was being made in the talks which he is mediating, today met both delegations simultaneously, but made no statement afterwards.Tomorrow, he will hold a joint meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov and United States Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in…
12 February 2014 – More than 20 vital United Nations construction projects for schools and housing in Gaza are stalled, and social and economic conditions are worsening due to the closure of crossings with Israel as clashes have increased, the top UN envoy for the Middle East warned today. “I sincerely hope that the Israeli authorities will fully adhere to their commitment to reopen Gaza for construction materials for UN projects”, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry said after a visit to Gaza, where a ceasefire ending eight days of fierce fighting between Israel and…
11 February 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council today warmly welcomed the re-launching of negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem and pledged the commitment of the United Nations to these efforts. Mr. Ban, in a statement issued in New York, welcomed the finalization of a joint communiqué and a formal re-launch of the talks by Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, who met today at the UN Protected Area in the capital, Nicosia. “I commend the leaders for their commitment to resuming negotiations and for their hard…
11 February 2014 – Over the next two and a half years, the United Nations food agency will provide technical assistance to Belarus in managing its stocks of obsolete pesticides, it was announced today. The effort is part of a joint plan with the European Union, launched in 2012 throughout the former Soviet Union, to build capacity to minimize the threats from hazardous waste to human health and the environment, as well as to strengthen legislation and build capacity in the management of pesticide containers. An estimated 200,000 tons of obsolete pesticides, around 40 per cent of the world’s stockpiles,…
10 February 2014 – Building on the “remarkable progress” made in Kosovo during 2013, particularly with regard to local elections, both parties must consolidate “the critical achievements”; Pristina and Belgrade must continue their dialogue to reach regional reconciliation, stability and prosperity, the top United Nations official there said today. “It will be essential for Belgrade and Pristina to consolidate the historic progress achieved thus far, and to overcome, gradually but steadily, the many outstanding issues through dialogue,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative, Farid Zarif, told the Security Council. Mr. Zarif, who was presenting Mr. Ban’s latest report to the…
12 February 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the start yesterday of the South sudan political talks between the Government and the opposition, and stressed the need for the parties to adhere to the ceasefire signed last month. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and some 870,000 others have fled their homes, 145,000 of them to neighbouring countries and 75,000 to United Nations bases within the country, since fighting broke out on 15 December between the forces of President Salva Kiir and former deputy president Riek Machar. The political talks between the Government of South sudan…
11 February 2014 – Afghanistan’s new national policy to protect the rights of some 630,000 internally displaced people recognizes that all Afghans have the right to freedom of movement and residence, the United Nations refugee agency today detailed. The new policy, drafted with assistance from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), was launched today in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Briefing journalists in Geneva, spokesperson Melissa Fleming said the UN agency welcomed the newly adopted policy and was “encouraged” that it acknowledged the central responsibility of the Government in preventing conditions that lead to displacement, such as fighting. It also placed…
8 February 2014 – Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by 14 per cent last year, according to a new report released on Saturday by the United Nations, which also found that it was the worst year since 2009 in terms of the number of women and children killed or injured as a result of conflict-related violence. The 2013 Annual Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, produced by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recorded a total of 8,615 civilian casualties with 2,959 civilian deaths and 5,656 injured last year. The figures mark a 7 per cent increase…