7 February 2014 – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom today deplored the killing of Cambodian journalist Suon Chan and called for those responsible for the killing to be brought to justice. “I am appalled by the brutal killing of Suon Chan,” Irina Bokova, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said in a news release. “Society as a whole suffers when violence is used to silence journalists in the line of duty. The perpetrators of this crime should be brought to justice to strengthen freedom of expression and press…
Author: UN News
7 February 2014 – Three months after Typhoon Haiyan devastated central Philippines, United Nations agencies and their partners are refocusing their priorities to longer-term assistance aimed at getting children back in to classrooms and parents to work. “Our focus to date has been on providing life-saving aid to those children and communities that were hardest hit by the Typhoon and who are most at risk,” said Angela Kearney, the UNICEF Representative in the Philippines. “We are making real progress, but so much more needs to be done to restore these children’s rights and to return to them their chance to…
11 February 2014 – The top United Nations peacekeeping official today warned of difficult challenges in solving the conflict between the Government and opposition in South Sudan, as humanitarian officials reported that they have only been able to aid about a third of the nearly 900,000 people displaced by the fighting. “It is going to be a very long, complex process to address all the deep roots of this very big crisis,” Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Security Council on the crisis, including efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional East…
11 February 2014 – The security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital of Bangui continues to deteriorate, with targeted assassinations and rising violence and criminality on the streets, the United Nations human rights office today warned, adding that it is particularly worried about the “climate of complete impunity” in the country. “Brazen” public admissions from anti-Balaka elements claiming responsibility for crimes and murders they have committed “are furthering the culture of impunity and encouraging more people to resort to violence,” the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville, told journalists in Geneva. There…
10 February 2014 – Released detainees from the sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) must be part of the national political dialogue in South Sudan, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country reiterated today as anti- and pro-Government representatives prepare to meet for a new round of peace talks. The UN Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) “underscores the necessity of the national political dialogue to continue without delay to reach a comprehensive peace agreement, with the participation of all South Sudanese political and civil society representatives,” a UN spokesperson told journalists in New York. Anti- and pro-Government representatives are expected…
11 February 2014 – United Nations-sponsored talks between the Syrian Government and opposition that resumed yesterday are making scant progress in ending the “nightmare” of the civil war, the top mediator said today, calling for a quicker pace as officials voiced “deep concern” at the detention by the authorities of men and boys leaving a long besieged city. “The beginning of this week is as laborious as it was in the first week [of the talks]…I’m urging everybody to speed up,” UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi told a news briefing in Geneva of the latest diplomatic push to…
11 February 2014 – The United Nations said today that it is receiving more reports of civilian casualties and further displacement within Iraq as the conflict in Anbar province continues. Over the last six weeks up to 300,000 Iraqis – some 50,000 families – have been displaced due to insecurity around Fallujah and Ramadi in the province, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported. The Iraqi Government estimates that it will initially need $35 million to address humanitarian needs caused by the Anbar crisis, which began at the end of 2013, including providing food, bedding and other supplies. UNHCR…
11 February 2014 – A senior United Nations official today appealed to all parties in the Syrian conflict to ensure unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need, especially the thousands of Palestinian refugees languishing in the besieged Damascus suburb of Yarmouk. Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), told a news conference in New York that the agency was able to deliver about 6,500 food parcels and 10,000 polio vaccines in the past couple of weeks, but that this is “a drop in the…
10 February 2014 – A third shipment of chemical weapons material was removed from Syria today, the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations confirmed. “The Syrian Arab Republic is encouraged to expedite systematic, predictable and high-volume movements to complete the safe removal of chemical materials,” the OPCW-UN joint mission said in a note to journalists. Accompanied by naval escorts from China, Denmark, Norway and Russia, the Norwegian cargo vessel ship is sailing for international waters where it will be met by British naval escorts. In addition, Finnish experts are onboard…
10 February 2014 – United Nations-sponsored talks between the Syrian Government and opposition resumed today, 10 days after a first round ended with little progress, in efforts to end the civil war, as an already- violated ceasefire to allow humanitarian access to a city cut off by siege for nearly two years was extended for another three days. UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi met negotiators from both sides in Geneva to discuss the agenda of the second round of talks, centring on an end to violence and terrorism and the establishment of a transitional governing body. The basis…
5 February 2014 – A mosaic based a on a work by American artist Norman Rockwell, long a favourite attraction on tours of the United Nations in New York, has been re-dedicated following its restoration during the reconstruction of the Headquarters complex. Entitled “Golden Rule,” the work was presented to the UN in 1985 as a gift on behalf of the United States by then First Lady Nancy Reagan. The half-ton mosaic depicts people of different nationalities standing together with the words “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” inscribed on the surface. Speaking at the…
10 February 2014 – A senior United Nations official today condemned the latest wave of violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital Bangui, including the killing of a member of the National Transitional Council, and called for those responsible to be brought to account. In a news release, the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Car (BINUCA) said its head General Babacar Gaye, condemned the killing of transition politician Jean-Emmanuel Ndjaroua by unidentified armed attackers, and equally deplored the latest round of “unnecessary and indiscriminate violence that creates a climate of fear and encourages the emergence of acts of…
7 February 2014 – The United Nations refugee agency warned today that the violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has sent thousands of people streaming into neighbouring countries, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced plans to open a preliminary investigation into alleged war crimes being committed amid the ongoing sectarian bloodshed. A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said nearly 9,000 people – most Central Africans but also foreign nationals from Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria and Mali – have fled Car for neighbouring Cameroon. “That brings the number of Car refugees in Cameroon to more than…
7 February 2014 – The United Nations has extended its relief operations in the South Sudanese town of Malakal, scene of some of the fiercest fighting between Government and opposition forces, moving outside its base where it is sheltering 28,000 civilians to reach 10,000 others driven from their homes. “This is the first aid to reach the displaced people outside of the UN base in Malakal,” UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba told a news briefing in Geneva today. “Insecurity as well as wide-spread looting of humanitarian assets meant that UNHCR and other agencies were unable to deliver aid…
9 February 2014 – A top United Nations official said she is deeply disappointed that a three-day humanitarian pause agreed between the parties to the Syrian conflict was broken on Saturday and aid workers were deliberately targeted as they tried to deliver food and medicine to Homs. The comments by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos comes as UN aid workers have reportedly again faced gun and mortar fire as they took more urgently needed assistance into the besieged city. “I extend my sympathies to people who were injured in fighting and commend the courage and tenacity of the UN…
7 February 2014 – As the first of 2,500 Syrians trapped by war in the Old City of Homs without aid for nearly two years were evacuated today under a three-day accord allowing people out and aid in, the United Nations called for immediate access to nearly 1.6 million others throughout the country who have been without regular food or medical supplies for many months. “I continue to call for the safe and voluntary evacuation of all civilians and for full access for humanitarian workers to help people caught in similar situations across Syria,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos…
7 February 2014 – The Olympic spirit of fair play, mutual respect and friendly competition “melts away barriers” and sets an example for international relations, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told tens of thousands of spectators and tens of millions of others watching on television around the world at the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, today. “The Olympics and Paralympics bring out the best in athletic achievement,” he said in a video message broadcast at the ceremony. “The Olympic Flame also illuminates hope for our common humanity. Even in the cold winter weather, barriers between people…
7 February 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated the urgency of ending the political crisis in Ukraine through dialogue and the need to prevent further violence, as he met with the country’s President ahead of the opening ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Victor Yanukovych briefed the Secretary-General at length on the genesis of the crisis and recent developments, according to a read-out of the meeting issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson. The Ukrainian capital, Kiev, has been witnessing mass protests since late November, following a Government decision not to sign an agreement on broader integration with the European…
6 February 2014 – In Sochi, Russia, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today praised the power of sport to promote human rights and unite people regardless of their age, race, class, religious, ability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity in a first of its kind address to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). “We must all raise our voices against attacks on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people,” Mr. Ban said as the first UN chief to address an IOC session. “We must oppose the arrests, imprisonments and discriminatory restrictions they face.” Mr. Ban cited Principle 6 of the Olympic…
6 February 2014 – Nearly four months after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Bohol Island, the top United Nations relief official in the Philippines is calling on donors to provide an additional $19 million for urgent shelter needs, as well as health, education and early recovery efforts in the affected areas. “We are continuing to support the authorities’ efforts on many fronts and will not forget the plight of people affected in Bohol,” said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Luiza Carvalho today as she noted that since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Bohol on 15 October last year, Philippines…