5 February 2014 – Calling the role of women in decision-making vital for Afghanistan’s future, the top United Nations official there said today the level of their participation in Presidential and Provincial Council elections on 5 April will be “a key measure of success” of the polls. “Participation as candidates, electoral workers, observers, and voters is a key democratic right of all women,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Ján Kubiš told a national conference on women and elections in Kabul, the capital. “For Afghanistan, your participation in the civic life and decision-making of the nation strengthens its representative institutions and…
Author: UN News
6 February 2014 – United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson and former South African President Thabo Mbeki today stressed the need for global efforts to address the problem of illicit financial flows from Africa, which have crippled the continent’s development over the last few decades. It is estimated that Africa loses over $50 billion a year in illicit financial flows, far exceeding the amount of official development assistance the continent receives. Addressing the opening session of the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, held at UN Headquarters, Mr. Eliasson said the $50 billion in losses is a “staggering”…
6 February 2014 – The United Nations and the African Union (AU) affirmed their common commitment “to put an end to history’s oldest and least condemned crime” by signing landmark agreement on the prevention of and response to conflict-related sexual violence in Africa, a senior UN official today said. “All good forces must work together to combat the horrible scourge of sexual violence in war and conflict,” said the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, who co-signed the document with Ambassador Smaïl Chergui, of Algeria, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union. The agreement focuses…
5 February 2014 – Up to 7 million people in strife-torn South Sudan, nearly two thirds of the total population, are at risk of some level of food insecurity, with 3.7 million already facing acute or emergency levels, the United Nations warned today, painting a much grimmer picture of a major nutrition crisis than just three weeks ago. “Markets have collapsed, infrastructure is damaged, foreign traders have fled, commodity supply corridors have been disrupted by violence, and rural populations are unable to bring their crops, livestock and fish to market for sale,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative Sue…
5 February 2014 – Senior United Nations officials today welcomed parliamentary approval of an amnesty law covering acts of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) dating back to mid-2000 as “the next step in bringing sustainable peace.” Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes, Mary Robinson and the team of Envoys dealing with the region – referred to as the “E-Team” – comprised of Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, as well as United States Special Envoy Russ Feingold, African Union Special Representative, Boubacar Diarra and the European Union Senior Coordinator Koen Vervaeke, welcomed…
6 February 2014 – The United Nations today welcomed a long-sought accord to let in convoys with life-saving supplies for 500 Syrian families trapped by war in the Old City of Homs without any aid for two years, but voiced growing concern at the slow pace in ridding the country of chemical weapons, calling for swifter action. But even with deadlines being pushed back several times in carrying out the agreement brokered by russia and the United States under which Syria renounced its chemical weapons material and joined the 1992 Convention banning them, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced hope that the…
6 February 2014 – Government and opposition forces in Syria are committing war crimes by using civilian suffering, such as blocking access to food, water and health services, as a method of war, United Nations experts said today, highlighting the “most critical” situation of a quarter of a million people under siege. “As reports are piling up of indiscriminate shelling of civilians, enforced disappearances and executions, another horror of the war in Syria is becoming apparent: the deprivation of basic necessities of life and the denial of humanitarian relief as a method of war,” they warned, calling on all sides…
5 February 2014 – The number of people displaced by the civil war inside Syria is expected to nearly double from some 3.5 million today to 6.5 million by the end of the year, a senior United Nations official said today. Nearly 2.5 million others have already sought refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Regional Coordinator for Syria, Amin Awad, told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York, noting that the total funding sought for both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) for 2014 totals $6.5 billion, $2.4 billion for the former and $4.2 billion…
5 February 2014 – The Syrian Government moved the majority of content from its 34 national museums into safe havens, a senior United Nations official today said, warning that the nearly three-year conflict has nevertheless dealt a major blow to the country’s vast and varied cultural heritage. “The damages to museums is less important than it would have been otherwise because of this preventive action, which of course we praise and consider very, very important,” said Francesco Bandarin, Assistant Director-General for Culture at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Briefing journalists in New York, Mr. Bandarin said the…
5 February 2014 – The United Nations envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, strongly condemned the attack on the country’s foreign ministry today which killed and injured a number of people. “Baghdad today regretfully suffered a series of terrorist attacks. Those who orchestrate such attacks should be condemned by all political, religious and civic leaders in this country,” Mr. Mladenov, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said in a news release. Mr. Mladenov extended his deepest condolences to the families of those killed, to the Government of Iraq, to Foreign Affairs Minister Hoshyar…
5 February 2014 – Spain should investigate alleged atrocities committed in its 1930s Civil War and under the regime of Francisco Franco that followed, a United Nations independent expert today urged. Pablo de Greiff, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence urged Spanish authorities to withdraw the 1977 Amnesty Law that shields any Franco era crime from being put under trial. “It is essential that the State finds ways to provide access to justice for the victims,” Mr. de Greiff said, adding that the Government must also protect the rights that the alleged perpetrators,…
3 February 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to russia later this week to take part in the opening of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, his spokesperson announced today. Mr. Ban will depart New York tomorrow for the Games, which will be held from 7 to 23 February in Sochi, situated along Russia’s Black Sea coast. The Games are the first to be hosted by the Russian Federation. While in Sochi, the Secretary-General will hold bilateral meetings with world leaders also attending the Games, his spokesperson said. He is expected to return to New York on Saturday. Ahead of…
5 February 2014 – The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) strongly condemned today the shooting death of a national staffer working for the UN peacekeeping mission in the country. In a statement issued by his office, Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) said the staff member was shot dead this morning while heading to work in Beni, a city located in the restive north-eastern part of the vast Great Lakes country. “On behalf of the entire Mission, I strongly condemn…
4 February 2014 – Concerned that some Thai people were unable to vote after national elections were reportedly disrupted by protests over the weekend, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue, and underscored that any actions that undermine democratic processes cannot be condoned. “While he recognizes the complexity of the situation and that some chose not to participate in the election, the Secretary-General is concerned that a number of Thai people were not able to exercise their right to vote,” said a note to correspondents issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson last evening.…
4 February 2014 – Amid continued fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and partners are setting up temporary classrooms for more than 20,000 children in the capital, Bangui, and in the north-west of the country, with more on the way. “Many schools had been destroyed, and in times of conflict children really needed some form of normality in their lives,” spokesperson Patrick McCormick said in a briefing in Geneva. Being back in class gave children a “sense of a return to normalcy, stability, and hope for the future”, he added, while the UN…
4 February 2014 – United Nations agencies and their humanitarian partners in South sudan launched a revised appeal today, calling for $1.27 billion to help more than 3 million people who continue to suffer the consequences of the conflict in the strife-torn country. “The priority is to save lives now, and ensure that we have food, medicine and other lifesaving supplies prepositioned in the field, in easy reach of aid agencies before the rains hit and the roads become impassable,”said Toby Lanzer, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for South sudan. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),…
3 February 2014 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on the Seychelles, an Indian Ocean island off the east coast of Africa, to prevent and fight trafficking in persons, while noting that the problem remains hidden owing to a lack of awareness. “The potential scale of the problem of trafficking in persons in the country, its trends and scope appears to be underestimated or unknown, and needs to be further investigated by the Government and law enforcement agencies,” Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, has warned following her first official visit to…
3 February 2014 – The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today urged demonstrators to use peaceful means to express themselves after protestors stoned several UN vehicles, injuring at least one peacekeeper and four local civilians. According to the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, demonstrators in the north-eastern town of Bunia stoned several UN cars early this morning. “This kind of assault on civilians and on our staff is not acceptable, whatever the reason,” said mission chief Martin Kobler, adding well wishes to all people injured. During…
3 February 2014 – The United Nations decision to shelter 85,000 civilians on its peacekeeping bases in South sudan during recent fighting saved thousands or even tens of thousands of lives, the UN peacekeeping chief stressed today, citing it as an example of what the world body stands for. “Deaths that don’t occur don’t make news,” Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous after a two-day visit to the conflict-torn State, commending the UN Mission in South sudan (UNMISS) for sheltering the civilians on 10 bases around the country. “Had this not been done, then it would have been many thousands…
3 February 2014 – The Security Council today wrapped up a two-day visit to Mali, where it got a first-hand look at United Nations efforts to assist the West African nation as it emerges from crisis and tackle a host of political, security, development and humanitarian challenges. The Government is seeking to restore stability and rebuild following a series of setbacks since early 2012, including a military coup d’état, renewed fighting between Government forces and Tuareg rebels, and the seizure of its northern territory by radical Islamists. The Council last April authorized the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in mali…