6 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, saddened by the deadly violence that marred parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, has today urged restraint, calling such violence “unacceptable” and appealing to the political parties to urgently address the expectations of the country’s people for an inclusive political process. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, the UN chief expressed sadness at the loss of life and violent incidents that marred the yesterday’s parliamentary elections, which were characterized by polarization and low participation. “He regrets that the parties did not reach the kind of agreements which could have produced a peaceful, all-inclusive election…
Author: UN News
6 January 2014 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today applauded China for its first public effort to crackdown on illegal ivory trade, calling the Government’s destruction of six tonnes of confiscated ivory a “milestone event”. “International cooperation is paving the way towards improved law enforcement and increased efforts to reduce demand,” UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner said. “The largest remaining land mammal on the planet is facing one of the greatest crises to hit the species in decades,” Mr. Steiner added, calling for stronger efforts to curb the illegal trade in so-called ‘white gold’, which…
7 January 2014 – The United Nations today resumed food aid for some 100,000 displaced people in Bangui, capital of the strife-torn Central African Republic (CAR), for the first time in nearly three weeks since deliveries were suspended when machete-wielding men stormed the distribution site and food was stolen. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food, buckets, tarpaulins and water containers provided by other organizations at Bangui airport where an estimated 100,000 people have sought refuge, and plans to reach all the displaced people there within 10 days. The last food distribution took place on 18 December. At the…
7 January 2014 – As the fighting in parts of South Sudan grinds on between Government forces and rebels despite ceasefire talks, more and more civilians are fleeing to neighbouring countries, with some 2,500 people a day now seeking refuge in Uganda, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported today. As of yesterday, 23,546 South Sudanese refugees had arrived in Uganda since the conflict erupted a month ago in the world’s youngest country, which only gained independence in 2011 after seceding from Sudan, when President Salva Kiir said soldiers loyal to former deputy president Riek Machar, dismissed last July, reportedly…
6 January 2014 – Three helicopters have been deployed to the South Sudanese capital of Juba today to help reinforce United Nations peacekeeping bases in the country, a UN spokesperson confirmed, warning that relief supplies available for the thousands of civilians seeking refuge in the Bor compound are running low.The Bangladesh military choppers, on temporary loan from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), are to be used by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to transport personnel and equipment.The effort is part of a Security Council-authorized plan to double the Mission’s armed strength…
6 January 2014 – The worsening strife in the Central African Republic (CAR) with its Muslim-Christian overtones risks escalating into sustained violence along religious lines and spilling beyond the country’s borders, further destabilizing the whole region, the United Nations top political officer warned today. “Killings in Bangui (the capital) and in the rest of the country continue every day, and the population remains divided along religious affiliation,” Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council in a briefing on the impoverished nation, where thousands of people are estimated to have been killed, nearly 1 million driven from their…
5 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Jane Holl Lute as his Special Adviser for Relocation of Camp Hurriya Residents Outside of Iraq. Camp Hurriya, located near the Baghdad airport, is home to some 3,200 Iranian exiles, many of them members of a group known as the People’s Mojahedeen of Iran who have been in Iraq since the 1980s. Since 2011, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) together with the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), has been trying to find relocation opportunities outside Iraq for all camp residents. So far, the international community has secured…
3 January 2014 – A United Nations independent human rights expert urged restraint by all sides today after military police opened fire on striking garment workers in Phnom Penh, reportedly killing at least four people, as high social and political tensions in Cambodia boiled over into deadly clashes. In statement issued by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Surya P. Subedi, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, reiterated his appeal for calm after the incident, which is the third time since the disputed July 2013 general election that the authorities have shot into a crowd…
3 January 2014 – The head of the United Nations agency tasked with defending press freedom, expressed alarm today at the recent killing of six media workers in two separate incidents in Iraq and called for measures to bring those responsible to justice. The Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova, has condemned the killing of Raad Yassin, Jamal Abdel Nasser, Mohamed Ahmad Al-Khatib, Wissam Al-Azzawi and Mohamed Abdel Hamid in an attack on Salaheddin TV in Tikrit, and of Omar Al-Dulaimy in the city of Ramadi. “Once again I call on the authorities to…
4 January 2014 – The security situation in South Sudan remains “fluid”, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country today said, confirming that it is sending reinforcements to areas affected by the current fighting between pro- and anti-Government troops, particularly Bor, Malakal, Bentiu and Juba. “This is critical to enable the Mission to deliver on its mandate to protect civilians,” UNMISS said. It specified that thousands of additional police, military, logistics support and selected civilian staff are being relocated to the affected areas, per the Security Council’s authorization. Three weeks of violence in the world’s newest country have claimed…
3 January 2014 – United Nations peacekeepers in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have stepped up patrols in North Kivu province where citizens are protesting the killing of a high-ranking Congolese military official, a spokesperson confirmed today. Special Representative of the Secretary-General Martin Kobler issued a statement yesterday condemning the assassination of Colonel Mamadou Moustapha Ndala of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC). Mr. Kobler, who also heads the UN Mission in the DRC known by its French acronym MONUSCO, had met Colonel Ndala many times, calling him a “dynamic and courageous” military leader. He noted his contribution to…
3 January 2014 – The situation in crisis-torn South Sudan remains tense today and, with clashes reported between pro- and anti-Government troops in some areas and thousands of people fleeing the ongoing violence, United Nations officials in the country are urging all parties in the conflict to protect civilians and to allow humanitarian workers safe access to them. Briefing the press in Geneva today, Jens Laerke, of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), referred to a statement by Toby Lanzer, Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, who said that over the previous two weeks, violence drove some…
3 January 2014 – The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic remains dire with insecurity hampering the delivery of aid to the more than 935,000 people displaced by the violence, the United Nations refugee agency today said. “People are hiding in the bush, fearing fresh attacks,” spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva citing reports from colleagues at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Targeted attacks against civilians, looting and the presence of armed elements at some displacement sites had severely limited humanitarian agencies’ access to those in need of urgent assistance. This deteriorating situation, coupled with the long distances…
2 January 2014 – The United Nations today called on all parties in Lebanon to show restraint following the second deadly car bomb attack in less than a week, and to support the army and security forces as they seek to prevent further acts of terrorism. “This act follows the terrible bombing on 27 December and further reflects a deeply worrying escalation in the violence witnessed in Lebanon in recent months,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement issued by his spokesperson. The Security Council issued a press statement reaffirming that “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one…
2 January 2014 – Appalled by the deadly bomb attacks carried out in Mogadishu Wednesday, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, the United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlined their strong resolve to back global efforts aimed at ending the threat posed by the group and to support all measures to restore peace in long-troubled Somalia. In a statement issued to the press today in New York, the members of the Council deplored the attacks and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Dozens of people were reportedly killed and injured when two bombs detonated in front…
31 December 2013 – The top United Nations humanitarian official today expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo, where hundreds of people have been killed or injured by indiscriminate attacks in recent weeks. “I join UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in strongly condemning the attacks against civilians in Aleppo and in many other parts of Syria,” said Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos. Mr. Ban last week voiced grave concern about the continued and indiscriminate use of heavy weapons and mortar shelling in the ongoing conflict, particularly in hard-hit Aleppo which the Government has targeted with…
1 January 2014 – Amid set peace talks between the Government of South Sudan and warring rebels, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country today urged both sides to make crucial efforts to end the violence. “We call for both parties to use this first day of the new year to take a decisive step for peace,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hilde Johnson, told journalists in the South Sudanese capital, Juba. “We want to make this day, the day that the fighting stopped.” Representatives of President Salva Kiir and former deputy president Riek Machar…
31 December 2013 – The United Nations human rights office today welcomed the presidential pardon granted in Myanmar to political prisoners convicted of or prosecuted for various offences under seven specific laws, including unlawful association, peaceful assembly, treason and sedition. The pardon, granted yesterday by President Thein Sein, is an “important step” in the reform process of the last year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement. It also shows the significant progress that has been made in solving the problem of political prisoners in Myanmar, in line with the President’s pledge, the…
31 December 2013 – Concerned about ongoing protests in Cambodia which have virtually shut down the garment industry, the United Nations labour agency today called for an end to violence and destruction of property, and encouraged the factories to be reopened. “The risks arising out of the current situation are significant for a sector which continues to operate in an intensely competitive international environment,” the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) country offices for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos said in a news release. Members of the opposition have been boycotting the Cambodian National Assembly for more than five months in a…
31 December 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the staff of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), which closes today, on their important achievements over the past 11 years in ensuring accountability for crimes committed during the country’s decade-long civil war. The SCSL, an independent tribunal set up jointly by the Government of Sierra Leone and the UN, is mandated to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the country since 1996. Based in the capital city of Freetown, the Special Court carried…