SECRETARY-GENERAL SETS OUT FOUR OPTIONS FOR UN MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

SECRETARY-GENERAL SETS OUT FOUR OPTIONS FOR UN MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA New York, Apr 11 2008 7:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has outlined four options for the future of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmee/index.html">UNMEE), including the possibility of axing the mission, because of restrictions imposed by Eritrea on its side of the disputed border.

In a special <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2008/226">report on UNMEE, released today, Mr. Ban warns that none of the options are ideal as they all bear serious risks and would not resolve the impasse created by the Eritrean restrictions. Ending the mission could result in a return to open hostilities, for example, he says.

"Yet the prevailing circumstances seriously limit the available courses of action," the Secretary-General writes.

One option is for the mission to resume unchanged, so long as Eritrea lifts all restrictions, resumes fuel supplies to UNMEE and allows it to perform the tasks envisaged in the cessation of hostilities agreement in 2000 that ended the last border war.

A second option is to terminate the mission altogether, while another option would be to deploy a small observer mission to only the border area to try to defuse tensions between the armed forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The final option would be to set up liaison offices in the two capitals, Addis Ababa and Asmara, to allow the UN to remain ready to help the parties implement their peace agreement from 2000, including the demarcation of the border.

Mr. Ban outlines the advantages and disadvantages of all the options, and calls on Security Council members to decide as quickly as possible on the best way to go forward.

He also urges Ethiopia and Eritrea, "in the interest of regional peace and security, to take into account the serious consequences of the continued stalemate and accept the assistance of the Security Council and my good offices in fully implementing the agreements they have entered into."

Mr. Ban says he will submit a further report to the Council before 31 July, when the current mandate of UNMEE is due to expire, detailing his ongoing consultations with all the parties.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM MUST RESULT IN PROFOUND CHANGES - ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM MUST RESULT IN PROFOUND CHANGES – ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT New York, Apr 11 2008 7:00PM Security Council reform must be about more than just changing the composition of its membership, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim says, calling on the body to be "based on an equilibrium of interests rather than a balance of power."

In an opinion column for the United Kingdom-based pan-Arab <i>Al-Hayat</i> newspaper, published yesterday, Mr. Kerim wrote that reform of the Council must lead to "a new culture of international relations" based on full respects for human rights, human security, responsibility to protect and sustainable development.

While changing the Council's composition is a necessary first step, it should not be viewed as an end in itself.

Instead, Council members should be "ready to share responsibility, willing and able to act to protect human life – as the body of last resort – whatever and wherever the threat may be."

Mr. Kerim said such ideas are needed because "our present institutional structures are too rigidly anchored in an international system where pre-eminence is given to the State as the primary interlocutor and agent of change."

He called for renewal of the UN as a whole, for the Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and for other international and regional bodies.

<"http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2008/080411_Kerim.doc.htm">Speaking to reporters today at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Kerim echoed those remarks.

Council reform, he said, must have "a more profound meaning than just enlargement. It has to mean adaptation of the institutions, of the United Nations above all, and that goes for the General Assembly and the Secretariat as well. It all has to adapt to a new, very different world."

Yesterday the President told a working group on Council reform that Member States should show "effective flexibility" in their negotiations on reshaping the 15-member body, and ensure that the concerns of all sides are taken into account, especially those currently underrepresented.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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UN FUNDING APPEAL FOR KENYA BOOSTED BY $150 MILLION DUE TO DROUGHT

UN FUNDING APPEAL FOR KENYA BOOSTED BY $150 MILLION DUE TO DROUGHT New York, Apr 11 2008 6:00PM The United Nations announced today it has upped by $150 million its emergency aid appeal for Kenya, where severe drought has followed hard on the heels of civil conflict that erupted after disputed elections earlier this year and left hundreds of thousands displaced.

Inadequate rainfall in the latter part of last year has been blamed for drought in the Horn of Africa, which is also expected to lead to reduced crop harvests in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and south-central Somalia.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080">OCHA) said that 840,000 people are at risk from the drought in the northern parts of the country, in addition to the 500,000 people affected by post-conflict disruptions nationwide.

OCHA's Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan for Kenya now requests a total of $189 million, including the funding received since the original plan was launched in January, to cover humanitarian needs through 2008.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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NEARLY $68 MILLION SOUGHT TO AID ETHIOPIAN DROUGHT VICTIMS - UN

NEARLY $68 MILLION SOUGHT TO AID ETHIOPIAN DROUGHT VICTIMS – UN New York, Apr 11 2008 5:00PM The Ethiopian Government and its humanitarian partners have appealed for $67.7 million to assist drought victims in the East African nation, where some 2.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA) reported today.

Inadequate rainfall in the latter part of last year has been blamed for drought in the Horn of Africa, which is also expected to lead to reduced crop harvests in Djibouti, Eritrea, northern parts of Kenya and south-central Somalia.

In Ethiopia, in addition to those in need of food aid, around 947,000 vulnerable people will continue to receive assistance under the country's Productive Safety Nets Programme. Set up by the Government in 2005, the relief-to-development project aims to end dependency on food aid.

Earlier this month, OCHA said that food security in the country continues to be a concern, despite rainfall in some areas, adding that Ethiopians are resorting to borrowing food and slaughtering calves.

A total of almost 172,000 metric tons of food aid is required for those in need. In addition, special attention will be given to health and nutrition, water and sanitation, and agriculture to help address the adverse impact of the drought.

Speaking in Addis Ababa at the launch of the Joint Government and Humanitarian Partners' 2008 Humanitarian Requirement Plan, the head of OCHA in Ethiopia expressed his concern at the humanitarian situation in the country, and stressed the need for the aid community to work together to alleviate the plight of the suffering.

"The continued collaboration by all humanitarian actors in Ethiopia for the benefit of the most vulnerable in the country is highly appreciated, and we look forward to strengthening this collaboration," stated Vincent Lelei.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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SRI LANKAN SUICIDE ATTACK CONDEMNED BY UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF

SRI LANKAN SUICIDE ATTACK CONDEMNED BY UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF New York, Apr 11 2008 5:00PM The United Nations' top human rights official has deplored the suicide bombing last weekend at the start of a marathon in Sri Lanka that claimed the lives of at least 15 people, including a minister in the national Government.

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, issued a <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/AD0AA3480DCDF986C125742700552D90?opendocument">statement yesterday in which she also extended her condolences to the families of the victims.

"Such violence shows a complete disregard for the right to life and security of Sri Lankans, and breaches the most fundamental principles of international law," she said.

Last Sunday's bombing killed Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, the national athletics coach and a former top marathoner among others as they waited to see off runners in Weliweriya. It also injured dozens of athletes and onlookers.

Ms. Arbour said the attack is alleged to have been committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been fighting a decades-long civil conflict with the Government. The rebel group is also accused of other recent attacks, including the bombings of public transport and other public places.

"I remind the LTTE and other armed groups that attacks which directly or indiscriminately target civilians are crimes under international law. Violent attacks on people taking no active part in hostilities are strictly prohibited."

The High Commissioner noted that the violence also undermined efforts to develop "a meaningful dialogue on improving the situation" of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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FOOD AND ENERGY SITUATION IN GAZA STILL 'VERY DIFFICULT' - UN AGENCY

FOOD AND ENERGY SITUATION IN GAZA STILL 'VERY DIFFICULT' – UN AGENCY New York, Apr 11 2008 5:00PM Food, energy and other basics of life in the Gaza Strip, where severe restrictions by Israel on the movement of people and goods have been in effect since Hamas' takeover in June 2007, continue to be in short supply, the United Nations reported today.

According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (<"http://www.un.org/unrwa/english.html">UNRWA), only 2,400 trucks entered the coastal enclave last month, down from more than 10,000 trucks that entered in March 2007.

The agency added that a scarcity of animal feed is causing meat prices to skyrocket and it has had to expand its school feeding programme to meet the needs of some 110,000 Gazan children in around 110 schools everyday.

In addition, UNRWA said that it has been providing more than 110,000 litres of diesel fuel to municipalities each month for solid waste management but that a lack of electricity often forces coastal municipalities to dump their sewage into the sea.

UN officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, have repeatedly expressed concern in recent months about the humanitarian impact of the restrictions on daily life for Palestinians in Gaza, coming on top of years of difficulty and economic decline.

Describing the consequences as increasingly severe, the officials have said that the closures have brought most industry and agriculture to collapse, raised unemployment and poverty to new heights and led to the deterioration of basic infrastructure.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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FIRE RAVAGES PART OF UN REFUGEE CAMP IN EASTERN CHAD, LEAVING 3,000 HOMELESS

FIRE RAVAGES PART OF UN REFUGEE CAMP IN EASTERN CHAD, LEAVING 3,000 HOMELESS New York, Apr 11 2008 5:00PM Some 3,000 people from Sudan's war-torn Darfur region are again homeless after fire swept through part of a refugee camp in eastern Chad today, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported.

Ten people were slightly injured in the midday blaze at Goz Amer camp, believed to have been caused by an untended cooking fire that then spread rapidly because of the high winds.

Many refugees lost all their food rations and meagre belongings, and numerous stick and mud shelters that had been constructed in 2004 when the Darfurians first arrived in Goz Amer also ignited easily.

The newly displaced are being housed at three camp schools, while tomorrow more tents and aid supplies – including sleeping mats, blankets and kitchen sets – will be distributed. The UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP) is also handing out additional monthly food rations.

High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said from Geneva that he was relieved there had been no loss of life from the fire.

"The refugees have already suffered so much tragedy and now face yet another trauma… We will do everything we can to help and to get shelter and food supplies to them as quickly as possible," he said.

<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47ff9c4b2.html">UNHCR staff have started opening up stockpiles in the area and delivering blankets and aid supplies, an effort they plan to continue throughout the weekend by drawing supplies from around eastern Chad.

Emmanuel Uwurukundo, the agency's acting head of office in nearby Koukou-Angarana, said "everyone around, refugees and all our partners alike, rushed to the spot and tried to extinguish the fire with whatever they had – clothes, extinguishers and water."

He said bricks should be used in the future instead of stick and mud shelters to avoid such incidents.

Goz Amer, which lies about 70 kilometres from the border with Darfur, is host to about 20,500 people and it is the southernmost of 12 UNHCR-run camps in the region that are home to more than 240,000 Darfurians in total, all fleeing conflict that has raged in their homeland since 2003.

The remoteness of the region, which is also home to about 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), already makes it an extremely difficult environment in which UNHCR has to operate.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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SOMALIA: UN SAYS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION WORSENING FASTER THAN EXPECTED

SOMALIA: UN SAYS HUMANITARIAN SITUATION WORSENING FASTER THAN EXPECTED New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM The humanitarian situation in Somalia is deteriorating faster than expected, owing to an unusually harsh dry season, rising insecurity and soaring inflation rates, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

The UN has revised upwards the number of those living in a state of humanitarian emergency from 315,000 to 425,000, and the number of newly displaced people from 705,000 to 745,000.

The total number of those needing assistance in the country is estimated to be around 1.8 million, but that figure could increase to 2 million once current assessments are concluded, <"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA said in a news release.

Somalia has experienced an extremely dry season from January to March with high temperatures and unusually dry winds. The dry conditions have also affected other countries in the region, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and parts of Kenya.

In addition, the country – like many others – has witnessed a dramatic increase in food prices over the past year. The prices of locally produced maize and sorghum have increased by 300 to 400 per cent, while imported foods such as rice and vegetable oil have increased by some 150 per cent. At the same time, the Somali shilling has depreciated by 65 per cent.

Along with the dry weather and rise in food prices, there has also been a diarrhoea outbreak in the Sanaag region, which has claimed seven lives among the 300 cases recorded since 10 March.

Meanwhile, further clashes were reported last week between Ethiopian/Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces and anti-Government elements in many parts of south-central Somalia.

Deteriorating security in recent months has made it more difficult for aid workers to assist those in need in the strife-torn East African nation, which has not had a functioning government since 1991.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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CRUCIAL TIMES AHEAD IN IRAQ, UN ENVOY TELLS EUROPEAN OFFICIALS

CRUCIAL TIMES AHEAD IN IRAQ, UN ENVOY TELLS EUROPEAN OFFICIALS New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM The senior United Nations envoy in Iraq today concluded a two-day visit to Brussels during which he stressed to European Union and NATO officials and to the media that 2008 will be a crucial year for the violence-wracked country.

Important provincial elections slated for October are just one reason why this year is likely to prove so critical, Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, said during interviews with several leading European media outlets.

While in the Belgian capital Mr. de Mistura met with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and with Robert Cooper, Director-General for Politico-Military Affairs at the Secretariat of the Council of the EU. He also briefed the EU Council's Security Committee and held talks with Belgian diplomats.

In his meetings Mr. de Mistura said his visit to Brussels was a recognition of the vital role that Europe plays in Iraq, noting that no activities would be possible without EU financial backing and that the UN and the EU were working towards the same objective – bringing peace and stability to Iraq.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON EMBARKS ON FOUR-NATION WEST AFRICAN TOUR IN LATE APRIL

BAN KI-MOON EMBARKS ON FOUR-NATION WEST AFRICAN TOUR IN LATE APRIL New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will embark later this month on a four-nation tour of West Africa that will take him to Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, a spokesperson for the United Nations announced today.

Accompanied by his wife, Yoo Soon-taek, Mr. Ban's first stop will be Accra, Ghana, where he is scheduled to address the opening of the 12th UN Conference on Trade and Development (<"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/StartPage.asp?intItemID=2068">UNCTAD) on 20 April. He also plans to meet with Ghanaian President John Kufuor and Foreign Minister Akwasi Osei-Adjei.

From Accra, he will travel to the Liberian capital, Monrovia, where he will meet with the country's leadership, as well as with members of the UN Mission in Liberia (<"http://unmil.org/">UNMIL) and the UN Country Team.

Following that, Mr. Ban plans to travel to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, where a bilateral meeting is planned with President Blaise Compaoré, the Facilitator of the Inter-Ivorian Dialogue and current Chairman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Secretary-General's final stop is Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, where meetings are planned with President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro and with opposition leaders and civil society. He will also meet with the leadership of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unoci/index.html">UNOCI).

Meanwhile, Mr. Ban wrapped up a three-day official visit to Russia today, meeting with UN staff working in Moscow.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr. Ban said he was strongly encouraged in his meetings in Russia, including with President Vladimir Putin, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as by the country's commitment to the central role of the UN and to multilateralism.

The Secretary-General and Mr. Lavrov held a tête-à-tête meeting during which they discussed Kosovo. They followed that with a larger meeting, in which their delegations discussed Kosovo; the Middle East, including the meeting to be held in Moscow this summer on that subject; Darfur, and the need for helicopters for the UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping operation (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/">UNAMID) there; and Afghanistan.

The delegations also discussed Cyprus, during which the UN's political chief, B. Lynn Pascoe, briefed the meeting's participants on his recent visit to the Mediterranean island and the region.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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INAUGURATION OF UN HOUSING NEAR DEVASTATED PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP IN LEBANON

INAUGURATION OF UN HOUSING NEAR DEVASTATED PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP IN LEBANON New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM The United Nations agency tasked with assisting Palestinian refugees said today that it had inaugurated 150 new concrete units to house families from a Lebanese camp that was the scene of months of fighting last year between the national army and Fatah el-Islam gunmen.

The new housing near the devastated Nahr El Bared camp lowers pressure on the nearby Beddawi camp, where many refugees had fled the fighting, a spokesperson from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (<"http://www.un.org/unrwa/english.html">UNRWA) said at a press conference in Geneva.

In the largest undertaking in its history, UNWRA is planning to rebuild the Nahr El Bared camp, which was in essence a complete town of over 30,000 inhabitants before it was destroyed by intense combat between May and September 2007.

The long-term reconstruction will cost around $200 million, the agency said, adding that it will soon announce the date of a pledging conference to support the project.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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NEPAL: UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WELCOMES SUCCESSFUL STAGING OF ELECTIONS

NEPAL: UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WELCOMES SUCCESSFUL STAGING OF ELECTIONS New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today congratulated the people of Nepal for yesterday's successful staging of historic Constituent Assembly elections, saying she particularly welcomed the large and enthusiastic participation of women in the polls.

Louise Arbour issued a <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/E067B3025BE3E0C3C1257428004F07B0?opendocument">statement in Geneva in which she described the elections as "a major stride towards a new future in Nepal in which the rights of all people – including historically marginalized communities – are respected."

Ms. Arbour commended the authorities for their role in holding "a largely peaceful election process" for the Assembly, which will be responsible for drafting a new constitution, "despite the difficult circumstances. And I trust that all the political parties in Nepal will accept the decision of the electors, whatever it may be."

Counting has begun in 75 district centres after Nepal's independent Election Commission transferred ballots from the more than 20,000 polling stations across the country.

Electoral staff with the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) will remain in the regions and districts until the counting is complete, and the monitoring of arms and armies will also continue, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said.

In her statement Ms. Arbour also voiced deep sadness at the number of deaths that occurred yesterday and during the run-up to the polls. She called on the Government to move swiftly to set up an independent inquiry to investigate the deaths.

UNMIN is in place in the South Asian country to help it recover from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives until the Government and Maoist rebels signed a peace accord in 2006.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF AFRICAN SUMMIT ON ZIMBABWE

BAN KI-MOON WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF AFRICAN SUMMIT ON ZIMBABWE New York, Apr 11 2008 4:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he is pleased that regional leaders in southern Africa are mobilizing to "help Zimbabwe overcome its post-electoral crisis through peaceful means."

Through a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11510.doc.htm">statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban congratulated the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for arranging a summit of heads of State in Lusaka, Zambia, on 13 April to discuss the situation.

Earlier this week, Mr. Ban expressed concern that the results of presidential elections in Zimbabwe have not been released and urged the electoral authorities to do so "expeditiously and with transparency."

"The situation in Zimbabwe could deteriorate if there is no prompt action to resolve this impasse," he added in today's statement.

In the presidential poll, the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, is facing Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni. If a winning candidate does not win more than 50 per cent of the total votes, a run-off race is required.

Mr Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change, petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to demand the release of the election results. The electoral authorities have already announced the results of the Senate and parliamentary elections, which were held on the same day as the presidential vote.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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IN MOVE WELCOMED BY UN, SENEGAL CAN NOW TRY FORMER CHADIAN LEADER

IN MOVE WELCOMED BY UN, SENEGAL CAN NOW TRY FORMER CHADIAN LEADER New York, Apr 11 2008 3:00PM The top United Nations human rights official has welcomed changes to Senegal's constitution to make it possible for national courts to try crimes against humanity, paving the way for former Chadian leader Hissène Habré to be tried for alleged crimes committed during the 1980s.

Mr. Habré ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, when he was overthrown and went into exile in Senegal, where he has lived ever since.

Senegal's National Assembly adopted the latest amendment to the constitution on Tuesday, which together with previous changes allows the country's legal system to deal with such cases.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour welcomed the move as "a very positive development in the struggle to strengthen accountability and an important step forward in the never-ending fight against impunity."

A <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/39DA9A4B069D9BC5C1257428005086EF?opendocument">statement issued by her office in Geneva added that "it is rare for one State to take measures to enable the prosecution of a former head of State of another country – and Senegal should be commended for its leadership in this regard."

During Mr. Habré's rule, thousands of Chadians were allegedly tortured, and unlawful killings and other serious human rights violations took place.

He was charged in February 2000 by a lower court in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, but an appeals court later ruled that Senegalese courts did not have the legal competence to try such cases if they were perpetrated in another country.

Ms. Arbour expressed the hoped that with the latest amendment, the final obstacles have been cleared and that Mr. Habré will be go on trial very soon.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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INOCULATIONS IN MALI GET BOOSTER FROM BRAZILIAN VACCINE, UN AGENCY SAYS

INOCULATIONS IN MALI GET BOOSTER FROM BRAZILIAN VACCINE, UN AGENCY SAYS New York, Apr 11 2008 1:00PM A campaign to vaccinate 5.7 million people across southern Mali will begin tomorrow thanks to the first-ever 'South-South' dose supply from South America's only manufacturer of yellow fever vaccine, the United Nations health agency said today.

Three million doses are coming from the Brazilian company Bio Manguinhos while the other three million doses will be provided by Sanofi Pasteur – one of the other manufacturers of yellow fever vaccine pre-qualified by the UN World Health Organization (<"http://afro.who.int/press/2008/pr20080410.html">WHO).

"The fact that we have now three manufacturers of WHO pre-qualified Yellow Fever vaccine around the world means that we are much more able to meet supply demands both for emergency and routine vaccination," Adamou Yada, Programme Manager for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response in WHO's African Region, said.

"This first mass shipment of vaccine from one developing country to another is proof of that," Dr. Yada added.

Mali's mass vaccination campaign is part of the Yellow Fever Initiative that has $58 million worth of support from GAVI, the public-private alliance for vaccinations, to drastically reduce the numbers at risk from the disease in West Africa.

Mali is the third country, after Togo and Senegal, to undertake a national preventive vaccination campaign as part of the Initiative, with other countries due to follow as soon as sufficient vaccine is available.

Because of its severity, even a single case (such as Mali reported in 2007) is a public health concern, WHO said.

The 12 countries taking part on the Yellow Fever Initiative are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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SOARING CEREAL TAB CONTINUES TO AFFLICT POOREST COUNTRIES, UN AGENCY WARNS

SOARING CEREAL TAB CONTINUES TO AFFLICT POOREST COUNTRIES, UN AGENCY WARNS New York, Apr 11 2008 12:00PM With food riots reported across the globe from the Philippines to Haiti, the United Nations agricultural agency warned today that the cereal import bill of the world's poorest countries is forecast to rise by over 50 per cent in the current fiscal year.

"Food price inflation hits the poor hardest, as the share of food in their total expenditures is much higher than that of wealthier populations," said Henri Josserand of the Global Information and Early Warning system of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000826/index.html">FAO).

Citing FAO's new <I><"http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai465e/ai465e00.htm">Crop Prospects and Food Situation</I> report, he noted that "food represents about 10 to 20 per cent of consumer spending in industrialized nations, but as much as 60 to 80 per cent in developing countries, many of which are net-food-importers."

The report states that the rise of 56 per cent in 2007-2008 comes after the already harsh increase of 37 per cent in 2006-2007 that had been squeezing lowest-income households hard.

For low-income, food-deficit countries in Africa, the cereal bill is projected to increase by a colossal 74 per cent, due to the sharp rise in international cereal prices, freight rates and oil prices, according to FAO.

Food riots have already been reported in Egypt, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Haiti in the past month, the agency said.

In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to avoid seizing of food from the fields and from warehouses.

To help countries cope with the situation, FAO said it has launched an Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP), offering technical and policy assistance to help vulnerable farmers increase local food production. Field activities are starting in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal.

It is also working with Governments, the UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) and other partners to create strategies to alleviate the situation.

The FAO report, in addition, tentatively predicts that cereal production in 2008 could increase by 2.6 percent to a record 2,164 million tonnes, with the bulk of the increase in wheat.

"Should the expected growth in 2008 production materialize, the current tight global cereal supply situation could ease in the new 2008-09 season," the report said.

But much will depend on the weather, FAO cautioned, recalling that at this time last year prospects for cereal production in 2007 were far better than the eventual outcome.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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TOURISM INDUSTRY HAS KEY ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE - UN OFFICIAL

TOURISM INDUSTRY HAS KEY ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE – UN OFFICIAL New York, Apr 11 2008 11:00AM The global tourism industry has a key role to play in confronting the challenges of climate change, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) <"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=531&ArticleID=5768&l=en">said as an international seminar on the subject wrapped up in the United Kingdom today.

"Indeed, there is now a clear understanding that the industry can be part of the solution to climate change, by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions as well as by helping the communities where tourism represents a major economic source to prepare for and adapt to the changing climate," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

The number of international tourists continues to climb, with 898 million arrivals registered last year and further increases expected as traditionally poor countries emerge as more popular tourist destinations, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (<"http://www.unwto.org/index.php">UNWTO).

The Oxford seminar brought together some 30 high-level tourism and environment officials to examine, among other things, practical ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the tourism sector.

The effects of climate change have already been felt in the tourism sector, particularly in certain destinations such as mountain regions and coastal hotspots. At the same ?time, the tourism industry contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, especially through the transport of tourists.? ?

"With its close connections to the environment and climate itself, tourism is considered to be a vulnerable and highly climate-sensitive economic sector, similar to agriculture, insurance, energy, and transportation," said Dr. Murray Simpson, a Senior Research Associate at Oxford's University Centre for the Environment and scientific coordinator of the seminar.

At the same time, he noted that in 2005 tourism's contribution to CO2 emissions – including from transport, accommodation and activities – was estimated to be approximately 5 per cent. "Measured as warming effect these emissions could represent up to 14 per cent of global warming effect," he said.

The seminar was organised and coordinated by UNEP and Oxford University's Centre for the Environment jointly with the UNWTO and the World Meteorological Organization (<"http://www.wmo.ch/pages/index_en.html">WMO).
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES MURDER OF TWO MEXICAN FEMALE JOURNALISTS

UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES MURDER OF TWO MEXICAN FEMALE JOURNALISTS New York, Apr 11 2008 11:00AM The head of the United Nations agency tasked with promoting press freedom has <"http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26424&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">condemned the recent killing of two female community radio announcers, who were ambushed in a roadside attack in southeast Mexico that also left four others wounded.

Felicitas Martínez Sánchez, 21, and Teresa Bautista Merino, 24, were shot dead as they travelled along a highway in Oaxaca state on 7 April.

Expressing his outrage over the attack, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said that "killing journalists is a heinous crime which harms the whole of society as it undermines the democratic right of citizens to hold informed debate and make informed political choices."

According to the Mexican National Center for Social Communication (CENCOS), the women were killed while on a reporting assignment for their community radio, La Voz que Rompe el Silencio.

Based in San Juan Copala, in Oaxaca, La Voz que Rompe el Silencio employs young adults and teenagers from the Triqui indigenous community.
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

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FLEXIBILITY NECESSARY DURING SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM TALKS - ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

FLEXIBILITY NECESSARY DURING SECURITY COUNCIL REFORM TALKS – ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT New York, Apr 10 2008 7:00PM General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim today called on United Nations Member States to show "effective flexibility" during negotiations on reshaping the Security Council's size and membership and to remember that without compromises by all sides there will be no reform.

Mr. Kerim told the Open-ended Working Group on Security Council reform, meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, that he aimed to present a report to the General Assembly with agreed recommendations on the issue before the end of this current session in September.

Therefore, Member States should show "effective flexibility," he said, and ensure that the interests and concerns of all sides are accommodated, especially those which are currently underrepresented.

He stressed that reform of the Council, which currently has five permanent and 10 non-permanent members, is an integral part of the overall wider strengthening of the UN.

Mr. Kerim and his Task Force on this issue – comprised of the Assembly President and the permanent representatives of Bangladesh, Chile and Portugal – plan to initiate a round of consultations with Member States on the contributions so far, his spokesperson Janos Tisovszky told reporters.

He added that Mr. Kerim is adding the permanent representative of Djibouti to the Task Force.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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UN RELIEF CHIEF ENDS PERSIAN GULF TRIP WITH CALL FOR GREATER COOPERATION

UN RELIEF CHIEF ENDS PERSIAN GULF TRIP WITH CALL FOR GREATER COOPERATION New York, Apr 10 2008 7:00PM The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today wrapped up his four-country tour of the Persian Gulf region by calling for closer coordination between Gulf nations and the world body in tackling both humanitarian crises and longer-term challenges such as rising food prices and the impact of climate change.

Speaking in Doha, Qatar, at the end of a six-day trip that also included stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, Mr. Holmes said he was encouraged "by the clear evidence of common goals and shared principles" between the Gulf countries and the UN.

"There is a real opportunity for strengthening collaborative efforts between the Gulf countries and the international humanitarian community to achieve a more systematic, organized and prioritized approach to delivering emergency relief," he said.

Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said the challenges were two-fold: crises and problems in individual countries, such as Somalia, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories, Kenya and Darfur, and wider issues such as rising food prices worldwide.

Unrest has been reported in many countries in recent weeks because of the cost of living, he said, while natural disasters are becoming more frequent in some countries because of the effects of climate change.

While in Doha Mr. Holmes met with Qatar's State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmad Bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud, and other senior Government and non-government officials. He was also accompanied by Abdul Aziz Arrukban, the UN Special Humanitarian Envoy of the Secretary-General based in the Gulf region.

Mr. Arrukban praised the generosity of the Gulf countries in providing humanitarian assistance, both multilaterally and bilaterally.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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UN LABOUR AGENCY CHIEF CALLS FOR NEW CONSENSUS TO AVERT GLOBAL RECESSION

UN LABOUR AGENCY CHIEF CALLS FOR NEW CONSENSUS TO AVERT GLOBAL RECESSION New York, Apr 10 2008 7:00PM A new multilateral consensus on issues ranging from widening income gaps to climate change is needed to help head off a global economic slowdown and recession, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) has told the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Speaking yesterday at the annual spring meetings of the two Washington-based institutions, <"http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Press_releases/lang--en/WCMS_091972/index.htm">ILO Director-General Juan Somavia also called for closer ties between his agency and the <"http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm">IMF and the <"http://www.worldbank.org/">World Bank.

He warned that recent IMF forecasts have projected that global growth could drop below the point that is equivalent to a global recession, causing further problems for labour markets around the world this year.

"Stability and progress in the world of work is threatened by instability and setbacks in the world of finance," he said. "The scale of the financial restructuring now under way and the severity of the credit squeeze make the current financial crisis perhaps the most severe since 1945 and may result in markedly slower growth in the USA and other industrialized countries for as much as two to three years."

Mr. Somavia said a multilateral consensus, bringing together countries rich and poor, and employers and employees, was needed on a wide range of issues.

"The ILO's tried and tested mechanisms of social dialogue and tripartite discussions are particularly vital in building consensus around policies to avert a steep slowdown and move out of recession," he said, referring to the agency's practice of discussions involving governments, employers and workers.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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THREE UN BLUE HELMETS SHOT WHILE ON PATROL IN HAITIAN CAPITAL

THREE UN BLUE HELMETS SHOT WHILE ON PATROL IN HAITIAN CAPITAL New York, Apr 10 2008 7:00PM Three United Nations peacekeepers serving in Haiti were shot last night in a poor neighbourhood of the capital, Port-au-Prince, amid widespread public demonstrations and discontent over the rising cost of the living in the impoverished Caribbean country.

The Sri Lankan blue helmets were on patrol in the Martissant district when they were shot by unknown gunmen, a spokesperson for the mission, known as<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/"> MINUSTAH, told the UN News Centre.

Sophie Boutaud de la Combe said the men were taken to a local hospital but their injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

She added that because the patrol was unable to identify the source of the gunfire, it did not return fire, in line with the rules of engagement for UN peacekeeping missions.

Protests have broken out across Haiti this week because of the rising cost of basic goods in the country, already the poorest in the entire Western Hemisphere. This morning fresh demonstrations were held in several towns and cities, some of them because of blackouts that have lasted four days. No schools were open in Port-au-Prince today and many businesses were closed or slow to open.

UN installations and vehicles have also been attacked and in some cases burned over the past week, although Ms. Boutaud de la Combe said there was no evidence yet that UN personnel were being deliberately targeted.

Yesterday Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement deploring the violence while appealing for calm and voicing sympathy for the suffering of the Haitian people.

UN agencies are operating across the country to bring relief, with the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) feeding more than one million schoolchildren and the UN Children's Fund (<"www.unicef.org">UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO) also providing support to people in need.

Ms. Boutaud de la Combe stressed that MINUSTAH's efforts to bring development to Haiti was a long-term project.

"We are in a corner right now, and the corner is between law and order and development… But we are confident that the results will show up quickly if we continue our efforts on the ground and the international community continues its support."
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON CALLS ON RUSSIANS TO TAKE GREATER UN ROLE

BAN KI-MOON CALLS ON RUSSIANS TO TAKE GREATER UN ROLE New York, Apr 10 2008 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Russians to expand their country's already substantial partnership with the United Nations in tackling the range of global challenges from peacekeeping to AIDS to climate change.

"I am convinced you can play a role even greater than you once did – a role commensurate with your tremendous size, wealth and global reach," he said in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sgsm11507.doc.htm">speech at Moscow State University, recalling Russian history in the midst of a day of meetings with business, political and religious leaders in the national capital.

Citing the words of the university's founding father, Mikhail Lomonosov, Mr. Ban said it was true that "love of one's country is a potent motivator. But as Lomonosov knew, and as we know today, a global outlook is a must – one that takes us beyond national frontiers."

Indeed, he said, after having met enormous challenges in the 20th Century, Russia is engaged globally in almost every sphere, from business to art and culture and beyond.

"This seemingly endless nation, part Europe, part Asia, covering 11 times zones from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, is establishing itself as an equal and independent player on the world political stage," the Secretary-General said.

"But the size and resources of your great country also bring with them great responsibilities – inside and outside your borders," he said, conveying the world's hopes that the country's relationship with its neighbours would be based on "mutual respect and international law," and that regional arrangements would be strengthened.

In that light, he said he applauded President Vladimir Putin's offer to grant NATO access to Afghanistan's northern borders through Russia as a vital partner of international efforts in the Asian country, as well as its role in the Middle East peace process and in UN peacekeeping missions.

But still, he said, he counted on the country to do more: "As a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the Russian Federation has an enormous stake in a predictable, comprehensive system of global relationships, able to address major issues in a strategic and pragmatic way," he said.

"The Russian principle of a multipolar world is close to the notion of multilateralism – the bedrock of the United Nations," he maintained.

Later this evening, Mr. Ban returned to this theme in a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. He said that the two had discussed "many important issues of mutual concern," including the Middle East, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Darfur and Kosovo.

Asked, in addition, about the situation between Georgia and Abkhazia, Mr. Ban said that the UN will continue to facilitate the ongoing dialogue between the parties to reduce tension, and he hoped that the recommendations made by the international Group of Friends would be implemented.

Earlier today the Secretary-General also participated in the launch of a Russian network for the Global Compact, the UN initiative to promote social responsibility in private enterprise.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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UNICEF HERALDS NEW CHILDREN'S PROTECTION LAWS IN SOUTH AFRICA

UNICEF HERALDS NEW CHILDREN'S PROTECTION LAWS IN SOUTH AFRICA New York, Apr 10 2008 6:00PM The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed the signing of new laws in South Africa on the protection of children, calling them "a major step" forward in ensuring the well-being of the country's young people.

The Children's Amendment Act "is a comprehensive piece of legislation that is line with provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child," <"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF country representative Macharia Kamau said this week in a press statement issued in Cape Town.

The new law stresses the role of the State in strengthening the capacity of families and communities to care for and protect children, UNICEF said, and differs from previous laws where the State only intervenes after a child has already suffered abuse, neglect or exploitation.

The Act also details protective measures for children deprived of family care to receive support through foster care or in child and youth-care centres.

Welcoming the legislation, Ms. Kamau said South Africa still faced critical challenges in making sure that the laws are actually implemented – especially in providing enough funds at the national and provincial levels for the care services.

The various Government ministries dealing with the issue, including health, education, justice and social development, also need to cooperate more, she said.

"Resources are lost due to poor inter-sectoral cooperation, and inefficiencies in the effective delivery of services to children at provincial and municipal levels."
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN MISSION REPORTS PROGRESS IN IDENTIFICATION PROCESS

CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN MISSION REPORTS PROGRESS IN IDENTIFICATION PROCESS New York, Apr 10 2008 6:00PM Almost half a million Ivorians have received new birth certificates, the first step in a process to enable them to vote in national general elections scheduled for later this year, the United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) reported today.

Electoral officials with <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unoci/index.html">UNOCI said "good progress" has been made in formally identifying the population in Côte d'Ivoire since a round of UN-facilitated public hearings began across the country, which became divided in 2002 between the Government-controlled south and the rebel-held north.

So far, some 7,400 public hearings or "audiences foraines" have been held in 11 provinces, and about 480,000 applicants have received new birth certificates.

These certificates will allow the recipients to formally seek recognition of their right to citizenship, which in term should allow them to cast their ballots during the elections.

The right to citizenship – or the denial of this right to some people – has been one of the root causes of the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire.

UNOCI has been helping to boost public interest in the process by broadcasting detailed daily reports on the identification hearings on its radio station.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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BANGKOK CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS GOOD START, BUT 'HUGE' TASK LAYS AHEAD - UN OFFICIAL

BANGKOK CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS GOOD START, BUT 'HUGE' TASK LAYS AHEAD – UN OFFICIAL New York, Apr 10 2008 4:00PM The climate change talks held last week in Bangkok were successful in devising a schedule for negotiations leading to a long-term international agreement on the issue, but actually devising an accord that all countries will sign remains a major challenge, a top United Nations official told reporters today.

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (<"http://unfccc.int/2860.php">UNFCCC), said the outcome of the first round of negotiations on a new global climate change agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol – set to expire in 2012 – was "a good beginning."

The Bangkok talks, held from 31 March to 4 April, was the first meeting since last December's landmark UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in which 187 countries agreed to launch a two-year process of formal negotiations on strengthening global efforts to fight, mitigate and adapt to the problem of global warming.

Last week's meeting "did manage to make a good beginning towards a good end," Mr. de Boer said at a press conference in New York, noting that countries identified exactly how issues will be taken up for the rest of 2008, which topics will be taken up at the three meetings that will happen during the rest of 2008 and which areas in the Bali outcome need to be further explored.

The meeting also mapped out the focus of the next major climate change conference, to be held in December 2009 in Poznan, Poland, which will address the issue of risk management and risk reduction strategies, technology and the key elements of a shared long-term vision for joint action in combating climate change, including a long-term target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

While the Bangkok meeting was a success, the challenge ahead is "huge," he added.

"We basically have one and a half years in which to craft what I think is one of the most complicated international agreements that history has ever seen, with a great deal at stake from the point of view of different interests," Mr. de Boer said.

"At the same time, I believe that countries recognize that failure is not an option in all of this. The impacts of climate change are being seen around us already today."

Earlier this week, the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) released a report on the dangers to human health posed by climate change. Also, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<"http://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC) presented new findings at its meeting in Budapest, Hungary, pointing to increased water stress as a result of climate change.

"So this is clearly an issue that's recognized as one that has to be dealt with now, and has to be dealt with significantly," stated Mr. de Boer.

The Executive Secretary-General outlined several challenges that need to be addressed in the negotiating process, which is set to conclude in Copenhagen by the end of 2009. The first is the need for further and meaningful engagement of major developing countries.

The second hurdle is providing financial resources that will make it possible for these countries to engage without harming their primary concerns surrounding economic growth and poverty reduction.

At the same time, he added, those finances will not begin to flow unless major industrialized countries make significant emission reduction commitments.

"It is my firm belief that we will only address those challenges in a process where people feel their legitimate interests are respected at the negotiating table," he stated.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON CONGRATULATES NEPALESE ON HISTORIC ELECTIONS

BAN KI-MOON CONGRATULATES NEPALESE ON HISTORIC ELECTIONS New York, Apr 10 2008 3:00PM United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has commended the people of Nepal for what he called their "enthusiastic participation" in today's Constituent Assembly elections.

In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3093">statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said that the elections "took place in a generally orderly and peaceful atmosphere," and appealed to all parties to remain calm while awaiting results.

On the eve of the election, Mr. Ban's Special Representative in Nepal, Ian Martin, said preparations were in good order, despite some serious acts of violence and violations of human rights during the election campaign.

Mr. Martin had been criss-crossing the country in the past weeks to check on preparations and stress the responsibility of all parties to shun violence and abide by all agreements for free and fair polls.

Once elected, the Constituent Assembly will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country, which has emerged from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives before the Government and Maoist rebels signed a peace accord in 2006.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL TO APPOINT NEW UN ENVOYS FOR LEBANON, CYPRUS

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO APPOINT NEW UN ENVOYS FOR LEBANON, CYPRUS New York, Apr 10 2008 2:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Johan Verbeke of Belgium as the new United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, and Tayé-Brook Zerihoun of Ethiopia as the world body's top official in Cyprus.

Since September 2004, Mr. Verbeke has been Belgium's Ambassador to the UN, and, in this capacity, he has served on the Security Council and on the Peacebuilding Commission.

He would replace Geir Pedersen of Norway as the senior official coordinating the UN's work in Lebanon.

Mr. Zerihoun would replace Michael Møller as Mr. Ban's Special Representative in Cyprus and head of the UN Peacekeeping Force there, known as UNFICYP.

Established in March 1964 following the outbreak of violence between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities on the Mediterranean island, UNFICYP is tasked with preventing a recurrence of fighting, contributing to a return to normal conditions and the maintenance of law and order.

Mr. Zerihoun is currently the Secretary-General's Principal Deputy Special Representative in the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). He has also been serving as Chief UN Mediator for the Darfur Peace Talks since October 2007, in support of the efforts of Special Envoy Jan Eliasson.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MOSCOW, HAILS LAUNCH OF NETWORK FOR ETHICAL BUSINESS

SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN MOSCOW, HAILS LAUNCH OF NETWORK FOR ETHICAL BUSINESS New York, Apr 10 2008 2:00PM Continuing his visit to Moscow today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon enthusiastically welcomed the launch of a Russian network for the Global Compact, the United Nations initiative for social responsibility in private enterprise, before holding a raft of meetings with political and religious leaders.

"By launching the Russian Global Compact Network, you have sent a powerful signal that the bottom line can no longer be separated from key goals of global citizenship: peace, development and equity," Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11506.doc.htm">told the group of 30 top Russian business executives who participated in the launch.

"And you have demonstrated that Russia's businesses are ready and eager to claim their place in the international economy," he said.

The Global Compact pledges participating businesses – now numbering some 3,600 in over 100 countries – to observe principles regarding human rights, labour rights, environmental sustainability and the fight against corruption.

At today's launch, Mr. Ban maintained that growth of the Compact in Russia would not only help address a range of global problems, but have significant benefits for Russian industry as well.

"It can help manage risks, boost productivity, increase operational efficiency, and build trust and confidence in Russian companies – at home and abroad. It can help improve corporate governance and workplace relations.

"And its emphasis on sound business practices can promote stronger, better and more sustainable brands – an indispensable component of success in the global economy," he said.

Mr. Ban's next stop was the State Duma, or legislature, where he met with First Deputy Chairman Oleg Morozov on the role parliaments can play in addressing conflict, poverty, disease, climate change, the illegal trade of small arms and gender balance.

Visiting Moscow University, the Secretary-General told students he expected Russia's engagement with global issues would keep pace with the challenges and opportunities of the future.

"I am convinced you can play a role even greater than you once did – a role commensurate with your tremendous size, wealth and global reach," he said, enumerating the range of contemporary challenges, from peacekeeping to AIDS to climate change.

He then met with leaders of the Russian Orthodox and Catholic churches, as well as Muslim and Jewish representatives, before an assignation with Orthodox Patriarch Alexiy II in Moscow's oldest monastery.

According to his spokesperson, in those meetings he discussed the Alliance of Civilizations, the importance of tolerance, human dignity and social justice, the protection of holy sites in Kosovo and Islamophobia.

Mr. Ban will hold a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this evening, following their tête-à-tête meeting.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES IN SIERRA LEONE BENEFIT FROM UN-PROVIDED FACILITIES

LOCAL HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES IN SIERRA LEONE BENEFIT FROM UN-PROVIDED FACILITIES New York, Apr 10 2008 2:00PM Local committees tasked with monitoring, investigating and reporting on human rights violations in Sierra Leone will now be able to work out of new resource centres provided by the United Nations mission in the West African country and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The district-level human rights committees were set up by the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (<"http://www.uniosil.org/">UNIOSIL), with financial support from <"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx">OHCHR, in an effort to strengthen the national systems to protect and promote human rights. The mission also provided them with training on the protection of human rights, rule of law and strengthening democracy.

"Building and strengthening the capacity of human rights civil society organizations is a compelling necessity for the consolidation of peace and respect for human rights in any country emerging from conflict," the mission stated in a news release issued in the capital, Freetown.

UNIOSIL will formally hand over the resource centres for the committees in Kenema, Bo, Bonthe and Matru Jong on Friday and Saturday.

Under its Programme of Assistance to Sierra Leone, OHCHR will pay the rents for the resource centres for one year, and provide furniture, computers, printers, stabilizers, generators, motorbikes and stationeries. It will also ensure that the centres have enough staff to remain open to the public on a daily basis.

UNIOSIL was set up in 2006 to help the Government consolidate its hard-won peace following a brutal, 11-year conflict, and address a myriad of challenges related to good governance, security, human rights and development.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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GUNMEN ATTACK AND ROB UNARMED UN POLICE IN DARFUR, INJURING ONE

GUNMEN ATTACK AND ROB UNARMED UN POLICE IN DARFUR, INJURING ONE New York, Apr 10 2008 2:00PM A police officer with the hybrid United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is recovering in hospital after he was pistol-whipped yesterday by unknown gunmen while on a police patrol near a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The police officer is in stable condition in the hospital, <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/index.html">UNAMID said in a press statement issued today, adding that it strongly condemned such attacks on its police officers, who do not carry arms while performing their duties.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also deplored the attack, noting that the mission personnel have been deployed "to contribute to peace and stability" in Darfur.

In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3092">statement issued by his spokesperson, he called on the Sudanese Government and Darfur's rebel movements to make sure UNAMID can carry out its full mandate.

The mission police team was returning from a routine patrol at the IDP camp at Zamzam, south of the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, when they were stopped by four armed men yesterday afternoon.

The officers were ordered to leave their vehicles and then robbed of their personal belongings and official identification cards. Two vehicles were hijacked, and Sudanese police have so far only been able to recover one of the vehicles.

It was during the robbery and hijacking that one of the assailants hit one of the police officers in the neck using the back of an AK-47.

The mission said an investigation was under way and stressed that it would continue until the perpetrators are found and brought to justice.

About 1,562 police officers currently serve with UNAMID, which took over operations in the war-wracked region of western Sudan from an AU-only mission at the start of this year. When it reaches full deployment, the hybrid force should have 6,372 police officers.

UNAMID reiterated earlier appeals to contributing countries to send police force members to Darfur as soon as possible to strengthen the capacity of the operation.

The officers are tasked with carrying out daily assignments aimed at providing a safer environment for civilians, especially the most vulnerable groups, such as IDPs and women.

At least 200,000 people have been killed across Darfur since rebels began fighting Government forces and allied militiamen in 2003, and almost 2.5 million others have had to flee their homes and live as either IDPs or as refugees in neighbouring Chad.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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SUDAN: TWO MORE TRANSPORT WORKERS MURDERED DELIVERING UN FOOD AID

SUDAN: TWO MORE TRANSPORT WORKERS MURDERED DELIVERING UN FOOD AID New York, Apr 10 2008 12:00PM A truck driver and his assistant been murdered delivering food aid in Southern Sudan, bringing to five the number of people killed in attacks on transports of the United Nations World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2815">WFP) in Sudan in less than three weeks, the agency announced today.

Hamid Dafaalla, 47, a father of four, was shot dead by unknown assailants while returning from a food delivery to the town of Rumbek on Monday, 7 April. His assistant was shot while trying to flee.

"We are shocked and saddened by this heartless killing," WFP Sudan Deputy-Director Ebenezer Tagoe said, calling attacks against vehicles delivering humanitarian assistance "completely unacceptable."

"We have met representatives of the Government of Southern Sudan and they have promised a full investigation," he reported.

The attack occurred six kilometres from Mayom in Unity State, not far from where two WFP-contracted drivers were stabbed to death on 22 March. Another contracted driver was shot dead two days later and his assistant injured while delivering food to Nyala in South Darfur.

WFP said that attacks have slowed food deliveries in violence-torn Darfur, where it is feeding over two million internally displaced persons and refugees.

In Southern Sudan, the killings jeopardize the ability of the agency to provide food to people returning home after the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) ended the long-running north-south civil war, and threatens the pre-positioning of food assistance ahead of the May rainy season.

Since the start of the year there were 60 hijackings of trucks in Darfur, with 42 trucks missing and 29 drivers unaccounted for, in addition to the recent killings, the agency said.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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INDIAN LEADER AWARDED UN PRIZE FOR BOOSTING COUNTRY'S AGRICULTURE

INDIAN LEADER AWARDED UN PRIZE FOR BOOSTING COUNTRY'S AGRICULTURE New York, Apr 10 2008 12:00PM The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today <" http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000824/index.html">bestowed its highest award, the Agricola Medal, on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his efforts to spur agricultural development and reduce hunger and poverty in India.

Mr. Singh had shown "exemplary vision and resolve" in promoting the growth of Indian agriculture, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said, as he presented the award in New Delhi during the first-ever Global Agro-Industries Forum.

"With your deep understanding of India's economy you have made modernizing and revitalizing your country's agriculture one of your highest priorities," he added.

The South Asian nation is the world's second largest agricultural producer after China.
Over 60 per cent of the population is employed in agriculture and the sector accounts for 18.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Mr. Diouf noted that the flow of credit to Indian farmers had almost doubled in the last four years. In addition, horticultural production is set to double by 2012 while plans are underway to increase national rice, wheat and pulses production by 20 million tons, thus significantly improving domestic food security.

"Thanks to your efforts, agricultural growth in your country is on the path to contributing more to the fast growth of a global economy that includes the needs of vulnerable citizens," he told the Prime Minister.

Previous recipients of the Agricola Medal include King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, French President Jacques Chirac, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Pope John Paul II, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Johannes Rau of Germany.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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PROLONGED DRY SPELLS COULD WORSEN FOOD SITUATION IN ZIMBABWE, WARNS UN AGENCY

PROLONGED DRY SPELLS COULD WORSEN FOOD SITUATION IN ZIMBABWE, WARNS UN AGENCY New York, Apr 10 2008 11:00AM An already precarious food security situation in Zimbabwe could get worse, as very dry weather in several provinces will likely lead to serious damage to the upcoming maize harvest, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) <" http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000825/index.html">warned today.

The agency reports that several provinces have not had rain since February, which will affect maize growth and yields that will be harvested in May/June.

In addition to the dry weather, farmers have faced shortages of fertilizer, seed, fuel, and tillage power this season. They also suffered flood-related damages in several districts earlier in the season, resulting from heavy rains in December and January.

Zimbabwe already faces a "critical" food security situation – primarily due to the lack of access to food – which is only getting worse due to the country's exorbitant inflation rate – above 100,000 per cent in December 2007.

"With dwindling foreign exchange reserves and shrinking purchasing power, another year of low cereal production would severely affect the food security condition for a significant part of the population unless substantial assistance is provided," FAO said in a news release.
In addition, Zimbabwe is one of several countries expected to be hit the hardest by the global spike in food prices, according to the UN World Food Programme (<" http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP).
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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UN EXPERTS URGE FULL ACCESS FOR INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS, MEDIA IN TIBET

UN EXPERTS URGE FULL ACCESS FOR INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS, MEDIA IN TIBET New York, Apr 10 2008 11:00AM Concerned about reports of mass arrests in Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding areas in China, a group of United Nations human rights experts have <" http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/D590DBA78606AE80C1257427002F27BA?OpenDocument">called for unhindered access for independent observers and journalists to those areas and full transparency on the part of the authorities.

The six independent experts, who report to the UN Human Rights Council, "are deeply concerned by reports of security forces firing on protestors and alleged killings," according to a statement issued today in Geneva.

They urged China to "fully conform to its commitment to freedom of expression and assembly, and to distinguish between peaceful protestors and those committing acts of violence."

In addition, "they urge restraint and non-violence by all parties, greater and unfettered access to the regions concerned for journalists and independent observers, guarantees for the free flow of information, and full implementation of international standards in regard to the treatment of protestors and those detained, both in the People's Republic of China and in other countries in which protests are taking place," the statement added.

The Chinese Government was called on "to lift restrictions imposed on the media, including Internet websites that limit access throughout China to information concerning the Tibetan Autonomous Region."

Information received by the experts describes the arrest on 28 and 29 March of over 570 Tibetan monks, including some children, following raids by security forces on monasteries in Ngaba County and in Dzoge County in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

According to reports, arrests were made of those suspected of participating in protests and those suspected of communicating with the exiled Tibetan communities.

The statement notes that China has invited several fact-finding delegations, including one consisting of journalists and another of foreign diplomats, to visit the Tibetan Autonomous Region. However, "such visits are no substitute for granting access to those United Nations experts who have requested a visit to China."

At the same time, the experts welcomed indications from China about its "willingness to engage in further dialogue about these and other concerns."

This statement is issued by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston; the Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo; and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders, Hina Jilani; the Independent Expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall; and the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, Manfred Nowak, also signed the statement.
2008-04-10 00:00:00.000

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT NOTES PROGRESS IN DEBATE ON UN MANAGEMENT REFORM

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT NOTES PROGRESS IN DEBATE ON UN MANAGEMENT REFORM New York, Apr 9 2008 7:00PM United Nations Member States are heading towards a common understanding of what path to take on management reform of the world body, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim said today after the Assembly wrapped up its first-ever thematic debate of the issue.

In his closing remarks to the debate, Mr. Kerim said the dialogue over the past two days showed that both individual Member States and the UN Secretariat were willing to engage constructively to produce management reform.

"There were several interesting discussions on specific issues and a number of proposals were made by both Member States and representatives from the Secretariat," he said. "In particular, I would like to highlight the emphasis during the debate on the need for greater transparency and enhanced accountability as a means to promote trust and greater credibility."

Mr. Kerim, who convened the debate, noted that it was "only through further open and transparent dialogue [that] we will be able to improve our understanding of the different concerns held by delegations and move ahead in our collective responsibility to improve the capacity of the Organization to implement our decisions."

He added that he was "encouraged by the expressions of renewed commitment to achieving concrete progress in the near future on the priority areas of management reform."

During the debate yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the UN's 192 Member States to support proposals to further strengthen the world body, especially in the areas of procurement, accountability and human resources.

Mr. Ban said the UN was being called on, as never before, to do much more with fewer and fewer resources.

"The only way we can embrace that future and do our good works in the world is to make ourselves more modern, more flexible and more efficient. In a word, to be better managed," he said.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS FATAL TERRORIST ATTACK IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS FATAL TERRORIST ATTACK IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL New York, Apr 9 2008 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned today's terrorist attack by Palestinian militants against the Nahal Oz depot in southern Israel, in which two Israeli civilian contractors working to supply fuel to the Gaza Strip were killed and others injured.

"He is gravely concerned at the prospect of an escalation in violence," according to a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11505.doc.htm">statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson. "The United Nations calls for the protection of all civilians in the conflict."

The spokesperson stressed that, while the Secretary-General recognized Israel's legitimate right to self-defence, he deplored the reported civilian casualties among Palestinians during Israeli military operations this afternoon.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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BANGLADESHI WOMEN RECEIVE FISTULA SURGERY AT UN-RUN MEDICAL TRAINING SESSION

BANGLADESHI WOMEN RECEIVE FISTULA SURGERY AT UN-RUN MEDICAL TRAINING SESSION New York, Apr 9 2008 5:00PM The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has helped 29 Bangladeshi women suffering from obstetric fistula, a debilitating injury resulting from giving birth, to undergo successful repair surgery as part of a marathon training session for medical staff from four Asian countries.

UNFPA said the three-day session last week, held at a hospital in the Bangladeshi city of Sylhet, was part of a wider national effort to boost the number of doctors and nurses skilled in treating fistulae.

This programme brought together teams of experienced surgeons, nurses and anaesthesiologists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Timor-Leste to conduct the surgeries and to share knowledge on fistula repair, while other local medical staff and students observed.

The operations took between two and five hours, depending on the extent of the injuries, <"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1116">UNFPA said in a press release issued yesterday. It will take several weeks to determine the overall outcome, but Bangladeshi doctors report there is usually a 70 per cent success rate in repairing fistulae.

About 1,200 Bangladeshi women have undergone fistula surgery since 2003, when the UNFPA-led Global Campaign to End Fistula started providing medical equipment and financial support for both training efforts and patient rehabilitation.

Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by prolonged labour without prompt medical intervention, usually a Caesarean section. The woman is left with chronic incontinence and, in most cases, a stillborn baby.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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PLIGHT OF DISPLACED IN CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC WORRIES SECURITY COUNCIL

PLIGHT OF DISPLACED IN CHAD, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC WORRIES SECURITY COUNCIL New York, Apr 9 2008 5:00PM Condemning continued armed activity of rebel groups in eastern Chad, members of the Security Council today expressed their concern over the humanitarian situation in that region and the neighbouring north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR), as the number of displaced persons continues to swell.

Council members also welcomed progress in setting up the mission in the two countries, known as <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minurcat/">MINURCAT and its European support force, EUFOR, said Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, Council President for April, in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9295.doc.htm">press statement after a briefing by Assistant Secretary General Edmond Mulet.

"They stressed that the full deployment of MINURCAT and EUFOR Chad/CAR will contribute to the protection of vulnerable civilian populations and to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, pursuant to <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/res/1778(2007)">resolution 1778 (2007)," he said.

They also encouraged Member States to support those deployments through contributing necessary personnel and assets.

The innovative, multi-dimensional MINURCAT was set up by the Security Council last September to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people uprooted due to insecurity in the northeast of the CAR and eastern Chad and in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan.

It was mandated to comprise 300 police and 50 military liaison officers, as well as civilian staff, focusing on the areas of civil affairs, human rights and the rule of law. The strength as of 1 April stood at 163 international and 64 national staff, according to the latest report of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Deployment was delayed when Chadian rebels advanced from the area of the border with Sudan in a bid to take Chad's capital, N'Djamena, in early February. Though the rebels were eventually driven out of the city, street fighting left many dead and UN staff were evacuated.

Also in early February, about 10,000 people from West Darfur sought refuge in eastern Chad following a series of deadly air and land attacks by the Sudanese Government and its allied militia.

In addition, the Prime Minister of the CAR resigned in January and in the subsequent period many thousands fled their villages due to raids by armed groups, with many making their way to Chad.

In his statement today, Mr. Kumalo said Council members strongly urged Sudan and Chad to meet the obligations of their 13 March agreement on reducing border tensions and encouraged the countries of the region to get actively involved in the follow-up.

They also encouraged authorities in Chad and CAR to continue their efforts to promote inclusive political dialogue in their countries, he said.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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UN OFFICIALS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION TO ADDRESS IMPACT OF SPIRALLING FOOD PRICES

UN OFFICIALS CALL FOR URGENT ACTION TO ADDRESS IMPACT OF SPIRALLING FOOD PRICES New York, Apr 9 2008 5:00PM Warning that soaring food prices could lead to increased poverty and unrest, several senior United Nations officials have called for urgent measures to tackle the global crisis, which threatens to hit the world's poor the hardest.

The World Food Programme's (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP) Deputy Executive Director has warned of the rise of a "new face of hunger" that will require the combined efforts of governments, the private sector, and humanitarian organizations to overcome.

"Food prices are now rising at rates that few of us can ever have seen before in our lifetimes," John Powell told the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development (DIHAD) Conference.

He expressed particular concern about the fact that markets are full of food, but large numbers of people simply cannot afford to buy.

Yesterday, at the same conference, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes warned that rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability.

The past few weeks have witnessed violent protests over rising food prices in a number of countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and, most recently, in Haiti, where several people have died in riots.

Mr. Holmes, who is also Emergency Relief Coordinator, discussed the issue today in his meetings with officials in Kuwait, the latest stop on his four-nation visit intended to encourage greater partnership with Gulf States in international humanitarian efforts.

Meanwhile, the head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO) called for urgent measures to reduce the impact of high food prices on the poor, which he said was due to a combination of factors such as reduced production due to climate change, increased demand for biofuels production and the higher cost of energy and transport.

Director-General Jacques Diouf made the appeal at the first-ever Global Agro-Industries Forum in New Delhi, India, which has been sponsored by UN agencies to focus on how such industries can contribute to poverty reduction.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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UN AND AFRICAN UNION ENVOYS FOR DARFUR CRISIS HOLD TALKS IN SOUTHERN SUDAN

UN AND AFRICAN UNION ENVOYS FOR DARFUR CRISIS HOLD TALKS IN SOUTHERN SUDAN New York, Apr 9 2008 4:00PM The United Nations and African Union envoys heading international efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict have travelled to the town of Juba today for talks with the former southern Sudanese rebels as they seek to bring new momentum to the stalled political process.

The UN's Jan Eliasson and the AU's Salim Ahmed Salim met with Salva Kiir, Sudan's First Vice President, and members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Task Force on Darfur, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters.

The two envoys also held consultations with the United Resistance Front (URF), a recently-formed alliance that groups together five movements from Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied militiamen since 2003.

Mr. Eliasson and Mr. Salim briefed their audience today about last month's meetings in Geneva with the regional partners and the wider international community, and they also discussed the way forward for the political process.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and almost 2.5 million others displaced from their homes in Darfur, and previous attempts to find a lasting peace have faltered or stalled. The UN and AU have deployed a hybrid peacekeeping mission known as UNAMID to try to quell the violence and the humanitarian suffering but so far less than 10,000 personnel – out of the 26,000 expected at full deployment – are in place.

Ms. Okabe said the envoys will visit the Darfur region itself next Wednesday, during which they are expected to meet local representatives of civil society and the region's other movements.

Yesterday they held talks in the national capital, Khartoum, with senior Sudanese Government officials.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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BETTER COORDINATION OF EFFORTS TO HELP AFGHANISTAN PRIORITY FOR NEW UN ENVOY

BETTER COORDINATION OF EFFORTS TO HELP AFGHANISTAN PRIORITY FOR NEW UN ENVOY New York, Apr 9 2008 4:00PM Improving coordination of international efforts to help bring peace and development to Afghanistan will be a key priority for the United Nations, the new Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the strife-torn nation pledged today.

Kai Eide, who is also head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (<"http://www.unama-afg.org/">UNAMA), told his first <"http://www.unama-afg.org/">press conference in Kabul that he wants to "create a new sense of momentum and a new sense of urgency" in the way international efforts are coordinated.

Mr. Eide just returned from Bucharest, Romania, where he joined Mr. Ban, President Hamid Karzai and other leaders at last week's high-level meeting on Afghanistan, held as part of the summit of the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In Bucharest, Mr. Ban acknowledged that the UN has not been as effective as it needs to be in coordinating the international community, adding that the new Security Council mandate will allow the world body to take a more assertive role in coordination.

"We have to get away from a situation where an Afghan administration which is still in need of capacity-building is faced with a too fragmented international community," Mr. Eide stated. "And we have to make sure that the agenda that we pursue is the Afghan agenda and not a number of national agendas.

Among the coordination structures in place is the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), co-chaired by the UN and set up in 2006 to monitor implementation of the Afghanistan Compact – a five-year blueprint for the country's reconstruction.

Related to the issue of better coordination is the question of aid efficiency, the Special Representative noted. "We have to ask ourselves, do we have adequate resources, do we spend them well enough, do we spend them sufficiently through Afghan channels and budgets, and can we eliminate duplication," he said.

Mr. Eide added that the Bucharest meeting was "very encouraging" for the UN, since it reaffirmed that the international community wants a stronger and more prominent role for the Organization in the country.

The meeting also displayed a strong international commitment to help Afghanistan not just by increasing troop levels but also by strengthening efforts in reconstruction and development and in governance. "I have never before seen such a strong international commitment to a broadly-based international effort to support Afghanistan," he said.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON DEPLORES ATTACKS ON UN MISSION IN HAITI

BAN KI-MOON DEPLORES ATTACKS ON UN MISSION IN HAITI New York, Apr 9 2008 4:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed concern over the recent violence in Haiti and particularly the deaths that have occurred amid demonstrations against the high cost of living in the poverty-stricken Caribbean country.

In a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11504.doc.htm">statement issued by his spokesperson, the Secretary-General also deplored attacks against the UN mission in Haiti, known as <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/">MINUSTAH, as well as against the Government and private property.

Mr. Ban appealed for calm and urged demonstrators to refrain from further acts of violence. He also expressed sympathy for the suffering of the Haitian people resulting from the recent rise in food prices, and encouraged international donors to provide urgent assistance.

The spokesperson added that MINUSTAH has taken all necessary measures to assist the Haitian authorities in protecting key installations and institutions.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS RUSSIAN LEADERS IN MOSCOW

SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS RUSSIAN LEADERS IN MOSCOW New York, Apr 9 2008 3:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held cordial and wide-ranging talks today with Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin, during his ongoing visit to Moscow, a United Nations spokesperson said.

Spokesperson Maria Okabe said the talks focused on UN-Russian relations, climate change, and a review of areas of international tension including Kosovo, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Georgia, among other issues.

The Secretary-General stressed the need for a pragmatic approach by all major stake-holders following the 17 February declaration of independence of Kosovo, which the UN has administered since Western forces drove out Yugoslav forces amid inter-ethnic fighting in 1999, Ms. Okabe said.

He reaffirmed the UN's position of being neutral on the status of Kosovo and operating in accordance with Security Council resolution 1244, which set up the UN administration, she added.

She said the Secretary-General also expressed appreciation for Russia's growing contribution to international humanitarian efforts, and hoped there would be a continued increase in Russia's commitment in this area.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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SERBIAN SECURITY FIGURE FIT TO STAND TRIAL, UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL RULES

SERBIAN SECURITY FIGURE FIT TO STAND TRIAL, UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL RULES New York, Apr 9 2008 2:00PM The delayed war crimes trial of two former high-level officials with the Serbian secret service will start on Monday after the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s ruled that one of the men is now fit to stand trial.

The trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (<"http://www.un.org/icty/">ICTY) ruled yesterday that Jovica Staniši&#263; – who suffers from pouchitis, osteoporosis and kidney stones, and is being treated for deep depression – can stand trial along with his co-accused, Franko Simatovi&#263;.

The illnesses had prevented Mr. Staniši&#263; from attending court and he had also refused to sign waivers from the hearings, and led to repeated delays in recent weeks.

A majority of the ICTY trial chamber <"http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2008/pr1236e.htm">found that Mr. Staniši&#263;'s "health condition is a factor that persistently interferes with the right to a fair and expeditious trial, warranting derogation from the right to be present in court."

They added that Mr. Staniši&#263; is not the only person on trial and that Mr. Simatovi&#263; "too is entitled to a fair and expeditious trial."

The ICTY ordered that a video-conference link be set up in its detention unit to allow Mr. Staniši&#263; to follow the proceedings and see the witnesses at all times. A telephone line with the courtroom will also be installed to allow the defendant to communicate with his lawyers.

Announcing their decision, the judges said it should not be seen as a permanent solution and Mr. Staniši&#263; must attend court if he is able to do so.

The two defendants are accused of having directed, organized, equipped, trained, armed and financed secret units of the Serbian state security apparatus which murdered, persecuted and deported Croats, Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serb civilians from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia between 1991 and 1995.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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MEXICAN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER SCOOPS UN PRESS FREEDOM PRIZE

MEXICAN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER SCOOPS UN PRESS FREEDOM PRIZE New York, Apr 9 2008 1:00PM A Mexican reporter who has been a target of death threats, sabotage and police harassment because of her work uncovering prostitution and child pornography networks was today <"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=42207&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">designated the laureate of a press freedom prize by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will award the <" http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25952&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to Lydia Cacho Ribeiro in a ceremony to be held on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, in Maputo, Mozambique.

A freelance reporter based in Cancun, Mexico Ms. Cacho is a contributor to the daily newspaper La Voz del Caribe, frequently covering organized crime and corruption. In 2006, she reported on the violent death of hundreds of young women in the northern Mexican city of Ciudad Juárez.

The jury of 14 professional journalists and editors from all over the world was impressed by Ms. Cacho's courage and persistence, according to Joe Thloloe, jury president and Press Ombudsman of the Press Council of South Africa.

"For me, a journalist who knows the antagonistic environment in which he or she operates and continues to do the right thing by keeping readers, listeners or viewers informed about their society deserves recognition for their contribution to freedom of expression around the world," Mr. Thloloe said. "Lydia Cacho is such a laureate."

The $25,000 prize, financed by the Cano and Ottaway family foundations, is named after Guillermo Cano, the Colombian newspaper publisher assassinated in 1987 for denouncing the activities of powerful drug barons in his country.

The prize has previously been received by the following laureates: Anna Politkovskaya (Russian Federation, 2007), May Chidiac (Lebanon, 2006), Cheng Yizhong, (China, 2005), Raúl Rivero (Cuba, 2004), Amira Hass (Israel, 2003), Geoffrey Nyarota (Zimbabwe, 2002), U Win Tin (Myanmar, 2001), Nizar Nayyouf (Syria, 2000), Jesus Blancornelas (Mexico, 1999), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria, 1998), and Gao Yu (China, 1997).
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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WORK OF NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING CLIMATE CHANGE PANEL HAILED BY UN OFFICIAL

WORK OF NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING CLIMATE CHANGE PANEL HAILED BY UN OFFICIAL New York, Apr 9 2008 1:00PM The head of the lead United Nations agency on weather, climate and water has lauded the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose Nobel Prize-winning efforts have helped the world better understand the impact of global warming on the planet.

"Key <"http://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC messages have now been widely publicized with the support of many nations and of the United Nations, and serve as the basis for an international mobilization in the domain of climate change," said Hong Yan, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (<"http://www.wmo.ch/pages/index_en.html">WMO).

Addressing an IPCC meeting which began today in Budapest, Hungary, Hong Yan noted in particular the panel's latest research on the impacts of climate change on water, which he said reinforced the need for countries – especially in the developing world – to strengthen the monitoring and observational capacities of their National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

He said the work on climate change and water covers a number of WMO's concerns, such as the link between global warming and large-scale changes in the hydrological cycle, including changing precipitation patterns, the melting of continental ice and changes in the frequency and intensity of droughts.

"All these aspects of the climate system are central to WMO's expertise and these results highlight the need to further support research and observations," he stated.

Established in 1988 by WMO and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the IPCC and its more than 2,000 scientists and experts have grappled with science and economics of climate change and its likely impacts. It was recognized for its groundbreaking work in 2007 when it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with former United States Vice-President and climate change activist Al Gore.

WMO has been supporting the Panel's work in a variety of ways, including as the principal provider of the scientific and technical information that underpins IPCC assessments.

Mr. Hong Yan stressed the commitment of WMO to assisting the Panel in its work and in facilitating the increasing involvement of scientists from both developed and developing countries to meet the challenges of global climate change – one of the "defining challenges of the 21st century."
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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UN DISTANCE-LEARNING PROGRAMME HELPS STATISTICIANS GET BETTER NUMBERS

UN DISTANCE-LEARNING PROGRAMME HELPS STATISTICIANS GET BETTER NUMBERS New York, Apr 9 2008 12:00PM Statisticians from India and Cambodia today completed the first video conferencing course provided by a new United Nations programme that aims to boost the quality of information received from Governments of developing countries.

"It has been found that there is a substantial need to improve the ability of government statisticians in data analysis and manipulation by taking advantage of statistical software," said Chultemjamts Davaasuren, Director of the UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (<"http://www.unsiap.or.jp/">SIAP).

"This training course addresses that need and we hope it will serve as a model for other courses throughout the region," he added, noting that the programme has already trained about 11,000 people from more than 120 countries and territories through more conventional methods.

In the trial distance-learning course, 30 statisticians from India and Cambodia completed a nine-day training course taught by lecturers based in Japan, in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Cambodia's National Institute of Statistics and India's Central Statistical Organisation.

The students attended their classes in videoconferencing facilities located in local JICA offices, using an integrated statistical software package known as STATA.

SIAP, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (<"http://www.unescap.org/unis/sub_unis/press_releases.asp">ESCAP), was created to strengthen the capability of the developing countries to collect, analyze and disseminate timely and high-quality statistics by providing fellowships, training courses and workshops, and course design and materials.

The Institute is planning to hold two similar training programmes later this year.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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UN CULTURAL CHIEF CALLS FOR STEPS TOWARDS RESTORING DAMAGED ITALIAN LANDMARK

UN CULTURAL CHIEF CALLS FOR STEPS TOWARDS RESTORING DAMAGED ITALIAN LANDMARK New York, Apr 9 2008 11:00AM Following a fire at the famed Castello di Moncalieri, in the Italian Province of Turin, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has called for an urgent assessment of the damage with a view to restoring the ancient royal castle, which has been inscribed on the agency's World Heritage List since 1997.

A fire broke out on 5 April causing severe damage to the royal apartments and to several floors in one of the watchtowers of the building, a former residence of the House of Savoy.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of an important part of this royal residence," UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura <" http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=42205&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">said.

"It is, however, a relief that the fire brigades were able to prevent even greater destruction," he added.

Built in 1100 and extended over several centuries, the Castello di Moncalieri was the main family residence of the House of Savoy from the 16th to the 18th centuries.
It was inscribed on the World Heritage List, along with several other royal residences, as bearing testimony to the monumental architecture of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and as a material expression of the prevailing doctrine of absolute monarchy of the time.

The <" http://whc.unesco.org/en/list">World Heritage List includes 848 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having "outstanding universal value."
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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NEPAL: UN ENVOY URGES RESTRAINT FOLLOWING PRE-POLL KILLINGS

NEPAL: UN ENVOY URGES RESTRAINT FOLLOWING PRE-POLL KILLINGS New York, Apr 9 2008 11:00AM The top United Nations official in Nepal has called on all parties to exercise restraint after at least seven people died in two separate incidents on the eve of Constituent Assembly elections in the South Asian nation.

In a <"http://www.unmin.org.np/downloads/pressreleases/2008-04-09-UNMIN.SRSG.Press.Statement.ENG.pdf">statement issued today in Kathmandu, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Nepal, Ian Martin, said he was "deeply shocked" by the deaths.

At least six members of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) were killed and several others injured as a result of firing by security personnel in Dang district. The second incident involved the shooting death of CPN-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) candidate Rishi Prasad Sharma.

"All parties should exercise restraint and avoid provocations of one another, including detention of party workers," said Mr. Martin.

He added that "personnel against whom there is reasonable suspicion of excessive use of force or political partiality should be suspended while there is an investigation independent of their chain-of-command."

A team from the UN Mission in Nepal (<"http://www.unmin.org.np/">UNMIN) is already on the scene investigating the events in Dang, while another is travelling to the site of Mr. Sharma's killing. The Mission is coordinating its probe with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (<"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx">OHCHR) and with the newly-formed Peace and Conflict Management Committee.

Earlier this week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3082">stressed that Nepal's leaders have "a critical responsibility to ensure that voters can freely exercise their democratic right in a secret ballot, without fear of violence, intimidation or manipulation."

He added that the Constituent Assembly election is a "historic milestone for the people of Nepal," and so much hinges on its success.

Once elected, Assembly members are tasked with drafting a new constitution in Nepal, which has emerged from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives until the Governments and the Maoists signed a peace accord in 2006.
2008-04-09 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS FIRST MEMBERS OF INTERNAL JUSTICE ADVISORY UNIT FOR UN

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS FIRST MEMBERS OF INTERNAL JUSTICE ADVISORY UNIT FOR UN New York, Apr 8 2008 7:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today approved the appointment of the first members of a new body that will advise on the first overhaul of the United Nations' internal justice system in 60 years, as outlined by the General Assembly.

The five-member Internal Justice Council will consist of a staff representative, a management representative and two distinguished external jurists, one nominated by the staff and one by management, all of whom were approved today. The fifth member, the chair, will be a distinguished juror chosen by these four.

The two members nominated by staff, following a process inclusive of all staff unions, are Jenny Clift of Australia, a Vienna-based senior legal officer with the International Trade Law Division of the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA), and Geoffrey Robertson of the United Kingdom and Australia, who served as the first President of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).

The two members nominated by management are Maria Vicien-Milburn of Argentina, Director of the General Legal Division of the OLA, and Sinha Basnayake of Sri Lanka, who previously served in the same position and has since served the Organization in various advisory capacities on legal and administrative issues.

The General Assembly decided to reshape the Organization's justice system after a 2006 panel concluded that the administration of justice in the UN "fails to meet many basic standards of due process established in international human rights instruments."

In helping to redress that situation, the Internal Justice Council will advise the body on suitable candidates for the positions of judges on the future UN Dispute Tribunal and the UN Appeals Tribunal.

Modelled on similar mechanisms at other international public organizations, it is also tasked with drafting a code of conduct for the judges, and for providing its views on the implementation of the new system to the Assembly.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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DARFUR: UN AND AFRICAN UNION ENVOYS BEGIN NEW ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS

DARFUR: UN AND AFRICAN UNION ENVOYS BEGIN NEW ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS New York, Apr 8 2008 7:00PM The United Nations and African Union envoys spearheading efforts to bring durable peace to war-wracked Darfur are in Sudan this week for consultations with Government officials as they try to introduce new momentum to the stalled political process.

Jan Eliasson of the UN and Salim Ahmed Salim of the AU are scheduled to meet in Khartoum with Sudan's chief negotiator on the Darfur issue, Nafie al-Nafie; the former rebel and the current senior assistant to the President, Minni Minawi; and Foreign Minister Deng Alor, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters today.

She said talks will then be held in Juba with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the former rebel group from the south that is part of the Government of National Unity after the 2005 peace agreement ending the long-running north-south civil war.

This week's consultations are a follow-up to informal consultations held with regional partners and members of the international community last month, after which Mr. Eliasson and Mr. Salim stressed that repairing relations between Sudan and its neighbour Chad are a prerequisite to resolving the crisis engulfing Darfur.

The porous border between Darfur and Chad has been the scene of tensions in recent months as Darfurians fleeing attacks on their villages cross into eastern Chad and Chadian rebels fighting the Government cross into Sudan.

Ms. Montas said Mr. Eliasson and Mr. Salim will hold consultations from 15 to 20 April with those movements in Darfur that have not signed previous key peace accords and with representatives of civil society groups in the impoverished and arid region.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and almost 2.5 million others displaced from their homes in the five years since rebels began fighting Government forces and allied militiamen known as the Janjaweed.

The UN and AU have deployed a hybrid peacekeeping mission known as <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/index.html">UNAMID to try to quell the violence and the humanitarian suffering but so far less than 10,000 personnel – out of the 26,000 expected at full deployment – are in place.

UNAMID chief Rodolphe Adada also held talks this week with Mr. Alor and other senior Sudanese Government officials about the situation in Darfur, with their meeting focusing on enhancing security and protection of the civilian population, and on the status of deployment of UNAMID troops. Egyptian and Ethiopian personnel are slated to be deployed as part of the mission over the next two months.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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HEAD OF INQUIRY INTO HARIRI ASSASSINATION ASKS SECURITY COUNCIL FOR TIME EXTENSION

HEAD OF INQUIRY INTO HARIRI ASSASSINATION ASKS SECURITY COUNCIL FOR TIME EXTENSION New York, Apr 8 2008 7:00PM The head of the independent probe into the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri today asked the Security Council to extend the inquiry's mandate for another six months so it can continue its investigations into the February 2005 attack and a series of other recent killings in Lebanon.

Daniel Bellemare told a Council <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9294.doc.htm">meeting in New York that the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) needs more time beyond its current expiration date of 15 June, even as preparatory steps to establish the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are continuing.

He stressed that while his team was working as quickly as possible to complete its investigations and avoid unnecessary delays, it was also important to allow the search for justice to follow its course.

"In saying so, I understand and share the frustration of the surviving victims, the families of the deceased, and the people of Lebanon who expect quick results," said Mr. Bellemare, a Canadian prosecutor who succeeded Serge Brammertz as Commissioner at the start of the year.

Mr. Bellemare also said the inquiry would not be deterred by the ongoing bombings in Lebanon, including two deadly attacks since the Commission last reported to the Security Council.

"The Commission will yield to no pressure, political or otherwise, and the identification of suspects will be based on sound legal standards supported by concrete evidence."

He reiterated the need for confidentiality around the investigation, balanced against transparency to the extent possible without jeopardizing the security or safety of the Special Tribunal, the Commission or possible witnesses.

In his most recent report Mr. Bellemare said a criminal or terrorist network is responsible for the massive car bombing in downtown Beirut in 2005 that killed Mr. Hariri and 22 others.

The investigation has found that the network had conducted surveillance of Mr. Hariri before the attack and that at least part of the network continued to operate after the assassination.

The IIIC is currently probing the links between members of the network and others outside the group, and what role the network has played in Lebanon's other recent political killings.

Speaking to the press after the briefing, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, said the 15-member panel generally welcomed Mr. Bellemare's request for an extension to his mandate.

Council members also welcomed the progress in the investigation and backed the need to keep information confidential until indictments issued to ensure the non-politicization of the process.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN are currently taking steps to establish the Special Tribunal, which will try those accused of Mr. Hariri's murder. It will be up to the Tribunal to determine whether other political killings in Lebanon since October 2004 are connected and should therefore be dealt with by it.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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UN FORUM EXAMINES POSITIVE IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON DEVELOPMENT

UN FORUM EXAMINES POSITIVE IMPACT OF URBANIZATION ON DEVELOPMENT New York, Apr 8 2008 6:00PM Urbanization can have a positive impact on development issues such as poverty, inequality and environmental degradation, so long as the appropriate policies are in place to manage the problems and challenges, experts attending the current session of the United Nations population body said today.

The meeting of the Commission on Population and Development, which began yesterday and concludes on Friday, is focusing on the opportunities and challenges posed by increasing urbanization. The UN estimates that, by the end of this year, half of the world's 6.7 billion people will live in urban areas.

This session of the Commission is "particularly interesting" because the topic of urbanization and its implications has not been dealt with for 10 years, said Hania Zlotnik, Director of the Population Division in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

"What we're finding is that, as we expected, there's still great reluctance by governments to acknowledge that urbanization can have even positive effects," she said at a press conference earlier today.

While urbanization poses a number of challenges to local government in terms of governance and the provision of basic services to an increasing population, it also offers opportunities for economic growth. The South African city of Cape Town has been rapidly urbanizing for the past three or four decades.

"Ironically, much of the urbanization is happening to Cape Town precisely because there is a viable, vibrant economy that has been booming for the last 10 years and attracting people from across the sub-continent," the city's Mayor, Helen Zille, pointed out.

She added that modern cities succeed to the extent that they link their populations with the nation's economy and the nation's economy with the global economy. "The city has to get both of those right to improve life for the very poor and to enable all to have opportunities in the city," she stated.

David Satterthwaite, from the International Institute for Environment and Development, emphasized that compact, well-designed and well-managed cities can generate a "fantastic" quality of life at a relatively low level of greenhouse gas emissions.

"So not only are cities very important for poverty reduction, they're also very important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DR CONGO STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT - LATEST UN REPORT

PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN DR CONGO STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT – LATEST UN REPORT New York, Apr 8 2008 6:00PM The redeployment of United Nations peacekeepers to the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where critical steps are being taken to resolve long-standing conflict and instability, risks creating security vacuums and increased tensions in other parts of the country, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says.

In his latest <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2008/218">report to the Security Council, Ban Ki-moon warns that the resources of the UN's mission to the DRC, which is known as MONUC, are "stretched to the limit, creating risks in areas of potential and rising tension, including in Bas-Congo and elsewhere."

"The Mission's current force levels… do not reflect the critical role <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/monuc/index.html">MONUC is expected to play under the Goma and Nairobi processes," Mr. Ban says, referring to the recent agreements reached between the Governments of DRC and Rwanda and the armed groups operating in the volatile far east, especially North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

"I intend to keep the situation under close review and may revert to the Council with recommendations to ensure that the Mission's military and civilian deployments correspond to its mandated tasks."

The Kivus have long been a source of instability in the DRC, even after the official end of the civil war in 2003, and Mr. Ban reiterates that the region still has the potential to undermine the stability of the rest of the country.

"Long-term stability in the Kivus will depend on many interlinked factors," he writes, citing the need for State authority to be fully extended across the two provinces and for a "substantially strengthened" national army, known as FARDC, which is also professional, well-structured and respectful of international humanitarian and human rights law.

But the Secretary-General stresses that improvements in the far east cannot be at the expense of other regions, such as Bas-Congo in the far west, where the Congolese national police have been involved in violent and sometimes deadly clashes with the Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK) politico-religious movement since January.

He strongly urges Congolese authorities to "refrain from the disproportionate use of force," although he adds that he is "very concerned by the provocations of BDK, which led to the escalating tensions."
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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MORE MONEY NEEDED TO HELP DISPLACED IN GEORGIA, UN REFUGEE AGENCY SAYS

MORE MONEY NEEDED TO HELP DISPLACED IN GEORGIA, UN REFUGEE AGENCY SAYS New York, Apr 8 2008 5:00PM United Nations refugee officials are calling for more humanitarian and development funding in Georgia to help support an estimated 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees living in the Caucasus country.

Johanna Langenkamp, head of the donor relations and resource mobilization service of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47fa48af2.html">UNHCR), said the extra funding was needed to meet the needs of the displaced, including Chechen refugees who have been living in the Pankisi Valley for nearly a decade.

"Much more needs to be done to address the needs of the people," she said earlier this week, following a UNHCR-organized visit to Georgia of representatives of key donor nations, namely Estonia, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and the United States.

The donor representatives – who met with Georgian Government officials, UNHCR staff and others during their visit – also travelled to the breakaway Abkhazia region, where tens of thousands of IDPs are living.

UNHCR has programmes in place across Georgia to support the IDPs and the refugees, including in Abkhazia and the region of South Ossetia as well.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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IN CHAD, UN MISSION STARTS TRAINING LOCAL POLICE

IN CHAD, UN MISSION STARTS TRAINING LOCAL POLICE New York, Apr 8 2008 5:00PM The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) is launching a programme tomorrow to train 77 Chadian police and gendarmerie commanders in law and order and respect for human rights.

After an intensive four-week course, the officers will form part of the Détachement Integré de Sécurité (DIS) working in refugee camps, internally displaced person (IDP) sites and major towns in eastern Chad. <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minurcat/">MINURCAT is targeting a total of 850 personnel to eventually make up the DIS.

According to a Security Council resolution last year, MINURCAT is tasked with selecting, training, advising and facilitating support to the DIS. Meanwhile the European force, EUFOR, is responsible for providing a security umbrella in the areas where MINURCAT conducts its activities.

MINURCAT was set up by the Security Council last September to help protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid to thousands of people uprooted by insecurity in the northeast of the CAR and eastern Chad, and in the neighbouring Darfur region of Sudan.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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HAITI FACES 'EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY' BUT PROGRESS FRAGILE - UN ENVOY

HAITI FACES 'EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY' BUT PROGRESS FRAGILE – UN ENVOY New York, Apr 8 2008 5:00PM Haiti is facing a time of exceptional opportunity to escape the destructive cycles of the past, with real and significant gains on security, the economy and institution-building, but this progress remains extraordinarily fragile and could swiftly be reversed, according to the UN's top envoy to the country.

<"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9292.doc.htm">Speaking to the Security Council, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Haiti, Hédi Annabi, said that while the current Government had promoted political consensus and had begun to address key issues including corruption and impunity, there were "clear and continuing threats that democratic debate could relapse into political infighting and instability, and that this could in turn generate violence."

Mr Annabi said that the latest unrest in Les Cayes, where a demonstration over living costs led to an attack against the local UN office, demonstrated the potential security implications of the recent price rises. Noting that the Haitian public was "especially sensitive to threats of instability," Annabi said a "firm and visible response" to such violence was essential.

Mr Annabi said there appeared to be a political dimension to the current unrest, and that growing public discontent had the clear potential to undermine efforts at stabilization. He urged donor countries and the private sector to work with the Haitian authorities to find creative ways to generate what he called a "stability dividend," which would provide immediate and tangible improvements in socio-economic conditions. In later remarks to journalists, Mr Annabi suggested that this should include urgent humanitarian assistance followed by long-term agricultural aid to increase crop yields.

Mr Annabi said tensions between political actors and between the branches of government had occasionally threatened to escalate and to undermine public confidence, recalling that this was dramatically illustrated by the recent shooting incident in Parliament, during a debate related to investigations into alleged spending irregularities.

Mr Annabi called for the wider international community to encourage a responsible approach by all political actors, but added that ultimately, political progress would depend on Haitians themselves. "While moments of tension will be inevitable, it is crucial that political leaders and opinion-makers rise to the occasion and show restraint and a genuine desire for collaboration," he said.

On security, Mr Annabi said that the sustained operations against gangs conducted in early 2007 continued to bear fruit and that the situation remained "far better than it was." However, a resurgence of kidnappings was becoming a political liability for both the government and the UN mission in Haiti, known as <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/">MINUSTAH.

"There are also recurrent indications that gangs may be trying to re-organize themselves," he warned. "These kinds of threats, which appear essentially criminal in nature, may be manipulated for political purposes."

Mr Annabi said that while there had been some progress on institutional reform over the past six months, much more remained to be done to reach the benchmarks noted in his report. He noted that while some 8,450 police officers were now in service, this fell far short of the 14,000 required for basic policing duties, and that while three critical laws on the judiciary and the penal system had been passed, continued and coordinated efforts would be essential to turn these "blueprints" into reality. Mr Annabi went on to characterize the Haitian prison system as "unacceptable from security and human rights perspectives."

In a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9293.doc.htm">statement to the press issued after Mr. Annabi's report, Security Council members expressed support for continued implementation of police and judicial reform. They strongly deplored the violence which took place on 4 April in Les Cayes and expressed their deep regret about the loss of life. They encouraged the long-term commitment of international donors, and the call for a high-level international conference in Port-au-Prince on 25 April.

Council Members also reiterated their support for the Secretary-General's intention, expressed in his own report earlier this month, to prepare a consolidation plan with benchmarks to measure continued progress, on the basis of consultation with the Haitian authorities.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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NEPAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS 'IN GOOD ORDER' - UN ENVOY

NEPAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS 'IN GOOD ORDER' – UN ENVOY New York, Apr 8 2008 4:00PM The preparations for Thursday's Constituent Assembly polls in Nepal are in good order, despite some serious acts of violence and violations of human rights during the election campaign, according to the top United Nations official there.

Ian Martin, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal, told a news conference today that while there had been clashes and violations of the election Code of Conduct, which had resulted in fatalities, these should not be allowed to distort the whole picture.

"It is important to emphasize that in many districts, many constituencies, peaceful campaigning has been going on throughout this election campaign," Mr. Martin said. "That is a very considerable feat for an election more complicated than any Nepal has carried out before."

Mr. Martin went on to issue five appeals related to the conduct of the election and its aftermath. He called for armed groups who had claimed responsibility for violent acts to call off those efforts; for political parties to respect the election Code of Conduct; for both Government and Maoist army personnel to remain in their barracks or cantonments; for voters not to be influenced by threats or inducements; and for all Nepalis to be patient during the voting and counting.

Questioned by journalists, Mr. Martin said that given Nepal's electoral history, some re-polling was likely, but that he hoped incidents would not be exaggerated and there would be no over-reaction. In that context, he called on the media to be "as objective as it possibly can" in its reporting.

He said that it was "crucial" that election day passed off in such a way that the people of Nepal saw the result as credible, and called for all parties to "respect the result, and also respect the framework within which the decisions are made."

Once elected, the Constituent Assembly will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for the country, which has emerged from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives until the Government and the Maoists signed a peace accord in 2006.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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SRI LANKA: UN APPEALS FOR PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS FOLLOWING SUICIDE ATTACK

SRI LANKA: UN APPEALS FOR PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS FOLLOWING SUICIDE ATTACK New York, Apr 8 2008 4:00PM The United Nations has urged all parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to do everything they can to protect civilians, after a suicide attack this weekend in the capital, Colombo, claimed the lives of 15 people.

In a statement issued today by the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, the UN strongly condemned Sunday's attack which occurred during a sporting event. Among those killed were Government Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and several well-known athletes.

Sri Lanka has witnessed several attacks in the past few months, following the Government's decision earlier this year to end the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement that halted a decades-long conflict with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Condemning all violence and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, the UN appealed to all parties to seek a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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GULF STATES PLAY VITAL ROLE IN GLOBAL RELIEF EFFORTS, SAYS UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF

GULF STATES PLAY VITAL ROLE IN GLOBAL RELIEF EFFORTS, SAYS UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF New York, Apr 8 2008 3:00PM The top United Nations humanitarian official has lauded the contributions of Persian Gulf countries to relief efforts around the world, and called for boosting ties between them and the world body to better meet today's growing challenges.

"In many countries across the globe, the combined humanitarian efforts of Gulf countries have made a life-saving difference, reaching communities that, at times, the UN and other aid actors could not," stated Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes, who is currently on a four-nation tour of the region.

In his keynote address to the fifth annual Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development (DIHAD) conference, Mr. Holmes pointed out that member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have given nearly $500 million and pledged a further $320 million in humanitarian aid over the past three years.

Mr. Holmes, who is also Emergency Relief Coordinator, noted that the global demand for humanitarian assistance is likely to grow dramatically in the coming years, owing to ongoing internal and civil conflicts, more frequent and intense natural disasters and the rise in food and energy prices.

"If we are to meet the growing array of humanitarian needs, we must work together more cohesively not only to respond to crises, but also to reduce their impact before they happen," he stated, stressing the need to strengthen the partnership between the UN and Gulf nations.

Doing so will not only reinforce current activities, "but also help build a more fully-representative and universally accepted humanitarian movement that is better equipped to meet the challenges of both man and nature in the 21st century," said Mr. Holmes.

"Without this balance, there is a risk that humanitarian assistance will continue to be viewed as a Western enterprise," he added.

In addition to the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Holmes – who is travelling together with UN Special Humanitarian Envoy Abdul Aziz Arrukban – is visiting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

Also today at the DIHAD Conference, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) unveiled the Arabic version of its popular humanitarian video game that teaches children about global hunger.

Some six million people around the world have already played "Food Force," which is designed for children aged eight to 13. In a race against time, players join a virtual team of <"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2812">WFP experts to get food to the needy in an emergency situation.

WFP's Deputy Executive Director John Powell noted that it is fitting that the game is being launched in Dubai, "an essential logistics hub for the entire humanitarian community, and especially for WFP as one of the leaders in this field."

Launched in 2005, as the world's first humanitarian video game, Food Force is available as a free internet download from <"http://www.food-force.com/">www.food-force.com.

2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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COLOMBIA AND UN REFUGEE AGENCY TO SIGN DEAL TO PROTECT LAND RIGHTS OF DISPLACED

COLOMBIA AND UN REFUGEE AGENCY TO SIGN DEAL TO PROTECT LAND RIGHTS OF DISPLACED New York, Apr 8 2008 2:00PM The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Colombian Government are signing an agreement today to protect the property rights of the South American country's vast population of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The agreement will provide a legal framework for various programmes already in place to protect abandoned land and it will also outline new initiatives to restore the property rights of people who have lost their land through forced displacement, <"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news">UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47fb4fbc2.html">told reporters today in Geneva.

Some 2.4 million Colombians are on the national registry for displaced persons, with 78 per cent originating in rural areas before they fled for cities and towns to escape armed conflict and violence. As much as six million hectares of land have been lost by those people, and very few receiving any compensation.

Ms. Pagonis said the agreement includes a measure to begin land registration in communities at risk of future displacement, considered a critical step given that many farmers do not have legal titles to the land they own, making it far more difficult for them to claim the land back after their displacement.

Mechanisms are also being established to distribute land to IDPs who have lost their properties, and to protect abandoned land so it cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of by others.

The agreement is scheduled to be signed in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, later today by UNHCR's Jean-Noel Wetterwald and national Agriculture Minister Andres Felipe Arias.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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UN REFUGEE AGENCY VEHICLE AMBUSHED IN SOMALIA

UN REFUGEE AGENCY VEHICLE AMBUSHED IN SOMALIA New York, Apr 8 2008 11:00AM Two staff members of the United Nations refugee agency narrowly escaped with their lives when their vehicle was ambushed in the north-eastern Somali region of Puntland over the weekend.

A group of armed militia men blocked the road with a car as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) vehicle, carrying an international staff member and a local driver, was passing through the town of Garowe. The driver managed to reverse the vehicle and drive away from the scene; more than 20 bullet holes were found in the vehicle. Police accompanying the vehicle arrested four suspects.

In a statement, UNHCR <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47fb4f882.html">expressed shock over the attack and called on the Puntland authorities to take strong measures to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice.

UNHCR has three offices in Puntland, which provide assistance to internally-displaced Somalis and asylum seekers and refugees from other countries.

The security situation in the region has deteriorated over the past months, making the delivery of assistance to vulnerable people increasingly difficult. International non-governmental organisations (NGOs) pulled out of Puntland last year after several abductions and other attacks.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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HUMANITARIAN CRISES, AID CAN NOW BE 'GOOGLED' THROUGH UN AGENCY VIEW

HUMANITARIAN CRISES, AID CAN NOW BE 'GOOGLED' THROUGH UN AGENCY VIEW New York, Apr 8 2008 11:00AM Computer users can now zoom down into displacement camps in Darfur, Chad, Iraq, Colombia and elsewhere on Earth in a new on-line programme unveiled today by Internet search giant Google and the United Nations refugee agency.

Google Earth Outreach gives the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian agencies the ability to use Google Earth and Maps to graphically bring home their work in some of the world's most remote areas.

The online visitor can descend from the 'macro-view' over a refugee camp to examine schools, water points and other infrastructure, or can view videos, background on the UNHCR and other actors, maps and other elements enriched with pop-up information.

"Google Earth is a very powerful way for UNHCR to show the vital work that it is doing in some of the world's most remote and difficult displacement situations," Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees L. Craig Johnstone said at the launch of the project in Geneva.

UNHCR's technical experts said that as it grows, the Google Earth programme will allow the agency and its humanitarian partners to build and share with each other a visual, geographic record of the joint efforts on the ground.

Such shared records could include, they said, cross-border mapping of population flows as well as the location of displaced persons in relation to their places of origin, to be used for logistical planning for repatriation operations, for example.

According to UNHCR, 350 million people around the world have already downloaded <"http://www.unhcr.org/events/47f48dc92.html">Google Earth, which allows viewers to zoom in on localities from satellite eye's view.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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UN AGENCY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER CHINA'S DEPORTATION OF YOUNG REFUGEE

UN AGENCY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER CHINA'S DEPORTATION OF YOUNG REFUGEE New York, Apr 8 2008 10:00AM The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed its concern over China's deportation of a 17-year-old male refugee from Pakistan who was returned to his country of origin after being taken from his home in Beijing last week.

"The news of this and other deportations has created considerable anxiety among the refugees in Beijing who have told us they are feeling very intimidated by these activities," UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47fb4ed42.html">told reporters in Geneva.

Ms. Pagonis said the agency has made it clear to Chinese authorities that any deportation of refugees must scrupulously observe the <"http://www.unhcr.org/protect/3c0762ea4.html">1951 Refugee Convention, to which China is a party. Also, depending on the circumstances, such action may violate the treaty's non-refoulement provision.

There had been 15 deportations in total from China this year of refugees from Iraq, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, according to the agency.

"From a security perspective UNHCR appreciates that particular vigilance is needed during this period of preparation for the 2008 Olympics," stated Ms. Pagonis.

"We are ready to discuss acceptable arrangements which are sensitive to these concerns but which preserve necessary conditions of protection for persons in need," she added.

UNHCR currently takes care of some 180 refugees – mostly from southwest Asia, the Middle East and Africa – in mainland China.
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON SEEKS BACKING OF MEMBER STATES FOR UN MANAGEMENT REFORM

BAN KI-MOON SEEKS BACKING OF MEMBER STATES FOR UN MANAGEMENT REFORM New York, Apr 8 2008 11:00AM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on Member States to support the strengthening of the United Nations to make it more effective and efficient, particularly in the areas of procurement, accountability and human resources, as the General Assembly today begins a two-day debate on what he considers one of his top priorities.

The Assembly has discussed and agreed to a number of reform initiatives over the past 10 years, including the establishment of the <"http://www.un.org/reform/ethics/index.shtml">Ethics Office and the post of Chief Information Technology Office.

In addition, the 192-member body has upgraded accounting standards, strengthened procurement practices, and helped set up a new system to administer justice in the Secretariat.

However, as Assembly President Srgjan Kerim pointed out prior to today's discussion, "much still needs to be done. We need to advance further on human resources, procurement, information and communication technology, accountability and oversight to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Organization." <font color="#CC0000" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif"><b>MORE TO FOLLOW</b></font>
2008-04-08 00:00:00.000

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EXPERIENCED GENDER OFFICIAL FROM SPAIN CHOSEN TO HEAD UNIFEM

EXPERIENCED GENDER OFFICIAL FROM SPAIN CHOSEN TO HEAD UNIFEM New York, Apr 7 2008 7:00PM The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced today that Inés Alberdi of Spain has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Ms. Alberdi, who succeeds Noeleen Heyzer, was selected by <"http://www.undp.org/">UNDP Administrator Ad Melkert in consultation with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the <"http://www.unifem.org/">UNIFEM Consultative Committee, the agency said in a press release.

"The selection process was comprehensive and extensive, taking into account both the challenges facing UNIFEM as such as the broader requirements of strengthening gender-focused work throughout the UN system, something to which the Secretary-General attaches great importance."

Ms. Alberdi has had a long career dealing with issues related to gender, development and politics. From 2003 to 2007 she was a deputy in the Madrid Assembly, and before that she has worked for the European Union, the Spanish Sociological Research Centre and the Inter-American Development Bank.

She has also worked as a professor of sociology at Complutense University of Madrid, and has published several books on the social status of women.

UNIFEM is tasked with providing financial and technical assistance to programmes and strategies that foster women's empowerment and gender equality, focusing particularly on reducing poverty, ending violence and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

In another appointment, Mr. Melkert announced that Mr. Ban has appointed India's Ajay Chhibber as Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator of UNDP and Director of its regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific. He replaces Hafiz Pasha.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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DR CONGO: UN ENVOY CALLS ON PARTIES TO IMPLEMENT COMMITMENTS IN KIVUS

DR CONGO: UN ENVOY CALLS ON PARTIES TO IMPLEMENT COMMITMENTS IN KIVUS New York, Apr 7 2008 7:00PM The top United Nations official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has appealed to the parties in the volatile Kivu provinces in the country's northeast to implement the commitments made in recent accords and help more than one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees try to resume normal life.

Alan Doss, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in the DRC, told the opening of the mixed technical commission on peace and security in the Kivus – otherwise known as the 'Amani programme' – that it was time to move into the "realization phase" of the peace process.

Speaking at the conference in the town of Goma on Friday, Mr. Doss said the vast population of IDPs and refugees in North Kivu and South Kivu, which have been beset by fighting and instability since the official end of the civil war in 2003, are waiting for the commitments in the accords reached in January by Government forces (known as the FARDC) and armed rebel groups to be fulfilled.

"In the last weeks, the United Nations gave priority to the monitoring and consolidation of the ceasefire," he said. "An informal dialogue mechanism was established between the FARDC and the armed groups, and the UN would like to see this quickly formalized.

"There have been many violations of the ceasefire, but much was due to banditry than to real military action. None of the violations were likely to affect the peace process."

The accords include provisions for members of the armed rebel groups to either disarm or join the 'brassage' process in which they join the FARDC after retraining.

Mr. Doss called on all the armed groups as well as the commanders of FARDC to impose more discipline on their troops to reduce human rights violations.

The more delicate issues, such as the scope and nature of the military structures to be deployed in the east of the DRC, will also have to be tackled soon if the region is to have a durable peace, he said.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN BODY CONFRONTS NEW WORLD, MADE UP OF A MAJORITY OF URBAN DWELLERS

UN BODY CONFRONTS NEW WORLD, MADE UP OF A MAJORITY OF URBAN DWELLERS New York, Apr 7 2008 6:00PM As the number of people living in cities this year outranks the number living in rural areas for the first time, and 19 'megacities' emerge with more than 10 million inhabitants, top United Nations officials today stressed the importance of understanding how successful cities have dealt with pollution, slums and other ills.

"Despite their problems, large cities produced better health outcomes than smaller ones," said Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, as he opened this year's <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/pop961.doc.htm">session of the UN Commission on Population and Development.

He said that, as they confront additional population and uneven access to services and resources, local authorities must be able to tailor assistance to their particular settings.

Resources for planning must be made available, however, other officials warned. The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (<"http://www.unfpa.org/">UNFPA), Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, said that the decline in international funding for family planning would slow global efforts to reduce poverty, improve health and empower women.

"In fact, funding for family planning as a percentage of all population assistance has dropped considerably, from 55 per cent in 1995 to 7 per cent in 2005," she said.

"The victims of this funding gap," Ms. Obaid said, "are poor women in poor countries who cannot exercise their reproductive rights and plan their families. It is a serious problem that needs to be urgently addressed."

The Commission's session, focusing on the growing urbanization of the world population and its implications for development issues such as poverty and the environment, will run until 11 April.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON TO DISCUSS KOSOVO ISSUE DURING VISIT TO MOSCOW

BAN KI-MOON TO DISCUSS KOSOVO ISSUE DURING VISIT TO MOSCOW New York, Apr 7 2008 6:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he plans to discuss the situation in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February, with Russian officials during his visit to Moscow this week.

In an interview with UN Radio ahead of the visit, which begins on Wednesday, Mr. Ban noted that there have been incidents of violence in Kosovo – which came under UN administration after Western forces drove out Yugoslav forces amid inter-ethnic fighting in 1999.

"At this time, the situation on the ground is rather calm but it is absolutely necessary for the international community and parties concerned to make sure that we'll be able to keep peace and stability on the ground," he stated.

"Therefore, the parties concerned should refrain from taking any unilateral action which may exacerbate the current situation or which may incite violent measures," he added.

Mr. Ban also stated that the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) will continue to exercise its authority in the area unless the Security Council decides otherwise.

Other issues to be discussed during Mr. Ban's three-day visit, his first to Russia since taking office, include a proposed conference on the Middle East peace process to be hosted by Russia and the situation in the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

While in Moscow, he is expected to meet with Russian Government leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma and civil society leaders.

In addition, he is scheduled to speak at Moscow State University and address the launch of the UN Global Compact's Russia network.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN HUMAN RIGHTS BODY BEGINS FIRST-EVER EXAMINATION OF ALL COUNTRIES' RECORDS

UN HUMAN RIGHTS BODY BEGINS FIRST-EVER EXAMINATION OF ALL COUNTRIES' RECORDS New York, Apr 7 2008 5:00PM The Universal Periodic Review, a new mechanism to examine the human rights record of every United Nations Member State, was launched today at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Over the next two weeks, a first group of 16 countries – starting with Bahrain and Ecuador – will have their records scrutinized, as part of the Review, one of the reforms which differentiate the Council from the Commission on Human Rights, which it succeeded in 2006.

The Review meetings will feature interactive discussions between the States in question and a working group comprises all of the Council's 47 members, according to a UN spokesperson.

The discussions will be based on national reports and information from a variety of sources, including treaty bodies, Special Rapporteurs – independent experts on specific topics that report to the Council – non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and academics.

Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland, India, Indonesia, Morocco, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia and the United Kingdom are the other countries being reviewed over the next two weeks.

Under the Review's work plans, 48 countries are scheduled to be reviewed each year, so that the UN's complete membership of 192 countries will be reviewed once every four years.

Last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Council to assure that all countries were scrutinized equally. "The Review must reaffirm that just as human rights are universal, so is our collective respect for them and our commitment to them," he said.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN AGENCY PRESENTS AWARDS TO IRANIAN, MALAYSIAN INVENTORS

UN AGENCY PRESENTS AWARDS TO IRANIAN, MALAYSIAN INVENTORS New York, Apr 7 2008 5:00PM The United Nations World International Property Organization (WIPO) has presented awards to an Iranian woman who invented a new medical instrument and a Malaysian man who designed a new form of engineered wood, as part of the agency's commitment to promoting inventors worldwide.

Mrs. Maryam Eslami from Iran, won the <"http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html.en">WIPO award for the best invention by a woman for designing a new surgical instrument for use in bone surgery. Mr. Wan Tarmeze, from Malaysia, won the award for the best invention by a national from a developing country, for wood made from the waste generated by oil palm plantations.

The awards were handed out on Friday at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, which provides an opportunity for inventors to showcase their inventions and to attract business partners. The winners were selected by an international jury of experts.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN POLITICAL CHIEF DISCUSSES CYPRUS WITH OFFICIALS IN GREECE AND TURKEY

UN POLITICAL CHIEF DISCUSSES CYPRUS WITH OFFICIALS IN GREECE AND TURKEY New York, Apr 7 2008 4:00PM The top United Nations political official is continuing his consultations on how the world body can best assist reunification efforts on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, holding meetings today in Athens ahead of discussions in Ankara tomorrow.

B. Lynn Pascoe told reporters in the Greek capital that he and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis had "very fruitful talks" and had agreed to work together to help the people of Cyprus in their efforts at reunification, UN spokesperson Michele Montas said.

Tomorrow he will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and other officials in Ankara before joining Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his official visit to Moscow which begins on Wednesday, she added.

Mr. Pascoe's meeting with Greek and Turkish officials follows last week's visit to Cyprus, during which he noted a "palpable sense of momentum" on the island toward a lasting solution to the dispute between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

He attributed this to the positive tone of recent discussions between the Greek Cypriot leader Demetrios Christofias and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. At their 21 March meeting, the two leaders agreed to start full-fledged negotiations within three months on resolving the long-running dispute.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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NEPAL'S POLITICAL LEADERS MUST ENSURE POLLS ARE FREE AND FAIR, BAN KI-MOON SAYS

NEPAL'S POLITICAL LEADERS MUST ENSURE POLLS ARE FREE AND FAIR, BAN KI-MOON SAYS New York, Apr 7 2008 4:00PM Nepal's political leaders are responsible for ensuring that this Thursday's elections for a Constituent Assembly are free, fair and credible, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he urged the country's people to grasp the "historic milestone" in the peace process.

In a video <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3082">message taped today, Mr. Ban said it is his "fervent hope" that the polls are a success, especially given the efforts so far by Nepalese political leaders to reach this point.

"They now have a critical responsibility to ensure that voters can freely exercise their democratic right in a secret ballot, without fear of violence, intimidation or manipulation," he said. "So much hinges on the success of the election, and the acceptance by all of the will of the people."

The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-Nepal) issued a joint report yesterday warning that while momentum was building towards the elections, violent clashes and acts of intimidation involving supporters of rival political parties were still marring the campaigning.

Mr. Ban said the election is "an opportunity not only to reinvigorate democracy, and uphold the centrality of human rights, but also to further cement the peace process in Nepal… This Constituent Assembly election is a historic milestone for the people of Nepal. You have waited long and patiently for this day to come."

He also noted that the international community is closely following the election process, including through the presence of hundreds of election observers.

Once elected, Assembly members are tasked with drafting a new constitution in Nepal, which has emerged from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives until the Governments and the Maoists signed a peace accord in 2006.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN HAS 'MORAL DUTY' TO ACT ON LESSONS OF RWANDA - BAN KI-MOON

UN HAS 'MORAL DUTY' TO ACT ON LESSONS OF RWANDA – BAN KI-MOON New York, Apr 7 2008 4:00PM The United Nations has a "moral duty" to act on the lessons of Rwanda and bolster efforts to prevent another genocide, Ban Ki-moon said in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11495.doc.htm">message marking the fourteenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

The Secretary-General said that in pursuit of this aim, he had created the full-time position of Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, and appointed a Special Adviser with a focus on the responsibility to protect. "It is a cause I am resolved to pursue, in my time as UN Secretary-General and in the years beyond," he said.

Mr. Ban went on to pledge his determination to work for human rights everywhere, adding that during this sixtieth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN is pursuing a campaign to ensure that human rights are known and understood around the world.

In his message, the Secretary-General recalled his visit to the Genocide Memorial in Kigali earlier this year. "It was impossible to pass through those halls and not be affected – indeed, shaken to the core – by what the Rwandan people endured," he said.

Recalling that more than 800,000 people lost their lives in the genocide, Mr. Ban said that the courage and resilience shown by the survivors should serve as an inspiration to all.

Events marking the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide are taking place at UN offices in New York and Geneva, while discussions and exhibitions are planned throughout the month at UN Information Centres (UNICs) in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Madagascar, Mexico, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania and Togo.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN-BACKED CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVE REACHES MILESTONE OF 100 SCHOOLS

UN-BACKED CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVE REACHES MILESTONE OF 100 SCHOOLS New York, Apr 7 2008 3:00PM A global educational initiative developed to promote social responsibility in private enterprise has now been endorsed by more than 100 business schools around the world, the head of the corporate partnerships programme at the United Nations announced today.

"We are very happy about reaching this milestone because it brings us closer to mainstreaming UN values into the corporate world," Manuel Escudero, Head of Academic Initiatives at the UN Global Compact told reporters in New York.

"Business schools are a powerful multiplier of business ideas, since they prepare the business leaders of the future," he added, describing the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), which was launched less than one year ago under the patronage of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Institutions participating in the PRME make a commitment to align their mission and strategy with UN values in such areas as sustainability, labour practices and the fight against corruption, Mr. Escudero said.

They are encouraged to develop curriculum, research and outreach as part of the initiative, which was formulated by an international task force of 60 deans, university presidents and other academic officials.

As part of PRME's further development, a Global Forum for Responsible Management Education will be convened on 1-2 December at UN Headquarters, according to a press release from the Global Compact.

In addition to the Compact, the PRME steering committee includes the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) and the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD).

Also on the committee are the Aspen Institute's Business and Society Program, the European Academy for Business in Society (EABIS), the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI), the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and Net Impact.

The UN Global Compact pledges participants – which include some 3,600 businesses in over 100 countries – to observe principles regarding human rights, labour rights, the environment and combating corruption.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UNESCO CHIEF REGRETS DESTRUCTION OF QUÉBÉC CITY HERITAGE LANDMARK

UNESCO CHIEF REGRETS DESTRUCTION OF QUÉBÉC CITY HERITAGE LANDMARK New York, Apr 7 2008 3:00PM The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (<"http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1657&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO) expressed "deep regret" today over the destruction of Québéc City's historic drill hall – inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1985 – which burned down on Friday.

"I deeply regret the destruction of this important landmark," Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement. "It is particularly sad that this proud testimony of Québéc's history was so severely damaged on the eve of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québéc City."

The brick and timber structure, built in 1887, has only one brick wall, the main entrance and two towers remaining after Friday's blaze. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

In his statement Mr Matsuura went on to praise Canada's "great and generous commitment to heritage preservation," and expressed the hope that the drill hall would be rebuilt using existing plans and photographs.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES SWIFT RELEASE OF ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL RESULTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES SWIFT RELEASE OF ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL RESULTS New York, Apr 7 2008 2:00PM United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed concern that the results of presidential elections in Zimbabwe have not been released and urged the electoral authorities to do so "expeditiously and with transparency."

In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3081">statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban noted that nine days after the elections, the results had yet to be released in spite of the constitutional deadline. "The Secretary-General… urges the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to discharge its responsibility and release the results expeditiously and with transparency," the statement said.

"He calls upon all actors to act responsibly, exercise restrain and calm, and to address all issues regarding the elections through recourse to legal means and dialogue," it continued.

The Secretary-General previously called for the utmost transparency during the counting of votes.

In the presidential poll, the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, is facing Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni. If a winning candidate does not win more than 50 per cent of the total votes, a run-off race is required.

Mr Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has petitioned Zimbabwe's High Court to demand the immediate release of the election results. The electoral authorities have already announced the results of the Senate and parliamentary elections, which were held on the same day as the presidential vote.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES STATES TO WORK TOWARD WORLD FREE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES STATES TO WORK TOWARD WORLD FREE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS New York, Apr 7 2008 2:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on States to redouble their efforts to eliminate the scourge of chemical weapons, in a message to a gathering of parties to the global treaty banning these instruments of mass destruction.

Countries that have ratified the <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/cwc/">Chemical Weapons Convention are meeting in The Hague in the Netherlands to review operation of the treaty, which entered into force on 29 April 1997 and enjoys near-universal membership with 183 States Parties.

"Our efforts to build a world free of chemical weapons require that all States Parties adopt, enhance and strengthen the national implementation measures called for under the Convention," Mr. Ban told the gathering, in a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3080">message delivered by Tim Caughley, Deputy Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament.

All States Parties have the obligation to destroy their existing chemical weapons and production facilities, the Secretary-General noted. In addition, the possessor States are required to destroy their stockpiles completely before the final deadline of 29 April 2012.
"I call on all possessor States, whether their stockpiles are large or small, to fulfil this solemn obligation," he said.

Describing the treaty's impact as "momentous," Mr. Ban pointed out that some 27,000 tonnes of chemical weapon agents have been destroyed, as well as 2.9 million chemical munitions and containers.

Pledging the UN's support to promote universal adherence to the Convention and its implementation, he called on those States that have not yet done so to ratify or accede to the treaty as soon as possible.

Formally known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, the treaty aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of these arms by States Parties.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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BAN KI-MOON URGES 'INCREMENTAL' PROGRESS IN DEADLOCKED DISARMAMENT ARENA

BAN KI-MOON URGES 'INCREMENTAL' PROGRESS IN DEADLOCKED DISARMAMENT ARENA New York, Apr 7 2008 2:00PM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged United Nations Member States to reverse the setbacks of recent years in controlling the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction and conventional weapons – by reaching consensus on even small steps forward.

"Small steps forward are still steps forward," Mr. Ban said as he <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3079">opened the annual three-week session of the <"http://disarmament.un.org/undiscom.htm">UN Disarmament Commission, a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.

Last year, he called the lack of progress in the area "unacceptable," citing the failure of the 2005 review conference of Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the deadlock in the Conference on Disarmament and the need for new impetus for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

To break the deadlocks, he asked delegations to be flexible and not to insist on achieving all of their objectives: "I believe that incremental progress in this institution can have positive spillover effects across the UN's disarmament machinery," he said.

"It can also help in cultivating a positive climate for addressing disarmament issues in other multilateral forums, including those dealing with treaty regimes," he added.

Any progress achieved can be contagious, he maintained, not just in the area of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, but also in the pursuit of "practical confidence-building measures" in the field of conventional weapons.

He granted that the international community has made some progress in addressing the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, but said that new conventional-weapon issues are emerging, while old problems still demand solutions.

"The fact that conventional arms continue to kill many thousands of people every year is often overlooked, except, of course, by the States and individuals suffering most from this bloodshed," he said.

The issue was one that struck to the very heart of the UN as an institution. "Failure is not an option," he stressed. "Its consequences could well jeopardize many other goals of the Charter and the security and well-being of all our Member States."
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL AND SLOVAKIA SIGN AGREEMENT TO ENFORCE PRISON SENTENCES

UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL AND SLOVAKIA SIGN AGREEMENT TO ENFORCE PRISON SENTENCES New York, Apr 7 2008 2:00PM Slovakia today became the fifteenth European country to agree to <"http://www.un.org/icty/pressreal/2008/pr1234e.htm">enforce sentences imposed by the United Nations tribunal that was set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Anyone convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (<"http://www.un.org/icty/">ICTY) and given a jail term can now serve that sentence in a Slovakian prison after an agreement was signed in The Hague, the Dutch city where the tribunal is based.

Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Ukraine, Portugal and Estonia have already entered into similar agreements with the ICTY.

More than 37 people convicted by the tribunal have either served, or are currently serving, their sentence in one of the countries which have signed an agreement. Five others are awaiting transfer to one of the States.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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AGRICULTURE MUST REVERT TO MORE NATURAL, LOCAL PRODUCTION - UN-BACKED REPORT

AGRICULTURE MUST REVERT TO MORE NATURAL, LOCAL PRODUCTION – UN-BACKED REPORT New York, Apr 7 2008 12:00PM Modern agricultural practices have exhausted land and water resources, squelched diversity and left poor people vulnerable to high food prices, even though they are also highly productive, <" http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=42192&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">according to a report announced by the United Nations scientific agency today.

"Business as usual is no longer an option," states the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which will be formally launched on 15 April by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The report's authors recommend that agricultural science place greater emphasis on safeguarding natural resources and on 'agro-ecological' practices, including the use of natural fertilizers, traditional seeds and intensified natural practices, and reducing the distance between production and the consumer.

The need for action is urgent, the report says, because many poor people are now reliant on the global food market, where soybean and wheat prices have increased by 87 per cent and 130 per cent respectively in the last year.

Global grain stores are today at their lowest level on record and prices of staple foods such as rice, maize and wheat are expected to continue to rise because of increased demand, especially in China and India, and because of the alternative use of maize and soybeans for bio-fuels.

In addition, the report states that 35 per cent of the Earth's severely degraded land has been damaged by agricultural activities.

UNESCO says that the IAASTD report is the result of three years of cooperation between nearly 400 scientists, the governments of developed and developing countries, and representatives of civil society and the private sector.

Its conclusions will be presented for approval to the plenary session of the IAASTD intergovernmental panel that will gather from 7 to 12 April in Johannesburg, South Africa. It will then be launched simultaneously in several cities, including Washington D.C., London and Nairobi.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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CLIMATE CHANGE WILL TAKE HEAVY TOLL ON HUMAN HEALTH - UN OFFICIALS

CLIMATE CHANGE WILL TAKE HEAVY TOLL ON HUMAN HEALTH – UN OFFICIALS New York, Apr 7 2008 11:00AM Top United Nations officials have warned that global warming and its effects, including a rise in air and sea temperatures and extreme weather patterns, endanger not only the planet but also pose a major threat to human health.

In his message marking this year's <"http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/index.html">World Health Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that, in addition to causing more frequent and more severe storms, heat waves, droughts and floods, climate change jeopardizes the quality and availability of water and food, "our fundamental determinants of nutrition and health."

He stressed the need to "give voice to this often-overlooked reality, ensuring that protecting human health is anchored at the heart of the global climate change agenda."

The Secretary-General added that it is the world's poor – who contributed the least to climate change – that will bear the brunt of the human suffering resulting from the crisis.

For example, malnutrition and climate-related infectious diseases will take their heaviest toll on the most vulnerable – small children, the elderly and the infirm. Women living in poverty face particular risk when natural disasters and other global-warming related dangers strike.

Stressing that "climate change is real, it is accelerating and it threatens all of us," Mr. Ban called for collective action to combat the scourge, for the sake of the planet as well as for those inhabiting it.

"The core concern is succinctly stated: climate change endangers human health," <"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2008/pr11/en/index.html">said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO). "The warming of the planet will be gradual, but the effects of extreme weather events – more storms, floods, droughts and heat waves – will be abrupt and acutely felt."

She noted that human beings are already exposed to the effects of climate-sensitive diseases, including malnutrition, which causes over 3.5 million deaths per year, diarrhoeal diseases, which kill over 1.8 million, and malaria, which kills almost 1 million.

Recent events such as the European heat wave in 2003, Hurricane Katrina – which struck the United States in 2005 – and cholera epidemics in Bangladesh are just a few examples of what can be expected in the future.

"These trends and events cannot be attributed solely to climate change but they are the types of challenges we expect to become more frequent and intense with climate changes," she stated. "They will further strain health resources which, in many regions, are already under severe stress."

To address the health effects of climate change, WHO is coordinating and supporting research and assessment on the most effective measures to protect health, particularly for the most vulnerable such as women and children in developing countries.

It is also advising Member States on the necessary changes to their health systems to protect their populations, and will be working closely with them in the years ahead to develop effective means of adapting to a changing climate and reducing its effects on human health.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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SURGE IN FOOD PRICES COULD LEAD TO INCREASED UNREST, WARNS SENIOR UN AID OFFICIAL

SURGE IN FOOD PRICES COULD LEAD TO INCREASED UNREST, WARNS SENIOR UN AID OFFICIAL New York, Apr 7 2008 11:00AM The head of the United Nations World Food Programme (<" http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2811">WFP) today called on donors to respond to the agency's appeal for additional funds to deliver lifesaving assistance, warning that the global surge in food prices could lead to further tensions such as those witnessed recently in <" http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/minustah/">Haiti and other countries.

"What we see in Haiti is what we're seeing in many of our operations around the world – rising prices that mean less food for the hungry. A new face of hunger is emerging: even where food is available on the shelves, there are now more and more people who simply cannot afford it," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran.

Following the deaths of four people in two days of rioting last week over rising food prices, WFP has called on donors once again to urgently support its operations in Haiti, which has been particularly vulnerable to the spike in costs.

So far the agency has only received 13 per cent – or $12.4 million – of the $96 million required to assist 1.7 million people in Haiti – the western hemisphere's poorest country. As a result, it barely has enough to support operations throughout April.

"Riots in Haiti underline the additional need for lifesaving food assistance," Ms. Sheeran said. "At this critical time, we need to stand with the people of Haiti and other countries hardest hit by rising food prices."

Last month, WFP announced it was seeking funding to close a $500 million gap caused by the global spike in food and fuel prices, which have increased by an estimated 55 per cent since last June.

In addition to Haiti, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal have also experienced unrest in recent weeks related to soaring food and fuel prices.
2008-04-07 00:00:00.000

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UN RELIEF CHIEF AND SAUDI KING DISCUSS CLOSER COOPERATION IN HUMANITARIAN FIELD

UN RELIEF CHIEF AND SAUDI KING DISCUSS CLOSER COOPERATION IN HUMANITARIAN FIELD New York, Apr 6 2008 9:00PM The top United Nations relief official and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah have held talks today in Riyadh, discussing how the world body and the Middle East country can pursue ways to strengthen their partnership in the humanitarian field.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes thanked King Abdullah for the commitment shown by Saudi Arabia in supporting humanitarian efforts in the region and elsewhere, according to a press release issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

"I was deeply impressed by the commitment of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques to humanitarian causes throughout the world and look forward to taking further the dialogue we have begun with the Saudi authorities in the weeks and months to come," the Under-Secretary-General said.

Mr. Holmes and Abdul Aziz Arrukban, the UN Special Humanitarian Envoy of the Secretary-General based in the Gulf region, also met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud today. Their talks focused on improving the response to crises worldwide, particularly given the impact of climate change and the recent spike in global food prices.

In addition, Mr. Holmes and Prince Saud al Faisal agreed to enhance the cooperation mechanisms between the UN -- including OCHA and the Saudi Government, the Gulf Cooperation Council and local civil society organizations.

The visit to Saudi Arabia is the first stop of a four-country visit to the Persian Gulf region by Mr. Holmes. He is scheduled to travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar as well.

2008-04-06 00:00:00.000

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FINAL UN REPORT BEFORE HISTORIC POLLS IN NEPAL WARNS OF VIOLENCE, INTIMIDATION

FINAL UN REPORT BEFORE HISTORIC POLLS IN NEPAL WARNS OF VIOLENCE, INTIMIDATION New York, Apr 6 2008 9:00PM Momentum continues to build ahead of this Thursday's historic Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal, but violent clashes and acts of intimidation involving supporters of political parties are marring the campaigning, the United Nations says today in its final assessment ahead of the polls.

The joint report by the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-Nepal) finds that while campaigning has been peaceful in many constituencies, in others there have been incidents -- frequent, in some cases -- of election-related violence and intimidation.

"The Young Communist League and other Maoist cadres continued to be involved in the largest proportion of these incidents," the report notes, urging the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) to stop the intimidatory behaviour of its members and supporters.

"The CPN-M leadership should ensure that its stated readiness to abide by the outcome of the election authenticated through the established procedures is not undermined by contradictory statement," the report recommended.

It stated that while the number of abductions by armed groups had fallen slightly, there had been a considerable increase in the detonation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in acts clearly intended to disrupt the electoral process.

In addition, the report warned of mounting evidence that State resources were being deployed for partisan ends and of attempts to buy votes through "donations" of food, clothing and other goods to some communities.

But today's report, the third and final in a series of periodic reports on the conditions for the Constituent Assembly elections, observes that there have also been several positive developments during the past week.

These include a recommitment by the three major parties of the governing Seven-Party Alliance to campaign peacefully and cooperate at the district level, and the restraint shown in the wake of "the deliberately provocative bombing" of a mosque in Biratnagar on 29 March that caused the deaths of two people.

"The Nepal Defense Army claimed responsibility for the attack. The people of Biratnagar resisted the apparent attempt to incite inter-communal violence and responded with moderation and dignity."

After the report was released, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Nepal, Ian Martin, stressed the importance of a free and fair atmosphere for the elections.

"Recommendations in this final pre-election report highlight the importance of voters being able to vote without fear of their vote being known to anyone, and without violence, intimidation or inducements," he said.

Once elected, the Constituent Assembly will be tasked with drafting a new constitution for Nepal, which has emerged from a decade-long civil war that claimed an estimated 13,000 lives until the Government and the Maoists signed a peace accord in 2006.

2008-04-06 00:00:00.000

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