SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON GAZA FIGHTING, BAN RENEWS CEASEFIRE CALL

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON GAZA FIGHTING, BAN RENEWS CEASEFIRE CALL
New York, Jan 6 2009 6:10PM
The Security Council convened on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza this evening, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warning that today's deadly Israeli shelling of United Nations schools where hundreds of Gazans had sought refuge made a ceasefire more urgent than ever.

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Jan 6 2009 6:10PM
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UN REACHES VILLAGES IN NORTH-EASTERN DR CONGO ATTACKED BY UGANDAN REBELS

UN REACHES VILLAGES IN NORTH-EASTERN DR CONGO ATTACKED BY UGANDAN REBELS
New York, Jan 6 2009 4:10PM
The United Nations refugee agency has reached towns in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the scene of bloody attacks carried out by the notorious Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

Over the weekend, a team from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/496385334.html">UNCHR) and other UN agencies carried out a mission in the towns of Tadu and Faradje in Orientale Province.

Faradje, which lies 100 kilometres west of the DRC's border with Sudan and Uganda, was attacked from 25-26 December, leaving over 70 people dead and displacing nearly 40,000 others. Those who fled the town and local organizations said that more than 80 women were raped during the two-day period.

UNHCR said that people in the district are shocked and traumatized by the attacks. "Our mission found Faradje pillaged and destroyed by fire," agency spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.

Over 800 houses, three schools, government buildings and health care centres had burned, with most families losing their annual harvest in the fire.

The nearby village of Nagero came under attack on 3 January, claiming eight lives and uprooting 3,500 people.

Up to 500 Congolese civilians have been killed since the start of a joint Congolese, Sudanese and Ugandan operation against the LRA on 14 December, Mr. Redmond said.

According to UN estimates, over 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since mid-December, on top of 50,000 others in the region who were displaced by an earlier escalation of clashes between last September and November.

Mr. Redmond said the agency has received a preliminary report of another attack yesterday on the village of Napapo which claimed up to eight lives and houses were set on fire. "An unknown number of people were reportedly kidnapped," he said, adding that there are reports that this incident has uprooted even more people.

The UNHCR team has met with local non-governmental organizations and the newly displaced are currently being registered in Tadu, Faradje and neighbouring villages.

Key needs include food, shelter and medicine, Mr. Redmond said. "However, the area remains highly volatile and insecurity is a key obstacle for access by us and other agencies."
Jan 6 2009 4:10PM
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GUNMEN KILL UN FOOD AID WORKER IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA

GUNMEN KILL UN FOOD AID WORKER IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA
New York, Jan 6 2009 1:10PM
The United Nations World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=3030">WFP) has urged all parties to the ongoing conflict in Somalia to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers after one of the agency's staff members was gunned down while monitoring a school feeding programme in the southern part of the war-torn nation.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran condemned the killing of 44-year-old Somali national Ibrahim Hussein Duale, calling it a "shocking attack on one of our staff while he was doing his job."

Mr. Duale was shot by three masked gunmen while he was monitoring school feeding in a WFP-supported school in Yubsan village, six kilometres from the Gedo region capital of Garbahare in southern Somalia. Witnesses say the gunmen approached him while he was seated, ordered him to stand up and then shot him.

Mr. Duale, who joined WFP in 2006, leaves behind a wife and five children. He is the third WFP staff member killed since August 2008 in Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers. Five WFP-contracted transport staff were killed in Somalia in 2008.

Somalia, which has not had a functioning national government since 1991, has been plagued by fighting and humanitarian suffering for decades. Continuing instability, coupled with drought, high food prices and the collapse of the local currency have only worsened the dire humanitarian situation in recent months.

The UN estimates that some 3.2 million people, or 40 per cent of the population, are in need of assistance.

"We call on all parties to allow us to do our job – providing food to feed the hungry at this critical time," said Ms. Sheeran. "We are an impartial international organization and we need a minimum of security to serve the Somali people."

Despite the precarious security situation, WFP has been feeding more than 1.5 million people every month in Somalia. Some 90 percent of the agency's food aid for Somalia arrives by sea on ships currently escorted by European Union naval vessels to protect them from piracy.
Jan 6 2009 1:10PM
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9.1 MILLION PEOPLE INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN CENTRAL, EAST AFRICA, UN REPORTS

9.1 MILLION PEOPLE INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN CENTRAL, EAST AFRICA, UN REPORTS
New York, Jan 6 2009 1:10PM
There were 9.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Central and Eastern Africa region as of December 2008, according to a United Nations report released today, 400,000 less than at the end of June, but because of the fluidity of the situation officials advised against laying too much store on the reduction.

They noted that IDPs are sometimes continually moving, either returning home or being uprooted a second time.

The number of refugees forced to seek haven outside their homelands as of December stood at 1.8 million, with most of them hosted by Chad, Tanzania and Kenya.

Half the IDPs – 4,576,250 – are in Sudan alone, with 2,700,000 of them in the war-torn Darfur region, according to the Displaced Populations Report for July-December 2008 by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA).

Displacement in the region is triggered mainly by intra-State conflicts and natural disasters such as floods and drought, with 72 per cent in the Greater Horn of Africa region, reflecting mainly the combined internal displacement from the strife-related crises in Sudan and Somalia.

Frequently, several of these causes affect a country or region at the same time, creating complex humanitarian emergencies. Scarcity of resources, limited access to land and inconclusive peace and reconciliation processes create multiple challenges for the process of return, according to the report, which covers Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.

Humanitarian response to both acute and long-term displacement is often hampered by lack of access to the affected people due to ongoing conflict and persistent high insecurity including targeting of humanitarian workers and assets, the report notes.

Data was obtained from UN agencies, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Red Cross family, governments and local authorities.

On 18 December, marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes launched a global campaign to raise awareness about the plight of IDPs. The campaign focus in 2009 will be on preventing displacement and finding solutions to the problem.
Jan 6 2009 1:10PM
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DOZENS KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES ON UN SCHOOLS IN GAZA

DOZENS KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKES ON UN SCHOOLS IN GAZA
New York, Jan 6 2009 12:10PM
More than 30 people have been killed in two separate Israeli strikes on clearly-marked United Nations schools where civilians were seeking refuge from the ongoing violence in Gaza, an official with the world body said today.

John Ging, Director of Operations in Gaza of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said that 30 people died and 55 others were injured when three Israeli artillery shells landed at the perimeter of a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp.

UNRWA's education programme has been suspended since the start of Israeli air attacks on Gaza, which the Jewish State says it launched in response to rocket attacks by Hamas militants, on 27 December.

"Those who were in the school were all families seeking refuge," Mr. Ging said of the school that was hit in Jabaliya, which usually serves as a girls' preparatory school.

Another artillery shell struck an empty boys' school in Jabaliya, he said.

In a separate attack last night, three Palestinians, who had sought refuge in a small co-educational UN school in Gaza City, died when an Israeli missile hit the building's toilet facilities.

The three men who were killed were "Gazans who had fled their home earlier that day," the UNRWA official said, adding that they thought "they would be safe in a UN school in Gaza City."

He underscored that all UN schools in Gaza are clearly marked, flying the UN flag, and that the Organization has provided the GPS coordinates of all of its installations in the area to Israel.

These attacks reinforce the urgent need for a ceasefire to end the mounting casualties, Mr. Ging said. "I sincerely hope that for the sake of those that have died, that it would not have been in vain."

Demanding an independent investigation into the attacks on the UN schools, he stressed that "there has been too little accountability for actions on all sides" and that "we must uphold the rule of law even during times of conflict."
Jan 6 2009 12:10PM
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CIVILIANS WISHING TO FLEE GAZA MUST BE PERMITTED TO DO SO, STRESSES UN REFUGEE CHIEF

CIVILIANS WISHING TO FLEE GAZA MUST BE PERMITTED TO DO SO, STRESSES UN REFUGEE CHIEF
New York, Jan 6 2009 10:10AM
The top United Nations refugee official has stressed that civilians wishing to leave Gaza, where an Israeli military operation in response to Hamas rocket attacks has entered its 11th day, must be allowed to do so, and reminded neighbouring States of their responsibility to provide access to safety for those fleeing the ongoing violence.

"Those who are compelled to flee the Gaza Strip should be able to do so and to find safety and security in other countries according to international law," UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in a <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4962330a4.html">statement issued yesterday.

There has been no large-scale movement out of Gaza because of the Israeli blockade. However, Mr. Guterres urged that "all borders and access routes concerned should be kept open and safe, and Palestinians endeavouring to leave Gaza should not be prevented from doing so."

He called for strict adherence to humanitarian principles in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where an already dire situation has been made worse by the Israeli offensive which began on 27 December.

The UN estimates that Palestinian deaths have reached 500 and are rising, and some 2,500 have been injured in the conflict.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, told reporters yesterday the humanitarian crisis was "increasingly alarming," with the people of Gaza becoming more cold, hungry, often lacking power, water and other basic services as well as facing the constant threat of bombing and shelling.

Amid the worsening humanitarian environment, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been struggling to carry out vital tasks such as distributing food and medical supplies.

Mr. Guterres joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior UN officials in calling for an immediate halt to the violence and for humanitarian access for fuel and food into Gaza.

"It is absolutely imperative that the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian victims of this conflict be facilitated, including access from Egypt and Israel," he stated, calling on the international community and all humanitarian actors to support UNRWA's efforts to help the innocent victims.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided some emergency assistance to Egypt's Red Crescent Society in case it is needed for the care of any Palestinians admitted into Egypt. The refugee agency stands ready to deploy an emergency team and equipment to the area as required.
Jan 6 2009 10:10AM
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BAN MEETS WITH ARAB MINISTERS IN BID TO SECURE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE

BAN MEETS WITH ARAB MINISTERS IN BID TO SECURE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE
New York, Jan 5 2009 6:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon intensified his diplomatic drive to secure a Gaza ceasefire today, <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3646">calling on Arab foreign ministers to help ensure that Israel end its "clearly excessive" military assault and Hamas stop its "terribly counter-productive" and "completely unacceptable" rocket attacks.

"As leaders I believe we must do more," he told Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and other Arab representatives in a meeting at UN Headquarters in New York in which he called for an immediate and durable ceasefire that is fully respected by all.

"Our task is to find fast and real solutions. It is regrettable that the call by the Security Council has not been heeded by the parties concerned. I believe that the Security Council should live up to its responsibilities under the UN charter and bring this crisis to an end and establish a durable, permanent peace in the region," he said.

After Israel launched a ground offensive into Gaza on Saturday in addition to its then week-old air attacks, the Council held a closed meeting but reached no formal agreement, although Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert of France, which holds the Council Presidency this month, said there were "strong convergences" to express concern at the stepped up violence and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

"We must work together, urgently and practically, so that the Council can act quickly and decisively. As Secretary-General, I want to help facilitate a speedy and effective international consensus to end this violence," Mr. Ban told the Arab leaders, adding that the UN is doing all it can to "feed and help the men, women and children of Gaza and ease their suffering in the midst of this frightening and dangerous ordeal.

"I am trying hard to use the moral authority of my office to bring an end to this trauma," he said, voicing deep concern at "the terrible crisis unfolding before us."

Mr. Ban added, "We must insist that Israel end its military assault, which is clearly excessive. We must insist that Hamas end immediately its rocket attacks, which are so terribly counter-productive, in addition to being completely unacceptable. There must be an immediate ceasefire, durable and fully respected by all."

Gaza's civilian population is "being subjected to a massive trauma that is not of their own making… I am also deeply worried about what the further escalation of this conflict could mean for stability in the region," he said.

The foreign ministers present were Salaheddine al-Bashir of Jordan, Fawzi Salloukh of Lebanon, Abdel-Rahman Shalgam of Libya, Fassi Fihri of Morocco and Mhamad Husayen al-Shali of UAE. The UN permanent representatives of Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria and the Palestinian representative also participated.
Jan 5 2009 6:10PM
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