A new United Nations report released today cites evidence of the “systematic” torture and mistreatment of detainees in Afghan detention facilities, including of children, and provides recommendations which it hopes will spur the necessary reforms.
The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is the result of extensive interviews from October 2010 to August 2011 of 379 pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners at 47 facilities of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and Afghan National Police (ANP) in 22 provinces.
The mission found “compelling” evidence that 125 detainees, or 46 per cent, of the 273 detainees interviewed who had been in NDS detention experienced interrogation techniques at the hands of NDS officials that constituted torture, and that torture is practiced “systematically” in a number of NDS detention facilities throughout Afghanistan,” states the report.
“Nearly all detainees tortured by NDS officials reported the abuse took place during interrogations and was aimed at obtaining a confession or information. In almost every case, NDS officials stopped the use of torture once detainees confessed to the crime of which they were accused or provided the requested information.
“UNAMA also found that children under the age of 18 years experienced torture by NDS officials,” the report adds.
In addition, more than one third of the 117 conflict-related detainees UNAMA interviewed who had been in ANP detention experienced treatment that constituted torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In situations where torture occurred, it typically took the form of abusive interrogation practices used to obtain confessions from individuals detained on suspicion of crimes against the State, according to the report.
Detainees described experiencing torture in the form of suspension (being hung by the wrists from chains or other devices attached to the wall, ceiling, iron bars or other fixtures for lengthy periods) and beatings, especially with rubber hoses, electric cables or wires or wooden sticks and most frequently on the soles of the feet.
Electric shock, twisting and wrenching of detainees’ genitals, stress positions including forced standing, removal of toenails and threatened sexual abuse were among other forms of torture that detainees reported.
Routine blindfolding and hooding and denial of access to medical care in some facilities were also reported. UNAMA documented one death in ANP and NDS custody from torture in Kandahar in April 2011.
“UNAMA found compelling evidence that NDS officials at five facilities systematically tortured detainees for the purpose of obtaining confessions and information,” states the report.
It also found that accountability of NDS and ANP officials for torture and abuse is “weak, not transparent and rarely enforced.”
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA pointed out that the report’s findings indicate that mistreatment is not an institutional or Government policy.
“The fact that the NDS and MoI [Ministry of Interior] cooperated with UNAMA’s detention observation programme suggests that reform is both possible and desired, as does the Government’s announced remedial actions to end these abusive practices,” said Staffan de Mistura.
“UNAMA welcomes the Government’s timely attention to this issue and steps taken to put in place corrective and preventive measures,” he added.
The Afghan authorities launched their own investigations and initiated remedial action after the mission presented its initial findings to them. NDS and MoI have stated clearly they have an action plan to address the concerns, started investigations, reassigned personnel in the case of NDS, and have further indicated that responsible individuals will be suspended from their positions and in serious cases, prosecuted.
The report includes a number of recommendations to the NDS, the MoI, the Afghan Government, judicial institutions and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), including calling on the NDS and ANP to take immediate steps to stop and prevent torture and ill-treatment.
In early September, ISAF stopped transferring detainees to 16 installations identified as facilities where UNAMA found compelling evidence of torture and ill-treatment by NDS and ANP officials, and has begun implementing a six-part plan of remedial measures prior to resuming such transfers.
“Torture is one of the most serious human rights violations under international law, a crime under Afghan law, and strictly prohibited under both laws,” said Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for UNAMA.
“Accountability for torture demands prosecutions and the taking of all necessary measures by Afghan authorities to prevent and end such acts in the future.”
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WITH HIGH FOOD PRICES SET TO CONTINUE, UN AGENCIES ISSUE CALL TO ACTION
The United Nations agencies working to combat hunger today called for action to ensure long-term food security as a new report shows that high food prices are likely to continue and possible increase over the next decade.
“The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011,” an annual flagship report which the three Rome-based agencies jointly produced this year, states that small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.
The report – produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – says that crises, such as the food crisis several years ago and the current one in the Horn of Africa, “are challenging our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half in 2015.”
“Even if the MDG were achieved by 2015 some 600 million people in developing countries would still be undernourished. Having 600 million people suffering from hunger on a daily basis is never acceptable,” the heads of the three agencies said in the preface to the report.
“The entire international community must act today and act forcefully to banish food insecurity from the planet,” they added.
Among its recommendations, the report calls on Governments to ensure that a transparent and predictable regulatory environment is in place, one that promotes private investment and increases farm productivity.
“We must reduce food waste in developed countries through education and policies, and reduce food losses in developing countries by boosting investment in the entire value chain, especially post-harvest processing,” it states.
It also calls for more sustainable management of natural resources, forests and fisheries, all of which are critical for the food security of many of the poorest members of society.
This year’s global hunger report focuses on high and volatile food prices, major contributing factors in global food insecurity. Food price volatility may increase over the next decade, it notes, due to increasing demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies, a population that is on the rise, further growth in biofuels that will place additional demands on the food system, as well as more frequent extreme weather events.
Meanwhile, stronger economies and high food prices present incentives for increased long-term investment in the agricultural sector, which can contribute to improved food security in the long run, the report adds.
“When farmers react to higher prices with increased production it is essential to build on their short-term response with increased investment in agriculture, with emphasis on initiatives that support smallholders, who are the main food producers in many parts of the developing world,” the agencies stated in a joint news release.
The report stresses that investment in agriculture remains critical to sustainable, long-term food security and calls for directing resources to cost-effective irrigation, improved land-management practices and better seeds developed through agricultural research.
There were an estimated 925 million hungry people in the world in 2010, as compared to 850 during the period from 2006-2008, according to FAO. No estimates have been produced for 2011 since the agency is currently revising the methodology it uses for calculating the prevalence of hunger.
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‘CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION’ CRUCIAL TO ENSURE GROWTH IN POORER COUNTRIES – BAN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for a “clean energy revolution” to help the estimated three billion people that lack modern power and urged countries to recognize the impact that energy security has on all aspects of development.
“Three billion people rely on charcoal or wood for cooking and heating. They are energy-poor. And energy poverty translates into grinding, dehumanizing poverty,” he told participants at an energy conference in Oslo, Norway.
“We need energy not only to be universal, [we] need it to be clean – to be sustainable as well. We cannot continue to burn our way to prosperity. The only way to minimize the risks of dangerous climate change is by ensuring that energy is sustainable.”
The Secretary-General stressed that sustainable energy is critical for all aspects of human progress and said a departure from existing practices is needed to achieve the goal of universal energy access by 2030.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), financing universal access to modern energy services would cost only about three per cent of total global investments in energy.
“Energy poverty is a threat to the achievement all of the MDGs. It holds back economic growth and job creation. We require a radical departure from current practices and existing realities.
That is why we are calling for practical and large-scale action,” he said.
To achieve the universal energy access goal, Mr. Ban launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative last month, which has three global targets: providing universal access to modern energy services, doubling energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the world’s energy supply. The initiative will have input from the private, government and civil society sectors to develop its agenda for the next two decades.
Participants at the “Energy for all – financing access for the poor” conference explored innovative financing mechanisms that can help countries and regions implement their energy plans.
“This is a good example of the readiness of leaders from the business world, governments, international organizations and civil society to come together and form new public-private partnerships to implement United Nations Secretary-General Ban’s new global energy initiative,” said the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella.
In addition to organizing the conference, Norway launched its Energy+ Initiative, which aims to help mobilize private capital and public resources in support of Sustainable Energy for All.
Mr. Yumkella said the partnership with Norway would be an important step towards Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held next year.
“This is a milestone on the road to the Rio+20 summit in June in Brazil and in achieving our ultimate goal of providing Sustainable Energy for All by the year 2030. Finance is a fundamental area where the international community can play an important role. The Sustainable Energy for All initiative is a great step in that direction.”
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ON WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY, BAN URGES GREATER RESOURCES FOR MENTAL DISORDERS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the world to allocate more resources for the treatment of mental disorders, saying that too little funding was devoted to mental health despite the debilitating nature of the illnesses and the fact they can be prevented or treated effectively.
“Deaths, disability and distress caused by mental disorders need to find their rightful place in the public health agenda,” said Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Mental Health Day, whose theme this year is “investing in mental health.”
“There is no health without mental health,” said the Secretary-General, noting that mental disorders are responsible for 13 per cent of the global disease burden. “Resources allocated for mental health by governments and civil society are habitually too little, both in human and financial terms.”
According to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people will require mental health care at some point in their lives, yet on average, global spending on mental health is still less than $3 per capita per year.
In low-income countries, expenditure can be as little as $0.25 per person per year, according to WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2011 released today.
The global economic downturn and associated fiscal austerity measures have resulted in rising incidence of mental ill-health across the world, a situation exacerbated by the fact that the mental problems often place severe financial burden on individuals and households, Mr. Ban pointed out.
Individuals with mental health problems and their families endure stigma, discrimination and victimization, depriving them of their political and civil rights and constraining their ability to participate in the public life of their societies, the Secretary-General added.
“We cannot expect improvement in global mental health statistics unless we increase financial and other support for promoting mental health and providing adequate services to those who need them,” he said.
“Feasible, affordable and cost-effective measures for preventing and treating mental disorders exist, and are being implemented, for example through WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP).
“However, if we are to move decisively from evidence to action, we need strong leadership, enhanced partnerships and the commitment of new resources. Let us pledge today to invest in mental health. The returns will be substantial,” said Mr. Ban.
According to the atlas, the bulk of resources earmarked for mental health are often spent on services that serve relatively few people.
“Governments tend to spend most of their scarce mental health resources on long-term care at psychiatric hospitals,” said Ala Alwan, WHO Assistant Director-General of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.
“Today, nearly 70 per cent of mental health spending goes to mental institutions. If countries spent more at the primary care level, they would be able to reach more people, and start to address problems early enough to reduce the need for expensive hospital care.”
Mental health services should focus equally on providing patients with a combination of medicines and psychosocial care, but in lower-income countries, shortages of resources and skills often result in patients only being treated with medicines. The lack of psychosocial care reduces the effectiveness of the treatment.
Across the low-and middle-income group of countries, more than three quarters of people in need of mental health care do not even receive the most basic services, according to WHO.
“Almost half of the world’s population lives in a country where, on average, there is one psychiatrist (or less) to serve 200,000 people,” said Shekhar Saxena, Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. “Many low-income countries have less than one mental health specialist per one million population.”
WHO launched mhGAP in 2008 to assist countries to scale up services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. The programme provides knowledge and skills to health-care providers such as doctors, nurses and health-care workers to identify and manage these disorders.
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BAN VOICES DEEP SADNESS AFTER KILLING OF PROTESTERS IN EGYPTIAN CAPITAL
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced deep sadness at last night’s clashes in Cairo that have reportedly left at least 24 people dead and called on all Egyptians to preserve “the spirit of the historic changes” that took place earlier this year.
Media reports indicate the killings occurred when members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian community who had been demonstrating over a recent attack against a church clashed with military forces.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson today, Mr. Ban appealed to Egyptians to remain united and called on the country’s transitional authorities to guarantee the human rights and civil liberties of all citizens, regardless of their faith.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a transparent, orderly and peaceful transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people and includes free, fair and credible elections leading to the establishment of civilian rule,” the statement said.
A popular protest movement aimed at greater freedoms in Egypt – part of the wider Arab Spring across North Africa and the Middle East – toppled the long-standing government of Hosni Mubarak in February.
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LIBYA: UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF WARNS OF IMPACT OF FIGHTING ON CIVILIANS IN SIRTE
The United Nations humanitarian chief voiced extreme concern today about the impact on civilians of continued fighting in and around the Libyan city of Sirte between forces supporting the interim Government and those loyal to the ousted regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi.
Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement warning that supplies of drinking water, food and medicines are running low in Sirte, and there is no functioning electricity.
Thousands of people have fled Sirte, the hometown of Colonel Qadhafi, in recent days amid intense fighting in the city. It is one of the few remaining holdouts since the former government fell after months of conflict in the North African country.
“I call on all parties to spare civilians from the effects of hostilities, and to comply with international humanitarian law,” Ms. Amos said.
“The sick and injured must be allowed to seek and receive medical assistance, and both civilians and captured fighters must be treated with respect, regardless of their origin or political affiliation.”
Ms. Amos noted that while aid workers are bringing relief to those who have fled Sirte, heavy fighting prevents them from getting supplies to those still inside the city.
“Life-saving supplies have been pre-positioned in the surrounding areas for delivery as further humanitarian access is established.”
The Emergency Relief Coordinator’s remarks echo those of Georg Charpentier, the deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), who last week took part in a humanitarian assessment mission that visited both the city of Misrata, which was besieged for weeks during the conflict, and the outskirts of Sirte.
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SCIENTIFIC AND FINANCIAL BACKING ESSENTIAL TO FIGHT DROUGHTS AND FAMINE – UN AGENCY
Scientific and financial resources are needed to counter the growing risks of droughts that all too frequently lead to famine and poverty, the United Nations said today as a conference opened in the Republic of Korea on desertification.
During the two-week session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), taking place in Changwon, representatives of Member States will discuss ways to measure the impact of desertification and mechanisms for assessing and reversing the phenomenon.
According to UNCCD, more than 12 million hectares of productive land are lost to desertification every year, the equivalent of losing an area the size of South Africa every decade.
The loss of productive land is compounded with the need to provide food for the estimated global population of nine billion by 2050, which would require a 70 per cent increase in global food production.
UNCCD stressed that the rapid loss of this natural resource calls for the creation of agreed global scientific measures, and an increase in funding to combat desertification, which is currently limited.
“This convention has now reached a stage where quantifiable medium- and long-term targets should be set, to foster implementation and equip decision makers with adequate tools to effectively monitor the action programmes process,” UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja said.
During the conference’s second week, business leaders from more than 100 companies will participate in a forum to raise awareness about desertification and stimulate investment. The participating companies include Cargill, LG International, Nestle and Unilever. A meeting of government ministers will also take place to discuss critical policy questions.
As part of the conference, UNCCD and the Republic of Korea will propose the Changwon initiative, a series of action plans to foster reforestation efforts in drylands. This is a high priority in Asia as it has more people affected by land degradation and drought than any other continent.
Key messages from the conference, particularly those related to combating desertification to boost green economies, will be shared for inclusion at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Brazil next June.
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PAKISTANI CITIES JOIN UN-LED CAMPAIGN ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
More than 30 cities in seven provinces across Pakistan have joined a United-Nations-led disaster preparedness campaign intended to make urban areas resilient and ready to cope with catastrophic events to reduce losses and damage.
Many of the Pakistani cities signing up to the ‘Making Cities Resilient’ campaign spearheaded by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) on Saturday are still under water from the recent floods, while others are recovering from last year’s massive deluge.
The signing ceremony took place in Islamabad during the country’s National Disaster Awareness Day, commemorated at the Secretariat of Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, with Margareta Wahlström, the head of UNISDR, and other senior Pakistani officials attending.
Zafar Qadir, the chair of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the launch of the campaign in Pakistan would give impetus to efforts to improve disaster management systems and make cities safe, resilient and habitable in the wake of disasters.
“There will be no major global achievements in disaster risk reduction if we do not invest more in local actions,” said Ms. Wahlström. She called for more decentralized disaster management at the lowest administrative levels.
“We encourage mayors and local authorities to join the movement so more people will be safer from disasters in the future,” she said.
Cities joining the campaign include Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Dadu, Ghari Khairo, Tharparkar, Nowshera, Mnagora, Charsada, Oghi, Dera Ismail Khan, Loralai, Khudahr, and Ghizar.
They all agreed to commit to the “Ten Essentials” of the campaign, including allocating a budget for disaster risk reduction and protecting ecosystems and natural buffers zones to mitigate the effects of floods, storm surges and other hazards.
The cities also made commitments to the “One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals” initiative, which encourages strengthening the safety of schools and hospitals from all types of natural hazards.
“Schools and hospitals are vital when disasters happen as they need to continue functioning when catastrophes hit. There is no small investment when it comes to these two types of infrastructure – they are crucial,” said Ms. Wahlström.
Some 870 cities and local governments across the world have joined the campaign and more than 138,000 institutions have pledged support for the safe schools and hospitals initiative.
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AS JUDGE RESIGNS, UN REITERATES NEED FOR NON-INTERFERENCE IN CAMBODIAN TRIBUNAL
The United Nations today reiterated that the Cambodian genocide tribunal must be permitted to carry out its work without any outside hindrance, after one of the judges resigned, citing attempted interference by Government officials in the court’s proceedings.
Under an agreement signed by the UN and the Government, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was set up as an independent court using a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel. It is designated to try those deemed most responsible for mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge three decades ago.
Judge Siegfried Blunk, the international co-investigating judge at the ECCC, submitted his resignation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as of 8 October, citing repeated statements by Government officials regarding what are known as cases 003 and 004.
Case 003 reportedly involves two former senior members of the Khmer Rouge military suspected of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, while case 004 is believed to involve three other senior members.
Following his appointment as a co-investigating judge last year, Judge Blunk proceeded with investigations in these two cases with the expectation that a previous statement reportedly made by the Cambodian Prime Minister to the Secretary-General that these cases “will not be allowed” did not reflect Government policy, according to a news release issued by the tribunal.
However, the Cambodian Minister of Information stated in May that, “if they want to go into case 003 and 004, they should just pack their bags and leave.”
While Judge Blunk will not let himself be influenced by such statements, the tribunal noted, “his ability to withstand such pressure by Government officials and to perform his duties independently, could always be called in doubt, and this would also call in doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings in cases 003 and 004.”
The Secretary-General has thanked Judge Blunk for his service and has noted the reason stated for his resignation, according to deputy spokesperson Eduardo del Buey.
“The United Nations has constantly emphasized that the ECCC must be permitted to proceed with its work without interference from any entity, including the Royal Government of Cambodia, donor States or civil society,” Mr. del Buey told reporters in New York.
He added that the UN is working urgently to ensure that the reserve co-investigating Judge, Laurent Kasper-Ansermet of Switzerland, is available as soon as possible to replace Judge Blunk, so that the work of the ECCC is not disrupted.
Estimates vary but as many as two million people are thought to have died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, which was followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished South-East Asian country.
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FACING DROUGHTS, PACIFIC ISLANDS NEED URGENT RISK MITIGATION STEPS, UN WARNS
Amid growing concerns about drought crises in some small island States of the Pacific, the United Nations today called for comprehensive risk reduction steps to be put in place to protect vulnerable populations living in delicate ecosystems.
“It really is time to assist Tuvalu and Tokelau to increase storage capacities and manage their resources sustainably, including more effective warnings for drier spells,” UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) head of policy John Harding said, referring to two of the region’s island States and territories.
“With climate change predictions pointing to more acute La Niñas in the futures, plans must also include assistance for communities that will be displaced if existing freshwater is not sufficient,” he added, referring to the weather pattern characterized by unusually cool ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that can bring abnormal conditions to widely separate areas of the world, from floods to droughts to below- or above-normal temperatures.
On the positive side Mr. Harding noted that the strong correlation between drought and La Niña could be a blessing in disguise, since the phenomenon is increasingly predictable and climate experts can inform decision-makers weeks and even months in advance, allowing for increased storage or stockpiling of emergency supplies in advance of a crisis.
The UN Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) has identified solar powered desalination units and improved rain catchment and water storage as longer-term mitigation measures against future droughts.
Tuvalu, a collection of far-flung atolls with a population of some 12,000, today began a three-week needs assessment of water, agriculture and health facilities. The most affected areas are the capital city of Funafuti, as well as Nukulaelae and Nanumaga. Australia is covering the fuel costs for the assessment of eight outer islands.
Also affected by the severe drought are Kiribati, with over 112,000 people, the Cook Islands, a self-governing democracy in free association with New Zealand with a population of about 12,000, and Tokelau, a New Zealand territory with about 1,500 inhabitants.
“The critical low levels of freshwater in Tuvalu and Tokelau are just further wake-up calls about the vulnerability of SIDS [small island developing States] to the threats posed by increasing demands on natural resources and development practices that are not sufficiently in tune with these emerging risks,” Mr. Harding said.
“Small island States such as Tuvalu and Tokelau have access to a finite amount of water, mainly from groundwater and rainfall. Managing these resources in the face of increased and diverse demand is a challenge that authorities now face on a daily basis.”
Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared a state of emergency and are receiving emergency assistance from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Australia, New Zealand and the United States, including freshwater, water tanks, portable desalination units and personnel to operate the additional units and fix existing ones.
Many SIDS used the pulpit offered by the General Assembly’s annual general debate last month to call on the world to pay greater attention to their vulnerability to climate change, warning that the international community was not moving quickly enough to either mitigate the effects of the change or support the poorest countries as they tried to adapt. They stressed that sustainable development would not be possible as rising sea levels threatened to swamp them.
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BAN HAILS REFUGEE CHAMPION FRIDTJOF NANSEN AS BEARER OF WORLD’S CONSCIENCE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the renowned Norwegian explorer and refugee champion Fridtjof Nansen, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, as the very embodiment of the world’s collective conscience that brings succour to the downtrodden, the afflicted and the oppressed.
“The greatest barriers in life are not walls around buildings, but walls around hearts,” he told a ceremony in Oslo, Norway’s capital, commemorating the “great global citizen” who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, served as the League of Nations’ first High Commissioner for Refugees, and has given his name to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) annual Nansen Refugee Award for outstanding work on behalf of refugees.
“Gaze on the face of Fridtjof Nansen. It is the very embodiment of strength and human fortitude,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that the collective conscience springs from a basic human instinct for solidarity – the recognition that we are one human family on this one planet Earth.
“The man was a hero, to be sure. He climbed high mountains and traversed the Arctic vastness.
For those of us at the United Nations, however, he is a hero for the larger and enduring example he set. Like few others, he helped give birth to our modern collective conscience. Amid the revolutions and conflict of the last century, he was there – the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations.
“When Jews and other stateless refugees fled the Nazi persecution, the Nansen Pass was a ticket to survival. Today, the United Nations feeds and shelters a new generation of the homeless and unwanted. We do so in the name and spirit of Fridtjof Nansen. We do so in the name of our collective conscience.”
Mr. Ban, who was in Oslo to attend an energy conference aimed at mobilizing private capital and public resources to bring sustainable energy to three billion people that still lack it, also paid tribute to the dozens of people who died on 22 July as a result of that day’s bomb attack in Oslo and gun assault on a nearby holiday island.
“Norway responded to devastation with democracy, to intolerance with inclusion,” he said at the site. “Norway is grieving – but Norway is giving. I am confident you will continue reaching out to the world and lifting up humanity. There is no more fitting memorial than that.”
During the day Mr. Ban held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other top officials, discussing Libya and the Middle East, next year’s Rio+20 Conference on sustainable Development, and strengthening the UN to meet today’s complex challenges.
He praised the Government’s commitment to multilateralism, and later addressed the Norwegian Parliament’s committees on foreign affairs and constitutional affairs.
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UN EXPERT URGES STATES TO FULFIL OBLIGATION TO PREVENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
An independent United Nations human rights expert told the General Assembly today that violence against women across the world continues to be pervasive and widespread and reminded States of their obligation under international law to protect women.
“Whether it occurs in times of peace and conflict, the various forms and manifestations of violence against women are simultaneously causes and consequences of discrimination, inequality and oppression,” said Rashida Manjoo, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
“Wherever it occurs, any violence that is either directed at women, or experienced by a group that is overwhelmingly female represents a violation of international human rights law,” she said when she presented her thematic report on violence against women to the Assembly.
Ms. Manjoo reiterated that States must uphold their international human rights obligations to prevent acts of violence against women, investigate and punish crimes against women, protect women against such violence, and provide remedy and reparation to the victims.
“The fight for the human rights of women remains a collective endeavour in which we should jointly take action to ensure their full enjoyment by all women and girls worldwide,” she told a news conference at UN Headquarters after presenting her report.
Silvia Pimentel, the Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), pointed out that States Parties to the Convention had made some progress in promoting and protecting the rights of women.
“Many States repealed discriminatory legislation and have enacted gender equality laws, but still challenges remain with respect to implementation,” said Ms. Pimentel.
There had also been positive trends in women’s political participation, enrolment in educational institutions, and access to employment, even in profession’s traditionally dominated by men, although equal pay for equal work remained elusive for women workers compared their men counterparts, she said.
Some of the challenges in the fight for gender equality include the fact that women continued to be highly under-represented in top decision-making in both the public and private sectors, Ms. Pimentel said. On average only one in six cabinet ministers is a woman, and only 30 of the 500 largest corporations in the world have a female chief executive, she said.
“Violence against women, in particular sexual violence, is prevalent in many parts of the world, and is only the rise. Female genital mutilation is still widely practised – it is a scourge on women and girls which must be eradicated.” Conflict had disproportionate impact on women, Ms. Pimentel said stressing that “women and girls’ bodies have become part of the battleground.”
“The committee is committed to combating and ending discrimination against women in all its forms. Although there are already 187 State Parties to the convention, the committee calls upon the seven remaining States to become parties to achieve universal participation of this most important legally-binding instrument,” she added.
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TOURISM CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE – UN-BACKED REPORT
Countries should strengthen their incentives for the tourism sector to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adopt environmentally friendly policies as it has the potential to play a key role in combating climate change, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.
The report, co-authored by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), warns that emissions from the global tourism industry will double in the next 25 years unless new sustainable policies are developed.
Most of the energy for tourism comes from fossil fuels, with the sector contributing an estimated five per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation currently accounts for 40 per cent of tourism’s carbon emissions, car transport for 32 per cent, and accommodation for 21 per cent.
The report stresses the importance not only of mitigating the impact of climate change but of taking measures to adapt to its effects, an aspect which has not received much attention by most countries according to the report’s survey.
The report highlights policies taken by countries such as Austria, Germany, Ireland, and South Africa that show it is possible to identify the future impact of climate change effects, but concludes that these policies are in the initial stages in virtually all countries and need to be developed further.
In particular, the report focuses on the impact that water scarcity will have in the industry as many tourism assets such as lakes, rivers, snow and fresh water will be affected by climate change, resulting in a disruption of the socio-economic environment.
In addition, the report recommends that new policies need to reflect the place of tourism in each country’s economy as whole, and stresses that different measures may be required in each country according to their economy’s structures.
“Policy-makers must find the responses that are most appropriate to their own circumstances,” said Arab Hoballah, Chief of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch at UNEP's Paris-based Division of Technology, Industry and Economics.
“This report, which underlines the magnitude of the challenges we face, provides relevant and useful information to that end. There is much to be learned, too, from examples of good practice,” he said.
The report also emphasizes how government policy, industry initiatives and green technologies can help tourism follow a low-carbon, resource-efficient path, which would reduce energy use, greenhouse emissions and water consumption, an issue which will be addressed by world leaders at the UN Sustainable Development Conference – known as Rio+20 – in Brazil next year.
In the run up to Rio+20, tourism’s contribution to sustainable development will only continue to grow, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today in her remarks to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ministerial round table in the Republic of Korea.
She said the sector has enormous potential to contribute to achieving the MDGs, but this has yet to be realized. She stressed it can help alleviate poverty, create jobs, and empower women, but also warned against potential pitfalls such as damaging ecosystems and failing to benefit local communities if profits are repatriated overseas.
“We must call on governments and the tourism industry to work in partnership, and to engage with local communities to develop tourism that is pro-poor, community-oriented, and sustainable,” she said.
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CôTE D’IVOIRE: UN CONDEMNS VIOLENCE AT POLITICAL GATHERING IN ABIDJAN
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire today condemned acts of violence at a political gathering in Abidjan over the weekend and appealed for calm to enable campaigning for the forthcoming legislative elections to proceed in a peaceful atmosphere.
According to media reports, youths armed with sticks attacked a rally organized by the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) party of former president Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, on Saturday, disrupting the meeting.
The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) urged the authorities “to take the appropriate action to find out the truth about the circumstances, nature and extent of the incidents, in order to identify those responsible with a view to taking the required measures in accordance with the law.”
The mission also appealed to the people of Côte d’Ivoire and supporters of all political parties to exercise restraint and work for national reconciliation and the consolidation of peace.
The West African nation is emerging from a crisis that ended in mid-April, when Mr. Gbagbo finally surrendered, ending months of violence in the wake of his refusal to step down after he lost last November’s UN-certified run-off election to Alassane Ouattara, who was sworn in as President in May.
The country now faces a number of key post-crisis tasks, including the restoration of law and order, national reconciliation, the holding of legislative elections, and economic recovery.
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UN CHIEF TO ADDRESS WORLD’S PARLIAMENTARIANS AT MEETING IN SWITZERLAND
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon heads to Switzerland next week for a three-day visit that will include an address to a gathering of many of the world’s parliamentarians.
Mr. Ban is scheduled to arrive in Sunday in Berne, the Swiss capital, to attend the inaugural ceremony of the 125th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), according to information released by his spokesperson. Established in 1889, the IPU serves as the international organization for the world’s parliaments.
The Secretary-General is also expected to meet with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, members of the Swiss Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and senior officials with the Swiss federal administration.
Mr. Ban then travels to Geneva to visit the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue and take part in the executive committee meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
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BOSNIAN SERB REFUSES TO TESTIFY AT GENOCIDE TRIAL BEFORE UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
A former security and intelligence officer in the Bosnian Serb army refused to testify today in the genocide trial of his commander at the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
Dragomir Pecanac faces contempt of court charges after failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to give evidence in the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, who was an assistant commander in the Bosnian Serb army and reported directly to its leader, Ratko Mladic.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Pecanac late last month and he was subsequently transferred to the custody of the UN Detention Unit in The Hague, where the tribunal is based.
Making an initial appearance today in his own contempt of court case, Mr. Pecanac did not enter a plea. All accused in contempt cases must enter a plea within 10 days of their initial appearance.
Later today, during the ongoing trial of Mr. Tolimir, Mr. Pecanac refused to testify as a witness, the tribunal said in a press release.
The trial of Mr. Tolimir – who is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, forcible transfers and deportations – continues. The charges relate to a series of events during the Balkan wars, including the notorious massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.
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ALGERIAN SOCCER GREAT RABAH MADJER TO BECOME UN GOODWILL AMBASSADOR
Retired Algerian soccer striker Mustapha Rabah Madjer, who played in two World Cups and starred on the Portuguese club team FC Porto in the 1980s, is to become a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of his work with young people and promotion of sports values.
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova will designate Mr. Madjer as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for a two-year term at a ceremony at its Paris headquarters on Wednesday.
“As one of Africa’s most celebrated football players and as a well-known sports broadcaster, Rabah Madjer will place his fame at the service of UNESCO, building tolerance and mutual understanding through sports,” the agency said in a news release today.
Born in 1958, he took up coaching immediately after retiring and managed several clubs as well as Algeria’s National team. He has won the Ballon d’or Africain award and is also a television commentator on Al-Jazeera Sports network.
“UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassadors are an outstanding group of personalities who use their talent and status to focus the world's attention on the objectives and aims of UNESCO, creating visibility for its work in education, culture, science, communication and information,” the agency said.
Many UN agencies appoint prominent figures from the worlds of the arts and sports as Goodwill Ambassadors to advance their causes. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appointed Novak Djokovic, the world’s top tennis player, as a Goodwill Ambassador in August, and soccer stars Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane have been organizing charity games as Goodwill Ambassadors of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) since 2003.
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DR CONGO: UN ADVISES PRUDENT USE OF ABUNDANT RESOURCES TO SPUR DEVELOPMENT
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the capacity to become the driving force of Africa’s economic development if its vast forests, water resources and trillions of dollars worth of mineral reserves are used prudently, according to the findings of a United Nations assessment released today.
The DRC has half of Africa’s forests and water resources, but faces alarming rates of deforestation, species depletion, heavy metal pollution and land degradation from mining, according to the study entitled ‘Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment of the DRC’ and jointly carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Government.
The country also faces an acute drinking water crisis which has left an estimated 51 million Congolese without access to potable water, the two-year assessment today in Kinshasa, by UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, and DRC’s Environment Minister, José Endundo, shows.
Prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism and UNEP, the study highlights successful initiatives and identifies strategic opportunities to restore livelihoods, promote good governance and support the sustainability of the DRC’s post-conflict economic reconstruction and reinforce ongoing peace consolidation.
It also notes that most of the DRC’s environmental degradation is reversible and that there has been substantial progress in strengthening environmental governance.
For example, through steps such as regular anti-poaching patrols, the Congolese Wildlife Authority has secured the Virunga National Park, which at the peak of the DRC’s crisis was losing the equivalent of 89 hectares of forest each day due to illegal wood harvesting.
However, the country’s rapidly growing population, currently estimated at nearly 70 million, most of whom depend on natural resources for their survival, and intense international competition for raw materials are adding to the multiple pressures on the DRC’s natural resource base.
Some of the key findings include the fact that DRC has the highest level of biodiversity in Africa, yet 190 species are classified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. Elephants and mountain gorillas are among the species under threat.
Up to 1.7 million tons of bush meat – mainly antelope, duiker, monkey and wild boar – are harvested annually from unregulated hunting and poaching, contributing to species depletion.
The DRC’s tropical rainforests extend over 1.55 million squire kilometres and account for more than half of Africa’s forest resources – making them a critical global ecosystem “service provider” and a potential source of up to $900 million in annual revenue up to 2030.
The country also has the largest artisanal mining workforce in the world, estimated at about 2 million people, but a lack of controls have led to land degradation and pollution. Its untapped mineral reserves are of global importance and are estimated to be worth $24 trillion.
Around 15 tons of mercury are used annually in the DRC’s artisanal gold-mining operations, making it the second largest source of mercury emissions in Africa.
The assessment recommends a transition to a “green economy” with sustainable reconstruction, including capitalizing the country’s emerging social economy to generate “green jobs” and other employment, including for former combatants.
It also underlines the need to diversify energy sources as a basis for restarting economic activity. The DRC has a hydropower potential of 100,000 megawatts – or 13 per cent of the world’s hydropower potential – which could meet domestic needs and generate export revenue from the sale of electricity.
To overcome the considerable environmental liabilities of a century of mining, the study recommends immediate action to deal with mining pollution in Katanga province in the south by introducing a new, modern mining approach and formalizing the artisanal mining sector to introduce better environmental and occupational health standards.
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CONCERTED GLOBAL EFFORT NEEDED TO CURB PIRACY IN GULF OF GUINEA, UN OFFICIAL WARNS
The top United Nations envoy for West Africa has called for concerted international efforts to combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as other forms of transnational crime such as trafficking in narcotics and medicines.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for West Africa Said Djinnit discussed the issue at length on a visit to Benin last Friday with President Boni Yayi and other high-ranking officials, who warned him that their country would suffer an even more severe economic impact if piracy was not contained. Mr. Djinnit announced the forthcoming visit of a UN evaluation team to Benin.
The issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea was raised by several West African officials at last month’s General Assembly annual general debate in New York as they called for greater UN and international support to prevent the region’s coasts from becoming a haven for pirates and to fight growing drug and arms trafficking.
In August the Security Council voiced concern over increasing piracy, armed robbery and reported hostage-taking in the Gulf and warned that the crimes were having an adverse impact on security, trade and other economic activities in the region.
Before visiting Benin, Mr. Djinnit spent two days in Guinea as part of a joint UN-African Union (AU) mission together with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to encourage political leaders to create favourable conditions for peaceful, fair and credible legislative elections after an outbreak of deadly violence last month.
His visit followed a call by Mr. Ban last month for all stakeholders to refrain from violence and engage in dialogue. In a meeting with Guinean President Alpha Condé on the margins of the General Debate, Mr. Ban called for the peaceful resolution of all major political disputes to ensure that the elections scheduled for later this year are free and fair.
He urged the authorities to ensure that security forces avoided excessive use of force and stressed the importance of allowing peaceful protests after demonstrations in Conakry, the capital, had led to loss of life.
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THAILAND SHOULD AMEND DEFAMATION LAWS TO COMPLY WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH – UN EXPERT
A United Nations human rights expert today called on Thailand to amend laws that impose jail terms of three to 15 years on “whoever defames, insults or threatens” top members of the country’s royal family, stressing that their vagueness contravened international treaties.
“The recent spike in lèse majesté cases pursued by the police and the courts shows the urgency to amend them,” Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue said, using the legal term for offences or crimes against a State’s rulers or affronts to their dignity.
Mr. La Rue cited section 112 of the Thai penal code, which states that “whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir to the throne or the Regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years,” and the Computer Crimes Act, which can impose jail terms of up to five years for any views on the monarchy made on the Internet that are deemed to threaten national security.
He stressed that Thailand has been a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since 1996, which contains legally binding human rights obligations, including the obligation to fully guarantee the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.
“The threat of a long prison sentence and vagueness of what kinds of expression constitute defamation, insult, or threat to the monarchy, encourage self-censorship and stifle important debates on matters of public interest, thus putting in jeopardy the right to freedom of opinion and expression,” he said. “This is exacerbated by the fact that the charges can be brought by private individuals and trials are often closed to the public.”
While acknowledging that freedom of expression carries with it special responsibilities and that under certain exceptional circumstances it may be limited, including to protect the reputation of individuals and national security, he emphasized that laws limiting such freedom must be clear, unambiguous as to the specific type of banned expression, and proven to be necessary and proportionate, so as to prevent abuse for purposes beyond their intended purpose.
“The Thai penal code and the Computer Crimes Act do not meet these criteria,” said Mr. La Rue, who acts in an independent, unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. “The laws are vague and overly broad, and the harsh criminal sanctions are neither necessary nor proportionate to protect the monarchy or national security.”
He voiced concern that the Computer Crimes Act had been used by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, in cooperation with the army, to reportedly block hundreds of thousands of websites containing commentary on the Thai monarchy, and noted that countries had also raised concerns during the Council’s universal periodic review of Thailand on Friday.
“In this regard, I am willing to engage constructively with the Government of Thailand, as well as the Law Reform Commission, whose task is, among other things, to propose reforms to harmonize Thailand’s national laws with international human rights standards,” he said.
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The report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is the result of extensive interviews from October 2010 to August 2011 of 379 pre-trial detainees and convicted prisoners at 47 facilities of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and Afghan National Police (ANP) in 22 provinces.
The mission found “compelling” evidence that 125 detainees, or 46 per cent, of the 273 detainees interviewed who had been in NDS detention experienced interrogation techniques at the hands of NDS officials that constituted torture, and that torture is practiced “systematically” in a number of NDS detention facilities throughout Afghanistan,” states the report.
“Nearly all detainees tortured by NDS officials reported the abuse took place during interrogations and was aimed at obtaining a confession or information. In almost every case, NDS officials stopped the use of torture once detainees confessed to the crime of which they were accused or provided the requested information.
“UNAMA also found that children under the age of 18 years experienced torture by NDS officials,” the report adds.
In addition, more than one third of the 117 conflict-related detainees UNAMA interviewed who had been in ANP detention experienced treatment that constituted torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
In situations where torture occurred, it typically took the form of abusive interrogation practices used to obtain confessions from individuals detained on suspicion of crimes against the State, according to the report.
Detainees described experiencing torture in the form of suspension (being hung by the wrists from chains or other devices attached to the wall, ceiling, iron bars or other fixtures for lengthy periods) and beatings, especially with rubber hoses, electric cables or wires or wooden sticks and most frequently on the soles of the feet.
Electric shock, twisting and wrenching of detainees’ genitals, stress positions including forced standing, removal of toenails and threatened sexual abuse were among other forms of torture that detainees reported.
Routine blindfolding and hooding and denial of access to medical care in some facilities were also reported. UNAMA documented one death in ANP and NDS custody from torture in Kandahar in April 2011.
“UNAMA found compelling evidence that NDS officials at five facilities systematically tortured detainees for the purpose of obtaining confessions and information,” states the report.
It also found that accountability of NDS and ANP officials for torture and abuse is “weak, not transparent and rarely enforced.”
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA pointed out that the report’s findings indicate that mistreatment is not an institutional or Government policy.
“The fact that the NDS and MoI [Ministry of Interior] cooperated with UNAMA’s detention observation programme suggests that reform is both possible and desired, as does the Government’s announced remedial actions to end these abusive practices,” said Staffan de Mistura.
“UNAMA welcomes the Government’s timely attention to this issue and steps taken to put in place corrective and preventive measures,” he added.
The Afghan authorities launched their own investigations and initiated remedial action after the mission presented its initial findings to them. NDS and MoI have stated clearly they have an action plan to address the concerns, started investigations, reassigned personnel in the case of NDS, and have further indicated that responsible individuals will be suspended from their positions and in serious cases, prosecuted.
The report includes a number of recommendations to the NDS, the MoI, the Afghan Government, judicial institutions and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), including calling on the NDS and ANP to take immediate steps to stop and prevent torture and ill-treatment.
In early September, ISAF stopped transferring detainees to 16 installations identified as facilities where UNAMA found compelling evidence of torture and ill-treatment by NDS and ANP officials, and has begun implementing a six-part plan of remedial measures prior to resuming such transfers.
“Torture is one of the most serious human rights violations under international law, a crime under Afghan law, and strictly prohibited under both laws,” said Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for UNAMA.
“Accountability for torture demands prosecutions and the taking of all necessary measures by Afghan authorities to prevent and end such acts in the future.”
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WITH HIGH FOOD PRICES SET TO CONTINUE, UN AGENCIES ISSUE CALL TO ACTION
The United Nations agencies working to combat hunger today called for action to ensure long-term food security as a new report shows that high food prices are likely to continue and possible increase over the next decade.
“The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2011,” an annual flagship report which the three Rome-based agencies jointly produced this year, states that small, import-dependent countries, particularly in Africa, are especially vulnerable to poverty and food insecurity.
The report – produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – says that crises, such as the food crisis several years ago and the current one in the Horn of Africa, “are challenging our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half in 2015.”
“Even if the MDG were achieved by 2015 some 600 million people in developing countries would still be undernourished. Having 600 million people suffering from hunger on a daily basis is never acceptable,” the heads of the three agencies said in the preface to the report.
“The entire international community must act today and act forcefully to banish food insecurity from the planet,” they added.
Among its recommendations, the report calls on Governments to ensure that a transparent and predictable regulatory environment is in place, one that promotes private investment and increases farm productivity.
“We must reduce food waste in developed countries through education and policies, and reduce food losses in developing countries by boosting investment in the entire value chain, especially post-harvest processing,” it states.
It also calls for more sustainable management of natural resources, forests and fisheries, all of which are critical for the food security of many of the poorest members of society.
This year’s global hunger report focuses on high and volatile food prices, major contributing factors in global food insecurity. Food price volatility may increase over the next decade, it notes, due to increasing demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies, a population that is on the rise, further growth in biofuels that will place additional demands on the food system, as well as more frequent extreme weather events.
Meanwhile, stronger economies and high food prices present incentives for increased long-term investment in the agricultural sector, which can contribute to improved food security in the long run, the report adds.
“When farmers react to higher prices with increased production it is essential to build on their short-term response with increased investment in agriculture, with emphasis on initiatives that support smallholders, who are the main food producers in many parts of the developing world,” the agencies stated in a joint news release.
The report stresses that investment in agriculture remains critical to sustainable, long-term food security and calls for directing resources to cost-effective irrigation, improved land-management practices and better seeds developed through agricultural research.
There were an estimated 925 million hungry people in the world in 2010, as compared to 850 during the period from 2006-2008, according to FAO. No estimates have been produced for 2011 since the agency is currently revising the methodology it uses for calculating the prevalence of hunger.
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‘CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION’ CRUCIAL TO ENSURE GROWTH IN POORER COUNTRIES – BAN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for a “clean energy revolution” to help the estimated three billion people that lack modern power and urged countries to recognize the impact that energy security has on all aspects of development.
“Three billion people rely on charcoal or wood for cooking and heating. They are energy-poor. And energy poverty translates into grinding, dehumanizing poverty,” he told participants at an energy conference in Oslo, Norway.
“We need energy not only to be universal, [we] need it to be clean – to be sustainable as well. We cannot continue to burn our way to prosperity. The only way to minimize the risks of dangerous climate change is by ensuring that energy is sustainable.”
The Secretary-General stressed that sustainable energy is critical for all aspects of human progress and said a departure from existing practices is needed to achieve the goal of universal energy access by 2030.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), financing universal access to modern energy services would cost only about three per cent of total global investments in energy.
“Energy poverty is a threat to the achievement all of the MDGs. It holds back economic growth and job creation. We require a radical departure from current practices and existing realities.
That is why we are calling for practical and large-scale action,” he said.
To achieve the universal energy access goal, Mr. Ban launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative last month, which has three global targets: providing universal access to modern energy services, doubling energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the world’s energy supply. The initiative will have input from the private, government and civil society sectors to develop its agenda for the next two decades.
Participants at the “Energy for all – financing access for the poor” conference explored innovative financing mechanisms that can help countries and regions implement their energy plans.
“This is a good example of the readiness of leaders from the business world, governments, international organizations and civil society to come together and form new public-private partnerships to implement United Nations Secretary-General Ban’s new global energy initiative,” said the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella.
In addition to organizing the conference, Norway launched its Energy+ Initiative, which aims to help mobilize private capital and public resources in support of Sustainable Energy for All.
Mr. Yumkella said the partnership with Norway would be an important step towards Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held next year.
“This is a milestone on the road to the Rio+20 summit in June in Brazil and in achieving our ultimate goal of providing Sustainable Energy for All by the year 2030. Finance is a fundamental area where the international community can play an important role. The Sustainable Energy for All initiative is a great step in that direction.”
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ON WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY, BAN URGES GREATER RESOURCES FOR MENTAL DISORDERS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged the world to allocate more resources for the treatment of mental disorders, saying that too little funding was devoted to mental health despite the debilitating nature of the illnesses and the fact they can be prevented or treated effectively.
“Deaths, disability and distress caused by mental disorders need to find their rightful place in the public health agenda,” said Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Mental Health Day, whose theme this year is “investing in mental health.”
“There is no health without mental health,” said the Secretary-General, noting that mental disorders are responsible for 13 per cent of the global disease burden. “Resources allocated for mental health by governments and civil society are habitually too little, both in human and financial terms.”
According to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people will require mental health care at some point in their lives, yet on average, global spending on mental health is still less than $3 per capita per year.
In low-income countries, expenditure can be as little as $0.25 per person per year, according to WHO’s Mental Health Atlas 2011 released today.
The global economic downturn and associated fiscal austerity measures have resulted in rising incidence of mental ill-health across the world, a situation exacerbated by the fact that the mental problems often place severe financial burden on individuals and households, Mr. Ban pointed out.
Individuals with mental health problems and their families endure stigma, discrimination and victimization, depriving them of their political and civil rights and constraining their ability to participate in the public life of their societies, the Secretary-General added.
“We cannot expect improvement in global mental health statistics unless we increase financial and other support for promoting mental health and providing adequate services to those who need them,” he said.
“Feasible, affordable and cost-effective measures for preventing and treating mental disorders exist, and are being implemented, for example through WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP).
“However, if we are to move decisively from evidence to action, we need strong leadership, enhanced partnerships and the commitment of new resources. Let us pledge today to invest in mental health. The returns will be substantial,” said Mr. Ban.
According to the atlas, the bulk of resources earmarked for mental health are often spent on services that serve relatively few people.
“Governments tend to spend most of their scarce mental health resources on long-term care at psychiatric hospitals,” said Ala Alwan, WHO Assistant Director-General of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.
“Today, nearly 70 per cent of mental health spending goes to mental institutions. If countries spent more at the primary care level, they would be able to reach more people, and start to address problems early enough to reduce the need for expensive hospital care.”
Mental health services should focus equally on providing patients with a combination of medicines and psychosocial care, but in lower-income countries, shortages of resources and skills often result in patients only being treated with medicines. The lack of psychosocial care reduces the effectiveness of the treatment.
Across the low-and middle-income group of countries, more than three quarters of people in need of mental health care do not even receive the most basic services, according to WHO.
“Almost half of the world’s population lives in a country where, on average, there is one psychiatrist (or less) to serve 200,000 people,” said Shekhar Saxena, Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. “Many low-income countries have less than one mental health specialist per one million population.”
WHO launched mhGAP in 2008 to assist countries to scale up services for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. The programme provides knowledge and skills to health-care providers such as doctors, nurses and health-care workers to identify and manage these disorders.
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BAN VOICES DEEP SADNESS AFTER KILLING OF PROTESTERS IN EGYPTIAN CAPITAL
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced deep sadness at last night’s clashes in Cairo that have reportedly left at least 24 people dead and called on all Egyptians to preserve “the spirit of the historic changes” that took place earlier this year.
Media reports indicate the killings occurred when members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian community who had been demonstrating over a recent attack against a church clashed with military forces.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson today, Mr. Ban appealed to Egyptians to remain united and called on the country’s transitional authorities to guarantee the human rights and civil liberties of all citizens, regardless of their faith.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his call for a transparent, orderly and peaceful transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people and includes free, fair and credible elections leading to the establishment of civilian rule,” the statement said.
A popular protest movement aimed at greater freedoms in Egypt – part of the wider Arab Spring across North Africa and the Middle East – toppled the long-standing government of Hosni Mubarak in February.
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LIBYA: UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF WARNS OF IMPACT OF FIGHTING ON CIVILIANS IN SIRTE
The United Nations humanitarian chief voiced extreme concern today about the impact on civilians of continued fighting in and around the Libyan city of Sirte between forces supporting the interim Government and those loyal to the ousted regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi.
Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, issued a statement warning that supplies of drinking water, food and medicines are running low in Sirte, and there is no functioning electricity.
Thousands of people have fled Sirte, the hometown of Colonel Qadhafi, in recent days amid intense fighting in the city. It is one of the few remaining holdouts since the former government fell after months of conflict in the North African country.
“I call on all parties to spare civilians from the effects of hostilities, and to comply with international humanitarian law,” Ms. Amos said.
“The sick and injured must be allowed to seek and receive medical assistance, and both civilians and captured fighters must be treated with respect, regardless of their origin or political affiliation.”
Ms. Amos noted that while aid workers are bringing relief to those who have fled Sirte, heavy fighting prevents them from getting supplies to those still inside the city.
“Life-saving supplies have been pre-positioned in the surrounding areas for delivery as further humanitarian access is established.”
The Emergency Relief Coordinator’s remarks echo those of Georg Charpentier, the deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), who last week took part in a humanitarian assessment mission that visited both the city of Misrata, which was besieged for weeks during the conflict, and the outskirts of Sirte.
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SCIENTIFIC AND FINANCIAL BACKING ESSENTIAL TO FIGHT DROUGHTS AND FAMINE – UN AGENCY
Scientific and financial resources are needed to counter the growing risks of droughts that all too frequently lead to famine and poverty, the United Nations said today as a conference opened in the Republic of Korea on desertification.
During the two-week session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), taking place in Changwon, representatives of Member States will discuss ways to measure the impact of desertification and mechanisms for assessing and reversing the phenomenon.
According to UNCCD, more than 12 million hectares of productive land are lost to desertification every year, the equivalent of losing an area the size of South Africa every decade.
The loss of productive land is compounded with the need to provide food for the estimated global population of nine billion by 2050, which would require a 70 per cent increase in global food production.
UNCCD stressed that the rapid loss of this natural resource calls for the creation of agreed global scientific measures, and an increase in funding to combat desertification, which is currently limited.
“This convention has now reached a stage where quantifiable medium- and long-term targets should be set, to foster implementation and equip decision makers with adequate tools to effectively monitor the action programmes process,” UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja said.
During the conference’s second week, business leaders from more than 100 companies will participate in a forum to raise awareness about desertification and stimulate investment. The participating companies include Cargill, LG International, Nestle and Unilever. A meeting of government ministers will also take place to discuss critical policy questions.
As part of the conference, UNCCD and the Republic of Korea will propose the Changwon initiative, a series of action plans to foster reforestation efforts in drylands. This is a high priority in Asia as it has more people affected by land degradation and drought than any other continent.
Key messages from the conference, particularly those related to combating desertification to boost green economies, will be shared for inclusion at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held in Brazil next June.
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PAKISTANI CITIES JOIN UN-LED CAMPAIGN ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
More than 30 cities in seven provinces across Pakistan have joined a United-Nations-led disaster preparedness campaign intended to make urban areas resilient and ready to cope with catastrophic events to reduce losses and damage.
Many of the Pakistani cities signing up to the ‘Making Cities Resilient’ campaign spearheaded by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) on Saturday are still under water from the recent floods, while others are recovering from last year’s massive deluge.
The signing ceremony took place in Islamabad during the country’s National Disaster Awareness Day, commemorated at the Secretariat of Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, with Margareta Wahlström, the head of UNISDR, and other senior Pakistani officials attending.
Zafar Qadir, the chair of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the launch of the campaign in Pakistan would give impetus to efforts to improve disaster management systems and make cities safe, resilient and habitable in the wake of disasters.
“There will be no major global achievements in disaster risk reduction if we do not invest more in local actions,” said Ms. Wahlström. She called for more decentralized disaster management at the lowest administrative levels.
“We encourage mayors and local authorities to join the movement so more people will be safer from disasters in the future,” she said.
Cities joining the campaign include Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Dadu, Ghari Khairo, Tharparkar, Nowshera, Mnagora, Charsada, Oghi, Dera Ismail Khan, Loralai, Khudahr, and Ghizar.
They all agreed to commit to the “Ten Essentials” of the campaign, including allocating a budget for disaster risk reduction and protecting ecosystems and natural buffers zones to mitigate the effects of floods, storm surges and other hazards.
The cities also made commitments to the “One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals” initiative, which encourages strengthening the safety of schools and hospitals from all types of natural hazards.
“Schools and hospitals are vital when disasters happen as they need to continue functioning when catastrophes hit. There is no small investment when it comes to these two types of infrastructure – they are crucial,” said Ms. Wahlström.
Some 870 cities and local governments across the world have joined the campaign and more than 138,000 institutions have pledged support for the safe schools and hospitals initiative.
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AS JUDGE RESIGNS, UN REITERATES NEED FOR NON-INTERFERENCE IN CAMBODIAN TRIBUNAL
The United Nations today reiterated that the Cambodian genocide tribunal must be permitted to carry out its work without any outside hindrance, after one of the judges resigned, citing attempted interference by Government officials in the court’s proceedings.
Under an agreement signed by the UN and the Government, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was set up as an independent court using a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel. It is designated to try those deemed most responsible for mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge three decades ago.
Judge Siegfried Blunk, the international co-investigating judge at the ECCC, submitted his resignation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as of 8 October, citing repeated statements by Government officials regarding what are known as cases 003 and 004.
Case 003 reportedly involves two former senior members of the Khmer Rouge military suspected of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, while case 004 is believed to involve three other senior members.
Following his appointment as a co-investigating judge last year, Judge Blunk proceeded with investigations in these two cases with the expectation that a previous statement reportedly made by the Cambodian Prime Minister to the Secretary-General that these cases “will not be allowed” did not reflect Government policy, according to a news release issued by the tribunal.
However, the Cambodian Minister of Information stated in May that, “if they want to go into case 003 and 004, they should just pack their bags and leave.”
While Judge Blunk will not let himself be influenced by such statements, the tribunal noted, “his ability to withstand such pressure by Government officials and to perform his duties independently, could always be called in doubt, and this would also call in doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings in cases 003 and 004.”
The Secretary-General has thanked Judge Blunk for his service and has noted the reason stated for his resignation, according to deputy spokesperson Eduardo del Buey.
“The United Nations has constantly emphasized that the ECCC must be permitted to proceed with its work without interference from any entity, including the Royal Government of Cambodia, donor States or civil society,” Mr. del Buey told reporters in New York.
He added that the UN is working urgently to ensure that the reserve co-investigating Judge, Laurent Kasper-Ansermet of Switzerland, is available as soon as possible to replace Judge Blunk, so that the work of the ECCC is not disrupted.
Estimates vary but as many as two million people are thought to have died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, which was followed by a protracted period of civil war in the impoverished South-East Asian country.
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FACING DROUGHTS, PACIFIC ISLANDS NEED URGENT RISK MITIGATION STEPS, UN WARNS
Amid growing concerns about drought crises in some small island States of the Pacific, the United Nations today called for comprehensive risk reduction steps to be put in place to protect vulnerable populations living in delicate ecosystems.
“It really is time to assist Tuvalu and Tokelau to increase storage capacities and manage their resources sustainably, including more effective warnings for drier spells,” UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) head of policy John Harding said, referring to two of the region’s island States and territories.
“With climate change predictions pointing to more acute La Niñas in the futures, plans must also include assistance for communities that will be displaced if existing freshwater is not sufficient,” he added, referring to the weather pattern characterized by unusually cool ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that can bring abnormal conditions to widely separate areas of the world, from floods to droughts to below- or above-normal temperatures.
On the positive side Mr. Harding noted that the strong correlation between drought and La Niña could be a blessing in disguise, since the phenomenon is increasingly predictable and climate experts can inform decision-makers weeks and even months in advance, allowing for increased storage or stockpiling of emergency supplies in advance of a crisis.
The UN Office of the Coordinator of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) has identified solar powered desalination units and improved rain catchment and water storage as longer-term mitigation measures against future droughts.
Tuvalu, a collection of far-flung atolls with a population of some 12,000, today began a three-week needs assessment of water, agriculture and health facilities. The most affected areas are the capital city of Funafuti, as well as Nukulaelae and Nanumaga. Australia is covering the fuel costs for the assessment of eight outer islands.
Also affected by the severe drought are Kiribati, with over 112,000 people, the Cook Islands, a self-governing democracy in free association with New Zealand with a population of about 12,000, and Tokelau, a New Zealand territory with about 1,500 inhabitants.
“The critical low levels of freshwater in Tuvalu and Tokelau are just further wake-up calls about the vulnerability of SIDS [small island developing States] to the threats posed by increasing demands on natural resources and development practices that are not sufficiently in tune with these emerging risks,” Mr. Harding said.
“Small island States such as Tuvalu and Tokelau have access to a finite amount of water, mainly from groundwater and rainfall. Managing these resources in the face of increased and diverse demand is a challenge that authorities now face on a daily basis.”
Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared a state of emergency and are receiving emergency assistance from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Australia, New Zealand and the United States, including freshwater, water tanks, portable desalination units and personnel to operate the additional units and fix existing ones.
Many SIDS used the pulpit offered by the General Assembly’s annual general debate last month to call on the world to pay greater attention to their vulnerability to climate change, warning that the international community was not moving quickly enough to either mitigate the effects of the change or support the poorest countries as they tried to adapt. They stressed that sustainable development would not be possible as rising sea levels threatened to swamp them.
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BAN HAILS REFUGEE CHAMPION FRIDTJOF NANSEN AS BEARER OF WORLD’S CONSCIENCE
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hailed the renowned Norwegian explorer and refugee champion Fridtjof Nansen, on the 150th anniversary of his birth, as the very embodiment of the world’s collective conscience that brings succour to the downtrodden, the afflicted and the oppressed.
“The greatest barriers in life are not walls around buildings, but walls around hearts,” he told a ceremony in Oslo, Norway’s capital, commemorating the “great global citizen” who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, served as the League of Nations’ first High Commissioner for Refugees, and has given his name to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) annual Nansen Refugee Award for outstanding work on behalf of refugees.
“Gaze on the face of Fridtjof Nansen. It is the very embodiment of strength and human fortitude,” Mr. Ban said, stressing that the collective conscience springs from a basic human instinct for solidarity – the recognition that we are one human family on this one planet Earth.
“The man was a hero, to be sure. He climbed high mountains and traversed the Arctic vastness.
For those of us at the United Nations, however, he is a hero for the larger and enduring example he set. Like few others, he helped give birth to our modern collective conscience. Amid the revolutions and conflict of the last century, he was there – the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations.
“When Jews and other stateless refugees fled the Nazi persecution, the Nansen Pass was a ticket to survival. Today, the United Nations feeds and shelters a new generation of the homeless and unwanted. We do so in the name and spirit of Fridtjof Nansen. We do so in the name of our collective conscience.”
Mr. Ban, who was in Oslo to attend an energy conference aimed at mobilizing private capital and public resources to bring sustainable energy to three billion people that still lack it, also paid tribute to the dozens of people who died on 22 July as a result of that day’s bomb attack in Oslo and gun assault on a nearby holiday island.
“Norway responded to devastation with democracy, to intolerance with inclusion,” he said at the site. “Norway is grieving – but Norway is giving. I am confident you will continue reaching out to the world and lifting up humanity. There is no more fitting memorial than that.”
During the day Mr. Ban held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and other top officials, discussing Libya and the Middle East, next year’s Rio+20 Conference on sustainable Development, and strengthening the UN to meet today’s complex challenges.
He praised the Government’s commitment to multilateralism, and later addressed the Norwegian Parliament’s committees on foreign affairs and constitutional affairs.
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UN EXPERT URGES STATES TO FULFIL OBLIGATION TO PREVENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
An independent United Nations human rights expert told the General Assembly today that violence against women across the world continues to be pervasive and widespread and reminded States of their obligation under international law to protect women.
“Whether it occurs in times of peace and conflict, the various forms and manifestations of violence against women are simultaneously causes and consequences of discrimination, inequality and oppression,” said Rashida Manjoo, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.
“Wherever it occurs, any violence that is either directed at women, or experienced by a group that is overwhelmingly female represents a violation of international human rights law,” she said when she presented her thematic report on violence against women to the Assembly.
Ms. Manjoo reiterated that States must uphold their international human rights obligations to prevent acts of violence against women, investigate and punish crimes against women, protect women against such violence, and provide remedy and reparation to the victims.
“The fight for the human rights of women remains a collective endeavour in which we should jointly take action to ensure their full enjoyment by all women and girls worldwide,” she told a news conference at UN Headquarters after presenting her report.
Silvia Pimentel, the Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), pointed out that States Parties to the Convention had made some progress in promoting and protecting the rights of women.
“Many States repealed discriminatory legislation and have enacted gender equality laws, but still challenges remain with respect to implementation,” said Ms. Pimentel.
There had also been positive trends in women’s political participation, enrolment in educational institutions, and access to employment, even in profession’s traditionally dominated by men, although equal pay for equal work remained elusive for women workers compared their men counterparts, she said.
Some of the challenges in the fight for gender equality include the fact that women continued to be highly under-represented in top decision-making in both the public and private sectors, Ms. Pimentel said. On average only one in six cabinet ministers is a woman, and only 30 of the 500 largest corporations in the world have a female chief executive, she said.
“Violence against women, in particular sexual violence, is prevalent in many parts of the world, and is only the rise. Female genital mutilation is still widely practised – it is a scourge on women and girls which must be eradicated.” Conflict had disproportionate impact on women, Ms. Pimentel said stressing that “women and girls’ bodies have become part of the battleground.”
“The committee is committed to combating and ending discrimination against women in all its forms. Although there are already 187 State Parties to the convention, the committee calls upon the seven remaining States to become parties to achieve universal participation of this most important legally-binding instrument,” she added.
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TOURISM CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE – UN-BACKED REPORT
Countries should strengthen their incentives for the tourism sector to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adopt environmentally friendly policies as it has the potential to play a key role in combating climate change, according to a United Nations-backed report released today.
The report, co-authored by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), warns that emissions from the global tourism industry will double in the next 25 years unless new sustainable policies are developed.
Most of the energy for tourism comes from fossil fuels, with the sector contributing an estimated five per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions. Aviation currently accounts for 40 per cent of tourism’s carbon emissions, car transport for 32 per cent, and accommodation for 21 per cent.
The report stresses the importance not only of mitigating the impact of climate change but of taking measures to adapt to its effects, an aspect which has not received much attention by most countries according to the report’s survey.
The report highlights policies taken by countries such as Austria, Germany, Ireland, and South Africa that show it is possible to identify the future impact of climate change effects, but concludes that these policies are in the initial stages in virtually all countries and need to be developed further.
In particular, the report focuses on the impact that water scarcity will have in the industry as many tourism assets such as lakes, rivers, snow and fresh water will be affected by climate change, resulting in a disruption of the socio-economic environment.
In addition, the report recommends that new policies need to reflect the place of tourism in each country’s economy as whole, and stresses that different measures may be required in each country according to their economy’s structures.
“Policy-makers must find the responses that are most appropriate to their own circumstances,” said Arab Hoballah, Chief of the Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch at UNEP's Paris-based Division of Technology, Industry and Economics.
“This report, which underlines the magnitude of the challenges we face, provides relevant and useful information to that end. There is much to be learned, too, from examples of good practice,” he said.
The report also emphasizes how government policy, industry initiatives and green technologies can help tourism follow a low-carbon, resource-efficient path, which would reduce energy use, greenhouse emissions and water consumption, an issue which will be addressed by world leaders at the UN Sustainable Development Conference – known as Rio+20 – in Brazil next year.
In the run up to Rio+20, tourism’s contribution to sustainable development will only continue to grow, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today in her remarks to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ministerial round table in the Republic of Korea.
She said the sector has enormous potential to contribute to achieving the MDGs, but this has yet to be realized. She stressed it can help alleviate poverty, create jobs, and empower women, but also warned against potential pitfalls such as damaging ecosystems and failing to benefit local communities if profits are repatriated overseas.
“We must call on governments and the tourism industry to work in partnership, and to engage with local communities to develop tourism that is pro-poor, community-oriented, and sustainable,” she said.
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CôTE D’IVOIRE: UN CONDEMNS VIOLENCE AT POLITICAL GATHERING IN ABIDJAN
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire today condemned acts of violence at a political gathering in Abidjan over the weekend and appealed for calm to enable campaigning for the forthcoming legislative elections to proceed in a peaceful atmosphere.
According to media reports, youths armed with sticks attacked a rally organized by the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) party of former president Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, on Saturday, disrupting the meeting.
The UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) urged the authorities “to take the appropriate action to find out the truth about the circumstances, nature and extent of the incidents, in order to identify those responsible with a view to taking the required measures in accordance with the law.”
The mission also appealed to the people of Côte d’Ivoire and supporters of all political parties to exercise restraint and work for national reconciliation and the consolidation of peace.
The West African nation is emerging from a crisis that ended in mid-April, when Mr. Gbagbo finally surrendered, ending months of violence in the wake of his refusal to step down after he lost last November’s UN-certified run-off election to Alassane Ouattara, who was sworn in as President in May.
The country now faces a number of key post-crisis tasks, including the restoration of law and order, national reconciliation, the holding of legislative elections, and economic recovery.
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UN CHIEF TO ADDRESS WORLD’S PARLIAMENTARIANS AT MEETING IN SWITZERLAND
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon heads to Switzerland next week for a three-day visit that will include an address to a gathering of many of the world’s parliamentarians.
Mr. Ban is scheduled to arrive in Sunday in Berne, the Swiss capital, to attend the inaugural ceremony of the 125th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), according to information released by his spokesperson. Established in 1889, the IPU serves as the international organization for the world’s parliaments.
The Secretary-General is also expected to meet with Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, members of the Swiss Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and senior officials with the Swiss federal administration.
Mr. Ban then travels to Geneva to visit the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue and take part in the executive committee meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
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BOSNIAN SERB REFUSES TO TESTIFY AT GENOCIDE TRIAL BEFORE UN WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
A former security and intelligence officer in the Bosnian Serb army refused to testify today in the genocide trial of his commander at the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up in the wake of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
Dragomir Pecanac faces contempt of court charges after failing to comply with a subpoena ordering him to give evidence in the trial of Zdravko Tolimir, who was an assistant commander in the Bosnian Serb army and reported directly to its leader, Ratko Mladic.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Pecanac late last month and he was subsequently transferred to the custody of the UN Detention Unit in The Hague, where the tribunal is based.
Making an initial appearance today in his own contempt of court case, Mr. Pecanac did not enter a plea. All accused in contempt cases must enter a plea within 10 days of their initial appearance.
Later today, during the ongoing trial of Mr. Tolimir, Mr. Pecanac refused to testify as a witness, the tribunal said in a press release.
The trial of Mr. Tolimir – who is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions, forcible transfers and deportations – continues. The charges relate to a series of events during the Balkan wars, including the notorious massacre of thousands of Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in July 1995.
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ALGERIAN SOCCER GREAT RABAH MADJER TO BECOME UN GOODWILL AMBASSADOR
Retired Algerian soccer striker Mustapha Rabah Madjer, who played in two World Cups and starred on the Portuguese club team FC Porto in the 1980s, is to become a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in recognition of his work with young people and promotion of sports values.
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova will designate Mr. Madjer as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for a two-year term at a ceremony at its Paris headquarters on Wednesday.
“As one of Africa’s most celebrated football players and as a well-known sports broadcaster, Rabah Madjer will place his fame at the service of UNESCO, building tolerance and mutual understanding through sports,” the agency said in a news release today.
Born in 1958, he took up coaching immediately after retiring and managed several clubs as well as Algeria’s National team. He has won the Ballon d’or Africain award and is also a television commentator on Al-Jazeera Sports network.
“UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassadors are an outstanding group of personalities who use their talent and status to focus the world's attention on the objectives and aims of UNESCO, creating visibility for its work in education, culture, science, communication and information,” the agency said.
Many UN agencies appoint prominent figures from the worlds of the arts and sports as Goodwill Ambassadors to advance their causes. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appointed Novak Djokovic, the world’s top tennis player, as a Goodwill Ambassador in August, and soccer stars Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane have been organizing charity games as Goodwill Ambassadors of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) since 2003.
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DR CONGO: UN ADVISES PRUDENT USE OF ABUNDANT RESOURCES TO SPUR DEVELOPMENT
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the capacity to become the driving force of Africa’s economic development if its vast forests, water resources and trillions of dollars worth of mineral reserves are used prudently, according to the findings of a United Nations assessment released today.
The DRC has half of Africa’s forests and water resources, but faces alarming rates of deforestation, species depletion, heavy metal pollution and land degradation from mining, according to the study entitled ‘Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment of the DRC’ and jointly carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Government.
The country also faces an acute drinking water crisis which has left an estimated 51 million Congolese without access to potable water, the two-year assessment today in Kinshasa, by UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, and DRC’s Environment Minister, José Endundo, shows.
Prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism and UNEP, the study highlights successful initiatives and identifies strategic opportunities to restore livelihoods, promote good governance and support the sustainability of the DRC’s post-conflict economic reconstruction and reinforce ongoing peace consolidation.
It also notes that most of the DRC’s environmental degradation is reversible and that there has been substantial progress in strengthening environmental governance.
For example, through steps such as regular anti-poaching patrols, the Congolese Wildlife Authority has secured the Virunga National Park, which at the peak of the DRC’s crisis was losing the equivalent of 89 hectares of forest each day due to illegal wood harvesting.
However, the country’s rapidly growing population, currently estimated at nearly 70 million, most of whom depend on natural resources for their survival, and intense international competition for raw materials are adding to the multiple pressures on the DRC’s natural resource base.
Some of the key findings include the fact that DRC has the highest level of biodiversity in Africa, yet 190 species are classified as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. Elephants and mountain gorillas are among the species under threat.
Up to 1.7 million tons of bush meat – mainly antelope, duiker, monkey and wild boar – are harvested annually from unregulated hunting and poaching, contributing to species depletion.
The DRC’s tropical rainforests extend over 1.55 million squire kilometres and account for more than half of Africa’s forest resources – making them a critical global ecosystem “service provider” and a potential source of up to $900 million in annual revenue up to 2030.
The country also has the largest artisanal mining workforce in the world, estimated at about 2 million people, but a lack of controls have led to land degradation and pollution. Its untapped mineral reserves are of global importance and are estimated to be worth $24 trillion.
Around 15 tons of mercury are used annually in the DRC’s artisanal gold-mining operations, making it the second largest source of mercury emissions in Africa.
The assessment recommends a transition to a “green economy” with sustainable reconstruction, including capitalizing the country’s emerging social economy to generate “green jobs” and other employment, including for former combatants.
It also underlines the need to diversify energy sources as a basis for restarting economic activity. The DRC has a hydropower potential of 100,000 megawatts – or 13 per cent of the world’s hydropower potential – which could meet domestic needs and generate export revenue from the sale of electricity.
To overcome the considerable environmental liabilities of a century of mining, the study recommends immediate action to deal with mining pollution in Katanga province in the south by introducing a new, modern mining approach and formalizing the artisanal mining sector to introduce better environmental and occupational health standards.
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CONCERTED GLOBAL EFFORT NEEDED TO CURB PIRACY IN GULF OF GUINEA, UN OFFICIAL WARNS
The top United Nations envoy for West Africa has called for concerted international efforts to combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as other forms of transnational crime such as trafficking in narcotics and medicines.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for West Africa Said Djinnit discussed the issue at length on a visit to Benin last Friday with President Boni Yayi and other high-ranking officials, who warned him that their country would suffer an even more severe economic impact if piracy was not contained. Mr. Djinnit announced the forthcoming visit of a UN evaluation team to Benin.
The issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea was raised by several West African officials at last month’s General Assembly annual general debate in New York as they called for greater UN and international support to prevent the region’s coasts from becoming a haven for pirates and to fight growing drug and arms trafficking.
In August the Security Council voiced concern over increasing piracy, armed robbery and reported hostage-taking in the Gulf and warned that the crimes were having an adverse impact on security, trade and other economic activities in the region.
Before visiting Benin, Mr. Djinnit spent two days in Guinea as part of a joint UN-African Union (AU) mission together with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to encourage political leaders to create favourable conditions for peaceful, fair and credible legislative elections after an outbreak of deadly violence last month.
His visit followed a call by Mr. Ban last month for all stakeholders to refrain from violence and engage in dialogue. In a meeting with Guinean President Alpha Condé on the margins of the General Debate, Mr. Ban called for the peaceful resolution of all major political disputes to ensure that the elections scheduled for later this year are free and fair.
He urged the authorities to ensure that security forces avoided excessive use of force and stressed the importance of allowing peaceful protests after demonstrations in Conakry, the capital, had led to loss of life.
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THAILAND SHOULD AMEND DEFAMATION LAWS TO COMPLY WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH – UN EXPERT
A United Nations human rights expert today called on Thailand to amend laws that impose jail terms of three to 15 years on “whoever defames, insults or threatens” top members of the country’s royal family, stressing that their vagueness contravened international treaties.
“The recent spike in lèse majesté cases pursued by the police and the courts shows the urgency to amend them,” Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression Frank La Rue said, using the legal term for offences or crimes against a State’s rulers or affronts to their dignity.
Mr. La Rue cited section 112 of the Thai penal code, which states that “whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir to the throne or the Regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years,” and the Computer Crimes Act, which can impose jail terms of up to five years for any views on the monarchy made on the Internet that are deemed to threaten national security.
He stressed that Thailand has been a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since 1996, which contains legally binding human rights obligations, including the obligation to fully guarantee the right of all individuals to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.
“The threat of a long prison sentence and vagueness of what kinds of expression constitute defamation, insult, or threat to the monarchy, encourage self-censorship and stifle important debates on matters of public interest, thus putting in jeopardy the right to freedom of opinion and expression,” he said. “This is exacerbated by the fact that the charges can be brought by private individuals and trials are often closed to the public.”
While acknowledging that freedom of expression carries with it special responsibilities and that under certain exceptional circumstances it may be limited, including to protect the reputation of individuals and national security, he emphasized that laws limiting such freedom must be clear, unambiguous as to the specific type of banned expression, and proven to be necessary and proportionate, so as to prevent abuse for purposes beyond their intended purpose.
“The Thai penal code and the Computer Crimes Act do not meet these criteria,” said Mr. La Rue, who acts in an independent, unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. “The laws are vague and overly broad, and the harsh criminal sanctions are neither necessary nor proportionate to protect the monarchy or national security.”
He voiced concern that the Computer Crimes Act had been used by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, in cooperation with the army, to reportedly block hundreds of thousands of websites containing commentary on the Thai monarchy, and noted that countries had also raised concerns during the Council’s universal periodic review of Thailand on Friday.
“In this regard, I am willing to engage constructively with the Government of Thailand, as well as the Law Reform Commission, whose task is, among other things, to propose reforms to harmonize Thailand’s national laws with international human rights standards,” he said.
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