ON WORLD FOOD DAY, UN AGENCIES URGE CONCERTED EFFORT AGAINST GLOBAL HUNGER
United Nations agencies tasked with tackling global hunger today highlighted the need for concerted efforts to address the root causes, focusing on the need to ensure that children have enough to eat, and addressing the factors that make food unaffordable for so many.
To mark the annual World Food Day, which falls on Sunday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that price fluctuations, especially upswings, are a major threat to food security in developing countries, where the poor are particularly hard hit.
It cited World Bank data indicating that rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2010-2011.
FAO chose the theme of ‘Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability’ for this year’s Day to shed light on the trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.
“Greater policy coordination in international food trade can reduce volatility by helping maintain an assured flow of goods. FAO supports the multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization and the elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies in rich countries,” according to the agency’s information note.
On food commodities speculation, FAO research suggests that while it might not trigger price movements, it could exaggerate their size and duration.
Mitigating the effects of price volatility, national or regional safety nets, possibly featuring emergency food reserves, can help ensure food supplies to needy and vulnerable groups during crises, according to FAO. Poor consumers can also be assisted with cash or food vouchers and producers helped with inputs such as fertilizer and seeds.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP), for its part, is marking the Day with an effort to connect the lives and dreams of hungry children in developing countries with activists and supporters who are in a position to help them, through a new online platform.
“Good nutritious food is the very foundation of healthy children and nations. It is time for us to end hunger and malnutrition among children once and for all,” said Josette Sheeran, the WFP Executive Director.
“But many children never get to realize their ambitions. Good nutrition provides the basic foundation for a better future. The onus is on all of us to mobilise the resources and awareness to make the dreams of every child come true.”
WFP also launched its “Feed a Child, Feed a Dream,” initiative ahead of World Food Day to provide a glimpse into the lives and aspirations of some of the children around the world who are receiving food from the agency, and to demonstrate how easy it is to help.
Visitors to www.wfp.org/dreams can meet children such as Guilaye of Senegal who likes talking about football during his school breaks, and aspires to be president, or Shiva from India, who is scared of nothing but snakes, and wants to become a sweetshop owner.
The platform also invites visitors to share their dreams of what they wanted to be when they were children, and to provide a donation that can feed a child for as little as 25 cents a day.
“It’s heart-warming to hear what each of these children want to achieve in their lives, and inspiring to help them dream big,” said Ms. Sheeran. “When I was young, I dreamed of helping build a better world. Each and every one of these children is our future – we owe them the basic right to be free from hunger,” she added.
In a related development, WFP and LG Electronics have unveiled an innovation in digital technology to help in the fight against hunger.
On the latest LG Smart TVs, which combine the advanced technology of Internet-linked television, owners will have access to an application that allows them to directly participate in global efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1, which calls for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The launch of the application will take place during World Food Week, which runs from Monday until 23 October.
“This partnership allows us to use LG’s cutting edge technology to make a dent in the biggest global social problem of our time – world hunger,” said Nancy Roman, the WFP Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships. “With this app, we can reach new audiences and enlist their support for this crucial work.”
The Smart TV application will allow owners to donate to WFP through the WeFeedback campaign, the agency’s social media tool that encourages users to make a difference in the lives of hungry schoolchildren.
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UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON SYRIA AS DEATH TOLL PASSES 3,000
The United Nations human rights chief today urged the international community to act immediately to protect lives in Syria, where the number of people killed since the violence started in March has now exceeded 3,000, including over 180 children.
“Since the start of the uprising in Syria, the Government has consistently used excessive force to crush peaceful protests,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release.
“Sniping from rooftops, and indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protestors – including the use of live ammunition and the shelling of residential neighbourhoods – have become routine occurrences in many Syrian cities.”
This has resulted in a “devastatingly remorseless toll of human lives,” she added, noting that more than 3,000 people have been killed since the Government began its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March, including at least 187 children. More than 100 people have been reported killed in the last 10 days alone.
In addition, thousands have been arrested, detained, forcibly disappeared and tortured, the High Commissioner said. “Family members inside and outside the country have been targeted for harassment, intimidation, threats and beatings. As more members of the military refuse to attack civilians and change sides, the crisis is already showing worrying signs of descending into an armed struggle.”
Stating that the Syrian Government has “manifestly failed to protect its population,” Ms. Pillay urged the international community to act before more lives are lost.
“The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective and decisive manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war,” she stated.
“The international community must speak with one voice and act to protect the Syrian people.”
In August, the High Commissioner drew attention to credible allegations of crimes against humanity in Syria, and encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Earlier this month, China and Russia vetoed a draft Security Council resolution that would have strongly condemned Syrian authorities for their violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters and called for an immediate end to human rights abuses.
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UN STRESSES EFFECTIVENESS OF HANDWASHING WITH SOAP TO PREVENT DISEASES
The United Nations today reminded people across the world that simply washing hands with soap and water remains the most cost-effective way to prevent diseases, and urged everyone to motivate others, especially children who are easily infected by disease-carrying germs present in dirty hands, to make it a habit.
On Global Handwashing Day, to be observed on Saturday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has organized events to inspire millions to lather up to prevent life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.
In Afghanistan, 1.7 million children from 1,700 schools will wash hands, as will 326,809 Eritrean children in 1,272 schools, as part of awareness-raising exercises. In Peru, the Government declared a national handwashing week beginning 10 October, with activities involving 3.5 million pupils in 20,000 schools.
Eight million children in the Indian state of Rajasthan and over 1 million children in Pakistan will also participate in handwashing events.
This year’s activities are expected to surpass celebrations in 2010, when 200 million people and 700,000 schools in over 70 countries marked the day. The events are aimed at spreading a life-saving message – clean hands save lives.
UNICEF estimates that diarrhoea kills 1.1 million children every year, and pneumonia-related illnesses take another 1.2 million child lives. Washing hands with soap prevents infections in a more straightforward and cost-effective way than any single vaccine, the agency stressed.
Washing hands with soap at critical moments, such as after using the toilet or before handling food, is an easy and affordable intervention that can reduce the incidence of diarrhoea among children under the age of five by almost 50 per cent, and cut respiratory infections by as much as 25 per cent, according to UNICEF.
“Soap is not in short supply, even in developing countries,” said Therese Dooley, UNICEF’s Senior Adviser for Hygiene and Sanitation. “The vast majority of poor households have soap in the home. The problem is that soap is used for laundry or bathing, but rarely for handwashing.”
Governments around the world have adopted Global Handwashing Day as a national event. Last year, for example, all schools – 18 million children – across Bangladesh, participated in mass handwashing demonstrations.
The events were used as a platform to launch the Bangladeshi Government’s National Hygiene Campaign, which aims to change the way the country uses soap and promote its use in handwashing.
“We are happy that this year other countries are following Bangladesh’s example,” said Ms. Dooley. “While we adults are always trying to discourage bad habits in children, the good habit of handwashing with soap is one we want every child to develop.”
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EXTENDING UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN HAITI, SECURITY COUNCIL CUTS TROOP NUMBERS
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for another year and agreed to reduce the number of troops on the ground by 2,500.
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the 15-member body extended MINUSTAH’s authorization until 15 October 2012.
The number of uniformed personnel in the Caribbean country will be cut from an estimated 13,000 to just over 10,500, comprising 7,340 troops and 3,241 police officers, as the Council noted that Haiti “has made considerable strides” since the catastrophic earthquake of January 2010.
The resolution noted that any future adjustments to the size of the mission will be based on the overall security situation, “taking into account the impact of social and political realities on Haiti’s stability and security, the increasing development of Haitian State capabilities, including the ongoing strengthening of the Haitian National Police, and the national authorities’ increasing exercise of the Haitian State’s responsibility for the maintenance of stability and security in the country.”
Council members also called on the international community to work closely with the mission to assist the impoverished nation on education, health, reconstruction and security matters, and placed a strong emphasis on the mission’s assistance in preparation for handing over responsibilities to the Government so that it can gradually take care of its security.
In particular, the resolution pointed to the importance of the collaborative work between MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police, and called for the Haitian Government to support a five-year plan that seeks to strengthen the capacity of its police force to protect civilians.
The resolution also condemned violations against children affected by violence as well as sexual abuse of women and girls, and requested the Secretary-General to take all measures necessary to ensure that troops on the ground comply with a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. It also called for the investigation and punishment of any reported violation by UN personnel.
MINUSTAH was first dispatched as a peacekeeping force in mid-2004 after the then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest, but the mission stayed on and increased its capacity to help the country recover from the earthquake in January last year that killed over 200,000 people and caused enormous damage to the country’s infrastructure.
The country is still facing significant humanitarian challenges, with more than 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) dependent on assistance for basic survival, ongoing cholera epidemics, and extreme vulnerability to natural disasters.
The peacekeeping mission has a broad mandate, and its activities range from ensuring security and stability, supporting constitutional processes, helping to organize and monitor free and fair elections, and aiding on reconstruction efforts.
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HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION SETS SIGHTS EVEN HIGHER AT UN STUDY GROUP
Ultra high-definition television (UHDTV) has taken a major step towards becoming reality, with experts agreeing on most technical characteristics for a medium that will be at least 16 times visually sharper than current state-of-the-art TV, a United Nations agency reported today.
The experts, including scientists and engineers from around the world, have been working together for several years in the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Study Group on Broadcasting Service to jointly develop and agree on the technical specifications that will successfully create UHDTV.
“UHDTV promises to bring about one of the greatest changes to audio-visual communications and broadcasting in recent decades,” Study Group Chairman Christoph Dosch said. “Technology is truly at the cusp of transforming how people experience audio-visual communications.”
In a demonstration of UHDTV by the Japanese public service broadcaster NHK at ITU earlier this month, the screen displayed 33 million pixels compared to a maximum two million pixels for the highest quality HDTV screens on offer today, ITU noted in a news release.
Last month, a trial UHDTV link was arranged between London and Amsterdam and plans are under way to cover part of the 2012 London Olympic Games in UHDTV for screening at public venues around the world.
“The relationship that a viewer has with television viewing is linked to the overall experience of the picture and quality of sound,” said David Wood, Chairman of the concerned ITU Working Party in the Broadcasting Service Study Group. “The extremely high quality of UHDTV will have a definite impact on our lifestyle and on our engagement with the programmes we watch.”
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, looking ahead to the day UHDTV will become a reality, said: “UHDTV will create an immersive experience for viewers and will generate a host of new business and marketing opportunities.”
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AT FILM SCREENING, BAN REAFFIRMS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE
The United Nations today screened The Whistleblower at its New York Headquarters, using the film’s theme of a contract worker fired for investigating the alleged complicity of UN peacekeepers in sex trafficking to reaffirm its policy of zero tolerance for any such abuses.
“I was deeply saddened by the involvement of the international community, particularly the United Nations, in the abuses connected with the trafficking of women and their uses as sex slaves,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the start of a panel discussion after the screening.
“This movie tells that ugly story,” he added of the events portrayed, in which Kathryn Bolkovac, a UN peacekeeper under contract from a United States company, runs the office investigating sex trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina and finds that peacekeepers, UN workers and international police visit brothels and facilitate trafficking by forging documents and aiding the illegal transport of women. The company fires her, and she eventually wins a wrongful termination case against it.
Mr. Ban detailed the many steps that the UN has taken “to prevent and punish such terrible abuses,” including the introduction of conduct and discipline units in each peacekeeping operation, curfews, placing areas out-of-bounds, rigorous investigations of alleged perpetrators, and their repatriation and punishment by their own countries.
“The bottom line is that we have made much progress since the dark period portrayed in this film. We also know that we still have much to do. This film reminds us how important one person’s voice can be. It underscores how important it is to speak out against abuse or injustice.
Those who do so, in good faith, must not be punished, nor should they be met with resistance from within… We need to promote a culture in which people feel free and obliged to raise their voices in the face of wrongdoing and abuse.”
Among the guests on the panel was Uruguayan Ambassador José Luis Cancela, whom Mr. Ban acknowledged in his speech. Last month four Uruguayan peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Haiti were sent home to be investigated for the alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old Haitian man. Uruguay has said they will receive the maximum punishment if found guilty.
Panellists included the film’s director Larysa Kondracki and Madeleine Rees, a former UN human rights lawyer who was portrayed in The Whistleblower by the actress Vanessa Redgrave and who is now Secretary-General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Other panel members were Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra, who heads the Department of Field Support (DFS) at the UN, and UN Police Adviser Ann-Marie Orler.
Introducing the panel discussion, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka noted that the film highlights several issues high on the UN agenda – human trafficking, violence against women and cross-border organized crime – and depicts UN personnel serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina frequenting establishments where forced prostitution took place.
“These acts were in clear breach of the UN peacekeeper’s ‘code of conduct’ and, in some cases, were illegal,” he said. “The UN mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina initiated actions to see that those personnel were held accountable. But we all know that what could have, or should have been done, was often not done.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeeping personnel, anywhere, anytime, is heinous and unacceptable. It is a grave breach of the trust bestowed in the United Nations – by those who look to the United Nations for protection and expect of the United Nations the highest possible standard of ethics.”
The discussion was attended by more than a dozen high-level UN officials, including Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane and the Director of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) Michael Stefanovic.
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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR TO VISIT CôTE D’IVOIRE
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will travel to Côte d’Ivoire for an official visit to meet people the Government, members of the opposition and people affected by the post-election violence that engulfed the West African country at the start of the year.
The ICC earlier this month authorized the prosecutor to probe alleged abuses committed during the bloody post-election unrest – the seventh investigation in Africa and the first in a State that is not a party to the treaty that set up the court.
“I am grateful to President [Alassane] Ouattara for extending the invitation. We will also meet members of the opposition. We will meet with victims, and listen to their views and concerns,” said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo in a statement issued by the ICC announcing the two-day trip starting tomorrow.
“We believe it is critically important to meet with the Truth, Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission, which has a crucial mandate to contribute to the prevention of new crimes, the establishment of individual responsibilities and the reconciliation of all Ivorians.”
He said his office is closely monitoring election-related developments including in neighbouring countries, including Liberia, which, he said, could affect stability throughout the West African region.
“We will pay close attention to the actions and statements of the political class, and in particular to the presidential candidates, including after the elections. Resorting to violence will not be tolerated,” said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo.
The ICC pre-trial chamber on 3 October granted the prosecutor’s request to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed Côte d’Ivoire following the November 2010 presidential run-off elections, “as well as with regard to crimes that may be committed in the future in the context of this situation.” stated a news release from the court.
It also requested the prosecutor to provide any additional information on “potentially relevant crimes” committed in the country between 2002 and 2010.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo had in June requested authorization from the court to open an investigation after a preliminary examination led him to conclude there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction had been committed in the country after 28 November 2010.
The violence erupted when former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the United Nations-certified election to Alassane Ouattara, who was eventually sworn in after Mr. Gbagbo surrendered in April.
According to sources quoted by the prosecution in its application, at least 3,000 persons were killed, 72 disappeared and 520 others were subject to arbitrary arrest and detentions during the post-election violence.
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HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL RECOMMENDED FOR ELIMINATION BY UN EXPERTS
A United Nations-backed panel of experts has recommended that a toxic flame retardant be added to a watch list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) designed to eliminate the impact of hazardous chemicals on human health and the environment.
At a week-long meeting in Geneva that wrapped up today, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, a body of 31 scientific experts, recommended the addition of the chemical hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) to the POPs watch list.
Under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, which is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) industrial production of HBCD, a flame retardant widely used in polystyrene for electrical and electronic equipment as well as textile coatings, would ultimately be eliminated.
“The POPs review committee has again cleared the high bar set by governments for rigorous scientific review of chemicals proposed for action and advanced the global agenda of eliminating the world’s most dangerous toxic chemicals,” said Jim Willis, the recently appointed Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, celebrating the decision.
The decision on HBCD was among more than a dozen measures taken by the scientific experts to boost global action against highly toxic and persistent chemicals.
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FINLAND TO HOST 2012 TALKS ON SETTING UP NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE ZONE IN MIDDLE EAST
Finland will host the conference to be held next year on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, it was announced today at the United Nations.
In addition, Jaakko Laajava, Under-Secretary of State in Finland’s foreign ministry, has been appointed as the facilitator for the 2012 conference.
The announcement was made in a joint press statement issued by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – the co-sponsors of a 1995 resolution proposing a Middle East free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction – in consultation with States of the region.
The May 2010 review meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – which takes place every five years – called for a UN-sponsored conference in 2012 to establish a nuclear-free Middle East to be attended by all States in the region.
Ahead of the 2010 meeting, Mr. Ban had called for the number of nuclear-weapon-free zones to multiply and ultimately span the globe. “My goal – our goal – is to make the whole world a nuclear-weapon-free zone,” he stated, calling such zones the “success stories of the disarmament movement.”
Currently, there are five such zones: Latin America and the Caribbean; the South Pacific; South-East Asia; Central Asia; and Africa.
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UN LEGAL CHIEF TO DISCUSS CONCERNS ABOUT GENOCIDE COURT DURING CAMBODIA VISIT
The United Nations Legal Counsel will travel to Phnom Penh next week for meetings concerning the Cambodia genocide tribunal in the wake of the resignation of one of the judges.
The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), was set up under an agreement signed in 2003 by the UN and the Government.
The independent court, which uses a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel, is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 during which as many as two million people are thought to have died.
The visit by Patricia O’Brien, the Under Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, follows the resignation earlier this week of Judge Siegfried Blunk, the international co-investigating judge at the ECCC.
Judge Blunk cited repeated statements by senior Government officials opposing the progress of what are referred to as cases 003 and 004 – which concern senior members of the Khmer Rouge military suspected of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.
These statements, he noted in his letter of resignation, could be used to call into question his ability to perform his duties independently, and this would call into doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings in these cases.
The UN has consistently stated that the ECCC must be permitted to proceed with its work without interference from any entity, including the Cambodian Government.
Ms. O’Brien will hold meetings with Government officials and others concerning the tribunal, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters in New York.
In addition to concerns regarding the issue of Government interference, there have also been concerns raised with respect to other aspects of the court’s work, which will also be addressed during the visit, he noted.
“It is important that the United Nations talks to senior officials in the ECCC and others to gain the best possible understanding of these concerns,” he stated.
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UN AGENCIES ON STANDBY TO AID SOUTH-EAST ASIAN FLOOD VICTIMS
United Nations agencies are on standby to deliver aid in South-East Asia where over 600 people have died and more than eight million others are affected by flooding and typhoons, with the situation expected to worsen amid more rains, high tides and river run-off over the weekend.
No requests for international aid have so far been made, but UN agencies have activated assessment teams and contingency planning in the two worst affected countries, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as in Vietnam, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in a news release today.
In Thailand, where the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has offered to provide emergency health kits and necessary stockpiles, 2.4 million people have reportedly been affected, 700,000 of them children, with Bangkok, the capital, and 12 provinces on high alert for heavy rains and overflowing rivers following four back-to-back typhoons.
In Cambodia, where more than 1 million people have been affected and flood waters continue to rise, WHO, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are carrying out assessments together with various ministries and non-government organizations (NGOs). WFP plans to provide 500 tons of food to some 10,000 households with a ration of 50 kilograms for one month.
UNICEF, which before the flood season had provided 480,000 water purifying tablets, 5,000 jerry cans and 5,000 bars of soap to the ministry of rural development, cited access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene as areas of particular concern.
In Vietnam, where the Government said flooding had submerged nearly 60,000 homes and caused an estimated $55 million in crop damage, UNICEF is providing funds for water and sanitation, education, child protection and health and nutrition supplies.
In the Philippines over 4 million people have been affected with at least 250,000 needing assistance, while in Laos almost 500,000 people have been hit by flooding and landslides which have damaged over 64,000 hectares of farmland, 323 roads and 42 bridges.
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SOMALIA HAS BEST CHANCE FOR PEACE IN YEARS, SAYS UN ENVOY
Somalis currently have a rare opportunity to advance peace in their country and establish a fully functioning government, says the United Nations envoy to the Horn of Africa nation.
Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, said the peace process has taken a “great leap forward” with the adoption last month of the roadmap which sets out a series of tasks to be completed ahead of concluding the transition process next August.
“Somalia’s long national struggle is not over, but this is the best chance for peace in years,” Mr. Mahiga wrote in his latest letter to the Somali diaspora. “We must accept and work for change to which the Somali people need and deserve, the instrument for change which we now have is the roadmap.”
Among the tasks set out in the roadmap are improving security, drafting a constitution, national reconciliation and good governance.
“The roadmap is a milestone in the peace process, but there is still a long road ahead to travel,” said the Special Representative, who is also head of the Nairobi-based UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).
“We must avoid putting obstacles in our way and expose those who act as spoilers to progress,” he added, noting that the insurgents are still a threat in Somalia and the situation remains “unstable,” as shown by the suicide bombing earlier this month in Mogadishu that killed scores of people.
Mr. Mahiga reiterated the UN’s call for all insurgents still fighting to lay down their arms and join the peace process, while pledging that the world body and the entire international community will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the country.
“Ultimately, it is the Somali people – in the country, in the region and in the diaspora – who must step up and play their part in bringing about change and lasting peace. The peace process will only work when the Somali people own it and push it forward,” he stated.
Last month, at a mini-summit on Somalia held at UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the country has made important strides on the political and security fronts and called on Somali leaders and their international partners to take advantage of recent gains and to advance the peace process and stabilize the country.
He said that the roadmap, along with the withdrawal of the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab from the capital in early August, offers the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) an opportunity to expand territory under its control and enhance its legitimacy by delivering basic services.
“It is time now for the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) and Somalia’s leaders to implement the roadmap to end the transition, keeping in mind that future assistance will be contingent on the timely attainment of the agreed benchmarks,” said Mr. Ban.
“It is equally necessary for the international community to remain engaged in the Somali peace process and to provide resources to the Transitional Federal Institutions and other implementing partners to ensure that this political investment bears fruit,” he added.
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SOME 100,000 PEOPLE HIT BY RAINS, FLOODS IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA – UN
Some 100,000 people in Mexico and Central America are facing flooding as Hurricane Jova and a tropical depression unleash torrential rains over the region, the United Nations reported today as it activated emergency and assessment teams in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
In Mexico heavy rainfall from the hurricane has affected 50,000 people in the state of Tabasco, while nearly 43,500 others have been hit by flooding in Guatemala, where almost the entire country has been affected, with 1,700 families already losing their homes and the rains forecast to continue for the next two to three days, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a news release.
A UN emergency technical team has been activated and is in communication with authorities in Nicaragua, where nearly 5,500 people have been affected and over 1,000 houses damaged.
In El Salvador, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional arm of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), has joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in carrying out an assessment of the most crowded shelters. Over 2,200 people are already in emergency shelters.
In Honduras and Costa Rica damage has so far been limited, with some people cut off and few in emergency shelters, OCHA reported.
Flooding has also engulfed southern Haiti where UN peacekeepers have evacuated hundreds of families from their homes and placed them in temporary shelters as waters have risen after days of torrential rain.
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TURKEY MUST DO MORE TO ENSURE INDEPENDENT, IMPARTIAL JUDICIARY – UN RIGHTS EXPERT
A United Nations human rights expert today commended Turkish authorities for placing the protection and promotion of human rights high on their agenda, while calling for further steps to guarantee an independent and impartial judicial system.
“Turkey’s recent judicial reforms package brings improvements, in principle, to the judicial system, but that should only be seen as a first step to effectively safeguard the independence and impartiality of judges, prosecutors and lawyers,” said Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
The main purpose of Ms. Knaul’s five-day visit, which ended today, was to assess a series of judicial reforms recently undertaken by the Government. She also had the opportunity to examine issues of access to justice, fair trial guarantees, the availability of legal defence and the legal profession.
She noted areas where improvement is needed to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, including rationalizing the way in which judges and prosecutors are moved through a sort of rotation system, possibly taking into account the specialization they have acquired during their career when they are assigned to other posts.
She also cited the need for a High Council of Judges and Prosecutors that is completely independent from the Executive, structurally, functionally and in practice. Currently, the Minister of Justice presides over the High Council and authorizes its investigations.
In addition, the Special Rapporteur said that “the far too close relationship between judges and prosecutors” raises concerns about the respect of the principles of impartiality and equality of arms.
A concern that Ms. Knaul heard “quite regularly” is that, in the daily performance of their duties, lawyers are not treated at the same level as judges and prosecutors. “One symbolic example in this regard is the fact that in the courtroom both judges and prosecutors sit on a podium during the hearings, while lawyers sit at a lower level, close to the defendants and the public.
“Lawyers need to be treated as equal counterparts of judges and prosecutors within the legal professions,” she underscored in her preliminary observations.
Another example of the difficulties that lawyers face are obstacles such as limitations to access case files, non-disclosure of evidence, delays in contact with their clients, and undue identification of the lawyer with his/her clients or the clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions.
“Almost unanimously judges and prosecutors have called my attention to the issue of workload and a backlog of cases, which is of course among the main causes of delays in the proceedings,” the expert added. “This structural problem also affects the citizens’ effective access to justice, as justice delayed is justice denied.”
During her visit, Ms. Knaul visited Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir where she held discussions with Government officials, judges, prosecutors, bar associations, lawyers, academics, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies.
The Special Rapporteur, who functions in an independent and unpaid capacity, will present her final conclusions and recommendations on Turkey to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next June.
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FUNDING SHORTFALL THREATENS FOOD FOR 120,000 CONGOLESE REFUGEES, UN WARNS
Some 120,000 refugees who fled ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) two years ago to seek shelter in the neighbouring Republic of Congo, will go without food as of next month if no new funding is found, the United Nations warned today.
In the last six months the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has received only 15 per cent of the funds needed and its stocks will run out by November, WFP spokesperson Gaelle Sévenier told a news briefing in Geneva, appealing for $6 million to feed the refugees, the vast majority of them women and children, until the end of 2011.
After a joint assessment mission in October 2010 by WFP and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency had begun providing refugees with three-quarter rations to build their resilience as they prepared to return home. Some $33 million was needed to feed the refugees over a two-year period.
The refugees began fleeing across the Oubangi river into the Republic of Congo in October 2009 when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area of Equateur province in the DRC. Tensions then expanded to most parts of the province.
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SECURITY COUNCIL ALLOWS JUDGE IN UN TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA TO WORK PART-TIME
The Security Council today allowed one of the judges in the United Nations tribunal for the 1994 Rwandan genocide to work part-time and engage in another judicial occupation until the end of the year, under exceptional circumstances.
In authorizing Judge Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to work part-time, the Council, in a resolution, took note of the fact that upon the completion of the cases to which they are assigned, four permanent judges will be redeployed from the trial chamber to the appeals chamber and two permanent judges will leave the tribunal.
It also considered Judge Tuzmukhamedov’s commitment to ensuring timely delivery of judgment in the two cases in which he is currently involved.
The 15-member UN body underscored that the exceptional authorization shall not be considered as establishing a precedent.
The President of the ICTR shall have the responsibility to ensure that this arrangement is compatible with the independence and impartiality of the judge, does not give rise to conflicts of interest and does not delay the delivery of the judgment, the Council said in its resolution.
The ICTR was set up by the Security Council in the wake of the genocide, in which it is estimated that more 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed, mainly by machete, during a period of about 100 days starting on 6 April 1994.
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CAMBODIAN DRAFT LAW ON NGOS MAY BREACH INTERNATIONAL PACT, UN RIGHTS EXPERT WARNS
A Cambodian draft law making registration of associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mandatory and banning unregistered groups, risks breaching an international treaty, a United Nations rights expert warned today, calling on the Government to review it.
“The current draft NGO law contains a set of problematic provisions, raising concerns over a potential negative impact on Cambodian citizens’ democratic participation in furthering the development of their country,” UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai said in a news release, noting that it could violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The mandatory nature of the draft law “constitutes a clear infringement of the right to freedom of association. Having a recognized legal status may confer rights and benefits to organizations such as the ability to open bank accounts, but legal status is not necessary for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association,” he added.
He welcomed a recent statement by Cambodia’s ambassador to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council promising “further consultations” and called on the authorities to review the draft law in open and meaningful discussions with associations and NGOs.
By excluding refugees, stateless persons and other non-Cambodian residents from forming associations or domestic NGOs and limiting eligible founding members to Cambodian nationals, the draft further violates freedom of association, which should be enjoyed by all individuals within Cambodia’s territory, he noted.
Other concerns include the high minimum membership requirement; lack of clarity of the criteria for registration, suspension or termination; and the overly cumbersome and bureaucratic registration process for foreign NGOs, which could limit the scope of their activities and hamper their independence.
“A legal framework to ensure freedom of association should facilitate, rather than control, individuals’ enjoyment of this right formally or informally,” Mr. Kiai said. “It should also emerge from an open, transparent process that engenders goodwill and confidence.”
Two other UN experts raised concerns over the effects of the draft law on human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, stressed that the draft could affect the defenders’ ability to exercise such rights.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya said the free and full exercise of the right to freedom of association places a duty on States to create a favourable environment for defenders to act freely.
“We urge the Cambodian authorities to fully take on board the legitimate concerns repeatedly raised by NGOs and associations during the announced further consultations,” the two said, noting that the Government has reviewed and revised the draft law numerous times.
Last month, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, urged the Government to review the draft and not proceed with it in its present form.
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IN SOUTH SUDAN, UN ENVOY WELCOMES CIVILIAN-LED DISARMAMENT PROCESS
The United Nations envoy to South Sudan today visited one of the country’s states that has been beset by violent ethnic tensions since independence to commend local communities for their involvement in a new, civilian-led disarmament process.
Hilde F. Johnson, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, travelled to Lakes state, which started its disarmament process last month.
“I am encouraged by the local communities and their participation in the civilian-led disarmament process taking place across Lakes state. There has been such as positive response to this initiative with excellent cooperation between local communities and the state authorities,” she said.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in a UN-backed referendum earlier this year, but since then deadly inter-ethnic clashes have broken out in several states, including Lakes.
According to a news release issued by the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), thousands of weapons are expected to be collected from local communities across Lakes, Unity and Warrap states and the process is expected to be completed within three months.
During her visit, Ms. Johnson will meet with the State Governor for Lakes as well as other officials and the local communities of Duony, Pagaur and Abiriu.
“Disarmament is a pre-condition for peace, security, stability and delivery of much needed social services to the population. I want to encourage all communities to continue to work closely with the state authorities to build on the progress being made,” she said.
“UNMISS stands ready to offer our support and assistance as this civilian-led disarmament process continues.”
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UN AGENCY RAMPS UP FOOD ASSISTANCE TO FLOOD-AFFECTED PAKISTANIS
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it is continuing to scale up the delivery of vital assistance to the worst-affected areas of Pakistan’s Sindh province as part of its efforts to assist the country’s 2.5 million flood victims.
Pakistan has been severely affected by floods for the second consecutive year, leaving more than five million people in need of safe drinking water, sanitation services, food, shelter materials and other essential support.
WFP has already provided life-saving food rations to 1.2 million people in eight districts of Sindh since the distributions started on 12 September, it said in a news release. This includes the distribution of the locally-produced chick pea paste, Wawa Mum, to almost 136,000 children to help prevent and treating malnutrition.
The agency is now working double shifts, along with nearly 20 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to ensure food is moving swiftly out of warehouses and to distribution points as it scales up deliveries.
As part of its efforts to reach areas still inaccessible by roads, WFP has deployed 14 boats to several districts that are also being used for mobile medical services and to assist in the rescue and evacuation of people who are cut off by the flood waters.
Last month, UN agencies and their partners launched the Pakistan Floods Rapid Response Plan to support the Government’s efforts to address the immediate needs of up to 5.4 million flood-affected people for six months. So far the funding request has only received 18 per cent of the $357 million required.
WFP said it has received $27 million in support of emergency food assistance activities for the current floods.
“The current funding will allow WFP to continue its activities til end of November, but more funds are urgently required to ensure continued life-saving relief distributions for the most vulnerable victims,” stated the Rome-based agency.
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INVESTING IN RURAL WOMEN WILL SLASH HUNGER AND POVERTY, BAN SAYS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community to give rural women the same access to productive resources as men, noting the huge benefits that would ensue, from increased food production to a drop of 150 million in the number of the world’s hungry people.
“Despite the heavy responsibility rural women shoulder, they lack equal access to opportunities and resources,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s celebration of the International Day of Rural Women. “This hampers their advancement and holds all people back.
He cited UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) studies showing that over 100 million people could be lifted out of poverty if rural women had the same access to productive resources as men. Productivity on women’s farms would increase up to 30 per cent and the number of hungry people would drop by as much as 17 per cent, which translates into improvements for up to 150 million individuals.
Currently the number of hungry people worldwide is estimated at around 1 billion.
“The benefits would reverberate even further as these women’s children gain better access to health services, education and nutrition,” Mr. Ban said. “We know how to achieve these gains: invest in rural women; eliminate discrimination against them in law and in practice; ensure that policies respond to their needs; give them equal access to resources; provide rural women with a role in decision-making.”
“These measures will help drive sustainable development – one of the great imperatives of the twenty-first century. As we prepare for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held next year in Rio, let us remember that rural women have enormous untapped potential to generate results.”
He noted that study after study has demonstrated that rural women are pivotal to addressing hunger, malnutrition and poverty, as farmers and nurturers, entrepreneurs and educators, healers and helpers who can contribute to food security and economic growth in the world’s most remote and vulnerable settings.
General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser also stressed the critical contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty, and called on Member States, the UN system and civil society to continue their efforts to improve their living conditions and quality of life and help them achieve sustainable development.
“More needs to be done to harness the contribution of rural women to development,” he said. “Currently there is a gender gap in agriculture, linked to women’s weaker access to land rights, modern technologies and financing. If women farmers had stronger legal rights and greater business opportunities, millions of people would be better fed.”
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United Nations agencies tasked with tackling global hunger today highlighted the need for concerted efforts to address the root causes, focusing on the need to ensure that children have enough to eat, and addressing the factors that make food unaffordable for so many.
To mark the annual World Food Day, which falls on Sunday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) noted that price fluctuations, especially upswings, are a major threat to food security in developing countries, where the poor are particularly hard hit.
It cited World Bank data indicating that rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2010-2011.
FAO chose the theme of ‘Food Prices – From Crisis to Stability’ for this year’s Day to shed light on the trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.
“Greater policy coordination in international food trade can reduce volatility by helping maintain an assured flow of goods. FAO supports the multilateral negotiations under the World Trade Organization and the elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies in rich countries,” according to the agency’s information note.
On food commodities speculation, FAO research suggests that while it might not trigger price movements, it could exaggerate their size and duration.
Mitigating the effects of price volatility, national or regional safety nets, possibly featuring emergency food reserves, can help ensure food supplies to needy and vulnerable groups during crises, according to FAO. Poor consumers can also be assisted with cash or food vouchers and producers helped with inputs such as fertilizer and seeds.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP), for its part, is marking the Day with an effort to connect the lives and dreams of hungry children in developing countries with activists and supporters who are in a position to help them, through a new online platform.
“Good nutritious food is the very foundation of healthy children and nations. It is time for us to end hunger and malnutrition among children once and for all,” said Josette Sheeran, the WFP Executive Director.
“But many children never get to realize their ambitions. Good nutrition provides the basic foundation for a better future. The onus is on all of us to mobilise the resources and awareness to make the dreams of every child come true.”
WFP also launched its “Feed a Child, Feed a Dream,” initiative ahead of World Food Day to provide a glimpse into the lives and aspirations of some of the children around the world who are receiving food from the agency, and to demonstrate how easy it is to help.
Visitors to www.wfp.org/dreams can meet children such as Guilaye of Senegal who likes talking about football during his school breaks, and aspires to be president, or Shiva from India, who is scared of nothing but snakes, and wants to become a sweetshop owner.
The platform also invites visitors to share their dreams of what they wanted to be when they were children, and to provide a donation that can feed a child for as little as 25 cents a day.
“It’s heart-warming to hear what each of these children want to achieve in their lives, and inspiring to help them dream big,” said Ms. Sheeran. “When I was young, I dreamed of helping build a better world. Each and every one of these children is our future – we owe them the basic right to be free from hunger,” she added.
In a related development, WFP and LG Electronics have unveiled an innovation in digital technology to help in the fight against hunger.
On the latest LG Smart TVs, which combine the advanced technology of Internet-linked television, owners will have access to an application that allows them to directly participate in global efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1, which calls for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. The launch of the application will take place during World Food Week, which runs from Monday until 23 October.
“This partnership allows us to use LG’s cutting edge technology to make a dent in the biggest global social problem of our time – world hunger,” said Nancy Roman, the WFP Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships. “With this app, we can reach new audiences and enlist their support for this crucial work.”
The Smart TV application will allow owners to donate to WFP through the WeFeedback campaign, the agency’s social media tool that encourages users to make a difference in the lives of hungry schoolchildren.
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UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES IMMEDIATE ACTION ON SYRIA AS DEATH TOLL PASSES 3,000
The United Nations human rights chief today urged the international community to act immediately to protect lives in Syria, where the number of people killed since the violence started in March has now exceeded 3,000, including over 180 children.
“Since the start of the uprising in Syria, the Government has consistently used excessive force to crush peaceful protests,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release.
“Sniping from rooftops, and indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protestors – including the use of live ammunition and the shelling of residential neighbourhoods – have become routine occurrences in many Syrian cities.”
This has resulted in a “devastatingly remorseless toll of human lives,” she added, noting that more than 3,000 people have been killed since the Government began its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in March, including at least 187 children. More than 100 people have been reported killed in the last 10 days alone.
In addition, thousands have been arrested, detained, forcibly disappeared and tortured, the High Commissioner said. “Family members inside and outside the country have been targeted for harassment, intimidation, threats and beatings. As more members of the military refuse to attack civilians and change sides, the crisis is already showing worrying signs of descending into an armed struggle.”
Stating that the Syrian Government has “manifestly failed to protect its population,” Ms. Pillay urged the international community to act before more lives are lost.
“The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective and decisive manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war,” she stated.
“The international community must speak with one voice and act to protect the Syrian people.”
In August, the High Commissioner drew attention to credible allegations of crimes against humanity in Syria, and encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Earlier this month, China and Russia vetoed a draft Security Council resolution that would have strongly condemned Syrian authorities for their violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters and called for an immediate end to human rights abuses.
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UN STRESSES EFFECTIVENESS OF HANDWASHING WITH SOAP TO PREVENT DISEASES
The United Nations today reminded people across the world that simply washing hands with soap and water remains the most cost-effective way to prevent diseases, and urged everyone to motivate others, especially children who are easily infected by disease-carrying germs present in dirty hands, to make it a habit.
On Global Handwashing Day, to be observed on Saturday, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has organized events to inspire millions to lather up to prevent life-threatening diseases such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.
In Afghanistan, 1.7 million children from 1,700 schools will wash hands, as will 326,809 Eritrean children in 1,272 schools, as part of awareness-raising exercises. In Peru, the Government declared a national handwashing week beginning 10 October, with activities involving 3.5 million pupils in 20,000 schools.
Eight million children in the Indian state of Rajasthan and over 1 million children in Pakistan will also participate in handwashing events.
This year’s activities are expected to surpass celebrations in 2010, when 200 million people and 700,000 schools in over 70 countries marked the day. The events are aimed at spreading a life-saving message – clean hands save lives.
UNICEF estimates that diarrhoea kills 1.1 million children every year, and pneumonia-related illnesses take another 1.2 million child lives. Washing hands with soap prevents infections in a more straightforward and cost-effective way than any single vaccine, the agency stressed.
Washing hands with soap at critical moments, such as after using the toilet or before handling food, is an easy and affordable intervention that can reduce the incidence of diarrhoea among children under the age of five by almost 50 per cent, and cut respiratory infections by as much as 25 per cent, according to UNICEF.
“Soap is not in short supply, even in developing countries,” said Therese Dooley, UNICEF’s Senior Adviser for Hygiene and Sanitation. “The vast majority of poor households have soap in the home. The problem is that soap is used for laundry or bathing, but rarely for handwashing.”
Governments around the world have adopted Global Handwashing Day as a national event. Last year, for example, all schools – 18 million children – across Bangladesh, participated in mass handwashing demonstrations.
The events were used as a platform to launch the Bangladeshi Government’s National Hygiene Campaign, which aims to change the way the country uses soap and promote its use in handwashing.
“We are happy that this year other countries are following Bangladesh’s example,” said Ms. Dooley. “While we adults are always trying to discourage bad habits in children, the good habit of handwashing with soap is one we want every child to develop.”
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EXTENDING UN PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN HAITI, SECURITY COUNCIL CUTS TROOP NUMBERS
The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for another year and agreed to reduce the number of troops on the ground by 2,500.
In a resolution adopted unanimously, the 15-member body extended MINUSTAH’s authorization until 15 October 2012.
The number of uniformed personnel in the Caribbean country will be cut from an estimated 13,000 to just over 10,500, comprising 7,340 troops and 3,241 police officers, as the Council noted that Haiti “has made considerable strides” since the catastrophic earthquake of January 2010.
The resolution noted that any future adjustments to the size of the mission will be based on the overall security situation, “taking into account the impact of social and political realities on Haiti’s stability and security, the increasing development of Haitian State capabilities, including the ongoing strengthening of the Haitian National Police, and the national authorities’ increasing exercise of the Haitian State’s responsibility for the maintenance of stability and security in the country.”
Council members also called on the international community to work closely with the mission to assist the impoverished nation on education, health, reconstruction and security matters, and placed a strong emphasis on the mission’s assistance in preparation for handing over responsibilities to the Government so that it can gradually take care of its security.
In particular, the resolution pointed to the importance of the collaborative work between MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police, and called for the Haitian Government to support a five-year plan that seeks to strengthen the capacity of its police force to protect civilians.
The resolution also condemned violations against children affected by violence as well as sexual abuse of women and girls, and requested the Secretary-General to take all measures necessary to ensure that troops on the ground comply with a zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. It also called for the investigation and punishment of any reported violation by UN personnel.
MINUSTAH was first dispatched as a peacekeeping force in mid-2004 after the then president Jean-Bertrand Aristide went into exile amid violent unrest, but the mission stayed on and increased its capacity to help the country recover from the earthquake in January last year that killed over 200,000 people and caused enormous damage to the country’s infrastructure.
The country is still facing significant humanitarian challenges, with more than 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) dependent on assistance for basic survival, ongoing cholera epidemics, and extreme vulnerability to natural disasters.
The peacekeeping mission has a broad mandate, and its activities range from ensuring security and stability, supporting constitutional processes, helping to organize and monitor free and fair elections, and aiding on reconstruction efforts.
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HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION SETS SIGHTS EVEN HIGHER AT UN STUDY GROUP
Ultra high-definition television (UHDTV) has taken a major step towards becoming reality, with experts agreeing on most technical characteristics for a medium that will be at least 16 times visually sharper than current state-of-the-art TV, a United Nations agency reported today.
The experts, including scientists and engineers from around the world, have been working together for several years in the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Study Group on Broadcasting Service to jointly develop and agree on the technical specifications that will successfully create UHDTV.
“UHDTV promises to bring about one of the greatest changes to audio-visual communications and broadcasting in recent decades,” Study Group Chairman Christoph Dosch said. “Technology is truly at the cusp of transforming how people experience audio-visual communications.”
In a demonstration of UHDTV by the Japanese public service broadcaster NHK at ITU earlier this month, the screen displayed 33 million pixels compared to a maximum two million pixels for the highest quality HDTV screens on offer today, ITU noted in a news release.
Last month, a trial UHDTV link was arranged between London and Amsterdam and plans are under way to cover part of the 2012 London Olympic Games in UHDTV for screening at public venues around the world.
“The relationship that a viewer has with television viewing is linked to the overall experience of the picture and quality of sound,” said David Wood, Chairman of the concerned ITU Working Party in the Broadcasting Service Study Group. “The extremely high quality of UHDTV will have a definite impact on our lifestyle and on our engagement with the programmes we watch.”
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, looking ahead to the day UHDTV will become a reality, said: “UHDTV will create an immersive experience for viewers and will generate a host of new business and marketing opportunities.”
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AT FILM SCREENING, BAN REAFFIRMS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SEXUAL ABUSE
The United Nations today screened The Whistleblower at its New York Headquarters, using the film’s theme of a contract worker fired for investigating the alleged complicity of UN peacekeepers in sex trafficking to reaffirm its policy of zero tolerance for any such abuses.
“I was deeply saddened by the involvement of the international community, particularly the United Nations, in the abuses connected with the trafficking of women and their uses as sex slaves,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the start of a panel discussion after the screening.
“This movie tells that ugly story,” he added of the events portrayed, in which Kathryn Bolkovac, a UN peacekeeper under contract from a United States company, runs the office investigating sex trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina and finds that peacekeepers, UN workers and international police visit brothels and facilitate trafficking by forging documents and aiding the illegal transport of women. The company fires her, and she eventually wins a wrongful termination case against it.
Mr. Ban detailed the many steps that the UN has taken “to prevent and punish such terrible abuses,” including the introduction of conduct and discipline units in each peacekeeping operation, curfews, placing areas out-of-bounds, rigorous investigations of alleged perpetrators, and their repatriation and punishment by their own countries.
“The bottom line is that we have made much progress since the dark period portrayed in this film. We also know that we still have much to do. This film reminds us how important one person’s voice can be. It underscores how important it is to speak out against abuse or injustice.
Those who do so, in good faith, must not be punished, nor should they be met with resistance from within… We need to promote a culture in which people feel free and obliged to raise their voices in the face of wrongdoing and abuse.”
Among the guests on the panel was Uruguayan Ambassador José Luis Cancela, whom Mr. Ban acknowledged in his speech. Last month four Uruguayan peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Haiti were sent home to be investigated for the alleged sexual assault of an 18-year-old Haitian man. Uruguay has said they will receive the maximum punishment if found guilty.
Panellists included the film’s director Larysa Kondracki and Madeleine Rees, a former UN human rights lawyer who was portrayed in The Whistleblower by the actress Vanessa Redgrave and who is now Secretary-General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Other panel members were Under-Secretary-General Susana Malcorra, who heads the Department of Field Support (DFS) at the UN, and UN Police Adviser Ann-Marie Orler.
Introducing the panel discussion, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Kiyo Akasaka noted that the film highlights several issues high on the UN agenda – human trafficking, violence against women and cross-border organized crime – and depicts UN personnel serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina frequenting establishments where forced prostitution took place.
“These acts were in clear breach of the UN peacekeeper’s ‘code of conduct’ and, in some cases, were illegal,” he said. “The UN mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina initiated actions to see that those personnel were held accountable. But we all know that what could have, or should have been done, was often not done.
“Sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeeping personnel, anywhere, anytime, is heinous and unacceptable. It is a grave breach of the trust bestowed in the United Nations – by those who look to the United Nations for protection and expect of the United Nations the highest possible standard of ethics.”
The discussion was attended by more than a dozen high-level UN officials, including Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under-Secretary-General for Management Angela Kane and the Director of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) Michael Stefanovic.
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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR TO VISIT CôTE D’IVOIRE
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will travel to Côte d’Ivoire for an official visit to meet people the Government, members of the opposition and people affected by the post-election violence that engulfed the West African country at the start of the year.
The ICC earlier this month authorized the prosecutor to probe alleged abuses committed during the bloody post-election unrest – the seventh investigation in Africa and the first in a State that is not a party to the treaty that set up the court.
“I am grateful to President [Alassane] Ouattara for extending the invitation. We will also meet members of the opposition. We will meet with victims, and listen to their views and concerns,” said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo in a statement issued by the ICC announcing the two-day trip starting tomorrow.
“We believe it is critically important to meet with the Truth, Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission, which has a crucial mandate to contribute to the prevention of new crimes, the establishment of individual responsibilities and the reconciliation of all Ivorians.”
He said his office is closely monitoring election-related developments including in neighbouring countries, including Liberia, which, he said, could affect stability throughout the West African region.
“We will pay close attention to the actions and statements of the political class, and in particular to the presidential candidates, including after the elections. Resorting to violence will not be tolerated,” said Mr. Moreno-Ocampo.
The ICC pre-trial chamber on 3 October granted the prosecutor’s request to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed Côte d’Ivoire following the November 2010 presidential run-off elections, “as well as with regard to crimes that may be committed in the future in the context of this situation.” stated a news release from the court.
It also requested the prosecutor to provide any additional information on “potentially relevant crimes” committed in the country between 2002 and 2010.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo had in June requested authorization from the court to open an investigation after a preliminary examination led him to conclude there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction had been committed in the country after 28 November 2010.
The violence erupted when former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after he lost the United Nations-certified election to Alassane Ouattara, who was eventually sworn in after Mr. Gbagbo surrendered in April.
According to sources quoted by the prosecution in its application, at least 3,000 persons were killed, 72 disappeared and 520 others were subject to arbitrary arrest and detentions during the post-election violence.
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HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL RECOMMENDED FOR ELIMINATION BY UN EXPERTS
A United Nations-backed panel of experts has recommended that a toxic flame retardant be added to a watch list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) designed to eliminate the impact of hazardous chemicals on human health and the environment.
At a week-long meeting in Geneva that wrapped up today, the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee, a body of 31 scientific experts, recommended the addition of the chemical hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) to the POPs watch list.
Under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, which is administered by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) industrial production of HBCD, a flame retardant widely used in polystyrene for electrical and electronic equipment as well as textile coatings, would ultimately be eliminated.
“The POPs review committee has again cleared the high bar set by governments for rigorous scientific review of chemicals proposed for action and advanced the global agenda of eliminating the world’s most dangerous toxic chemicals,” said Jim Willis, the recently appointed Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, celebrating the decision.
The decision on HBCD was among more than a dozen measures taken by the scientific experts to boost global action against highly toxic and persistent chemicals.
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FINLAND TO HOST 2012 TALKS ON SETTING UP NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE ZONE IN MIDDLE EAST
Finland will host the conference to be held next year on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, it was announced today at the United Nations.
In addition, Jaakko Laajava, Under-Secretary of State in Finland’s foreign ministry, has been appointed as the facilitator for the 2012 conference.
The announcement was made in a joint press statement issued by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – the co-sponsors of a 1995 resolution proposing a Middle East free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction – in consultation with States of the region.
The May 2010 review meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – which takes place every five years – called for a UN-sponsored conference in 2012 to establish a nuclear-free Middle East to be attended by all States in the region.
Ahead of the 2010 meeting, Mr. Ban had called for the number of nuclear-weapon-free zones to multiply and ultimately span the globe. “My goal – our goal – is to make the whole world a nuclear-weapon-free zone,” he stated, calling such zones the “success stories of the disarmament movement.”
Currently, there are five such zones: Latin America and the Caribbean; the South Pacific; South-East Asia; Central Asia; and Africa.
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UN LEGAL CHIEF TO DISCUSS CONCERNS ABOUT GENOCIDE COURT DURING CAMBODIA VISIT
The United Nations Legal Counsel will travel to Phnom Penh next week for meetings concerning the Cambodia genocide tribunal in the wake of the resignation of one of the judges.
The tribunal, known officially as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), was set up under an agreement signed in 2003 by the UN and the Government.
The independent court, which uses a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel, is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for mass killings and other crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 during which as many as two million people are thought to have died.
The visit by Patricia O’Brien, the Under Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, follows the resignation earlier this week of Judge Siegfried Blunk, the international co-investigating judge at the ECCC.
Judge Blunk cited repeated statements by senior Government officials opposing the progress of what are referred to as cases 003 and 004 – which concern senior members of the Khmer Rouge military suspected of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.
These statements, he noted in his letter of resignation, could be used to call into question his ability to perform his duties independently, and this would call into doubt the integrity of the whole proceedings in these cases.
The UN has consistently stated that the ECCC must be permitted to proceed with its work without interference from any entity, including the Cambodian Government.
Ms. O’Brien will hold meetings with Government officials and others concerning the tribunal, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters in New York.
In addition to concerns regarding the issue of Government interference, there have also been concerns raised with respect to other aspects of the court’s work, which will also be addressed during the visit, he noted.
“It is important that the United Nations talks to senior officials in the ECCC and others to gain the best possible understanding of these concerns,” he stated.
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UN AGENCIES ON STANDBY TO AID SOUTH-EAST ASIAN FLOOD VICTIMS
United Nations agencies are on standby to deliver aid in South-East Asia where over 600 people have died and more than eight million others are affected by flooding and typhoons, with the situation expected to worsen amid more rains, high tides and river run-off over the weekend.
No requests for international aid have so far been made, but UN agencies have activated assessment teams and contingency planning in the two worst affected countries, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as in Vietnam, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in a news release today.
In Thailand, where the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has offered to provide emergency health kits and necessary stockpiles, 2.4 million people have reportedly been affected, 700,000 of them children, with Bangkok, the capital, and 12 provinces on high alert for heavy rains and overflowing rivers following four back-to-back typhoons.
In Cambodia, where more than 1 million people have been affected and flood waters continue to rise, WHO, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are carrying out assessments together with various ministries and non-government organizations (NGOs). WFP plans to provide 500 tons of food to some 10,000 households with a ration of 50 kilograms for one month.
UNICEF, which before the flood season had provided 480,000 water purifying tablets, 5,000 jerry cans and 5,000 bars of soap to the ministry of rural development, cited access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene as areas of particular concern.
In Vietnam, where the Government said flooding had submerged nearly 60,000 homes and caused an estimated $55 million in crop damage, UNICEF is providing funds for water and sanitation, education, child protection and health and nutrition supplies.
In the Philippines over 4 million people have been affected with at least 250,000 needing assistance, while in Laos almost 500,000 people have been hit by flooding and landslides which have damaged over 64,000 hectares of farmland, 323 roads and 42 bridges.
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SOMALIA HAS BEST CHANCE FOR PEACE IN YEARS, SAYS UN ENVOY
Somalis currently have a rare opportunity to advance peace in their country and establish a fully functioning government, says the United Nations envoy to the Horn of Africa nation.
Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, said the peace process has taken a “great leap forward” with the adoption last month of the roadmap which sets out a series of tasks to be completed ahead of concluding the transition process next August.
“Somalia’s long national struggle is not over, but this is the best chance for peace in years,” Mr. Mahiga wrote in his latest letter to the Somali diaspora. “We must accept and work for change to which the Somali people need and deserve, the instrument for change which we now have is the roadmap.”
Among the tasks set out in the roadmap are improving security, drafting a constitution, national reconciliation and good governance.
“The roadmap is a milestone in the peace process, but there is still a long road ahead to travel,” said the Special Representative, who is also head of the Nairobi-based UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS).
“We must avoid putting obstacles in our way and expose those who act as spoilers to progress,” he added, noting that the insurgents are still a threat in Somalia and the situation remains “unstable,” as shown by the suicide bombing earlier this month in Mogadishu that killed scores of people.
Mr. Mahiga reiterated the UN’s call for all insurgents still fighting to lay down their arms and join the peace process, while pledging that the world body and the entire international community will stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with the country.
“Ultimately, it is the Somali people – in the country, in the region and in the diaspora – who must step up and play their part in bringing about change and lasting peace. The peace process will only work when the Somali people own it and push it forward,” he stated.
Last month, at a mini-summit on Somalia held at UN Headquarters in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that the country has made important strides on the political and security fronts and called on Somali leaders and their international partners to take advantage of recent gains and to advance the peace process and stabilize the country.
He said that the roadmap, along with the withdrawal of the Islamist armed group Al-Shabaab from the capital in early August, offers the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) an opportunity to expand territory under its control and enhance its legitimacy by delivering basic services.
“It is time now for the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) and Somalia’s leaders to implement the roadmap to end the transition, keeping in mind that future assistance will be contingent on the timely attainment of the agreed benchmarks,” said Mr. Ban.
“It is equally necessary for the international community to remain engaged in the Somali peace process and to provide resources to the Transitional Federal Institutions and other implementing partners to ensure that this political investment bears fruit,” he added.
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SOME 100,000 PEOPLE HIT BY RAINS, FLOODS IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA – UN
Some 100,000 people in Mexico and Central America are facing flooding as Hurricane Jova and a tropical depression unleash torrential rains over the region, the United Nations reported today as it activated emergency and assessment teams in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
In Mexico heavy rainfall from the hurricane has affected 50,000 people in the state of Tabasco, while nearly 43,500 others have been hit by flooding in Guatemala, where almost the entire country has been affected, with 1,700 families already losing their homes and the rains forecast to continue for the next two to three days, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a news release.
A UN emergency technical team has been activated and is in communication with authorities in Nicaragua, where nearly 5,500 people have been affected and over 1,000 houses damaged.
In El Salvador, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional arm of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), has joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in carrying out an assessment of the most crowded shelters. Over 2,200 people are already in emergency shelters.
In Honduras and Costa Rica damage has so far been limited, with some people cut off and few in emergency shelters, OCHA reported.
Flooding has also engulfed southern Haiti where UN peacekeepers have evacuated hundreds of families from their homes and placed them in temporary shelters as waters have risen after days of torrential rain.
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TURKEY MUST DO MORE TO ENSURE INDEPENDENT, IMPARTIAL JUDICIARY – UN RIGHTS EXPERT
A United Nations human rights expert today commended Turkish authorities for placing the protection and promotion of human rights high on their agenda, while calling for further steps to guarantee an independent and impartial judicial system.
“Turkey’s recent judicial reforms package brings improvements, in principle, to the judicial system, but that should only be seen as a first step to effectively safeguard the independence and impartiality of judges, prosecutors and lawyers,” said Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
The main purpose of Ms. Knaul’s five-day visit, which ended today, was to assess a series of judicial reforms recently undertaken by the Government. She also had the opportunity to examine issues of access to justice, fair trial guarantees, the availability of legal defence and the legal profession.
She noted areas where improvement is needed to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, including rationalizing the way in which judges and prosecutors are moved through a sort of rotation system, possibly taking into account the specialization they have acquired during their career when they are assigned to other posts.
She also cited the need for a High Council of Judges and Prosecutors that is completely independent from the Executive, structurally, functionally and in practice. Currently, the Minister of Justice presides over the High Council and authorizes its investigations.
In addition, the Special Rapporteur said that “the far too close relationship between judges and prosecutors” raises concerns about the respect of the principles of impartiality and equality of arms.
A concern that Ms. Knaul heard “quite regularly” is that, in the daily performance of their duties, lawyers are not treated at the same level as judges and prosecutors. “One symbolic example in this regard is the fact that in the courtroom both judges and prosecutors sit on a podium during the hearings, while lawyers sit at a lower level, close to the defendants and the public.
“Lawyers need to be treated as equal counterparts of judges and prosecutors within the legal professions,” she underscored in her preliminary observations.
Another example of the difficulties that lawyers face are obstacles such as limitations to access case files, non-disclosure of evidence, delays in contact with their clients, and undue identification of the lawyer with his/her clients or the clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions.
“Almost unanimously judges and prosecutors have called my attention to the issue of workload and a backlog of cases, which is of course among the main causes of delays in the proceedings,” the expert added. “This structural problem also affects the citizens’ effective access to justice, as justice delayed is justice denied.”
During her visit, Ms. Knaul visited Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir where she held discussions with Government officials, judges, prosecutors, bar associations, lawyers, academics, international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies.
The Special Rapporteur, who functions in an independent and unpaid capacity, will present her final conclusions and recommendations on Turkey to the Human Rights Council in Geneva next June.
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FUNDING SHORTFALL THREATENS FOOD FOR 120,000 CONGOLESE REFUGEES, UN WARNS
Some 120,000 refugees who fled ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC) two years ago to seek shelter in the neighbouring Republic of Congo, will go without food as of next month if no new funding is found, the United Nations warned today.
In the last six months the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has received only 15 per cent of the funds needed and its stocks will run out by November, WFP spokesperson Gaelle Sévenier told a news briefing in Geneva, appealing for $6 million to feed the refugees, the vast majority of them women and children, until the end of 2011.
After a joint assessment mission in October 2010 by WFP and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency had begun providing refugees with three-quarter rations to build their resilience as they prepared to return home. Some $33 million was needed to feed the refugees over a two-year period.
The refugees began fleeing across the Oubangi river into the Republic of Congo in October 2009 when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area of Equateur province in the DRC. Tensions then expanded to most parts of the province.
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SECURITY COUNCIL ALLOWS JUDGE IN UN TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA TO WORK PART-TIME
The Security Council today allowed one of the judges in the United Nations tribunal for the 1994 Rwandan genocide to work part-time and engage in another judicial occupation until the end of the year, under exceptional circumstances.
In authorizing Judge Bakhtiyar Tuzmukhamedov of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to work part-time, the Council, in a resolution, took note of the fact that upon the completion of the cases to which they are assigned, four permanent judges will be redeployed from the trial chamber to the appeals chamber and two permanent judges will leave the tribunal.
It also considered Judge Tuzmukhamedov’s commitment to ensuring timely delivery of judgment in the two cases in which he is currently involved.
The 15-member UN body underscored that the exceptional authorization shall not be considered as establishing a precedent.
The President of the ICTR shall have the responsibility to ensure that this arrangement is compatible with the independence and impartiality of the judge, does not give rise to conflicts of interest and does not delay the delivery of the judgment, the Council said in its resolution.
The ICTR was set up by the Security Council in the wake of the genocide, in which it is estimated that more 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed, mainly by machete, during a period of about 100 days starting on 6 April 1994.
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CAMBODIAN DRAFT LAW ON NGOS MAY BREACH INTERNATIONAL PACT, UN RIGHTS EXPERT WARNS
A Cambodian draft law making registration of associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mandatory and banning unregistered groups, risks breaching an international treaty, a United Nations rights expert warned today, calling on the Government to review it.
“The current draft NGO law contains a set of problematic provisions, raising concerns over a potential negative impact on Cambodian citizens’ democratic participation in furthering the development of their country,” UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai said in a news release, noting that it could violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The mandatory nature of the draft law “constitutes a clear infringement of the right to freedom of association. Having a recognized legal status may confer rights and benefits to organizations such as the ability to open bank accounts, but legal status is not necessary for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association,” he added.
He welcomed a recent statement by Cambodia’s ambassador to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council promising “further consultations” and called on the authorities to review the draft law in open and meaningful discussions with associations and NGOs.
By excluding refugees, stateless persons and other non-Cambodian residents from forming associations or domestic NGOs and limiting eligible founding members to Cambodian nationals, the draft further violates freedom of association, which should be enjoyed by all individuals within Cambodia’s territory, he noted.
Other concerns include the high minimum membership requirement; lack of clarity of the criteria for registration, suspension or termination; and the overly cumbersome and bureaucratic registration process for foreign NGOs, which could limit the scope of their activities and hamper their independence.
“A legal framework to ensure freedom of association should facilitate, rather than control, individuals’ enjoyment of this right formally or informally,” Mr. Kiai said. “It should also emerge from an open, transparent process that engenders goodwill and confidence.”
Two other UN experts raised concerns over the effects of the draft law on human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, stressed that the draft could affect the defenders’ ability to exercise such rights.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya said the free and full exercise of the right to freedom of association places a duty on States to create a favourable environment for defenders to act freely.
“We urge the Cambodian authorities to fully take on board the legitimate concerns repeatedly raised by NGOs and associations during the announced further consultations,” the two said, noting that the Government has reviewed and revised the draft law numerous times.
Last month, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, urged the Government to review the draft and not proceed with it in its present form.
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IN SOUTH SUDAN, UN ENVOY WELCOMES CIVILIAN-LED DISARMAMENT PROCESS
The United Nations envoy to South Sudan today visited one of the country’s states that has been beset by violent ethnic tensions since independence to commend local communities for their involvement in a new, civilian-led disarmament process.
Hilde F. Johnson, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for South Sudan, travelled to Lakes state, which started its disarmament process last month.
“I am encouraged by the local communities and their participation in the civilian-led disarmament process taking place across Lakes state. There has been such as positive response to this initiative with excellent cooperation between local communities and the state authorities,” she said.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in a UN-backed referendum earlier this year, but since then deadly inter-ethnic clashes have broken out in several states, including Lakes.
According to a news release issued by the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), thousands of weapons are expected to be collected from local communities across Lakes, Unity and Warrap states and the process is expected to be completed within three months.
During her visit, Ms. Johnson will meet with the State Governor for Lakes as well as other officials and the local communities of Duony, Pagaur and Abiriu.
“Disarmament is a pre-condition for peace, security, stability and delivery of much needed social services to the population. I want to encourage all communities to continue to work closely with the state authorities to build on the progress being made,” she said.
“UNMISS stands ready to offer our support and assistance as this civilian-led disarmament process continues.”
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UN AGENCY RAMPS UP FOOD ASSISTANCE TO FLOOD-AFFECTED PAKISTANIS
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today it is continuing to scale up the delivery of vital assistance to the worst-affected areas of Pakistan’s Sindh province as part of its efforts to assist the country’s 2.5 million flood victims.
Pakistan has been severely affected by floods for the second consecutive year, leaving more than five million people in need of safe drinking water, sanitation services, food, shelter materials and other essential support.
WFP has already provided life-saving food rations to 1.2 million people in eight districts of Sindh since the distributions started on 12 September, it said in a news release. This includes the distribution of the locally-produced chick pea paste, Wawa Mum, to almost 136,000 children to help prevent and treating malnutrition.
The agency is now working double shifts, along with nearly 20 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to ensure food is moving swiftly out of warehouses and to distribution points as it scales up deliveries.
As part of its efforts to reach areas still inaccessible by roads, WFP has deployed 14 boats to several districts that are also being used for mobile medical services and to assist in the rescue and evacuation of people who are cut off by the flood waters.
Last month, UN agencies and their partners launched the Pakistan Floods Rapid Response Plan to support the Government’s efforts to address the immediate needs of up to 5.4 million flood-affected people for six months. So far the funding request has only received 18 per cent of the $357 million required.
WFP said it has received $27 million in support of emergency food assistance activities for the current floods.
“The current funding will allow WFP to continue its activities til end of November, but more funds are urgently required to ensure continued life-saving relief distributions for the most vulnerable victims,” stated the Rome-based agency.
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INVESTING IN RURAL WOMEN WILL SLASH HUNGER AND POVERTY, BAN SAYS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community to give rural women the same access to productive resources as men, noting the huge benefits that would ensue, from increased food production to a drop of 150 million in the number of the world’s hungry people.
“Despite the heavy responsibility rural women shoulder, they lack equal access to opportunities and resources,” he said ahead of tomorrow’s celebration of the International Day of Rural Women. “This hampers their advancement and holds all people back.
He cited UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) studies showing that over 100 million people could be lifted out of poverty if rural women had the same access to productive resources as men. Productivity on women’s farms would increase up to 30 per cent and the number of hungry people would drop by as much as 17 per cent, which translates into improvements for up to 150 million individuals.
Currently the number of hungry people worldwide is estimated at around 1 billion.
“The benefits would reverberate even further as these women’s children gain better access to health services, education and nutrition,” Mr. Ban said. “We know how to achieve these gains: invest in rural women; eliminate discrimination against them in law and in practice; ensure that policies respond to their needs; give them equal access to resources; provide rural women with a role in decision-making.”
“These measures will help drive sustainable development – one of the great imperatives of the twenty-first century. As we prepare for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be held next year in Rio, let us remember that rural women have enormous untapped potential to generate results.”
He noted that study after study has demonstrated that rural women are pivotal to addressing hunger, malnutrition and poverty, as farmers and nurturers, entrepreneurs and educators, healers and helpers who can contribute to food security and economic growth in the world’s most remote and vulnerable settings.
General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser also stressed the critical contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty, and called on Member States, the UN system and civil society to continue their efforts to improve their living conditions and quality of life and help them achieve sustainable development.
“More needs to be done to harness the contribution of rural women to development,” he said. “Currently there is a gender gap in agriculture, linked to women’s weaker access to land rights, modern technologies and financing. If women farmers had stronger legal rights and greater business opportunities, millions of people would be better fed.”
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