UN PEACEKEEPERS INVOLVED IN ABUSE ARE BEING PUNISHED, WORLD BODY SAYS

New York, Nov 5 2009 6:10PM
Dozens of United Nations peacekeepers implicated in cases of sexual abuse and exploitation have been disciplined and punished, a spokesperson for the world body said today.

The UN has imposed a zero-tolerance policy against sexual abuse and exploitation by its peacekeepers, and senior officials have reiterated in recent years that this means there is no impunity for blue helmets who engage in such practices.

UN spokesperson Michele Montas said that, since January, troop-contributing countries have reported that 33 military personnel implicated in cases of sexual abuse and exploitation while serving in UN operations have been disciplined and punished.

This is according to the Department of Field Support (DF, which added that the punishments included forced retirement, withdrawal of officer’s commission, various lengths of imprisonment and outright dismissal.

Last year, two military personnel received such disciplinary action and there were 15 such cases the year before, Ms. Montas told reporters in New York.

In addition, disciplinary action was taken, over the past three years, against 20 military personnel for cases involving other forms of misconduct, such as negligent loss of firearms, traffic-related violations and fraud or theft.

Some of the cases involved peacekeepers who served in Haiti, Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which hosts the largest UN peacekeeping mission worldwide.

Deployment of UN peacekeepers is at a record high, with more than 113,000 personnel serving in 18 operations on four continents.

While not providing details about those engaged in misconduct, Ms. Montas said there have been a number of cases where people have been repatriated, with follow-up action by troop-contributing countries.

“When allegations of misconduct are substantiated against any military or police serving in UN peacekeeping, the UN repatriates the individuals concerned and then bans them from participating in future peacekeeping operations.”

She added that the UN tries to pursue cases of any misconduct as far as it can. Beyond that, national tribunals and national courts have a role to play.

“The UN is trying to get troop contributors to do more in prosecuting and punishing their nationals who engage in misconduct,” said the spokesperson.

Ms. Montas stressed that there has been an increase in the number of requests and responses to those requests in dealing with the issue.

In 2009, the UN sent 112 requests for action taken concerning all forms of misconduct, including but not limited to sexual exploitation and abuse, and received 14 responses as of 3 November.

By comparison, she noted, the UN sent 192 such requests in 2008 and received six responses on action taken, while 146 requests were made and nine responses received in 2007.

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WAR AGAINST HUNGER, GLOBAL WARMING CAN BE WON ON FARMLANDS – UN REPORT

New York, Nov 5 2009 11:10AM
The world’s farmlands can be the frontline for the fight against the impact of climate change and the battle to feed the mounting global population, according to a new <"ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/012/ak596e/ak596e00.pdf">report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO) today.

The report noted that crop farming not only suffers from global warming, but also contributes 14 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

But agriculture also has the potential to play a critical role in slashing global emissions, with around 70 percent of the possibility of alleviating the effect of climate change coming from developing countries, FAO said.

Improvements in cropland and grazing land management as well as the restoration of organic soils and degraded lands are the most significant technical measures to lessen the impact of climate change.

Nearly, 90 per cent of this potential will come from capturing carbon in the soil before it escapes into the atmosphere, according to the report, <i>Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing Countries: Options for Capturing Synergies</i>.

Agricultural mitigation options that sequester carbon can include low tillage, utilizing residues for composting or mulching, use of perennial crops to cover soil, and re-seeding or improving grazing management on grasslands.

“Many effective strategies for climate change mitigation from agriculture also benefit food security, development and adaptation to climate change,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Alexander Müller.

A move that may boost food production would involve increasing the levels of organic matter in soil, leading to better plant nutrition and increased water retention capacity, which will in turn eventually result in higher yields and greater resilience.

The FAO report highlighted other options that involve difficult trade-offs, such as biofuel production, which provides a clean alternative to fossil fuel but competes for land and water resources needed for food production.

Restoration of organic soils also enables greater carbon sequestration, but may reduce the land available for food production.

The report stressed that many of the technical mitigation options are readily available and could be deployed immediately, noting that while these measures often generate a net positive benefit over time, they involve significant up-front costs.

In a related development, the heads of the UN’s Rome-based agencies – FAO, International Fund for Agricultural Development (<"http://www.ifad.org/">IFAD) and the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/">WFP) – met today ahead of the World Summit on Food Security in two weeks to determine ways of combining their expertise to better serve the world’s one billion hungry people.

“The sum total of the Rome-based agencies is greater than our individual parts and roles,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze and WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a joint statement.

“To succeed we need to work together. This is the time to put actions ahead of words,” they added.

The meeting brought together top management teams to advance initiatives ranging from joint administrative efficiencies to strategic country-led food security programmes, and to build on progress made over the past two years improving cost-efficiency and cooperation.

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WORKING TOGETHER, NATIONS CAN TACKLE TODAY’S MAJOR CHALLENGES – BAN

New York, Nov 5 2009 5:10PM
No country, however, powerful, can tackle alone the multiple challenges facing the world, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, stressing the need to work together on issues such as climate change, the economic crisis and global peace and security.

“We are all in this together. And we must act together,” Mr. Ban said in his <"http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=643">remarks to the Hellenic Parliament, becoming the first UN Secretary-General to address the body.

“That is why I say it is time for renewed multilateralism – a multilateralism that delivers for real people in real time,” he added.

Mr. Ban, who wrapped up his two-day visit to Athens today, highlighted climate change as one area where countries can work together to make a difference.

“These are crucial days,” he noted, with only four weeks to go until the climate change conference in Copenhagen, where countries are expected to wrap up talks on an ambitious new agreement to tackle global warming.

“We must have a global agreement – an agreement which is comprehensive, balanced, equitable and binding,” he stated.

Likewise, all members of the international community should work together to spread economic opportunity more widely, he said, noting that the “clock is ticking” on the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs) – the set of global anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline.

In addition, united action can help strengthen global peace and security, including in the area of disarmament, as well as successfully address long-standing regional concerns.

In this regard, Mr. Ban reiterated that he is “cautiously optimistic” about prospects for a settlement in Cyprus, noting the steady progress being made in UN-backed talks between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders aimed at unifying the Mediterranean island.

He said he was also encouraged by the Greek Government’s clear endorsement of a continuing role for the UN in the negotiations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the dispute over the latter’s name.

“Now is the time for transformational change on all of these big issues,” said the Secretary-General. “This is our chance. Now is our time to act.”

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