WITH WOODS THREATENED BY CRISES, FOREST MANAGEMENT IS CRUCIAL, UN SAYS

New York, Apr 20 2009 7:10PM
Sustainable forest management policy is crucial at a time when climate change, the financial crisis and unsustainable development are posing severe risks to this invaluable global resource, United Nations officials said today.

“Forests are not just timber and they are not just carbon sticks,” said Jan McAlpine, Director of the Secretariat of the <"http://www.un.org/esa/forests/session.html">UN Forum on Forests, the only global body for comprehensive deliberation on forest policy, which starts its annual meeting today at the Organization’s Headquarters in New York.

“At this session of the Forum, member States need to step forward and finally reach agreement on the ways and means to finance sustainable forest management, Mr. McAlpine said. This is a 17-year discussion, and it is time to stop talking and take action.”

Globally, forest covers about 30 per cent of the world’s land area, amounting to just under 4 billion hectares, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO).

The <"http://www.worldbank.org/">World Bank estimates that more than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods, and that international trade in global forest products amounts to $270 billion a year.

At the same time, the FAO said, 13 million hectares of forest are lost each year due to deforestation, accounting for up to 20 per cent of global greenhouse gasses, which contribute to global warming.

In 2007, at the last Forum, countries agreed to create a historic mechanism for international cooperation in forest management, which Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, called a “milestone.”

The meeting of the UN Forum on Forests continues through 1 May, 2009.

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FLEXIBILITY, PARTNERSHIPS, KNOWLEDGE KEY TO MEDIATING CONFLICTS – UN OFFICIAL

New York, Apr 21 2009 1:10PM
To boost its ability to prevent and limit bloodshed, the United Nations must have flexible funding, regional partnerships and accessible information for mediation, the Organization’s political chief said today.

“Mediation is a Charter activity of the United Nations and must be carried out with the highest degree of professionalism, transparency and preparation to promote peace and security,” B. Lynne Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs told the Security Council at the start of an open debate for which some 40 speakers were inscribed.

In a recent report, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world body’s mediation capacity has been hampered by a limited number of experienced mediators and a lack of sufficient financial resources.

In his <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9640.doc.htm">presentation, Mr. Pascoe described recent efforts of his Department of Political Affairs (DPA) to put in place the expertise, financial resources partnerships and knowledge-base needed to reverse that situation.

“These are part of a conscious effort to reshape the Department of Political Affairs into a more action- and field-oriented operation that can move more quickly and at an earlier stage to help prevent conflicts from spreading and to deliver faster and more reliable support to peace processes,” he said.

In that context, he underlined the strengthening of Regional Divisions and the creation of a Mediation Support Unit (MSU), which had been complemented by a standby team of mediation experts, ready to deploy to negotiations around the world.

As a consequence, DPA had recently provided mediation support to over 20 peace processes, including reconciliation talks in Somalia that led up to the October 2008 Djibouti Agreement and national political dialogue in the Central African Republic (CAR).

It also deployed facilitators for discussions on technical issues in the ongoing Cyprus talks, including property and power-sharing matters, and is supporting Mr. Ban’s representative in Nepal in implementation of the peace agreement there, Mr. Pascoe said.

In Iraq, DPA is supporting the Special Representative with mediation expertise on internal boundaries, Kirkuk, water-sharing and the constitution, and has supported peacekeeping missions in Darfur and Kosovo, among others, in mediation efforts.

Flexible funding in all these efforts is crucial, he said, noting that the establishment of a mediation start-up budget, funded by donors, has allowed mediation teams and envoys to be sent recently to Madagascar, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Department was increasing its partnership with regional organizations such as the African and European Unions, and looked forward to working together more, sharing expertise, developing joint training opportunities and creating a geographically diverse roster of mediation experts.

It will need to work closely with partners, he said, to further develop a web-based repository of information on mediation called “UN Peacemaker,” which already has over 800 documents, more than 300 peace agreements and 15 operational guidance notes, with another 22 in development.

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POOR NATIONS MUST ALSO PLAY ROLE IN GLOBAL RESPONSE TO FINANCIAL CRISIS – UN

New York, Oct 16 2008 4:10PM
A wide range of countries should play an important role in shaping policies to cope with the current global financial crisis, according to senior United Nations development experts who warned that the impact of the turmoil on poor nations is being overlooked as “economic giants” deal with the emergency.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (<"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/StartPage.asp?intItemID=2068">UNCTAD) today voiced concern for what he called “innocent bystanders” in the widening global financial crisis.

“The impact on developing countries will be much deeper than was anticipated,” he said during a meeting with UNCTAD’s governing body, the Trade and Development Board, in Geneva.

Certain sectors of their economies “are beginning to suffer, and this is only the beginning,” he cautioned, adding that volatile exchange-rate movements affecting some of these countries will not help.

“Trade will suffer, and the commodities boom that has helped developing countries for a number of years now is ending,” said Mr. Supachai.

He noted that a real issue will be whether any cash will be left for credit and development aid needed for efforts such as achieving the anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline, known as the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), as well as to boost productive capacities and cope with issues like climate change.

Other issues that need to be addressed include the fate of smaller private banks, preventing “capital from fleeing from developing countries,” and regulating liberalized global markets to reduce volatility and risk, especially for small nations.

Mr. Supachai stressed that adapting the global financial system “must be a global effort,” that includes the participation of all countries and the UN.

The President of the Trade and Development Board, Debapriya Bhattacharya of Bangladesh, noted that the crisis “is complex and interrelated, it has yet to fully unfold, and the impacts are not yet completely clear.”

However, there will be repercussions for trade, the currencies, and the investment prospects of the world’s less-advanced nations, he told the meeting. “It’s not just the extent of the problem, but how to manage the pace of it.”

Heiner Flassbeck, Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, described the current financial turmoil as “a global de-leveraging, a global going out of risky positions. That is all right on its own – in fact we have said for several years that this was going to happen – but it can go too fast. It must be slowed down by government intervention.”

He warned of a “huge slowdown in trade due to the global recession that is looming.

“The current malaise is that we have built a huge casino next to the real economy, and given too many people the means to play there, and now that casino has collapsed,” he told participants. “We need to realize, to learn the lesson, that this kind of casino is not productive, is not helpful. We must go back to balanced and real economic relations and to balanced relations between currencies.”

The current financial crisis will also feature high on the agenda when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convenes a meeting of his senior Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of the world body’s various entities, next week in New York.

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BAN URGES MAJOR EFFORT TO SPUR DISASTER REDUCTION PLANS IN FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

New York, Sep 29 2008 6:10PM
A major boost in efforts to reduce the fall-out from natural disasters is vital as climate change ushers in harsher weather extremes, from fiercer droughts to more devastating flooding and landslides, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon <"http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=339">warned today.

“Without concerted action, we could see natural catastrophes on an unprecedented scale, which could even become threats to international security and inter-State relations,” Mr. Ban told the ministerial meeting on reducing disaster risks in a changing climate, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

He noted that in the last few weeks alone, massive flooding hit northern India and tropical storms Gustav, Hanna and Ike caused extensive damage in the Gulf of Mexico, affecting millions of people.

But prudent policies and well-informed community action, such as improved river management, early warning and evacuation, food security, wise land-use planning and the enforcement of sound building codes, can save lives and avert damage.

“The good news is that a natural hazard does not automatically have to lead to a disaster,” Mr. Ban said. “Countries such as Bangladesh, Cuba, Jamaica, Madagascar and the Philippines have shown that good building designs, proper land-use planning, public education, community preparedness and effective early warning systems can reduce the impact of severe weather events.”

He noted that four years have passed since the adoption in 2005 of the Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year plan to tackle natural hazards, and that many States had made good progress in integrating risk reduction into national development plans and poverty reduction strategies.

“Still, the world is not yet on track to achieve the Framework’s desired outcome of a substantial reduction of losses by 2015. A major scaling up of efforts and resources is needed,” Mr. Ban warned.

“I call on you to lead the way in championing disaster risk reduction as a core element of climate change adaptation. I also urge you to implement the policies and practices of disaster risk reduction as a first line defence in adapting to climate change. These are important investments in the protection of your people.”

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POOREST NATIONS HIT HARDEST BY RISING FUEL AND FOOD PRICES, CLIMATE CHANGE – MIGIRO

New York, Sep 29 2008 7:10PM
With only two years left to complete an ambitious 10-year programme of steps to be taken by both industrialized nations and least developed countries (LDCs) to fight poverty, soaring food and oil prices and the disproportionate effects of climate change are adding new pitfalls, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said today.

“These new challenges demand new and urgent responses,” she <"http://www.un.org/apps/dsg/dsgstats.asp?nid=129">told a Ministerial Meeting of LDCs in New York on the Brussels Programme of Action, which includes commitments by the LDCs on good governance and by the world’s wealthiest countries to spend 0.15 to 0.2 per cent of gross national income on aid.

“It is imperative to build on the successes achieved so far, and address key constraints and pitfalls,” she said, stressing that the Programme sets out a clear framework for partnership, based on mutual commitments.

She noted that LDCs, especially small island and low-lying coastal States, are hardest hit by the adverse effects of climate change.

“We have an obligation to keep our promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in all countries, especially in the world’s least developed countries,” she declared, referring to the targets set by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000 to slash poverty, hunger, maternal and infant mortality and lack of access to health care and education, mainly in developing countries, all by 2015.

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PRIVATIZATION POLICIES RESPONSIBLE FOR CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, BOLIVIA TELLS UN

New York, Sep 24 2008 10:10PM
The current worldwide financial crisis has been caused largely by policies of privatization of basic public resources, Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma has told the General Assembly’s annual high-level debate.

Speaking last night before world leaders at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Morales said the annual debate was taking place at a time of rebellion by peoples against the existing economic order.

“This is a rebellion against misery and poverty; against the effects of climate change; a rebellion against the privatization policies which is what has caused the financial crisis,” he said.

Mr. Morales, who became President of the Andean country in early 2006, said many social movements had emerged in Bolivia in recent years – involving indigenous peoples, farmers and other often marginalized groups – that questioned the economic models and systems that “simply privatized resources.”

Since he took office, the nationalization of the oil and gas industries had changed the Bolivian economy for the better, he said, ensuring drastically increased profits that could be spent on the people.

But Mr. Morales said his efforts to bring change to Bolivia had also prompted sometimes violent resistance from conservative or imperialist elements, which he added had been supported by the United States.

“When you work for equality and social justice, you are persecuted and conspired against by certain groups [that are] not concerned about equality.”

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UN COMMISSION ON GLOBAL FOOD STANDARDS TO HOLD ANNUAL MEETING

New York, Jun 27 2008 1:00PM
Standards for powdered milk formula, toxins in cereals, the use of flavourings, listings of ingredients, gluten-free foods, frozen food and shellfish are all on the agenda for the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on international food standards, which begins on Monday.

The body, known officially as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, was established in 1963 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO) and the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/">WHO) to set food standards to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

In a statement released today, the Commission said that one of the 30 texts to be adopted this year, the “Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children,” aims at protecting infants and small children who for any reason cannot be breastfed. The code sets maximum limits for bacteria in formula and guidance on how to produce, distribute and prepare powdered formula.

The Commission said that its standards, “when introduced in national legislation, contribute to the safety of our foods.”

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BAN CALLS FOR RICH NATIONS TO LEAD THE WAY IN FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL CRISES

New York, Jun 26 2008 2:00PM
The world’s major industrialized nations must take the lead in efforts to tackle the three interrelated crises of global food insecurity, climate change and development in poor countries, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today on the eve of an official trip that will include his participation in next month’s G-8 summit in Japan.

“If ever there were a time to act, together as one, it is now,” Mr. Ban <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1179">told journalists at United Nations Headquarters in New York, a day before he departs for the two-week visit to Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.

“Seldom has the global community been under such stress. The ties that bind us, as humankind, are fraying. We must work especially hard to preserve them, at this critical juncture, in the interests of our common future.”

Mr. Ban said it was “no exaggeration to say that we face three crises, all interrelated and demanding our immediate action,” with the problems caused by soaring food prices the most pressing.

At the G-8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan, the Secretary-General said he would appeal to world leaders to deliver on the measures they agreed to under a road map drawn up at a major international meeting in Rome earlier this month.

“It calls on nations to remove export restrictions and levies on food commodities and reduce agricultural subsidies, particularly in developed countries,” he said, adding that the proportion of official development assistance (ODA) for agricultural production and rural development should be trebled.

Climate change is no less immediate a concern, Mr. Ban said, urging world leaders to press forward from the achievements of last year’s conference in Bali to devise a lasting agreement on greenhouse gas emissions by next year.

“In Hokkaido, I will ask for short- and medium-term targets for reducing greenhouse gases. It is not enough to talk of change by 2050. If we want real change, we must begin now – with targets for real progress by 2020.”

A fully funded and operational adaptation fund, to help the world’s most vulnerable nations cope with climate change, must be in place by the end of this year, according to Mr. Ban, who also called for concrete steps to transfer the latest low-carbon technologies to poor States.

The Secretary-General said that climate change and the global food crisis are slowing and in some cases reversing the progress made towards the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which world leaders have agreed to strive to achieve by 2015.

“In Hokkaido we must deliver on our commitments. I will also seek increased funding for specific programmes relating to infant and maternal health, community health projects and disease control – HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases.”

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HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS ZIMBABWEAN CHILDREN AT RISK AFTER AID BAN – UNICEF

New York, Jun 13 2008 5:00PM
The health of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean children is in jeopardy because of last week’s decision by the country’s authorities to ban non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from distributing aid, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today.

“The situation in the last week has certainly got a lot worse for Zimbabwe’s children because so many hundreds of thousands of them are dependent on aid,” <"http://www.unicef.org/media/media_44449.html">UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said.

UNICEF had been providing support to more than 185,000 orphans in the impoverished Southern African country but it has suspended its programmes in the wake of the Government decision on 5 June to ban aid distribution.

Many Zimbabweans were already suffering from food shortages and rampant inflation and the situation has been exacerbated by the violence plaguing the country ahead of the presidential run-off election between incumbent Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which is scheduled for 27 June.

“Many of those children are now seeing horrendous levels of violence that are sweeping through rural areas,” Mr. Elder said. “This is something that UNICEF has repeatedly made its objection to.

“We’ve got several weeks now of great uncertainty. It’s winter – it’s a time that children can ill-afford to be held hostage to any type of politicking.”

UNICEF’s warning echoes that of UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who briefed the Security Council yesterday “on what is a very worrying and very serious and deteriorating humanitarian in Zimbabwe.”

Estimating that up to 4 million people – or about a third of the national population – are now in need of aid, Mr. Holmes urged Zimbabwe to rescind its decision to suspend the NGO aid distribution.

“I hope it will prove to be temporary,” he told reporters after the briefing. “There are some indications from the Government of Zimbabwe that it will be temporary and that they might even relax it in some ways, but we need to see that translated into practice. If it went on longer than the immediate pre-electoral run-off period, the consequences could be very serious indeed.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1175">speaking to journalists in London after a meeting there with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, stressed the need to end the violence engulfing Zimbabwe.

“When I had a meeting with President [Robert] Mugabe last week in Rome, I emphasized the importance of ensuring that there would be no further violence, and that this forthcoming presidential run-off election should be held in a most transparent and fair and convincing and credible way, and I urged him to take all necessary measures to ensure that,” Mr. Ban said.

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MYANMAR: UN SAYS AID REACHES ONE MILLION VICTIMS OF CYCLONE

New York, May 27 2008 12:00PM
Relief efforts by aid agencies have reached around one million people in Myanmar, just over 40 per cent of those affected by Cyclone Nargis, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Speaking to reporters today in Geneva, OCHA spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs <"http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/1BAAF184DFC587F8C1257456004D6C5F?OpenDocument">said that the 40 per cent figure does not include aid distributed by the Government. Some 153 international flights had arrived in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, she said, and between 10 and 15 flights are coming in every day, with air-bridge flights from the logistics hub at Bangkok's Don Muang Airport to Yangon now fully operational.
Ms. Brys said that <"http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080">OCHA hoped that the UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org">WFP) would be able to start operating 10 helicopters in Myanmar as soon as possible, after the Government gave the go-ahead to their deployment. So far, WFP and its partners have delivered over 3,000 tons of food aid reaching some 460,000 people.
Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1257/Section2263/Section2528.htm">WHO) said that the highest priority now for affected populations is access to water, sanitation and basic healthcare. The agency has mobilized a specialized team to focus on malaria prevention and control.
WHO and other health agencies have called for greater financial support to meet victims’ health needs, following on from an international pledging conference held in Yangon on Sunday, which was chaired by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN. As of yesterday, WHO said that over 50 countries have pledged around $50 million to the UN to support relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
The UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF) is completing an assessment of the needs of children within the country and has been providing health, education and water and sanitation supplies as well as technical assistance.

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MYANMAR’S LEADER AGREES TO OPEN ACCESS TO FOREIGN AID WORKERS – BAN KI-MOON

New York, May 23 2008 12:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced that Myanmar’s Senior General Than Shwe has agreed to allow international aid workers, regardless of their nationality, into the areas worst affected by Cyclone Nargis after the two men held talks today.

Speaking to the press after the discussions, held in the country’s new capital Naypyidaw, Mr. Ban reported that he had held a “good meeting” with the Senior General.

“He has taken quite a flexible position on an issue that, until now, has been an obstacle to organizing coordinated and fully effective international aid and assistance operations,” Mr. Ban said. “He has also agreed that [the] visa issue will be speeded up.”

The Secretary-General said the Senior General had agreed that the main airport at Yangon, Myanmar’s most populous city, can be used as a logistics hub for international aid so that relief can be distributed more quickly to those in need. Aid can also be delivered to the country via civilian ships and small boats.

“I hope all these agreements can produce results quickly. Implementation will be the key. Finally, we have agreed on the kind of effective coordination and consulting mechanisms we need.”

The Secretary-General arrived yesterday in Myanmar, where Cyclone Nargis has left up to 2.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. The UN estimates that more than 100,000 people may have been killed since the storm struck on 2 May.

Yesterday Mr. Ban toured some of the worst affected areas in the Irrawaddy delta and spoke with families who had been forced to leave their homes.

“I am humbled – humbled by the scale of this natural disaster, the worst your country has ever experienced, and humbled by the courage and the resilience of the Myanmar people.”

Mr. Ban added that he had heard many tragic stories. “At a refugee camp, villagers told me of the loss of their families, their loved ones, everything they owned. But I also saw homes – and lives – being rebuilt.”

Saying he was encouraged by his meeting with Myanmar’s leadership, the Secretary-General said: “From all I have seen, the Government, with help from the international community, have put in place a functioning relief programme. But I told them that more needs to be done. Their efforts need to be reinforced, quickly, by international experts with tested experience in handling emergencies.”

Tomorrow Mr. Ban is due to attend an inaugural relief flight from the new UN staging areas in Don Mueang, Thailand. On Sunday he will return to Myanmar’s largest city Yangon for a pledging conference to raise funds for the disaster. “Our goal will be to focus on the immediate relief efforts, and also to look at the recovery phase which will have to start in parallel,” he said.

UN agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have been mounting a major relief effort for victims of the severe storms, bringing in shelter, tents, food and medical supplies, though they say many people have still not been reached with aid.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a warning that monsoon rains in Myanmar were increasing the risks of an outbreak of disease. WHO says it is working with the Government to set up a surveillance system to monitor possible outbreaks.

Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that hundreds of thousands of people in the remote areas of the Irrawaddy delta still do not have sufficient food to eat.

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COLLAPSED BUILDINGS ARE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN EARTHQUAKES, SAYS UN

New York, May 16 2008 10:00AM
When earthquakes strike, collapsed buildings claim the largest number of lives, as made evident by tremors in Pakistan in 2005, Iran in 2003 and most recently in China earlier this week, the United Nations agency tasked with minimizing the threat posed by natural disasters <"http://www.unisdr.org/eng/media-room/media-room.htm ">said today.

Hundreds of thousands of buildings – including many schools – caved in when Monday’s deadly earthquake measuring about 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan province in south-west China.

“We know how to make buildings more resistant to earthquakes, but this knowledge is still not yet well disseminated among decision-makers who enforce building codes for houses, schools and hospitals” says Salvano Briceño, Director of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

“Schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure need to be systematically upgraded and retrofitted in earthquake-prone areas if we want to save lives,” he added. “Vulnerability to earthquakes is still a main cause of death during disasters.”

The Director is currently in Islamabad, Pakistan, for the three-day International Conference on School Safety, wrapping up today, which aims to identify actions to enhance safety in schools in the region. Participants visited Balakot in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, the site of the 2005 earthquake.

ISDR, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) joined forces for a global 2006-2007 campaign called “Disaster risk reduction begins at school” in a bid to promote school safety, while the UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank have partnered in a 2008-2009 campaign to encourage safety in hospitals and health facilities.

“There are still too many poorly designed and constructed buildings in earthquake-prone areas, and too many people dying because of it,” Mr. Briceño noted.

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UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIALS IN CHINA REACH OUT TO OFFER HELP AFTER QUAKE

New York, May 15 2008 6:00PM
The United Nations Resident Coordinator in China is in contact with the country’s authorities to offer UN tools and services to help in the rescue and recovery efforts following Monday’s deadly earthquake.

While the Chinese Government has not yet formally appealed for support, it has said it welcomes in-kind contributions, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters today.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/>OCHA) is willing to release a grant from the Central Emergency Response Fund (<http://ochaonline2.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=7480">CERF), Ms. Montas added, and both Khalid Malik, the Resident Coordinator – who is based in Beijing – and the UN Development Programme (<"http://www.undp.org">UNDP) – are submitting requests for funds to buy assistance items for victims and to strengthen coordination activities.

UN agencies remain ready to provide ready-to-eat food, shelter materials, health, water and sanitation supplies and other items and OCHA has identified an especially urgent need for tents.

More than 50,000 people may have died as a result of the quake, according to reports in Chinese state media, which measured about 7.9 on the Richter scale when it struck Sichuan province in the southwest of the country on Monday afternoon.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim have both expressed their sorrow and sympathies after learning of the tragedy and pledged the support of the UN.

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BAN KI-MOON TO SEND UN’S HUMANITARIAN CHIEF TO MYANMAR

New York, May 15 2008 12:00PM
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is planning to send the organization’s highest ranking aid official to Myanmar, to boost efforts to tackle the crisis caused by Cyclone Nargis which swept through the country at the beginning of the month.

Mr. Ban said there was “a sense of great urgency,” and that much more needed to be done in Myanmar. “The first few days, even a few more hours, will be crucially important in reaching these needy people with the necessary relief items and humanitarian goods,” he said, <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1161">speaking to reporters in New York yesterday. He said that he is considering sending Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes to Myanmar in the coming days.

Mr. Ban was speaking following his meeting with members of ASEAN, the Association of South-east Asian Nations, on the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. He said that they discussed appointing a joint UN/ASEAN humanitarian coordinator, as well as establishing a regional hub for aid supplies outside Myanmar and also holding a high-level pledging conference.

The Secretary-General said that he had assured ASEAN members that the question of aid for Myanmar would not be politicized and that he would lead the effort in “a purely, genuinely humanitarian” way. He added that he was encouraged that the Government of Myanmar had shown flexibility.

About 2.5 million people are estimated to have been severely affected by the cyclone since it struck on 2 May, with the Irrawaddy delta area among the hardest-hit areas. The UN says the death toll could rise as high as 100,000 or even higher. More than half a million people are reported to have gathered in improvised camps scattered across the delta region.

UN agencies, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have mounted a major effort to ferry in relief supplies, including tarpaulins and plastic sheeting, water purification tablets and water treatment equipment, rice, high energy biscuits and beans, as well as emergency health kits reaching at least 100,000 people.Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the depletion of mangrove forests in the Irrawaddy delta area could have contributed to the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis. The mangrove area in the delta is now less than half the size it was in 1975.
The FAO said that intact and dense coastal vegetation can reduce the impacts of waves and currents associated with a storm surge and said that lessons learned from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami suggest that much can be done to improve the sustainability of mangrove forests along coastal areas.

In recent years mangroves have been converted into agricultural land and fish ponds, and settlements have been established closer to the sea in the Irrawaddy delta area.

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MUCH BIGGER AID EFFORT NEEDED FOR MYANMAR – BAN KI-MOON

New York, May 14 2008 1:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for a much greater mobilization of resources and aid workers in Myanmar to respond to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis, which has left at least 38,000 dead and more than 27,000 others missing since it swept through the country earlier this month.

“Even though the Myanmar Government has shown some sense of flexibility, at this time, it’s far, far too short,” Mr. Ban said today. “The magnitude of this situation requires much more mobilization of resources and aid workers,” he added.

The Secretary-General also announced that he is meeting today with leaders from ASEAN – the Association of South-east Asian Nations – to discuss “concrete measures that we can do from now on.” Mr. Ban said that, “until now, regrettably, I think we have spent much of our time and energy in facilitating aid, getting food in, and visas being issued.”

About 2.5 million people are estimated to have been severely affected by the cyclone since it struck on 2 May, with the Irrawaddy delta area among the hardest-hit areas.

Speaking earlier today at a press conference for aid agencies in Bangkok, Amanda Pitt of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) said she was very concerned for the victims of the cyclone. “We want to make sure that we scale this response up as much as we can. It’s not adequate at the moment,” she added.

Marcus Prior of the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) said the organization had been able to deliver high energy biscuits and rice to an estimated 74,000 people. He added that the WFP was working with companies inside Myanmar to “ramp up” its trucking capacity, from the 30 trucks already in use.

He said that one major challenge in Myanmar was that in many parts of the Irrawaddy delta bridges are only constructed to support five tons, whereas in other countries trucks delivering food often carry 30 to 40 tons. The organization was therefore looking into establishing a fleet of small lorries. He also said that the WFP was considering using a large ship as a floating warehouse as a transit hub for supplies.

Maureen Birmingham reported for the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) that emergency health kits had now been distributed to six of the seven worst affected townships. WHO has so far not had reports of any major outbreaks of disease, though it is working on moving bed nets into the area to prevent outbreaks of malaria.

The UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org">UNICEF) reported that water and sanitation were very serious issues, since the hand-dug wells that most people relied on in the delta had been filled with debris or salt water, leaving them to rely on rain or pond water. UNICEF spokesperson Shantha Bloemen said that water purification supplies were being ferried in, but said that new water treatment facilities would be needed in the longer-term.

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TACKLING DROUGHT CRUCIAL IN FINDING FOOD CRISIS SOLUTION – UN

New York, Apr 25 2008 3:00PM
Addressing drought is essential in resolving the food crisis the world faces, the United Nations agency tasked with minimizing the threat posed by natural disasters said today.

Both drought and unsustainable water management have played a key role in the current problem, and managing drought risk is essential to finding a long-term solution to the crisis, according to a press release issued by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

Reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate – have shown unequivocally that the world is warming, almost certainly due to human activity, with potentially disastrous effects including worsening drought in some regions and heavier rainfall in others.

“Drought creeps, so we can outrun it,” said Sálvano Briceño, Director of the ISDR Secretariat. “But this will take a genuine mindset and policy shift towards the ethos that prevention is better than cure, and serious political and economic commitment to saving harvests and lives on a global economic level.”

Major food exporters such as Australia and Ukraine are experiencing the effects of drought, serving as examples of how climate change can trigger future food crises.

Water scarcity contributes to food scarcity, and, as the IPCC has pointed out, billions of people are at the risk of water stress by the end of the century unless carbon emissions are slashed and urgent adaptation actions are taken.

ISDR said that a greater emphasis must be placed on disaster risk, urging communities and nations to enhance their defences against global warming, drought and desertification through such measures as improved water management.

Yesterday, the head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that soaring food prices across the globe are threatening the agency’s efforts to feed the world’s hungry.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran warned of the “new face of hunger” – the millions being pushed into the urgent hunger category.

“We're also concerned because this isn't just an issue of hunger, but also an issue of instability,” she said, with protests against soaring food prices having been held in dozens of countries.

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AT FIVE-YEAR MARK, DARFUR CRISIS IS ONLY WORSENING – UN AID CHIEF

New York, Apr 22 2008 5:00PM
Five years after fighting first erupted in Darfur between Sudanese Government forces and rebel groups, the world has still not found a durable solution to the suffering of millions of people in the region, the United Nations humanitarian chief told the Security Council today, warning the situation will only deteriorate unless urgent measures are taken.

John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told a Council meeting that he was saddened and angry to inform them that the situation inside Darfur had only worsened in the past 12 months, despite the efforts of the international community.

“We continue to see the goalposts receding, to the point where peace in Darfur seems further away today than ever,” he said in a statement. “Further progress in the deployment of UNAMID [the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force], equipped to protect civilians and improve security, will help.

“But only an end to all violence and concrete steps towards a political settlement will make the fundamental difference needed, as the rebel movements themselves above all need to recognize. Otherwise the reality is that the people of Darfur face a continued steady deterioration of their conditions of life and their chances of lasting recovery.”

Mr. Holmes said as many as 300,000 people are now estimated to have died in Darfur since early 2003, when rebels began fighting Government forces and allied militiamen. This figure includes deaths from disease, malnutrition and reduced life expectancy, as well as from direct combat.

Aside from the death toll, more than 2.7 million Darfurians have been displaced by the fighting, the vast majority still living within the arid region on Sudan’s western flank. Around 260,000 refugees have had to flee to the east of neighbouring Chad.

In his briefing to the Council, Rodolphe Adada, the AU-UN Joint Special Representative for Darfur, said it was disturbing that while the region has remained near the top of the international agenda, this attention had not been matched with the necessary action to provide UNAMID with the means to accomplish the tasks assigned to it.

The Council authorized the deployment of UNAMID last year to take over from an under-resourced AU force, and the operation began work at the start of this year. But so far only around 10,000 of the roughly 26,000 uniformed personnel have been deployed.

Speaking to reporters outside the Council, Mr. Adada said that up to 80 per cent of the entire UNAMID force could be deployed by the end of this year if donor countries do more to help out, whether by providing troops or equipment.

He called on the Council to redouble its efforts to assist the mission and he also read out an update on efforts to broker a political settlement by the UN and AU envoys to the peace process, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim.

Mr. Adada said logistical challenges are one of the biggest problems, with the mission lacking the infrastructure at the moment to house the thousands of staff expected at full deployment.

He said UN and AU officials were working hard to try to accelerate deployment and to make the most of the available resources – including fresh water – in the parched and landlocked region.

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HAITI FACING ‘EXPLOSIVE SITUATION’ BECAUSE OF FOOD CRISIS, UN OFFICIAL WARNS

New York, Apr 18 2008 7:00PM
Haiti will remain in an extremely precarious economic and humanitarian situation unless it receives an urgent injection of funds to widen emergency feeding operations, extend existing job programmes and jump-start agricultural activity, a senior United Nations official to the impoverished Caribbean country has warned.

Joël Boutroue, the Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator for Haiti, told the UN News Centre in an interview that while the security situation had stabilized somewhat this week following recent deadly protests over sharp rise in the price of basic foods, daily living conditions are still dire for many Haitians.

“If we don’t react very strongly, then we could find ourselves in a very difficult state,” he said. “The level of poverty, combined with the lack of coping mechanisms for the poorest Haitians, means we have the potential for a very explosive situation.”

In the past thousands of Haitians have fled their homeland because of economic or political problems, and the Coordinator said it was vital that the international community, as well as the Government and the country’s civil society and private sector, work together to prevent a repeat.

He noted that the price of rice has fallen slightly from its peak and President René Préval has outlined to the nation a series of measures he hopes to introduce to alleviate the situation.

The Government, in consultation with the UN, is also devising a plan of action for tackling the crisis that has struck worldwide this year, but hit Haiti – already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – particularly hard. A major international appeal is expected to launch within the next week.

Mr. Boutroue said Haiti has suffered especially because of its poor environment: few forests, infertile or low-quality soil, a lack of irrigation, polluted canals and waterways and a predominance of tiny farms means agricultural activity is limited.

The country also has few factories, unemployment is estimated at around 60 to 70 per cent and more than half the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Mr. Boutroue, who is also the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative in Haiti, called for a series of short- and long-term measures to bring Haiti back from the brink.

These include expanding the existing labour-intensive job programmes that focus particularly on rehabilitating the environment, such as the management of watersheds, so that more agricultural and other economic activity can take place.

It also includes widening the current targeted food distribution schemes, such as the communal kitchens in poor neighbourhoods and the school feeding operations. Earlier this week the UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP) announced it will distribute an additional 8,000 tons of food to people in need.

Agriculture can also be jump-started, the envoy said, by providing – either free of charge or at a subsidized rate – fertilizers, seeds, tools and other equipment.

He stressed that many of these activities, including the UN feeding programmes, have the capacity to be expanded rapidly, but he added that a boost should also “inject some more dynamism” into the country and its Government ministries.

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

New York, Apr 8 2008 11:00AM
Computer users can now zoom down into displacement camps in Darfur, Chad, Iraq, Colombia and elsewhere on Earth in a new on-line programme unveiled today by Internet search giant Google and the United Nations refugee agency.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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WORLD MUST NOT FORGET SOMALIA, URGES UN AGENCY AS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS WORSENS

New York, Mar 27 2008 11:00AM
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today <" http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2805">called on Somalia’s international partners to bolster their efforts to alleviate the suffering in the strife-torn East African nation, where close to one million people have been uprooted by fighting and insecurity is hampering humanitarian efforts in some areas.  

“The international community must put Somalia at the top of its agenda and press for change before it is too late,” said Peter Goossens, WFP’s Country Director for Somalia. “We call on all authorities in Somalia to help us reach those in need and urge donors not to give up on this country.”

Mr. Goossens stressed the need to urgently scale up efforts on the security and political front, adding that an inclusive political process that leads to true national reconciliation was vital to put a lasting end to conflict since 1991.

“Unless real action to end insecurity is taken very soon, the world is in danger of seeing a whole generation of Somali children growing up having only known war,” he said.

So far this year, fighting between government and anti-government forces has caused some 20,000 people to flee their homes in Mogadishu every month. A total of 700,000 people – mostly women and children – escaped from the capital in 2007.

The lack of access to those in Mogadishu was becoming untenable, according to WFP.  The city is currently gripped by rising fuel and food prices, which are hitting the poorest families hardest when they were already struggling to survive with few job opportunities, the agency added.

WFP’s call comes a day after dozens of aid agencies issued a joint statement warning of an impending catastrophe in the country.  They also called for the international community and Somali parties to focus their attention on Somalia –which has not had a functioning government in nearly two decades – and deplored the routine attacks, robberies and killings of aid workers and theft and looting of relief supplies.

Despite the insecurity, WFP continues to provide food daily to some 52,000 people in Mogadishu, and to distribute assistance to those in need outside of the capital. It has recently raised the number of people it expects to feed in Somalia this year to 2.1 million.

To help ensure food for the most vulnerable, WFP is urgently appealing for $10 million, particularly in cash, which it needs between now and July. Unless it receives new contributions, the agency will start running out of pulses in April, cereals and vegetable oil in May and corn-soya blend in June.

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ATTACKS ON DARFUR AID WORKERS JEOPARDIZING BASIC RELIEF EFFORTS, SAYS UN OFFICIAL

New York, Mar 26 2008  4:00PM
Attacks against aid workers in western Sudan have reached unprecedented levels, jeopardizing vital relief operations in the war-wracked Darfur region, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator said today.  

In a statement released in Khartoum by her office, Ameerah Haq said the humanitarian community operating in Sudan condemned all acts of violence taking place in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied militia since 2003.

On Monday Mohamed Ali, a driver contracted by the UN World Food Programme (<" http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2803">WFP), was shot dead and his assistant was seriously injured by unidentified assailants while travelling on the main route into Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

That attack followed the deadly stabbing of two other WFP-contracted drivers on the weekend in Unity state in southern Sudan, and is only the latest in a string of hijackings, abductions and killings in the country and particularly in Darfur.

Ms. Haq’s office said in the statement that the humanitarian community called for an end to all attacks, the immediate release of those who have been abducted and no impunity for those people who target aid workers anywhere in Sudan.

Yesterday WFP’s representative in Sudan, Kenro Oshidari, deplored the latest attacks and warned that the agency’s contracted trucking companies and drivers were facing daily acts of violence.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in the past five years in Darfur and at least 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes because of the fighting, the inter-tribal clashes and the attacks by bandits.

Earlier this year a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission known as <" http://unamid.unmissions.org/Default.aspx#">UNAMID was deployed to try to quell the suffering and violence but so far only about 9,000 uniformed personnel are in place, well below the 26,000 expected when the operation reaches full capacity.

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The report, issued by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in cooperation with the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), describes attacks on four villages north of El Geneina, the regional capital.

The attacks on the villages of Saraf Jidad, Sirba, Silea and Abu Suruj were carried out as part of a push by the Sudanese Government in late January and early February to drive back an insurgent group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The 8 February attacks involved aerial bombardments by helicopter gun ships and fixed-wing aircraft, accompanied by ground offensives by soldiers and armed militia on horses and camels, the report says.

The report describes extensive looting during and after the attacks, and catalogues “consistent and credible accounts” of rape committed by armed men in uniform.

“These actions violated the principle of distinction stated in international humanitarian law, failing to distinguish between civilian objects and military objective,” the report concludes.

“Moreover, the scale of destruction of civilian property, including objects indispensable for the survival of the civilian population, suggests that the damage was a deliberate and integral part of a military strategy,” it adds.

UNAMID human rights staff were unable to investigate reports that similar ground and air offensives carried out on Jebel Moon and nearby areas on 18, 19 and 22 February also resulted in the killing of civilians, as the Government denied the UN access to Jebel Moon until 1 March.

According to the report, this was “in breach of its obligation to allow UNAMID officials freedom of movement under the Status of Forces Agreement signed between the UN and the Sudanese Government in February 2008.”

The attacks of the JEM rebel group, which precipitated the Government offensive, had previously been determined by the Darfur Ceasefire Commission to be in violation of the 2004 N’Djamena Ceasefire Agreement.

Meanwhile, UNAMID Deputy Joint Special Representative Henry Anyidoho travelled to one of the villages, Silea, to assess the security situation on the ground and to look at the possibility of the mission’s deployment there.

“The protection of civilians is our priority,” Mr. Anyidoho told community elders. “We will not abandon you. The UN will continue working to improve your living conditions,” he said, affirming that UNAMID would soon have a permanent presence in the area.

Currently, UNAMID conducts daily patrols from El Geneina to the conflict-affected areas, allowing humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) access to the population.

UNAMID took over from a previous AU force at the beginning of the year in a bid to quell the fighting and humanitarian suffering in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed in the past five years and at least 2.2 million displaced.

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CHINA: UN RIGHTS CHIEF VOICES CONCERN OVER TENSIONS IN TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION

New York, Mar 14 2008  5:00PM
The top United Nations human rights official today voiced concern over the rising tensions between protesters and security forces in the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding areas of China, noting that there have been reports of deaths and property destruction.  

UN High Commissioner for <"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx">Human Rights Louise Arbour issued a statement calling on the Chinese authorities to allow demonstrators to exercise their right to freedom of expression and assembly.

Ms. Arbour also called on the Chinese Government to “refrain from any excessive use of force while maintaining order, and to ensure those arrested are not ill-treated and are accorded due process in line with international standards.”

It has been reported that on 10 March, roughly 60 monks were arrested in Lhasa during a peaceful demonstration. The following day, Chinese police fired tear gas at some 600 monks who were demanding the release of the arrested monks. There have been further reports of violence today.

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HIJACKINGS IMPEDING DELIVERY OF CRITICAL FOOD SUPPLIES IN DARFUR, UN SAYS

New York, Mar 10 2008 11:00AM
Banditry is hindering the delivery of vital food aid on the ground in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, but limited funding could ground the air transport service run by the United Nations World Food Programme (<" http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=3">WFP), the agency warned today.  

“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Kenro Oshidari, WFP’s Sudan Representative. “Our humanitarian air operation for aid workers could be forced to stop flying because we have no money, at a time when our helicopters are needed more than ever because of high insecurity on the roads.”

At present, WFP is transporting only half as much food to Darfur as it normally would at this time of the year because truckers are not willing to risk making deliveries on the dangerous roads.

There are some 60,000 metric tons of WFP food aid – enough to feed the two million people in Sudan who are now relying on the agency’s assistance – in the region. Needs are expected to surge by 50 per cent as the May-October rainy season approaches, but the agency could be forced to slash rations in some areas.

This year alone, five of the agency’s passenger vehicles and 45 trucks contracted by WFP have been hijacked, and 37 trucks remain missing with 23 drivers unaccounted for.

In the most recent incident, on 4 March, seven trucks were stolen and the driver abducted while on their way to El Fasher, in North Darfur. The bandits unloaded the food and left it behind, driving off with the vehicles.

Meanwhile, for its budget of $77 million this year, WFP’s Humanitarian Air Service (WFP-HA – utilized by approximately 8,000 humanitarian workers per month, 3,000 of whom use helicopters to reach remote areas – has received no confirmed donations. Without an immediate contribution towards the $6.2 million needed for monthly costs, the Service will be forced to halt operations.

Most passengers using WFP-HAS, which began operations in 2004, are staff members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing assistance in health care, water and sanitation or food relief.

“With a recent upsurge in insecurity in West Darfur and increased banditry on the roads throughout the region, the air operation is more important that ever,” said Mr. Oshidari, noting the heavy reliance of the humanitarian community on the Service. “If it [is] shut down, even for a brief period, vital relief would be denied to vulnerable civilians in Darfur.”

Last year, 160,000 people from 170 agencies and NGOs were served by WFP-HAS on two dozen aircraft, including six helicopters costing $4,000 per helicopter per hour, in Darfur. In addition to Darfur and other parts of northern Sudan, it also serves the country’s south, which is rebuilding from a 21-year north-south civil war that ended in 2005.

Although it has received no funding this year, it has been able to remain airborne until now thanks to $11 million carried over from 2007. WFP-HAS funds are raised separately from the agency’s Sudan food aid budget for this year of nearly $700 million to feed 5.6 million people.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million displaced from their homes since 2003, when rebels began fighting Government forces and allied militia in the arid and impoverished region on Sudan’s western flank.

Meanwhile, troops from the hybrid UN-African Union (AU) peacekeeping operation deployed to Darfur, known as <" http://www.un.org/depts/dpko/missions/unamid/ ">UNAMID, have donated their own warm clothes and blankets to internally displaced persons (<" http://www.unhcr.org/protect/3b84c7e23.html ">IDPs) taking refuge in Mallit, a small town in North Darfur.

“We have come to realize that Darfur still has a long way to go,” said one soldier who preferred to stay anonymous. “Yet we are believers that each and every one of us as individuals can and has to make a difference.”

UNAMID peacekeepers also contributed their own money towards purchasing stationery and school fees to ensure that one of the pre-schools in Mallit re-opened to hold new classes.

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UN EXPERT DECRIES HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY BOTH SIDES IN DARFUR

New York, Mar 10 2008  6:00PM
Sudanese Government military forces and Darfur’s rebel movements have both committed human rights abuses in the war-wracked region, carrying out killings, acts of sexual violence, looting, the destruction of property, arbitrary arrests and forced displacement, an independent United Nations envoy said today.  

Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations <"http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/">Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in Sudan, issued a statement after completing a 13-day visit to the country in which she said she was “extremely disturbed” by the ongoing situation, especially in West Darfur, the scene of a major military offensive in recent weeks.

“The Government and the movements have failed in their responsibility to provide protection to civilians in areas under their control and are violating international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” Ms. Samar said. “I received reports of killings, sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention and impunity for such crimes.”

She cited a Government air and ground attack, supported by allied militiamen, on 8-9 February on the West Darfur towns of Sirba, Silea and Abu Suruj in which at least 100 locals were reported killed and an estimated 12,000 forced to flee over the nearby border to neighbouring Chad.

“The attacks were marked by indiscriminate killings, destruction of property and looting and plundering,” she said, adding that the Sudanese armed forces carried out similar attacks on 18-19 and 22 February on villages in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur.

“Bombs were reportedly dropped on several locations populated by civilians, including one near an internally displaced camp in Aro Sharrow.”

She called on the Government and the movements to comply with all obligations under international law and to protect civilians in areas they control in Darfur, the scene of fierce fighting between rebels, Government forces and allied militia since 2003.

More than 200,000 people have been killed there in the past five years and at least 2.2 million others displaced, and at the start of this year a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force known as <" http://unamid.unmissions.org/Default.aspx# ">UNAMID was deployed in a bid to quell the fighting and humanitarian suffering.

The Special Rapporteur also spoke out today about the case of 19 Massalit men who were arrested by the Minni Minawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), a rebel movement, in September 2006 after an attack on the South Darfur town of Gereida by a Massalit armed group.

“In October 2006 a mass grave was found containing the remains of some of those who had been arrested. I call on the Government to investigate and inform the families of the fate of their relatives and bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice.”

During this visit, her fifth to Sudan, Ms. Samar was not allowed access to Kajbar, Amri, Merowe and Makabrab in Northern state, where she had planned to meet with local authorities and communities affected by the construction of two hydropower dams in the Nile valley.

“The visit was cancelled by the state security committee the day before I was scheduled to travel to the area. The reasons provided by the Government did not justify their decision to prevent access.”

Ms. Samar added that she was particularly concerned about the lack of accountability for the killings of protesters in Amri and Kajbar in 2005 and 2006.

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UN AGENCY MOVES DARFUR REFUGEES IN CHAD AWAY FROM PERILOUS BORDER

New York, Mar  7 2008 12:00PM
The United Nations refugee agency said today that it has started to move Sudanese refugees who had fled a new wave of attacks in Darfur further inside Chad and away from the strife-torn frontier.

“Tensions along the volatile Chad-Sudan border remain high, with people fleeing in both directions,” Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47d12f264.html">UNHCR), said today at a press conference in Geneva.

Ms. Pagonis said that a second planned transfer of some of the 13,000 new Darfur arrivals in the Birak area of eastern Chad, who fled ground and aerial attacks that began early last month, was delayed because of renewed fighting.

“More displacement is expected,” she said, noting that over 70 per cent of the new arrivals are women and children who are being relocated on a strictly voluntary basis.

According to UNHCR, the transfer exercise is particularly challenging because the newly arrived refugees are spread across 11 villages along a 40-km stretch of the remote Chad-Sudan border.

The relocated refugees are being brought to the Kounoungou camp some 70 km away from the border, where they are medically screened, receive their first one-month food ration from the World Food Programme (WFP) and are provided with a package of relief items.

UNHCR and its partners operate 12 refugee camps in eastern Chad that host 240,000 refugees from the war-torn Darfur region. An additional 50,000 refugees from the Central African Republic are in three camps in southern Chad.    

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WORSENING CONFLICT IN GAZA LEAVES CHILDREN AT PARTICULAR RISK, UNICEF WARNS

New York, Mar  1 2008  6:00PM
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today voiced its deep concern at the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip, warning both Israel and the Palestinians to "take all feasible measures" to ensure the protection and care of children caught up in the violence. Since the current upsurge in fighting began on Wednesday, at least 17 children from Gaza have been killed and more than 200 others injured, UNICEF said in a statement, quoting figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry. UNICEF noted that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also expressed his deep concern in recent days at civilian deaths in both Gaza and southern Israel and issued a call for maximum restraint from all sides. "The Convention on the Rights of the Child puts an emphasis on the need to take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict," the UNICEF statement said. "In addition to being its direct casualties, the terrifying impact of this conflict affects all children. "Children constitute more than half the population of Gaza and are bearing the brunt of the crisis. They are already suffering severely from a series of restrictions, including the blockade on most goods imposed since June 2007."

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SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN WELCOMES ACCORD ‘BREAKTHROUGH’ IN KENYA

New York, Feb 28 2008  2:00PM
Urging further measures to end the deadly tensions that erupted after disputed presidential elections in Kenya, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon warmly welcomed the agreement on principles for a coalition Government announced in Nairobi today.

“The ‘Acting together for Kenya’ agreement marks a breakthrough toward resolving the crisis and gives hope to the people of Kenya for a return to democratic stability in their country,” Mr.  Ban’s spokesperson said in a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sgsm11441.doc.htm">statement.

The Secretary-General commended President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, the rivals in the disputed vote, for the spirit of compromise they demonstrated in reaching the accord, and paid tribute to former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Panel of Eminent African Personalities for their mediation efforts.

The focus, Ms. Montas said, now must be on implementing the agreements reached thus far and coming to further accord on the longer-term issues which this crisis have brought to the forefront in Kenya.  

“Every effort should be made to involve the people of Kenya at all levels in the process,” she added. “Even as today’s agreements are celebrated, urgent attention is also still required to lessen tensions in the communities and to overcome the serious humanitarian situation in the country.”

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MADAGASCAR: UN FOOD AGENCY BEGINS PROVIDING AID TO CYCLONE VICTIMS

New York, Feb 27 2008  4:00PM
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing emergency food assistance to tens of thousands of people in Madagascar, where at least 73 people have died and almost 150,000 others have been left homeless after Cyclone Ivan battered the island nation last week.

<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP has already handed out three-day rations of high-energy biscuits to 2,000 Malagasy living in tents in the capital, Antananarivo, after their homes were destroyed by the cyclonic winds, which reached speeds of about 190 kilometres per hour when it struck the country on 17 February.

Later this week it expects to distribute corn-soya blend porridge to some of the tent camps, the agency said in a press statement, adding that general food distributions and food-for-work activities will also start in the coming days.

WFP has also provided 500 kilograms of the biscuits along the east coast and on the small island of St. Marie, the regions worst affected by Cyclone Ivan, the latest in a series of storms this season to strike Madagascar.

In anticipation of the annual cyclone season in the Indian Ocean country, WFP pre-positioned food in strategic locations, and it currently has about 3,000 tons of food – including rice, pulses, oil and biscuits – in its warehouse in the north-eastern port city of Toamasina.

But with about 140,000 people estimated to need 2,000 tons of immediate food assistance, WFP said it expects to face a shortage of rice and vegetable oil by April.

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IN WAKE OF DEADLY CYCLONE, UNICEF DELIVERS AID TO AFFECTED IN MADAGASCAR

New York, Feb 22 2008  4:00PM
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has begun distributing blankets, sanitation kits and other emergency supplies to families in affected areas of northern Madagascar after Cyclone Ivan battered the country this week, leaving at least 22 people dead and thousands either homeless or needing aid.

Six administrative regions of Madagascar were hit by the cyclone, whose winds reached up to 190 kilometres per hour when it struck on Sunday, according to a press statement issued yesterday by <"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF.

The agency is helping authorities in the affected areas assess the extent of damage, a task hampered by the cuts to communication networks, roads and bridges.

The north-eastern seaside city of Toamasina has been particularly hard hit, with water and electricity supplies severed and rising flood waters as a result of the accompanying heavy rainfall.

Cyclone Ivan’s trail of destruction comes less than a month after Cyclone Fame struck Madagascar, killing 12 and leaving 5,000 Malagasy homeless.

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PALESTINIAN FARMERS TO BENEFIT FROM UN PROJECTS IN GAZA, WEST BANK

New York, Feb 21 2008  3:00PM
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (<"http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000790/index.html">FAO) is helping Palestinian farmers, shepherds and fishermen in Gaza and the West Bank whose livelihoods have been severely affected by ongoing difficulties in getting essential products into those areas.

FAO currently has 14 projects – amounting to $10 million – in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, focusing on areas such as horticulture and greenhouse and irrigation rehabilitation.

There has been serious concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, given that agriculture and fisheries have been severely impacted by lack of inputs, constraints on farm exports and restrictions on fishing areas.

While some agricultural inputs can be purchased locally, those procured abroad are more difficult to import, including plastic sheeting for greenhouses which is currently awaiting clearance by Israeli authorities.

During a visit to region last month, FAO Emergency Operations Senior Planning Officer Suzanne Raswant said she was “impressed at the energy and commitment of the FAO Gaza team which is working hard to deliver services and assistance under very difficult conditions.”

In addition to the current projects, FAO is seeking an additional $7.3 million this year to help restore livelihoods for farmers, those raising livestock and fishermen, as well as to improve food security.  

FAO is also working to help Gazans detect and respond to bird flu outbreaks, including through training and the provision of essential testing equipment.

Earlier this week, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs highlighted the worsening conditions in Gaza and the West Bank resulting from closures and restrictions on the movement of goods and people during his recent visit to the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.

“After eight months of very serious restrictions on the movement of goods, the political and security crisis in and around Gaza has increasingly severe humanitarian consequences,” said John Holmes, who also serves as UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

He called for the lifting of the regime of closure and restrictions – which has seriously affected the daily lives and economy activities of those living in the West Bank – in a way that would not jeopardize Israel’s legitimate security concerns.

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DEADLY EBOLA OUTBREAK IN WESTERN UGANDA IS OVER, SAYS UN HEALTH AGENCY

New York, Feb 20 2008  5:00PM
Ugandan health authorities have declared that the deadly outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the country’s west is over, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

The last person in Bundibugyo district, which shares a border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to be infected by the virus was discharged from hospital on 8 January – more than double the maximum incubation period for the disease, WHO said in an update on the outbreak.

Laboratory analysis in the United States has confirmed that the virus in this outbreak is different from the three known African Ebola species and should be considered as a new species.

After the outbreak emerged last year, <"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) joined forces with Ugandan health authorities and a series of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international partners to fight the spread of the disease.

At least 37 people died in the outbreak, and there were 149 confirmed cases, according to Ugandan officials.

The Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, secretions, other bodily fluids or organs of infected persons or animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys and antelopes, and it has an incubation period of two to 21 days.

Sufferers can experience fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat, as well as vomiting, diarrhoea, rashes and impaired kidney and liver function. In the most severe cases, the virus can lead to both external and internal bleeding.

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WORSENING SITUATION IN WEST DARFUR JEOPARDIZES AID EFFORTS – UN REPORT

New York, Feb 20 2008  6:00PM
The security situation in West Darfur has deteriorated so sharply in the past two months that the United Nations’ efforts to bring humanitarian relief to those in need is being severely undermined, a new UN report says, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and warning that the region needs many more peacekeepers.

The latest <"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2008/98">report of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur (UNAMID) says the “slow pace” of deployment is making it difficult for the forces that are in place to provide “even a modest level of protection to civilians.”

Just over 9,000 troops and police officers have been deployed so far, even though UNAMID is supposed to have more than 26,000 uniformed personnel in Darfur when it reaches full capacity. Less than a quarter of the mission’s authorized number of civilian staff have also been deployed.

“The mission will not be in a position to effectively fulfil its mandate or meet the tremendous expectations of Darfur’s civilians with the meagre human and material resources currently in the mission area,” Mr. Ban writes.

“We need to urgently demonstrate to the conflict-affected population of Darfur that <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/">UNAMID will bring a material improvement to their daily lives, or risk losing their confidence at this critical juncture in the life of the mission.”

The Secretary-General calls for all troop and police contributors to UNAMID to expedite the deployment of any units or assets they have pledged, and he appeals to Member States to provide those units that are still outstanding – such as key military helicopters – to ensure the mission is at full operating capability.

A month after the transfer of authority from the previous AU peace force (known as AMI, UNAMID still lacks one heavy and one medium ground transport unit, three military utility aviation units (18 helicopters in total) and additional attack helicopters.

In the absence of pledges from Member States, one option being explored is the transfer of aviation assets from other UN peacekeeping missions.

In addition, the report notes that the speed of the deployment of UNAMID depends on resolving any remaining issues with the Sudanese Government about its composition, and stresses the need to “ensure the removal of impediments” to the force’s operation.

Mr. Ban stresses the need for a cessation of hostilities in the conflict in Darfur, which has pitted rebels against Government forces and allied militias since 2003. More than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes.

He says such an agreement must also include “effective mechanisms for monitoring compliance and violations,” and adds that all sides should cooperate with the UN and AU Special Envoys to convene fully-fledged peace negotiations as soon as possible.

Condemning cross-border attacks, the Secretary-General urges both Sudan and neighbouring Chad to respect each other’s territorial sovereignty and to implement existing non-aggression accords.

The most recent fighting in West Darfur state has led 10,000 Sudanese or more to flee across the volatile border into eastern Chad, but the security situation is so poor that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) had to withdraw its staff to a safer area earlier this week.

The UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/media/media_42898.html">UNICEF) is delivering medical supplies, blankets, jerry cans and plastic sheeting to those in need in West Darfur, according to a statement released by the agency. It is also treating and restoring water supplies in those towns and villages attacked by militiamen or hit by aerial bombing.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman said the recent upsurge in fighting was only adding to the hardships and dangers faced by vulnerable children and women in the region.

“Efforts to provide urgent assistance to children and women in dire need are hampered by the violence, and further displacement of civilian populations puts even greater pressure on camps that are already overcrowded,” she said, calling for aid workers to have unrestricted access to those in need.

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UN PROBES KILLINGS BY GOVERNMENT FORCES, REBELS IN EASTERN DR CONGO

New York, Feb 20 2008  4:00PM
The United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said today that it is investigating human rights violations committed by both Government troops and rebel groups in the eastern part of the strife-torn nation.  

The human rights section of the mission, known by its French acronym <"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/monuc/index.html">MONUC, has positively identified eight victims, including three children, who were killed by Congolese Army soldiers on 2 January in a village near Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.

Recent months have witnessed increased fighting in North Kivu between Government troops and rebels allied with dissident General Laurent Nkunda, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.  

MONUC has also collected preliminary evidence indicating that Gen. Nkunda’s troops have killed at least 30 civilians between 16 and 20 January in the village of Kalonge.  

“The killings are believed to have been committed in reprisal for the villagers’ seeking refuge in the sector controlled by perceived enemies of the Nkunda faction,” Ms. Okabe said.

She added that while its investigations into these killings continue, MONUC has called on Congolese parties to respect international human rights and humanitarian law.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that over the last year, a mix of conflict, military build-up and spiralling lawlessness has displaced 400,000 people in North Kivu – the worst displacement since the end of the DRC’s civil war in 2003. In total, there are an estimated 800,000 displaced people in the province, including those uprooted by previous conflicts.

The UN-backed Conference for Peace, Security, and Development in the Kivus, held in Goma in January, concluded with an agreement between the Government and armed groups in the east, by which the latter committed to end all hostilities.

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FRESH ROUND OF AERIAL BOMBING IN WEST DARFUR FORCES UN STAFF TO RELOCATE

New York, Feb 19 2008  8:00PM
The United Nations refugee agency has had to withdraw its staff from the volatile Sudanese-Chadian border area after a series of aerial bombardments over the past two days in West Darfur that have also sparked deep concern from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the world body’s top humanitarian official.

Nine staff with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had been caring for newly arrived Sudanese refugees in the Birak area of eastern Chad before the sudden relocation, the agency reported.

“It is extremely frustrating to have to withdraw staff from the border,” said Jorge Holly, head of the UNHCR field office in the eastern Chadian town of Guereda. “It is not only sad, but frustrating, because we cannot provide the protection assistance we wish to give to these newly arrived refugees.”

Mr. Holly said the team would return immediately to the Birak area – currently home to as many as 10,000 Darfurians – as soon as the security situation calmed down. Those refugees arrived in the area only a week or so ago after militia attacks, reportedly backed by Government forces, against three other towns in West Darfur.

The UNHCR staff left for Guereda a few hours after a group of refugees arrived from West Darfur carrying a 55-year-old whom they said had lost both her legs during an air raid yesterday by Sudanese Antonov planes on the Aro Sharow camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The woman later died.

One of the relocated <"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR staff said they heard the sounds of bombs and explosions coming from just across the border in Sudan and felt the battle on the ground as well.

Aro Sharow is normally home to about 4,000 to 5,000 IDPs seeking safety from the conflict between rebels, Government forces and allied militias that has engulfed the arid Darfur region since 2003.

Describing the bombing of Aro Sharow as unacceptable, Mr. Ban said in a statement released by his spokesperson that all parties to the Darfur conflict must immediately end hostilities and commit to the political process being led by the Special Envoys of the UN and African Union.

“A negotiated settlement to the Darfur conflict cannot take place amid continuing violence and the massive displacement of civilians,” he said.

John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the Emergency Relief Coordinator, also urged maximum restraint from all sides amid reports that further violence is imminent.

“I am very concerned for the civilian population caught in the middle of this violence,” he said yesterday. “Should further attacks occur, the consequences for 20,000 civilians in this area could be disastrous.”

In his <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sgsm11431.doc.htm">statement Mr. Ban voiced alarm about fresh reports indicating that Government forces and allied militia groups were massing in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur, calling it “a worrying sign that there will be continued hostilities in the area.

“In addition to putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk, the ongoing violence significantly reduces the humanitarian community’s access to those in need of life-saving assistance.”

Mr. Holmes noted that UN humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been working to assess and deliver assistance to the beleaguered civilian inhabitants of West Darfur after the Sudanese Government lifted a blockade of almost two months of the state’s northern corridor.

But, “as the Government has reportedly now banned all flights to areas north of El Geneina [the state capital] for the next three days, further efforts to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground are limited,” he warned.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in the Darfur conflict and at least 2.2 million others displaced, and the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force deployed to the region (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unamid/">UNAMID) is working to try to quell the violence and suffering.

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OVER 200,000 AFGHANS HIT BY SEVERE COLD TO RECEIVE UN ASSISTANCE

New York, Feb 19 2008  6:00PM
United Nations agencies are delivering emergency aid to ease the plight of more than 200,000 Afghans suffering under a harsh Central Asian winter that has already claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47bae9e84.html">UNHCR) is distributing relief items such as tents, blankets, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, lanterns, jerry cans, kitchen sets and soap to recent returnees from Pakistan and Iran, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable people. Many of the new returnees are experiencing snow for the first time after nearly 30 years in exile.

The agency has already assisted more than 85,000 Afghans in different parts of the country. Along with other UN agencies, UNHCR has provided 2,500 families with winter supplies in two IDP settlements in the western province of Herat.

In addition, supplies have been sent to the local officials in Daikundi, Farah, Ghor, Badghis and Nimrooz provinces for further distribution.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) has already distributed nearly 2,500 tonnes of food to 33,000 households – about 200,000 people – in several provinces, including Herat, Faryab and Jawzjan.

Along with the Government, the Afghan Red Crescent, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and provincial reconstruction teams, the UN has been mobilizing support in more than 50 districts in 13 provinces to help those most affected, said WFP Country Director Rick Corsino.

“What we are trying to do is try to reduce the hardship placed upon households, particularly where damage has been done to their dwellings through avalanches or excessive snowfalls that caused the collapse of buildings,” he told a press briefing in Kabul.  The UN is also assisting those unable to move out of their areas due to winter conditions, to reach markets or obtain social services.

Along with the severe cold, many Afghans also have to contend with rising food prices in the country, particularly for staples such as wheat flour. Mr. Corsino noted that there has been an “immediate and very generous” response from donors for the appeal launched last month for more than $80 million to help over 2.5 million Afghans facing food shortages due to the soaring price of wheat.  

Some $38 million has been contributed in the past three weeks, he said, adding that this will allow WFP to distribute 50,000 tonnes of food.

Harsh winter conditions have swept across much of Central Asia, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA) yesterday appealed for $25 million to help UN relief agencies provide assistance in Tajikistan.

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SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST MILITIA GROUPS IN DR CONGO

New York, Feb 15 2008  6:00PM
The Security Council today <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2008/sc9248.doc.htm">extended its arms embargo and other sanctions against militias operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) until the end of March, underlining that it remains deeply concerned about the presence of unauthorized armed groups, especially in the east of the vast and impoverished country.

Council members voted unanimously this morning to maintain the sanctions – consisting of the arms embargo, a travel ban and an assets freeze on those who violate the embargo – until at least 31 March.

The 15-member Council expressed serious concern about the situation in the provinces of North and South Kivu and in the Ituri district, close to the border with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The presence of so many active armed groups there “perpetuates a climate of insecurity in the whole region,” the resolution said, referring to the Great Lakes region of Central Africa.

Council members reserved the right to adjust the sanctions as appropriate depending on the security situation in the DRC, which has suffered from decades of war and misrule but in 2006 held its first free elections since in more than 45 years.

They stressed the need for progress in security sector reform, including integration of the armed forces and reform of the national police, as well as the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation and reintegration of members of both Congolese and foreign armed groups.

The embargo was first imposed in 2003 amid concerns that the growth and trafficking of arms was serving to fuel and exacerbate conflicts across the Great Lakes region. The Council also noted the link between the illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources in the DRC and the proliferation of arms.

The embargo does not apply to arms and related materiel intended for the use of units of the national army or police as long as those units meet certain criteria.

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UN REFUGEE AGENCY ALARMED AFTER ARMED GROUP PREVENTS RELOCATION OF DARFURIANS

New York, Feb 15 2008  5:00PM
Unidentified gunmen today blocked attempts by the United Nations refugee agency to move 179 Darfurian families away from the volatile border region and into formal camps in eastern Chad, sparking concern among humanitarian officials.

The men gave no reason for blocking the relocation when staff with UN High Commissioner for Refugees and its aid partners attempted on Tuesday to begin boarding the refugees on trucks bound for Kounoungou, one of 12 camps the agency operates in the region, <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47b5c2ad2.html">UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told reporters.

“This is deeply concerning and we are making every effort with the Chadian authorities to get these refugees moved quickly,” she said. “The situation is so serious that our representative in Chad is now at the border trying to find a solution to this problem.”

As many as 8,000 people – mainly women and children – have crossed into the Birak and Koruk areas of Chad following deadly militia attacks on three towns in West Darfur last week, and nearly all are currently living in makeshift conditions near the border.

Ms. Pagonis warned that the refugees are “extremely exposed and vulnerable. The area is highly insecure, with roaming armed groups posing a real threat to the refugees and aid workers.”

Notorious militia groups allied to the Sudanese Government and known as Janjaweed have been attacking villagers across Darfur since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the Government in the arid region. In the fighting since then more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others displaced.

UNHCR said it has several trucks ready to begin the relocation process but is now awaiting approval from central authorities in Chad.

Ms. Pagonis said the agency faces “tough logistical challenges” in moving the refugees away from the border. In the meantime, basic items such as sleeping mats, blankets, jerry cans and soap will be distributed, along with tents and food.

Meanwhile, UNHCR is also preparing to start the first transfer of Chadian refugees from a site just over the border in neighbouring Cameroon to a better equipped site about 30 kilometres away in Maltam.

The refugees, who fled recent fighting in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena, have been living temporarily at a transit centre in Kousseri, close to the border. As many as 7,000 to 10,000 are living in the open there, while thousands of others have found shelter in schools and churches in Kousseri.

About 1,000 refugees are expected to be transferred tomorrow to Maltam, which can host up to 50,000 people at full capacity. UNHCR and its partners have begun building schools, health centres and latrines at the site and also started erecting tents.

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UNICEF WARNS 90,000 SOMALI CHILDREN COULD DIE WITHOUT INCREASED SUPPORT

New York, Feb 14 2008  1:00PM
About 90,000 children in war-ravaged Somalia could die in the next few months without immediate supplementary nutrition and therapeutic feeding, an official with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said today, calling for stepped-up international support.

Due to a lack of adequate funding, the agency - which is urgently appealing for $10 million for nutritional, water and sanitation programmes - said it maybe be forced to close its nutritional centres and cease delivering drinking water in two weeks.

"If we cannot maintain the activities that we have been running up to now, you will see a crisis," said UNICEF's Christian Balslev-Olesen. "You will see many children dying, [although] hopefully not like the beginning of the 1990s where between 200,000 and 300,000 people died within a few months in Somalia."

Fighting has intensified in recent months in the Horn of Africa nation, which has not had a functioning government since 1991.

To date, UNICEF said that its $47 million appeal for humanitarian operations in Somalia has not received any funding.

Yesterday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that there are up to 2 million vulnerable people in need of assistance in the country. In the capital Mogadishu, the number of people escaping the city to the poorest areas of the Horn of Africa nation has doubled to 700,000 in the last six months.

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COLOMBIA AND UN FOOD AGENCY JOIN FORCES TO HELP OVER HALF A MILLION DISPLACED

New York, Feb 14 2008  4:00PM
The United Nations World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2770">WFP) has launched a $157 million joint operation with the Colombian Government to provide food and other humanitarian assistance to more than 530,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the South American country over the next three years.

Starting in April, the programme will provide assistance through a series of projects, including school feeding, food for training, food for work and food assistance for both vulnerable communities at high risk of displacement and for host communities for IDPs.

WFP is already helping over 500,000 people across Colombia each year, drawing on its network of 10 field offices to support families and individuals who been forced to flee their homes because of long-running fighting between Government forces, rebels and paramilitary groups or attacks against civilians by armed groups.

The agency said in a press statement issued in Bogotá today that the new programme will be the largest international cooperation scheme for IDPs ever developed by a UN agency in Colombia.

Praveen Agrawal, the agency’s country director in Colombia, said “the unanimous support for the implementation of these activities is not only the result of the excellent relationship between WFP and the Colombian Government, but also testament to the positive results WFP has achieved in the country during the last few years.”

To finance the programme WFP will appeal to international donors for $93 million and the Colombian Government has pledged to contribute $64 million.

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VIOLENCE PUTS SOME 2 MILLION PEOPLE IN SOMALIA AT RISK, SAYS UN

New York, Feb 13 2008  5:00PM
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/News/tabid/1080/Default.aspx">OCHA) reports that there are up to 2 million vulnerable people in need of humanitarian aid in war-wracked Somalia, which has not had a functioning government since 1991 and where fighting has intensified in recent months.

In the capital Mogadishu, the number of people escaping the city to the poorest areas of the Horn of Africa nation has doubled to 700,000 in the last six months.

At the same time, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters in New York the “constrained movement of aid workers” is causing concern.

The transport and delivery of crucial items such as food is being impeded by roadblocks, taxes and banditry, which are also responsible for a surge in numbers of people needing assistance.

In late January, three staff members of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)–Holland were killed in the southern port city of Kismayo when their car was hit by a roadside bomb outside the town of Kismayo. A Somali journalist, Hassan Kafi Hared, as well as a Somali boy, were also reportedly killed in the blast.

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UN-BACKED PROJECT TO ASSIST THOUSANDS IN NORTHERN CHINA’S COUNTRYSIDE

New York, Feb 12 2008  2:00PM
About 125,000 households in China’s Inner Mongolia region stand to benefit from better access to financial services, markets, technology and information under a new programme backed by the United Nations agency tasked with trying to reduce rural poverty.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (<"http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2008/09.htm">IFAD) announced today that the $70.9 million programme will target households – particularly those headed solely by women – with per capita incomes of less than $1 a day and limited access to financial services such as microcredit and savings schemes.

The six-year project will promote greenhouse and organic crop production with links to markets and buyers, and it will also establish village development funds to pay for infrastructure and activities selected by local communities.

IFAD said it expects that the project could benefit households in more than 720 villages across nine counties of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which has not experienced the same economic growth as other parts of the country in recent years.

Thomas Rath, IFAD’s country programme manager for China, said the programme aims to tap into the skills and abilities of the local people.

“So far, Government and donor-funded programmes have used the same poverty reduction strategies in different locations,” he said. “Sometimes this has led to reduced results. This suggests that we needed to try new approaches. We need to target with specific approaches tailored to the local needs of people and their institutions.”

The programme will be funded in part by a $30 million loan from IFAD, as well as loans from the Chinese Government ($31.1 million) and the Rural Credit Cooperatives ($5.7 million). Participants in the scheme will contribute the remaining $4.1 million.

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LATEST DARFUR REFUGEES FACE RISK ALONG BORDER, UN AGENCY WARNS

New York, Feb 12 2008  5:00PM
Some 12,000 Sudanese who fled into Chad following Friday’s deadly attacks against three West Darfur towns remain in a precarious situation along the volatile border region as they await transfer into formal campsites, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47b189004.html">UNHCR) may start relocating the Sudanese to camps later today, spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told journalists in Geneva, with daily convoys eventually planned.

The first batch of 200 refugees, currently based in Figuera in the Birak area, will be relocated towards Kounoungou camp near Guereda, and UNHCR is also holding talks with Chadian authorities about extending Mile camp to house some of the refugees.

The new arrivals are expected to place severe strains on UNHCR’s 12 camps in eastern Chad, with many of the camps – and their limited water supplies – already at or close to capacity.

Ms. Pagonis said most of the refugees are destitute, having escaped by night across the border without any possessions and lacking nourishment. Families have been separated in the turmoil and the refugees include unaccompanied minors; most of the refugees are living in the open and sheltering under trees at night.

An assessment team that visited the area on Sunday provided basic supplies to the refugees and local Chadians have offered water and food that they can spare.

But unidentified armed groups are roaming around the area, Ms. Pagonis said, and the security situation is particularly tense near Guereda, where the market and school have been looted by unknown men.

UNHCR is reinforcing its numbers in eastern Chad to cope with the latest influx of Sudanese refugees, which followed deadly attacks on the towns of Abu Suruj, Sirba and Seleia on Friday, reportedly by Janjaweed militia backed by Sudanese Government forces.

The three towns are located about 50 to 70 kilometres north of El Geneina, the provincial capital of West Darfur, and that area is known to be a stronghold of the Darfurian opposition group known as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

More than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others forced to flee their homes across Darfur since rebel groups began fighting Government forces and allied militia in 2003.

The hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) was deployed at the start of the year to try to quell the violence and restore stability to the war-wracked and impoverished region on Sudan’s western flank.

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Mr. Ramos-Horta is in a serious condition in hospital in Australia after earlier undergoing surgery following the shooting at his home. Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão was not injured in a separate attack on his motorcade, but the fugitive leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in fighting, according to the UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT).

In a statement read out by Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias of Panama, which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member panel, Council members condemned both attacks “on the legitimate institutions of Timor-Leste.

“The Security Council calls on the Government of Timor-Leste to bring to justice those responsible for this heinous act, and urges all parties in Timor-Leste to cooperate actively with the authorities.”

The presidential statement also stressed that all Timorese should exercise restraint and maintain stability in the weeks ahead and urged the country’s political parties to resolve any disputes they have through political and peaceful means only.

In addition, it endorsed the Government’s efforts to strengthen democracy and ensure public security and stability.

This morning’s attacks were also deplored by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson in a statement and by Finn Reske-Nielsen, his Acting Special Representative to the country. UN Police in Timor-Leste remain on high alert and are coordinating with Timorese authorities and with the International Security Forces (ISF).

Mr. Reinado had been the target of investigations by the UN Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste, set up to examine the deadly violence that erupted in the tiny nation in April-May 2006. It found the major and his group were reasonably suspected of committing crimes during the fighting.

The 2006 crisis, attributed in part to differences between Timor-Leste’s eastern and western regions, began in April with the firing of 600 striking soldiers, a third of the overall armed forces. Ensuing violence claimed at least 37 lives and drive 155,000 people, or about 15 per cent of the total population, from their homes. The Security Council created UNMIT in August that year to help restore stability.

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The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its humanitarian partners have dispatched an emergency mission to Figeira, in the Birak area of Chad’s volatile eastern border region, to assess the situation, according to information released by the agency.

An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 Darfurian refugees have sought refuge around Birak, while a similar number is believed to be near Koruk, also in eastern Chad.

UNHCR assessment team members report that the refugees they have seen so far in the Birak area have been destitute and terrified, and have detailed how their towns were looted and burned and then encircled by militia to prevent locals from fleeing.

The hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has received reports indicating that some 200 people were killed from fighting in Abu Suruj, Sirba and Seleia and that Abu Suruj has been burned to the ground. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the attacks.

The three towns are located about 50 to 70 kilometres north of El Geneina, the provincial capital, and that area is known to be a stronghold of the Darfurian opposition group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

UNHCR official Jorge Holly, who was part of the assessment team, said most of the refugees had already been previously displaced in Darfur.

“They are really tired of being attacked and having to move,” Mr. Holly said. “All the new refugees we talked to said they did not want to go back to Darfur at this point; they wanted to be transferred to a refugee camp in eastern Chad.”

Urgent measures are now under way in Chad to move the new refugees by truck, probably tomorrow, to established camps in the east of the country. UNHCR is already taking care of some 240,000 refugees scattered across 12 camps.

Meanwhile, following Chad’s own recent upheavals, in which heavy fighting between armed opposition groups and Government forces has forced thousands of people to leave the landlocked and impoverished country, the UN and its partner NGOs are now assessing the humanitarian needs for those in the capital, N’Djamena.

Last week’s fighting has caused scores of deaths and hundreds of casualties and destroyed or damaged widespread infrastructure, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. Banditry has also spiked as a result.

Kingsley Amaning, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Chad, said a skeleton team of UN staff had remained in N’Djamena throughout the fighting.

“We stayed in order to assess the security situation and its humanitarian consequences in the capital, and to work for the continuation of our activities in the east of the country,” Mr. Amaning said. “Now that the situation in N’Djamena appears calm, the priority for humanitarians is to get a clear picture of the most pressing needs of the population.”

About 30,000 Chadians, mostly from N’Djamena, have fled to neighbouring Cameroon, where UNHCR staff are providing emergency assistance, including food, drinking water and vaccinations against measles, polio and meningitis.

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The appeal aims to respond to floods that have destroyed thousands of homes, devastated crops and left some 449,000 people in immediate need of humanitarian assistance. With fears that continued rains could cause even worse flooding, the funds will also be used to prepare for a possible deterioration of the situation.

“The governments have done an excellent job. And they urgently need the support of the international community to ensure that all those displaced by the floods receive the food, shelter, water, medicine and other basic necessities they require to survive,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

“We are only halfway through the rainy season and with more heavy rain expected, we must be able to assist potentially hundreds of thousands more people,” he added.

In Mozambique, the hardest hit country, the international humanitarian community requires more than $35 million to respond to the needs of 258,000 people affected by the floods, including more than 90,000 who have been displaced during the past month and are now living in resettlement areas.

In addition, about 90,000 hectares of crops have been swamped, destroying the livelihoods of many subsistence farming families. The funds will be used to support the relief effort being led by the Government of Mozambique by providing vital food, water and sanitation supplies, shelter, family kits, medicines and education materials.

In Malawi, international partners are seeking about $17 million as a result of heavy rains and subsequent floods that affected more than 152,000 people. Already more than 700 cholera cases have been reported and the situation will likely worsen in the coming weeks, OCHA warned.

Nearly $18.5 million is needed in Zambia to respond to the needs of more than 20,000 affected people. Floods have caused extensive damage to infrastructure and ruined large areas of crops, which could drastically reduce this year's harvest in many areas.

International responders in Zimbabwe are seeking nearly $15.8 million following localized flooding that began in mid-December 2007, affecting more than 15,000 people. The Government is leading the response to the floods with support from humanitarian partners, who have already distributed shelter items, food, water and sanitation supplies.

The flood-affected regions in the four countries have some of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, and OCHA noted that the displacements and losses caused by floods will have deeper consequences on HIV-affected households by disrupting health services.

“Despite the scale of these floods, the governments and the international humanitarian community have so far prevented this crisis from becoming a catastrophe,” said Mr. Holmes. “Without additional funds, we might not be able to cope if the situation does get worse – and that would leave large numbers of people at greater risk,” he added.

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** Blast at Pakistan election rally **

At least 18 people die in a blast at an opposition election rally in Pakistan's North West Frontier, reports say.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7236579.stm >

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** Refugees flee from Darfur to Chad **

At least 12,000 refugees flee from Sudan to Chad after attacks on Darfur villages, according to the UN.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7237326.stm >

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UN RUSHES AID FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHADIAN REFUGEES IN CAMEROON

New York, Feb  8 2008  3:00PM
United Nations agencies and their partners are rushing emergency food, medicine and other relief items to assist some 30,000 people who have fled the fighting in Chad and are seeking refuge in neighbouring Cameroon.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that after fighting erupted in the capital, N’Djamena, last Saturday between rebel forces and the army, 20,000 to 30,000 Chadians streamed over the Chari River to Kousseri, a remote town in north-eastern Cameroon.

According to <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47ac8e012.html">UNHCR, some Chadians started trickling back home Wednesday morning after an uneasy calm returned to N’Djamena. Some were returning just for the day and planning to go back to Cameroon overnight, while others have returned to their homes in the Chadian capital but left their families behind in Kousseri, which is more than 1,500 kilometres from Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

“Our teams in Kousseri have observed that there have been a lot of back-and-forth movements in the past two days, but it is too early to say if people are going back to their homes in Chad permanently,” UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis <"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47ac3f9c2.html">told reporters in Geneva.

The agency has started an emergency airlift to bring aid to the refugees in Cameroon. By Sunday, two flights carrying 90 tonnes of supplies, including plastic sheeting, blankets, jerry cans and cooking sets, will have arrived in Kousseri.

The UN World Food Programme is transferring food, including rice, vegetables and oil, from its stocks in the Cameroonian town of Maroua to Kousseri. The agency will also be transporting by plane high-energy biscuits from Accra in Ghana to Kousseri.  

Concerned about the risk of epidemics, the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) has ordered 25,000 doses of both meningitis and measles vaccines.

UN agencies and their partners are preparing to respond to an influx of up to 50,000 people from Chad into Cameroon.

“The situation is difficult, and not yet under control. We are concerned about the fate of the most vulnerable,” said Sophie de Caen, UN Resident Coordinator for Cameroon. “However, food, non-food items and medical supplies have already been ordered, and the first shipments have already reached the refugees.”

Meanwhile, UNHCR reports that the situation in N’Djamena was calm today but the streets remained empty and very few shops were open. “UNHCR local staff who remained in N’Djamena are starting to collect UNHCR tents which were looted from our warehouse and later abandoned by looters in the streets,” said Ms. Pagonis, adding that the agency’s office in the capital was not touched.

In eastern Chad, UNHCR and its partners are continuing to provide protection and assistance to 240,000 Sudanese refugees in 12 camps and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians.

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC MUST END IMPUNITY FOR EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS – UN EXPERT

New York, Feb  7 2008  7:00PM
An independent United Nations human rights expert has urged that extrajudicial killings in the Central African Republic (CAR) be investigated and those responsible be held to account in order to eliminate impunity for such abuses.

“To ensure that the near future does not reprise the nightmare of the recent past, the Government must take the steps to both extend and institutionalize its efforts to respect human rights and to eliminate impunity,” UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/A404FACC842F5E02C12573E80061CEC0?opendocument">said at the conclusion of his visit to the CAR.

Government troops and rebel forces in the CAR continue to clash – mostly in the country’s northern areas – despite ongoing talks of a peace agreement. The ongoing insecurity has led to a severe humanitarian crisis, forcing an estimated 200,000 people to become internally displaced and thousands of others to flee to Chad or Cameroon as refugees.

In a statement issued in the capital Bangui, Mr. Alston noted that while President François Bozizé has shown that he has the power to prevent the military from committing human rights abuses, “it is still too early to conclude that the Government has definitively turned a new page.”

While he reported that the number of extrajudicial executions carried out by the armed forces in the north has fallen “dramatically” over the past six months, owing to a decrease in the fighting, “this is not to say that all executions have ceased.”

Mr. Alston noted that although there has been a dramatic decline in executions related to armed conflicts in the north, individual soldiers have not been prosecuted.  “It is unsurprising, then, that this impunity has allowed soldiers to continue to use lethal violence for a range of personal and corrupt ends,” he stated.

In addition, he received credible reports that torture and extrajudicial executions occur on a regular basis while suspects are in police custody or detention facilities.  

The Special Rapporteur acknowledged that there are officials trying to put an end to abuses and ensure that the current mechanisms in place are effective, and their efforts need to be strengthened and supported.

He cited the need for officials to acknowledge the killings that have taken place and respond to allegations of abuses. “While the President has taken some important steps and even issued a limited apology, the Government as a whole has generally been in denial about killings by security forces,” he noted.

In addition, the Government must start prosecuting those who bear individual criminal responsibility for killings, and it is also crucial to reform the security sector and regain the trust of the population.  

Among his recommendations, Mr. Alston stressed that soldiers should be instructed to obey international human rights and humanitarian law. The Government, for its part, should effectively investigate the range of serious allegations of human rights abuses made against the security forces and provide a detailed public response.

Noting that the current arrangement for international human rights monitoring and assistance is unsatisfactory, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should open an office in the CAR. In addition, the Government should establish a national human rights commission that is independent and fully complies with all relevant international standards.

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The trucks were carrying paper for schoolbooks, from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as sugar and wheat flour from the World Food Programme (WFP). Commercial imports of dairy products and frozen meat also made it through.

Earlier this week, 31 truckloads of aid and commercial goods arrived into Gaza through the Sufa and Karni crossings.

UN agencies’ stocks of essential goods in Gaza have been dwindling for several weeks, ever since Israeli authorities imposed tight restrictions on entry to and exit from the area where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians live.

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that because of continued fuel reductions from Israel, the majority of Gazan households are still dealing with power cuts lasting eight hours a day.

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KENYA: UN REPORTS IMPROVED SECURITY, STEPS UP AID TO DISPLACED

New York, Feb  7 2008  5:00PM
The United Nations said today that security has improved slightly in Kenya, where the unrest sparked by December’s disputed elections has uprooted over 300,000 people from their homes and agencies are increasing efforts to aid those affected.

At the same time, the UN Country Team reported sporadic violence in Kericho, Eldoret, Kisumu and the capital, Nairobi, and called the humanitarian situation “precarious.”  

According to the Kenya Red Cross Society, there are now some 325,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) said that UN teams will step up the delivery of aid to more than 39,000 IDPs spread out in 15 camps in the North Rift Valley. Medicine, food and water are the most pressing needs for the IDPs.

On Tuesday, the World Food Programme (<"www.wfp.org">WFP) handed out some 80 tons of food at 11 IDP camps. Around 2,000 displaced children under the age of 5 also received supplementary food items to prevent malnutrition. The agency also noted that enrolment in UN-assisted schools in Nairobi slums is some 28 per cent lower than before the outbreak of violence.

Meanwhile, the Government of Uganda now estimates there are 12,000 Kenyan refugees on its soil, based on a joint tally with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR).

On the political front, the mediation team led by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recently reported progress in negotiations between the Government and the opposition.  

While welcoming that development, the Security Council yesterday expressed its strong concern at the continuing dire humanitarian situation in the country.  In a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9242.doc.htm">presidential statement, the 15-member body also requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report on how the UN can further support the mediation efforts in Kenya, as well as on the impact of the crisis on the wider sub-region and UN operations in that area.

Mr. Ban has dispatched UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes to Kenya, and he is scheduled to arrive in Nairobi tomorrow for a three-day mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the country.

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CENTRAL AFRICAN REFUGEES MAY SUFFER AGAIN BECAUSE OF CHAD’S CRISIS – UN OFFICIAL

New York, Feb  6 2008  6:00PM
The top United Nations humanitarian official voiced grave concern today that about 50,000 Central African refugees who have been living in Chad will be uprooted again because of the widespread violence in the impoverished African nation.

Nearly 6,000 people have fled the Central African Republic (CAR) for southern Chad in the past two months alone, escaping violent clashes between Government forces and armed opposition groups and brutal attacks by bandits in the north of their homeland.

“These are people who have lost everything,” said John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “The current crisis in Chad means that they risk being uprooted and displaced again.”

Fighting between Government forces and armed opposition groups in Chad has engulfed the landlocked country in the past week, reaching the capital, N’Djamena, and forcing as many as 30,000 civilians to flee into Cameroon.

Toby Lanzer, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in the CAR, said the aid community that is based in that country stood ready to help all civilians.

“The crisis currently touching the Chad-CAR-Sudan nexus is regional, and – as usual – civilians will bear the brunt of violence,” he said.

Up to 197,000 Central Africans live as internally displaced persons (IDPs), while some 98,000 others are refugees in either Cameroon, Chad or Sudan. UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) need $92.6 million this year to carry out their work.

Following the violence in Chad, the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/chad_42761.html">UNICEF) reported that an inter-agency team dispatched to northern Cameroon has begun assessing how much food, water, medicine and shelter the new refugees will need to have basic living conditions.

UNICEF is also readying blankets and school supplies for about 10,000 children and preparing to give out vitamins and re-hydration salts and immunize the Chadians against potential outbreaks of measles and meningitis.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have all expressed deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Chad over the past week.

Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (<"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1097">UNFPA) has warned that pregnant women and their children are particularly at risk during the current crisis as their access to maternal health-care facilities becomes sharply reduced.

“We know that in any refugee crisis, one in five women of child-bearing age may be pregnant,” said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director.

The agency is supplying clean delivery kits, which include plastic sheeting, razor blades and soap, to ensure safe delivery to displaced Chadians.

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UN CALLS FOR END TO ATTACKS AGAINST AID WORKERS ASSISTING VULNERABLE AFGHANS

New York, Feb  5 2008 12:00PM
United Nations officials in Afghanistan have called for an immediate halt to attacks against aid workers trying to assist vulnerable communities with food, medicine and warm clothing amid recent heavy snowfall and a rise in food prices.

In addition to assaulting aid convoys, there were three rocket attacks against UN facilities in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, and public threats made against UN staff.

“These attacks must stop – they are preventing us from reaching those families who need our help the most,” Hassan Elhag, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office in Herat, told reporters.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) last year lost 410 tons of food – valued at around $350,000 – to attacks on aid convoys and looting by criminal gangs.  

Despite difficulties WFP said it had already delivered over 500 tons of food to those families most in need while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are continuing to deliver warm clothing, shelter and heating to help families cope with frigid temperatures.

By the end of 2007, humanitarian actors in Afghanistan were operating under much tighter security restrictions, owing to insecurity on the ground. According to UNAMA, the restrictions were curtailing the efforts of the UN and its partners to deliver essential supplies to those who need it most during the country’s harsh winter season.

“In the coming months we need to reach around 4 million vulnerable Afghan people across the country with over 14,000 tons of essential food,” Mr. Elhag stated. “Without safe passage for our staff and convoys these people will suffer.”

“We need all parties to recognise that the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people must come first, above fighting and above politics,” he added.

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MYANMAR: UN RIGHTS EXPERT DISMAYED OVER CONTINUED ARRESTS, DETENTIONS

New York, Feb  5 2008 12:00PM
Nearly five months after Myanmar’s forceful crackdown on peaceful protesters, political and human rights activists continue to be arrested, detained and sentenced to prison, an independent United Nations expert said today.

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, also voiced concern about the well-being of those being detained.

“Reports have been received expressing serious concerns regarding the health conditions of some of the prisoners who require immediate care and specific medication,” Mr. Pinheiro said in a statement issued today in Geneva.

Calling the ongoing prosecutions “a flagrant abuse” of people’s right to a free and fair trial in accordance with internationally recognized standards, he stressed that the Government has “a prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The Special Rapporteur visited Myanmar last November to verify allegations of abuses during the Government crackdown in the summer of 2007, determine the numbers and whereabouts of those detained or killed, and collect testimony about what happened.

He found that at least 31 people died during the crackdown – 16 more than had been acknowledged by the Government – and that between 3,000 and 4,000 people were arrested in September and October.  

The UN Human Rights Council, to which Mr. Pinheiro reports, has requested him to conduct a follow-up mission to look into ongoing human rights violations before the Council’s next session in March.

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WORSENING SECURITY HAMPERING RELIEF EFFORT IN SOMALIA, SAYS UN

New York, Feb  5 2008  4:00PM
Efforts to help Somalis who have been forced to flee their homes due to the violence engulfing their nation have never been as restricted as they are now, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080">OCHA) said today.

Roadblocks, shelling and attacks in the capital Mogadishu, along with rising threats against and targeting of aid workers, have severely limited the humanitarian community’s ability to operate, according to OCHA.

Just last week, a roadside bomb near the southern Somali town of Kismayo killed three humanitarian workers serving with the international non-governmental organization (NGO) Médecins Sans Frontières.

The worsening security situation has also led to an increase in the vulnerable population. Over the past two months, some 40,000 people have fled Mogadishu. The UN refugee agency (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) puts the total number of those displaced by the ongoing fighting since the end of last October at over 294,000.

OCHA has stressed the urgent need for the political and security issues in the troubled Horn of Africa nation to be addressed “in a robust way to create an environment conducive for humanitarian response and eventual recovery.”

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SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS EMERGENCY SESSION AS SECURITY CRISIS WORSENS IN CHAD

New York, Feb  4 2008 11:00AM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for an immediate to the fighting engulfing Chad as the Security Council held emergency consultations to discuss the worsening situation inside the country, where heavy fighting between Government forces and opposition groups has reached parts of the capital, N’Djamena.
  </p>  
Mr. Ban is “profoundly alarmed by the dangerous situation,” his spokesperson said in a statement issued at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
  </p>  
“He is particularly concerned at the deterioration of the serious humanitarian situation of some 285,000 refugees and 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as host communities, in eastern Chad, where the international community is actively engaged in providing life-saving assistance.”
  </p>  
The statement stressed the need to end hostilities and engage in dialogue to avoid further bloodshed, and also called on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety and security of civilians, UN staff and any other international humanitarian workers.
  </p>  
Mr. Ban “appeals to all countries in the region to respect the inviolability of international borders and to prevent any incursions from being launched from within their territory.”
  </p>  
Council members went into emergency consultations this afternoon after a request from Panama, which holds the monthly presidency of the 15-member panel. Tonight, Ambassador Ricardo Alberto Arias told journalists that the consultations have been adjourned until tomorrow morning.
  </p>  
Meanwhile, the senior UN official in the neighbouring war-wracked Darfur region of Sudan today voiced his deep concern, warning that the violence could spill over the border and further destabilize Darfur.
  </p>  
Rodolphe Adada, the UN-African Union Joint Special Representative (JSR) for Darfur, also deplored the recent spike in armed attacks against humanitarian workers operating in eastern Chad, according to a press statement issued by UNAMID, the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
  </p>  
Those attacks, particularly in the town of Guereda, led to the evacuation of most UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) staff from eastern Chad last week, ahead of the resumption in fierce fighting between Government forces and opposition groups.
  </p>  
“Bearing in mind the strong historical and ethnic bonds between Sudan and Chad, which share a long border, the JSR further notes that the African continent in particular and the international community in general do not wish to see another bloody conflict in the region, and urges all parties to exercise self-restraint,” the media statement said.

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UN AGENCIES BEGIN HANDING OUT RELIEF IN WAKE OF DEADLY QUAKE IN DR CONGO

New York, Feb  4 2008  7:00PM
United Nations humanitarian agencies have started distributing emergency relief supplies, including food, tents and surgical kits, to thousands of people living in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which was hit by a major earthquake yesterday.

At least 34 people are confirmed to have been killed and 300 others injured as a result of the quake, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale, which struck the province of South Kivu about 7:35 yesterday morning, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1080">OCHA).

The epicentre of the temblor was about 20 kilometres north of the provincial capital Bukavu, and close to the border with Rwanda, where damage has also been reported. Parts of neighbouring Burundi were also affected, while the region has been shaken by a series of aftershocks.

Nearly 100 buildings have collapsed in Bukavu alone, and more than 800 rendered uninhabitable, while the local dam and hospital have also been damaged. Schools, churches and a hospital were also damaged in the towns of Kabare and Katana, which are both closer to the quake’s epicentre.

In Bukavu, the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) and its local aid partners have started handing out emergency health and surgical kits and extra health personnel to help two local hospitals treat the wounded.

The UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) estimates that more than 500 tents are urgently needed to provide shelter for Congolese who have lost their home, as well as supplies of drinking water. More food, tents and plastic sheeting are expected to be delivered tomorrow.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also working with UN agencies to assess the situation and determine how best to bring relief to locals, who are already suffering from months of fighting in the region between Government forces and armed rebels.

Across the border in Rwanda, the UN Resident Coordinator met other UN officials and dispatched an assessment team to the town of Rusizi, close to the border with the DRC. Psycho-social support to the victims of the quake is seen as a priority issue.

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BAN KI-MOON CALLS ON KENYANS TO ‘WAKE UP’ AND HALT VIOLENCE

New York, Feb  1 2008  1:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all Kenyans to stop the violence that has torn apart their nation in recent weeks, claiming over 800 lives and displacing more than a quarter of a million people.  

“The killing must stop. The violence must end for the sake of the Kenyan people, for the sake of Kenya,” Mr. Ban said at a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1127">press conference in the capital, Nairobi.

Mr. Ban is in Kenya to give his full support to the Panel of Eminent African Persons, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which is trying to resolve the crisis that began just over a month ago after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in December elections.

In a meeting yesterday with President Kibaki on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Mr. Ban encouraged the Kenyan leader to move toward a quick resolution of the crisis.  On arrival in Nairobi today, the Secretary-General met with Mr. Odinga, as well as Mr. Annan and his mediation team.

Pointing to a humanitarian crisis that is “unprecedented” in Kenya, Mr. Ban called on all political leaders to look beyond individual or partisan interests and resolve their differences peacefully.

“The people and leaders of Kenya, particularly political leaders, have the duty, and the responsibility, to wake up and reverse this tragic path before it escalates into the horrors of mass killings and devastation we have witnessed in recent history,” he stated.

As the violence persists in parts of the country, UN agencies and their partners are continuing to assist the Government and the Kenya Red Cross in providing relief to those affected.

The UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/">WFP) says the violence affecting the main roads through the Rift Valley and towards Uganda in recent days has interrupted the transportation of commercial food as well as food aid.  Trucks carrying WFP food could go from Mombasa to Nairobi without escort, but escorts were necessary when the trucks drove out of Nairobi and through the Rift Valley. Rising fuel prices were also affecting food delivery.

The agency also notes a shortage of food in the markets around the country, and an increase in food prices. To date, WFP has helped distribute food to more than 185,000 displaced persons in the Rift Valley and the western provinces.

Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) has warned that displaced Kenyans around Nairobi, Eldoret, Nakuru and Naivasha are lacking critical health care.

The number of sites hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) appears to increase every day, and an initial assessment by WHO has found that these sites are very crowded, with poor shelter, water supply and sanitation.  In some camps, there is only one toilet for every 500 people.  The most prevalent health concerns in all sites are diarrhoea in children, and acute respiratory infections.

Reports of violence continue in Nakuru, Eldoret, and Naivasha, all towns which already host hundreds of IDPs.  WHO also notes that hospitals are reporting a “dramatic” increase in cases of sexual violence.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47a341392.html">UNHCR) yesterday ferried more supplies from Nairobi to three displacement sites some 30 kilometres outside of the Kenyan capital in the wake of new evictions of nearly 10,000 non-indigenous communities working mainly in tea plantations and flower farms around Tigoni.

UNHCR immediately handed over 1,800 family kits, enough for 9,000 people, and 25 lightweight tents to the Kenyan Red Cross for distribution to the IDPs in the three towns.

The agency has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Red Cross by which it will provide emergency shelter and basic household items, assist with camp coordination and management, and strengthen systems for IDP registration. The Government of Kenya and the Kenya Red Cross estimate there are now more than 250,000 IDPs living in over 300 IDP sites in various parts of the country.

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ALARMED AT RESUMED CLASHES IN CHAD, BAN KI-MOON URGES PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT

New York, Feb  1 2008  2:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced deep concern at the deteriorating security situation inside Chad, where fierce fighting has resumed between Government forces and opposition groups, and called on the parties to settle their differences peacefully.

In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=2981">statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban “deplores any action that could worsen the already grave humanitarian situation, especially in eastern Chad, where the international community is actively engaged in activities to provide relief and secure the voluntary, safe and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR).”

He also reiterated the United Nations’ long-standing condemnation of the use of military means to try to seize power.

“The Secretary-General calls on all parties to abide by their commitments under the different peace accords signed by them and to urgently resort to dialogue to reach a peaceful and negotiated settlement of this latest crisis.”

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/47a1eafc2.html">UNHCR) has already had to evacuate most of its staff from the town of Guereda in eastern Chad because of the renewed tensions between the Government and rebels and because of a series of armed attacks in the area against agency staff and aid workers with non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Yesterday the international staff of both UN agencies and NGOs who are based in the capital, N’Djamena, located in the southwest of the impoverished country, were also advised to stay at home because of the tensions.

Last year the Security Council authorized the deployment of a multi-dimensional UN presence in eastern Chad and north-eastern CAR, including a peacekeeping mission to be known as MINURCAT, to stabilize the region. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is currently continuing its preparations to set up the mission.

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UNSCO said the trucks entered Gaza through the Karni and Sufa crossings, and Israeli authorities informed the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at 11 p.m. yesterday that they could bring in trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing today.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters that while WFP only had time to prepare one truck for transport, UNRWA managed to have 12 trucks containing milk and rice ready to go.

But when those trucks arrived at Kerem Shalom this morning, the crossing was closed and all 13 trucks had to return to the town of Ashdod. Returning the trucks costs UNRWA more than $8,000.

UNSCO also reports that fuel supplies continue to go through to Gaza as planned, although electricity cuts are ongoing and about 40 per cent of the estimated 1.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza do not have regular access to water.

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“Close partnerships are crucial for addressing the continent’s peace and security challenges,” Mr. Ban told the opening session of the AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was dominated by the post-electoral turmoil in Kenya.

The Secretary-General reminded the gathered leaders of the “alarming” developments in Kenya, where more than 800 people have already lost their lives, and more than a quarter of a million have been displaced, in the aftermath of disputed elections last month.

Mr. Ban, who is travelling to Nairobi tomorrow, called on President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to “do everything possible to resolve the sources of the crisis peacefully.”

In his address, the Secretary-General highlighted the “long-standing and fruitful” collaboration between the two organizations, whether in the fields of peace and security, regional integration, human rights or development.

That partnership was most evident in the recent hand-over of authority from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMI to the UN-AU hybrid mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in a bid to end the tragedy in the war-torn Sudanese region.

He added that the AU and the UN are also working together to bring a negotiated political settlement to the crisis, which has already led to the death of some 200,000 people and the displacement of another 2.2 million.

The partnership between the UN and AU was also vital in helping to resolve other conflicts on the continent, such as in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in northern Uganda and in Somalia.

Mr. Ban also drew attention to the world body’s efforts to ensure more effective support to countries, including Burundi, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, striving to make the transition from war to lasting peace.

The UN’s efforts also extend to helping African countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the pledges made by world leaders to slash poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy by 2015, as well as to promote human rights, and address the threats posed by climate change, Mr. Ban told the gathering.

The Secretary-General had bilateral meetings with several leaders at the summit, including Mr. Kibaki, who he encouraged to move toward a quick resolution of the crisis in Kenya. They discussed the humanitarian situation there, as well as Mr. Ban’s visit.

The Secretary-General also met with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and said he was encouraged by the arrangements agreed to between Algeria and the UN for the forthcoming investigative panel looking into the 11 December Algiers terrorist attack.

In addition, he also met with Prime Minister Guillaume Soro of Côte d'Ivoire, with whom he discussed the Ouagadougou Accords and the elections that are to take place this June, which the UN will support.

In a meeting with President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, the Secretary-General talked about the President’s nomination to head the Economic Community of West African States, as well as Burkina Faso’s current role on the Security Council and the situations in Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea.

Mr. Ban is also scheduled to meet today with the Prime Ministers of Somalia and Guinea and the Presidents of Benin and South Africa.

Meanwhile, in a message to the summit, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim noted that the AU and its members “have an impressive history of constructive participation in the General Assembly’s work.”

Mr. Kerim added that he hoped the AU’s leadership would help to chart a way forward on “the pressing need to make progress on Security Council reform.”

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The UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide an $11 loan to the Small-scale Irrigation and Water Management Project, which will be carried out in six provinces in the south-west of the country.

Because these half-dozen provinces border Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, two of the region’s most vibrant economies, it is hoped that the new initiative will increase both national and cross-border trade.

“There is a new political will to boost small-scale irrigated agriculture in the country,” said Norman Messer, IFAD’s country programme manager for Burkina Faso. “New, affordable micro-irrigation technologies and improved roads to get products to markets will encourage farmers to take advantage of the emerging opportunities for increasing incomes in the region.”

The Project will kick off with an information, education and communication campaign, and seeks to add to participants’ ability to intensify and diversify crops as well as support marketing activities.

The scheme will also work in conflict-affected communities in the six provinces where there has been an influx of migrants, resulting in a situation where there is less available land for greater numbers of people. Enhancing irrigation is a means of producing higher-value crops on smaller plots of land, which in turn will provide a way to ease population pressure and alleviate potential conflict.

Among other activities, the Project will build some 250 hectares of vegetable gardens with low-pressure micro-irrigation technology, and it is estimated that by its fifth year, the scheme will increase annual agricultural production by 4,700 tons of rice, 1,800 tons of vegetables, 314 tons of maize and 1,700 tons of bananas.

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Briefing the press at UN Headquarters in New York after visiting existing or nascent UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the key troop-contributing country India, Mr. Clooney said the Darfur force (known as UNAMID) was still missing key capacities such as helicopters and trucks.

He said the troops in the mission – many of whom also served in the earlier, under-resourced AU mission to Darfur – deserved appropriate resources to quell violence and bring stability to the region, where at least 200,000 people have been killed since 2003.

“Either give them [the UNAMID peacekeepers] the basic tools for protecting the population and themselves, or have the decency to just bring them all home. Because you can’t do it halfway,” he said. “Bring them home and shut off your TV and your radio and your phones and the Internet and go back into the offices and wait until it’s all over.”

Mr. Clooney said that during his visit to Darfur, he noticed that locals witnessing the arrival of UN peacekeepers have started to “feel a new energy in the air. They feel for the first time that this is the moment that the rest of the world, all of the nations, united, are stepping in to help them…

“When I stood in the hospital next to women who had been raped and set on fire two days earlier, they looked up to me and said, ‘Please send the UN.’ Not the US; not China; not Russia; just the UN. You’re their only hope.”

Mr. Clooney, who travelled with Assistant Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute, the Officer-in-Charge of the Department of Field Support, and other UN staff, said the Sudanese Government must for its part make sure it does not obstruct the peacekeepers from carrying out their work and provide protection to aid workers from rebel attacks.

“These peacekeepers are not an occupying force. They are not there to spread democracy or infringe on religious beliefs. The [DR] Congo is proof of that.”

He also stressed that Darfur’s vast population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) held the Government or its allied Janjaweed militia for them having to flee their homes.

“Millions are homeless – not from famine, or disease, or acts of God, but from a well-armed militia intent on ridding the land of its people.”

But he noted that the situation has become increasingly complicated as rebel groups fight each other and attack civilians, resulting in “a vacuum of justice, of civility, of local government, land rights, humanity. As in any apocalypse, the ones left standing begin to fight for survival. The rebel groups can and have engaged in horrific acts of violence.”

Mr. Clooney said a durable peace will only emerge when all the parties sit down together “and begin the long process of talks. There’s 2.5 million people who want to go back to their homes and not live in misery.”

Before briefing the press today, Mr. Clooney was formally presented with a Messenger of Peace certificate and dove pin by Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro. The Oscar-winning artist was officially designated as a Messenger of Peace, with a special focus on peacekeeping, earlier this month.

He also held talks with Ms. Holl Lute and the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kiyotaka Akasaka.

Asked about his status as a celebrity Messenger of Peace, Mr. Clooney observed that it was becoming increasingly difficult challenge to get “things that are truly important to us” on the news or the international radar.

“It seems as if at times celebrity can bring that focus. It can’t make the policies, it can’t change people’s minds really. But you can bring a camera where you go because they’ll follow you and you can shine a light on it. That seems to be my job in this.”

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UN FOOD AGENCY HELPING 37,000 FLOOD VICTIMS IN BOLIVIA

New York, Jan 30 2008  6:00PM
The United Nations World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=31">WFP) is assisting 37,000 people affected by floods in Bolivia, a spokesperson for the world body announced today.

The assistance is now going to Beni, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, but the agency is also planning to provide food to 25,000 people in other affected departments, according to the spokesperson.

WFP is working with the UN Children’s Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) and their partner Télécom Sans Frontières to ensure emergency telecommunications.

UNICEF-Bolivia is ready to assist with tents, mobile schools, water filters and chlorine, if requested, the spokesperson reported.

Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA) has allocated $40,000 in emergency cash grants to support immediate humanitarian operations in Bolivia.

Since November, severe flooding in Bolivia has killed 36 people, according to the Government.

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Mr. Ban also pledged $10,000 from his personal resources to a fund set up by the Government to assist the survivors of the genocide, and help in the education of hundreds of orphans.

“Today, one of my priorities as Secretary-General is to translate the concept of our Responsibility to Protect from words to deeds, to ensure timely action so that populations do not face genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity ever again,” Mr. Ban told the Parliament.

Often referred to as R2P, the Responsibility to Protect doctrine was adopted by national leaders meeting at a UN summit in 2005 and holds that States must protect their own populations – and the international community must step in if they do not.

“It is imperative that we all work closely together to address the root causes of conflicts to ensure that the atrocities that took place here 14 years ago do not occur again, anywhere in the world,” the Secretary-General said today.

He paid tribute to the “courage and determination of the Rwandan people” for moving from successful recovery towards long-term sustainable development.

But Mr. Ban also acknowledged the “daunting challenges” that Rwanda still faces. Among these he cited in particular sexual and gender-based violence, urging Parliament to quickly adopt legislation designed to end impunity and extend support to survivors.

“Rwanda owes its remarkable recovery to the strength and dignity of its people. As you move forward along the path of peace, development and democratic governance, you will have the sustained support and partnership of the entire United Nations family,” Mr. Ban said.

Speaking at the Genocide Memorial, Mr. Ban honoured the more than 800,000 people who lost their lives in 1994. The killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus, mostly by machete or club, swept Rwanda in less than 100 days starting in early April of that year.

“This genocide here will haunt the United Nations, and the international community, for generations to come,” said Mr. Ban.

“This memorial was built so all of us may learn and remember the worst that humankind can do. Let us resolve to build a global architecture to uphold the best humankind can do. I will do all I can to advance that mission,” he pledged.

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According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 19 people had been killed in Naivasha on Sunday and 12 people had been killed in Nakuru yesterday, following violent massacres and the torching of houses.

Nearly 700 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, which first began a few weeks ago after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in December elections. The crisis has also forced some 255,000 to flee their homes.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Kigali earlier today that he was deeply concerned by the situation in Kenya, the mounting death toll, and the ethnic clashes.

Responding to questions in a joint press conference with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Mr. Ban said he discussed the situation this morning by telephone with former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading the mediation effort in Kenya as part of the African Union (AU) Panel of Eminent Personalities.

The Secretary-General added that he is going to meet tomorrow on recent developments in Kenya with African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for the AU summit.

On the humanitarian front, the worsening security situation has hindered the efforts of UN agencies and their partners to assist those affected. While the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is continuing to distribute food to displaced Kenyans and slum dwellers, the agency yesterday cancelled a new round of food distribution in the shantytowns surrounding the capital of Nairobi because of security concerns.

The distribution, which began last Thursday, was targeting over 73,000 people in 13 sites around Nairobi, but only 32,400 had received aid before the distribution was stopped. WFP’s Christiane Berthiaume said the situation was “grave” in the shantytowns as most people had lost their houses as well as their work.

The agency is facing a similar situation in the Rift Valley Province, where a planned food distribution to IDPs that began on Friday was also interrupted. Insecurity was also threatening the transport of food supplies, with truck drivers refusing to leave Mombasa. WFP is hoping to get security escorts for its supply convoys.

There is increasing concern about the toll the violence is taking on women and children. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that between 80,000 and 100,000 children were now in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Spokesperson Veronique Taveau told a press briefing in Geneva that despite a bad sanitary situation and a lack of clean drinking water in the camps, it was harder and harder for UNICEF teams to move about the country and to deliver emergency aid.

Some schools had been able to open, and some had been set up in tents in the IDP camps, but children were not safe from the violence even there, she said, noting that schoolchildren had had to flee a temporary school in one of the camps yesterday after threats by a group of youths wielding machetes.

UNICEF also reports increasing cases of sexual violence. Recently, a UNICEF protection team at a camp in the Northern Rift Valley was interviewing young women who had been raped, when a group of over a dozen men appeared, threatening the women that if they continued to testify, they and their children would be subjected to renewed sexual violence.

A UNICEF representative, who reported the incident to the camp security authorities, was told “there is nothing going on in the camp. Everything is fine.”

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the worsening security situation in various parts of Kenya’s Rift Valley province has hindered access to IDPs. Yesterday, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called off a planned evacuation of up to 400 people from Timboroa, an area some 60 kilometres from the town of Eldoret, where some 11,000 fresh IDPs have fled following weekend attacks on their homes.

“UNHCR had expected to work with IOM and other agencies to register IDPs wishing to leave the area and explain to them their options regarding evacuation,” UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters. He added that a similar evacuation of IDPs from Naivasha was also shelved for now owing to the security situation.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Uganda, where some 6,500 Kenyans have fled since the violence first erupted a month ago, the agency and its partners are continuing to relocate refugees away from border areas to a transit centre further inland in Mulanda. UNHCR is transferring relief supplies to the new transit centre, and refugees in Mulanda have been registered and provided ration cards for food, basic household commodities and other services, as well as a tent for each family.

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Only 32 truckloads of goods have entered Gaza since 18 January, when the comprehensive Israeli closures were imposed, the Office of the UN Special Coordinator (UNSCO) reported. This compares to a daily average of 250 truckloads before June last year.

UNSCO said a backlog of 224 trucks, belonging to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), has now accumulated.

WFP distribution programmes in some areas of Gaza – home to an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians – have already run out of sugar and salt, and UNSCO said the threat of malnutrition is increasing.

Stressing that UN operations must continue, UNSCO officials note that the influx of goods across the border from Egypt into Gaza is only temporary. They add that the situation is being further complicated because the UN’s Palestinian staff that have permits to exit Gaza are currently not allowed to do so.

WHO is also concerned that Gaza’s fuel distributors are on strike in response to the Israeli border restrictions, which means the territory’s health care facilities are not getting the fuel they need. A team of UN staff is planning to meet with representatives of the Distributors Union tomorrow to encourage them to allow the fuel to flow.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that some water wells are functioning again after being reconnected to electricity and functioning generators. But 40 per cent of Gazans still have limited access to safe water.

Israel has said its restrictions on border crossings and imports of goods aim to force an end to the daily rocket and mortar attacks launched against Israeli residential areas by militants in Gaza.

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The border crossings have been closed since last Wednesday, when only Jordanian trucks were allowed through the Sufa crossing, according to the Office of the UN Special Coordinator (UNSCO) in Jerusalem.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says it has about 200 trucks that need to get into Gaza to distribute supplies to some of the occupied territory’s estimated 1.4 million residents. The World Food Programme (WFP) has about 40 trucks of its own that also need to get through.

UNRWA said that it will be out of canned meat by the end of this week unless further shipments are permitted, adding it is working with Israeli authorities to find alternative solutions to allow the goods into Gaza.

At the same time, UNSCO noted that fuel imports into Gaza have resumed: 315,000 litres came in yesterday and more than 500,000 litres arrived today. Rolling electricity cuts continue nevertheless, especially in Gaza City.

Israel has said its tight restrictions on border crossings aim to force an end to the daily rocket and mortar attacks launched against Israeli residential areas by militants in Gaza.

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Offering his condolences to the victims’ families, Mr. Ban reminded the country’s Government “of its obligation to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers operating in Somalia,” according to a statement issued by his spokesperson, and he also called on authorities to mount a thorough investigation of the attack.

The statement noted that Mr. Ban “is also deeply concerned about the security of civilians and aid workers in Somalia and reminds all parties in the country that they have a responsibility under international law to protect them at all times.”

Media reports say the four people were killed after the bomb detonated today near the southern Somali town of Kismayo. The three aid workers who lost their lives served with Médecins Sans Frontières.

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Francis Deng urged national and local leaders on all sides to publicly call for an end to the violence and to statements inciting violence, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe told reporters in New York.

Mr. Deng is dispatching one of his staff members to Kenya as soon as possible to examine the situation, Ms. Okabe added.

Nearly 700 people are believed to have been killed in the violence, which first began a few weeks ago after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in December elections. The crisis has also forced some 255,000 to flee their homes.

Noting that political and community leaders may be held accountable for violations of international law committed at their instigation, Mr. Deng urged them to meet their responsibility to protect the civilian population and prevent the violence.

The Special Adviser echoed High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour in calling on the Kenyan Government to abide by its international human rights obligations in responding to demonstrations, including holding police accountable for their actions.

Meanwhile, the UN country team reports that over the weekend, the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners distributed one-week food rations to more than 30,000 people in six Nairobi slums. It also distributed two-week rations to nearly that many people in the Kisumu slums, and began its first distributions in Nakuru.

WFP also delivered seven metric tons of corn-soya blend and split peas to the Nyanza Provincial Hospital for supplementary feeding managed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The security situation continues to delay the delivery of aid, and WFP is working with the Government to ensure military escorts to provide safe passage for trucks carrying supplies.

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The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had “an adverse impact on the right of individuals and communities to worship freely and to attend religious services at their respective holy places,” said Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, in a statement issued yesterday after an eight-day visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Ms. Jahangir noted that while there are “outstanding examples” of individuals in the region extending respect and tolerance to each other’s religions and beliefs, the “elaborate system of permits, visas, checkpoints and the Barrier” meant Muslims and Christians were impeded in their ability to worship at some of their most holy sites.

“While the Israeli Government informed me that these restrictions are necessary for security reasons, I would like to emphasize that any measure taken to combat terrorism must comply with the States’ obligations under international law, including freedom of religion or belief,” she said.

“These intrusive restrictions strike me as disproportionate to their aim, as well as discriminatory and arbitrary in their implementation. My concern also extends to problems of access to holy places revered by Jews.”

Ms. Jahangir also voiced concern at differences in the identity cards of Israelis and Palestinians: while the ethnicity of Israeli citizens is not stated on their cards, the religious affiliation of Palestinian residents of the occupied Palestinian territory is disclosed.

“In my opinion, to indicate the religious affiliation on official ID cards carries a serious risk of abuse, which has to be weighed against the possible reasons for disclosing the holder’s religion.”

The Special Rapporteur, who is unpaid, said religious minorities in Israel that she spoke to during her visit acknowledged there was no religious persecution by the State, but strands within Christianity, Judaism and Islam still experienced some forms of discrimination.

There were also concerns that Orthodox Jews enjoyed preferential treatment to other communities, she said, citing the example that a conversion to Judaism within Israel is only recognized if performed by the Orthodox Rabbinate.

Ms. Jahangir noted that while religious courts in Israel had, for historical reasons, jurisdiction over such issues as marriage and divorce, the authorities must still ensure equal treatment and human rights for all.

“I find it difficult to understand that under domestic law persons can be deemed to be ‘unmarriageable’; in this regard I was informed that more than 200,000 Israeli citizens and residents with no official religious designation are barred from marrying in Israel. I wish to emphasize that freedom of religion or belief also includes the right not to believe.”

In addition, Ms. Jahangir expressed concern that women seemed to particularly vulnerable to “the brunt of religious zeal,” with reports of honour killings in the name of religion conducted with impunity in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Some reports also indicate that women in the Gaza Strip have recently felt coerced into covering their heads, she said, while minorities have faced rising intolerance. Last October, a Christian librarian in Gaza City was kidnapped and killed.

“The question whether he was engaging in missionary activities or not is entirely irrelevant. This was a hideous crime and also a violation of his right to manifest his religion or belief.”

The Special Rapporteur stressed that a possible peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians should bind both sides to protect the rights of religious minorities, especially guarantees for equality and non-discrimination and for the preservation and peaceful access to holy sites.

A “major challenge” must also be effectively banning and punishing acts of incitement to religious hatred.

“Any violence committed in the name of religion, whether violent acts by zealous settlers or even worse in the form of suicide bombings by militant Islamists, should be denounced, investigated and sanctioned.”

During her trip, Ms. Jahangir visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Daliyat al Carmel, Haifa, Nazareth, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Qalqilya, and talked with Government officials, representatives of religious groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals.

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WFP is providing food rations consisting of rice, lentils, edible oil, blended food, salt and high energy biscuits, all delivered in collaboration with the Government and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners.

But the agency urgently needs $22 million to continue its emergency assistance up to mid-May for more than 2 million of the worst-affected people, the poorest and most vulnerable to food insecurity in the wake of Cyclone Sidr, which killed more than 3,000 people there when it hit coastal Bangladesh late last year.

“Food insecurity, coupled with rising food prices and high malnutrition rates, all point to the need for a continuing and strong relief response,” said WFP Bangladesh Country Director Douglas Broderick, citing a new assessment.

“We need immediate funding from international donors to continue the emergency food assistance that the survivors of Cyclone Sidr depend on.

“More food is needed for the poorest among the survivors who are trying to rebuild their homes and replant their fields for the next harvest,” said Mr. Broderick.

He said the high malnutrition rates also indicated the need for longer emergency feeding, at least through May when the next harvest comes and can be expected to assist the poorest in regaining some of their livelihoods and improving access to food.

Ongoing relief assistance will help to secure the food needs of many of the worst affected and most food insecure families and as such can prevent suffering associated with hunger, malnutrition, and the further deterioration of livelihoods, WFP said.

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Fuel reserves are also expected to run out on Sunday, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which has been warning all week about the deteriorating situation inside Gaza because of the closed border crossings and the restrictions on the supply of fuel, food, medicine and other essential items.

The situation now being faced by Gaza’s estimated 1.4 million inhabitants has also sparked concern from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour and other senior UN officials, with calls for Israel to immediately ease the restrictions.

OCHA said 300,000 litres of industrial fuel made it into Gaza today, but the area’s power plant has reduced its power output because of limited reserves, causing power cuts of up to eight hours a day.

About half of Gazan households have access to running water for only one or two hours a day, and the area’s waste water system is only partially functioning, resulting in the dumping of 30 million litres of untreated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea each day.

WFP – which has described the situation as a “serious food crisis” – has already been forced to reduce food rations to some of its recipients this week, while tensions have been rising at distribution points because of the limited availability of food.

In New York, the Security Council continued closed-door consultations on a draft presidential statement on the situation in Gaza.

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Unusually early torrential rains in the Zambezi river basin led to widespread flooding in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe in recent weeks.

UN agencies and their partners are continuing to assist flood victims in the affected areas. In anticipation of this year’s rainy season, emergency supplies, including shelter and non-food items, had already been pre-positioned in several strategic locations in flood-prone areas.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is continuing to deliver food via helicopter to a resettlement centre in Mozambique that houses roughly 13,000 people. The agency has also provided Mozambican authorities with three boats to assist in rescue and evacuation operations and some people are stranded in areas that cannot be reached by road. Some parts of three provinces – Tete, Sofala and Manica – are now inaccessible by land.

This is the second time in a year that central Mozambique has been hit hard by floods. Since January last year, when the Zambezi valley was inundated, WFP has provided relief assistance to about 190,000 people.

Meanwhile, WFP is also providing food assistance to 7,000 affected families in Bolivia, where heavy rains since November have caused severe flooding and resulted in more than 20 deaths. The Government, which has declared a state of emergency, estimates that around 20,000 families have been affected in several areas of the country.

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Ethiopia and Eritrea should end their exchange of hostile statements, return to December 2004 levels of deployment in the border areas and provide the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) with the necessary assistance, support and protection so that it can fulfil its mandate, Mr. Ban says in his latest report to the Security Council on the work of the mission.

He writes that Eritrea must also immediately withdraw all troops and heavy military equipment from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) and reverse all restrictions on the movement and operations of UNMEE, including fuel supplies, which were stopped at the start of last month.

“I am seriously concerned that, if not resolved immediately, the stoppage of fuel supplies since 1 December 2007 will completely immobilize the Mission operations in the coming few weeks,” the Secretary-General says, noting that UNMEE would have to relocate staff and equipment.

The restrictions have become so crippling that Mr. Ban says they require a Council decision on UNMEE’s future, and he recommends that the mission’s mandate have a one-month technical rollover while the latest developments are monitored and assessed.

He encourages the two nations to resume the meetings of the Military Coordination Commission – there has been no such gathering since mid-2006 – as a way of developing confidence-building measures, such as mine clearance and ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches those in need.

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The statement passed by a roll-call vote of 30 in favour with Canada voting against it and 15 countries abstaining, following a special session that began yesterday. In it, the Council expressed its deep concern about “the series of incessant and repeated Israeli military attacks and incursions,” which it said had killed and injured many Palestinian civilians.

The resolution demanded “that the occupying Power, Israel, lift immediately the siege it has imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, restore continued supply of fuel, food and medicine and reopen the border crossings.”

It called for the immediate protection of civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory in line with human rights law and international humanitarian law, and urged all parties to refrain from violence against civilians.

The text, which was introduced by Syria in the name of the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, also called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Louise Arbour, to report to the Council at its next session on the progress made towards implementing the resolution.

Ms. Arbour told the Council’s special session yesterday that the situation for both Palestinians and Israelis will continue to deteriorate unless both parties to the conflict and the international community take broader steps to action.

“All parties concerned should put an end to the vicious spiral of violence before it becomes unstoppable,” she said. “To this end, they must ensure accountability for breaches of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law through credible, independent, and transparent investigations.”

Ms. Arbour added that the Israeli practice of collective punishment, disproportionate use of force and targeted killings continued, as did the Palestinian militants’ practice of indiscriminate firing of mortars and rockets into Israel.

The Council held the special session this week amid mounting concern at the UN, including from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, about the humanitarian situation facing Gaza’s 1.4 million residents as a result of the closure of the border crossings and the restrictions on the supply of food, fuel, medicine and other items.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Special Coordinator’s Office (UNSCO) in Jerusalem reported that about 315,000 litres of industrial gas, 20,000 litres of benzene, 250,000 litres of diesel and 200 tons of cooking gas went from Israel into Gaza today.

A UN spokesperson told reporters in New York that while all of Gaza’s hospitals were still operating, only three received fuel supplies today.

UN staff say a shortage remains of benzene for hospital workers’ vehicles, with the World Food Programme (WFP) able to access some from the local commercial market but unsure of whether there is enough to last beyond the middle of next week.

No UN trucks were allowed to enter Gaza today and the area’s power plant has been rationing its remaining supplies to avoid a crisis this weekend.

WFP has called the situation “a serious food crisis,” with the access restrictions causing them to run out of food, which meant that the sick and elderly received only partial rations yesterday. Tensions rose at a distribution point after supplies of chickpeas, sugar and salt ran out.

The agency reported that the new security checks are causing a cost increase of nearly $50,000 per month to its operations in Gaza.

Meanwhile, this week the UN and its partners launched their largest-ever appeal to help the Palestinians, with $462 million being sought in 2008, making it the third biggest UN appeal in the world, after Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

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The Government estimates that 685 people have been killed in the violence, which first erupted in the East African nation a few weeks ago after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in December elections. The crisis has also forced some 255,000 to flee their homes.

According to UN security officials, seven people were killed in Kipkelion and 70 houses burned in the Aldai area of Rift Valley province. In addition, five people were shot dead and 30 shops burned in Trans Nzioa, while four people were killed in Korogocho, Huruma and Mathare slums.

Meanwhile, UN agencies have completed an assessment tour of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the town of Molo, where they found an urgent need for shelter, blankets, water and sanitation.

The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) sent teams out to several towns, including Nairobi and Eldoret, to assess damaged homes, and verify the number of persons and conditions in IDP camps, as well as review water and sanitation needs.

There is reportedly a scarcity of cooking fuel in several IDP camps, according to the UN Country Team, which noted that IDPs in Eldoret have begun burning construction material for cooking.

Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has continued its immunization campaign against measles and polio in all the IDP camps. And, working with Kenyan authorities, the World Food Programme (WFP) has finalized a new distribution plan to assist some 67,000 people affected and displaced by the crisis in the Rift Valley.

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The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported that Israel has introduced new security measures – mainly for sugar and flour – that are hampering the delivery of aid in Gaza, where Israel has imposed tight restrictions on border crossings to try to force an end to the daily rocket and mortar attacks launched against Israeli residential areas by militants in Gaza.

UNRWA said it had been able to get in three truckloads of powdered milk today, but had been hoping to get nine truckloads, while an expected truckload of medicines never made it through.

But the agency also noted that it has received materials that will allow it to continue its food distribution operations inside Gaza, where about 1.5 million people live in an area 25 miles long and no more than six miles wide.

UNRWA has been warning in recent days that it will have to halt its many relief programmes to about 800,000 Palestinians in Gaza unless Israel lifts the closure of the crossings.

In an opinion column today in The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom, UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Koning AbuZayd said, “Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution.”

Ms. AbuZayd stated that the restrictions mean the overwhelming majority of residents cannot enter or leave Gaza and fuel and electricity supplies are running out, threatening basic infrastructure such as health-care facilities.

“Medication is in short supply, and hospitals are paralyzed by power failures and the shortage of fuel for generators,” she wrote. “Hospital infrastructure and essential pieces of equipment are breaking down at an alarming rate, with limited possibility of repair or maintenance as spare parts are not available.”

Ms. AbuZayd added that the crisis in Gaza was undermining efforts to foster a spirit of moderation and compromise among Palestinians.

“There are already indications that the severity of the closure is playing into the hands of those who have no desire for peace. We ignore the risk at our peril.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Geneva, where is he on an official visit, that he remained “deeply concerned” about the situation in Gaza.

In response to a question from a journalist, who noted that thousands of people have crossed the border from Gaza into Egypt because of the current situation, Mr. Ban urged the parties to resolve their issues peacefully.

“I know this very serious security concern of [the] Israeli people and Government and also I admit their legitimate security right to defend their country from all these security problems, or rocket fire coming from Gaza,” he said. “At the same time, I would hope that the Israeli Government should not take such a collective punishment to the general public.”

Mr. Ban observed that he has spoken by telephone to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to urge him to ease its border crossing restrictions and to provide the necessary fuel and supplies to Gaza.

In related news, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva held a special session today to consider a draft resolution on “human rights violations emanating from Israeli military attacks and incursions in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip.”

Addressing that session, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said the situation for both Palestinians and Israelis will continue to deteriorate unless both the parties to the conflict and the international community take broader steps.

“All parties concerned should put an end to the vicious spiral of violence before it becomes unstoppable,” she said. “To this end, they must ensure accountability for breaches of international humanitarian law and violations of international human rights law through credible, independent, and transparent investigations.”

Ms. Arbour stressed that the international community must intensity its efforts to ensure that the human rights dimension of the conflict is properly tackled, regardless of the progress towards or development a political settlement.

“It is therefore imperative that Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas respect the long-standing international legal obligations governing the situation to which they, as duty bearers, are bound.”

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Bandits have stolen 23 WFP-contracted trucks and abducted their drivers since the start of the month, the agency said in a statement issued in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. Nineteen drivers remain missing.

The latest attack occurred late yesterday, in a rural area of North Darfur near the Chadian border. The driver of the empty truck was attacked as he returned to El Fasher, the state capital, after making the day’s deliveries.

Even before the spike in attacks this year, bandits have been targeting trucks carrying aid, with 13 such incidents – including three in which the drivers were killed – between September and December last year.

WFP’s representative in Sudan, Kenro Oshidari, said there were grave concerns about both the impact of the rash of attacks on the civilian population of Darfur, already suffering from years of conflict, and the fate of the missing drivers.

“Our main trucking companies now refuse to send in more vehicles because of this upsurge in banditry and therefore we have no one to deliver about half our monthly food relief requirement,” Mr. Oshidari said.

“If the situation continues, we’ll be forced to cut rations in parts of Darfur by mid-February.”

The contracted trucks normally deliver between 15,000 and 20,000 tons of food aid every month, about half of the total needed to support Darfur’s most vulnerable inhabitants. The monthly food ration includes cereals, high-nutrition corn-soya blend, pulses, vegetable oil, sugar and salt and provides a person with 2,100 kilocalories per day.

Mr. Oshidari urged Sudanese authorities to ensure the safety of the major routes in Darfur, a vast, arid region in the far west of the country.

“Without these deliveries, WFP faces a rapid depletion of stocks and the inability to pre-position food ahead of the rainy season, which is due to start in May.”

In a related development, a UN-Sudanese Government committee agreed today to extend the moratorium on restrictions on humanitarian operations until January 2009.

“The Government gave assurances that the NGO [non-governmental organizations] community would be able to continue their work without interruption and would facilitate resources at state level for the extension of visas,” the High Level Committee of Sudanese Government and UN officials established by the Joint Communiqué on the facilitation of humanitarian activities in Darfur said in a statement.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also welcomed the news, noting that the NGOs implement numerous UN projects in Darfur, where rebels have clashed with Government forces and allied militia groups since 2003.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2.2 million others displaced because of the violence, and a joint UN-African Union mission known as UNAMID is being deployed to quell the fighting and instability.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who is currently visiting Sudan, today met with UNAMID staff in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. He also conferred with the state’s deputy governor and with representatives of civil society.

Yesterday Mr. Guéhenno was in El Fasher for a meeting with the deputy governor of North Darfur. He also visited the nearby Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

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“The local authorities have reacted quickly but say the scope of the displacement is overwhelming their capacity and have requested regional and national help,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman William Spindler told a news briefing in Geneva of the latest displacements in the Arauca region.

Colombia has one of the largest populations of concern to UNHCR. Local authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross are distributing emergency humanitarian assistance to these latest victims of the more than four decades of conflict between the Government, rebels and paramilitary groups.

Around half are in the city of Saravena, staying with friends and families or in public buildings like schools and colleges, while the rest have arrived in the cities of Tame, Arauquita, Fortul and the departmental capital Arauca, as well as smaller villages.

There are concerns, especially in Saravena, that the health situation could deteriorate with so many people arriving in the past two weeks. Children also risk missing out on their education unless provisions are made very rapidly. Under Colombian law, the State must guarantee access to education for every displaced child.

The UNHCR team on the ground reports that in some parts of the department, and especially around the town of Tame, the countryside is almost empty. People began fleeing to the cities during the second week of January after irregular armed groups issued threats to those in the countryside. The Government and several non-governmental organizations say several community leaders have been killed since the start of the year.

The violence is also affecting two indigenous groups, the Guahibos and the Siriri-Catleya, with hundreds fleeing. Under Colombian and international principles, special efforts should be made to protect indigenous groups from displacement since they have very strong links to the land, on which their cultural survival depends, Mr. Spindler said.

UNHCR has repeatedly warned that some indigenous communities are in danger of disappearing altogether.

An agency team has been in Arauca since last week monitoring the situation and preparing to open a field office next month. UNHCR has 12 offices in Colombia, where it works to support the State’s efforts to protect and assist the displaced population.

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Stressing the support of UN for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians living in Gaza, B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told a meeting on the situation in the Middle East that the crisis in Gaza and southern Israel has escalated dramatically in the past week.

Militants in Gaza had launched daily rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli residential areas, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had launched attacks and incursions into Gaza, while Israel has also imposed tight restrictions on crossings into Gaza to try to force an end to the rocket fire.

The result, he said, was that at least 42 Palestinians have been killed – including a number of civilians – and 117 others injured by the IDF operations, while an Ecuadorian national has been killed and 11 Israelis injured in the attacks on the south of that country. Humanitarian conditions in Gaza had also deteriorated sharply.

“Israel must reconsider and cease its policy of pressuring the civilian population of Gaza for the unacceptable actions of militants,” Mr. Pascoe added. “Collective penalties… are prohibited under international law.”

Mr. Pascoe acknowledged Israel’s security concerns, condemning unreservedly the “totally unacceptable” rocket and mortar attacks launched by militants in Gaza.

“Such attacks terrorize Israeli communities near Gaza, particularly in the town of Sderot. They also endanger humanitarian workers at crossing points.”

At the same time, he reminded Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law to avoid endangering civilians in its military actions.

“I would also like to reiterate that the UN’s basic principled opposition to extrajudicial killings is compounded by the frequency with which such operations are carried out in densely populated civilian areas.”

The Under-Secretary-General said the upsurge in violence is undermining the prospects for the Annapolis process that is supposed to lead to a year of hope and opportunity for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Mr. Pascoe’s briefing comes a day after the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said its relief programmes aimed at helping some 860,000 people in Gaza may be halted within days if the closure of the crossings into Gaza continues.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) also expressed concern today about the health situation, noting that a lack of electrical power and restrictions on the movement of people and goods, particularly medicines, was jeopardizing basic health care in Gaza.

In a statement, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said that while it was welcome that the movement of some fuel and supplies had been eased today, additional measures were needed, including the restoration of electricity to health facilities and the end of restrictions on patients having access to health care outside Gaza.

Mr. Pascoe said today that the work of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Gaza “is one of the few things that stand between the current crisis conditions and an even more dramatic deterioration of the situation.”

His briefing was followed by a day-long debate at the Council in which several dozen speakers, including representatives of Israel and the Palestinians, discussed the latest developments in the Middle East.

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“Once again, women and girls are not just caught in the crossfire. They are on the battlefield,” said Kemal Dervis, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

“Time and time again we have seen women and girls targeted for rape and sexual abuse during periods of conflict. It is time for the global community to recognize this problem for what it is – an affront to basic human rights and human dignity,” he added.

UNDP points out that there has been a spike in the number of rape cases reported by Kenyan health facilities since the start of the crisis, which began after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in December elections.

The ensuing violence, which has claimed some 600 lives and caused over 250,000 people to flee their homes, has put women and girls at great risk of sexual assault. Hospitals and health organizations in Kenya are pressed to treat the rising number of rape victims, UNDP notes.

In addition, reports from Nairobi indicate that some hospitals saw the number of rape cases double within days after violence erupted. Medical personnel say that for each of the new cases they are treating, there are many more victims who fail to seek help – either because of security reasons or the fear of stigmatization.

UN agencies in Kenya are working together to ensure that women and girls receive the best protection possible.

Along with the Kenya Red Cross and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the agencies are continuing to aid those affected by the ongoing crisis.

For its part, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is finalizing plans to transfer more than 300 refugees – mainly from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi – who are fleeing the violence in Nairobi to camps.

The refugees had joined some 1,200 internally displaced persons (IDPs) taking shelter at Jamhuri Park, a fairground in Nairobi. Many of them told UNHCR that they had been threatened in the places where they lived, while some said that their homes had been burned.

In neighbouring Uganda, UNHCR is to start moving 6,000 Kenyan refugees tomorrow from three border locations – Malaba, Busia and Lwakhakha – to Mulanda transit centre some 35 kilometres inland. According to the local authorities, there are more than 6,500 Kenyan refugees in Uganda, most of them staying with the local population.

Meanwhile, UN aid officials say that Kenyans are now fleeing in greater numbers toward Tanzania, with some 500 people crossing over in recent days.

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The bloodshed continued unabated over the weekend with 10 people hacked to death in ethnic violence, mainly in Kericho, Nakuru, Nairobi and Mombasa, and tens of houses torched, according to UN security officials on the ground.

They said the worst incident appeared to be in Kericho, where six people were killed and 50 houses burned last Saturday night. In Nairobi, at least three people were killed in the Huruma slums and 13 admitted to hospital with machete cuts on Sunday.

UN human rights chief Louise Arbour has voiced her deep concern about the continued violence and reports of grave human rights abuses in Kenya, and strongly denounced the numerous inter-ethnic killings.

“The killings have to be investigated expeditiously and impartially, and anyone found responsible for human rights abuses must be brought to justice,” Ms. Arbour stated. “There must not be, in any case, impunity for what has occurred in Kenya in the past few weeks.”

She called on Kenyan leaders to engage in open and constructive dialogue, including addressing the serious human rights violations that have occurred, noting that “any lasting peace in Kenya must be based on truth and accountability.”

Violence first erupted in the East African nation a few weeks ago, after Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in the December polls. Nearly 600 people have been killed and some 255,000 displaced in the ensuing crisis.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), approximately 1,000 displaced persons arrive in Nakuru each day from violence-affected areas in the Northern Rift Valley.

Also in Nakuru, UNICEF says 18 of 134 schools remain closed, and some 240 teachers have failed to report to work. In Molo, the agency reports that 60 per cent of the region’s 151,000 children are absent from school due to insecurity and displacement – nearly 400 schools in the area were burned, looted or vandalized.

UNICEF is providing tents and recreation kits for distribution by the Kenya Red Cross to enable temporary schools to accommodate displaced children around the country.

Kenyan authorities now estimate that 116,000 people are displaced in the Northern Rift Valley region, and they are working with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to devise a distribution plan to provide up to one month’s food rations to the displaced.

WFP reports that people in Nairobi’s Kibera slum continue to need food assistance and UN aid workers have planned another round of food distribution for some 2,000 households later this week.

The agency estimates that its food has already reached more than a quarter of a million people. The food has been borrowed from WFP’s existing stocks for its operations in Kenya, including an emergency operation targeting some 682,000 people still suffering from the effects of the 2005 drought and more than one million children who normally receive school meals from WFP.

“It is vital that stocks borrowed from these operations can be replaced and it is vital that more funds arrive to allow WFP to continue deliver food to the people affected by post-election violence and also people in need who are served by our normal operations,” WFP’s Penny Ferguson told reporters in Nairobi.

For its part, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) distributed nearly 300 family kits to the displaced in Jamhuri Park in Nairobi through the Kenya Red Cross, and has delivered another 400 kits for further distribution. Trucks carrying 340 family kits and 10,000 sanitary packs arrived in Eldoret on Saturday, and UNHCR plans to start distributing them to the displaced through the Kenya Red Cross.

Meanwhile, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan is expected to arrive tomorrow in Nairobi where he will be joined by the former Mozambican first lady Graca Machel and Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa to begin their mission as the African Union (AU) Panel of Eminent Personalities to facilitate negotiations for a political solution to the disputed presidential election results.

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While there is no confirmation of internal displacement of civilians due to the latest fighting, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered some 1,240 people from Sool in Yemen since the start of this year.

UNHCR also reports that some 20,000 have been newly displaced from Mogadishu, Somalia’s battle-wracked capital, in recent weeks due to ongoing violence.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed distribution for some 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at camps along the Afgooye-Mogadishu road.

With some 7,400 children attending classes in 30 makeshift schools, UN humanitarian agencies are concerned that the constant movement of families on the run from the violence has left 4,000 remaining on waiting lists. The agencies have appealed for additional emergency educational structures in the Afgooye area.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government and has been riven by factional fighting since Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime was toppled in 1991.

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'No invitation'

A key stumbling block to efforts to resolve Kenya's crisis has been the opposition's insistence on involvement by international mediators, while the government maintains a domestic solution should be found.

No party should create facts on the ground or engage in acts that complicate the search for a negotiated solution

After his mediation effort last week failed, Mr Kufuor suggested both sides had agreed to work with another panel of mediators, this time led by former UN Secretary General Annan.

Mr Annan is due to arrive in Kenya on Tuesday, but his visit was played down by Mr Michuki - a hardline member of the new partially filled cabinet announced by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

"If Kofi Annan is coming, he is not coming at our invitation," Mr Michuki said, French news agency AFP reported.

"We won the elections so we do not see the point for anyone coming to mediate power-sharing," he said.

An unnamed government spokesman told another news agency, Reuters, that Mr Kibaki's administration had not asked anyone to mediate its affairs.

He said Kenya, as a sovereign state, should be "treated with the same respect shown to other stable democracies".

Flashpoints

Mr Annan will head a panel of "eminent Africans" set up by the African Union, which includes former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Nelson Mandela's wife Graca Machel.

"We expect all people to work hard to find a solution," Mr Annan said in a statement ahead of his trip.

"Pending this, no party should create facts on the ground or engage in acts that complicate the search for a negotiated solution."

But the two sides remain seemingly implacably at odds, say correspondents.

While Mr Kibaki has put forward the possibility of a power-sharing government, ODM leader Raila Odinga insists the presidential election was rigged and must be re-run.

The government has banned the planned ODM rallies, raising fears of clashes between police and protesters.

Parliament is due to reconvene on Tuesday - another possible flashpoint.

The ODM and its allies won a majority in parliament but they may refuse to swear an oath of allegiance to the president.

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“He is troubled by the heavy bloodshed, particularly the killing and injuring of civilians on both sides and the potential for further casualties unless the situation is de-escalated,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“He reminds all parties of their obligation to comply with international humanitarian law and not to endanger civilians,” the statement added.

In a related development, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief will visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory from 20 to 27 January.

During her visit, Asma Jahangir will hold talks with Government officials responsible for matters of religion or belief and will meet with representatives of religious organizations, non-governmental organizations and individuals.

She will submit a report on the visit to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

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The Kenya Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan 2008, presented today, includes some 63 projects to be carried out in the coming months to provide key services and supplies which have been identified by 22 aid partners, among them the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), with the participation of the Kenyan Government.

The single largest part of the funds requested is $10 million for food aid, followed by emergency shelter, early-recovery projects and protection of civilians, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said at the launch of the appeal in New York.

“This is to a large extent a protection-of-civilians crisis,” said John Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, adding that “what we’re talking about here is not physical protection.”

Mr. Holmes said protection issues include treating those who have been traumatized by the violence, particularly children, and gaining an accurate picture of the displaced.

Also included are documenting, treating the victims of and preventing gender-based violence, he added, noting that sexual violence was a “very unfortunate but prominent feature” of what has happened in the aftermath of the elections.

Nearly 600 people have been killed and some 255,000 displaced during the crisis which began after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner over opposition leader Raila Odinga in the country’s recent polls. Another 6,100 Kenyans have fled to neighbouring Uganda.

“What we want is a return to normality, a political solution as soon as possible, and also every effort by all leaders to prevent violence, to extend protection to civilians and to stop any kind of downward spiral into ethnic violence,” Mr. Holmes said.

The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRC estimates that up to 500,000 people may be affected by the post-electoral violence, in which the western provinces of Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western, as well as the slum areas of the capital, Nairobi, have been impacted the most.

The crisis continues today, with the start of three days of opposition rallies. The UN Country Team reports that the capital Nairobi, the western towns of Kisumu and Eldoret and towns along the Kenyan coast, including Mombasa, are all now theatres of clashes between security forces and youth gangs, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

Since the crisis broke out, UN agencies having been assisting those affected, along with the Kenya Red Cross Society, national and international NGOs and faith-based groups.

Assistance from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has so far reached almost 228,000 people, while the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has distributed family kits and continues to monitor the protection needs of the displaced. In addition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has provided medical, nutrition, water and sanitation and other supplies amounting to more than $650,000.

Last week, the UN authorized $7 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support immediate relief activities included in the Kenya Response Plan. As a result, the current funding requirements stand at $34.8 million.

The disbursement is the first in 2008 from the Fund, which has committed over $619 million to some 751 projects in 60 countries since it was established in March 2006.

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the attack, which killed at least eight people and injured a number of others at the Serena Hotel in Kabul, the capital.

“Among the victims were Afghan security guards and hotel staff, whose bravery prevented the death toll from being much higher, as well as members of the international community who were assisting development efforts in Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.

“The attack will not diminish the commitment of the international community to Afghanistan, and that efforts must be redoubled to bring stability to the country and to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice,” he added.

Mr. Ban’s Acting Special Representative in Afghanistan, Bo Asplund, called the attack an atrocity deliberately targeting foreigners helping to rebuild the country and their Afghan colleagues.

“The international community has been present here for many years, enjoying the hospitality and generosity of its Afghan hosts,” he said in a statement.

“Its work is driven by the shared belief that peace and progress must prevail over war and suffering. This was an attack on those values, and a senseless crime under both national and international laws,” he added, calling on “all in the community, Afghan and foreign, to join with us in redoubling our commitment to the cause of peace.”

Noting that the Taliban claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, the Security Council underlined the need to bring those behind “this reprehensible act of terrorism” to justice.

In a statement read out to the press by Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi of Libya, which holds the rotating presidency for January, the 15-member body “reiterated that no terrorist act can reverse the path toward peace, democracy and reconstruction in Afghanistan, which is supported by the people and the Government of Afghanistan and the international community.”

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Roads were closed from early this morning as riot police lined the perimeter of the Parliament building in downtown Nairobi, the capital. The UN Department of Safety and Security (DS said that there have been no confirmed security incidents, but advised caution ahead of rallies called for by the opposition scheduled to take place today and tomorrow.

Violence erupted in the Eastern African nation late last month after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the election, and opposition leader Raila Odinga has disputed the results.

A one-week supply of food – including cereals, pulses, high-energy biscuits, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend – provided by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Kenyan Government was distributed today to nearly 77,000 people in four slums in Nairobi. Last week, WFP food was given out to 50,000 people – not including those fed today – in the same area.

Food distribution in these slums – some of the largest in Africa – is a priority since most residents depend on casual labour for their survival and were unable to work due to the recent unrest. Nearly 60 per cent of Nairobi’s population of 2.75 million lives in the city’s slums.

Schools nationwide re-opened yesterday, and WFP fed over 100 schools in the capital’s slums.

To date, WFP food aid has reached over 225,000 people in Nairobi, the Northern Rift Valley and the country’s west.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects today to finish distributing over 1,000 family kits – containing plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, jerry cans, mosquito nets and kitchen sets – in Narok, 140 kilometres south-east of Nairobi.

Currently, there are some 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) taking refuge in nearly one dozen different sites around the Narok district, which is mainly inhabited by the Maasai community.

Many of the displaced in this area lack shelter and sanitation, and UNHCR – in conjunction with its partner, the non-governmental organization (NGO) World Concern – commenced a second distribution of basic commodities yesterday.

UNHCR also dispatched trucks to deliver sanitary supplies for up to 20,000 girls and women in the Rift Valley.

“We expect to deliver nearly 50,000 sanitary packs for 16,000 women and girls in the provincial capital, Nakuru, and another 10,000 packs for 3,300 beneficiaries in Eldoret,” the agency’s spokesperson Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.

The Kenyan Government estimates that there are 500 IDP sites throughout the country – concentrated in the Rift Valley, Western, Nyanza and Nairobi provinces – and that the total number of displaced people has dropped from 255,000 at the start of last week to 203,000 by the week’s close as the security situation improved.

The IDP camps “continue to be transitory in nature with people moving from the sites to their ancestral areas, where possible, or joining their kin in safer areas,” Mr. Redmond noted.

UNHCR, in concert with the Government, the Kenya Red Cross Society and other NGOs, continues work on camp management. It organized a one-day training session for NGO staff to ensure minimum standards and consistency in delivering services in the camps.

The agency estimates that its budget to deal with the situation in Kenya – protection, assistance delivery, camp coordination and management, emergency shelter and HIV/AIDS projects – is $6.4 million, which is part of a greater UN consolidated appeal for $40 million to be launched tomorrow in New York.

Meanwhile, the Ugandan Government reports that more than 6,000 Kenyans have crossed into that country. The refugees are staying in schools and other public facilities, as well as with host families. Uganda hopes to move the refugees to a temporary site in Mulanda, for which UNHCR will provide transportation. The agency is channelling its assistance to Kenyans in Uganda through the Uganda Red Cross.

For its part, WFP food has been distributed today at the border town of Busia to 2,000 Kenyans.

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Please feel free to post any article on global crisis such as wars, famines, natural disasters, such as weather, volcanoes and earthquakes.

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