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Monday, November 30, 2009
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SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS ARMS EMBARGO AND SANCTIONS IN DR CONGO
SECURITY COUNCIL RENEWS ARMS EMBARGO AND SANCTIONS IN DR CONGO
New York, Nov 30 2009 7:10PM
The Security Council today extended and expanded the arms embargo and related sanctions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have been in place since 2003, for another year.
New York, Nov 30 2009 7:10PM
The Security Council today extended and expanded the arms embargo and related sanctions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which have been in place since 2003, for another year.
Council members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution continuing the regime of sanctions, which consists of an arms embargo against all armed groups that are not part of either the Government's integrated army (known as the FARDC) or police units, through 30 November next year.
The 15-member panel also extended the mandate of the Group of Experts dealing with the DRC for the same period, and expanded its remit to include the creation of recommendations on due diligence guidelines for the buying and processing of lucrative mineral products in the troubled African country.
The Group of Experts has been asked to focus its activities on North and South Kivu, Ituri and Orientale provinces in the east of the country, which remains plagued by fighting and unrest since the end of the DRC's brutal civil war earlier this decade.
The mandate of the Council subcommittee dealing with the DRC has also been expanded to take account of changing notification requirements for UN Member States complying with the embargo and sanctions.
Nov 30 2009 7:10PM
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UN RENOVATION ON SCHEDULE AND MOVING BACK FROM THE RED TOWARDS ITS BUDGET LIMIT
UN RENOVATION ON SCHEDULE AND MOVING BACK FROM THE RED TOWARDS ITS BUDGET LIMIT
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
The renovation of United Nations Headquarters in New York is now only $90 million over its $1.876 billion budget compared with $219 million two years ago, with a good chance of returning to the black, while being on schedule for completion by late 2013, the official in charge of the overhaul said today.
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
The renovation of United Nations Headquarters in New York is now only $90 million over its $1.876 billion budget compared with $219 million two years ago, with a good chance of returning to the black, while being on schedule for completion by late 2013, the official in charge of the overhaul said today.
"We will continue to seek opportunities to align the budget to the project and I remain confident that we will complete the project within the approved budget," Capital Master Plan (CMP) Executive Director Michael Adlerstein told a news conference, citing lower inflation and prices for materials than when the renovation was budgeted.
When completed, the landmark 39-storey building towering over the East River and First Avenue in Manhattan will possess the 21st-century trappings of eco-friendly energy conservation, and its now dulled glass façade will be replaced with a new glass curtain resplendent with the same bluish-green tint as in its first incarnation in 1952.
"The environmental performance of the Headquarters complex will be significantly improved," Mr. Adlerstein said. "Total energy consumption will be reduced by 50 per cent as compared to existing conditions. The carbon footprint of the compound will be reduced by over 45 per cent. The consumption of fresh water will be reduced by over 40 per cent."
Some 3,300 of the more than 5,000 people that have to be moved from the Secretariat building have so far been relocated and the remainder will be moved by early 2010, while a new data centre in the basement is on schedule to be finished by March. "When the staff relocation is completed and the data centre migration is concluded, the renovation of the Secretariat will go into high gear," Mr. Adlerstein said.
During the renovations, which beyond energy saving and essential refurbishment will remove dangerously toxic materials commonly used in the mid-20th century such as asbestos, the 15-member Security Council will take up residence in basement conference rooms, while the 192-member General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's executive office and other facilities will migrate to a three-storey, $140-million temporary building on the compound's north lawn.
Renovation in the building's basement is substantial, involving the installation of 14 kilometres of water piping, 65 kilometres of electrical conduits and more than 60 kilometres of telecommunications conduits – and removing an equal amount of old deteriorated materials – representing almost a quarter of the construction activity of the entire project.
Asked how long the building would last after work is completed, Mr. Adlerstein replied: "The renovation of the UN building should last for ever. Like all buildings if there's cyclic maintenance, every 10 or 15 years which is the way that it should be done, which is the way that most organizations do, then it can go on forever. "There are buildings that are hundreds of years old that survive very well.
"What's important is that governments and inter-governmental organizations like the UN often put aside that need in terms of the rest of their mission… so the funds are always in competition and the funds to fix up their house are not heavily competitive, which is a shame because then you end with a crisis like the Capital Master Plan where you have to vacate and do it wholesale."
Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
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UN USES SPEECHES, PHOTO EXHIBIT AND CONCERT TO VOICE SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIANS
UN USES SPEECHES, PHOTO EXHIBIT AND CONCERT TO VOICE SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIANS
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is being observed today at United Nations Headquarters in New York with a special commemorative meeting, a new photographic exhibition and a concert by Maqamat, an orchestra of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is being observed today at United Nations Headquarters in New York with a special commemorative meeting, a new photographic exhibition and a concert by Maqamat, an orchestra of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.
Addressing today's meeting, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon <"http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocus/sgspeeches/statments_full.asp?statID=657">said that it is vital that a sovereign State of Palestine is achieved, noting that the Palestinian people continue to struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination – a fundamental, universal human right enjoyed by so many others across the world.
"Vigorous international efforts are essential for advancing the political process, ending the occupation and achieving a solution to all permanent status issues," he stated.
"Now more than ever, politics must be made credible," he added. "Those who try to undermine moves toward peace through violence or by changing facts on the ground must not be allowed to set the agenda.
Mr. Ban noted that the international community continues to assist and protect the Palestinian people, including through the work of UN agencies, foremost among them the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
General Assembly President Ali Treki <"http://www.un.org/ga/president/64/statements/palestinian301109.shtml">said the Day served as a reminder "that the Question of Palestine remains the oldest unresolved issue at the United Nations."
He noted that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly the Gaza Strip, "jolts us to the human cost of this unresolved conflict borne by Palestinian civilians. Their ordeal will continue until the Question of Palestine is resolved and the occupation is brought to an end."
As part of the commemoration, UNRWA is presenting a new photo exhibit entitled <I>The United Nations and the Palestine Refugees, 60 Years Later</I>, which opens tonight at UN Headquarters. It features historical photos of the life of the first Palestinian refugees and UNRWA's working during the early years of its establishment, as well as more recent photos of the agency's work in the five areas of its operations – Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
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UN PEACEKEEPERS PLANT TREES IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
UN PEACEKEEPERS PLANT TREES IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
United Nations peacekeepers planted nearly 600 trees in a botanical garden in Côte d'Ivoire over the weekend, a small but symbolic step in a project to combat climate change that has already surpassed its target of 7 billion trees – one for every person in the world.
New York, Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
United Nations peacekeepers planted nearly 600 trees in a botanical garden in Côte d'Ivoire over the weekend, a small but symbolic step in a project to combat climate change that has already surpassed its target of 7 billion trees – one for every person in the world.
The planting in the town of Bingerville follows a similar ceremony in neighbouring Liberia where UN blue helmets planted 1,000 trees earlier this year as part of the initiative launched by UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=596&ArticleID=6319&l=en&t=long">UNEP) to plant 7 billion trees by the end of 2009, a goal it reached in September.
With the destruction of natural forests emitting more greenhouse gases every year than the transport sector, planting trees – which absorb carbon dioxide and store nearly 300 gigatons of carbon in their biomass – provides a crucial defence in the fight against global warming.
Blue helmets have already planted nearly 30,000 saplings in 11 peacekeeping missions worldwide, in countries including Timor-Leste, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Georgia and Lebanon.
The one-hectare lot in Bingerville botanical garden will now be known as ONUCI, the initials of the UN peacekeeping mission that has been stationed in Côte d'Ivoire since 2004 to help ensure a ceasefire and pave the way for permanent peace and democratic elections after civil war in 2002 split the West African country into a Government-ruled south and a rebel-controlled north.
Reauthorized repeatedly since then, most recently until 31 January 2010, it currently comprises nearly 8,400 uniformed personnel, as well as 407 international civilian staff.
Nov 30 2009 6:10PM
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UN TO RELEASE ‘HARD RAIN’ FILM WITH BOB DYLAN TUNE ON EVE OF CLIMATE TALKS
UN TO RELEASE 'HARD RAIN' FILM WITH BOB DYLAN TUNE ON EVE OF CLIMATE TALKS
New York, Nov 30 2009 5:10PM
Just a week before the United Nations climate change conference begins in Copenhagen, the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP) <"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=602&ArticleID=6380&l=en">announced today it will help release a rare live recording of Bob Dylan performing his 1962 song-poem <i>A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</i> set to dramatic photographs of shrunken ice caps, barren landscapes, and devastated lives.
New York, Nov 30 2009 5:10PM
Just a week before the United Nations climate change conference begins in Copenhagen, the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP) <"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=602&ArticleID=6380&l=en">announced today it will help release a rare live recording of Bob Dylan performing his 1962 song-poem <i>A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall</i> set to dramatic photographs of shrunken ice caps, barren landscapes, and devastated lives.
<i>Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature</i> by photographer Mark Edwards and Mr. Dylan will be released on DVD at the opening of the Hard Rain exhibition in Copenhagen on 6 December – the eve of the climate conference. The release is being done in partnership with UNEP.
"The dark and evocative lyrics of <i>A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall </i>echo the kind of impacts the world faces if climate change continues unchecked," said Achim Steiner, UNEP's Executive Director. "But Bob Dylan had another song. One that reflects a strong and positive Copenhagen outcome that puts the world on a low-carbon path – <i>The Times They Are A-Changin</i>."
The DVD is accompanied by The Urgency of Now, a specially commissioned essay by author and activist Lloyd Timberlake. The essay title was inspired by a response to Hard Rain from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"If Hard Rain is a photographic elegy," said Mr. Brown, "it is also an impassioned cry for change. Forceful, dramatic and disturbing, it is driven by what Martin Luther King called 'the fierce urgency of now' – and I believe the call for a truly global response to climate change is an idea whose time has finally come."
Mr. Brown is one of at least 80 heads of State and government expected to attend the 7-18 December conference.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will also participate. This weekend, the Secretary-General called on world leaders to agree to a deal that is as ambitious as possible, even if imperfect. "We need every country on board. We need you on board. The world needs your support at this critical moment."
Mr. Timberlake's essay focuses on a key dilemma facing the climate negotiators. "Poor countries will not accept a climate change treaty that prevents them from developing," he writes.
"We have to give governments a constituency to reinvent the modern world so that it's compatible with nature and human nature," said Mr. Edwards. "Political change comes only when people form a movement so large and inclusive that governments have no choice but to listen – and act. The last verse of Dylan's song begins: 'What'll you do now?' It's a question that cannot be left hanging when the Copenhagen talks come to a close."
Nov 30 2009 5:10PM
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STAFF ABDUCTIONS AND REGIONAL STABILITY IN DARFUR CONCERN SENIOR UN OFFICIAL
STAFF ABDUCTIONS AND REGIONAL STABILITY IN DARFUR CONCERN SENIOR UN OFFICIAL
New York, Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
A senior United Nations peacekeeping official today voiced "extreme" concern over the fate of two abducted staff members of the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (<"http://unamid.unmissions.org/">UNAMID), warning that the security situation on the war-ravaged western flank of Sudan continues to be unstable.
"Carjackings and attacks on humanitarian workers have continued," Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet told the Security Council, reminding the 15-member body that the international staff members, who were kidnapped over three months ago, are still in captivity.
Mr. Mulet noted that the opening of a new round of UN-backed talks on 17 November in the Qatari capital of Doha, aimed at bringing peace to Darfur, coincided with an escalation of armed clashes involving rebel militia in the region.
In southern Darfur, armed Sudanese Liberation Army rebels from the Minni Minnawi faction (SLA/MM) attacked two villages, killing 11 people, and a few days later on 19 November 29 Sudanese soldiers were ambushed and killed, with both SLA/Abdul Shafie and SLA/Abdul Wahid fighters claiming responsibility.
New York, Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
A senior United Nations peacekeeping official today voiced "extreme" concern over the fate of two abducted staff members of the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur (<"http://unamid.unmissions.org/">UNAMID), warning that the security situation on the war-ravaged western flank of Sudan continues to be unstable.
"Carjackings and attacks on humanitarian workers have continued," Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet told the Security Council, reminding the 15-member body that the international staff members, who were kidnapped over three months ago, are still in captivity.
Mr. Mulet noted that the opening of a new round of UN-backed talks on 17 November in the Qatari capital of Doha, aimed at bringing peace to Darfur, coincided with an escalation of armed clashes involving rebel militia in the region.
In southern Darfur, armed Sudanese Liberation Army rebels from the Minni Minnawi faction (SLA/MM) attacked two villages, killing 11 people, and a few days later on 19 November 29 Sudanese soldiers were ambushed and killed, with both SLA/Abdul Shafie and SLA/Abdul Wahid fighters claiming responsibility.
"These attacks are unacceptable and illustrate the extent to which the fragmentation of the Darfurian rebel movements continues to be a reality ¬– with obvious implications for the mediation and peace process," Mr. Mulet said in the briefing on UNAMID.
The Assistant-Secretary-General told the Council that a number of groups in Darfur, including the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and SLA/AW continue to express concern over the holding of national elections, slated for April 2010, before a peace agreement is reached.
In this connection, Mr. Mulet said that the "start of elections registration on 1 November led to heightened tensions in some areas of Darfur," which he characterized as an unacceptable threat to the electoral process in Sudan.
Fighting has raged across Darfur since 2003, pitting the rebel movements against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen. An estimated 300,000 people have been killed in the region over the past six years and another 2.7 million people forced to leave their homes.
UNAMID has been deployed there since January 2008 to try to quell the fighting and protect civilians and currently has 4,449 police and about 69 per cent of its Security Council authorized troop strength of 19,555.
Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
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SECRETARY-GENERAL MOURNS VICTIMS OF RUSSIAN TRAIN BOMBING
SECRETARY-GENERAL MOURNS VICTIMS OF RUSSIAN TRAIN BOMBING
New York, Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the hope today that investigations will shed more light on the circumstances behind the bombing of a Russian train that killed 25 people on Friday night, and injured scores more.
New York, Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the hope today that investigations will shed more light on the circumstances behind the bombing of a Russian train that killed 25 people on Friday night, and injured scores more.
According to published reports, Russian police are probing whether Islamist rebels were involved in the bombing of the Moscow to Saint Petersburg express.
"The Secretary-General expresses his heartfelt condolences over the tragic loss of lives resulting from the sabotage and derailment," a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4265">statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson said. "At this moment of grief, his thoughts go out to the victims and their families.
"The Secretary-General wishes the many injured a swift recovery, and hopes that investigations currently being conducted will shed more light on the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident," it added.
Nov 30 2009 4:10PM
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