UN RELIEF CHIEF SPEAKS OUT AGAINST UGANDAN REBEL VIOLENCE IN DR CONGO

UN RELIEF CHIEF SPEAKS OUT AGAINST UGANDAN REBEL VIOLENCE IN DR CONGO
New York, May 2 2010 2:10AM
The top United Nations humanitarian official today condemned the "horrific" atrocities committed by a notorious Uganda rebel group in the volatile northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/OCHAHome/InFocus/DemocraticRepublicofCongoDRC/tabid/6621/language/en-US/Default.aspx">DRC).

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes spoke out against the violence on a visit to Niangara, an area in Orientale Province near the DRC's border with Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR).

It was the scene of one of the worst recent massacres carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which terrorized northern Uganda for two decades before spilling over into neighbouring countries and has been accused of committing atrocities including mutilations and the recruitment of child soldiers.

During the attack last December, more than 300 c
ivilians were reportedly killed and some 250 -- including at least 80 children -- were kidnapped.

Since late 2007, roughly 1,800 civilians are thought to have been killed by the LRA and 2,400 abducted throughout the province.

In Niangara today, Mr. Holmes heard first-hand accounts from survivors, including one woman whose lips and ear had been torn off two days ago in a typically barbaric and inexplicable attack.

"This is unacceptable. We need a rapid solution to what has become a regional crisis," he emphasized.

In meetings with authorities and humanitarian workers in the area, the official voiced concern that the possible drawdown of the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, known as <"http://monuc.unmissions.org/">MONUC, could have negative effects on the protection of civilians and on humanitarian access.

"MONUC is a deterrent for the LRA, and its presence is also essential to humanitarian operations in this province," he stated. "I am concerned that their departure co
uld increase the suffering of civilians, and reduce our ability to help them."

Seven UN agencies and 23 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) carry out humanitarian work in Orientale Province's Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele districts, combined are home to at least 320,000 persons uprooted by LRA-related violence.

Due to the ongoing threat posed by the group's presence, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have little prospects of returning home in the near future.

Aid workers have been able to reach nearly two-thirds of the displaced population, but face obstacles on a daily basis due to insecurity and the inaccessibility of many of the IDPs in an area with little or no road coverage.

Yesterday, Mr. Holmes visited uprooted people in Mwenga, approximately 80 kilometres south-west of the city of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, also in northeast DRC.
"Civilians continue to suffer enormously and disproportionately in this armed conflict," he said in Mwenga, where he help
ed launch a new feeding programme of the UN World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/">WFP).

North and South Kivu provinces have been ravaged by armed conflict mainly pitting DRC''s national army against insurgents of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, better known as FDLR, the group's French acronym.

Local armed militias and bandits also contribute to insecurity in the two Kivu provinces, where an estimated 1.4 million people are internally displaced, more than 70 per cent of whom live with host families, increasing the burden on a population with already-scarce resources.
May 2 2010 2:10AM
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NEPAL: MAOIST PROTESTS PEACEFUL, UN OBSERVES

NEPAL: MAOIST PROTESTS PEACEFUL, UN OBSERVES
New York, May 1 2010 3:10PM
Today's May Day protests staged by Maoists across Nepal have been organized and peaceful, with security forces also acting in a restrained manner, the United Nations human rights office in the country said today.

"Rights to peaceful assembly and speech were exemplified today," said Richard Bennett, the Representative of the UN Human Rights Office in Nepal (<"http://nepal.ohchr.org/en/index.html">OHCHR-Nepal), calling for any further public protests to be held in the same spirit.

"However, more importantly, the parties should avert the risk of confrontation and violations of human rights by taking concerted steps to bring the peace process back on track," he added.

Yesterday, the top UN official in Nepal, Karin Landgren, <"http://www.unmin.org.np/downloads/pressreleases/UNMIN.Press.Release.30.04.2010.ENG.pdf">warned that the peace process has reached a "difficult phase."

After today's protests by the Un
ified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), "the situation is unpredictable, and may seriously endanger the peace process," the Secretary-General's Representative in Nepal cautioned.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in 2006 between the Government and the Maoists, ended a decade-long civil war which claimed some 13,000 lives in the South Asian nation.

After conducting Constituent Assembly elections in May 2008, Nepal abolished its 240-year-old monarchy and declared itself a republic. But the peace process has stalled recently, threatened by tensions and mistrust between Maoists, the Government and the army.

"There are grave concerns about the direction it may take in the coming days," Ms. Landgren said.

The parties have expressed their willingness to reach an agreement, which she stressed must happen rapidly to prevent an escalation of the situation.

The country's leaders and people, Ms. Landgren <"http://www.unmin.org.np/downloads/pressreleases/Transcript.Q&A.Pr
ess.Conference.30.04.10.ENG.pdf">told reporters, have invested so much in the peace process that "it would be a shame and disaster to let this fall by the wayside," underscoring the need to restore trust and confidence.

May 1 2010 3:10PM
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UN PAVILION LAUNCHES AT WORLD EXPO 2010 IN SHANGHAI

UN PAVILION LAUNCHES AT WORLD EXPO 2010 IN SHANGHAI
New York, May 1 2010 2:10PM
Focusing on the theme "One Earth, One United Nations," the world body hopes to showcase the breadth of its work at its state-of-the-art pavilion the World Exposition in Shanghai, China, which kicked off today and is expected to draw 70 million people.

"We will present the positive image of the UN family, and allow visitors to know our objectives, missions and activities," Awni Behnam, Commissioner General of the UN Pavilion, has said about the 32,000-square-foot pavilion.

Divided into three main areas, the building was designed to be a spectacle of LCD monitors, colourful multi-media technological exhibits and UN product displays.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver two video messages on some of the screens.

The theme of the Expo is "Better City, Better Life," recognizing that more than half of the world's population in now urban and growing rapidly, and has particular significance for Ch
ina, home to nearly one quarter of the world's 1,000 largest cities.

This year's Expo is the first to be held in a developing country.

Given its ties with the overarching theme, the UN Human Settlements Programme (<"http://www.unhabitat.org/">UN-HABITAT), the agency leading the world body's effort on sustainable urban development, is coordinating its presence at the Expo.

UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka and Mr. Behnam were slated to cut the ribbon officially opening the pavilion today.

Over the next few days, they will be joined in presentations and on panels by General Assembly President Ali Treki Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (<"http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/">UNESCO) award-winning actor and climate change advocate Forest Whitaker and World Food Programme (<"http://www.wfp.org/">WFP) Ambassador Against Hunger Li Ning.

One of the sections of the pavilion contains 192 chairs, representing all of
the UN Member States, reminiscent of the General Assembly Hall in New York where representatives gather to discuss world issues.

This year at the high-level opening of the General Assembly in New York, the Secretary-General will host a summit on speeding up progress towards reaching the universally agreed-upon Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets, by their 2015 deadline.

Similarly, participants at the Shanghai Expo can attend meetings and talks in the UN Pavilion forum area, the only non-invitation one at the Expo.

"This is an opportunity for people from all walks of life, from civil society to world leaders, from students to celebrities, to come together to debate how best to tackle these issues so that everyone can benefit from urban life," Jeanette Elsworth, Public Information Officer for the UN Pavilion, told the UN News Centre.

"Dialogue is what the UN is all about and we hope to welcome as many people as p
ossible to the Pavilion to share their views."

One of the biggest exhibits in the pavilion is called "<"http://www.6milliardsdautres.org/index.php">6 Billion Others." Featuring hundreds of television screens showing clips from a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, it shows how more than 600 people and communities in 17 countries are confronting climate challenge.

"I fear the sea. The sea is my only fear. Where will we go? The water is coming closer every day, the country is worsening day by day. I have never seen this before," a fisherman in Bangladesh tells the camera.

The testimonies are based on questions from the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<"http://www.ipcc.ch/">IPCC), which was set up by the UN Environment Programme (<"http://www.unep.org/">UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (<"http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html">WMO).
May 1 2010 2:10PM
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UNDP CHIEF EMBARKS ON AFRICAN TOUR TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

UNDP CHIEF EMBARKS ON AFRICAN TOUR TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
New York, May 1 2010 2:10PM
The head of the United Nations Development Programme (<"http://www.undp.org/">UNDP) begins a four-country visit to Africa today to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (<"http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">MDGs), the eight anti-poverty targets agreed upon by world leaders with a 2015 deadline.

"Achieving the MDGs," <"http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2010/april/visite-dhelen-clark-en-afrique.en">said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, "means quite simply a better life for billions of people."

The trip will take her to Mali, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and South Africa, where she hopes to spread the message that it is possible to meet the Goals through proven policies backed by strong partnerships.

Miss Clark's visit to sub-Saharan Africa comes some 150 days before world leaders converge in New York, just prior to the start of the General Assembly's annual General De
bate, to identify obstacles to achieving the MDGs.

In Mali, she will tour the historic city of Timbuktu and meet with female mango farmers, while in Burkina Faso, she will stop at a facility which boosts rural women's access to energy and a centre focusing on reintegrating sex workers.

While in Tanzania, she will visit a protected forest and speak with newly-registered voters, and in South Africa, she will take part in a pre-World Cup soccer match in Pretoria.

Sub-Saharan Africa, still the region with the highest number of people living in extreme poverty, has seen its poverty rates plummet since 1990, falling to below 50 per cent in 2008.

But UNDP warned that the global recession has slowed that progress in the past year.

The region has also reduced the number of adults and children newly infected with HIV/AIDS by almost 20 per cent between 2001 and 2008, with access to antiretroviral treatments also expanding in many countries.

Gender parity in primary education will be
achieved by most African nations by 2015, while the number of seats held by women in parliaments has risen in dozens of countries.

Despite of these successes and others, sub-Saharan Africa still faces major challenges, including fighting hunger and deforestation, as well as curbing maternal mortality.

"MDG progress suffers when the needs of women and girls are given low priority," the UNDP Administrator said.

The fifth MDG calls for improving maternal health and slashing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters from 1990.

"Yet this is the MDG on which there has been the least progress so far," Miss Clark pointed out, noting that a woman dies every minute in the world from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
May 1 2010 2:10PM
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