UN CLIMATE CHANGE CHIEF URGES GOVERNMENTS TO QUICKLY IMPLEMENT CANCÚN ACCORDS

UN CLIMATE CHANGE CHIEF URGES GOVERNMENTS TO QUICKLY IMPLEMENT CANCÚN ACCORDS
New York, Mar 1 2011 7:10PM
The United Nations climate change chief today called on governments to quickly transform the agreements reached in the Mexican city of Cancún last year into tangible action on the ground, and provide clarity on the future of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases emissions.

"Governments must now implement quickly what they agreed in Cancún and take the next big climate step this year in Durban," the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, <"http://unfccc.int/files/press/press_releases_advisories/application/pdf/pr20110103tokyo.pdf">told reporters in Tokyo.

The UNFCCC is an international treaty which considers what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. Some countries have approved the Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the treaty, which has more powerful and legally binding measures.

Ms. Figueres is currently in Japan to meet with government officials, Japanese business and other civil society representatives, and to attend informal talks on Thursday, jointly organized by the governments of Japan and Brazil.

The agreements reached in Cancun, at the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in December last year, included formalizing climate change mitigation pledges and ensuring increased accountability for them, as well as taking concrete action to tackle deforestation, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of global carbon emissions.

Ms. Figueres described the outcome of the Cancún meeting as a solid step forward for strengthened global climate action, encompassing the basis for the largest collective effort the world has ever seen to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, she said, the Cancún Agreements formed the most comprehensive package ever decided by governments to help developing countries deal with climate change, and a long-term global agreement to keep average global temperatures below two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

Ms. Figueres, however, warned that promises to reduce or limit emissions so far amounts to only 60 per cent of what the scientific community says is required by 2020 for global temperatures to remain below two degrees, and that emissions need to peak by 2015 to avoid the agreed temperature goal slipping out of reach.

Looking ahead to the next round of talks under the UNFCCC – to be held in Durban, South Africa, later this year – Ms. Figueres said governments need to agree on a way to cut global emissions about twice as fast as they have already promised, along with increasing the certainty that they will do what they say.

"Governments meeting in Durban must resolve the remaining issues over the future of the Kyoto Protocol," she said. "In this context, we need to keep in mind that the Kyoto Protocol remains the only working, binding international model to reduce emissions, and nations have an urgent task to decide how to take forward the protocol's unique benefits of transparency, certainty, compliance in handling national emission targets, and common but differentiated responsibilities."<p class="kword">Cancun</p>
Mar 1 2011 7:10PM
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SMALL ENTERPRISES IDEAL FOR PRODUCING QUALITY SEEDS FOR FARMERS IN POORER COUNTRIES – UN

SMALL ENTERPRISES IDEAL FOR PRODUCING QUALITY SEEDS FOR FARMERS IN POORER COUNTRIES – UN
New York, Mar 1 2011 7:10PM
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that small seed enterprises are the best way of ensuring the availability and quality of non-hybrid seeds for food and animal feed crops in developing countries.

In a newly-published policy guide, FAO <"http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/51581/icode/">cited World Bank data that showed that up to 50 per cent of crop yield increases come from improved seeds, while farmers' access to quality seeds is a key factor for better food and nutrition in poor countries.

In recent years, however, many governments in the developing world reduced public investment in the seed sector, with the expectation being that the private sector would fill the gap, according to the guide, entitled "Promoting the Growth and Development of Smallholder Seed Enterprises for Food Security Crops."

But in many countries, especially in Africa, the private sector did not fill the gap because medium and large seed companies tend to concentrate on producing hybrid seed for high value crops grown by large-scale farmers and market them in more fertile, wealthier areas – as a result, only about 30 per cent of smallholder farmers in developing countries use seed of improved crop varieties.

Hybrid seeds provide better yields and are disease resistant, but cannot be saved by farmers for the next planting because the hybrid plant seeds do not reliably produce true copies.

The majority of poor smallholder farmers growing food security crops such as sorghum, millet and cassava rely on self or open-pollinated seeds or crops that are propagated through dividing bulbs, or taking cuttings stored from previous harvests and grafting them.

FAO said they do not always have access to new varieties that can help them increase production using the same amount of inputs.

"It doesn't costs a lot comparatively to set up a seed enterprise, especially when it involves local farmers' organizations, but as case studies in the policy guide from three continents have shown, such enterprises can be highly effective in improving food output," said the Director of FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division, Shivaji Pandey.

The policy guide is based on case studies from Brazil, India and Côte d'Ivoire, the results of which have been published separately by FAO. In all three cases, a favourable policy environment was found to be a key requirement to the successful development of smallholder seed enterprises. Examples include an efficient quality control and certification system, private sector support, flexible legislation and the legal recognition of the rights of farmers to save, exchange and sell seeds of commercial varieties.
Mar 1 2011 7:10PM
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUSPENDS LIBYA FROM RIGHTS BODY; BAN SAYS REGIONAL CHANGE MUST COME 'FROM WITHIN'
New York, Mar 1 2011 6:10PM
The General Assembly today <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/ga11050.doc.htm">suspended Libya from the United Nations <"http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/">Human Rights Council for "gross and systematic" human rights violations because of President Muammar Al-Qadhafi's violent repression of peaceful protesters demanding his ouster.

The vote by the 192-member Assembly, for which a two-thirds majority was required, followed a request last Friday from the Geneva-based Council itself that it suspend the North African country – one of the top UN right's body's 47 elected members – and was passed by acclamation.

It was the latest measure taken against Mr. Qadhafi's regime by the UN, where the Security Council has already imposed sanctions and requested that the International Criminal Court investigate it for possible crimes against humanity. Only Venezuela expressed reservations about Tuesday's suspension on the grounds that an investigation was needed first – but it did not stand in the way of the vote.

Terming the Qadhafi regime's actions "flagrant human rights violations," the President of the General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, warned that there can be no security or development without respect for rights.

"The credibility of the international community, the United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council is at stake in ensuring that these rights are respected and that human rights violations are punished," he told Members States before the vote.

"Today it is up to us, the General Assembly, to do our part. We must show unity and resolve in our determination to promote the fundamental values of the [UN] Charter," Mr. Deiss added. "This is our duty to all the men and women who are hoping and struggling to have their rights respected and who, today, are running the greatest risks. Their hopes must not be dashed."

Also <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=5116">addressing the Assembly before the vote, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced grave concern at the continued loss of life, "the ongoing repression of the population and the clear incitement to violence against the civilian population by Colonel Qadhafi and his supporters."

Mr. Ban said the actions taken by the various UN bodies send a strong and important message – "a message of great consequence within the region and beyond: that there is no impunity, that those who commit crimes against humanity will be punished, that fundamental principles of justice and accountability shall prevail."

The Human Rights Council was established in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights, which had been considered ineffective. The 47 countries that make up the Council's membership are elected by secret majority vote of the General Assembly based on geographical distribution, and serve for three years, with no more than two consecutive terms. Libya was elected last year with its term scheduled to end in 2013.

Mr. Ban warned of a crisis marked by on-going violence, a growing humanitarian emergency and a political situation that could quickly deteriorate further. He cited reports that government had opened arms depots and arsenals "to gangs who terrorize communities" and that its forces had fired indiscriminately on peaceful protesters.

The Secretary-General noted that the international community must recognize that any changes to societies in the region "must come from within."

"Above all, this means local ownership and local leadership, consistent with popular aspirations for dignity and justice," Mr. Ban said. "In this great and noble quest, the United Nations stands ready to assist in every way possible, should the people of the region and their governments request our help."

He noted that while the death toll from nearly two weeks of violence in Libya is unknown, it is likely to exceed 1,000, with thousands injured. "Credible and consistent reports include allegations of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture," the Secretary-General said.

Citing a growing crisis of refugees and displaced persons, with nearly 150,000 people already fleeing to Tunisia and Egypt, he warned that the violence could disrupt distribution networks and lead to food shortages.

"In these difficult and unpredictable circumstances, it is critical that the international community remain united," he said, citing his meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., with United States President Barack Obama, and talks he plans to hold with other world and regional leaders in the coming days.

"Our collective challenge will be to provide real protection for the people of Libya – first, to halt the violence and, second, to deal with the growing humanitarian emergency," Mr. Ban said. "The arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze imposed by Security Council resolution 1970 [on Saturday] must be swiftly and effectively enforced. We need concrete action on the ground to provide humanitarian and medical assistance. Time is of the essence. Thousands of lives are at risk."

In the coming days, UN assessment teams will deploy to organize the humanitarian response, working on the ground where they can in the eastern and western regions of Libya, Mr. ban said, adding that he would bring together the heads of UN humanitarian agencies and international and regional groups including the Arab League, the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Conference to consolidate the response, for which he plans to appoint a Special Envoy.
Mar 1 2011 6:10PM
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UN AGENCY PUBLISHES FIRST IN SERIES OF BOOKS ON ‘GREEN ECONOMY’ FOR DEVELOPMENT

UN AGENCY PUBLISHES FIRST IN SERIES OF BOOKS ON 'GREEN ECONOMY' FOR DEVELOPMENT
New York, Mar 1 2011 5:10PM
The United Nations agency tasked with promoting industrial development has published the first in a series of books focusing on "green" economic growth, which entails a low-carbon, resource-efficient approach to sustainable development, while combating climate change and conserving biodiversity.

The volumes are intended to give practical expression to the concept of sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said in a <"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Webflyer.asp?intItemID=1397&docID=14598">press release today. At the Earth Summit – unprecedented for a UN conference in terms of both its size and the scope of its concerns – the UN sought to help governments rethink economic development and find ways to halt the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet.

"The Road to Rio+20" features 14 articles aimed at highlighting critical topics and stimulate global discussion ahead of next year's UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, also known as Rio+20. That conference's main theme will be "green economy" in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

The first volume includes lead articles by the Director of the Earth Institute and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Jeffrey Sachs; ecological economist and Professor Emeritus of the University of Maryland, Herman Daly; and the Senior Vice President and Head of the UN Foundation's International Bioenergy and Sustainability Initiatives, Melinda Kimble.

The volume also tackles such topics as how the transition to low-carbon economic growth can be financed, especially for the world's poorer countries; how useful technology can be funded, developed, and shared; and how global trade regimes and rules can be adjusted to support and nurture developing-country exporters of green products and services, including environmentally friendly agricultural goods and renewable energy.

Each future volume will have a chapter focusing on the programmes and policies of a specific sector of the economy.

UNCTAD is carrying out an analysis of steps taken by governments in the fields of trade, investment, and development that have successfully spurred green economic growth. The results of that analysis and recommendations for future action will be unveiled at the Rio+20 conference in early June 2012.
Mar 1 2011 5:10PM
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUSPENDS LIBYA FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUSPENDS LIBYA FROM UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
New York, Mar 1 2011 4:10PM
The General Assembly today suspended Libyan membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council because of President Muammar Al-Qadhafi's violent repression of peaceful protesters demanding his ouster.

The vote by the 192-member Assembly, following a request from the Geneva-based Council itself last Friday that it suspend Libya, one of the top UN right's body's 47 elected members, was the latest measure taken by the UN, where the Security Council has already imposed sanctions on Mr. Qadhafi's regime and requested that the International Criminal Court investigate it for possible crimes against humanity.

<B>MORE TO FOLLOW</B>
Mar 1 2011 4:10PM
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CÔTE D’IVOIRE: UN RAISES CONCERN OVER CIVILIANS TRAPPED BY FIGHTING IN ABIDJAN SUBURB

CÔTE D'IVOIRE: UN RAISES CONCERN OVER CIVILIANS TRAPPED BY FIGHTING IN ABIDJAN SUBURB
New York, Mar 1 2011 3:10PM
The United Nations refugee agency today expressed <"http://www.unhcr.org/4d6d01399.html">concern over the plight of civilians trapped in the Abobo district of Abidjan, the commercial capital of Côte d'Ivoire, where fighting has been raging for several days, and called for a halt to the fighting to allow non-combatants to leave.

"There must be no targeting of civilians. All efforts must be made to prevent civilians being placed in harm's way," the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, told a <"http://www.unhcr.org/4d6ce0289.html">press conference in Geneva today. She noted that the population of Abobo is estimated at 1.5 million people, many of whom have already fled while armed groups are reported to be preventing others from leaving.

"Of particular concern to UNHCR were the risks for people who may have had difficulties with moving, including the elderly, the sick and pregnant women," Ms. Fleming said, adding that some people had fled yesterday, taking advantage of a brief lull in fighting.

Côte d'Ivoire has been beset by political uncertainty, with growing reports of tension and violence between rival groups since incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to leave office after he was defeated by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in a presidential election held last November, whose result was certified by the UN.

Church officials in Abobo have told UNHCR that some 60 families, mainly women and children, were trapped in a church where they were being prevented from leaving by armed men, and where they lack food, water and sanitary facilities, with corpses said to be lying nearby.

"UNHCR's monitoring teams have heard other reports of people being prevented from leaving the areas of fighting," Ms. Fleming said. "Some families had been forced to hand over money or personal possessions to be allowed to leave."

The spokesperson cited reports of many dead bodies, burned buses and shops looted, and of young militiamen attacking people inside their homes. The developments on the ground have led to rising transportation costs, as thousands of families tried to board taxis, buses or private cars to reach safer neighbourhoods or their home villages. Taxi drivers are reportedly refusing to take people to some destinations in other parts of the city because of reports of gunfire.

Elsewhere in western Côte d'Ivoire, most of the 9,000 displaced people at the Catholic mission in Duékoué have left the location because of fear of new conflict. Plans for a UNHCR camp in the area have been put on hold.

Nearly 30,000 Ivorians have fled across the border into Liberia in recent days, joining 40,000 of their compatriots already there.

Speaking at the same press conference in Geneva, a spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Marixie Mercado, said that more than half a million Ivorian children have been vaccinated against measles and yellow fever in response to an outbreak in the Sud-Comoe region last week.

In Liberia, food, shelter, and the risk of disease outbreaks remained the most pressing humanitarian concerns, Ms Mercado said, adding that over the past week, 207 children were screened for malnutrition and 47 of then identified as severely malnourished.

UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are setting up outpatient treatment centres, as well as specialized nutrition units, in the areas with large numbers of refugees. UNICEF had received about $2 million of the $5.7 it requested to respond to the humanitarian crisis resulting from the political deadlock in Côte d'Ivoire.<p class="kword">Cote</p>
Mar 1 2011 3:10PM
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TUNISIAN BORDER AT CRISIS POINT AS TENS OF THOUSANDS FLEE LIBYAN VIOLENCE, UN REPORTS

TUNISIAN BORDER AT CRISIS POINT AS TENS OF THOUSANDS FLEE LIBYAN VIOLENCE, UN REPORTS
New York, Mar 1 2011 2:10PM
The situation at the Libyan-Tunisian border has reached crisis point as tens of thousands of people flee the reported violence by President Muammar Al-Qadhafi's loyalists, with 14,000 people crossing yesterday alone, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

"We can see acres of people waiting to cross the border. Many have been waiting for three to four days in the freezing cold, with no shelter or food," <"http://www.unhcr.org/4d6cf13d9.html">said the head of the emergency response team from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ayman Gharaibeh, at the bordertown of Ras Adjir. Agency officials voiced concern that large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans are not being allowed in.

"Usually the first three days of the crisis are the worst. This seems to be getting worse by the day," Mr. Gharaibeh added, noting that a further 10,000 to 15,000 people were expected to cross over today from Libya – where the Security Council has referred two weeks of reported violent repression by Mr. Qadhafi's regime against peaceful civilian protesters demanding his ouster to the International Criminal Court for investigation into possible crimes against humanity.

Overall nearly 150,000 people, many of them migrant workers, are estimated to have fled since turmoil broke out in mid-February – 70,000 to 75,000 to Tunisia and more than 69,000 to Egypt alone – and UNHCR, which had been using its own resources and stockpiles, is now seeking additional funds, its spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, told a news briefing in Geneva.

The agency needs the help of governments and she called on them to alleviate the situation in Tunisia and Egypt, most urgently by helping to evacuate people, she added, stressing that it is "becoming critically important that onwards transport becomes quickly available to avoid a humanitarian crisis."

On Monday, UNHCR erected 500 tents close to the border in a new transit camp and a further 1,000 are expected to go up today, providing shelter to about 12,000 people. Two airlifts are planned for Thursday with tents and supplies for up to 10,000 more people.

The water and hygiene situation remains precarious and UNHCR has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to help improve these facilities. Tunisian civilians, the Tunisian Red Crescent and the military have all been unstinting in their support, but are seriously overstretched, the agency said.

Ms. Fleming voiced particular concern that a large number of sub-Saharan Africans are not being allowed entry into Tunisia at this point. "UNHCR is in negotiations with self-appointed volunteers from the local community who are guarding the border," she said.

Mr. Gharaibeh said most of those crossing the border were fit young men, noting: "This is the only reason why the situation has not degenerated into a huge crisis so far."

The majority of those who have crossed over to Egypt are Egyptians, most of whom have already been transported to other towns and cities, but some 3,000 people remain at the border awaiting onward transportation, Ms. Fleming said, adding that UNHCR distributed relief items and food prepared by the Egyptian Red Crescent. The Egyptian Red Crescent is due to transport a consignment of UNHCR medical supplies and food into eastern Libya tomorrow at the request of tribal leaders.

In Libya itself, UNHCR national staff members have kept the agency's office in Tripoli open for refugees, offering assistance to those able to reach the office and manning a 24-hour hotline. This phone link, and a hotline manned from Geneva, continues to receive desperate calls from refugees in Libya and their family members outside, saying they feel trapped, threatened and hunted.

"We have heard several accounts from refugees who tell us their compatriots have been targeted and killed," Ms. Fleming said. "Others tell us about forced evictions and attacks on their homes."

The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), Josette Sheeran, who arrived in Tunisia yesterday, was travelling to the border today to meet with new arrivals, who have received high energy biscuits airlifted from the UN emergency warehouse in Brindisi, Italy.

A senior UN World Health Organization (WHO) official, Eric Laroche, is also at the Tunisian-Libyan border along with several agency experts, and UNICEF said its director of emergency operations, Louis Georges Arsenault, would arrive in Tunisia tomorrow.

UNICEF has teams on both sides of the border and is strengthening its capacity to respond to further influxes of refugees and the needs of people in Libya by stockpiling supplies for water, sanitation and hygiene, health, and nutrition, as well as emergency education and protection items. In Geneva, a UNICEF spokesperson, Marixie Mercado, voiced deep concerned at reports of children and adolescents killed in the escalating violence across the Middle East, and especially in Libya.
Mar 1 2011 2:10PM
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DR CONGO: UN ALARMED BY UPSURGE OF ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS BY LRA INSURGENTS

DR CONGO: UN ALARMED BY UPSURGE OF ATTACKS AGAINST CIVILIANS BY LRA INSURGENTS
New York, Mar 1 2011 2:10PM
The United Nations refugee agency today voiced alarm at a fresh upsurge of violence against civilians in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by an armed rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), saying dozens have been killed and thousands forced to flee their homes.

Attacks by the LRA, which originated in Uganda, have intensified since January in DRC's Orientale province, where some 35 people have been killed, 104 others abducted and an estimated 17,000 displaced, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Melissa Fleming, said at a <"http://www.unhcr.org/4d6ce0299.html">press briefing in Geneva today. She noted that UNHCR had received reports of 52 raids since the start of 2011.

"An additional worrisome development is that the rebels appear to have shifted from preying on people in isolated and remote locations to targeting more populated areas," Ms. Fleming said, adding that the latest attack happened on the morning of 24 February in the town of Banangana where eight people were killed and 30 abducted.

On 21 February, a truck ferrying relief supplies and food for a non-governmental organization was attacked in the vicinity of the Garamba National Park. Previously, on 11 February, the LRA launched an attack on Faradje territory, forcing several aid agencies to evacuate staff and leave residents to fend for themselves. Ms. Fleming added that there have also been attacks on vehicles transporting humanitarian assistance

LRA-related violence is seriously hampering humanitarian work in the province. According to UN data some 2,000 people have been killed and 2,500 abducted, including 892 children, in attacks against civilians in villages and towns across the Orientale province since December 2007.

Those abducted are used as porters, forced to work in the fields or use as sex slaves or new recruits. Attacks are often accompanied by extreme cruelty, including murder, mutilation, or amputation of the lips and ears – apparently aimed at terrorizing people with a view to displacing entire populations. Trauma lasting months or years is common among those who have fled.

Ms. Fleming said that LRA attacks are causing one of Africa's biggest population displacements. Since 2008, some 290,000 people have been uprooted in Orientale province. During the same period, 20,000 Congolese have sought refugee in southern Sudan, while 3,500 have fled to the Central African Republic.
Mar 1 2011 2:10PM
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ARMED CONFLICT BLOCKING EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY SCHOOLING, UN WARNS

ARMED CONFLICT BLOCKING EFFORTS TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY SCHOOLING, UN WARNS
New York, Mar 1 2011 1:10PM
Armed conflict is robbing 28 million children of an education by exposing them to widespread rape and other sexual violence, targeted attacks on schools and other human rights abuses, according to a United Nations report issued today.

The number accounts for 42 per cent of the primary school age children globally not enrolled in school and living in poor countries affected by conflict, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned in its <"http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/efareport/">2011 Global Monitoring Report, which also set out a comprehensive agenda for change – including tougher action against human rights violations, an overhaul of global aid priorities and strengthened rights for displaced people.

"Armed conflict remains a major roadblock to human development in many parts of the world, yet its impact on education is widely neglected," UNESCO's Director-General, Irina Bokova, <"http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/conflict_is_robbing_28_million_children_of_a_future_unesco_report_warns/">said, noting that the report – <i>The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education</i> – documents the scale of this hidden crisis, identifies its root causes and offers solid proposals for change.

The world is not on track to achieve the six Education for All goals that over 160 countries signed up to at the World Education Forum in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal, with the aim of achieving 100 per cent child enrolment in primary schools by 2015, the report stresses – the report itself is the prime instrument to assess global progress towards achieving the six goals.

The report added that the number of children out of school stood at 67 million in 2008 – the most recent year in which the data was compiled – and is falling too slowly to meet the target, which will be missed by a wide margin, especially in regions riven by conflict.

Rape and other sexual violence have been widely used as a war tactic in many countries and insecurity and fear associated with sexual violence keep young girls in particular out of school. Although the international courts set up after the wars in the former Yugoslavia and genocide in Rwanda have firmly established rape and other sexual violence as war crimes, these acts remain widely deployed weapons of war.

Of the rapes reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one third involve children, with 13 per cent against children under ten, the report states. It calls for the end to a culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence, stronger monitoring of human rights violations affecting education, and creation of an International Commission on Rape and Sexual Violence backed by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Unreported rape in conflict-affected areas in eastern DRC may be ten to 20 times the reported level, and the report warns that sexual violence has a devastating impact on education, impairing learning potential, creating a climate of fear that keeps girls at home, and leading to family breakdown that deprives children of a nurturing environment.

"Children and education are not just getting caught in the cross-fire, they are increasingly the targets of violent conflict," the report's director, Kevin Watkins, said. "The failure of governments to protect human rights is causing children deep harm – and taking away their only chance of an education. It is time for the international community to bring to account the perpetrators of heinous crimes like systematic rape, and to back UN resolutions with decisive action."

The report is endorsed by four Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Oscar Arias Sánchez of Costa Rica, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, José Ramos-Horta of Timor-Leste and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. In an introduction to the report, Archbishop Tutu said "it documents in stark detail the sheer brutality of the violence against some of the world's most vulnerable people, including its schoolchildren, and it challenges world leaders of all countries, rich and poor, to act decisively."

The reports note that 35 countries were affected by armed conflict from 1999 to 2008. Children and schools are on the front line of these conflicts, with classrooms, teachers and pupils seen as legitimate targets. In Afghanistan, at least 613 attacks on schools were recorded in 2009, up from 347 in 2008.

Insurgents in north-western Pakistan have made numerous attacks on girls' schools, including one in which 95 girls were injured. In north Yemen, 220 schools were destroyed, damaged or looted during fighting in 2009 and 2010 between government and rebel forces.

Armed conflict is also diverting public funds from education into military spending, the report warns. Many of the poorest countries spend significantly more on arms than on basic education. If 21 of these countries were to cut military spending by just ten per cent, they could put 9.5 million more children in school.

Military spending is also diverting the resources of aid donor countries – it would take just six days of military spending by rich countries to close the $16 billion Education for All external financing gap.

Donors' security agendas have led them to focus on a small group of countries while neglecting many of the world's poorest countries. Aid for basic education has increased more than fivefold in Afghanistan over the past five years, but it has stagnated or risen more slowly in countries such as Chad and the Central African Republic, and declined in Côte d'Ivoire. Education accounts for just two per cent of humanitarian aid, and only a small fraction of requests for humanitarian aid for education are met.

The report also warns that education failures are fuelling conflict. In many conflict-affected countries, over 60 per cent of the population is aged under 25, but education systems are not providing youth with the skills needed to escape poverty, unemployment and the economic despair that often contributes to violent conflict.
Mar 1 2011 1:10PM
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ZIMBABWE: UN RIGHTS CHIEF CONCERNED OVER DETENTIONS FOR DISCUSSING TUNISIA AND EGYPT

ZIMBABWE: UN RIGHTS CHIEF CONCERNED OVER DETENTIONS FOR DISCUSSING TUNISIA AND EGYPT
New York, Mar 1 2011 12:10PM
The United Nations top human rights official today expressed deep concern over the illegal detention and reported ill-treatment of 45 members of civil society in Zimbabwe who have allegedly been charged with treason for discussing recent events in Egypt and Tunisia.

"As many people in North Africa have been pointing out increasingly loudly and clearly, there is no true democracy without freedom of expression and assembly," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a <"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10775&LangID=E">release. "It is therefore both deeply ironic and disturbing that, in Zimbabwe, activists are being arrested and mistreated simply for discussing North Africans' efforts to bring about change through largely peaceful protests."

Mass protests by citizens demanding greater democracy and respect of human rights in Tunisia and Egypt in January and February respectively forced the two countries' heads of state to vacate their positions after decades in power. In the wake of these popular uprisings, protests calling for democratic change have also taken place in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya.

On 19 February, Zimbabwean police arrested the coordinator of the International Socialist Organisation and 44 other social justice and human rights activists who were attending a roundtable focused on the developments in Tunisia and Egypt. The activists have reportedly been charged with treason and several of them claim to have been beaten since being taken into custody.

"These arrests appear to be part of a growing crackdown on civil society and members of the political opposition, and are a clear sign that the establishment of a consolidated democracy in Zimbabwe is still very far from assured," Ms. Pillay said. "All those who are being illegally held in detention should be released without delay. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are rights guaranteed under Zimbabwean and international law."

The High Commissioner noted that respect for diversity of political opinion is described as 'the bedrock of democracy and good governance" in the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) – the document that established the framework for the current Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe.

Ms. Pillay called on Zimbabwe's authorities "to fulfil its promise to 'put an end to the polarization, divisions, conflict and intolerance' that have caused so much damage to the fundamental fabric of what could and should be a peaceful, prosperous and democratic nation," as stipulated in the GPA.

"I see these unwarranted arrests as a serious step backwards, especially with elections possibly taking place later this year," she said. "The government needs to take measures, beginning with the release of these activists, to restore some faith in the country's political processes."
Mar 1 2011 12:10PM
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UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WARNS AGAINST REPRESSION OF PLANNED PROTESTS IN YEMEN

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF WARNS AGAINST REPRESSION OF PLANNED PROTESTS IN YEMEN
New York, Mar 1 2011 11:10AM
The United Nations human rights chief today warned Yemeni authorities against violent repression of planned mass peaceful protests, and called on the government to protect the rights of demonstrators and journalists under international law.

"People have the legitimate right to express their grievances and demands to their government," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a <"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10776&LangID=E">release in which she also denounced previous violence against protestors in Yemen, which is reported to have resulted in a number of deaths and injuries.

Yemen is one of several countries ion the region that has experienced protests calling for democratic change, following popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that led to the ouster of long-time rulers there.

Noting reports that opposition protestors in Yemen have called for a "Day of Anger" on Tuesday, Ms. Pillay urged all parties to exercise restraint and to respect the right to life and the freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.

"We have seen over and over again in the past few weeks that violent responses, in breach of international law, do not make the protestors go away and only serve to exacerbate their frustration and anger," Ms. Pillay said.

She cited reports of attacks, intimidation and harassment against local and international journalists covering the protests, as well as the arrest and detention of journalists and human rights defenders.

The High Commissioner was particularly concerned about reports of enforced disappearances of political activists and called for immediate clarification on the whereabouts of individuals recently transferred to the capital, Sana'a, from the port city of Aden.

"The authorities must release all individuals arrested for demonstrating peacefully, and human rights defenders and journalists must be protected as they carry out their important work," she said, noting the importance of those responsible for public security understanding that their actions are governed by international law and they can be held personally accountable for breaches.

"As a general rule, army units with no training or equipment to deal with street protests should not be deployed in cities," Ms. Pillay said. "If there is no alternative, they should be under the tight control of qualified officers."<br>
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Calling for a "meaningful, broad and inclusive dialogue" in Yemen to chart a way forward that respects the human rights aspirations of the people, she also urged opposition protestors not to resort to violence and expressed concern that medical personnel were allegedly denied access to treat injured protestors during earlier demonstrations.

"Across the Middle East and North Africa, people have been taking their governments to task," Ms. Pillay said. "The only way forward is to listen to them and grant them their due rights to participate in the decisions that deeply affect their lives."
Mar 1 2011 11:10AM
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