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UN Daily News
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Issue DH/5775
In the headlines:
• Warships alone will not deter piracy off Somali
• UN agency assisting over 15,000 refugees fleeing
• Sudan: UN official urges Government to recommit
• UN environment chief calls on G20 to build on
• Deputy UN chief urges more States to join cluster
• UN-backed forum discusses limiting environmental
coast, Security Council told
to unhindered aid delivery
munitions ban
•
Ban urges greater focus by Israel and Lebanon on
reaching permanent peace
fighting in Myanmar
previous pledges of green growth
impact of sporting events
• UN-backed measles vaccination drive targets
India’s highest risk children
• UNESCO and cosmetics giant L’Oréal honour five
outstanding women scientists
Warships alone will not deter piracy off Somali coast, Security
Council told
9 November - The growing problem of piracy off the Somali coast demands more than just
military efforts, the United Nations political chief told the Security Council today, calling
for simultaneous action on three fronts – deterrence, security and the rule of law, and
development – to combat the scourge.
“Piracy is a menace that is outpacing efforts by the international community to stem it,” B.
Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the 15-member body,
adding that the numbers are “appalling.”
According to figures by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), over 438 seafarers
and passengers and 20 ships are held by pirates as of 4 November – an increase of almost
100 kidnapped victims in less than a month.
Australian navy personnel intercept
pirates in the Gulf of Aden on 20
September 2009
Presenting Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the issue, Mr. Pascoe said that warships alone will not solve
the problem.
“We need to continue to fight this battle in the broadest manner, focussing simultaneously on deterrence, security and the
rule of law, as well providing economic alternatives for Somali youth.”
Mr. Pascoe noted that as long as piracy is so lucrative, with ransom payments adding up to tens if not millions of dollars,
and other economic options so bleak, the incentives are obvious. “Economic rehabilitation and the creation of alternative
livelihoods, especially the development and rehabilitation of coastal fisheries, must be at the centre of our efforts to fight
piracy.”
For information media not an official record
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9 November 2010
He also stressed the need to make piracy and robbery off the Somali coast costly by addressing impunity and building the
capacity of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to expand its authority and deal with law and order.
In his report, the Secretary-General noted that, while naval patrols off Somalia’s coast have increasingly disrupted the
activities of pirates, with many sea bandits arrested and prosecuted, the increased levels of violence employed by the pirates
as well as their expanding reach is “disconcerting.”
He welcomed steps taken to prosecute suspected pirates and imprison convicted offenders, expressing particular
appreciation to Kenya and Seychelles for their efforts, as well as to a number of Member States that have provided resources
for the trial and incarceration of convicted pirates.
At the same time, Mr. Ban stressed that much more needs to be done, including improvements in the collection of evidence
and other investigative activities following arrests at sea, as well as finding long-term legal solutions to the problem.
Also addressing the Council today, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that his agency has
developed a counter-piracy programme to assist regional countries in prosecuting pirates. Over 700 suspected and convicted
pirates are now in detention in 12 countries, with more than half of these in Somalia itself.
Executive Director Yury Fedotov said the main impediment to regional States accepting the transfer of suspected pirates for
prosecution has been the burden of imprisoning convicted pirates for the length of their sentences, which generally range
from 5 to 20 years, as the prisons are overcrowded.
“It is clear that the only viable long-term solution to the Somali piracy problem is to restore law and order in Somalia,
including in its waters. It is also clear that this solution is some years off and will require concerted and coordinated
international effort,” he stated.
Meanwhile, UNODC’s counter -piracy programme, which was established in 2009, is working towards ensuring fair and
efficient trials and imprisonment of piracy suspects in regional countries; humane and secure imprisonment in Somalia; and
fair and efficient trials in Somalia.
Combating the problem of piracy is a major priority for the Security Council, its President for the month of November,
Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant of the United Kingdom, told reporters after closed-door discussions.
While Council members are grateful for those involved in the naval operations aimed at deterring piracy off the Somali
coast, they agreed that such operations on their own would not address the problem, he noted, adding that it is important to
address the root causes and tackle issues such as security and development in the country.
Sudan: UN official urges Government to recommit to
unhindered aid delivery
9 November - The head of the United Nations relief wing has asked authorities in Sudan to
renew their commitment to ensuring unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to people in
need, without regard to political, ethnic or religious consideration.
A group of people who fled fighting in
Abyei in 2008
“I hope that in coming months, our working relationship with the Government of Sudan,
the Government of Southern Sudan and state authorities will be strengthened and yield a
well coordinated provision of humanitarian assistance where and when it is needed,”
Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in
Khartoum at the end of her six-day visit.
“We must also work to provide durable solutions to help vulnerable population across the country rebuild their lives,” said
Ms. Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
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9 November 2010
She said humanitarian agencies have reported a worrying deterioration in their operating environment in recent months in
Southern Sudan, Abyei and Darfur, adding that insecurity is limiting the freedom of movement of aid workers and their
ability to provide assistance.
Some 27 international aid workers and peacekeepers have been kidnapped since March 2009, with four still in captivity, Ms.
Amos said. “I welcome the Government’s efforts to resolve kidnapping cases and call for perpetrators to be apprehended
and brought to justice.”
The issue of finding a durable solution to the problem of internal displacement came up during her discussions with officials
and with displaced persons, and she stressed that people have the right to return to their original homes or to settle in
alternative areas of their choice.
“But the conditions need to be appropriate and their safety and security must be guaranteed. Ensuring that returns take place
in a free and principled manner is the responsibility of the Government. Humanitarian workers are ready to assist where
there is clear humanitarian need, and where the Government is not able to provide the required support,” Ms. Amos said.
Asked for her opinion about fears that the south and the north might go back to war over the referendum on selfdetermination for the south scheduled for January, Ms. Amos said that the people she had talked to in the south had no
interest in fresh conflict.
“Parties in the north and the south must make their commitment to ensuring the safety of people clear. They must
communicate this clearly. It is the responsibility of the Governments to protect their populations,” she said.
Deputy UN chief urges more States to join cluster munitions
ban
9 November - Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro today praised the parties to a
convention banning cluster munitions and urged more States to support the international
agreement that outlaws their use.
Addressing delegates at the first meeting of parties to the new Convention on Cluster
Munitions, which is taking place in Vientiane, Laos, and Ms. Migiro said the treaty gave “a
great boost” to international humanitarian law.
Cluster bombs
“It is unambiguous in banning the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster
munitions.”
In addition to its prohibitions, the Convention requires States to give assistance to victims of the weapons and provides a
framework for donor assistance and cooperation to affec ted countries. It entered into force on 1 August 2010 and 108
nations have signed the agreement with 46 of those countries having also ratified it.
Ms. Migiro reiterated Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for all States to become party to the Convention without delay
and paid tribute to Laos, the country most affected by cluster munitions, for holding the meeting.
“For more than half a century, these weapons have robbed lives and limbs from the people of Laos. You have counted more
than 50,000 casualties from unexploded ordnance. The social, economic and environmental impact has been profound. By
hosting this meeting, your Government is demonstrating its commitment to human security – here and throughout the
world,” she said.
The Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), Maxwell Kerley, echoed Ms. Migiro’s call for States to
support the Convention to end the needless loss of innocent lives caused by the explosives. He noted that the effect of the
munitions extends beyond the immediate risk posed to people’s personal safety.
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9 November 2010
“They land on roads in orchards and farms. They make land impassable, disrupt livelihoods and prevent aid distribution and
resettlement of refugees.”
The head of the UN’s de-mining service added that the Convention was the most important step for global conventional
disarmament since the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, which entered into force in 1999. The Treaty called for countries to
destroy all their stockpiled mines within four years, and to remove all mines from the ground in their countries within 10
years, with extensions available for severely affected countries.
The new convention aims to have a similar effect on cluster munitions, bombs that contain dozens of smaller explosives
designed to disperse over an area the size of a football field, but which often fail to detonate, creating large de facto
minefields.
In the six decades since they were first used, cluster munitions have been deployed in 39 countries and areas around the
world by at least 18 countries – by the end of 2009, 16,816 cluster munitions casualties were recorded. However, due to
significant under-reporting, the actual number of casualties might be as high as 85,000 worldwide.
Ban urges greater focus by Israel and Lebanon on reaching
permanent peace
9 November - Noting that the security situation along the Israeli-Lebanese border is still
fragile, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on both sides to step up efforts to move
from the current state of cessation of hostilities, as agreed to in August 2006, to a
permanent ceasefire.
UNIFIL troops at work observing Section
83 near the Blue Line on the border
between Lebanon and Israel
In his latest report to the Security Council on the implementation of resolution 1701, made
public today, Mr. Ban states that recent months have been marked by an increase in
political tensions in Lebanon, as well as the most serious incident to have taken place since
the 2006 conflict ended.
Resolution 1701 brought to an end the conflict that took place between Israel and the
Lebanese group Hizbollah four years ago. It also calls for respect for the so-called Blue Line separating the Israeli and
Lebanese sides, the disarming of all militias operating in Lebanon and an end to arms smuggling in the area.
For the first time in four years, direct fighting broke out on 3 August between Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF), res ulting in casualties on both sides.
“This incident, the most serious to have taken place since the cessation of hostilities, illustrated the fragility of the security
environment across the Blue Line and raised the spectre of a serious escalation between the parties,” Mr. Ban writes.
He urges the parties to do everything in their power to ensure that this incident remains an isolated one, and to cooperate
closely with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in its efforts to prevent such an event from recurring.
“I again urge both parties to do their utmost to prevent violations of the Blue Line, to act with maximum restraint and to
refrain from taking any measures close to the Blue Line that could lead to misunderstandings or be perceived by the other
side as provocative,” he says.
“The situation continues to be volatile and more work remains to be done by the parties to advance the full implementation
of resolution 1701,” he adds.
The Secretary-General says that sustained efforts are needed to ensure that the area between the Blue Line and the Litani
River is free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese Government and of UNIFIL, in
accordance with resolution 1701.
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9 November 2010
Another priority is to resolve the issue of the continued occupation by the IDF of the northern part of the town of Ghajar and
the adjacent area north of the Blue Line, Mr. Ban states, urging Israel to withdraw its forces as called for in the 2006
resolution.
He also calls on Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty by immediately halting all overflights of Lebanese territory, which
he says exacerbate tensions in southern Lebanon and negatively impact the credibility of the LAF and UNIFIL.
Voicing concern about the “marked rise” in political tensions in Lebanon and recent challenges to State authority by
Hizbollah and some of its allies, Mr. Ban calls on Lebanese leaders to continue to “work towards preventing a political crisis
that some in Lebanon fear could erupt into violence.”
He also expresses deep concern about the “widespread proliferation” of weapons in Lebanon and the continued presence of
armed groups in the country operating outside the control of the State, which poses a challenge to the Government’s ability
to exercise its full sovereignty and control over its territory, and violates resolution 1701.
Also vital to enable Lebanon to extend its control and to exercise its full sovereignty over all of its territory is the delineation
and demarcation of the border between Lebanon and Syria. The Secretary-General calls on both countries to make further
progress on this issue, and welcomes their renewed intentions to delineate their common border.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ban says he intends to continue his diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the issue of the Shab’a Farms,
another disputed area, and once again calls on Israel and Syria to submit their responses to the provisional definition of the
Shab’a Farms area that he had provided on the basis of the best available information.
UNESCO and cosmetics giant L’Oréal honour five outstanding
women scientists
9 November - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and cosmetics manufacturer L’Oréal today announced the names of five
outstanding women scientists who will be honoured for their research and the impact of
their work on society.
The awards ceremony will take place on 3 March next year at UNESCO Headquarters in
Paris. Each of the five laureates will receive $100,000 in recognition of her contribution to
science.
Faiza Al-Kharafi, professor of chemistry at Kuwait University will be honoured for her work on corrosion, a problem of
fundamental importance to water treatment and the oil industry.
Vivian Wing-Wah Yam, professor of chemistry and energy at the University of Hong Kong will be recognized for her work
on light-emitting materials and innovative ways of capturing solar energy.
Anne L’huillier, who teaches atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden, will receive recognition for research on the
development of the fastest camera for recording events in attoseconds – a billionth of a billionth of a second.
Professor Emeritus Silvia Torres-Peimbert of the Institute of Astronomy at Mexico City University will receive the award
for her work on the chemical composition of nebulae, which is fundamental to the understanding of the origin of the
universe.
Jillian Banfield, professor of Earth and Planetary Science, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and Materials
Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will be honoured for her research on bacterial and
material behaviour under extreme conditions relevant to the environment and the Earth.
More than 1,000 scientists from around the world took part in the nomination of candidates for the awards.
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9 November 2010
The International Awards Jury, comprised of 16 eminent members of the scientific community, and presided by Professor
Ahmed Zewail, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, then selected the five women researchers in the Physical
Sciences as the Laureates of the 2011 awards. Their pioneering projects contribute to finding solutions to major challenges
for the planet.
“It is a great pleasure for me to chair this jury and to promote this programme, which is of major international importance,”
said Professor Ahmed. “The women scientists from all over the world who are receiving the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards
make it possible for us to hope for a better future,” he added.
With the centenary of Marie Curie – Nobel laureate for physics and the first female professor at the University of Paris –
being celebrated in 2011, this year’s awards have special significance, say L’Oréal and UNESCO, which joined forces 13
years ago to support the cause of women in science.
UN agency assisting over 15,000 refugees fleeing fighting in
Myanmar
9 November - The United Nations refugee agency is assisting more than 15,000 refugees
who fled into northern Thailand on Monday after fighting broke out between ethnic Karen
rebels and government troops in Myanmar.
Volunteers hand out meals to refugees at
a camp set up on the Thai border with
Myanmar
“At the request of Thai authorities, we are coordinating the efforts of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and others to provide shelter, food and water to refugees in the town
of Mae Sot,” Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva today.
“Refugees started pouring across the border early in the morning on foot and on inner tubes
across the Moei River,” said Mr. Mahecic. “Some told our staff they felt their lives were at
risk after their houses were attacked, while others said they fled the sound of fighting.”
The clashes in the Myawaddy area of eastern Myanmar reportedly began in the wake of Sunday’s elections, the first to be
held in the South-east Asian in 20 years.
Many of the refugees collected their children from school and fled to Thailand with only the clothes on their back, some
even barefoot, said Mr. Mahecic.
UNHCR is working with the Thai Government and NGOs to coordinate services to the refugees. It has provided 90 tents
which Thai authorities and the refugees themselves erected yesterday. Today the agency is providing plastic sheeting for
more shelter.
Various NGOs helped to build latrines and install tanks for drinking water, while Thai border guards provided medical help.
The Thailand Burma Border Consortium, which normally provides food and shelter to some 152,000 registered and
unregistered refugees in the nine camps in Thailand along the Myanmar border, provided food.
The new refugees gathered at two locations on the Thai side, but were later moved to one site near Mae Sot airport. There
were indications it might be too small to hold the swelling numbers, noted Mr. Mahecic.
Meanwhile, UNHCR staff and Thai authorities are working together at a school in Kanchanaburi province, west of
Bangkok, to assess the needs of some 3,000 refugees who crossed the border there late yesterday and early today.
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9 November 2010
UN environment chief calls on G20 to build on previous pledges
of green growth
9 November - As world leaders gather in the Republic of Korea for the latest meeting of
the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, the head of the United Nations environmental
agency is calling on them to build on their previous pledge to move towards a green and
more sustainable recovery from the financial crisis with more concrete action.
“A year ago in London, G20 leaders articulated this vision as building an ‘inclusive,
sustainable and green recovery,’” wrote the Executive Director of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), Achim Steiner, in an opinion piece published today in the Korean
JoongAng Daily newspaper.
UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner
“In Seoul, this vision needs to be evolved toward not only a green recovery, but to inclusive, sustainable green growth
underpinned by clean technologies and the economic importance of maintain ing nature's multi-trillion dollar services.”
Mr. Steiner noted the G20’s actions to stabilize banks and counter the financial and economic global crisis, but stressed that
financial sustainability, more sustainable employment prospects and wider challenges such as addressing poverty in the 21st
century will not happen just by fixing the contradictions inherent in existing economic models.
“It will only happen if public policy and private sector investments are aligned in ways that meet the short-term rec overy
challenges with a longer-term vision of opportunity for the many and not just the few,” he wrote, adding that by acting in
concert and cooperation, the G20 has the potential to become a key and pivotal enabler for countries transitioning their
economies towards green growth.
There are encouraging signs, not least from the G20's Korean hosts, whose own economic stimulus package had earmarked
close to 90 per cent of its funds to a short- and long-term vision of green growth, stated Mr. Steiner. He added that the
country's leaders have also made the indivisible link between the leadership role of public policy-making in terms of
unleashing private sector investment into clean technology and other green sectors.
The UNEP head pointed out that business, in the broadest sense, is looking long and hard to governments for more forwardlooking and imaginative responses, an approach which emerged last month in Nagoya, Japan, at the meeting on the
Convention on Biological Diversity, at which an historic new protocol was agreed on, setting ground rules for improving
access to, and the equitable sharing of, the world's genetic resources.
“An increasing number of banks and pension funds see rising risks to their investments from the loss of ecosystems, such as
forests and wetlands, and the multi-trillion dollar services they produce,” Mr. Steiner wrote. “And a rising number now see
the disruption to food supplies, supply chains and other challenges linked with natural resource losses as a bigger threat than
that from international terrorism.”
UN-backed forum discusses limiting environmental impact of
sporting events
9 November - Organizers of major international sporting events today concluded a forum
sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Kenya to discuss
how best to limit the negative impact of such events on the environment.
Participants in the two-day gathering in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital and UNEP
headquarters, included representatives from FIFA, the world football governing body,
which organizes the World Cup, and organizers of the Winter Olympic Games.
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The Global Forum for Sport and Environment (G-ForSE) reviewed the impact of environmental projects from events such at
the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore, and discussed the sustainability measures
planned for future sporting meets.
Participants shared expertise and experiences that can help step up “greening” efforts in the lead-up to events such as the
2012 Olympic Games in London, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil
and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“UNEP’s work in Sport and the Environment has two main objectives: to use the popularity of sports to promote
environmental awareness and to encourage green activities through sport that bring real benefits to communities and to the
environment,” the agency said in a news release.
UNEP advises host countries and organizing committees on how to integrate environmental considerations into the staging
of major sports events, and also carries out environmental impact assessments before and after the games.
The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, for example, will be held against the backdrop of diverse habitats such as the
Black Sea, the Caucasus Mountains and Alpine meadows.
Organizers are already working on ways to minimize and to offset the event’s impact on the local environment by focusing
on four key areas – protection of nature, climate neutrality, waste management and environmental communications.
Following the recommendations of an expert assessment released by UNEP in 2008, the Sochi organizing committee
relocated the proposed sliding centre (for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events) and mountain village away from its initial
location to a less environmentally-sensitive site.
UN-backed measles vaccination drive targets India’s highest
risk children
9 November - The next stage of a measles immunization drive supported by the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) began
today in India, aiming to reach 134 million children and prevent an estimated 60,000 to
100,000 annual deaths from the disease.
The children in the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will begin receiving the second
dose of their vaccinations as part of a year-long campaign by the Indian Government in the
country’s 14 highest risk regions.
“The second dose of measles vaccination drive will make sure that children who were not reached will be protected from
this deadly disease,” said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Representative in India.
“Measles is among the world’s most contagious diseases and one of the leading causes of death among children,” she added.
The highly contagious, viral respiratory infection kills an estimated 400 children every day. Children not vaccinated are at
risk of the disease and its severe health complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis. Three out of the four
children who died from measles in 2008 were from India.
India introduced two dose measles vaccinations a year ago, in line with advice on immunization from the Strategic Advisory
Group of Experts (SAGE), the principal advisory body to WHO, which recommends all children should receive two doses
of measles vaccination. Between 2000 and 2007 two-dose vaccinations were reported to have averted around 3.4 million
measles deaths worldwide.
As part of the Indian national immunisation strategy, 14 states were identified by the National Technical Advisory Group on
Immunisation (NTAGI) as having less than 80 per cent coverage and were thus advised to introduce a measles catch-up
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drive for children between the ages of nine months to ten years.
“The Government recognises the importance of vaccinating every child. Assam has taken the lead to launch this
immunisation drive, giving a second chance to vulnerable children and to protect the population against measles,” said Dr. J.
B. Ekka, Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission, Government of Assam.
In the rest of the country, the second dose of measles vaccination will be given as part of the Routine Immunisation (RI)
programme.
The UN Daily News is prepared at UN Headquarters in New York by the News Services Section
of the News and Media Division, Department of Public Information (DPI)