28 December 2006 – The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) today called on the Government and Abkhaz separatists to cooperate “to prevent any escalation” after attacks killed three Abkhaz militia members in a region where fighting forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee their homes14 years ago.
28 December 2006 – United Nations police officers have now deployed in all 12 of Timor-Leste’s districts to help end the low-level gang violence in the country and provide security for the electoral experts who are helping prepare for next year’s polls, the UN envoy said today, as he stressed the world body’s commitment to the elections.
27 December 2006 – Faced with Ethiopia’s refusal to implement the binding decisions of a Boundary Commission and Eritrea’s imposition of “harsh, humiliating impediments,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan is proposing a major reduction in the United Nations mission monitoring the ceasefire that ended the border war between the two countries six years ago.
27 December 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to Somalia’s neighbours to stay out of the spiralling violence in the country, where Ethiopia has admitted sending troops amid fighting between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).
27 December 2006 – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended much of its delivery of aid by air in Somalia due to increased fighting, including its first airdrops in eight years, and withdrawn its last international staff from a country where it has been struggling to feed up to half a million people hit by floods.
27 December 2006 – President Omar el-Bashir of Sudan has accepted a three-phased approach leading to the deployment of a hybrid United Nations-African Union (AU) force in the strife-torn Darfur region, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
26 December 2006 – With conflict in Somalia now involving Ethiopian air strikes and hundreds of wounded, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today telephoned Ethiopia’s Prime Minster and Kenya’s leader to try and halt the escalating violence, while the UN envoy to the war-ravaged country urged the Security Council to call on all sides to immediately halt the fighting.
26 December 2006 – The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has called for negotiation and mutual accommodation to achieve a long-term solution to the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme after the Security Council imposed sanctions and called for a full and sustained suspension of the country’s uranium enrichment activities.
25 December 2006 – Reaffirming the civilian status of journalists, the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution urging warring parties to prevent abuses against them and to respect their professional independence and rights.
23 December 2006 – Capping months of intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security Council today unanimously decided to impose a set of sanctions against Iran in response to its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes but which other countries contend are driven by military ambitions.
22 December 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he was hopeful Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir would indicate as early as tomorrow that he has agreed to a full ceasefire in the war-torn Darfur region and to the eventual deployment of a hybrid force of United Nations and African Union (AU) peacekeepers.
22 December 2006 – Although some international crises continue to rage, many others have been peacefully resolved, show signs of ending or were prevented from even taking place thanks to the efforts of the Security Council, departing Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the 15-member body today.
22 December 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) by another year and agreed to temporarily increase its staff numbers to help with presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for next July.
22 December 2006 – As the United Nations prepares to wind down its peacekeeping operation in Burundi and replace it with an integrated office, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is warning that human rights abuses, political tensions and other “troubling developments” could cause the hard-won peace process there to unravel.
22 December 2006 – The Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan today each voiced grave concern at the recent intensified fighting in Somalia between the strife-torn country’s Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) and the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).
21 December 2006 – As the United Nations prepares to withdraw peacekeepers from Burundi following the successful completion of their tasks, the Security Council today called for continued efforts to shore up stability in the country as it consolidates peace.
21 December 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today voiced its backing for the Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire in his efforts to foster good governance, and said all parties should cooperate with him towards this end.
21 December 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly will next year discuss gender equality as a key element of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of time-bound targets aimed at slashing poverty and other global ills, as well as holding a separate debate on relations between peoples of different beliefs, the body’s president said today.
20 December 2006 – Voicing concern about the escalating tensions in divided Côte d’Ivoire, where the peace process remains stalled, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged its political leadership to find common ground to resolve their many differences.
20 December 2006 – With the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) ending its mandate on 31 December, officials from the world body today pledged continued support to the country as it seeks to consolidate peace.
20 December 2006 – The Security Council today backed the recently concluded Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes region of Africa, which a United Nations envoy said holds the potential to consolidate gains in a part of the world that has been the scene of numerous deadly conflicts.
20 December 2006 – The Security Council today renewed the sanctions aimed at preventing Liberia from exporting “blood diamonds” or resuming the trade in arms and called on Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reappoint the Panel of Experts overseeing the ban.
20 December 2006 – Reaffirming its strong stance against terrorism, the United Nations Security Council today called for States to combat the scourge and welcomed measures to boost and monitor their efforts.
20 December 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy today began his three-day diplomatic mission to Sudan to clarify details of recent agreements aimed at ending the spiralling violence and humanitarian suffering engulfing the war-torn Darfur region.
19 December 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today announced that the former General Assembly president and Swedish foreign minister Jan Eliasson has been appointed as a special envoy to deal with the spiralling humanitarian and security crisis in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region.
19 December 2006 – Reforming Timor-Leste’s security sector following this year’s deadly violence remains the top priority of the United Nations mission in the tiny South-East Asian nation, the UN’s new envoy said shortly after arriving, as international police officers deployed to more of the nation’s districts to end the continuing low-level gang violence.
18 December 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan is dispatching a senior envoy to Khartoum for talks with Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir about the details of recent agreements on ending the widespread killing and displacement in the war-torn Darfur region, including the role of the United Nations, a spokesman for the world body announced today.
18 December 2006 – The head of the United Nations probe into last year’s assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri told the Security Council that his investigation into the deadly explosion and 14 other bombings is “approaching a sensitive and complicated phase.”
15 December 2006 – The battle to end the mass killings and displacement in Sudan’s Darfur region is nearing “a watershed moment” that will determine whether the international community will take decisive action or stand by and witness a repeat of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the actor Don Cheadle said today.
15 December 2006 – The Security Council today extended by three weeks the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) while also renewing the ban on arms and diamond trade with the country, which is divided between a rebel-held north and Government-controlled south.
15 December 2006 – The enhanced United Nations peacekeeping force sent to Lebanon this summer to monitor the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah now totals surpasses 11,000 troops from 23 countries, less than 4,000 below its mandated maximum strength.
15 December 2006 – The mandate of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) has been extended by a year and streamlined to strengthen efforts to promote dialogue and reconciliation in the West African nation and avoid lapsing back into bloodshed.
15 December 2006 – Voicing grave concern at the increased military activities of armed groups in eastern Chad, the Security Council said today it was particularly alarmed at the threat this posed for both the civilian population and the humanitarian workers trying to alleviate the suffering in the strife-torn region.
15 December 2006 – The Security Council today extended for another six months the mandate of the United Nations force that for the past 32 years has monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights.
15 December 2006 – The Security Council today extended for an additional six months the mandate of the 40-year old United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and praised the efforts of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who leaves office at the end of this month after 10 years at the world body’s helm, for his efforts to achieve a comprehensive solution.
15 December 2006 – Liberia’s new Government has continued to make encouraging progress in consolidating peace, promoting national reconciliation and stimulating economic recovery, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today, while calling for further steps to build on these gains and facilitate a drawdown of the United Nations Mission in the country (UNMIL).
15 December 2006 – The Security Council must send a message to Radovan Karadžic and Ratko Mladic, the most notorious fugitives remaining from the Balkan wars of the 1990s, that, regardless of when they are arrested, they will face trial at the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor said today.
14 December 2006 – The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the Security Council today that he is almost ready to bring cases about some of the worst war crimes committed in the Sudanese region of Darfur during the past three years.
14 December 2006 – A former businessman and youth organizer implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide will be sentenced next month after he pleaded guilty today before a United Nations war crimes tribunal to the charge of murder as a crime against humanity.
14 December 2006 – Sworn in today as the eighth and next United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon pledged that his first goal would be to restore trust in the world body, saying he would lead by example to uphold the highest levels of efficiency, competence and integrity.
14 December 2006 – Warning that Timor-Leste’s rainy season will soon cause flooding and disease in the camps for people displaced by deadly violence earlier this year, the top United Nations official there reiterated his call for people to return home or go to emergency sites, while the head of UN Police confirmed security continues to improve.
13 December 2006 – After two days of the General Assembly’s annual debate on reforming the 15-member Security Council, the Assembly President has outlined three possible options on how to proceed, noting that while consensus appears to exist on the need to expand its membership, a “divergence of views” continues on how best to do this.
13 December 2006 – The United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda today sentenced a former Roman Catholic priest who encouraged and directed the demolition of a church where about 2,000 Tutsis had tried to take shelter during the 1994 genocide – killing all those inside – to 15 years’ jail.
13 December 2006 – Welcoming the recent progress on identifying and recovering the remains of Kuwaitis and other nationals missing since the 1990 Gulf War, the Security Council today expressed concern over the fate of nearly 400 others whose whereabouts remain unknown.
13 December 2006 – Resolving Kosovo’s future status as soon as possible would bring benefits to the entire Balkan region, while any further delays would only raise tensions and help the cause of extremists, the senior United Nations envoy to the province told the Security Council today.
12 December 2006 – The newly enhanced United Nations Human Rights Council today held a special session on Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, with top officials from Secretary-General Kofi Annan on down calling for immediate action to end the nightmare of civilian deaths, mass rape, millions uprooted, indiscriminate bombardment by Government planes and rebel abuses.
12 December 2006 – Warning that tensions in the Middle East are near their breaking point, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for a “new and urgent push for peace” from all sides, including the international community, lest the people of the region be consigned to new depths of suffering and grief.
12 December 2006 – Welcoming the progress so far in implementing and monitoring the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon, the Security Council today voiced concern at reports of illegal movements of arms into the country, Israeli violations of Lebanese air space and the continuing presence of “very high numbers of unexploded ordnance” in the affected area.
12 December 2006 – Efforts to bring peace to the Middle East must be intensified, emergency assistance should be provided to Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and the goal of Israel and Palestine “living side-by-side in peace and security,” should be upheld, the Security Council said today.
11 December 2006 – With Iraq at the brink of civil war, some 5,000 people dying each month and a major humanitarian catastrophe looming, the senior United Nations envoy to the country today said the region and the international community must come together in support of a solution.
11 December 2006 – A senior United Nations humanitarian official in Côte d’Ivoire has called upon national and local authorities to assure the protection of civilians and the security of relief workers in the wake of recent attacks in the western part of the divided West African country.
11 December 2006 – Despite its recent landmark elections, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) still faces “enormous” challenges in recovering from a brutal civil war, however, with all its natural resources the massive African country could spur development in the whole region, a senior United Nations official said today.
11 December 2006 – Acknowledging that past efforts to expand the membership of the United Nations Security Council have not met with success, the President of the General Assembly today urged participants in its annual debate on the issue to take a realistic approach order to open the way for real progress.
11 December 2006 – The head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon today held yet further “productive” talks with senior Lebanese and Israeli officers aimed at securing Israel’s full withdrawal from the last position it occupies in the south of the country after the war with Hizbollah earlier this year.
11 December 2006 – Guinea-Bissau’s economic reconstruction remains so fragile that it is vital the country’s main political figures show potential international donors and economic partners they can put national interests ahead of their own and resolve any disputes peacefully, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today.
11 December 2006 – While acknowledging the security obstacles in war-ravaged Iraq that are stalling progress on recovering the remains of Kuwaiti and other nationals missing since the country’s 1990 war, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has voiced hope that the issue can soon be brought to a satisfactory close.
11 December 2006 – The United Nations and United States envoys for Sudan have held talks on the deteriorating situation inside the war-torn region of Darfur as reports are emerging of an attack on Saturday near the Chadian border in which armed men killed at least 31 people.
8 December 2006 – Now that the Security Council has extended the transitional government in divided Côte d’Ivoire for a final year, the country’s political leadership must not delay in restarting the stalled peace process and resolving their disputes, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the West African nation.
8 December 2006 – An independent United Nations human rights expert today called on the Government of Belarus to assure access to proper health care for a jailed opposition political leader who has been on hunger strike for the past 49 days.
8 December 2006 – Security in Lebanon has stabilized in recent months but Israeli overflights continue, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest update on the United Nations Interim Force in the country (UNIFIL), where arms caches have also been discovered in the peacekeeping mission’s area of operation.
8 December 2006 – The prospects of all-out civil war in Iraq and even a regional conflict have become much more real over the past three months as sectarian violence, insurgent and terrorist attacks, and criminal activities have risen significantly, according to the latest United Nations report on the war-torn country released today.
8 December 2006 – Continuing United Nations efforts to bring stability to Timor-Leste, police officers assisted by a New Zealand Defence force unit this week arrested 17 people after coming under attack at a police post in the town of Bidau, possibly linked to gang rivalries.
7 December 2006 – Highlighting Afghanistan’s “precarious” security situation, caused by the growing insurgency and terrorist activity linked to the illegal drug trade, the United Nations Security Council today urged the Government and donors to do more to bring peace and safeguard human rights, but remained upbeat on the overall development strategy.
7 December 2006 – Deploring the recent upsurge in violence and displacement across the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today expressed alarm that the worsening situation may have devastating consequences for neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR) as well.
7 December 2006 – Deploring this week’s coup d’état in Fiji, the Security Council today called for the peaceful restoration of the South Pacific nation’s democratically elected government as early as possible.
7 December 2006 – As part of United Nations efforts to help Nepal build on last month’s landmark peace deal, an assessment team will arrive in the Himalayan country on Monday for a week-long mission to prepare for a fully-fledged UN operation, a spokesman said today.
6 December 2006 – Warning that the situation in the Middle East is likely to remain tense “unless and until a comprehensive settlement” can be reached, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for another six-month extension of the United Nations force that for the past 32 years has monitored the ceasefire between Israel and Syria on the Golan Heights.
6 December 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today stressed the need for all Congolese to work together as he congratulated Joseph Kabila on his inauguration as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the recent elections, the first democratic polls in the strife-torn country in more than 40 years.
6 December 2006 – An elderly former pastor today became the first person convicted and jailed by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Rwandan genocide to be released after serving his sentence.
6 December 2006 – The Security Council today authorized the establishment of an African protection and training mission in Somalia to help defend the troubled country’s Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs).
6 December 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed an Indian veteran of United Nations operations in Timor-Leste as his new Special Representative for the small South-East Asian nation, which was shaken earlier this year by violence attributed to differences between eastern and western regions.
6 December 2006 – Welcoming the recent ceasefire in Gaza, members of the United Nations Security Council today called for an end to all aspects of violence and terrorism throughout the region, the President of the 15-member body said.
5 December 2006 – Looking back on his 10 years as head of the United Nations, Secretary-General, Kofi Annan today spoke of the continuing need for reforming the world body, efforts to build partnerships between the UN and other organizations, and the myriad challenges that lie ahead, particularly in bringing peace to strife-torn Darfur.
5 December 2006 – The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) warned today that humanitarian agencies may have to scale back their operations in North Darfur amid growing concerns following several days of clashes in the provincial capital of El Fasher.
5 December 2006 – Faced with the lack of a comprehensive political settlement in Cyprus and concerned about the attitudes of both sides, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today recommended a further six-month extension in the mandate of the UN mission that has been deployed on the island for over four decades.
4 December 2006 – In an effort to bring a comprehensive political solution to the conflict in northern Uganda while addressing its wider regional ramifications, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano his Special Envoy to help deal with the issue of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and its brutal 20-year-long rebellion.
4 December 2006 – Although there has been a steady decline in the number of conflicts in the past 15 years, violent attacks against civilians have surged over the same period, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today.
4 December 2006 – The General Assembly today passed a resolution backing the Kimberley Process, a global initiative involving governments, the international diamond industry and civil society aimed at preventing so-called “conflict diamonds” from funding warfare and civil unrest.
4 December 2006 – Israel’s use of weapons such as cluster bombs during this summer’s war with Hizbollah in Lebanon was a flagrant violation of the right to life and property, excessive, not justified by military necessity and went beyond the arguments of proportionality, according to a report mandated by the Human Rights Council.
4 December 2006 – The situation in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur remains volatile, although there were fewer incidents than usual reported over the past week, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
4 December 2006 – Responding to the volatile situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) – an impoverished country bordering Chad and Sudan – the United Nations office there plans to support national reconciliation, strengthen democracy and promote good governance, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a letter released today.
1 December 2006 – Sierra Leone “continues to make progress in its peacebuilding efforts” but still faces major challenges in rebuilding, particularly ahead of next year’s elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today, as he called for the mandate of the UN integrated office to be extended until December 2007.
1 December 2006 – Under the terms of one of a series of resolutions on the Middle East passed by large majorities today, the United Nations General Assembly welcomed the recent Palestinian truce initiative and its acceptance by Israel, and urged both sides to maintain and extend it to the West Bank.
1 December 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today expressed its support for speedy UN assistance to Nepal, following the landmark peace deal signed last week between the Government and the Maoists ending 10-years of civil war that killed 15,000 people and displaced over 100,000 others.
1 December 2006 – In a further effort to reduce lawlessness in Timor Leste, particularly after two people were killed in the capital earlier this week, the United Nations will now have prime responsibility for police operations throughout the small and impoverished South-East Asian nation, after signing an agreement today with the Government.
30 November 2006 – The world cannot afford to compromise on ensuring there is a continued peacekeeping presence in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur that is as effective as possible, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told an African Union (AU) summit today.
30 November 2006 – Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian Government and Serbia remain “diametrically opposed” in their views of the future status of the Serbian province, which that the United Nations has run ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting, according to Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest report on the issue released today.
30 November 2006 – As part of continued United Nations assistance to help Liberia rebuild after 14 years of brutal civil war, the world body has signed a landmark agreement involving the Government and the World Bank to rehabilitate three major roads, costing an estimated $3.7 million and creating employment for almost 5,000 workers.
29 November 2006 – The Security Council should act promptly and authorize an advanced United Nations team to go to Nepal and assist with the nascent peace process and preparations for next year’s elections, following the deal ending 10-years of civil war that killed 15,000 people and displaced over 100,000 others, the top UN envoy to the country said today.
29 November 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today condemned the spike in Somalia’s weapons trade and extended the mandate of a group of experts monitoring the flow of arms for an additional six months.
29 November 2006 – The 192-member General Assembly has fully backed a five-year reconstruction plan for strife-torn Afghanistan agreed with the international community earlier this year, stressing in particular the need to improve security in the country and also deal with the widespread drug trade.
29 November 2006 – At the request of the Iraqi Government, the United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of the three-year-old United States-led multinational force (MNF) in the war-torn country by another year, until the end of 2007.
29 November 2006 – The enhanced United Nations peacekeeping force sent to Lebanon this summer to monitor the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah now totals 10,500 troops from 21 countries, 4,500 below its mandated maximum strength, with additional personnel arriving from Indonesia, Portugal and Italy.
29 November 2006 – The Security Council today expressed concern at the possibility of a coup d’état against the Fijian Government, urging the country’s military leadership to exercise restraint and respect the rule of law.
29 November 2006 – Giving an overview of the global humanitarian situation before he steps down at the end of this year, the top United Nations aid official today warned that the world is not living up to its responsibilities to protect people in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, Iraq, Gaza and other hotspots.
28 November 2006 – Member States have done much over the past decade to protect children from the ravages of armed conflict, through new laws, prosecutions and investigations, but this is just the beginning and more needs to be done, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other senior officials told the Security Council today.
28 November 2006 – The Nepalese Government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), together with a United Nations assistance team, have agreed on key details required for the world body to provide effective monitoring of arms and armies as part of a peace accord to end a 10-year civil war that has killed some 15,000 people and uprooted over 100,000 others.
28 November 2006 – Warning that there is only a small window of opportunity to avoid a potentially catastrophic conflict in Somalia, a United Nations human rights expert today called on the rival sides to return to peace talks as soon as possible and on other countries to help.
28 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the Sudanese Government has promised to respond formally by tomorrow morning about the details for a planned hybrid United Nations-African Union (AU) force to assume peacekeeping duties in the war-torn region of Darfur.
27 November 2006 – The United Nations and the African Union (AU) have signed a memorandum of understanding setting out the details of the support which the world body will give to the AU peacekeeping mission in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.
27 November 2006 – Myanmar’s Government should release political prisoners, especially democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, open up the political process, and take “concrete steps” to address other areas of global concern, the top United Nations political officer said today after meeting with the Security Council.
27 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the Security Council to support Nepal’s request for United Nations assistance in its peace process, a spokesman for the world body said today.
27 November 2006 – A United Nations delegation has completed the first leg of a fact-finding mission to the troubled border region shared by the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Sudan, the UN announced today.
25 November 2006 – With rebels advancing toward the capital of Chad from the country’s east, which borders the volatile Darfur region of Sudan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned any attempt to seize power by force.
24 November 2006 – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has established itself at the heart of “a truly international system of criminal justice” within just a few years of coming into existence, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
24 November 2006 – At least 15,000 Chadians who fled their homes over the past three weeks because of deadly violence close to the border with Darfur are still too afraid to return to their villages because armed groups remain in the area, where some who went back were shot to death, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.
23 November 2006 – Iran has agreed to a request by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide access to materials related to its uranium enrichment activities, but cooperation is still too limited for any determination regarding its nuclear ambitions, the head of the Agency told its Board of Governors in Vienna today.
22 November 2006 – Painting a grim picture of increased Taliban violence, growing illegal drug production and fragile State institutions in Afghanistan, the head of last week’s Security Council mission to the strife-torn country warned today it faced becoming a failed State unless the international community fully supports the Afghan recovery effort.
22 November 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he was awaiting a letter from Sudan’s Government regarding the agreement reached last week on a hybrid UN-African Union force for strife-torn Darfur, while the world body’s top aid official warned the Security Council that the region was heading towards an ‘abyss’ of suffering.
22 November 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations political mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) by another year as it expressed deep concern about the deteriorating security situation in the impoverished nation.
22 November 2006 – The senior United Nations counter-terrorism official held meetings with senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad today covering a range of critical issues in a bid to help the country better respond to the scourge.
22 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Personal Representative for Lebanon, Geir Pedersen, met with the country’s senior leaders today to call for calm following the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
22 November 2006 – The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has reiterated its pledge to release non-combatants and to respect the cessation of hostilities agreement it signed this year with the Ugandan Government, the top United Nations aid official said today, cautioning that the rebel group’s leadership is still deeply wary and the international community must generate confidence by promoting regular face-to-face talks.
21 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the Sudanese Government’s agreement in principle last week to a hybrid United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force inside Darfur could become “a turning point” in stemming the spiralling misery in the war-torn region and resolving the deadly conflict.
21 November 2006 – The United Nations and other multilateral institutions must adapt to the global needs and problems of today if they are to maintain the support of their Member States and the wider public, Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said today.
21 November 2006 – United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) shot into the air today to disperse supporters of the losing candidate in the presidential elections and restore order after demonstrators opened fire and set the Supreme Court and a police vehicle ablaze in Kinshasa, the capital.
21 November 2006 – The wave of deadly violence over the past month in the Middle East highlights how vital it is to return to the path of political negotiations and show Israelis and Palestinians that there is an alternative to the cycle of killings and destruction, the United Nations’ most senior political affairs told the Security Council today.
21 November 2006 – The Security Council today gave its support to the establishment of a special tribunal to try those alleged responsible for last year’s assassination of then Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in a massive car bombing in Beirut.
21 November 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today extended for one-year the 7,000-strong European Union Stabilization Force (EUFOR) mandated to ensure continued compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement that in 1995 ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
21 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council expressed shock and condemnation today at the assassination of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, calling for restraint from all sides and urging national unity.
21 November 2006 – The United Nations envoy to Somalia said today that the troubled country’s transitional Government has promised to resume dialogue with the leaders of the Union of Islamic Courts after the third round of peace talks was postponed earlier this month.
21 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced the hope that the new United Nations Human Rights Council, a major reform he had sought, would broaden its work from just considering the Palestinian-Israeli issue so as to avoid the perception of unfairness.
20 November 2006 – The number of people in need of aid to survive in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region has surged by hundreds of thousands to 4 million in just the past six months, according to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.
20 November 2006 – Government forces, rebel groups, armed militia and mercenaries operating in conflicts in at least 12 countries recruit children to serve as soldiers or are responsible for murdering, torturing and committing sexual crimes against them, according to a new report from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
20 November 2006 – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has discovered a cache of unauthorized missiles, rocket launches and “significant” amounts of ammunition in its field of operation, the seventh incident of its type since early September.
17 November 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly today met in emergency session to consider a draft resolution that would call for a United Nations fact-finding mission to the Middle East to examine recent Israeli attacks at Beit Hanoun, where 19 people died following a raid last week.
17 November 2006 – Deeply deploring the recent Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip, the General Assembly this evening urged Israel to withdraw its troops and called for the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to Beit Hanoun, where last week 19 Palestinian civilians were killed following an Israeli raid.
17 November 2006 – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today protested the 14 Israeli air violations it observed, including two by F-15 jets flying at low altitude, and called for their immediate halt.
17 November 2006 – The Governing Body of the United Nations International Labour Office (ILO) wrapped its latest session today, voicing “great frustration” at Myanmar’s failure to agree on how to deal with complaints of forced labour, seeking urgent cooperation from Belarus, and calling for stricter inspections worldwide to protect workers’ rights.
17 November 2006 – The Security Council today added its voice to the chorus of United Nations calls for the two candidates and their supporters in the run-off presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to avoid acts of violence after the release of provisional results and to use the law only to settle any challenges.
17 November 2006 – Following close on the heels of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest appeal to the warring parties in Somalia to resume peace talks, a United Nations-led mission will travel to the town of Baidoa, headquarters of the transitional Government, on Monday to confer with President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
17 November 2006 – The top United Nations aid official today cut short his visit to Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region and returned to Khartoum after the Government denied him permission to travel outside the state capitals, warning it was too dangerous, a UN spokesman said.
17 November 2006 – Deadly violence, maiming and burning of people alive is increasingly spilling over from strife-torn Darfur to neighbouring Chad and displacing thousands, United Nations agencies said today, as the world body’s human rights chief warned of a full-blown crisis and called on Chadian leaders to protect their civilians.
17 November 2006 – A group of 45 United Nations Volunteers (UNV) have arrived in Timor-Leste to join preparations for the strife-torn country’s first post-independence elections next year.
16 November 2006 – Sudan’s Government today agreed with the United Nations, the African Union (AU) and representatives from Security Council countries and others to allow UN peacekeepers into Darfur alongside those of the AU mission already there trying to halt the spiralling violence in the region.
16 November 2006 – Expressing deep regret for the killing last week of two Jordanian United Nations peacekeepers in Haiti, the Security Council today pledged its continued support to the Caribbean country and the UN mission there, while also voicing the expectation that next month’s elections will be peaceful.
16 November 2006 – Welcoming the ongoing peace talks between the Ugandan Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which have fought a brutal civil war for 20 years, the Security Council today called on the rebel group to immediately release all women, children and other non-combatants that it holds.
15 November 2006 – Describing the situation in war-torn Somalia as “very serious,” United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the impoverished country’s neighbours not to interfere in the conflict, as he also called on Somali parties to resume peace talks and avoid further bloodshed.
14 November 2006 – An Australian veteran of United Nations peacekeeping missions, Major-General Ian Campbell Gordon, is set to become Chief of Staff of the Jerusalem-based UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the first such operation the world body set up almost 60 years ago.
14 November 2006 – All sides must stop fighting immediately in Darfur, the top United Nations peacekeeping official said today, as he outlined increasing diplomatic efforts over the next few weeks aimed at ending the spiralling violence and the “very tragic” situation in the strife-torn region.
14 November 2006 – Voicing “extreme” concern at the escalating communal fighting in south-east Chad, the United Nations refugee agency today called on the international community to quickly mobilize a “multi-dimensional presence” to protect hundreds of thousands of Chadian civilians, Sudanese refugees and aid workers trying to help them.
13 November 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for a high-level meeting in Ethiopia this week involving the United States, European Union, Russia and China to discuss the deadly violence in Darfur, a United Nations spokesman said.
13 November 2006 – The international community must not forget the plight of tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees in Algeria who are still entirely dependent on external aid to survive, three decades after fleeing a territorial dispute with Morocco over Western Sahara, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director James Morris said today.
13 November 2006 – The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on Wednesday in response to Israel’s recent military actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent attack that killed 19 civilians and injured 60 others in Beit Hanoun in the Northern Gaza Strip.
12 November 2006 – With the Taliban insurgency posing a major problem for Afghanistan, the head of a Security Council mission there today pledged that the international community will stand by the country as it works to rebuild.
11 November 2006 – Exercising its veto in the Security Council today, the United States blocked a draft resolution that won the endorsement of 10 other members and would have called for a United Nations fact-finding mission in response to a recent Israeli operation in Gaza resulting in at least 18 civilian deaths.
10 November 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today decried the growing violence near the Central African Republic’s border with the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, while the top UN human rights official warned that attacks in West Darfur could intensify unless the Khartoum Government curbs and disarms militias there.
10 November 2006 – Nearly seven months after deadly violence forced around 155,000 people in Timor-Leste to flee to temporary camps, the top United Nations official in the tiny nation called today on these internally displaced persons (IDP) to return to their homes, citing a much-improved security situation thanks in part to the increased number of UN police.
9 November 2006 – The Security Council met in open session today to discuss the latest deadly violence in the Gaza Strip, with a senior United Nations official calling on Israel to review the implications of its military actions, on the Palestinians to take the critically important step of stopping rocket attacks by militants, and on both sides to return to talks.
9 November 2006 – Hearings began today to determine whether a former militia leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accused of recruiting child soldiers will be the first person tried before the International Criminal Court (ICC), in a case which United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described as sending a message that impunity will not be tolerated.
9 November 2006 – The head of the United Nations refugee agency today called for improved security in eastern Chad, including an international presence along the border with Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, after armed men on horseback are estimated to have killed more than 200 people in the past week in attacks on remote villages.
8 November 2006 – The international community should continue to hand over responsibility for reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina to its leaders despite the magnitude of the challenges involved as the country emerges from the devastation of inter-ethnic bloodshed, the United Nations envoy to the country told the Security Council today.
8 November 2006 – A monitoring board overseeing Iraq’s past oil revenues has concluded that settlements between Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) and the United States Government over non-competitive contracting were “reasonable,” but the company’s transportation costs when providing humanitarian fuel supplies were “very high,” a United Nations spokesman has reported.
8 November 2006 – As officials today voiced concern about a build-up of government troops in Darfur, Sudan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan discussed with members of the Security Council next steps to address the situation in the troubled region.
8 November 2006 – United Nations officials voiced shock and dismay at Israel’s shelling of a residential area in the occupied Gaza Strip in which 18 Palestinian civilians were killed, including eight children and seven women, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan calling on the Israeli Government to cease its military operations there forthwith.
7 November 2006 – Panama today was elected to a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council after being chosen by Latin American and Caribbean nations as a compromise candidate to end the stalemated contest for the seat between Guatemala and Venezuela that had been going on since last month.
7 November 2006 – Postponed peace talks for solving the crisis in Somalia, now scheduled to be held in mid-December, offer the best hope for the war-torn country, and neighbouring States must avoid interfering in its affairs and using it for a “proxy war,” a United Nations envoy said today.
7 November 2006 – The United Nations refugee agency has launched a widespread clothing distribution operation to help over 50,000 camp dwellers prepare for the coming rainy season in the Ituri region of the strife-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
6 November 2006 – A United Nations Special Adviser on children and armed conflict has begun a 9-day field visit to Sri Lanka aimed at ensuring better protection from the ravages of the civil war in the strife-torn country, where 17 relief workers killed three months ago were today honoured by their relatives.
3 November 2006 – Burundi may again find itself in a state of internal conflict if the Government fails to drop its intolerance of critics just as the country takes the first steps towards peace after 12 years of civil war, a human rights expert has told the United Nations General Assembly.
3 November 2006 – The enhanced United Nations peacekeeping force sent to Lebanon this summer to monitor the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah has now nearly reached the strength its commander considers sufficient.
3 November 2006 – Labour-intensive road rehabilitation work carried out with United Nations support can help revive economic activity across Liberia as it consolidates its transition to democracy from 14 years of civil war, according to the top UN official in the West African country.
3 November 2006 – After a five-month suspension, the United Nations refugee agency today resumed family visit flights between Sahrawi refugees living in the camps in Tindouf, Algeria, and their relatives in various towns in the Western Sahara Territory, some of whom have not seen each other for 30 years.
2 November 2006 – Highlighting the recent failed assassination attempt on Somalia’s President, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on all sides in the strife-torn country to redouble their efforts for peace, adding that the increasing influence of the Islamic Courts was threatening the transitional authorities but only dialogue could end the crisis.
2 November 2006 – Further strengthening Liberia’s national police, the top United Nations envoy in the country has handed over a newly reconstructed police station in Nimba County, a border region some 240 kilometres northeast of the capital Monrovia that saw much of the fighting and unrest during 14 years of civil war.
2 November 2006 – Panama today emerged as the compromise candidate to fill the last remaining seat on the 15-member United Nations Security Council, breaking more than two weeks and 47 rounds of voting deadlock in the General Assembly that pitted Guatemala against Venezuela to represent the Latin American and Caribbean region.
2 November 2006 – Concerned about persistent rapes, killings, the detainment and military recruitment of children in Burundi, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on all parties to immediately work towards ending these crimes and prosecuting offenders, as the central African nation makes a transition from civil war to peace and democracy.
2 November 2006 – Security Council members today praised the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for last month’s second round of elections and urged the two presidential candidates to honour the results, the body’s president for this month said.
2 November 2006 – The Security Council will send a high-level mission to Afghanistan this month to assess the situation first-hand, while consultations on preventing conflict and genocide will also be high on the list of priorities, the body’s president for November said today.
1 November 2006 – Expressing concern at the killing, raping, trafficking and other abuses committed against children in divided Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on all parties involved in the conflict to put aside their differences to help curb such crimes.
1 November 2006 – Today’s vote in the United Nations General Assembly on which country will fill the non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the Latin American and Caribbean region has been suspended until next Tuesday at the request of Guatemala and Venezuela, the frontrunners in a contest that has been going on since last month.
1 November 2006 – A rocket attack in north-western Georgia, where fighting between the Government and Abkhaz separatists 14 years ago forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee their homes, could not have been launched from the Restricted Weapons Zone in Abkhazia, as had been previously reported, United Nations observers reported today.
1 November 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today voted unanimously to extend the transitional government in divided and strife-torn Côte d’Ivoire for a final year and gave new powers to the country’s Prime Minister to implement a peace plan and prepare for long-delayed elections.
31 October 2006 – After arriving for their first official visit in Timor-Leste, a team of United Nations experts charged with verifying next year’s elections in the strife-torn nation, said today that all Timorese are responsible for the success of the polls, and stressed their importance in building stability after deadly violence erupted earlier this year.
31 October 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has repeatedly called on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to return to the six-party talks seeking to resolve the issue of its nuclear programme, today hailed news of their resumption and called for an early meeting.
31 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly today remained deadlocked after a fifth day of voting in the contest to fill a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the Latin American and Caribbean region, with Guatemala maintaining its lead over Venezuela but falling short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
31 October 2006 – Calling on all parties in the Western Sahara and neighbouring states to cooperate fully with the United Nations mission in bringing peace to the disputed territory, the Security-Council today voted to extend the UN mission for another six months until April next year.
31 October 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy today expressed serious concern at continuing Israeli over-flights of Lebanon, especially intensive mock air raids over Beirut this morning, calling them a breach of the Security Council resolution 1701, which ended this summer’s conflict with Hizbollah.
30 October 2006 – While acknowledging that progress has been made over the past two years in reducing foreign influence in Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that disarming Hizbollah is a “key element” in ensuring a permanent end to hostilities, and warned that much remains to be done to restore stability and peace.
30 October 2006 – The international community must stay engaged in Burundi where the “overall situation remains fragile,” helping to reduce crime and ensure reintegration of a swelling numbers of refugees returning to the country emerging from 12 years of civil war, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today.
27 October 2006 – Jan Pronk will continue to serve as the top United Nations envoy for Sudan until the end of the year, when his contract is set to expire, despite the Sudanese Government’s demand for his removal, but he will return to Khartoum next month to organize a smooth handover to an interim officer, a UN spokesman announced today.
27 October 2006 – The United Nations mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is investigating reports of a rocket attack in the vicinity of the village of Azhara in the Upper Kodori Valley in the north-west of the country, where fighting between the Government and Abkhaz separatists 14 years ago forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee their homes.
27 October 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the heads of the organization’s five other Principal Organs discussed the situation in Lebanon, Security Council reform and a raft of other humanitarian, security and legal issues, at this year’s eighth annual meeting in New York.
27 October 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy in Liberia has called on the mission’s senior military officers to work harder to strengthen peace and stability as the West African country consolidates its transition to democracy from 14 years of civil war.
27 October 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today fully backed Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s decision to retain Jan Pronk as the top UN envoy for the impoverished country, despite the Sudanese Government’s demand for his removal, and it also warned of the regional impact of the worsening situation in the strife-torn Darfur region.
26 October 2006 – Highlighting the role played by women in promoting peace in countries emerging from conflict, the United Nations Security Council today stressed it was essential to promote the full participation of women in helping rebuild such societies and also encouraged more female involvement in UN peacekeeping operations.
26 October 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today conferred with his Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, whose removal has been demanded by the Sudanese Government, and a United Nations spokesman said the envoy still remains in his post. The talks are expected to continue later today or tomorrow.
26 October 2006 – Timor-Leste’s airport reopened today after the United Nations police force helped end fighting between gangs and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the small South-East Asian nation that was shaken earlier this year by violence attributed to differences between eastern and western regions.
25 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly today remained deadlocked after a fourth day of voting in the contest to fill a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the Latin American and Caribbean region, with Guatemala maintaining its lead over Venezuela but falling short of the necessary two-thirds majority.
25 October 2006 – Emphasizing the need for the United Nations system and wider international community to maintain their support for strife-torn Burundi, the Security Council today voted to set up an integrated office in the country to follow on from the current mission that ends on 31 December.
25 October 2006 – The United Nations police force in Timor-Leste has intervened to stop fighting between gangs and internally displaced persons (IDPs) that forced the closing of the airport in the small South-East Asian nation, shaken earlier this year by violence attributed to differences between eastern and western regions.
25 October 2006 – All political sides in divided and strife-torn Côte d’Ivoire must compromise to move the peace process forward, the two most senior United Nations officials to the West African country said today, but while painting a generally grim picture of the situation they held out some hope for change next year.
25 October 2006 – The United Nations should do more to encourage Member States to adopt national action plans to more fully integrate women in peace and security issues, especially in countries recovering from conflict, the UN Special Adviser on Gender Issues said today.
25 October 2006 – The United Nations has protested to the Sudanese Government over its decision to ask for the removal of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative in the country Jan Pronk, a UN spokesman said today.
24 October 2006 – The military leader of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today voiced serious concern over the increasing number of air violations over South Lebanon by Israeli planes, with nine occurring during the past 24 hours.
20 October 2006 – A United Nations-backed group supporting the political transition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has voiced its “deep concern” over violent incidents that marred the first week of campaigning in the second round of presidential elections set for 29 October.
20 October 2006 – The situation inside the buffer zone along the disputed border between Eritrea and Ethiopia has become volatile after Eritrea moved 1,500 troops and 14 tanks into the area, the United Nations peacekeeping mission to the two countries reported today.
20 October 2006 – The Security Council should assume responsibility for finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of leaving it to the diplomatic Quartet, which is increasingly perceived within the region as biased and has done little to stem the deteriorating human rights situation, a United Nations rapporteur has told the General Assembly.
20 October 2006 – Despite fears of violence after the release this week of a United Nations report into recent strife in Timor-Leste, the response so far has been “overwhelmingly positive” and calm in the tiny nation where deadly conflict attributed to differences between eastern and western regions erupted in April, the top UN official in the country said today.
20 October 2006 – The United Nations today applauded further progress in Liberia’s forestry sector but said more needs to be done to reform the diamond mining industry before the world body will lift sanctions against the country’s export of rough diamonds, regarded as “blood diamonds” because they help finance conflict.
19 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly remained deadlocked after a third day of voting this week in the contest to fill a non-permanent seat on the Security Council allocated to the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, with Guatemala maintaining its lead over Venezuela but falling short of the necessary majority.
19 October 2006 – Considerable progress has been achieved in southern Lebanon since the Security Council resolution ending the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah, and most of the expected force of blue helmets to monitor the cessation of hostilities has now been deployed, the senior United Nations commander in Lebanon said today.
19 October 2006 – Warning that “crisis and opportunity” exist side-by-side every day in the Middle East, the top United Nations envoy for peace in the region told the Security Council today that only simultaneous dialogue with all parties in the conflict will bring a lasting end to the bloodshed.
18 October 2006 – A senior United Nations relief official wrapped up a five-day visit to Eritrea today, stressing the need for stronger links between humanitarian assistance and long-term measures to address the underlying causes of food shortages in the poor East African country.
18 October 2006 – The “manifest lack of political will” among main political leaders in Côte d’Ivoire is undermining United Nations efforts to restore stability and to organize elections in the country, which effectively split in half when armed rebellion erupted in 2002, according to Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest report issued today.
18 October 2006 – Morocco and the Frente Polisario should drop any preconditions and begin negotiations to try to find a lasting solution to their long-standing conflict in Western Sahara, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says, calling in a report for a six-month extension of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the disputed territory.
17 October 2006 – A non-permanent seat on the Security Council remains up for grabs after the United Nations General Assembly held a second day of voting today in the contest to fill the place allocated to the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States.
17 October 2006 – Expressing deep concern over reports that Eritrea has moved around 1,500 troops and 15 tanks into the Temporary Security Zone with Ethiopia, the United Nations Security Council today called for them to be withdrawn and urged both sides to exercise restraint in their long-standing border dispute that erupted into a two-year war in 1998.
17 October 2006 – Timor-Leste’s then interior and defence ministers and defence force chief acted illegally in transferring weapons to civilians during the violence that shook the small South-East Asian country early this year and should be prosecuted, according to a United Nations report on the crisis released today.
16 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly today elected Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and South Africa to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms starting 1 January 2007.
16 October 2006 – A United Nations naval force is now in place to support the Lebanese Navy in monitoring its territorial waters, securing the coastline and preventing arms smuggling as part of the Security Council resolution that ended this summer’s hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah.
14 October 2006 – Following intensive negotiations triggered earlier this month when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) claimed to have conducted a nuclear test, the United Nations Security Council today imposed sanctions against the country as well as individuals supporting its military programme and demanded that Pyongyang cease its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
13 October 2006 – After further consultations today on what action to take against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its reported nuclear test, the United Nations Security Council is set to vote tomorrow on a United States resolution that includes the interdiction of the country’s ships on the high seas.
13 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly will hold elections on Monday morning to choose five non-permanent members of the Security Council to serve two-year terms starting on 1 January 2007.
13 October 2006 – Expressing regret that the Middle East peace process has not been revitalized this year as hoped, and that prospects for a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have dwindled rather than grown, Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed today that the Road Map remains the best way of achieving a lasting peace in the region.
13 October 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed a team of high-level experts to verify next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections in Timor-Leste, part of the world body’s continuing assistance to the tiny South East Asian nation that it shepherded to independence in 2002.
13 October 2006 – In his first press conference as Secretary-General-designate of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon pledged his commitment to deal with the “daunting challenges” facing the world, from the recent nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region.
13 October 2006 – Voicing concern about fresh tensions in the long-running dispute between Georgian authorities and Abkhaz separatists, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) by another six months.
13 October 2006 – The Security Council today extended the tenure of 18 short-term judges serving on the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Rwandan genocide to help the court meet its target of trying all defendants by the end of 2008.
13 October 2006 – Continuing efforts to consolidate Liberia’s democratic transition the United Nations has awarded the country two grants, totalling close to $500,000, to formulate an anti-corruption strategy, professionalize the legislature and encourage more youth participation in the political process.
13 October 2006 – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today that any sanctions imposed against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be crafted to minimize the negative impact on women and children and called for a “child impact assessment” before the international community acts.
12 October 2006 – After intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security Council could vote as early as tomorrow on a United States resolution calling for action against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its reported nuclear test, although the final position of veto-wielding Russia and China was not yet clear.
12 October 2006 – Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea is likely to be elected by acclamation as next Secretary-General of the United Nations when the General Assembly meets at 3 p.m. tomorrow to formally appoint the successor to Kofi Annan, who steps down on 31 December.
12 October 2006 – With over 50,000 internally displaced people still living in makeshift camps in and around Timor-Leste’s capital, continued low level fighting in the streets and elections due next year, United Nations officials today said that restoring public security was an absolute necessity.
11 October 2006 – The arms embargo in Darfur is being blatantly violated by all parties operating in the war-torn Sudanese region, including Government forces, allied Janjaweed militias, rebel groups and insurgents from neighbouring Chad, according to the latest report from a panel of experts set up by the United Nations Security Council.
11 October 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today continued discussions at experts’ level over what action to take against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) after its reported nuclear test, with the issue of sanctions and their enforcement high on the agenda of a possible draft resolution.
11 October 2006 – The United Nations General Assembly has scheduled Friday afternoon for the official appointment of Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea as the world body’s next Secretary-General when incumbent Kofi Annan steps down on 31 December.
10 October 2006 – United Nations Security Council members today continued discussions over what action to take against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) after its reported nuclear test, with the issue of possible sanctions and their enforcement among the key topics.
10 October 2006 – Significant progress has been made to include more women in peace and security efforts throughout the United Nations system but “much more can and should be done at all levels,” both at Headquarters and in the field, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report to the Security Council.
10 October 2006 – United Nations peacekeeping forces in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia are carrying out a second week-long round of mixed patrols to monitor the movements of combatants and weapons along the border between the two West African countries, which have both suffered from civil war and factional fighting in the recent past.
10 October 2006 – Top United Nations judges investigating atrocities committed during the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the Balkans war have called on Member States to cooperate more closely with their international courts to bring the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes to justice.
9 October 2006 – Viewing the situation in war-torn Somalia with “increasing concern,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on both the Transitional Government and the Islamic Courts to live up to their commitments made during recent peace talks and urged the country’s neighbours to avoid exacerbating the situation, his spokesman said.
9 October 2006 – Voicing alarm about the volatile security situation inside Afghanistan and the threat posed by the country’s growing production of illegal drugs, the Security Council announced today that it will send a mission to the country as early as next month.
9 October 2006 – The United Nations today strongly condemned the reported nuclear test by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), calling it “a grave challenge” that violates international norms, aggravates regional tensions and creates serious security issues for the world community.
9 October 2006 – The Security Council today formally chose Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon of the Republic of Korea as its nominee to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations for a five-year term when incumbent Kofi Annan steps down on 31 December.
9 October 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy in Liberia has urged inhabitants of the impoverished West African country to work closely with the UN mission to prevent any recruitment of mercenaries or arms trafficking over its borders.
6 October 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the Sudanese Government’s positive response to the United Nations’ move last month to enhance its support of the African Union mission as it tries to maintain peace and security across the war-torn Darfur region.
6 October 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today warned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) of unspecified action if it conducted a nuclear test, declaring that such a test would represent a clear threat to international peace and security.
6 October 2006 – The situation remains calm on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon as steady progress is made in demarcating their common boundary, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest update on the work of the commission charged with overseeing the peaceful transfer of the once-disputed oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula.
5 October 2006 – Deploring inflammatory remarks and threats made by a political leader in Côte d’Ivoire against a grouping of neighbouring states working to bring stability to the divided country, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged all Ivorian parties to show restraint and pursue dialogue. He warned that anyone who incites violence will be held accountable by the international community.
5 October 2006 – Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur has reached a critical stage, with humanitarian groups at risk of withdrawing or drastically reducing their operations unless security conditions improve rapidly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns in his latest report to the Security Council.
5 October 2006 – The Security Council chamber, the inner sanctum where the United Nations body makes decisions on international peace and security, will be opened to architecture buffs this weekend as part of a special guided tour of the UN's landmark headquarters in New York.
5 October 2006 – Beyond supervising the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah in southern Lebanon, clearing unexploded ordnance and providing humanitarian relief, the enhanced United Nations peacekeeping mission is also helping to revive the economy.
5 October 2006 – Following years of destructive civil war, illegal lumber trafficking and massive fraud to fuel conflict, Liberia passed a forestry law last night in line with new policies drawn up with United Nations help to ensure that the people of the impoverished West African country benefit from this major foreign currency earner.
4 October 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today that he plans to appoint Nigeria’s Shola Omoregie as his new representative in Guinea-Bissau and as head of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office to the West African country (UNOGBIS).
4 October 2006 – The United Nations Security Council held closed consultations on the stated intention of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to carry out a nuclear test, and all members voiced “very strong concern… and strongly urged North Korea to desist from it,” the Council president said.
4 October 2006 – Criticizing violations of human rights and humanitarian law by both Israel and Hizbollah in the recent 34-day conflict in Lebanon, four independent United Nations rights experts today called for further investigations to determine whether war crimes were committed.
4 October 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame today to learn how the small central African country is moving beyond the 1994 massacres that claimed of up 800,000 lives.
3 October 2006 – Voicing concern about the stated intention of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to carry out a nuclear test in the future, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today that such a move would be counter-productive and worsen tensions in the region, and he called on the country’s leadership to maintain the current moratorium on testing.
3 October 2006 – Guinea-Bissau has made some progress towards political reconciliation, but the West African country remains so poor and enduring tensions are still strong enough that the risk of a major setback is ever-present, less than a decade after the end of a bitter civil war, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report issued today.
3 October 2006 – United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have the authority to use force against hostile activity of any kind, whether in self-defence, to ensure their area of operations is not used for hostile activities or to resist attempts by force to prevent them from discharging their duties, according to guidelines published today.
3 October 2006 – The Security Council will hold a formal vote on Monday morning to select a new Secretary-General of the United Nations to recommend to the General Assembly for approval, the Council’s President for the month of October said today.
3 October 2006 – Starting a seven-nation mission to promote peace and reconciliation in Somalia, the top United Nations envoy for the war-torn east African country today visited neighbouring Ethiopia to discuss the next round of peace talks between the rival Somali factions.
2 October 2006 – The Security Council is likely to hold a formal vote early next week on the new Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Council’s president said today after the 15-member body held its fourth informal ballot on who will succeed Kofi Annan when he steps down on 31 December.
29 September 2006 – The Security Council voted today to extend the mandate of the panel of experts set up to help a Council committee monitor an arms embargo in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.
29 September 2006 – A top United Nations official is likely to return to Myanmar in early November for high-level talks to try to help the Asian country make serious progress in human rights, political freedoms and humanitarian assistance.
29 September 2006 – A board of inquiry into an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed four United Nations military observers in July had no access to the commanders involved and was therefore unable to determine why the attacks were not halted despite repeated appeals from UN personnel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s spokesman said today.
29 September 2006 – The Security Council voted unanimously today to extend the mandates of the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Eritrea and Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Liberia, which would have otherwise expired at the end of this month.
29 September 2006 – Evidence suggests that a young, male suicide bomber, probably non-Lebanese, detonated up to 1,800 kilograms of explosives inside a van to assassinate former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut last year, the head of the United Nations investigation into the killing told the Security Council today.
28 September 2006 – The Prosecutor for the United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda and diplomatic representatives from 25 countries have held talks with Kenyan Government ministers to discuss efforts to apprehend the fugitive businessman Félicien Kabuga, who stands accused of helping to fund the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
28 September 2006 – The heads of three major United Nations anti-terrorism committees briefed the Security Council today on the latest efforts to tackle the scourge, calling for greater involvement by Member States and stressing the importance of the world body’s Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy launched earlier this month.
27 September 2006 – As the General Assembly continued its annual debate today, speakers voiced support for measures that have been taken to strengthen the United Nations while calling for further reforms to enable the Organization to meet the challenges ahead.
27 September 2006 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) should have all the necessary financial, logistical and security elements in place to successfully stage the run-off round of landmark presidential elections next month, the senior United Nations envoy to the country said today.
27 September 2006 – Eritrea must withdraw its troops from the temporary security zone along its border with Ethiopia and renounce the use of force to resolve the conflict between the two nations before genuine dialogue to solve that dispute can begin, Ethiopia’s Ambassador Negash Kebret told the General Assembly today.
27 September 2006 – The newly reinforced United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has taken on a humanitarian dimension, clearing roads, treating the sick and distributing water although this in not its primary function, with individual contributing battalions often bearing the additional cost themselves.
27 September 2006 – Recent events in Lebanon and the stalemate in the Middle East peace process have demonstrated the growing failure of the Security Council to tackle issues under its mandate, the Defence Minister of India told the General Assembly today, calling for reform of the 15-member body.
27 September 2006 – Member States are now more willing than ever to “band together” to prevent the movement of terrorists and their supporters across borders, but unpoliced frontiers and forged documents still allow such travel, a United Nations team said in a new report released today.
27 September 2006 – The first group of Timor Leste police has resumed work under a United Nations mentoring scheme after being relieved of duty earlier this year in violence that shook the small South East Asian nation, which the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia just four years ago.
26 September 2006 – The United Nations should stand at the forefront of global efforts to end conflicts, establish peace and promote economic development, but it must also become more efficient and broadly accountable to do so, representatives of Japan and Turkmenistan told the General Assembly today.
26 September 2006 – The acting United Nations envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea today delivered Secretary-General Kofi Annan's latest report on the border dispute between the two countries - where he recommended extending the UN monitoring mission for six months and warned of potential disaster if the "untenable" stalemate is not resolved - to the Security Council.
26 September 2006 – Looking ahead to next month’s run-off presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and beyond, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for the UN mission in the vast African country to be extended until February, and also for continued authorization to reinforce troop numbers when necessary.
26 September 2006 – The United States is promoting tensions on the Korean peninsula to justify its desire to strengthen its military presence in the region, the Chairman of the Delegation from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) told the United Nations General Assembly today.
26 September 2006 – The commander of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon held talks with senior Lebanese and Israeli military officers today with a view to completing by Saturday Israel’s withdrawal from all the positions it occupied in its northern neighbour during last month’s fighting with Hizbollah.
26 September 2006 – Security Council Member States have misused their mandate by placing Myanmar on the Council’s agenda because the country does not pose a threat to regional peace and security, Myanmar’s Foreign Minister U Nyan Win told the General Assembly today.
25 September 2006 – Elections in the divided West African nation of Côte d'Ivoire are unlikely to take place next month as scheduled, but if they are not staged before the end of this year then the Security Council must be ready to intervene and impose heavy sanctions on those causing the delays, Nigeria's Foreign Minister told the General Assembly today.
25 September 2006 – Ethiopia has been allowed to defy international law for four years and reject the binding decision on the demarcation of its border with Eritrea because the Security Council has chosen to encourage and support its conduct, Eritrean Health Minister Saleh S. Meky told the General Assembly today.
25 September 2006 – Mass illegal immigration from Africa to Europe is causing real hardship for countries such as Malta, the nation’s Foreign Affairs Minister told the General Assembly today as he called for greater support from other United Nations Member States to share the burden.
25 September 2006 – All sides in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan should mark the Muslim month of Ramadan by resuming peace talks and refraining from the violence that has already claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands and driven around 2 million from their homes over the past three years, the United Nations envoy to the country said today.
25 September 2006 – Terrorism is a scourge that afflicts all countries and must not be associated with any particular faith, ministers from a number of States told the United Nations General Assembly today during its annual debate.
25 September 2006 – Impoverished Liberia has made progress this year in rebuilding since its new President took power in January, the top United Nations envoy to the country said today, describing a feeling of “cautious optimism” after 14 years of civil war, but he also emphasized the importance of security and the need to press on with recovery efforts.
25 September 2006 – Expressing deep concern about the “untenable” stalemate in the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the Security Council to extend the mandate of the UN monitoring mission between the two sides for six months, warning of the potential for disaster if the situation is not resolved.
25 September 2006 – The diamond industry, long associated with conflict in Africa, can be a force for positive change through international cooperation, the Foreign Minister of Botswana told the United Nations General Assembly today.
22 September 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today re-emphasized the need for regional organizations and the United Nations to work ever more closely in tackling the myriad issues of global security, following on from his remarks earlier in the week to the Security Council calling for a new level of seriousness in such partnerships.
22 September 2006 – Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, the Foreign Minister of Egypt has stressed his country’s role in calming tensions between Israel and Palestine while calling for a comprehensive approach to achieving peace in the Middle East.
22 September 2006 – The continuing armed conflict and humanitarian crisis engulfing Sudan’s Darfur region threaten the security of the entire region, the Foreign Minister of Chad told the General Assembly today as he urged for the restoration of peace to Darfur as soon as possible.
22 September 2006 – Israeli troops today started to withdraw from two more areas that they had occupied in southern Lebanon during the fighting with Hizbollah last month, and the United Nations force commander there said he expected a total withdrawal to be completed by the end of next week.
22 September 2006 – Multilateralist approaches are essential to tackling the global crises of today, several European leaders have told the General Assembly, arguing for a strengthened United Nations to meet these challenge.
22 September 2006 – Expressing “grave concern” over the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) until 8 October, while also expressing its intention to renew it further.
22 September 2006 – The Security Council today held a closed meeting on Kosovo at a time when fresh violent incidents have shaken the Albanian-majority Serbian province which the United Nations has run since 1999, and talks to determine its final status – hoped to have been completed by the end of this year – are still at the technical phase.
22 September 2006 – The Security Council today pledged its commitment to peaceful elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) next month, urging all sides in the second round of polls to follow suit, while the country’s new National Assembly – its first elected legislative body in more than four decades – was formally inaugurated.
22 September 2006 – Joining their voices to numerous others calling for reform of the Security Council at this year’s General Assembly debate, leaders of West African countries have urged granting Africa a permanent seat on the powerful body.
21 September 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the extension of the African Union Mission currently deployed in Darfur, Sudan, until the end of the year, but reiterated the need for a United Nations peacekeeping operation to help restore peace and stability in the war-torn region, a step so far rejected by the Government.
21 September 2006 – During an address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Hugo Chávez Frías of Venezuela announced his country’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council and predicted strong opposition from the United States.
21 September 2006 – Addressing the General Assembly in New York today, the President of Lebanon decried the devastation wrought by Israel on his country but said there is now a new opportunity for peace that must be exploited.
21 September 2006 – As part of his further efforts to speed up the process of United Nations reform, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the 15-member Security Council must change to reflect the new reality of international relations, and called on all Member States to find a compromise solution to resolve the impasse.
21 September 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed a senior Italian officer to help direct the military strategy of the strengthened UN force in Lebanon, while the Force Commander on the ground agreed with his Lebanese counterpart to hold joint patrols once Israeli troops have completed their withdrawal.
21 September 2006 – Lamenting the Security Council’s failure to bring lasting peace to the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the 15-member body to work closely with all its partners in the region so they can all rise to their “responsibilities,” warning of a possible irreversible strategic setback if the situation for Palestinians does not improve.
21 September 2006 – The Security Council is likely to meet next month to discuss the instability plaguing Côte d’Ivoire and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to hold a series of meetings on the issue before then amid mounting regional and international concern over the situation there.
21 September 2006 – The upsurge in violence in Afghanistan over the past few months represents a “watershed” and is the most severe threat to the country’s transition to peace since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns today, urging greater military and diplomatic efforts to counter the insurgency.
20 September 2006 – Predicting an ever increasing demand for peacekeeping, conflict prevention and similar security roles over the next decade, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for a “new level of clarity, practicality and seriousness” in partnerships between the world body and regional organizations.
20 September 2006 – Liberia has made “tangible progress” in areas such as Government reform and the fight against corruption but still faces major challenges in its reconstruction efforts after years of conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as he called on the Security Council to extend the UN mission there for another year until 30 September 2007.
20 September 2006 – Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied territories is essential to achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East, a top official from Qatar told the United Nations General Assembly today.
20 September 2006 – The democratic and economic development of South-Eastern Europe depends on the region’s nations sharing a common vision of the importance of stability, tolerance and cooperation, the leaders of four Balkan countries stressed in speeches today to the United Nations General Assembly.
20 September 2006 – The enhanced UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has reached approximately 5,000 troops with the arrival of contingents from France, Italy and Spain, concluding the first phase of a deployment of up to 15,000 blue helmets to oversee the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah.
20 September 2006 – Recalling the human rights abuses suffered by her country decades ago, the President of Chile today urged national leaders gathered at the United Nations for its annual general debate to end impunity for violations.
20 September 2006 – The Foreign Minister of Israel today called for full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, the landmark text that ended the recent war in Lebanon and mandated an expansion of the United Nations Force there.
19 September 2006 – Asserting that the widespread hunger prevailing in the world today lies at the root of a host of other global ills, the President of Brazil today urged leaders gathered at the United Nations for its annual general debate to tackle the problem by providing funds and fostering fair trade.
19 September 2006 – Efforts to settle the Cyprus problem should be carried out under the auspices of the United Nations, the president of the country said today, voicing support for Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest initiatives.
19 September 2006 – Describing Darfur as a potential humanitarian catastrophe, Africa’s first democratically elected female leader today urged the United Nations to step in to restore peace and security to the war-torn region in western Sudan.
19 September 2006 – The Security Council must be overhauled because the current structure allows some “hegemonic powers” to impose their policies on others, undermining its credibility and fostering global mistrust, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the United Nations General Assembly today.
19 September 2006 – Voicing dismay that the conflict in the Middle East has become “the epicentre of global instability,” French President Jacques Chirac told world leaders who gathered today for the General Assembly that it was time to “tread off the beaten track of habit” and devise a global strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
19 September 2006 – The President of South Africa today urged the United Nations to live up to the promises of an ‘African Century’ marked by renewal on a continent that has known great degrees of suffering.
19 September 2006 – Sudan rejects the proposed force of United Nations peacekeepers for the war-torn region of Darfur as an attempt to re-colonize the country, its President told the General Assembly today, calling on world leaders to focus their efforts on supporting the peace agreement signed earlier this year.
19 September 2006 – Recent events in the world show that an effective United Nations is more needed than ever, Finland’s President told the General Assembly today in a speech on behalf of the European Union’s 25 members, aspiring members and some neighbour countries.
18 September 2006 – Without greater global support, Iraq will fail to attain peace, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a high-level meeting in New York today, underscoring the importance of the International Compact aimed at ending the killings and bringing stability to the war-ravaged country.
18 September 2006 – The situation in Sudan’s Darfur region has steadily worsened, with Government forces, allied militias and rebel groups committing widespread abuses, the United Nations human rights chief said today, adding civilians are being specifically targeted and sexual violence is rising.
18 September 2006 – The Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) that was supposed to end the fighting in the war-torn region of western Sudan “is in a coma,” violated day after day and lacking the respect of most locals, the senior United Nations envoy to the country said today as he called for a reshaping of the peace deal.
18 September 2006 – The United Nations Force Commander in Lebanon today briefed the visiting French Defence Minister on the latest situation on the ground, including the recent increases in UN troops and the continued Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment.
15 September 2006 – Israel and Hizbollah have “largely complied” with the cessation of hostilities agreement that in mid-August ended more than a month of fighting in Lebanon, but while a start has been made toward broader peace in the region much still remains to be done, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report issued today.
15 September 2006 – In a landmark decision today, the United Nations Security Council voted by 10 votes to four against with one abstention to focus on the situation in the isolated Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, where democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for over 10 of the past 16 years.
15 September 2006 – Spanish troops today arrived for the first time in Lebanon, helping to boost the United Nations force to around 4,600, while Israel’s withdrawal from the south is continuing and Lebanese troops are expected to deploy into more areas tomorrow, the world body announced today.
15 September 2006 – To reflect the profound changes that have taken place in the developing world over the last few decades, global institutions must evolve to give nations of the South a greater voice, and those countries must exercise greater responsibility at home and abroad, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the annual summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Havana today.
15 September 2006 – Describing sexual abuse as “a cancer in Congolese society that seems to be out of control,” the United Nations’ most senior humanitarian official today urged the Security Council to exert pressure on the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) armed forces to end the impunity for soldiers who commit sex crimes.
15 September 2006 – The concern shared by some locals in Uganda that International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments against leaders of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) could jeopardize the peace process in the country’s north do not outweigh the need to ensure there is no impunity for mass murder, the top United Nations humanitarian official said today.
15 September 2006 – The head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today joined her voice to the growing chorus of UN officials expressing alarm about the deteriorating situation in the strife-torn Darfur region of western Sudan.
14 September 2006 – Celebrities can play a bigger role in working with the United Nations to call attention to the world's overlooked or under-reported crises, but they must be well informed if they are to have a positive impact, the actor and director George Clooney said today.
14 September 2006 – A gunman fired shots at African Union (AU) soldiers attempting to bring peace to Darfur, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today as it reported on a fresh round of violent clashes and acts of banditry across the war-wracked region.
14 September 2006 – Visiting a local community in Kosovo today, a senior United Nations official spoke out against violence in the province, which the world body has administered since western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999.
14 September 2006 – Iraq’s leaders must develop a “truly national agenda” relevant to all its people, the top United Nations envoy to the war-torn country told the Security Council today during a meeting to discuss Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest situation report.
14 September 2006 – Marking one month since Security Council resolution 1701 ended the 34 days of fighting between Hizbollah and Israel in Lebanon, the United Nations Force Commander in the country said today he expects all Israeli forces to have withdrawn from the south by the end of September.
14 September 2006 – Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel and screen artist George Clooney today joined their voices at a meeting of the Security Council in New York to urge action to help the people of Darfur, Sudan, where African troops are slated to leave and a planned deployment of United Nations peacekeepers faces government opposition.
14 September 2006 – Determining that the situation in Côte d’Ivoire continues to pose a threat to international peace and security, the United Nations Security Council today unanimously voted to extend the mandate of the three-person team monitoring the arms embargo against the West African country.
14 September 2006 – Less than three weeks after the Security Council approved an expanded mission in Timor-Leste, the United Nations Police (UNPOL) there has assumed command of national policing in the fragile country.
14 September 2006 – A United Nations Volunteer arrested and detained in Eritrea more than three weeks ago remains incommunicado, despite appeals by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), the mission reported today.
13 September 2006 – Darfur is headed for a disaster unless the Sudanese Government changes its mind and allows a force of United Nations peacekeepers to take over from the existing African Union (AU) operation in the strife-torn region, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
13 September 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy in Kosovo today told the Security Council that integration, not isolation, is the answer for the minority Serb population, as the 15-member body met to discuss Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest report on the future status of the UN-run province.
13 September 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said the recent conflict in Lebanon had been a “wake-up” call to the governments he visited during his recent diplomacy in the region, highlighting the need for a wider Middle East peace settlement.
13 September 2006 – Nobel Laureate and United Nations Messenger of Peace Elie Wiesel, along with actor George Clooney will address the Security Council on the crisis in Darfur during a closed-door session on Thursday, officials with the world body announced today.
13 September 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for renewed efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, noting that he detected a “slight shift” in the country’s position.
13 September 2006 – Kofi Annan, who this year completes his second and final five-year term as United Nations Secretary-General, today said the world body’s Member States should move quickly to select a successor and stressed that whoever is chosen will need to work closely with them.
12 September 2006 – Expressing disappointment over the lack of common ground during the past few months of talks over the future of the United Nations-run province of Kosovo, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for “more flexibility” from both the Serbian and Kosovo delegations, saying they need to show a spirit of compromise.
12 September 2006 – As the General Assembly opened its 61st session today, the body’s new president promised to focus on alleviating extreme poverty and advancing the process of UN reform undertaken during the previous session.
12 September 2006 – The United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda today sentenced a former military commander to 25 years’ jail after finding him guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in a series of massacres in 1994 that included the killing of orphans who had sought shelter at a school.
12 September 2006 – The Security Council today extended for another year the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which has been beset by an increasing number of terrorist attacks in recent months.
12 September 2006 – Members of the Security Council have added their collective voices to a growing chorus of United Nations officials condemning rising terrorist violence in Afghanistan.
12 September 2006 – The United Nations military commander in Lebanon today briefed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on the latest troop movements in the south of the country, while Israeli forces continued their withdrawal as stipulated by the Security Council resolution that ended the month of conflict in the region on 14 August.
11 September 2006 – Warning that “the tragedy in Darfur has reached a critical moment,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the international community today to live up to its promise last year to protect civilians in trouble and immediately press the Sudanese Government to accept United Nations peacekeepers.
11 September 2006 – The Director-General of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today expressed “serious concern” about Iran’s lack of cooperation in allowing investigators to determine whether the country’s nuclear programme is for peaceful or military aims.
11 September 2006 – Iraqi society today stands at a critical juncture, says United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, warning that with Government figures showing an average of 100 civilians killed everyday and over 14,000 wounded each month, the State runs the risk of a breakdown into civil war.
11 September 2006 – As the General Assembly moved to close its sixtieth session today, the body’s outgoing president, Jan Eliasson, hailed the unprecedented reforms achieved during his tenure while cautioning that greater effort is needed to sustain that momentum during the coming session.
11 September 2006 – The United Nations military commander in Lebanon today discussed the continued Israeli withdrawal and Lebanese military advance into more parts of the country’s south with officers from both sides, saying they understood the need to proceed without further delay.
8 September 2006 – Welcoming the signing of a ceasefire agreement in Burundi between the Government and the country’s last remaining major rebel group, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on both sides to implement the agreement and try to consolidate peace in the strife-torn and impoverished African nation.
8 September 2006 – The leadership of the Sudanese Government may be held collectively and individually responsible for what happens to the people of Darfur if they allow the African Union (AU) mission there to leave and then refuse access to United Nations peacekeepers, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.
8 September 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a Beninese major general as the new Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Côte d’Ivoire.
8 September 2006 – The United Nations Legal Counsel left Beirut today after “very constructive” meetings with top Lebanese leaders over the setting up of an international tribunal to look into last year’s killing of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others, a UN spokesman told reporters.
8 September 2006 – Following the lifting of Israel’s blockade against Lebanon, United Nations naval vessels began patrolling alongside their Lebanese counterparts today to secure the country’s maritime border ahead of the deployment of a full task force in the coming weeks, the UN force announced.
8 September 2006 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned that the worsening situation in Sudan's Darfur region threatens to spark another round of massive displacement that could destabilize the entire region and result in a “major catastrophe.”
7 September 2006 – The strife-torn Darfur region has been hit by another wave of attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers and African Union (AU) staff members in the past few days, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.
7 September 2006 – Noting that conflict prevention is a “moral imperative” and a “political necessity for the credibility of international cooperation, in particular the United Nations,” the president of the UN General Assembly today opened debate on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent report on preventing armed conflict around the world.
7 September 2006 – Israeli forces withdrew from more areas in southern Lebanon today as United Nations troops took over their positions ahead of handing them over to Lebanese army units, while officers from the world body met Israeli commanders to map out plans for patrolling the waters off Lebanon after the blockade is lifted today.
7 September 2006 – Welcoming today’s lifting of the Israeli blockade against Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it was a victory for the intensive international efforts of recent days, as he met with Spanish officials on the last leg of two weeks of shuttle diplomacy to shore up the cessation of hostilities agreement that ended the recent conflict.
7 September 2006 – After meeting today with sexual violence victims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland pledged to fight “the culture of impunity that has too long held sway in this country.”
6 September 2006 – Following Eritrea’s decision to expel five United Nations security personnel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today decried a “pattern of hostility” the country has demonstrated towards the world body, including its recent arrest of another staffer.
6 September 2006 – Iran has neither suspended its nuclear enrichment-related activities nor complied with all of its obligations under international non-proliferation agreements, according to a report by the United Nations atomic watchdog which states that further verification of the country’s declarations is difficult because of a lack of transparency from the Iranians.
6 September 2006 – Welcoming Israel’s decision to lift its blockade of Lebanon tomorrow, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the move will speed up Lebanese reconstruction efforts after the month of conflict and added he would continue to explore all avenues to ensure full implementation of the Security Council resolution that ended the fighting.
6 September 2006 – With armed conflicts raging around the world, prevention is too important to be left in the hands of governments alone, senior United Nations officials told the press in New York today on the eve of a General Assembly debate on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent report on the issue.
6 September 2006 – About 10,000 demonstrators have protested in the South Darfur town of Nyala against last week’s Security Council resolution calling for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in the strife-torn Darfur region, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.
6 September 2006 – The United Nations Legal Counsel arrived in Lebanon today at the start of a three-day visit to discuss the setting up of an international tribunal to look into last year’s killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others, a UN spokesman told reporters.
5 September 2006 – The planned United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur will only be effective if the Sudanese Government gives its consent and cooperation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as the Security Council unveiled plans for a high-level meeting on the issue next week.
5 September 2006 – The crises and problems of the Middle East will be at the forefront of a busy Security Council programme this month, Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece, which holds the Council presidency for September, said today as he outlined the 15-member body’s schedule.
4 September 2006 – The first large contingent of Italian troops has joined the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as part of international efforts to foster the Security Council-mandated withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country's South.
4 September 2006 – Following a series of diplomatic meetings with top leaders across the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said the region is supportive of the Security Council resolution which ended the hostilities in Lebanon, and countries are stepping forward to contribute troops for an international force there.
4 September 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan reiterated his appeal to the Government of Sudan to accept United Nations forces in the country's troubled Darfur region, as mandated by the Security Council.
4 September 2006 – The deployment of a credible presence of United Nations and Lebanese troops in southern Lebanon by mid-September should allow for Israel to withdraw, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in Saudi Arabia.
3 September 2006 – Iran's President is prepared to negotiate on the issue of his country's nuclear ambitions but said he will not suspend uranium enrichment activities, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in Tehran following a meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other top officials.
2 September 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan held what he termed “very good and constructive” talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran today covering the nuclear issue and regional hotspots.
1 September 2006 – The first large contingent of Italian troops will arrive in Tyre on Saturday as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the Force Commander announced today.
1 September 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy in Kosovo has welcomed the start of medical treatment to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffering from lead toxicity as a result of living in camps in the northern part of the disputed province.
1 September 2006 – Syria agreed today to increase the number of guards on its border with Lebanon and “take all necessary measures” to curb the flow of arms to Hizbollah as stipulated in the United Nations resolution that ended the recent hostilities with Israel, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said after meeting Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
1 September 2006 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is voicing alarm about rising violence in Timor-Leste, where the agency today gave the Government 1,500 family-size tents, plastic sheeting and other relief items to help people affected by unrest earlier this year.
31 August 2006 – Warning that Israel’s continued blockade of Lebanon risks being seen as “collective punishment” of the Lebanese people, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today renewed calls for it to be lifted as he met with officials in Jordan on the latest leg of his regional tour of the Middle East.
31 August 2006 – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today sent a new report on Iran to the United Nations Security Council, which has threatened sanctions if the country does not suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities and take steps to assure the world that it is not developing nuclear arms.
31 August 2006 – The Security Council agreed today to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force of more than 17,000 troops in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region by the end of the year to try to end the spiralling violence and displacement there that has led senior UN officials to warn of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe.
31 August 2006 – Despite significant progress, Sierra Leone faces numerous threats to its stability as it continues on the path to recovery from the disastrous and brutal civil war that engulfed the country in the 1990s, according to a new report from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
30 August 2006 – Meeting today in Jerusalem with Israel’s Prime Minister and other top officials, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan renewed calls for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Lebanon, which has now been in place for the past seven weeks, and said all sides had a responsibility to work for peace in the strife-torn region.
30 August 2006 – The Security Council is set to vote tomorrow on a draft resolution outlining the establishment within months of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s strife-torn and impoverished Darfur region.
29 August 2006 – The Security Council today unanimously voted to extend the appointment of a Ugandan judge serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) so that the case she is currently presiding over may proceed without interruption.
29 August 2006 – Members of the United Nations Security Council today expressed support for Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s continued efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem and urged that work begin quickly to carry out recent commitments made by the two sides.
29 August 2006 – The top United Nations aid official in Chad, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who have fled the violence in neighbouring Darfur, warned today of a regional “humanitarian disaster” unless the two African Governments put their differences aside and work together to stop the escalating militia violence.
29 August 2006 – The United Nations hopes to soon double to 5,000 the number of its troops in southern Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today in Israel on the latest leg of his diplomatic tour of the Middle East to increase support for full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the recent month-long fighting.
29 August 2006 – The newly established United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) kicked off its work this weekend with an initiative by UN police to raise awareness in the small nation about traffic rules and regulations.
29 August 2006 – Israel and Hizbollah must respect their ceasefire, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today during a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations force in southern Lebanon, where he also paid tribute to the hundreds of UN personnel who have lost their lives in the war-ravaged country.
28 August 2006 – The top United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said today he was “appalled” by a suicide attack that killed 17 civilians, mostly children, and wounded many more in the southern province of Helmand, adding it was wrong when any conflict was played out in a civilian arena.
28 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan, currently in Beirut on the first leg of his shuttle diplomacy to the Middle East, has called on Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon and urged Hizbollah to free two captured Israeli soldiers.
28 August 2006 – A former militia leader in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who is accused of recruiting child soldiers has become the first individual to face charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
28 August 2006 – The United Nations’ most senior humanitarian official issued a dire warning today about the situation in Darfur, stating that “a man-made catastrophe of an unprecedented scale” looms within weeks unless the Security Council acts immediately to deal with the spiralling violence, looting and internal displacement.
25 August 2006 – European nations have agreed to provide over half the troops for the enhanced 15,000-strong United Nations force in Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today, saying he hoped some of these soldiers could be deployed within days as the cessation of hostilities remains fragile after the month-long conflict between Hizbollah and Israel.
25 August 2006 – Expressing serious concern about reports of a possible coup attempt in Burundi and the arrests of political leaders, the Security Council today called on the Government and all parties to preserve peace in the strife-torn African nation, and backed a call by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the authorities to follow the rule of law in their investigations.
25 August 2006 – The Security Council today unanimously approved a resolution creating a new and expanded United Nations mission in Timor-Leste, citing ongoing threats to the stability of the South-East Asian country.
24 August 2006 – Joint patrols involving United Nations troops are on the streets in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today, aiming to ensure that a UN-brokered truce between supporters of both presidential candidates holds in the wake of fighting that erupted after provisional election results were announced on Sunday.
24 August 2006 – The Security Council will proceed with plans to meet on Monday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Sudan’s impoverished and strife-torn Darfur region, despite a request from the Sudanese Government to postpone the meeting, the Council’s President said today.
23 August 2006 – Repeating his earlier calls for an end to the fighting that erupted in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after Sunday’s provisional election results, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also called for all opposing forces to withdraw from the streets of Kinshasa.
23 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan will head to the Middle East and Europe later this week in a trip designed to strengthen the situation in Lebanon and Israel following the formal cessation of hostilities there in the wake of the recent Security Council resolution.
23 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed deep concern about reports of a possible coup attempt in Burundi and the subsequent arrests of several prominent politicians.
23 August 2006 – Lebanese army units have taken over more positions left by withdrawing Israeli troops and are now deployed in more than 50 per cent of the territory south of the Litani River, the United Nations says, adding that its interim force continues to work closely with both sides and is also stepping up its humanitarian work
23 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan considers anyone who would try to deny the truth of the Holocaust or make false claims about it to be a bigot, his spokesman told reporters at United Nations Headquarters in New York today.
23 August 2006 – Two days before the mandate of the United Nations Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL) comes to an end, the Secretary General’s Special Representative to the Southeast Asian nation called for renewed commitment to the integrity of the country’s judicial system.
22 August 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, working to defuse tension in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been in touch by telephone with the two leading candidates in the country’s landmark presidential elections, calling on them to meet and demanding an end to the violence, the world body said today.
22 August 2006 – Expressing serious concern about clashes that have taken place in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since presidential election results were released on Sunday, the Security Council today called for an end to the violence and expressed its hope that the two leading candidates in the polls would meet to resolve their differences peacefully.
22 August 2006 – Concluding its regional diplomacy today by meeting Israel’s Prime Minister, a high-level United Nations delegation that also met Lebanese leaders at the weekend said there were reasons for both optimism and pessimism after the past few days of talks, namely because the UN-brokered cessation of hostilities has so far held but also because there still exists a worrying power vacuum in southern Lebanon.
22 August 2006 – Briefing the Security Council today on the situation of Palestinians in the Middle East, the top United Nations political officer painted a grim picture of developments over the past 12 months, warning that the vision of Israel and Palestine living peacefully side-by-side has slipped “further away,” and stressing the need for a renewed international effort in the region.
21 August 2006 – In an effort to help prevent crises from escalating into armed conflicts that take precious lives and destroy livelihoods, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has issued a wide range of recommendations to bolster the Organization’s capacity to avert conflict around the globe.
21 August 2006 – A high-level United Nations delegation met Israel’s Foreign Minister and other senior officials today to discuss the issue of prisoners, an arms embargo, the lifting of the blockade of Lebanon and other issues relating to the Security Council resolution that led to the cessation of recent hostilities between Hizbollah and Israel.
21 August 2006 – The UN mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today strongly condemned Saturday’s attack on the African Union’s mission in that country, in which two soldiers were killed.
20 August 2006 – Reacting to a signal from Iran that it was set to reply next week to a package of Security Council-backed proposals on resolving the nuclear issue, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to Iran to seize "this historic opportunity" and respond positively to the offer.
19 August 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today spoke with top Israeli and Lebanese officials following an Israeli raid in eastern Lebanon which he warned endangers the fragile calm that has generally held in the region since Monday.
19 August 2006 – A United Nations delegation met in Beirut today with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other senior officials to discuss carrying out the terms of Security Council resolution 1701, which was adopted just over a week ago and forced a cessation to the hostilities that had engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel over the previous month, with a view to forging a long-term ceasefire.
18 August 2006 – Warning that “something very ugly is brewing” in Darfur, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown today urged the international community to pay close attention to the crisis in the impoverished and strife-torn region of western Sudan.
18 August 2006 – Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown today appealed to European countries to provide solid commitments for troops so that the first wave of the expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has the appropriate geographic balance to be politically effective and regarded as legitimate within the region.
18 August 2006 – Israel’s continuing naval and air blockade of Lebanon should be lifted immediately to allow urgent assistance to reach the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who are returning to their homes, the United Nations deputy head of emergency relief said today, while also warning of the dangers of unexploded ordnance from the conflict.
18 August 2006 – As the Security Council weighs requests from Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Government of Timor-Leste to create a new, expanded United Nations mission in the South-East Asian country, the 15-member body today briefly extended the current mission there.
17 August 2006 – The Israeli Army has started its withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the Lebanese Army has begun deploying troops south of the Litani River, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is helping to support and coordinate the operations, reported today.
17 August 2006 – Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said there had been “a reasonable start” from United Nations Member States participating in today’s meeting of potential troop contributors for an expanded and more robust peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, but that much work remains to be done to achieve the initial deadline of dispatching an extra 3,500 troops to the region within the next 10 days.
17 August 2006 – The Sudanese Government seems to be determined to pursue a major military offensive in strife-torn Darfur, building up its armed forces in the region as the situation there deteriorates, the Security Council heard today.
17 August 2006 – As a first step toward helping Timor-Leste hold free and fair elections next year, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in that country today convened a meeting of the major political parties to negotiate a new law that would govern those elections.
17 August 2006 – The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) has opened a new regional office in Qalat, Zabul, in the south of the country, where a growing insurgency threatens stability, as part of its efforts to work with Afghans to boost development and monitor human rights.
16 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending a high-level mission to Lebanon and Israel tomorrow to talk to leaders of the two countries about how to implement last Friday’s Security Council resolution on the recent conflict in the Middle East, Mr. Annan’s spokesman announced today.
16 August 2006 – The Security Council-imposed cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah was generally maintained in the past 24 hours, with three incidents reported, according to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been in talks on facilitating a withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Army.
16 August 2006 – The international community must maintain the United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, refrain from interfering in the strife-torn Horn of Africa country’s internal affairs and urge the disputing parties there to resume dialogue, the senior UN envoy to the nation told the Security Council today.
16 August 2006 – The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has spoken out against the “senseless and tragic” killing of one of its workers, who died in Lebanon during an Israeli air attack just 20 minutes before the Security Council-mandate cessation of hostilities took effect on Monday morning.
15 August 2006 – There have been no breaches of the Security Council-mandated cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah since it came into effect on Monday morning, the United Nations Interim Force for Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported today.
15 August 2006 – Calling on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to step up its efforts to prevent crime and reduce violence in the impoverished Caribbean country, the Security Council today extended the mission’s mandate by another six months.
15 August 2006 – Given the fragile security situation in Timor-Leste, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to that country today called on the Security Council to establish a new, larger United Nations mission there.
15 August 2006 – The United Nations wants to see a strengthened international force in war-ravaged southern Lebanon as soon as possible, with a vanguard unit of several thousand troops possibly on the ground within the next 10 days or so, to support the Security Council-mandated cessation of hostilities that was reached last week.
14 August 2006 – Expressing relief that the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon and northern Israel “appears to be generally holding” since it began earlier today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on all sides in the recent conflict in the region to act quickly to consolidate progress and then convert it into a durable ceasefire.
14 August 2006 – The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his plans to appoint Ambassador Joachim Rücker from Germany as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), effective 1 September.
13 August 2006 – On the eve of a planned cessation of hostilities set to end the fighting that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month, violence in the region intensified today, according to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which sustained extensive material damage but suffered no additional casualties.
13 August 2006 – With a cessation of hostilities set to take effect in Lebanon and Israel on Monday, United Nations agencies are poised to immediately step up emergency relief operations as soon as safe land movement is possible.
12 August 2006 – One day after the Security Council voted unanimously for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, fighting continued today and one blue helmet was wounded when Israeli fire hit a United Nations position in the south.
12 August 2006 – The conflict that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel over the past month is set to end on Monday when a cessation of hostilities called for by the United Nations Security Council enters into force, Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today following talks with the leaders of both countries.
11 August 2006 – Welcoming tonight’s Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he believed it could serve as a base to reach “a sustainable and lasting ceasefire agreement” in the coming days and ultimately to the start of “a process to solve the underlying political problems in the region through political means.”
11 August 2006 – Warning of deteriorating security conditions in Darfur and the grave challenges facing relief efforts there, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the Security Council to work urgently to address the situation in the war-torn region.
11 August 2006 – The Security Council voted tonight to halt the deadly conflict that has engulfed Lebanon and northern Israel for the past month, passing a resolution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops and a significantly expanded United Nations peacekeeping presence across southern Lebanon as well as the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the same area.
11 August 2006 – The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq today condemned “in the strongest possible terms” yesterday’s killings at a holy shrine in Najaf, as well as the recent increase in sectarian violence that has claimed the lives of hundreds of people throughout the country.
10 August 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is working “very intensely” with Security Council members and key leaders to push for a resolution concerning the situation along the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.
10 August 2006 – Expressing deep concern about recent statements made by some political leaders in Côte d’Ivoire which could set back the peace process, the United Nations mission in the country today called for all parties to overcome their differences through dialogue.
10 August 2006 – The Security Council today extended the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for one year, responding to a request from the country’s Government, which said the world body has a “vital role” in fostering peace and prosperity there.
9 August 2006 – The disarmament and reintegration of former combatants, an end to the threat from the illegal trafficking of small arms and light weapons, and much stronger national institutions and civil society groups are just some of the necessary steps that West Africa must take if peace is to consolidate across the region, the Security Council said today.
9 August 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Liberia and officials from Sierra Leone have discussed ways to enhance individual and joint security operations and patrols along the border between the two countries.
8 August 2006 – A staff member serving with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been hospitalized in Burundi following a grenade attack which killed four people, injured numerous others, and prompted a strong condemnation of violence in the country by officials of the world body.
8 August 2006 – Israel’s deadly attack on the Lebanese village of Qana could be part of a “pattern of violations of international law” committed during the almost month-long conflict with Hizbollah, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, calling for a more comprehensive investigation into the 30 July bombardment.
8 August 2006 – Noting that cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) could substantially aid the work of its sanctions committees, the Security Council today called for increased cooperation between the UN and Interpol in the fight against terrorism and international crime.
8 August 2006 – The League of Arab States accused the Security Council today of doing nothing while the Lebanese people have become engulfed in a “bloodbath” since the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah erupted almost a month ago.
7 August 2006 – With Afghanistan facing a growing insurgency in its southern and southeastern provinces, the top United Nations envoy to that country today announced that the UN mission planned to step up its efforts there.
7 August 2006 – Urging all sides in the divided West African country of Côte d’Ivoire to play their part to ensure that free and fair elections can be staged by the end of October, the Security Council today called for the deployment of “as many mobile courts as possible” to help in the process of identifying and registering voters who do not have official papers.
7 August 2006 – The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights today adopted a statement decrying the rights violations taking place in Lebanon and voicing hope that the Security Council will foster an end to the fighting and a lasting solution to the conflict.
5 August 2006 – As fighting raged today in Lebanon, the United Nations continued its efforts to help the beleaguered people of the country, where the Government estimates that one fourth of the population has been uprooted.
4 August 2006 – A United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur may need as many as 18,600 troops to ensure that all sides in the war-ravaged Sudanese region comply with the recently signed peace agreement, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the issue.
4 August 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the Security Council extend the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for another year to help the country in the face of formidable political, security and economic challenges.
4 August 2006 –
The United Nations Security Council could convene a meeting at any time – including this weekend – if the text of a resolution on Lebanon is presented by diplomats now discussing the matter with the parties, the president of the 15-member body said today.
4 August 2006 – Stressing that there can be no impunity for the serious human rights violations committed in Timor-Leste following its vote for independence in 1999, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended the establishment of a new United Nations programme of international assistance to help the country achieve justice and reconciliation.
4 August 2006 – Although Haiti has made significant electoral and political progress in recent months, the Caribbean country still faces enormous challenges as it attempts to climb out of impoverishment and violence and the United Nations stands willing to play a key role in helping out, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last night during an official visit.
3 August 2006 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Burundi voiced alarm today at reports that there has been an attempted coup in recent days in the African country and that some political figures have since been arrested.
3 August 2006 – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported today that heavy fighting continues in its area of operation in the country’s south, with Hizbollah rockets striking a UN position during the past 24 hours and the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) shelling close to another UN post.
3 August 2006 – Saluting the citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for their participation in historic, largely peaceful elections on Sunday, the Security Council today appealed to them to maintain the “same spirit of civic responsibility” while they await the results.
3 August 2006 – The United Nations is sending a joint emergency assessment team to the devastated port city of Tyre in south Lebanon tomorrow, from where some 85,000 people have fled worsening violence and devastation caused by more than three weeks of conflict that has already displaced around a quarter of the country’s population.
2 August 2006 – The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hizbollah have continued to exchange fire close to United Nations positions in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, with heavy fighting observed on both sides, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported today.
2 August 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy has pledged the world body’s continued efforts to fulfil its mandate in Ethiopia and Eritrea, where UN blue helmets are monitoring a ceasefire along the disputed border between the two Horn of Africa countries.
2 August 2006 – The ongoing crisis in the Middle East is expected to dominate the Security Council's work this month, said Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng of Ghana, which holds the Council presidency for August, but African issues will also receive priority attention.
2 August 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Somalia has welcomed a policy declaration put out by African ministers pledging to follow key UN policies on the war-ravaged country, which has not had a functioning government since 1991, a spokesman for the world body said today.
1 August 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met today with the five permanent members of the Security Council in informal talks focused on the crisis in the Middle East and how best to stop the bloodshed in a conflict that has killed hundreds of people and forced almost a million others to flee their homes across the region.
1 August 2006 – Two days after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) held its first free and fair elections in 45 years, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to that country, William Lacy Swing, called on Congolese to remain calm and patient during the ballot counting process.
1 August 2006 – Haiti stands ready for peaceful development after the successful staging of elections earlier this year and the subsequent formation of a broad-based government with ambitious but balanced policy goals, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the United Nations mission to the Caribbean nation.
1 August 2006 – The humanitarian crisis engulfing Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip is on the verge of being forgotten because of the fighting taking place in Lebanon and northern Israel, and children are suffering more than most, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned today.
1 August 2006 – Senior United Nations and African Union (AU) envoys to Sudan today jointly condemned a recent militia-backed attack by Government forces against a rebel group in the northern part of the country’s strife-torn Darfur region and called for an immediate end to the hostilities.
1 August 2006 – Stressing the importance of continued dialogue between Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and the Supreme Council of Islamic Courts, the senior United Nations envoy to the war-torn country said today that once a peace deal has been negotiated there may be a role for an unarmed observer force as a “neutral third party” in the conflict.
31 July 2006 – Addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council today, Lebanon’s acting Foreign Minister urged an immediate series of steps aimed at quelling the violence there, while Israel’s representative said his country was acting in self-defence and called for the authorities in Beirut to take control of their entire nation.
31 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the Security Council that Israel will carry out its own investigation into the events that led to the deaths of four United Nations observers in southern Lebanon last week, but he would have preferred a joint UN-Israeli probe.
31 July 2006 – The Security Council voted unanimously today to extend by another year its arms embargo against militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), condemning the continuing illicit flow of weapons into and around the vast African country.
31 July 2006 – The Security Council today extended for one month the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) while proposals for a new international presence in the violence-wracked region are considered.
31 July 2006 – Saying that Iran has not taken required steps to assure the world it is not developing nuclear arms, the United Nations Security Council today demanded a suspension of the country’s nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities, threatening sanctions for non-compliance.
30 July 2006 – Just hours after United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan convened a Security Council meeting on the latest violence in Lebanon, the 15-member body deplored last night's Israeli attack on the village of Qana, where over 50 civilians, mostly children, were reported killed.
30 July 2006 – Convening a meeting today of the Security Council, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it must condemn last night's Israeli bombing of a village in southern Lebanon which left scores dead, and must call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, warning that a failure to act decisively would undermine the United Nations itself.
30 July 2006 – With heavy fighting continuing in southern Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) there today again protested firing in the vicinity – which caused material damage and lightly wounded two blue helmets – to both the Israeli and Lebanese authorities.
28 July 2006 – Announcing plans for a meeting on Monday of potential troop contributors to a United Nations stabilization force in southern Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today it was time for “concrete, practical steps” to end the hostilities in the region and protect civilians from further attack.
28 July 2006 – Three days after a United Nations post in Lebanon was destroyed during an Israeli bombardment, leaving four dead, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has decided to temporarily move unarmed observers into more secure positions.
28 July 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Somalia appealed for calm today in the strife-torn African country after gunmen assassinated the Minister for Constitutional and Federal Affairs Abdallah Deerow Isaaq outside a mosque, and he announced he will attend an urgent regional meeting called to discuss the worsening situation.
28 July 2006 – The top United Nations aid official today made an urgent appeal for a “humanitarian truce” lasting at least three days between Israel and Hezbollah to allow children, the wounded and the elderly to escape the fighting and food, medicine and other emergency supplies to get through to the conflict zones.
27 July 2006 – Voicing its shock and distress at the Israeli Defence Forces’ (IDF) killing of four unarmed United Nations military observers in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the Security Council today called on the Israeli Government to conduct a full investigation.
27 July 2006 – The United Nations Compensation Commission, which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses due to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, today announced the disbursement of about $396.5 million, bringing the total paid out to date to nearly $21 billion.
26 July 2006 – Expressing concern over the worsening violence in Afghanistan, the Security Council today reaffirmed its support for the Government and the armed forces as they battle what the top United Nations envoy to the impoverished nation called an “insurgency” that seeks to restore life under the Taliban.
26 July 2006 – Deploring the “horrendous and dangerous” situation in Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today proposed a three-part strategy involving an immediate cessation of hostilities and wide-ranging political and economic commitments to solve a crisis that has killed hundreds of people and forced around 800,000 others to flee their homes.
26 July 2006 – Following yesterday’s killings of three United Nations peacekeepers – and possibly a fourth – during an air attack in south Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today accepted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s expression of “deep sorrow” and suggested a joint investigation into the incident.
26 July 2006 – Decrying the weekend’s deadly outbreak of violence in Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council today called on all Ivorian parties to play their part to implement commitments made at a meeting convened by Secretary-General Kofi Annan earlier this month.
25 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed shock and deep distress over what he called the “apparently deliberate targeting” by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) of a United Nations observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two military observers, with two more feared dead.
24 July 2006 – With violence continuing to tear through Lebanon for a twelfth day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan leaves for Rome today for an international meeting aimed at resolving the crisis, expressing hope that concrete measures will emerge from discussions there.
24 July 2006 – The United Nations force monitoring the line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon reported continued heavy firing today from both Hezbollah and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), while Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the recent upsurge in violence had restricted the force from carrying out even basic activities.
24 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has re-appointed the head of the United Nations panel investigating last year’s killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri until the end of the year, a spokeswoman for Mr. Annan said today.
24 July 2006 – After hearing presentations from United Nations officials about the 250,000 boys currently exploited as child soldiers and tens of thousands of girls subject to sexual violence, the Security Council today called for a “reinvigorated effort” to protect children in areas of armed conflict.
22 July 2006 – Following meetings with the United States Secretary of State, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a US television audience that Washington and the world body share the same long-term objectives in responding to the Middle East crisis.
21 July 2006 – All parties in Côte d’Ivoire, which has been divided between a rebel-held north and Government-controlled south since 2002, must work to advance the peace process as the country moves to elections scheduled for October, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to the Security Council.
21 July 2006 – After two days of discussion at the General Assembly on proposals to reform the Security Council, broad consensus began to emerge that despite recent significant reform of the world body as a whole, without changes to the composition and operation of the Council, there could be no genuine United Nations reform.
21 July 2006 – Painting a grim picture of the worsening humanitarian situation in the Middle East, the top United Nations emergency relief coordinator announced he will fly to Lebanon today, repeated calls for a cessation of hostilities and again urged all sides to allow access for urgent relief supplies to get through.
21 July 2006 – Regretting that his meetings with leaders in Lebanon and Israel found “serious obstacles” to a comprehensive ceasefire in the violence-racked region, a top United Nations envoy today called on the Security Council to unite in the coming days to dramatically reduce the devastating toll on civilians, and to quickly develop the framework for a political solution.
20 July 2006 – Renewing his urgent appeal for an end to the civilian carnage in Lebanon and northern Israel and condemning both that country’s use of excessive force as well as Hizbollah’s recklessness, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today proposed elements for a political framework aimed at achieving a lasting solution to the conflict.
20 July 2006 – With the crisis in Lebanon continuing to escalate and hundreds of thousands of displaced people finding it increasingly difficult to obtain food and other essentials, United Nations humanitarian agencies are stepping up their appeals for safe corridors to deliver the supplies they are preparing to ship to the country.
20 July 2006 – Documenting repeated violations of the Security Council’s arms embargo against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a team of experts appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today that illicit trafficking represents a “genuine threat” to peace and called for close cooperation with the UN mission in the country to address the problem, particularly in the run-up to the 30 July elections.
19 July 2006 – In anticipation of tomorrow’s arrival of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his Lebanon envoy team and other high officials in New York, where they will meet as part of efforts to end the spiralling Middle East violence, Mr. Annan’s deputy said that a permanent solution to the crisis is needed but that saving innocent life is an obvious priority.
19 July 2006 – In the run-up to a high-level meeting next week on the future status of the United Nations-run province of Kosovo, delegations from Pristina and the Serbian capital of Belgrade met today in Vienna to discuss the decentralization process in the province, a UN spokesman said.
19 July 2006 – Endorsing commitments made by regional leaders to advance the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire earlier this month, the United Nations Security Council today said it was “fully prepared” to impose sanctions against those who block that effort.
19 July 2006 – Following the recent deadly violence in Timor-Leste, in which 155,000 people were forced to flee their homes, it is important for the international community to realize that the tiny nation needs a sustained, long-term commitment, a United Nations envoy said today after briefing the Security Council on his recent assessment mission to the country.
18 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the stabilization force envisaged for violence-torn Lebanon would be much larger than the current 2,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force already in the south and would give the Government “time to organize and prepare” to extend its authority over all its territory.
17 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Jean Arnault of France as the new United Nations Special Representative in Georgia, a spokesman for the world body said today.
17 July 2006 – The United Nations Security Council should discuss a package of practical actions aimed at stemming the spiraling violence in the Middle East, as well as the possibility of a new stabilization force for the region, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today following meetings with the Group of 8 countries in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he also called on the parties to avoid civilian casualties.
17 July 2006 – As a team of senior United Nations official meets with the parties on the ground in an effort to end the explosion of violence in Israel and Lebanon, Security Council members are actively searching for a lasting solution to crisis, according to its July President, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France.
15 July 2006 – Aiming to help defuse the current crisis in the Middle East, a three-person team dispatched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the region held talks today with key Arab countries in Cairo.
15 July 2006 – Condemning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) multiple ballistic missile launches 11 days ago, the United Nations Security Council today demanded that the country suspend all related activities and required States to prevent the import or export of funds or goods that could fuel Pyongyang's missile or weapons of mass destruction programmes.
14 July 2006 – United Nations humanitarian officials today urged Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanese Hizbollah militants to refrain from disproportionate responses in the current renewed fighting, avoid attacking civilians, end rocket attacks and release immediately all kidnapped people.
14 July 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's high-level team to the Middle East, which includes his Special Political Adviser, arrived in Cairo today on the first leg of a diplomatic mission aimed at stemming the increasing violence between Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinians.
14 July 2006 – Following a Security Council meeting today to discuss the escalating crisis in the Middle East, its President called on all “concerned sides and parties” to fully cooperate with a high-level United Nations team – which includes Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Political Adviser – that has been sent to the region.
13 July 2006 – The international community must “persevere and stay the course” in helping Guinea-Bissau regain stability despite the slow progress in reconciliation that has kept donors wary and exacerbated economic hardship, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today.
13 July 2006 – As senior officials from Kosovo and Serbia met in New York today with members of the Security Council, a United Nations envoy told that body that status talks on the province will soon enter a more advanced phase.
13 July 2006 – Seeking to defuse what he called “the major crisis” stemming from the flare-up of violence between Israel, the Palestinians and Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is today sending a three-member team of veteran United Nations officials for wide-ranging talks in the region.
13 July 2006 – With Liberia seen as making great strides in emerging from its horrific civil war but still needing support in maintaining stability, the Security Council today decreased the military deployment of the United Nations mission there (UNMIL), at the same time increasing the mission’s police presence by the same amount.
13 July 2006 – Expressing support for war-torn Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and Parliament as the country’s “internationally recognized authorities”, the United Nations Security Council today emphasized the importance to all sides of dialogue ahead of Saturday’s round of peace talks with the Islamic Courts.
13 July 2006 – The United Nations Security Council failed today to adopt a draft resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian armed groups from Gaza and for a halt to what it called a “disproportionate” military reaction by Israel, due to a veto by the United States, which called the text unbalanced and outdated.
12 July 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for the immediate release of two Israeli soldiers seized by Hizbollah militants from Lebanon and conferred with key leaders on the attack, which he condemned as a “blatant breach” of Security Council resolutions and of the line separating the two countries.
12 July 2006 – As historic elections set for 30 July in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) draw closer, the UN Organization Mission in the country (MONUC) said today it has opened an inquiry into yesterday’s violent dispersal of a demonstration in the capital Kinshasa, allegedly because the event’s organizers lacked proper authorization.
12 July 2006 – Misunderstandings between the Government of Sudan and the international community concerning a proposed United Nations mission in Darfur must be cleared up if the peace agreement it is meant to support is to be successful, the world organization’s top peacekeeping official said today.
12 July 2006 – The outgoing United Nations envoy for Georgia said today that there now exists a “possibility for a political dialogue” between Georgian authorities and Abkhaz separatists over a dispute that flared into open warfare 14 years ago, while stressing the important role being played by UN police in the region and the need for them to be allowed onto both sides of the conflict zone.
12 July 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today condemned “in the strongest terms” the bomb attacks that caused hundreds of deaths and injuries in Mumbai and other parts of India yesterday, calling them “heinous acts of terrorism” and urging all States to cooperate with the Indian Government in bringing those responsible to justice.
11 July 2006 – Though ‘hardliners’ within the Islamic groups that now control the Somali capital of Mogadishu are causing serious concern, talks between those groups and the Somali Transitional Federal Institutions (TFI) hold out the possibility the situation can be normalized, the top United Nations envoy to the country said today.
11 July 2006 – Seeking to restore calm in Timor-Leste and boost the rule of law in the country it ushered to independence from Indonesia just four years ago, the United Nations today presented the new prime minister with a report covering key issues such as the fight against corruption, ethical behaviour by officials and freedom of information.
10 July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on all parties in Timor-Leste to seek unity after the appointment of a new prime minister, as his special envoy outlined the tasks of a new United Nations peacekeeping mission following violence in the small nation that the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia just four years ago.
9 July 2006 – Leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have committed to proceed by end of July the two leaders committed to proceed by the end of July with technical talks on issues affecting the day-to-day life of people on both sides and concurrently those that concern substantive issues, both of which will contribute to a comprehensive settlement, a senior United Nations official who brought them together on the island has announced.
7 July 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged both Georgia’s Government and Abkhaz separatists to implement understandings reached during a high-level meeting in February and to honour previous commitments, particularly regarding security and human rights, to resolve a conflict that flared into open warfare 14 years ago and forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee their homes.
7 July 2006 – The Transitional Government in Somalia, which, since establishing itself within the country earlier this year has been besieged by renewed factional fighting and the territorial gains of Islamic militias, must be strengthened so that the “painstaking” gains in the long-chaotic country are not lost, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today.
7 July 2006 – While urging the authorities and all sides in the impoverished Central African Republic to settle their disputes through dialogue, the United Nations Security Council today also expressed “serious concern” about the possible impact of persisting violence in Darfur and the deteriorating relations between Chad and Sudan.
6 July 2006 – Continuing their efforts to calm tensions in Timor-Leste, the top two United Nations officials there today met with a group of rebel soldiers, who had surrendered their automatic weapons, and urged them to press their case non-violently.
6 July 2006 – Despite the deteriorating political climate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the head of last month’s Security Council mission there, said today that conditions have been met for elections planned for the end of the month but he emphasized that the poll will ‘not be an end in itself’ and much still remains to be done in the impoverished Central African country.
5 July 2006 – The top two United Nations officials in Timor-Leste today met with the leaders of all registered political parties as they continued their efforts to calm tensions after two months of unrest in the small South-East Asian nation that the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia four years ago.
5 July 2006 – Expressing “deep concern” over missile launches by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), members of the United Nations Security Council agreed this morning that quick action is needed to deal with the matter, during a closed meeting requested by Japan and the United States.
3 July 2006 – The Central African Republic’s stability is facing threats from new rebel movements in the northern part of the country, the situation in neighbouring Chad and tension between it and Sudan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report released today.
3 July 2006 – Initial checks on children in makeshift camps for displaced persons in Timor-Leste today indicated that 15 per cent need immediate treatment for malnutrition after violence ripped through the small South-East Asian nation, driving more than 155,000 people, 15 per cent of the total population, from their homes.
3 July 2006 – While welcoming a decision made by the African Union to extend the mandate of its troops in the violence-wracked Darfur region of Sudan for three months to the end of 2006, a senior United Nations envoy warned today that continued militia attacks on internally displaced persons were affecting implementation of the peace agreement agreed in May.
3 July 2006 – While welcoming the return of airplane parts discovered in Tunisia that belong to the Kuwait Airways Corporation, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his latest report on property seized by Iraq after its 1990 occupation of its neighbour, expresses disappointment that Kuwait’s national archives are still missing.
3 July 2006 – With up to half a million small-scale miners in West Africa digging up diamonds – which help fuel conflict but could also boost development in the region – a United Nations-backed ministerial conference in Monrovia, Liberia highlighted the problems of poor mining communities that often have no other source of income.
1 July 2006 – At a meeting in Africa today with Iranian President Mohamed Ahmadinejad, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that every effort should be made to avoid any standstill in the diplomatic process aimed at averting a confrontation over the nuclear issue.
30 June 2006 – Saying that armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) still threaten elections in the vast central African nation where political campaigns officially kicked off today, the United Nations Security Council today decided to extend until 30 September its authorization for a strengthened peacekeeping force in the country.
30 June 2006 – Citing “factors of instability” that remain in Burundi despite democratization and ongoing negotiations with the last major rebel group outside the country’s peace process, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission there for six months until 31 December 2006.
30 June 2006 – As United Nations envoys continued their efforts today to calm tensions and plan for a possible expanded UN police force in Timor-Leste, a funding shortfall is threatening food supplies for 155,000 people, 15 per cent of the total population, displaced by the violence that ripped through the small South-East Asian nation over the past two months.
30 June 2006 – Describing the escalating violence of the past few days in the Gaza Strip as a “grave crisis,” a senior United Nations official warned the Security Council today that another full-scale conflict between Israelis and Palestinians could easily be set off, and urged all sides in the region to “step back from the brink.”
29 June 2006 – Following last week’s action by the United Nations Security Council to extend the prohibition of trade in “blood diamonds” from Liberia – gems that are said to fuel conflict in the region – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has reappointed the panel of experts who assess the impact of that sanctions regime.
29 June 2006 – Any United Nations peacekeeping mission that takes over from the African Union (AU) in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region will need to work in “partnership” with the country’s people and Government, the head of the recent Security Council mission there said today, while repeating the delegation’s view that such a force was needed to curb the killings in a region that has also seen more than 2 million people displaced.
29 June 2006 – The first meeting on the details of transferring authority in West Africa’s Bakassi Peninsula from Nigeria to Cameroon, as agreed in a recent pact signed under United Nations auspices in New York, will take place in Geneva during the first week of July, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has told the Security Council.
29 June 2006 – Avowing that no cause can justify acts of terror, the United Nations Security Council today condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the killing of four Russian envoys in Iraq following their abduction earlier this month.
29 June 2006 – With thousands of demonstrators milling around in the Timor-Leste capital of Dili, United Nations envoys today stepped up their efforts to calm tensions and plan for a possible expanded UN police force in the small South-East Asian nation that the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia just four years ago.
28 June 2006 – Lauding the non-violent and democratic process that gained Montenegro its independence from Serbia only five weeks ago, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the United Nations’ 192nd Member, as its flag, a golden double eagle on a red field, was raised at the world organization’s Headquarters in New York.
28 June 2006 – While noting that the efforts of the Security Council and humanitarian agencies have made much of the world safer, the United Nations top humanitarian official today pled for more comprehensive action to end the massive suffering of civilians still caught up in armed conflicts.
28 June 2006 – The top United Nations political officer will travel to Cyprus, Greece and Turkey at the beginning of July to discuss the possibility of resuming talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement on the divided island.
27 June 2006 – Meeting at United Nations Headquarters with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reiterated his suggestion that the country speed up its response to recent international proposals on ending the impasse over its nuclear development programmes, while also discussing issues of regional importance.
27 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Burundi said today he remained confident that a final ceasefire would be signed between the Government and the last hold-out rebel faction despite reported rebel “second thoughts” in the small Central African country that has been torn by decades of ethnic and factional fighting.
27 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for Timor-Leste today conferred with a leading member of the governing party on the first full day of his mission to assess the need for an increased United Nations presence after violence tore through the small South-East Asian nation.
27 June 2006 – To seize the moment of opportunity that the Abuja peace deal offers for ending the suffering in Sudan’s Darfur region, African peacekeeping must immediately be bolstered in anticipation of a “substantial” United Nations force and dialogue must start quickly between the local parties, the world body’s top peacekeeping official said today.
26 June 2006 – This weekend saw several positive developments in Sudan, with restrictions against United Nations operations there lifted, and with a top official of the world Organization attending the first meeting of the Darfur Joint Commission since the signing of the peace agreement for that violence-racked region.
26 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Envoy for Timor-Leste arrived on the ground today to assess the need for a possible increased United Nations presence after violence tore through the small South-East Asian nation that the UN shepherded to independence from Indonesia just four years ago.
26 June 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy just back from Uganda said today that while children there are still at grave risk because of abuses by a rebel group in the north of the country, they will have some new protections now that the Government has agreed to a set of principles aimed at ending the recruitment and deployment of child soldiers in its armed forces.
23 June 2006 – With the largest and most challenging elections the United Nations has ever helped organize slated to take place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in little over a month, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for full transparency of the process, voicing concern at reports of intimidation, corruption and detentions.
23 June 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today repeated his call for caution on the part of the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), pointing out that the broader regional context requires restraint.
23 June 2006 – In what United Nations officials hailed as an historic milestone in global efforts to help countries avert a relapse into bloodshed after emerging from conflict, the first meeting of the newly created Peacebuilding Commission was held today at UN Headquarters in New York.
23 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Timor-Leste sought to avert further unrest there today, broadcasting an appeal to the people to unite after violence attributed to differences between eastern and western areas tore through the small South-East Asian nation that the UN shepherded to independence from Indonesia four years ago.
22 June 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced hope that the world body would be able to convince Sudan’s authorities to accept a UN peacekeeping force in the troubled region of Darfur, saying not only is it needed to implement a recently signed peace agreement but also to provide security to the internally displaced, estimated to number more than 2 million.
22 June 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki has assured him his country will come to the negotiating table “without preconditions” in any talks on its nuclear programme – which it insists is for peaceful purposes, but which the United States and others see as a weapons threat.
22 June 2006 – Justice should never be sacrificed by granting amnesty in ending conflicts, the United Nations Legal Counsel told the Security Council today, stating that ending impunity for perpetrators of crimes against humanity is one of the principal evolutions in the culture of the world community and international law over the past 15 years.
22 June 2006 – The Security Council today endorsed the newly independent Republic of Montenegro’s bid to join the United Nations, bringing the world body one step closer to admitting its 192nd Member.
22 June 2006 – Tens of thousands of people displaced by the recent unrest in Timor-Leste are in urgent need of food aid from international donors, according to a United Nations assessment released today.
21 June 2006 – In a step that could lead to the first increase in the membership of the United Nations since 2002, the Security Council today considered an application by the Republic of Montenegro, which recently voted for independence from Serbia, to join the world body.
21 June 2006 – Detailing what he called “serious deteriorations on the ground” in the Middle East, including intra-Palestinian violence and increased rocket exchanges between militants and Israel – both of which resulted in numerous civilian deaths in Gaza – a senior United Nations official today called for restraint, respect for humanitarian law and a return to negotiations by all parties.
20 June 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed today’s transfer of Liberia’s former President, Charles Taylor, to the Netherlands, where he will stand trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, saying the process will mark a “further victory in the struggle to end impunity” and will also promote reconciliation.
20 June 2006 – Grave rights abuses against children continue largely with impunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report, calling for stepped-up measures to protect young Congolese at risk of being killed, maimed, recruited in armed forces and groups, abducted, and subject to sexual violence.
20 June 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today extended sanctions aimed at preventing Liberia from exporting rough diamonds, saying the situation in the West African country continues to pose a threat to international peace, but lifted the ban on the export of round logs and timber as it applauded the country’s new President for her efforts in managing the nation’s forests.
20 June 2006 – Expressing “deep concern over the volatile security situation in Timor-Leste and its serious humanitarian repercussions,” the United Nations Security Council today extended for two months the world body’s small office there and asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report before that mandate expires on an expanded future role.
20 June 2006 – Citing steady progress in minority protection and refugee returns in Kosovo, a top United Nations envoy called today for an early resolution of the question of the final political status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which has been run by the UN since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
19 June 2006 – Despite last month’s peace deal in Sudan’s Darfur region between the Government and the largest rebel group, access to humanitarian aid for the people displaced by the violence there – estimated at over 2 million – and elsewhere in the impoverished African country has deteriorated in recent months, the top United Nations aid official in Sudan and other UN agency representatives said today.
19 June 2006 – Saying that militias connected to Islamic courts now control three major districts of Somalia and might be driving toward the Ethiopian border, the top United Nations envoy to the country stressed today that it is crucial to open a legitimate dialogue between the leaders of that movement and the Transitional Government.
18 June 2006 – As an assessment team continues to hold discussions in Sudan on a possible transition from the current African Union mission in Darfur to a United Nations operation there, the Prime Minister of Denmark today told reporters following a meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan that his country would back a UN force in the vast, strife-torn region.
16 June 2006 – Upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are moving ahead under good conditions, but technical problems should be expected, equal media access for all parties must be assured and the poll must be followed by speedy development of national institutions, the head of a Security Council delegation just back from the central African country told the 15-member body today.
16 June 2006 – Citing reasons of security and expediency, the Security Council today paved the way for the transfer of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to The Hague, Netherlands from Sierra Leone, where he is now awaiting trial under a United Nations-backed tribunal on charges related to his role in that country's bloody civil war.
15 June 2006 – Urging both sides in Cyprus to resume negotiations for a comprehensive settlement, the United Nations Security Council today extended, through 15 December 2006, the mandate of the 40-year-old UN mission there that monitors the ceasefire lines extending some 180 kilometres across the island.
15 June 2006 – The head of the United Nations Security Council delegation that recently visited the violence-wracked Darfur region of Sudan, said today that although agreement had not yet been reached with the Sudanese Government on allowing a UN force to take over peacekeeping duties there, such an agreement was now a “probability.”
15 June 2006 – In advance of a September report to the Security Council, the head of the main United Nations counter-terrorism office said today that speech that incites terrorism could probably be constrained under the laws of most countries, though they might have different interpretations about what constitutes “incitement.”
15 June 2006 – Expressing its willingness to continue to assist Lebanon in the search for the truth surrounding the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others, the United Nations Security Council today extended for one year the mandate of the international commission probing the deadly 2005 car bomb attack.
15 June 2006 – After hearing detailed briefings on Iraq today, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the formation of the country’s first constitutionally-elected Government, which was completed earlier this month, agreed upon the continuation of the Multinational Force (MNF) and also on certain arrangements for a Development Fund (DFI) and an International Advisory and Monitoring Board for the war-ravaged country.
14 June 2006 – The head of the United Nations-backed investigation commission today reported “considerable progress” in the probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, including critical forensics advances, but stressed the need for a more intensive effort to make headway in the cases of 14 other possibly-related attacks.
14 June 2006 – Given the scale of killings, rape, looting and destruction of villages in Darfur, Sudan, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today he anticipates the prosecution of a sequence of cases, rather than a single case, of possible war crimes in the conflict between the Khartoum Government, allied militia and rebels.
14 June 2006 – Continuing his efforts to help restore calm to Timor-Leste, the top United Nations envoy there today conferred with UN-recruited prosecutors on the criminal investigation into the fatal shootings in April and May, which shook the small South-East Asian nation that the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia four years ago.
13 June 2006 – Recognizing the need for Liberia’s newly trained security forces to assume greater responsibility for national security, the United Nations Security Council today partially lifted the arms embargo it imposed over two years ago to allow weapons to be used by members of the Government, police and security forces as they struggle to rebuild and restore order after years of bloody conflict.
13 June 2006 – Citing continuing tension in the Middle East, the United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the long-running peacekeeping force observing the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights for a further six months until 31 December, its thirty-third year of operations.
13 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed for sustained international engagement in Timor-Leste as his special envoy formally introduced to the Security Council his recommendations for new UN action in the fledgling nation, including reformation of the police force and an investigation into deadly incidents that sparked the recent violence.
13 June 2006 – Continuing his series of high-level talks on the political situation in Somalia and the humanitarian assistance needed after recent, intense battles there, the Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Francois Lonsény Fall, has met with local Somali leaders in Nairobi, Kenya.
13 June 2006 – A visiting United Nations Security Council delegation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has expressed satisfaction at the country’s preparations for landmark elections in July, but has called on all candidates and their supporters to refrain from xenophobic rhetoric, a UN spokesman said today.
13 June 2006 – With the mandate of 11 permanent judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda set to expire next May, but with the trials expected to continue well beyond that time, the United Nations Security Council today extended these judges’ terms of office until the end of 2008, the deadline for the completion of all the Tribunal proceedings.
12 June 2006 – Warning that the United Nations is facing “a moment of truth,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan is urging all UN Member States to tone down their rhetoric over a proposed package of reform measures and join forces to reach a sensible compromise that will prevent a budget crisis and pave the way for more fundamental change later.
12 June 2006 – As part of an effort to ensure the democratic character of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a delegation from the United Nations Security Council is visiting the country’s capital, Kinshasa today, as part of a regional tour of peacekeeping operations.
12 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen, today announced that he will be leaving his post at the end of this month, saying his time in the province had given him “a great deal of hope for the future of Kosovo.”
10 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sent members of the United Nations Security Council the latest report on the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a spokesman for the world body confirmed today.
9 June 2006 – A delegation of United Nations Security Council members visiting Sudan and neighbouring countries held talks today with officials in North Darfur for talks on security, humanitarian issues and gender-based violence.
9 June 2006 – Just following the start of European Union-led talks with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today announced that its report on nuclear verification in the country has been circulated to the Agency’s member States, which will convene next week in Vienna.
9 June 2006 – The United Nations Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonsény Fall, has held a series of high-level talks in Nairobi to discuss the political situation in the Somali capital Mogadishu, and what humanitarian assistance is needed by the people affected by the recent fighting there.
9 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan was briefed by his Special Envoy for Timor-Leste today as a stronger United Nations presence there looked increasingly likely following the recent outbreak of violence in the small nation that the world body shepherded to independence from Indonesia four years ago.
9 June 2006 – The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire has postponed the start of militia disarmament in response to factional leaders who said they needed more time to raise awareness among their followers about the scheduled process whose starting deadline was to have been yesterday.
8 June 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that European Union-led talks with Iran over its nuclear ambitions had got off to a “reasonably good start” and appeared to be moving forward.
8 June 2006 – Reacting to intensifying violence in Somalia, where Islamic forces were recently reported to have taken control of the capital, Mogadishu, after fierce battles with other groups, the United Nations Security Council today called on all concerned to comply with the arms embargo and avoid any further destabilization.
8 June 2006 – Members of the United Nations Security Council met senior southern Sudan officials in their main town, Juba, today for talks on the peace agreement concluded last year to bring an end to over two decades of civil strife in that part of Africa’s largest country, a UN spokesman said.
7 June 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy ended a nine-day visit to Timor-Leste today after the recent outbreak of violence there, heralding a possibly beefed up presence by the world body in the small nation that it shepherded to independence four years ago.
7 June 2006 – Two United Nations missions seeking to strengthen an African Union (AU) monitoring force in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region and prepare for its possible transition to a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation held talks today with various officials in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
7 June 2006 – Member States must do more to assist the United Nations war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in bringing perpetrators to justice, the top legal officials from those bodies told the Security Council today, as they highlighted the progress made and challenges remaining to completing their work.
6 June 2006 – The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General today called for greater United States engagement with the UN, warning that Washington cannot “go it alone” in approaching diverse problems ranging from the threat of bird flu to the situation in violence-wracked Darfur, Sudan, while the world body needs its host country’s leadership to tackle these pressing challenges.
6 June 2006 – Arriving in Sudan, a delegation from the Security Council today held meetings with top government officials, the senior United Nations envoy there and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of its bid to explore how best to help the people of Africa’s largest country.
5 June 2006 – As part of ongoing efforts to end the unrest in Timor-Leste, the Secretary-General's Special Representative today flew to the mountain headquarters of an armed group that has demanded the removal of the Prime Minister, while on the humanitarian front United Nations agencies report that food aid is now being supplied to refugee camps further from the capital.
5 June 2006 – The top United Nations peacekeeping official will lead the world body’s team on a joint mission with the African Union (AU) to Sudan this week to hold wide-ranging discussions with Sudanese leaders aimed at strengthening the AU monitoring force in the country’s strife-torn Darfur region and preparing for its possible transition to a full-fledged UN peacekeeping operation.
3 June 2006 – The United Nations Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the killing today in Baghdad of one employee of the Russian Embassy and the kidnapping of four others.
2 June 2006 – Citing tension in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a six-month extension of the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) observing the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights.
2 June 2006 – An international array of musicians, actors and other performers joined senior diplomats, activists and business leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York on Thursday evening under the theme ‘Uniting the World Against AIDS: An Evening of Remembrance and Hope,’ all pledging to continue fighting the pandemic together.
2 June 2006 – Senior officials of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) have expressed disappointment at the Security Council’s recent decision to cut the forces at their disposal to monitor the ceasefire along the disputed border over which the East African countries fought a two-year war from 1998-2000.
2 June 2006 – Responding to a request by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a stronger United Nations presence in Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council today added 1,500 more uniformed personnel to the world body’s peacekeeping operation in the divided West African country.
2 June 2006 – The United Nations Security Council is likely to hold a public meeting next week to discuss the current situation in strife-torn Timor-Leste, the 15-member body’s President, Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj of Denmark, said today.
2 June 2006 – The United Nations Security Council will start considering candidates for the post of Secretary-General next month, its current president Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj of Denmark said in a letter released today.
2 June 2006 – A joint United Nations-African Union team will head early next week to Sudan’s conflict-torn Darfur region to assess the needs of the AU’s peacekeeping mission there as well as the possible transition to a UN force, a senior United Nations official said today.
1 June 2006 – The United Nations atomic watchdog agency has again called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, the condition set by the United States for joining in talks with the Islamic Republic aimed at ensuring that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
1 June 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed a new report calling for broad steps to prevent weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) from falling into terrorist hands – ranging from outlawing them completely to convening a world summit on the issue – after receiving it from chief author Hans Blix, a former chief United Nations arms inspector for Iraq.
1 June 2006 – Responding to a request from Iraq, the United Nations commission monitoring weapons of mass destruction in the country today released a detailed account on chemical arms there.
1 June 2006 – Voicing concern that two factions in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region missed a deadline to sign a peace accord already endorsed by the largest rebel group, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said he would consult with African Union (AU) leaders on possible follow-up measures.
31 May 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned a recent fatal attack on Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and urged the release of those detained after a confrontation with armed militias.
31 May 2006 – International strategies for conflict resolution in Africa such as those put forward by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan take into account the many dimensions of the violent crises shaking the continent and could pave the way for their resolution, the President of the Republic of Congo, as chairman of the African Union (AU), told the Security Council today.
31 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) for four months while reducing the authorized troop level of the operation keeping the peace on the disputed border between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.
31 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today strongly condemned the renewed clashes in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, and called for an immediate ceasefire in the Horn of Africa country for the second time this month.
30 May 2006 – Chairpersons of three major United Nations Security Council anti-terrorism committees today updated the 15-member body on their efforts to improve their operations in the fight against the scourge, including through increased cooperation on a variety of fronts.
30 May 2006 – The United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is searching for seven of their colleagues who disappeared during a confrontation between armed militias and UN-backed soldiers from the national army, which also left one UN peacekeeper dead and brought the six-year peacekeeping death toll to 74.
26 May 2006 – From conflict-ravaged countries where blue helmets are deployed to help restore peace to United Nations Headquarters in New York where the Security Council decides on where to send troops, the world will mark the International Day of UN Peacekeepers next week.
26 May 2006 – A delegation of members from the United Nations Security Council will leave New York next month to visit peacekeeping operations that the 15-member body set up in both Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), diplomats said today.
26 May 2006 – While commending the government of Sudan and one rebel group in Darfur for signing a peace agreement earlier this month, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges others to join them and says the immediate priority is to strengthen the African Union peacekeeping mission since the region is still not at peace.
26 May 2006 – As the world reaches a fork in the road over nuclear weapons, it is up to the new generation to develop an alternative system of collective security based not on the build-up of armaments but on addressing root causes of insecurity ranging from poverty and repression to unresolved conflicts, according to the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
26 May 2006 – Despite calls from the sides in Cyprus for a renewal of his diplomacy, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report that there has been no evolution in their positions and recommends a six-month extension in the mandate of the United Nations mission (UNFICYP) which has been deployed on the island for over four decades.
25 May 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending a senior envoy who is an expert on Timor-Leste to assess the situation as army soldiers opened fire on unarmed police today in fresh violence, killing nine and injuring 27 others in the country which the United Nations shepherded to independence from Indonesia in 2002.<
25 May 2006 – Hamas’ takeover of the Palestinian Authority, inter-factional tensions in Gaza and the new Israeli Government have produced a fresh set of challenges and opportunities for the international community, a senior United Nations official has told the Security Council, stressing the need for negotiations to achieve the goal of a two-State solution.
25 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council has welcomed the recent formation in Iraq of a new Government while voicing hope that the process would soon be completed.
25 May 2006 – A joint United Nations-African Union team will go to Sudan’s conflict-torn Darfur region to assess the needs of the AU’s peacekeeping mission there after conducting wide-ranging consultations in the country’s capital, UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said in Khartoum today.
25 May 2006 – The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency is in Washington for talks with senior United States officials on a raft of issues ranging from Iran’s controversial nuclear programme to the recent US-Indian cooperation deal to new ways of containing sensitive nuclear technology.
24 May 2006 – On the fourth leg of an Asian trip today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised the progress made by his Vietnamese hosts while calling for intensified efforts to reach a diplomatic solution on the Iranian nuclear dispute, indicating that the United States should talk directly with Iran and pledge not to seek the Government’s overthrow.
24 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today welcomed pilot public hearings in Côte d’Ivoire to establish the nationality of individuals and talks between government and rebel military leaders on starting the disarmament process.
24 May 2006 – United Nations Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been holding talks with senior Sudanese officials in the country’s capital, Khartoum, in a bid to gain access to the western Darfur region for a UN team assessing conditions for a possible peacekeeping operation there, a spokesman for the world body said today.
23 May 2006 – While there have been some positive developments in four West African countries that have recently been torn by conflict, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged a group of interested States working to bring peace and development to the troubled region to continue their active support at this crucial juncture.
23 May 2006 – As two United Nations envoys arrived in Khartoum for talks with Sudanese officials in a bid to gain access to Darfur for a UN team assessing conditions for a possible peacekeeping operation there, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today spoke with the country’s President seeking support for the deployment.
23 May 2006 – With the United Nations Security Council considering whether or not to reduce the role of the peacekeeping United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) in calming border tensions between the two Horn of Africa countries, a senior UN official today urged prudence in charting a future course.
22 May 2006 – The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said the country’s Government welcomed the upcoming visit of two UN envoys, who are headed to Khartoum for talks on a planned UN force to take over from the African Union operation following a peace agreement earlier this month aimed at ending fighting in the violence-wracked Darfur region.
22 May 2006 – The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has denied a bid to transfer a genocide case to Norway, arguing that the country lacks specific laws on cases of war crimes.
19 May 2006 – The Sudanese Government has not yet given the green light for an assessment team to prepare for a United Nations peacekeeping force in its strife-torn Darfur region and Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sending two high-level officials to Khartoum, the capital, for intensified talks next week, a spokesman said today.
19 May 2006 – The humanitarian situation in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan could get even worse in the coming days if the international community fails to take immediate steps to ensure the implementation of recent peace accord between the Sudanese Government and rebel forces, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator warned today.
18 May 2006 – The Coordinating Council of the Georgian Government and Abkhaz separatist met this week for the first time in five years, with the top United Nations envoy in the country calling on both sides to use all existing mechanisms to resolve the conflict that flared into open warfare 14 years ago and forced nearly 300,000 refugees to flee their homes.
18 May 2006 – The world seems to be “sleepwalking” down a path in which more and more States feel obliged to obtain nuclear weapons even as militant groups seek the means to carry out nuclear terrorism, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today.
17 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today called on Syria to take measures against movements of arms into Lebanon, “strongly encouraged” it to respond positively to Lebanese requests to delineate their common border and establish full diplomatic relations, and called for the disbandment of all militias inside Lebanon.
16 May 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council that he will appoint the Guatemalan ambassador to the European Union, Edmond Mulet, as his new Special Representative in Haiti and head of the UN Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) there, a United Nations spokesman said today.
16 May 2006 – Expressing deep concern at the recent reports of violence in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, which have led to a large number of casualties and the displacement of thousands of people, the United Nations Security Council today called for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire by the warring parties.
16 May 2006 – The Security Council took a major step forward today towards establishing a robust United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region by unanimously adopting a resolution calling for the deployment on the ground of a joint UN-Africa Union (AU) team to pave the way for the operation, which would take over from the AU mission (AMIS) now monitoring the vast region.
15 May 2006 – Condemning a recent terrorist attack in Afghanistan against a vehicle of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Security Council today urged the country’s authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
15 May 2006 – A military medical contingent from the Republic of Korea that has been supporting the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for the past 12 years has departed, passing the baton to its counterpart from the Malaysian Armed forces.
15 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today congratulated Haiti’s newly inaugurated President, his Government and the new parliamentarians and called on them to build a better future for the Caribbean country and to finish the cycle of municipal, local and remaining parliamentary elections.
15 May 2006 – United Nations officials mobilized today to press for a robust peacekeeping force and a speedy disbursement of humanitarian funds to back up a peace accord signed 10 days ago between the Sudanese Government and a major rebel group in the western Darfur region of Africa’s largest country.
15 May 2006 – Anticipating a positive outcome from the next meeting of the commission demarcating the disputed boundary between Eritrea and Ethiopia later this week, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the peacekeeping UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) until the end of this month.
12 May 2006 – In a step forward for the nascent United Nations Peacebuilding Commission – a body created in response to a call by the 2005 World Summit – seven countries were today elected by the Economic and Social Council to serve on its organizational committee.
12 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Vienna today again stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to the stand-off with Iran over its nuclear programme, urging “every important stakeholder” to return to the negotiating table in a spirit of openness to find a solution.
12 May 2006 – Following fatal mob violence late last month in Timor-Leste, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations office there (UNOTIL) one month past its 20 May expiration as the world organization considers how to further reinforce the stability of the nascent country.
12 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the warring factions in the Somali capital Mogadishu to declare an immediate ceasefire, after days of fighting claimed the lives of more than a hundred people and displaced thousands of non-combatants in the worst violence to grip the city in almost a decade.
12 May 2006 – The peacekeeping United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is awaiting a response from the Eritrean authorities to its letters asking why they had arrested 11 local staff members over the past week, an UNMEE spokeswoman said, voicing hope that those detained will be released.
11 May 2006 – Although large-scale human rights violations decreased in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from April to December 2005 compared with 2004, there was an increase in individual cases of summary executions, torture, rape and other serious abuses by police and army troops, according to the latest United Nations update on the issue.
11 May 2006 – Ethiopia is holding opposition figures under laws that may violate its constitution, Somalia urgently needs international attention, and despite assertions by Sudan’s Government, displaced women in that country’s Darfur region are still being raped on a large scale, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said today.
10 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today expressed hope that intensified Security Council attention to Iran’s nuclear programme will lead to a diplomatic resolution of the matter, and advised Tehran to pursue dialogue on the issue.
10 May 2006 – The Security Council today re-established for a six-month period the mandate of the Monitoring Group on Somalia, set up to investigate the 1992 arms embargo, as the top United Nations envoy to the war-torn country appealed for all sides to end the bloody violence in the capital Mogadishu and “step back from the brink.”
10 May 2006 – The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator is meeting with Sudanese officials today to seek his support for a visit by an assessment team to pave the way for a UN force to help stem the suffering in Darfur, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this afternoon.
9 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the world community to follow up on last week’s peace accord between the Sudanese Government and the main rebel group in Darfur by establishing a muscular UN peacekeeping force and providing immediate aid to prevent hundreds of thousands more people dying.
8 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today condemned “in the strongest terms” the killing of a staff member of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) in a refugee camp in strife-torn Darfur after the visit of the UN’s top humanitarian official, along with other recent attacks on humanitarian organizations working in Darfur and Chad.
8 May 2006 – A UN spokesman announced today that the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan will participate in tomorrow’s high-level meeting of the of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, the partnership of the United Nations, European Union (EU), Russia and the United States that is seeking a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
8 May 2006 – The Security Council committee monitoring the implementation by States of counter-terrorism measures contained in a Security Council resolution is bolstering its efforts to help countries put those requirements into practice, the Chairman of the body said today.
6 May 2006 – The United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) has strongly condemned an attack carried out against one of its buses and its civilian occupants in Yopougon, a suburb of Abidjan.
5 May 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan will host a high-level meeting on Tuesday of the diplomatic Quartet, the partnership of the United Nations, European Union (EU), Russia and the United States that is seeking to bring a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid a potentially dangerous deterioration looming on the horizon.
5 May 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Timor-Leste today reported to the Security Council that five people died and 60 were injured during recent clashes in the nascent country, and urged an extension of the world body’s presence there.
5 May 2006 – Following recent media reports of alleged sexual violence, including rape and child abuse, by African Union (AU) forces monitoring the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) will participate in the AU’s newly established Committee of Inquiry.
4 May 2006 – With renewed carnage in Sudan’s Darfur region spilling into Chad and displacing hundreds thousands more in the past few months, the United Nations top relief official today warned that humanitarian disaster there was imminent if the world did not take quick strong action to get aid in, protect the population and secure a political settlement that stopped the violence once and for all.
3 May 2006 – Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa and the former United Nations Force Commander in Rwanda are among the seven diverse experts appointed today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to provide support to his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide and to contribute to the broader efforts of the UN to prevent such massive crimes against humanity.
3 May 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged Sierra Leone’s Government to deal with the increasing youth unemployment, rampant corruption, and growing border tension with Guinea, warning that unless these issues are dealt with the calm security situation that has prevailed in the West African country since last year’s departure of the UN peacekeeping mission could be destabilized.
3 May 2006 – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today raised her concerns with senior Sudanese Government officials over a new law restricting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as the effects of a pervasive presence of officials of the State’s security and intelligence services, especially in strife-torn Darfur.
3 May 2006 – A draft resolution to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme was submitted today to the United Nations Security Council today as the 15-Member body began to consider its response to the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which says Tehran has defied the Council’s call to suspend uranium enrichment and ensure its nuclear activity was strictly for peaceful purposes as the Government claims.
2 May 2006 – The United Nations Security Council will tomorrow begin considering Iran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment or provide the transparency necessary to determine whether its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful energy purposes as the Governments says, or for producing nuclear weapons as other countries contend.
1 May 2006 – One month after the United Nations Security Council called for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is reporting that this work continues, and it can make no further progress in determining whether the country is carrying out illicit nuclear activities because it lacks the cooperation of the Government.
30 April 2006 – The Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has sent his report on Iran's implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement to the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors.
29 April 2006 – Specialized police units, armoured and made up of 125 officers from a single country, are increasingly being pushed by the United Nations as an efficient, cost-effective way of bridging the gap between the military component in UN missions and the often nascent, traumatized national police forces of post-conflict countries, senior officials said today.
28 April 2006 – The United Nations refugee agency said today it has begun preparations to register thousands of internally displaced persons next week in the conflict-ravaged Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where almost 200,000 people have been driven from their homes in the last six months because of fighting between the Government and Mai Mai rebels.
28 April 2006 – Calling once again upon the parties and States in the region to end the current impasse in Western Sahara, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum there (MINURSO) for six months, through October 2006.
28 April 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today issued a ringing condemnation of all violence committed against civilians during armed conflict, directing its strongest language at attacks on women and children, and pledged to ensure that all peace support operations employ all feasible measures to prevent the scourge.
27 April 2006 – After meeting today with the Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny of Côte d'Ivoire, the United Nations Security Council noted the progress achieved in the country's peace process under his watch, but expressed grave concern at what it called serious delays in the demobilization of combatants and preparations for upcoming elections.
27 April 2006 – Calling for intensified efforts to boost States' cooperation with measures to keep nuclear, chemical and biological weapons out of the hands of terrorists and black marketeers, the United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the committee overseeing the issue for a period of two years.
27 April 2006 – With both the Government and rebels in Sudan’s Darfur conflict violating United Nations resolutions, the Security Council should move swiftly to impose further sanctions, expand an arms embargo, and consider setting up a no-fly zone for government planes, according to the latest report from a panel of experts.
26 April 2006 – The recent national political dialogue in Lebanon has forged consensus on how to consolidate the political integrity of the country, but further progress requires the cooperation of Syria, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest report on the subject, which was presented to the Security Council today.
26 April 2006 – There are two main options for a United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region - one heavier on the ground, the other with larger air assets – but no major planning can take place pending an on-the-spot assessment, which the Sudanese Government at present opposes, the Security Council was told today.
25 April 2006 – Addressing the continuing atrocities against civilians in Darfur, Sudan, caused by fighting between rebels, the Government and allied tribal militias, the United Nations Security Council today urged that the parties reach a peace accord by the end of this month and imposed sanctions against four individuals considered a threat to the region.
25 April 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today welcomed the recent parliamentary elections in Haiti while stressing that the impoverished Caribbean country still faces numerous challenges requiring international help.
25 April 2006 – The head of the United Nations panel looking into last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri today held his first meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
25 April 2006 – Condemning the terrorist attacks which rocked Dahab, Egypt, on Monday, the United Nations Security Council today urged all countries to help the Cairo authorities bring those responsible to justice.
25 April 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today endorsed the deployment of a European Union reserve force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to bolster stability in the vast country for its June 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections and up to four months afterward.
25 April 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today welcomed the election of Iraq’s new leadership and voiced hope that the country would soon form a government.
24 April 2006 – Aiming to build on impressive progress made by Timor-Leste since the United Nations helped it to independence in 2002, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is advocating the establishment of a follow-on office after the termination in May of the current UN mission to help strengthen the “fragile democracy” in the world's newest country.
24 April 2006 – With donors balking at funding the Hamas-led Palestinian Government, tension between that administration and President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, increasing violence and lawlessness, and continued settlement expansion by Israel, the situation in the Middle East has reached a volatile juncture, a United Nations official said today.
24 April 2006 – Citing the need for diplomatic efforts to break the impasse over Western Sahara Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for a six-month extension of the United Nations mission (MINURSO) deployed in the disputed territory which is claimed by Morocco.
21 April 2006 – After many years of civil strife, Israeli occupation and Syrian domination, Lebanon had made important strides on the road towards self-governance, stability, democracy and prosperity, the country’s Prime Minister told the United Nations Security Council today.
20 April 2006 – The disastrous combination of a worsening humanitarian situation, Government obstruction, rebel violence and weakened support of the international community has left relief operations in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region on the verge of breakdown, placing millions of people at risk, the top United Nations humanitarian official told the Security Council today.
20 April 2006 – The vanguard of a new contingent of United Nations peacekeepers has arrived in embattled Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to boost security for forthcoming elections that it is hoped will cement the vast country’s transition from years of bloody conflict to peace and democracy.
19 April 2006 – To finally put an end to the 20-year, campaign of terror by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), notorious for conscripting and sexually abusing children and displacing millions across three African countries, the Ugandan Ministers of both Defence and Foreign Affairs today asked the United Nations Security Council to support strong measures to hunt down, disarm and prosecute the group.
18 April 2006 – Bosnia and Herzegovina, emerging from the devastation of inter-ethnic bloodshed, must now be allowed to take responsibility for its own political reforms and economic development while the international community clears up defined, outstanding issues, the world’s envoy to the country told the United Nations Security Council today.
18 April 2006 – Though the parties to the conflict in Darfur, Sudan – which has already cost nearly 200,000 lives, mainly civilians – have not yet compromised on key issues, a peace agreement is within reach by the 30 April deadline set by the African Union (AU), the chief mediator from that organization told the United Nations Security Council today, urging support for the AU mission in the country.
17 April 2006 – Chadian President Idriss Deby, who last week threatened to expel 200,000 Sudanese following clashes with rebels, has assured the United Nations refugee agency that they will not be forcibly returned and that Chad will abide by international principles.
17 April 2006 – Recent political agreements in Côte d’Ivoire and the engagement of the international community there have opened a window for progress toward elections and peace in the divided West African country – but only if all commitments are kept, a top United Nations envoy said today.
17 April 2006 – With tensions escalating in the Middle East, Israeli and Palestinian diplomats both deplored the killing of innocents while trading accusations on the causes of the violence during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which heard from over 30 participants but did not pronounce itself on the issue.
17 April 2006 – Members of the Security Council today voiced their backing for the work of the United Nations envoy seeking to resolve outstanding matters relating to Iraq's 1990 invasion and subsequent occupation of Kuwait, and hailed the Baghdad Government for its rolein the process.
15 April 2006 – Following meetings in Tehran with senior officials, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities.
13 April 2006 – As fighting that had flared on Chad’s border with Sudan’s Darfur region today exploded in its capital, N'Djamena, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council condemned any attempt to seize power by force as well as attacks on Darfur refugees.
13 April 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) for another month, but warned that unless both sides fulfilled its earlier demands – including lifting restrictions on UN personnel and recognizing a boundary decision – it will review other options ranging from transforming the operation into an observer mission to withdrawing it altogether.
13 April 2006 – While noting “some encouraging signs” for advancing the peace process in divided Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned today the security situation remains fragile and repeated his appeal to the Security Council to reinforce the UN operation (UNOCI) to prevent trouble spreading to neighbouring Liberia.
13 April 2006 – As fighting erupted in N’djamena, the capital of Chad, the United Nations has begun the evacuation of all non-essential staff as well as personnel of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the city, according to the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN’s lead logistics agency in the troubled country.
12 April 2006 – With the head of the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed ElBaradei, on his way to Tehran for talks with Iran on resuming cooperation with the nuclear non-proliferation regime, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed today for all involved to “cool down” their rhetoric and actively search for a diplomatic solution.
12 April 2006 – The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, celebrated its 60th birthday today, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan telling a solemn sitting that more must be done to ensure its future through wider acceptance of its jurisdiction on issues ranging from boundary disputes to genocide.
11 April 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named the former director of the office for democratic institutions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to be his envoy for the Côte d’Ivoire election process.
11 April 2006 – The Security Council today called on “all parties” to ensure a smooth and successful transfer to a United Nations operation in the violence-wracked Darfur region of Sudan, while also commending the African Union’s (AU) mission in the region and endorsing the group’s 30 April deadline for achieving peace in a conflict that has claimed almost 200,000 lives and displaced two million.
10 April 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint a Jordanian Major-General with extensive peacekeeping experience as Force Commander of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
10 April 2006 – The Security Council today authorized the temporary redeployment of peacekeepers from the Organization's operation in Burundi (ONUB) to its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) to strengthen security and oversight for the upcoming Congolese elections.
7 April 2006 – Marking 12 years since the horrific genocide in Rwanda, when at least 800,000 people were massacred, mostly butchered with machetes, for being ethnic Tutsis or Hutu moderates, the United Nations adviser on preventing such crimes today warned of similarities with what is happening in Sudan’s Darfur region, as he urged the global community to do more to stop the increasing bloodshed there.
6 April 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea gave a farewell press conference today urging the two countries to settle their remaining differences by demarcating the border between them.
4 April 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has announced his intention to redeploy peacekeepers from the organization's operation in Burundi (ONUB) to its mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) to boost security and monitoring during the Congolese elections and beyond.
4 April 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan is seeking to speak to Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir after his Government banned a visit by the top United Nations relief official to the Darfur region, where fighting between the Government, pro-government militias and rebels has killed scores of thousands and uprooted millions.
3 April 2006 – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded “not guilty” today to all charges, including crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, in his first appearance at a special war crimes court in Sierra Leone, a United Nations spokesman said.
31 March 2006 – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, currently being held in Sierra Leone on multiple charges of war crimes, will make his first appearance in court on Monday, a United Nations spokesperson said today.
31 March 2006 – Awaiting further recommendations for a drawdown of troops following positive developments in Liberia, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in that country (UNMIL) until the end of September.
31 March 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 15 October, subject to any changes to the peacekeeping force deployed there by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) made up of countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union.
31 March 2006 – The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today announced that the Swedish Government has accepted its request to conduct an independent audit of the Hague-based court’s Detention Unit.
30 March 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today he hoped that Iran would heed yesterday’s Security Council statement calling upon the Tehran Government to suspend all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities in an effort to guarantee that its nuclear programme is for exclusively peaceful purposes.
30 March 2006 – Recognizing serious differences between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as they transition to new governments, a United Nations political official today called on both sides to keep the plight of residents of Gaza and the West Bank from deteriorating, as he briefed the Security Council on developments in the Middle East.
30 March 2006 – In a bid to streamline and strengthen the day-to-day work of the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today presented its Member States with a report on the mandates they have entrusted to the world body over the years.
30 March 2006 – The top United Nations political official has invited the Sudan’s Foreign Minister to the world body’s New York Headquarters to hold discussions on transitioning from an African Union (AU) force in the country’s troubled Darfur region to a UN peacekeeping operation there.
30 March 2006 – A United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone, which is currently detaining former Liberian President Charles Taylor on multiple charges of war crimes, has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow him to be tried in The Hague because of safety concerns should he appear in court in Freetown.
29 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today urged the leaders of the Côte d’Ivoire to carry out their recent commitment to organize free and fair elections by the end of October and underlined the urgency of progress in establishing the electoral registers and starting the demobilization programme.
29 March 2006 – The creation of a tribunal to try those responsible for last year’s assassination of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others took a step forward today as the Security Council unanimously voted to ask Secretary-General Kofi Annan to consult with the country’s Government on the matter – a move immediately welcomed by an official from Beirut.
29 March 2006 – Expressing serious concern that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is unable to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran, the United Nations Security Council today called upon that country to re-establish full and sustained suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, in a manner that is verified by the Agency.
29 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today decided to extend until 29 September 2006 the mandate of an expert panel monitoring an arms embargo against belligerents in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region and helping sanction those who fail to comply.
28 March 2006 – Echoing the Security Council’s concern over the reported disappearance from Nigeria of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was indicted by a United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone for war crimes, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for all countries in the region to refuse him refuge.
28 March 2006 – The top United Nations legal expert is leading a mission of high-level UN officials to Burundi aimed at helping to set up a truth and reconciliation commission and a special tribunal for human rights abuses committed during the country’s 12-year long civil war.
27 March 2006 – In the run-up to October’s elections in divided Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has repeated his call that almost 4,000 extra troops and police be sent to the UN mission there, saying they were “crucial” both to shore up the fledgling peace process and to prevent an already precarious security situation from getting worse and spreading to neighbouring Liberia.
27 March 2006 – Following the hard-won creation of a new more effective Human Rights Council, the next priorities for the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly include reform of UN management, the Secretariat, and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), according to the Assembly President.
27 March 2006 – With many of its members represented by Government ministers, the United Nations Security Council, along with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, called for sustained international support to the efforts of Haitian President-elect René Préval to fight instability and poverty in his country, as they warmly welcomed him to their midst.
27 March 2006 – Following a series of high-level meetings in Beirut, a senior United Nations envoy has said he is encouraged that Lebanon is charting the proper course towards stability and urging all concerned to forge ahead in unity.
27 March 2006 – Following separate attacks earlier this month on United Nations offices in southern Sudan, one of which killed a local guard, the senior UN envoy to the strife-torn country will travel to the affected areas later this week, before leaving for Nigeria to meet the parties involved in the peace talks over the bloody conflict in Darfur, a UN spokesman said today.
27 March 2006 – Faced with the threat of nuclear proliferation and the prospect of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, the head of the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has laid out a five-point plan of action ranging from tighter controls and protection of materials to strengthening the Security Council.
25 March 2006 – A senior United Nations Lebanon holding talks in Beirut today with the country's officials hailed their integrated approach to the presence of Palestinian militias.
24 March 2006 – Emphasizing the need for agreements on the non-use of force and the return of internally displaced people in the conflict between the Government of Georgia and Abkhaz separatists, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for the UN mission in the Caucasian country to be extended for six months until 30 September.
24 March 2006 – The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission focussed on southern Sudan (UNMIS) until 24 September 2006, requesting that Secretary-General Kofi Annan also expedite the planning for a transformation of the African Union force in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region to a UN-led operation.
24 March 2006 – To consolidate the peace in Liberia, following the installation of a democratically-elected government in the aftermath of a brutal, decade-long civil war, the head of the United Nations Mission in the country (UNMIL) today cautioned the Security Council against a precipitous drawdown of the mission’s forces while also appealing for actions to improve the country’s economy.
24 March 2006 – The top United Nations envoy for faction-riven Somalia today appealed to the leaders of warring parties in Mogadishu, the capital, to halt their fighting and allow families trapped in the crossfire to return safely to their homes.
24 March 2006 – Stressing the need for immediate dialogue between Lebanon and Syria, a senior United Nations envoy has called for their common border to be demarcated and embassies to be set up “as soon as possible.”
23 March 2006 – Describing the Democratic Republic of Congo as being at a “critical stage” ahead of landmark 18 June elections, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today met officials in the east of the country, saying that he felt Congolese were excited at the prospect of electing their own leaders and ending the long, bloody civil conflict.
23 March 2006 – While welcoming progress in Burundi’s emergence from a 12-year civil war, the Security Council today called for the immediate end to hostilities and human rights abuses that it said continue to be committed by both rebels and Government forces.
23 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council this morning extended the mandate of the four year-old United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which expires 24 March, for an additional 12 months in order to continue assisting the Afghan leadership during the next phase of rebuilding the country.
23 March 2006 – After briefing the Security Council on his preliminary talks with Lebanese officials, a top United Nations legal official said today he was ready to hold negotiations on a possible international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others.
23 March 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy held separate talks today with the King of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority President, to discuss the political process in Lebanon and wider regional issues in the Middle East.
22 March 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan conferred for the second day today with President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and held separate meetings with the four power-sharing Vice Presidents of the vast country, where the United Nations is heavily involved in cementing the transition from a bloody civil war to peace and democracy.
22 March 2006 – A mixed tribunal, with both Lebanese and international participation, would best serve justice in the terrorist bombing that killed the country’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan suggested in a preliminary report to the Security Council released today.
22 March 2006 – The United Nations envoy to conflict-ridden Burundi called today on the international community to provide sustained support to the African country in order to build peace there, saying this was the “ultimate challenge” and the only way to get the impoverished nation back on its feet.
21 March 2006 – Describing the security situation in Liberia as still “fragile,” United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for the UN mission in the country, which is recovering from a prolonged civil war, to be extended until March 2007 and for more police officers to be added as military personnel are withdrawn.
21 March 2006 – Ahead of tomorrow’s resumption of multi-party talks in Lebanon aimed at bringing about national reconciliation, a senior United Nations official today conferred with senior officials of Qatar, a key regional player.
21 March 2006 – Saying that killings, rapes and other abuse of human rights in Darfur continue to threaten the peace in Sudan as a whole, the United Nation’s top envoy to that country today called for a swift peace agreement and a peacekeeping force large enough to cover the region and strong enough to deter any attack.
20 March 2006 – Improvements in human rights, good governance and other areas are urgently needed in conflict-ridden Burundi, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today, calling for close monitoring of the impoverished country in the countdown to the planned withdrawal of the United Nations mission there by the end of this year.
20 March 2006 – On the third leg of a trip to Africa, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today conferred with President Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and attended a ceremony for the destruction of weapons, one of the landmarks on the Central African country’s road to peace after a decade of bloody civil war.
20 March 2006 – In order to cut off the supply of weapons that fuel conflicts, States need more support for complying with arms embargoes, a United Nations disarmament official told the Security Council today as it reviewed progress in controlling the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons ahead of a major June conference on the subject.
20 March 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy dealing with Lebanon today held talks on that country and other regional hotspots during meetings in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other senior officials.
19 March 2006 – Recent developments in Lebanon and their broader regional context topped the agenda during talks in Riyadh between Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special envoy and the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdel Rahman Al-Atiyyeh, a United Nations spokesman reported today.
18 March 2006 – Beginning a round of meetings with key Arab leaders in the Middle East, a senior United Nations envoy dealing with Lebanon today held what he called “constructive” talks with senior officials in Saudi Arabia.
17 March 2006 – After receiving a warm welcome from the United Nations Security Council today, Liberia’s newly elected President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, pled for closure in the matter of alleged crimes committed by former President Charles Taylor so that the country can get past the trauma of its long civil war and proceed with its development agenda.
17 March 2006 – A Congolese national accused of conscripting child soldiers has become the first defendant arrested for trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) established to ensure the prosecution of individuals committing war crimes, a United Nations spokesman said today.
17 March 2006 – The human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire is causing deep concern with virulent articles in the media encouraging violence and the resumption of conflict in a country split between Government and rebel forces since 2002, United Nations officials have warned.
17 March 2006 – The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear ambitions topped the agenda of a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council today, the first time the issue has been formally addressed by the 15-member body.
16 March 2006 – Saying that Iraq is at a “very crucial” time, the top United Nations envoy for the strife-torn country said today that while there is no civil war, the situation could descend into “ungovernability” unless all Iraqis come together in the political process.
16 March 2006 – The Kosovo Police Service (KPS) is playing an increasing role in all aspects of law enforcement in the province, senior United Nations officials said today, highlighting an operation at the start of the year that was the largest domestic police effort since 1999, and one which brought widespread praise for the efficiency of the reconstituted force.
16 March 2006 – Lack of constructive political dialogue in Guinea-Bissau has undermined two vital State institutions, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today, as he called on all sections of society in the impoverished West African nation to work together and overcome the divisions of the past.
16 March 2006 – In contrast to earlier problems with Syrian cooperation, the United Nations panel looking into last year’s assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri today reported progress in this “critical area,” with a common understanding reached regarding access to individuals, sites and information.
16 March 2006 – Wrapping up a series of visits to the capitals of permanent members of the Security Council, a senior United Nations Lebanon envoy said today in China that there is agreement on major issues in the country’s further political progress.
16 March 2006 – The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process met today in Brussels with other members of the diplomatic Quartet to discuss assistance to the Palestinian Authority.
15 March 2006 – Given the rampant sectarian violence in Iraq, particularly its explosion following the destruction of the Shia Shrine in Samarra, everything possible must now be done to help complete negotiations on a government responsive to the aspirations of all communities in the country, a top United Nations envoy said today.
15 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today welcomed the convening of the first session of the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) in Somalia, while condemning the increased inflow of weapons there and calling on all parties to cease the fighting that continues to claim innocent life and hamper critical humanitarian aid.
14 March 2006 – Amid rising insecurity contributing to a “dangerous and volatile” situation in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported today that international efforts must focus on the protection of civilians there.
14 March 2006 – Against a backdrop of rising terrorism and insurgent attacks in Afghanistan, the top United Nations envoy to the country today said that the Kabul Government must, with international help, extend its reach to local communities.
14 March 2006 – The coming weeks are a crucial period for the Middle East, with new governments being formed, the Security Council discussing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and a host of other regional issues in the spotlight, a senior United Nations envoy said today, as he continued his global meetings with key members of the Security Council.
14 March 2006 – Expressing serious concern over the upsurge in violence in the West Bank and Gaza today, the United Nations Security Council called on the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to take urgent steps to restore calm.
14 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council decided this morning to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) for one month, until 15 April 2006, to allow recently revived border talks between the two countries a chance to break a volatile deadlock.
13 March 2006 – Encouraged by agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea on arrangements to settle their volatile border dispute, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged both parties to cooperate fully with the commission charged with determining that boundary.
13 March 2006 – A senior United Nations envoy met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow today to discuss the “fragile and complex” situation in the Middle East, and in particular the current state of Lebanese politics, a UN spokesman said.
13 March 2006 – The Security Council today welcomed the decision of the African Union (AU) to support, in principle, the transition of the AU peacekeeping mission in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan to a United Nations operation.
11 March 2006 – With several hotspots in the Middle East reaching a boiling point, the national dialogue in Lebanon represents one of the few signs of peaceful conflict resolution, a senior United Nations envoy said today in Paris.
10 March 2006 – Citing enormous security, human rights and other challenges faced by Afghanistan as it struggles to rebuild its shattered society, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the UN mission in the impoverished country should be extended.
10 March 2006 – Welcoming the decision of the African Union (AU) to extend its peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged all States to support the operation while planning for a handover of responsibilities to the United Nations.
10 March 2006 – Stressing the need for a negotiated solution to concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said the Security Council could take up the matter next week.
9 March 2006 – Voicing grave concern over sectarian violence in Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for a fully inclusive government and an end to mass detention, torture and extrajudicial killings, pledging full United Nations support for such efforts to bring peace and stability to the violence-torn country.
8 March 2006 – Troops from the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), backed by hundreds of United Nations peacekeepers with armoured vehicle and helicopter support, have regained control of parts of the South Kivu region in the east of the strife-torn country that were occupied by rebels from neighbouring Rwanda.
8 March 2006 – From its towering Headquarters in New York to the seared fields of Nigeria, from Secretary-General Kofi Annan to case workers fighting rape in Nepal to special goodwill ambassador Nicole Kidman, the United Nations today marked International Women's Day with calls to boost the role of women in decision-making.
8 March 2006 – Citing outstanding questions surrounding Iran’s nuclear programme, the Director-General of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today is sending its report on the issue to the Security Council, marking a new phase in the diplomatic efforts to determine whether Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons.
7 March 2006 – Improvement in the lives of minorities in Kosovo must be made immediately, a senior United Nations envoy said today, as a prerequisite to settling the final status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province which the United Nations has run ever since Yugoslav troops were driven out in 1999 amid grave rights abuses.
6 March 2006 – The head of the United Nations agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear weapons said today he did not expect any “breakthrough” or “positive agreement” on Iran’s nuclear programme at the current meeting of the atomic watchdog’s Board of Governors now under way in Vienna.
6 March 2006 – With the situation between the formerly warring countries of Ethiopia and Eritrea still deadlocked, the top United Nations force commander in the region has voiced hope for a breakthrough in the peace process.
3 March 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Chef de Cabinet, Mark Malloch Brown, who has played a key role in United Nations reform and development efforts, was today named Deputy Secretary-General as of 1 April, when current incumbent Louise Fréchette steps down.
3 March 2006 – The Security Council today reiterated its demand that Eritrea lift all restrictions on the operations of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), in the wake of a peacekeeper’s death after a medical evacuation that took much longer than necessary due to the ban on UN helicopter flights.
2 March 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the national dialogue officially initiated today by the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament on issues critical for the country, expressing hope that it will contribute to political stability there.
2 March 2006 – Welcoming Wednesday’s meeting between the main leaders in Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged them to continue their constructive dialogue and pledged the world body’s support in realizing their goals.
2 March 2006 – The United Nations Security Council will this month focus on the situations in Haiti, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Sudan and – possibly – Iran, the Ambassador of Argentina and incoming president of the 15-member body’s said today.
2 March 2006 – With a peacekeeper dead of cardiac arrest after an unnecessarily long medical evacuation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the Eritrean authorities, in the strongest terms, to lift without delay their flight ban and other restrictions on the operations of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
2 March 2006 – The head of the United Nations agency entrusted with curbing the spread of nuclear arms today welcomed the scheduled meeting tomorrow between European foreign ministers and Iranian officials and called on Iran to show “full transparency” over a nuclear programme seen by some as an effort to produce weapons.
1 March 2006 – The senior United Nations legal official has held three days of talks at United Nations Headquarters in New York with a Lebanese Government delegation on the establishment of a tribunal of an international character to try those charged with the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others.
28 February 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President Tassos Papadopoulos of Cyprus agreed in Paris today that demilitarization, de-mining and technical talks on a range of issues would greatly improve the atmosphere for talks on reuniting the island.
28 February 2006 – Welcoming the decision of the European Union (EU) to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations top envoy for Middle East peace said today that the next choices that Hamas makes are the single most important variables in the future of the region.
28 February 2006 – Distrust of the United Nations and warnings of Al Qaida involvement are growing in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, the UN’s envoy to the troubled African nation warned today, saying that both are linked to the uncertainty surrounding peacekeeping operations in strife-torn Darfur.
27 February 2006 – As violence continues in Sudan’s North Darfur region, the United Nations Security Council met today to consider sanctioning individuals deemed to be a threat to the peace or to human rights in the area, where fighting involving rebels, the Government and militias have already taken a great toll on civilians.
25 February 2006 – Reacting to the furor spawned by the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed widely considered to be offensive, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Doha, Qatar, today joined his voice with key Arab and Muslim leaders to urge restraint and to pledge action to foster tolerance.
24 February 2006 – Twenty people arrested by the Forces Nouvelles armed opposition in Côte d’Ivoire, on charges of spying or being disloyal to the movement, have been released after human rights officers from the United Nations mission in the West African country met the military leader of the Force, UN officials said today.
24 February 2006 – A top United Nations envoy told the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament that he supported national dialogue as a way to accomplish the disbanding of foreign and domestic militias in the country and meet other Security Council requirements.
24 February 2006 – In order to resolve the current impasse between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the United Nations Security Council today urged the two parties to sit down with the commission charged with setting a permanent border between the two countries and to abide by its decisions.
23 February 2006 – “Significant progress” has been made in dealing with incidences of sexual exploitation and abuse committed by United Nations peacekeepers, but much more needs to be done, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping said today, calling for more support from Member States.
23 February 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today urged Ivorian officials to help humanitarian groups return to the troubled West African nation since recent political unrest prompted many to leave.
23 February 2006 – Eritrean authorities are still detaining two locally recruited staff from the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), a UN official said today, but they have released 25 others.
22 February 2006 – The security situation in Sudan’s Darfur region remains volatile as armed forces supported by militia attacked two villages in North Darfur this week and an African Union (AU) vehicle travelling through the region was assaulted and stolen, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) reported today.
22 February 2006 – A recent audit on United Nations peacekeeping procurement, which has already resulted in eight officials being placed on special leave with pay, has uncovered “some indications of serious potential irregularities” that merit urgent investigation, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Chief of Staff said today.
22 February 2006 – After updating the Security Council on the election process in Haiti, the United Nations top envoy to that country welcomed President-elect René Préval’s invitation for Haitians to join together in a national dialogue.
22 February 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to all communities in Iraq to show maximum restraint after the “provocative” bombing of a Shiite shrine today, and the top United Nations envoy on the ground said he would invite a wide range of Iraqi leaders to a meeting in an effort to curb communal strife.
21 February 2006 – The chairmen of the three anti-terrorism committees briefed the Security Council today on recent measures undertaken to tackle the global scourge, with one chair highlighting the danger of non-State actors gaining access to weapons of mass destruction, and another saying that closer ties with Interpol had increased effectiveness.
20 February 2006 – Despite deep differences on the balance of power in the United Nations that divide Member States, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said today they expect real progress in the creation of a Human Rights Council and other reforms this week.
17 February 2006 – Building the ability of States to fight terrorism is crucial in the struggle against the scourge, the United Nations top counter-terrorism official said today at the end of a weeklong visit to Tanzania as part of the Security Council's technical assistance efforts.
17 February 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed reports confirming that Iran will hold talks in Moscow on 20 February on a Russian proposal on uranium enrichment, according to a statement released by his spokesman today.
17 February 2006 – Applauding the Haitian people for their patience and continuing commitment to democracy, the United Nations Security Council today congratulated René Préval on his victory in the Caribbean country's recent presidential election.
16 February 2006 – Over two months after Eritrea demanded the pullout of United Nations personnel of certain nationalities, the military situation in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) between Ethiopia and Eritrea remains tense, the UN mission there reported today.
16 February 2006 – With divided Côte d’Ivoire facing an election deadline of next October, the United Nations High Representative for the poll said today that the Ivorian electoral commission could not begin its work by tomorrow, as scheduled, because of a dispute over its makeup.
16 February 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and President Tassos Papadopoulos have agreed to meet to review the situation in Cyprus.
16 February 2006 – The new head of the United Nations Mission Assistance in Afghanistan (UNAMA) arrived in the war-ravaged country today, with one of his main roles in the months ahead being to coordinate a multi-billion dollar development plan for the South Asian nation.
16 February 2006 – With the withdrawal of Canadian support troops from the United Nations force in the Golan Heights (UNDOF), Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council today agreed to an offer from India to provide military personnel for the long-running mission.
16 February 2006 – The United Nations envoy to Iraq today briefed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the situation in the troubled country, focusing on the 15 December elections and the role of the UN Assistance Mission (UNAMI).
15 February 2006 – The Prosecutor of the United Nations Tribunal set up to bring to justice the organizers and leaders of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda today requested that a former senior official, accused of involvement in the mass killings, be tried in Norway.
15 February 2006 – Stressing that post-election demonstrations have been hampering the vote count, United Nations Security Council members today called on Haitians to rely on legal processes to express any concerns about last week’s presidential poll.
15 February 2006 – Underlining the principles and laws governing humanitarian work after the burning and looting of United Nations and partner offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said today the Government has pledged to prevent further attacks.
15 February 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today endorsed a framework for future partnership between the Government of Afghanistan and the international community to bolster the war-torn country’s security, economic development and counter-narcotics efforts.
15 February 2006 – Humanitarian groups in conflict zones trying to provide civilians with food, protection, or safe passage are faced with the daily possibility that they may have to negotiate with armed groups and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is releasing a handbook to tell them how.
14 February 2006 – Saying it recognized Haiti’s recent elections as a major step towards re-establishing representative governance, the United Nations Security Council today urged all parties to remain calm while the final results of the election are being certified.
14 February 2006 – Welcoming the recent announcement of election results for Iraq’s Council of Representatives, the Security Council today congratulated the Iraqi people for their commitment to a peaceful political process, and called on political leaders to work towards a fully inclusive government.
14 February 2006 – Speaking to the Security Council today, the senior United Nations envoy to Kosovo said the next few months offered great opportunities for the province’s leaders and its people to work together to decide their future, saying also that the UN mission was now in its most critical phase.
13 February 2006 – After meeting today with United States President George W. Bush and other senior US officials, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the President had agreed to work together with him and other world governments to help alleviate the suffering in Sudan’s strife-torn region of Darfur.
13 February 2006 – The Security Council has approved the transfer of somewhat over $400,000 that had been in the escrow account of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) for Iraq to be credited against that country’s UN dues, according to documents made official today.
13 February 2006 – Nearly a dozen experts, led by the main United Nations counter-terrorism body, are headed to Tanzania for a weeklong visit to continue the Security Council's practical, technical assistance work to strengthen the ability of countries to fight terrorism.
10 February 2006 – Eritrea’s flight ban against the United Nations peacekeeping operation monitoring the country’s truce with Ethiopia has forced yet another medical evacuation over land, officials with the force have reported.
10 February 2006 – Amid stepped-up clashes in Afghanistan, including violent protests, factional clashes and suicide attacks, a United Nations official today warned that enhanced security in the country is necessary for realizing international plans for its development.
10 February 2006 – Despite the recent eradication of polio and a successful measles campaign in the Central African Republic (CAR), the humanitarian crisis there remains dire and funding for crucial relief work is inadequate, the United Nations said today.
10 February 2006 – A United Nations assessment team is travelling around Liberia to evaluate the general conditions for peacebuilding and to recommend adjustments to the UN mission’s (UNMIL) mandate that could be included in Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report to the Security Council next month.
10 February 2006 – With preliminary results in hand from five departments, the UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said today that counting the votes cast in the presidential and legislative elections earlier this week was continuing in what the Security Council has called a fundamental step towards restoring democracy.
9 February 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for restraint from all sides in the dispute over Iran’s planned resumption of uranium enrichment activities, emphasizing that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had not yet completed its report to the Security Council and urging negotiations to continue.
9 February 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today congratulated the people of Haiti on holding the first round of national elections on Tuesday, calling it a fundamental step towards the restoration of democracy and stability in that Caribbean country.
9 February 2006 – During a meeting with Swedish development officials in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, senior United Nations officials welcomed the Nordic country’s latest move to expand its role in bringing peace and democracy to this West African nation.
8 February 2006 – In a meeting with a visiting delegation from China’s military, the United Nations envoy to Liberia today praised the country’s contribution to the success of the UN Mission (UNMIL), and urged Beijing to continue its support as the West African nation consolidates democracy in the wake of 14 years of civil war.
8 February 2006 – As weapons continue to enter western Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region while the Government also violates the arms embargo, a United Nations panel of sanctions experts has called on the authorities in neighbouring countries and others to crack down on unofficial shipments.
7 February 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today imposed 12-month sanctions and travel bans against three alleged leaders of attacks on UN personnel and property in Côte d’Ivoire deemed to constitute a threat to the peace and national reconciliation in the divided West African country.
7 February 2006 – As Haitians turned out in large numbers to vote in national elections in the Caribbean country today, the senior United Nations envoy there visited voting centres in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
6 February 2006 – With more violent clashes recorded last month in western Sudan’s Darfur region, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is calling on all parties there to reach a negotiated settlement at their talks in Nigeria’s capital while cautioning against the conflict’s spread across the border with Chad.
6 February 2006 – With the head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) preparing to report to the Security Council on Iran, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced hope that Tehran would resume talks on the issue in the coming weeks.
6 February 2006 – Expressing “serious concern” at the volatile situation in Côte d’Ivoire, where United Nations offices were looted and destroyed last month, the Security Council today authorized extra troops to boost the strength of the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African nation.
6 February 2006 – Emphasizing the importance of the United Nations in today’s interdependent world, a key United States senator today voiced support for the reform agenda put forward by Secretary-General Kofi Annan while calling for stepped-up global action to address problems associated with nuclear weapons and climate change.
5 February 2006 – Reacting to ongoing threats against United Nations personnel in volatile Côte d'Ivoire, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the Security Council to strengthen the UN peacekeeping operation (UNOCI) in the West African country.
4 February 2006 – The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today passed a resolution in Vienna requesting the Agency's Director General to report to the United Nations Security Council on Iran.
3 February 2006 – With the United Nations presence coming under threat in Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked the Security Council to approve the redeployment of troops there from the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
3 February 2006 – Wrapping up two days of United Nations-chaired talks on Georgia held in Geneva, key countries involved in the peace process stressed the need to address the core political cause of the conflict between the Government and Abkhaz separatists.
3 February 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today voiced its expectation that the new Palestinian Government will remain committed to peace and called for both parties to abide by their obligations under existing agreements.
3 February 2006 – In discussions with a senior official from the International Centre for Transitional Justice, the United Nations envoy to Liberia today called for a complete review and reform of the security sector in the country as it struggles to emerge from more than a decade of vicious civil war.
3 February 2006 – With the African Union’s peacekeeping force in western Sudan’s Darfur region funded only until March, the Security Council today commended the mission for its successful deployment and asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan draw up a range of contingency plans for a possible transition of operations to the United Nations.
3 February 2006 – The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), reporting on its investigation into an attack on a South Kivu village last July, says eyewitnesses identified their assailants as Rwandan militiamen who had previously victimized other villages, claiming the lives of dozens of people in their strikes.
2 February 2006 – A draft resolution concerning Iran was introduced today at a special meeting of the Board of Governors of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
2 February 2006 – The Security Council today held closed-door talks on planning for a United Nations peacekeeping operation in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, its president for the month of February told reporters.
2 February 2006 – An independent expert mandated by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to examine counterterrorism will later this month visit Turkey where he will meet with both top officials and suspected terrorists.
1 February 2006 – Expressing concern about reported threats against United Nations staff in Côte d’Ivoire, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reminded the West African country’s authorities that they bear personal responsibility for preventing violence.
1 February 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Liberia has called on the international community to work with the country’s Government to pave the way for the lifting of international sanctions banning diamond exports.
1 February 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative for Sudan will raise the issue of deteriorating security in the country’s western Darfur region when he attends peace talks in Nigeria later this week, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
31 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on Kosovo Serb leaders to work to promote government reform and other key goals in the UN-run province, saying he was “seriously concerned” by the slow progress and setbacks in recent months.
31 January 2006 – A senior United Nations official today reported to the Security Council that there is wide backing in Lebanon for the establishment of a tribunal of an international character to try those charged with the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others.
31 January 2006 – Gravely concerned at the persistence of tension and violence along the withdrawal line between Israel and Lebanon, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping force operating in the area (UNIFIL) through July.
31 January 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Georgia until 31 March, and emphasized it would keep a close watch on events in the troubled country.
31 January 2006 – Expressing its determination to enforce the weapons ban it has imposed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Security Council today asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to appoint a successor expert panel to monitor illicit arms imports, as well as travel bans and assets freezes on all violators.
30 January 2006 – The security situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region remains tense, with new incidents reported there over the weekend that left three Sudanese soldiers wounded and two attackers dead, the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
30 January 2006 – On the eve of an international conference focused on the future of Afghanistan, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today encouraged Dutch participation in the NATO-led force in the country and said all share an interest in promoting security there.
30 January 2006 – The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said today that its rapid reaction forces recently repelled members of an armed gang who were attacking a soap factory and another gang which was attacking a fuel depot in the Caribbean country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
29 January 2006 – Reacting to the sudden announcement of a new presidential decree concerning Côte d'Ivoire's National Assembly, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the parties there to cooperate in the interests of peace.
27 January 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today called on the States organizing the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region to finalize preparations for their second summit, postponed from last month, to show their will to maintain their momentum towards establishing peace and stability.
27 January 2006 – The senior United Nations legal official met today in Lebanon with top leaders as part of a visit aimed at helping them identify the nature and scope of the international assistance needed to create a tribunal to try those charged with the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others.
26 January 2006 – Meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York today, the legislative body of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal, elected six judges to serve nine-year terms starting in early March.
26 January 2006 – Following attacks last week on the United Nations offices in Côte d’Ivoire, about 400 staff members so far have been evacuated temporarily to Gambia and Senegal for their safety, the chief of the UN mission there said at UN Headquarters in New York today.
26 January 2006 – Challenging a suggestion that the United Nations might be moribund, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette today pointed out that the world body has created innovative responses to such post-Cold War issues as expanding peacekeeping and sanctions use, upholding human rights and battling international terrorism.
25 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed a five-member Panel of Experts to monitor the renewed sanctions regime the Security Council imposed on Liberia after receiving reports that the West African country’s natural resources were not being used to benefit its people.
25 January 2006 – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the Security Council to take a firm decision on a peacekeeping operation to stop the suffering in the devastated Darfur region of Sudan, but acknowledged that only a political agreement between the rebels and government can bring longer term stability and allow 2 million people to return to their homes.
25 January 2006 – The Security Council today called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to take immediate steps to bring to justice those responsible for Monday’s attack on United Nations peacekeepers, which left eight of them dead and five wounded.
25 January 2006 – The United Nations Legal Counsel will travel to Beirut this week to help the Lebanese authorities identify the nature and scope of the international assistance needed to create a tribunal to try those charged with the killing of former Prime Minister Hariri and others.
24 January 2006 – Almost 800 Sudanese have fled to eastern Chad since the start of the year to escape increased violence in the neighbouring West Darfur region of Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency said today.
24 January 2006 – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) through 15 December and pledged to keep its troop strength under review, stopping short of meeting Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recommendation to significantly increase in the size of the force.
24 January 2006 – The situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region has deteriorated severely over the past six months, the top United Nations refugee official told the UN Security Council today, warning of calamity there and in other parts of the country unless bold measures are taken soon.
23 January 2006 – Describing the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Georgia as “critical for maintaining stability,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan today recommended that the Security Council extend its mandate in the troubled country for a further six months until 31 July 2006.
23 January 2006 – The senior United Nations envoy to Timor-Leste, the world’s newest nation, today called on the Security Council to authorize continued international support for the country after the end of the UN’s mandate there on 20 May.
23 January 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today applauded this week’s visit by the British Foreign Secretary to Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, saying it would “complement the active engagement of the United Nations” in trying to resolve the Cyprus issue.
23 January 2006 – The new head of the United Nations investigation into last year’s assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been paying courtesy calls on senior Lebanese officials following his arrival in Beirut last Thursday, a spokesman for the world body announced today.
23 January 2006 – The United Nations Security Council today called on that the Government of Lebanon to make more progress in controlling its territory and disbanding militias, while also calling on Syria to cooperate with those efforts.
23 January 2006 – Mourning the death of the President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, members of the Security Council today urged the people of the province to peacefully conclude talks on its final status.
20 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will travel to Europe this weekend to attend the World Economic Forum, and to deal with topics ranging from Afghanistan to sports, his spokesman announced today.
20 January 2006 – Recommending a six-month extension of the United Nations Force monitoring the line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that the political and security environment in the area continues to be fragile.
20 January 2006 – Despite hopes for peace following the successful elections in Central African Republic (CAR) last year, several thousand people have fled recent clashes between Government troops and local insurgents near the border with Chad, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.
20 January 2006 – Timorese President Xanana Gusmão today presented an independent human rights report to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and called attention to the need for aid to his country once the UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL) ends its mission there in May.
19 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Lt. Gen. José Elito Carvalho Siqueira of Brazil the new Force Commander of the peacekeeping UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
19 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the Tehran Government to foster an environment conducive to talks on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
19 January 2006 – The military situation in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) between Ethiopia and Eritrea remains tense, the United Nations mission there reported today, about six weeks after Eritrea demanded the pullout of UN personnel of certain nationalities.
19 January 2006 – Saying that the United Nations is not a protagonist in Côte d'Ivoire, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appealed to the leaders in the West African country to work together to restore calm after protesters opposing the possible dissolution of parliament demonstrated outside UN offices for a fourth day, prompting the Security Council to threaten sanctions.
19 January 2006 – Timor-Leste has continued to consolidate its democratic governance but some international political presence should remain there until the end of next year’s elections, long after the mandate of the United Nations mission in the country is due to expire, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report released today.
19 January 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the arrival in Lebanon of the new head of the United Nations investigation into last year’s assassination of its former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, and repeated his call for an end to outside interference in the country.
18 January 2006 – As hate media in Côte d'Ivoire broadcast messages inciting attacks against United Nations peacekeepers, diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis are intensifying, a spokesman for the world body said today.
18 January 2006 – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today announced that its Board of Governors will hold a special meeting on Iran on 2 February in Vienna.
18 January 2006 – The United Nations top envoy for Western Sahara today implied he did not foresee any breakthroughs during the current year in the political impasse between the Moroccan Government and the Frente POLISARIO independence movement over the territory’s status.
18 January 2006 – With tensions persisting in Sudan’s Darfur province, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged more resources for the African Union (AU) mission in the region, while the Security Council considered future plans, including a possible United Nations force there.
17 January 2006 – A United Nations police office was firebombed in a Côte d’Ivoire’s San Pedro town and protesters gathered for a second day outside UN premises in the economic capital, Abidjan, prompting Secretary-General Kofi Annan today to demand an immediate halt to anti-UN violence in the divided West African country.
17 January 2006 – While strongly condemning the recent upsurge of violence in Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council today emphasized the importance of an upcoming London conference that will unveil a new framework for the country’s development, known as the “Afghan Compact.”
17 January 2006 – Two Jordanian peacekeepers with the United Nations mission in Haiti were killed, and another wounded, in the dangerous Cité Soleil neighbourhood of the country’s capital Port-au-Prince this morning.
16 January 2006 – For the eighth time since Eritrea’s ban on United Nations helicopter overflights took effect last October, the country’s authorities have failed to respond to a request for the emergency medical evacuation of a UN peacekeeper serving in the region, officials with the world body said today.
16 January 2006 – Members of the United Nations Security Council have voiced their support for recent actions taken by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to advance the investigation into the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed last February in a blast that also took the lives of 22 others.
16 January 2006 – The new Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today pledged further cooperation with the United Nations to address issues of mutual concern, including terrorism and the protection of human rights.
16 January 2006 – Demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) today to protest a recommendation by a UN-mandated International Working Group monitoring the post-civil war transition that would effectively disband the parliament.
13 January 2006 – The United Nations Security Council must enforce its sanctions against belligerents and human rights violators in Sudan or lose credibility, the head of the UN Mission in the country (UNMIS) said today.
13 January 2006 – Citing the volatile security situation in Côte d’Ivoire, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is recommending the deployment of more than 3,000 extra troops and hundreds of additional police officers to strengthen the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the divided West African country.
12 January 2006 – With funding running out for the African Union’s force in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Security Council members today reviewed their options, including having the UN eventually take over the peacekeeping function.
11 January 2006 – Tension on the disputed border between Ethiopia and Eritrea has eased, the United Nations said today, although restrictions on the movement of UN personnel and the Eritrean ban on UN helicopters remains.
11 January 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named a former Belgian prosecutor as the new head of the United Nations investigation into last year’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
11 January 2006 – United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder of India the new force commander of the peacekeeping UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
9 January 2006 – The security situation in the Central African Republic, which is rebuilding after a civil war, remains “precarious” and international support for the country is crucial to consolidating stability, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council released today.
9 January 2006 – The top United Nations envoy to Sudan is on his way to New York after attending the peace talks on the country’s troubled Darfur region in Abuja, Nigeria, where he urged the Khartoum Government and rebel groups to speed up the pace of negotiations, a UN spokesman said today.
9 January 2006 – While concerned about border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea as well as the latter’s ban on United Nations overflights, the world body is avoiding making hasty decisions on the future of its peacekeeping operation in the Horn of Africa countries, a senior UN official said today.
9 January 2006 – The United Nations is working with Brazil to find a possible successor to the Force Commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, who was found dead over the weekend, the head of the world body’s peacekeeping department said today.
6 January 2006 – The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has reported that the military situation in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) separating the two countries continues to be “tense and potentially volatile,” about a month after Eritrea demanded the pullout of UN personnel of certain nationalities.
6 January 2006 – Expressing concern about the latest postponement of Haiti’s elections, the United Nations Security Council today urged the Transitional Government and the Provisional Electoral Council to announce definite dates for the voting, with the first round to be held no later than 7 February.
5 January 2006 – Welcoming political progress in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to the Security Council that the Government must provide for its troops so they can fully disarm foreign armed groups on the country’s territory.
5 January 2006 – With a build-up of armed troops along the northern border of Darfur, Sudan, the United Nations has raised the security level in parts of the province, pulling out all but essential personnel as the top UN envoy there headed to Abuja, Nigeria for the next round of peace talks on the troubled region.
4 January 2006 – While keeping a close watch on the Haitian elections, the crisis in the Horn of Africa and other hotspots around the world, the United Nations Security Council plans to hold a ministerial-level meeting on Africa’s Great Lakes region as a high point of its January agenda, the body’s President for the month said today.
3 January 2006 – The situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea has reached a dangerous stalemate, warns Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a new report to the Security Council, holding out the possibility of withdrawing the United Nations mission (UNMEE) deployed to keep a five-year truce between the two countries.
3 January 2006 – United Nations peacekeepers found unlicensed weapons in a vehicle being driven by former Haitian Senator Dany Toussaint near Cap Haitien and turned him over to police who briefly detained the politician.
