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 Haiti says the resumption of official international aid cannot be considered a long-term strategy for the country; Jamaica warns of the critical situation in Haiti because of instability, and lack of sustained assistance; The Bahamas calls for a lasting peaceful settlement to the conflict in the Middle East; The president of the general Assembly appeals to States to observe the Olympic Truce during the Athens Games; Jamaica welcomes progress in reducing the digital divide
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Annan Prepared to Play Facilitating Role in Najaf
"The Foreign Minister did ask the Secretary-General to do whatever he could to defuse the situation particularly in Najaf. The Secretary-General's position on that is that he is prepared to play a facilitating role if it can help and if all sides agree to it." The UN Security Council
has called on the United Nations to play a major role in Iraq's political
transition.
UN Security Council has called on the United Nations to Play a Major Role in Iraq'sPolitical Transition
"In the north, UNHCR has also temporarily suspended the returns of Iraqi Kurd refuges after local authorities in Iraq expressed concerns over the housing situation in the region." A shortage of housing is a crucial issue in northern Iraq where UNHCR is working with its partners to help build houses, provide locals with building materials and assist in the rehabilitation of schools and health clinics.
UN Begins Investigations into Gatumba Massacre
Burundi Authorizes New Camp for Congolese Refugees The Government of Burundi has given the United Nations the go-ahead to set up a camp for newly arrived Congolese refugees. This follows the weekend attack on the Gatumba refugee camp which left more than 150 refugees dead. Spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency Jennifer Pagonis says the proposed camp site is located more than a hundred miles from the Burundi capital of Bujumbura. "Work on the site will begin shortly and we hope to begin relocating the refugees there as soon as basic services have been set up." The Deputy Director
of UNHCR's Africa Bureau is in Bujumbura to discuss with Burundian
officials arrangements for the immediate transfer of the refugees
to the new site and security measures for those still encamped near
the border.
Annan Welcomes Peaceful Conduct Of Venezuela Recall Referendum Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed the peaceful and orderly manner in which Monday's recall referendum on the mandate of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was conducted. In a statement Tuesday, UN Spokesman Stephan Dujarric says the Secretary-General also welcomes the fact that "an unprecedented number of Venezuelans participated in the referendum, demonstrating a great sense of responsibility and a respect for democratic values." "The Secretary-General has taken note of the preliminary voting results announced by the National Electoral Council as well as the declarations made by the Organization of American States and the Carter Center confirming those preliminary results indicating that the voters had rejected decisively the recall of the president." The Secretary-General
again appeals to all Venezuelans to settle all matters related to
the referendum in the same civic and democratic spirit that prevailed
during the voting.
WHO Expresses Fears over Increase in Cases of Hepatitis E in Darfur
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Secretary-General
Kofi Annan is prepared to play a facilitating role to help end the
fighting in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf. United Nations Spokesman
Fred Eckhard says the Secretary-General held talks with a number of
international actors, among them US Secretary of State Colin Powell
and Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.
Violence
in southern Iraq and a shortage of housing in the north have forced
the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to suspend convoys of Iraqi refugees
from Iran. UNHCR Spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis says the ongoing fighting
in Najaf and the overall security situation in the region forced the
agency to put its convoys on hold.
Human
Rights officials from the UN missions in Burundi and the Democratic
Republic of Congo have begun a fact-finding mission on the events
surrounding the massacre of more than 150 Congolese refugees in the
Gatumba camp. A spokesman says the information is to be reviewed immediately
by the High Commissioner for Human Rights with a view to setting up
an international commission of enquiry. Meanwhile, the UN mission
in Burundi and the UN refugee agency report that security has been
tightened along the Burundi/Congo border and that UN helicopters are
patrolling the area. UNHCR says peacekeepers operating on both sides
of the border are helping local forces set up security along their
respective frontiers where various armed elements are known to roam.
The
UN health agency (WHO), expressed alarm Tuesday over a jump in cases
of hepatitis E in Sudan's Darfur region. WHO's Spokeswoman Fadela
Chaib says unclean water and terrible sanitation have triggered more
than a thousand cases of hepatitis E, resulting in more than 25 deaths.
The spokeswoman says WHO is working with its partners to reduce this
epidemic of Hepatitis E across the whole of Darfur.