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Tueday, 24 August 2004
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WHO Confirms New Cases of Polio in Guinea and Mali

The ongoing polio outbreak which began in northern Nigeria has now spread to other parts of Africa. TheWorld Health Organization (WHO) confirmed new cases of an outbreak of polio in Guinea and Mali as well as Darfur in the Sudan.
The outbreak comes two weeks after the resumption of polio immunization campaigns in the northern Nigerian State of Kano. Dr. Bruce Aylward of the UN health agency says the polio outbreak that originated in northern Nigeria is now threatening its global eradication initiative:

"What these cases confirm is that with the onset of the rainy season as we feared, this polio epidemic has now spread even further and most important it has now spread beyond that immunological barrier that we tried to establish to contain the spread of virus really as close as possible to the epicenter in Nigeria."

Dr. Aylward says the real solution lies in the success of a massive 22 country synchronized campaign all the way from Senegal east to the Sudan and as far south from Mali as far south to the Central African Republic and Congo Brazzaville.

UN Migration Agency and Sudan Agree on Voluntary Return of Internally Displaced Persons

The International Organization for Migration has signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Sudan on the voluntary return of internally displaced persons. The agreement is seen as an important step in the implementation of the Darfur Plan of Action signed earlier between Sudan and the United Nations. The Director General of the International Organization for Migration Brunson McKinley says the agreement sets up a mechanism to plan and execute returns:

"The Sudanese government I believe has made an important decision to change direction and approach the Darfur problem in a new and different way. This decision comes partly as a reaction to the Security Council and the threat of sanctions, but by no means entirely as a response to the Security Council."

Under the terms of the agreement, IOM will oversee and assist with the return of internally displaced persons.
It will also guarantee that the return to their homes is done voluntarily.

UN Refugee Agency to Relocate Thousands of Refugees in Northeastern Burundi

The UN refugee agency reports that the first of more than 20-thousand refugees living along the insecure border of the Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo are set to move to camps further inside Burundi. UNHCR says it plans to relocate the refugees from two transit centers in western Burundi's Cibitoke province to an existing refugee camp in the northeast. The agency says it's working with its partners in organizing shelter, food, water, health, sanitation and other services at the new camp.

Much remains to be done in Timor-Leste: UN official

The situation in Timor-Leste remains stable and largely peaceful since the Timorese government assumed responsibility for security in May. That assessment comes from the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi. But he says while the country is making steady progress in achieving self-sufficiency, it will continue for some time to require international assistance. Annabi also spoke of the work of the UN mission in Timor-Leste. In his report to the Security Council Tuesday, he says while progress has been made in all areas of the mandate of the mission, more remains to be done. Annabi says the UN mission will strive to achieve as much as possible in the remaining months of its mandate:

" At the same time, Timor-Leste will have to work closely with other multilateral and bilateral partners to meet its continuing requirements beyond May 2005."

Mr. Annabi says the situation will be reviewed later this year to determine whether changes can be made to the mission's size, composition and tasks.