Thursday, 5 February 2004
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Half a Billion Dollars Sought to Assist Liberia

An international conference to address the reconstruction needs of Liberia started at UN Headquarters today. The UN estimates that Liberia needs $500 million to rebuild following 14 years of war. Opening the conference, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme, UNDP, Mark Malloch Brown said the amount of funding sought did not reflect the totality of needs likely to exist in Liberia today. He said that while pledges to be made at the conference were welcome, events in Liberia demonstrate the fragility of the transition from relief to recovery:

"It is clear that the next time we have to respond to emerging transition situations, resources need to be delivered much sooner. External resources made available as grants and soft loans are an essential prerequisite for a successful transition."

Mr. Malloch Brown pointed out that the money available in Liberia is not enough to provide essential equipment or allow the rehabilitation of basic services such as water and electricity.

Unsafe Injections are Not Major Mode of HIV Transmission in Sub Saharan Africa: WHO

A medical officer of the World Health Organization has rejected a recent theory that unsafe injections are a major mode of transmitting HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. George Phillip Schmid said there is no compelling evidence to support that theory which appeared in a newspaper this week. He said the agency agrees, however, that unsafe injections are an unacceptable practice. Dr. Schmid added that efforts should be increased to detect and reduce exposure of patients to any blood borne infection in health care settings:

"WHO and UNAIDS are working to enhance injection safety such as through the Safe Injection Global Network headquartered at WHO with the goal of ensuring that all vaccines and injectible medications are supplied with single use injection equipment."

Dr. Schmid stressed that efforts should be made simultaneously to reduce sexual transmission of HIV.

A UN Report Says Investment in Health Could Save Millions of Lives

A new UN report says that millions of lives could be saved with investments in sexual and reproductive health. The report, released by the UN Population Fund and a non-profit institute, focuses on the severe global shortage of contraceptive services and the need for more assistance from donor countries to address this scarcity. According to the UN agency, as much as a fifth of illnesses and premature death result from the shortage of contraceptive services.

IAEA Is Concerned About Nuclear Black Market

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, has expressed concern about the existence of a nuclear black market. The UN nuclear agency said it uncovered this black market in the course of its inspections in Iran and Libya. IAEA spokesman Mark Gwodzecky:

"We have learned that obviously these individuals in Pakistan were centrally involved in terms of working with middle men who in turn work in no fewer than five countries where components of centrifuge and other nuclear programmes were developed."

Mr. Gwozdecky says these components were then shipped to third countries and ultimately diverted to places like Libya.

UN Mission Says Attack Won't Stop Its Work in DR Congo

The spokesman for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUC, vowed today that an attack on its officials on Wednesday will not stop the mission from carrying out its responsibilities. A speedboat carrying UN officials who had gone to investigate a reported massacre in the village of Gobu in the northeastern part of the country came under fire from unidentified assailants. MONUC spokesman Hammadou Toure says the UN mission will not be intimidated by armed groups to stop the investigation of this alleged massacre:

"We will continue doing our job. MONUC is not the target because we are not party to the conflict. But if they think they can discourage us or intimidate us, this is a wrong assumption."