Tuesday, 27 January 2004
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UN Secretary-General Decides to Send a Technical Team to Iraq

The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced in Paris today that he will send a team to Iraq to establish whether elections can be held before the transfer of sovereignty at the end of June. He said he hoped the team would have a chance to talk to a large number of Iraqis. The Secretary-General also expressed the hope that the presence of the UN team would help Iraqis to come to a consensus on how to take the transitional process forward:

"I firmly believe that if the Iraqis can agree on the way forward, then we can have a legitimate and acceptable process, the results of which would be accepted by all. Otherwise, you run the risk that that conflict and the divisions will continue. "

The Secretary-General's decision is a response to a request from the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority last week for a UN technical mission to explore the possibility of elections before the 30th of June.

UN Agencies Appeal for Funds to Combat Bird Flu in Asia

UN agencies have appealed to donors to provide funds and technical assistance to help stop the spread of avian flu. The World Health Organization, WHO, and the Food and Agriculture Organization issued a joint statement with the World Organization for Animal Health warning that the disease spreading in several areas in Asia represents a significant control challenge. The warning came as China confirmed a new outbreak of avian flu. The head of WHO's Global Influenza Programme, Dr. Klaus Stohr confirms that the virus broke out in a duck farm in Guangxi province, where precautionary measures were taken to prevent the spread of the disease:

"Fourteen thousand ducks were killed on this farm as a precautionary measure. Movement of any animal in the five mile diameter around the farm was prohibited and additional control and surveillance measures are ongoing."

The UN agencies are concerned that bird flu could evolve and spread to masses of people.

Polio Continues to Spread in Central and West Africa

A case of paralyzing polio has been confirmed about 200 kilometers north of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. The World Health Organization says the virus detected is linked to viruses which were circulating in northern Nigeria last year. Polio immunization campaigns have been suspended in that region since last August. Polio is reported to have spread from Nigeria to other previously polio-free countries, namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana and Togo. The UN health agency urges Nigeria to immediately resume its polio immunization campaigns in the north to boost population immunity and stop the spread of the disease to other countries in the region.

UNHCR Registers Newly Arrived Refugees Along Sudan Chad Border

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has begun to register thousands of Sudanese refugees who have arrived recently along the border with Chad. The agency says the refugees left Sudan following attacks on their villages two weeks ago. They fled their village of Habila, two kilometers from the border. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond:

"Refugees told UNHCR that 10 days ago, an Antonov plane and helicopters flew over Habila and bombed the only well in the village. Armed men then entered the village on horses and camels, stole the cattle and chased people who had not yet fled."

UNHCR reports that the refugees are currently staying in a very arid and difficult environment, some living out in the open with only a few bushes as protection from wind and sand.

Developing countries are contributing the most to UN Peacekeeping missions

The UN Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette said in India today that poorer countries are providing the greatest contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations.