Friday, 30 January 2004
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Prevention of Bird Flu Depends on Mass Culling: FAO

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, announced today that avian flu can be eradicated by mass cullings in the ten affected countries in Asia. In addition, the spokesperson for the World Health Organization, Fadela Chaib, said in Geneva today that Asian countries, such as Vietnam, need to be provided with protective gear for farmers handling chicken affected by avian flu:

"We are talking about millions of chicken also in some rural areas in Vietnam. Vietnam is a poor countries, and that's why WHO and FAO appealed to the international community to help this countries get all the equipment they need."

FAO is appealing to governments and the international community to urgently address the threat of losing animals without some kind of compensation faced by small farmers.

Small Island Developing States Meeting Concludes Today

An interregional meeting of small island developing states is concluding in Nassau, Bahamas today with the adoption of a political declaration in which environment Ministers expressed concern by their weakening economic performance since the adoption of the Barbados Programme of Action. UN Radio's Donn Bobb reports:

"This, the political Declaration says, is due in part to declining trade performance. The ministers also expressed concern that they are unable to effectively participate in the multilateral trade negotiations which results in their further marginalization. As a result, they called on the World Trade Organization to recognize the specialities of small island developing states. The political Declaration reaffirms the continued validity of the Barbados Programme of Action and acknowledges that progress has been made in its implementation largely through domestic measures, despite the impediments posed by their structural disadvantates and vulnerabilities. For United Nations Radio this is Donn Bobb reporting from the Bahamas."

UNHCR Prepares to Repatriate Somalis

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has called for drastic increase of UN programmes in Somalia as the country enters a critical transition period following the signing on Thursday, of an agreement on the political future of the country. The refugee agency says there is now a particular window of opportunity to promote the return of up to 30,000 refugees to Somaliland and Puntland. Spokesman Kris Janowski says there are about 200,000 Somali refugees in the region:

"Somalia is a devastated and extremely poor country and needs more help. And if the people are to go back from Kenya and various other places like Djibouti and Ethiopia back to Somali, they will have to have something to go back to, otherwise it's not going to work."

A high-level UNHCR team led by Inspector-General Dennis McNamara has just concluded a 20-day mission to the region where it reviewed the agency's operations in Somalia.

UN Condemns Killings in Brazil

The chairman of the UN Trust Fund on Slavery, Swami Agnivesh, today condemned the killings of Brazilian officials who were investigating allegations of slave labour in the state of Minais Gerais. The three officials from the Ministry of Labour and their driver were shot dead. Mr. Ajniwesh says the murder occurred two days ago:

"This, we believe, is enough shocking evidence for the international community to realize the gravity of modern day slavery still existing in various parts of the world. "

There are reports that thousands of Brazilians are kept in conditions equivalent to slave labour.

Trafficking of Afghans Continues: IOM Report

A new report from the International Organization for Migration, IOM, says the problem of human trafficking is socially pervasive among Afghans in their country as well as among those abroad. The report is based on a questionnaire distributed to 100 organizations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, and on interviews with Afghans. IOM spokesman Christopher Lom says trafficking in Afghanistan and among Afghans in the diaspora takes many forms:

"It includes forced marriages through abduction for debt release, the exchange of women for dispute settlement, abduction of women and children, including boys for sexual and domestic servitude, forced prostitution and sexual exploitation of children."