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Wednesday, 14 July 2004
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Africa needs to accelerate links between national economies: ECA

African countries are taking concrete steps to integrate their economies, build regional communities and increase trade with each other.
These findings are in a new report by the Economic Commission for Africa.
Executive Secretary of the commission K.Y Amoako says there's a strong case for regional integration among Africa's 53 countries.

"in the context of the globalized world, we need to have regional integration, we need to have larger markets, we need to have larger economies of scales to promote better investment, competition and all that. The case is very clear."

Mr. Amoako says regional approaches are also important especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS and for the easing of transportation throughout the continent.

Life expectancy in many African countries cut by AIDS crisis: UNDP

The AIDS crisis has cut life expectancy in many African countries to less than 40 years.
That according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which says the AIDS crisis is the biggest factor in the dramatic decline of overall human development indicators in the continent.
The grim statistics led a senior UNDP official to call for "an unprecedented and holistic response" to the crisis which she said is "taking a devastating toll" on the communities, and on the capacity of public institutions.
The five countries with the lowest levels of human development in this year's global rankings are: Guinea-Bissau, Burundi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Sierra Leone.

Secretary-general backs Mid East envoy

The UN has defended the work of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Roed-Larsen.
The special envoy was criticized by Palestinian officials for the tone of his briefing to the Security Council on the latest developments in the Mid East peace process.
Secretary-general Kofi Annan expressed his full support for and confidence in the envoy saying Mr. Roed-Larsen speaks on his behalf.
United Nations spokesperson Marie Okabe says Mr. Roed-Larsen's intention, in his briefing to the Security Council Tuesday, was to convey concerns within the Quartet and more widely in the international community regarding a lack of implementation by both parties of their Road Map obligations.

"There is a consensus within the Quartet that: the Palestinian Authority must carry out its reform process, including the full empowerment of the Palestinian prime minister; the Government of Israel must dismantle settlement outposts and freeze settlement activity; and both sides must return to the negotiating table."

The spokeswoman says the secretary-general believes that the parties need to focus on the tasks at hand in order to work towards the just, lasting and comprehensive settlement that is so urgently needed.

UNRWA convoy comes under fire

A convoy of five vehicles from the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), came under fire Wednesday as it was delivering food aid to the residents of Beit Hanoun, in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA says the firing appeared to have come from an Israeli armored personnel carrier near a citrus orchard that the convoy was surveying.
The agency says the gunfire forced Commissioner-general Peter Hansen and other personnel to take cover in a nearby home.
It says after coordination with the Israeli military liaison office, the convoy was able to leave the area a half hour later.

WFP, AIDS activist urge support for home-based care

The UN food agency (WFP) has joined with a leading activist in urging support for home-based care for people living with HIV and AIDS.
It says this is the most effective way to treat affected people in the developing world.
WFP's deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu and Thailand's Senator Mechai Viravaidya are calling for more contributions from donor governments, the private sector and the public.
They emphasized that for a relatively modest cost, millions of people living with HIV and AIDS could be given the opportunity to rebuild their lives through home-based care.

Many in Kosovo still do not enjoy security: report

The UN mission in Kosovo has failed to make progress in achieving a "minimum level" of protection of rights and freedoms in the province.
That according to a report by a UN-backed institution.
The Ombudsperson Institution in its annual report said an outbreak of ethnic violence in March dealt a blow to efforts to re-establish normality.
The report said that because of the violence, "it has now become increasingly difficult to maintain any form of pretense that there is a reasonable possibility of creating a real multi-ethnic society in Kosovo in the foreseeable future."