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Occupied Arab Territories in Political Turmoil;
 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenges world leaders to scale up efforts in the fight against AIDS; The International Labour Organization says more than 36 million workers have HIV; The Decolonization Committee is told there's a need for more support for political education in the dependent territories; The UN Resident Coordinator in the Eastern Caribbean says the Millennium Development Goals are an excellent tool for translating policies into practice; The International organization for Migration says trafficking may be contributing to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean
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Security Council Considers Resolution on Sudan Crisis The
Security Council is considering a draft resolution to put pressure
on the government of Sudan to live up to the commitments it made in
a joint communiqué with the United Nations to end the crisis
in the Darfur region. The Council wants the Sudanese government to
immediately disarm the janjaweed militias, to send the police to protect
the displaced people and to bring the perpetrators of human rights
abuses to justice. Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile says the Security
Council is at an important crossroads and should think of alternative
measures: Ambassador
Munoz says the Security Council is aware of the fact that some of
the commitments, such as the disarming of the militias will take time
but deploying the police and bringing the violators of human rights
abuses to justice could be done immediately. Meanwhile, eight human
rights observers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights have been granted visas to travel to Sudan.
UN Secretary-General Stresses Need for Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation The United Nations Secretary-General has said it is unacceptable that many people die daily as a result of lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. He was speaking at the first meeting with a group of experts he has appointed to mobilize political and financial support to meet the development goals on water and sanitation. He noted that a considerable number of countries are on track to cut by half the number of people who don't have access to safe drinking water by 2015. He pointed out, however, that many others will fail to meet that goal unless progress is stepped up. Spokesperson Marie Okabe: "He noted that today,one person in six will drink unclean water. One person in three will not have access to proper sanitation and around 10,000 people will die today as a result of this preventable situation." The Secretary-General said the world has recognized that there can be no effective development strategies if water and sanitation issues are not addressed.
New UN Envoy to Iraq Introduced to the Press The UN Secretary-General has introduced his new Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi to the press. He said Mr. Qazi comes with a lot of experience, having served in many diplomatic missions and as an ambassador in the Middle East. The Secretary-General added that the envoy is taking on his challenge at a very critical time and will go to Iraq as soon as practicable.
UN Human Rights Chief Warns Against Roll Back in Human Rights The
new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has warned
against triggering a roll back of human rights in addressing global
problems. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, she said it is a paradox
that in an age of advanced human rights consciousness, the worst atrocities
are committed daily and on a massive scale. Ms. Arbour said the world
is still facing crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, terrorism,
genocide and discrimination in all its forms and threats to health
posed by HIV/AIDS and other diseases:
The
Human Rights Commissioner said there are very few burning issues today
that don't have a human rights component.
Indigenous People Face Many Challenges: UN official The
head of the UN Office in Geneva, Sergey Ordzhonikidze, has said that
that despite progress made over the past decade indigenous people
still face many challenges. Speaking at the annual indigenous day
celebrations, he said progress includes the creation of the Permanent
Forum for Indigenous issues at the United Nations. He added that there
has also been a dramatic shift in attitudes:
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"Nobody
wants sanctions for the sake of sanctions. But that could be necessary
if there is no compliance with what the Sudanese government has committed
in the joint communiqué."
"In
particular, legitimate and robust responses to terrorism must be made
to operate within legal constraints. Moreover, the war on terrorism
should not obscure all other pressing social problems."