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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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UNICEF Trains Sudanese Police in Investigating Child Rapes
Human Rights Chief Says World Continues to Face Many Rights Abuses The new High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, says the past year has seen many abuses of human rights. She gave that assessment at a meeting on the protection of human rights in Geneva.
Ms. Arbour said she plans to be attentive to both the chronic abuses of human rights as well as to those marked by acute crises. She added that work to protect human rights on the international arena must be accompanied by the development of a strong capacity to carry out that protection at the national level.
Afghan Women
Break 40 Per Cent Registration Mark
The Afghanistan voter registration is closing at the end of the month and the upcoming Presidential elections will be held on 5th October this year.
UNCHR Criticizes Italian Government over Handling of Group of Asylum
Seekers
Severe flooding in South Asia is continuing to threaten lives and displace people across India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The World Food Programme warns that Bangladesh could face a major humanitarian crisis, as flooding over the past few months has destroyed a substantial part of the country's rice crop, as well as the food stocks of many households. WFP is distributing high energy biscuits and other food supplies to the affected regions.
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UNICEF,
the UN Children's Fund, has trained Sudanese police officers to investigate
the rape of children in Darfur. The initiative is the first of its
kind and aims to sensitize the police and other law enforcement officials
on how to interview children who have endured sexual violence. During
her recent visit to Sudan, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy
heard the testimonies of many children and women who have been victims
of rape and other forms of violence. The three day training session
in Khartoum was assisted by two experienced Jordanian police officers
-- one man and one woman. In the next few months, the Jordanian police
and UNICEF will assist the Government of Sudan in the training of
all Sudanese police officers in Darfur, with special attention to
the training of police women.
"The
world continued to face challenges brought about by terrorism, conflicts,
but also by
poverty, inequality, discrimination, violence against women, trafficking,
displaced persons, injustice and impunity. Of course, we cannot stay
indifferent in the face of these violations.
The
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reports that Afghan women now
make up more than 40% of registered voters, though not all figures
from remote districts have been counted. During registration women
faced particular difficulties because of the entrenched and sometimes
violent opposition from some Afghans. Since mid-June, three female
electoral workers were killed in two separate attacks as they attempted
to register women voters. But as of last week, more than 3 million
women were registered to vote, trailing male registration by 1 million.
UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard. 
The
UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has criticized the handling of a group of
asylum seekers in Italy. The controversy surrounds a group of 37 people
who were rescued from the southern Mediterranean Sea by the German
vessel, Cap Anamur, in late June. In a note verbale sent to the Italian
Government, UNHCR applauded the government's move to allow the group
to disembark on humanitarian grounds. At the same time it raised concerns
over serious flaws in the subsequent handling of the asylum claims
that have resulted in the deportation from Rome of 25 people to Ghana
and five to Nigeria. UNHCR Spokesman Rupert Colville says the criticism
is not about whether the asylum seekers had legitimate claims, but
about how those claim were handled.