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16 November 2006 - Programme Number 126

UN Intensifies Efforts to Reinforce African Peacekeepers in Darfur; Kenyan Indigenous Woman Talks about Impact of Climate Change; Floods Destroy Shelters for Somali Refugees in Kenya

Diplomatic efforts intensified this week in New York and in Addis Ababa to reinforce the African Union peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United Nations and the African Union are now proposing a hybrid force to be led by the AU with additional personnel from the UN. The head of UN peacekeeping operations, Jean Marie Guehenno stresses the importance of a political solution to the problem of Darfur:

"And if there is no credible political process , no force, whatever the colour of its berets, green or blue, will be able to cope with the situation in Darfur."

A representative of Kenyan indigenous people, Nelly Damaris, who attended the Nairobi conference on climate change, talks about the negative impact of climate change on her community. She says that climate change has led to food shortages and diseases such as malaria.

As delegates gathered in Nairobi to discuss climate change, floods destroyed shelters for refugees mainly from Somalia in north-eastern Kenya. The spokesman for the UN refugee agency, Ron Redmond says the floods have hindered efforts to assist the refugees in the Dadaab refugee complex:
"The sudden flooding has brought a major setback to our operations to settle thousands of Somali refugees who have fled to Kenya in recent months."

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