Ban Ki-moon Awaits Response
from Sudanese President on Darfur
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
says he is still waiting for a reply from 
Sudanese
President Omar Al-Bashir to his letter in which he is
proposing the deployment of a hybrid UN/AU peacekeeping
force to Darjur. "The continuing deteriorating
situation in Darfur, particularly the human rights violations
and abuses and killings of civilians, is just unacceptable.
The international community must take immediate measures
on this matter." The
Secretary-General says the crisis in Darfur is a top
priority issue on his agenda.
Security Council Authorizes
African Union Mission to Stabilize Somalia
The Security Council has authorized the African Union
to establish a mission to help stabilize the situation
in Somalia. In a resolution unanimously adopted late
on Tuesday, the Council decided that the mission will
support dialogue and reconciliation in the country which
has not had a functioning government for over a decade.
Former Sierra Leonean Child
Soldier Recalls His War Experiences
Ishmael
Beah was forced to become a child soldier at the age
of thirteen during the civil war in Sierra Leone in
the 1990's. In this first of a two-part conversation
with UN Radio, he describes how he became a child soldier
and some of the things he and his fellow child soldiers
did during the war. "Sometimes you
went to villages where civilians were a little reluctant
to give up whatever food they had. Then they get annihilated.
If the lieutenant says this village is a sympathizer
to the rebels, then basically no one there would survive."
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Political Impasse Continues in
Cote d'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire remains divided between the north and
the 
south
despite several attempts to reunite the country.
But why does a political solution seem illusive?"A
lack of political will and a lack of confidence. It
is not so many years ago that there was civil war and
a rebellion and with many deaths. So, of course, the
scars are still there."The
head of the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire, Pierre Schori,
says there
is hope that the political impasse can be broken when
President Laurent Gbagbo and former rebel leader Guillaume
Soro meet in Burkina Faso in the near future.
More People Die As They Cross
the Gulf of Aden to Yemen
Thirty people died on Monday when the boat smuggling
them capsized as it approached 
the
Yemeni coast. The spokesperson for the United Nations
refugee agency, Jennifer Pagonis, says even more people
are expected to try to cross the Gulf of Aden desperate
to escape conflict or to find a better life in Yemen.
"Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians are
waiting in Bosaso in Somalia to make the crossing across
the Gulf of Aden. Some estimate the numbers to be more
than 9,000 people."
Nigerian Authorities Fight
Trafficking in People
Trafficking in people
is a serious problem in Nigeria. However, Shadrack Haruna,
a prosecutor from the Nigerian National Agency for the
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons, says the government
is taking measures to tackle the problem.
PILOT EDITION Real Audio
Tenth anniversary of the Rwandan
genocide: Why did the genocide happen? Why was the
UN unable to prevent the killings or stop the massacres?
What lessons have been learned? Transcript
