Liberians Celebrate Lifting
of Diamonds Embargo
The Security Council has
lifted the ban on Liberia's
diamonds imposed in 2001to stop the West African country
from using the stones to fuel conflicts in the region.
The Security Council has now determined that Liberia
has taken adequate steps to control the movement of
its diamonds. Liberia'sMinister of Lands, Mines and
Energy, Eugene Shannon says Liberians have reasons to
celebrate. "Diamonds today will be
diamonds for development and not diamonds for conflict."
UN Security Council Calls
for Talks on Western Sahara
The
Security Council has called on Morocco and the POLISARIO
Front to resume negotiations to resolve their dispute
over Western Sahara. Morocco wants the territory to
have greater autonomy under its jurisdiction but POLISARIO
wants independence.
Veteran African
Diplomat Recalls Freedom Struggle
Ambassador Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana has
left the UN after serving in various capacities for
almost thirty years. In this first part of our conversation
with Ambassador Legwaitla, he looks back to the time
when he began his career at the United Nations: "I
may sound conservative twenty-nine years later, but
I can tell you when I came here I was full of fire"
Transcript
PREVIOUS
EDITION
Real Audio Listen and Download MP3
Fighting in Mogadishu Displaces
More Somalis
The intensification of
heavy fighting 
in
Mogadishu has forced hundreds of thousands of Somails
to flee their homes. UN relief agencies are facing difficulties
trying to assist these people.The UN Emergency Relief
Coordinator, John Holmes, says the most vulnerable people,
who are mainly women, children and the elderly, are
facing enormous difficulties."They
have virtually nothing. A lot of them are living under
trees which they apparently have to rent for shelter."
WFP Cuts Food Rations to Displaced
People in Northern Uganda
A shortage of funds has forced the World Food Programme
(WFP) to cut food rations for over one million people
displaced by conflict in northern Uganda. A WFP spokesman
warns that insufficient food could cause a lot of problems
such as theft and prostitution in the camps for the
displaced
people.
Africa Malaria
Day is Observed With Optimism
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership is optimistic about
cutting malaria deaths in Africa by half in the next
three years. United Nations health experts say that
some of the problems that African countries faced in
the past, in their fight against the disease, have been
resolved. The Executive Director of the Partnership,
Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, says some of the African countries
failed to use effective medication to prevent malaria.
"A lot of countries were continuing
to use chloroquine or SP and it was not very efficient."
Transcript
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
