UN Radio

UN and Africa
Programme Number: 126
Week of: Sunday, 12th November, 2006
Recording Date: Thursday, 15th November, 2006
Topical Issue(s):

Diplomatic efforts intensified this week in New York and in Addis Ababa to reinforce African Union's peacekeeping efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United Nations and the African Union are now proposing a hybrid force that would under the AU leadership and be reinforced personnel from the United Nations.

An indigenous woman in Kenya talks about the negative impact on climate change to her community. Nelly Damaris spoke with UN Radio's Diane Bailey who is covering the Conference on Climate Change in Nairobi.

Floods in north eastern Kenya have destroyed shelters for refugees mainly from Somalia. The UN refugee agency says that the floods have made it difficult to provide relief items to the people in need.

Editor / Presenter: Ransford Cline-Thomas
Producer: Derrick Mbatha
Production Assistant: Florence Poblete-Enriquez
Studio Engineer: Zach Pruitt
Duration: 15'00"

PRESENTER:
This is United Nations Radio in New York.

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PRESENTER:
Hello and welcome to UN and Africa, I'm Diane Bailey.

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PRESENTER:
In today's programme the diplomatic efforts intensify to reinforce the efforts of the African Union peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan. The head of UN peacekeeping operations stresses the need for a political solution to the problem.

CLIP 1: JEAN MARIE GUEHENNO
"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."

PRESENTER:
That was Jean Marie Guehenno, the Under Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations. Also in this edition, a representative of indigenous people of Kenya talks about the impact of climate change. And later in the programme, floods devastate refugee shelters in northeastern Kenya.

CLIP 2: RON REDMOND
"The water has destroyed hundreds of homes in the mainly Somali camps in Dadaab in northern Kenya. 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."

PRESENTER:
That was Ron Redmond, the spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency. You will hear more from him later in the programme.

So, stay tuned to UN and Africa.

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PRESENTER:
Diplomatic efforts intensified again this week to get movement on the solving the problem of Darfur in Sudan, where about two hundred thousand people have died and more than two million others displaced by conflict. More diplomatic activities are expected in the coming days to help end the violence which is already spilling over into the neighbouring Central African Republic and Chad. The number two man in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Hedi Annabi attended a meeting of African leaders in Ethiopia, including senior Sudanese government officials. In addition to that the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan has been meeting with African Union officials to discuss Darfur. The problem has been the refusal of the Sudanese government to allow the United Nations to take over the peacekeeping operations from the African Union. Now there is talk of a hybrid operation. UN Radio's Carlos Araujo found out from Yves Sorokobi, a spokesman for the Secretary-General what this hybrid force is all about.

CUT 1: SOROKOBI INTERVIEW
SOROKOBI: What the Secretary-General and the Chairman of the African Union are trying to propose to the government of Sudan and other partners in this issue is a hybrid force, which is a mixed force, AU, UN that would be under African Union leadership but would be reinforced by UN military advisers, police advisers and advisers in other areas that the African Union may need to carry out its mission in Darfur. It's an important development in that it signals a certain softening of Sudan's position and the Secretary-General has proposed that this be taken very seriously. He has invited the five permanent members of the Security Council to back this initiative.

ARAUJO: Does it mean that the SG has given up on the idea of a UN force for Darfur?

SOROKOBI: Absolutely not. This is part of a transition package. This is a first big step towards a full deployment of a UN force. It's an interim compromise as we continue to work towards the goal of implementing resolution 1706 which calls for full force under UN command.

ARAUJO: And there are any indications that the Sudanese are ready to accept this hybrid force?

SOROKOBI: Well there are several indications that Sudan may be willing to consider this as an opportunity. We hear from various sources that there is a very good spirit among the Sudanese officials about this latest proposal, so we are willing to hope that something good will come out of it.

PRESENTER;
Yves Sorokobi of the Office of spokesman for the Secretary-General. The head of peacekeeping operations at the United Nations Jean Marie Guehenno says reinforcement for the hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur would involve varying numbers of personnel from ninety to several thousands.

CUT 2: JEAN MARIED GUEHENNO 3
When we talk about ninety, when we talk about a hundred or couple of hundreds, we are talking support personnel to strengthen command and control and logistics of the African Union. When we talk of thousands of forces we are talking about an enhanced operation with additional troops. And we have been very clear that in our view, any increased UN role in Darfur would first draw on African capacity. But that doesn't mean that one would not have to go beyond African capacity as a sign of solidarity and support to Africa by the rest of the world, in particular our traditional troop contributors.

In the meantime violence continues in Darfur. Just last weekend, there were reports that about thirty people were killed when pro-government militias raided a village near Chad. The head of peacekeeping operations at the United Nations, Jean Marie Guehenno joined the Secretary-General in his meetings with African Union officials. Mr. Guehenno says that a real ceasefire is needed in Darfur.

CUT 3: JEAN MARIE GUEHENNO 1
As we know, in recent weeks there has been if anything intensifying of military operations and it is always difficult to tell who launches which operation. But the facts are that we have seen an intensification of such military operations. That needs to stop. We are calling on all parties really to desist from any military action because if the fighting continues on the ground it is very difficult to see how any credible political process will take root.

PRESENTER:
Mr. Guehenno stresses that, likewise, there can be no peacekeeping operations without a credible political process.

CUT 4: JEAN MARIE GUEHENNO 2
And if there is no credible political process no force, whether, whatever the colour of its berets, green or blue, will be able to cope with the situation in Darfur. So that emphasis on a political process and as a basis of a political process on immediate ceasefire, that's something fundamental. This is an issue that was raised by several members of the Council and we are the United Nations, we believe strongly that it is a top priority today.

PRESENTER:
Mr. Guehenno says that following this week's meetings between the United Nations and the African Union, there will be another meeting of the African Union's Peace and Security Council on Friday, the 24th of November.

CUT 5: JEAN MARIE GUEHENNO 4
So I think between now and the 24th of November we do hope that the international community will come together, that the United Nations, the African Union, the government of Sudan, bearing in mind what remains a very tragic situation on the ground, will make the right decision so we can help the people of Sudan, the people who are suffering to really put an end to that suffering.

PRESENTER:
Jean Marie Guehenno, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, says the United Nations is also sending an assessment team to the Central African Republic and Chad because the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan is now spilling over into those countries.

STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME

PRESENTER:
This week delegates from around the world are concluding their two-week conference on climate change in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. UN Radio's Diane Bailey is there and spoke with, Nelly Damaris, a representative of indigenous people who attended the meeting as a witness of climate change. The fifty-year old Kenyan woman says climate has changed drastically and created problems since she was born.

DAMARIS: From 1982 up to now, we have realized a lot, we have experienced a shortage of food, sicknesses, things like malaria which were not there before. I first saw a mosquito in 1982. I had never seen it. I used to hear but now there is lot of mosquitos. And malaria also has affected our women, children, including poverty, because when people are sick like in July, August, hospitals are flooded, women get dehydrated. We have heard of a lot of women dying because of malaria and children also. Also a shortage of food. It affects the education system for the children. At times there is no food, they cannot go to school. We cannot get enough school fees for them because we have been affected by either drought and so many other things which follow.

BAILEY: What made you realize that this was due to how the climate was changing?

DAMARIS: When the food was not there, like last year we lost rain from October to April, something which had never happened before. Maize, which is our staple food, is not there even up to now. Some people have not harvested. The few people who have maize now are sharing with others. We are not sure what's happening next.

BAILEY: What are some of the things that you, your community is doing to cope with climate change?

DAMARIS: At the moment we have brought up some tree nurseries for indigenous and exotic trees. We as a community we prefer exotic trees because of fast growing and we get easy money, quick money. Factories now are using wood fuel, wood fuel instead of electricity. So are optimistic that we are going to get markets.

BAILEY: And what would you like the international community to help you with to cope with climate change?

DAMARIS: We would like to the international community to come up with a gender, a better gender issue because women are facing a lot of poverty. Since in our communities, our culture does not allow women, there before women owned any property. So with an environment we want to take advantage of the environmental issue for the women to come up and raise up tree nurseries. Women and children to be taught how to grow tree nurseries. When we get those seedlings we settle them to the government to reforestate the forest which has been destroyed. If they can buy with a good price, then we are going to reduce the poverty.

BAILEY: The floods that are happening in the south of Kenya right now, do you think if there had been more trees it would have been less severe.

DAMARIS: Oh yes.

STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME

PRESENTER:
As delegates from around the world met in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to discuss climate change, devastating floods in another part of the country killed more than twenty people. The United Nations and other humanitarian agencies are concerned about the plight of refugees from Somalia sheltering refugee camps in the Daadab area. Gerry Adams reports.

NARRATOR:
The refugee camps in the Dadaab complex are housing approximately 160,000 refugees mainly from Somalia. Eighty per cent of the refugees within the camps have been displaced by flooding. Flooding is also threatening the supply of relief items and making it difficult for humanitarian workers to reach the people in need of assistance. Roads and bridges have been destroyed by the floods. The spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, Ron Redmond says that more than 70,000 people have been uprooted by flooding in the camps.

CUT 1: Ron Redmond
The water has destroyed hundreds of homes in the mainly Somali camps in Dadaab in northern Kenya. 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. Among the fatalities reported yesterday was a three year old child who was caught when water swept through the low lying region completely engulfing thousands of refugee shelters and living hundreds of huts uninhabitable.

NARRATOR:
Ron Redmond says that the United Nations refugee agency has encountered problems when it tried to send a team to see the damage caused by floods in one part of the affected area.

CUT 2: Ron Redmond
A UNHCR assessment team was unable to reach Dagahaly, which is 20 kilometres from Dadaab as roads leading out to that camp beyond Ifo were impassable. So far Hagadera refugee camp which sits on higher grounds has not been affected. More than 160,000 refugees are currently sheltered in the Dadaab regions in three camps.

NARRATOR:
Hundreds of refugees in the Ifo camp, which has been worst affected by the floods, were able to move into nearby schools on Monday while others escaped to slightly higher grounds in other parts of the camps.

CUT 3: Ron Redmond
UNHCR estimates that up to 90 per cent of the Ifo's 54,000 refugees have been affected by the flooding while in the Gahali Camp some ten kilometers away, up to 80 per cent of the camp's 37,000 residents may have lost much of their belongings and many of their homes.

NARRATOR:
Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Red Cross, Anna Nelson says that the Kenyan Red Cross has launched an emergency appeal to help the victims of the floods in the country.

CUT 4: Anna Nelson
The International Federation a week ago released 150,000 francs from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund for the victims of that flooding. The head of the Disaster Response for the Kenya Red Cross expects that the situation will continue to deteriorate and is also warning of the risk of water borne disease, especially cholera to emerge.

NARRATOR:
The World Health Organization has started discussing with the Kenyan government how to respond to a possible cholera outbreak. Reporting for UN Radio, I Gerry Adams.

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PRESENTER:

And that's all for this edition of UN and Africa. Our producer was Derrick Mbatha, Production Assistant was Beng Poblete Enriquez and our sound engineer was Zach Pruitt.
And now from me Ransford Cline-Thomas, bye for now.

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