UN Radio

UN and Africa
Programme Number: 169
Week of: Sunday, 09 September 2007
Recording Date: Thursday, 13 September 2007
Topical Issue(s):

• Liberians are facing many challenges, as they continue to restore stability after years of conflict. The head of the UN mission in Liberia, Alan Doss, says that a drawdown of the mission should be done gradually and in a way that would avoid creating instability.

• China, which has good relations with Sudan, is seen as an important player in helping resolve the Darfur Crisis. So, its representative on Darfur and African issues, Liu Guijin, visited New York to discuss cooperation on sending a hybrid UN/African Union Force to Darfur.

• The public outcry following the deaths of two girls who were being circumcised in Egypt last summer has created a momentum for a campaign to ban this practice. Margaret Thuo of the UN Population Fund, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says laws are important in fighting Female Genital Mutilation.

Producer/presenter: Derrick Mbatha
Editor: Ransford Cline-Thomas
Production Assistant: Charles Appel
Studio Engineer: Zach Prewitt
Duration: 15’00”

RESENTER: This is United Nations Radio in New York.

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PRESENTER:

Hello and welcome to UN and Africa. I’m Derrick Mbatha.

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PRESENTER:

In today’s programme, the Special Representative in Liberia says the United Nations Mission in the country is now looking at starting a draw down.
CLIP 1: Alan Doss
“We propose that it takes place just over three years starting next month. It’s being designed in a way that is meant to avoid creating instability.”

PRESENTER:

You will hear more on that in a moment. Also in this edition, the Chinese envoy for Darfur and African issues offers his views on the efforts to resolve the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.
CLIP 2: Liu Guijin
“The Sudanese government is a sovereign government. Whether you like this government or not, without its cooperation it will not be able to carry out successful peacekeeping operation there”

PRESENTER:

And later in the programme, a United Nations official in Addis Ababa talks about the problem of female genital mutilation in Africa.

So, stay tuned to UN and Africa.

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UN Envoy Says Drawdown of UN Mission in Liberia Should Be Gradual

PRESENTER:

Liberia is steadily consolidating its democracy with the help of the United Nations since Liberians voted for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected female head of state in Africa almost two years ago. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Liberia, Alan Doss was at the United Nations recently and told the Security Council that the situation is stable in this West African country. I caught up with Mr. Doss who told me that one of the major challenges that Liberia is facing is the rebuilding of its shattered economy.
DOSS: Well first one has to recall that in the twenty plus years of growing instability which culminated in civil war, Liberia lost 90 per cent of its gross domestic product. It went from being by African standards, a middle income country of about 1,200, 1,300 dollars per capita per annum, to at the bottom in 2004, roughly 140 dollars.

MBATHA: A huge difference.

DOSS: Vast difference. That’s what happens when you have conflict and violence and war. The economy suffers and with it, of course, a loss of jobs, a loss of infrastructure. So rebuilding that infrastructure is a big priority and we have, in fact, done a programme, the United Nations Mission with the World Bank the UNMIL and the Government Public Works Department to actually join up using UN military engineers with World Bank funding and UNDP support to recruit people, to work on the roads. We have done pretty well. I think last dry season we created about 31,000 temporary jobs, most of them in the rural areas for unskilled workers, some of whom were ex-combatants. I want to see much more of that as we move into the next dry season.

MBATHA: So there is work in progress.

DOSS: Work in progress, but I keep saying it’s a huge, huge backlog of work and these problems are not going to be solved in a few months. Basically this generation has to save and invest so that the next generation will be better off.

MBATHA: What about youth, young people. You know that in a country that is recovering from conflict, young people who are unemployed are tempted to revert to what they know.

DOSS: That is a constant problem, a constant concern, because you know Liberia is surrounded by countries that themselves are going through difficulties. And in the past there has been cross border movement of young people being recruited to take part in violence, conflict and, of course, war. The solution is to get the economy moving, to create jobs so that these young people and especially young men, I have to say, are less tempted to engage in violence.

MBATHA: Is the UN mission in Liberia now starting to talk about drawing down?

DOSS: Well yes. I was at the Security Council and at the request of the Council, the Secretary-General in his report which I presented set out his proposals for the draw down. It’s a gradual draw down. We propose that it takes place just over three years starting next month. It’s being designed in a way that is meant to avoid creating instability. We have linked it to certain key benchmarks such as the standup of the national security forces, which are being rebuilt. That will take time, including the police, including the army, including the other security services. We are also looking, of course, at broader issues: economic progress, rule of law and, of course, the sub-region as a whole. So I presented that plan to the Council. Certainly I can say that in the responses from Council members I think it’s fair to say that they were generally positive. They certainly recognized the progress that Liberia had made and also the role of the United Nations mission and more broadly the United Nations, including the colleagues in the UN country team, and I think also acknowledged that we have to act in a careful prudent manner not to put at risk the huge investment we’ve all collectively made in Liberia, bearing in mind that an investment in Liberia, bringing Liberia back to peace, keeping Liberia at peace, is an investment in the whole of Western Africa.

PRESENTER:

That was Alan Doss, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General in Liberia.
STING UN AFRICA THEME MUSIC
China is Helping to Resolve Darfur Crisis, Says Senior Envoy on Africa
PRESENTER:
China, which has good relations with Sudan, is seen as an important player in helping to resolve the Darfur Crisis. Its representative on Darfur and African issues, Liu Guijin, was in New York this week to discuss cooperation on sending a hybrid UN/African Union Force to Darfur. UN Radio’s Bissera Kostova reports.
NARRATOR:
Liu Guijin, the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Darfur and African
issues told reporters at UN headquarters that resolving the Darfur issue would not be
accomplished by the exertion of pressure, sanctions and military power.

CUT 1: LIU GUIJIN

The Sudanese government is a sovereign government. Whether you like this government or not, without its cooperation it will not be able to carry out successful peacekeeping operation there and will be hard to resolve the problem of that country and therefore, the constructive efforts made by the Chinese side is recognized by many governments including the governments of many developing countries, the United Nations, and AU.

NARRATOR:

Responding to questions about China’s oil exploration in Sudan, he stressed that China’s
investment in the Sudanese oil industry is transparent and mutually beneficial to the two
countries. He said China controls only 40 percent of a multi-national company, along
with other Asian countries and the Sudanese government. And he added that the western
companies Total and White Nile had also received the right to oil exploration from the
southern Sudanese Government.

CUT 2: LIU GUIJIN

And it simply doesn’t mean that the western companies are not interested in the oil exploration in Sudan. So far as I know, the US companies and French companies have gained the right to oil exploration in Sudan as early as 1996, which is years before the Chinese companies started their work. It’s simply because they are worried that enough oil underlies the surface of Sudan and the regional situation that they leave the area.

NARRATOR:

Mr. Liu also addressed criticism, particularly by the NGO Save Darfur that China has not used its considerable economic clout to on the Sudanese government to stop the ethnic killing in Darfur. He said that the activists for peace themselves see that China’s oil exploration in Sudan does not mean that it is responsible for the genocide.

CUT 3: LIU GUIJIN

And they also clarify that on the Olympic games, they do not boycott Beijing Olympic Games, they simply want to make use of this event to exert more pressure on the Chinese side. And I also told them that the Olympic games and Darfur issue are totally irrelevant. One of the basic and fundamental principles and spirit of the Olympic Games is non-politicization, and the Olympic Games is not only Chinese peoples Olympic games. It is hosted by China, but it is a great event for the people around the world.

NARRATOR:

Mr. Liu said China is acting on many fronts to help Darfur. It is providing 10 million dollars in humanitarian assistance and Chinese companies are working on projects to provide drinking water in southern Darfur. It has also pledged 300 engineers to lay the foundation for the joint UN -African Union peacekeeping force. He added that China had provided tangible and practical assistance for the region and would continue to provide even more humanitarian and development aid to Darfur.

CUT 4: LIU GUIJIN

In terms of the hybrid peace-keeping operation and the political process, the Chinese side has also made huge efforts, particularly on the hybrid peace-keeping operation the Chinese side has utilized all kinds of channels and talked to the Sudanese government and persuaded them as an equal partner to accept the Annan 3-phased plan, especially the hybrid peacekeeping operation. We have done a lot of efforts in this aspect. We do not always publicize all the efforts we have made, but indeed on the resolution of the Darfur issue we have played a very constructive and even unique role.

NARRATOR:

That was Liu Guijin, the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Darfur and African issues. Reporting for UN Radio, I am Bissera Kostova.

STING UN AFRICA THEME MUSIC

A UN Official Stresses Need for Laws to Fight Female Genital Mutilation

PRESENTER:
The public outcry following the deaths of two girls as a result of female circumcision in Egypt last summer has created a momentum for a campaign to ban this practice. Known as female genital mutilation, this practice refers to partial or total removal of the external parts of the female genital organs for cultural, religious or other reasons which are not related to curing a woman. Margaret Thuo of the UN Population Fund, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, told UN Radio’s Abdoushakur Aboud that laws are important in fighting Female Genital Mutilation.
THUO: Laws are important because at least some people will fear law, and one of the key issues, of course, is law enforcement. We have seen not laws relating to FGM but many laws in other areas, unless they are enforced, then they are not very useful if they remain in the shelves. So that is one way. So the laws are key. The other issue we found out is even like the issue of medical, the doctors. The doctors are cutting out FGM FDC and these are the people who should really be with us in fighting this practice. …

ABOUD: How have the doctors been involved in this now?

THUO: Well, let me say that there are very many doctors who are supporting the elimination of the practice, but we realize in places like Egypt the doctors, let me say the community have approached doctors to undertake the practice, to do the FGM in the hospital because there has been a lot of discussion about the health implication of FGM and therefore the community fearing the FGM by traditional surgeons, in brackets, they consult with the doctors and agree that it could be done in the hospital. So in countries like Egypt came out very strongly and saying that it is actually being performed and we know it is being performed in other countries as well. So this is where now the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, for example, must be very strong to ensure that the ethics, the medical ethics is followed strictly.

ABOUD: If the practice is done in Canada, the United States, Australia where laws are against FGMs, how can we stop, or how can you stop that practice in these countries?

THUO: You mean the countries like the developed countries.

ABOUD: Yeah in the developed countries. That means people are exporting this practice to these developed countries.

THUO: O.K. Yes they are, and that is why, of course, like Belgium was here and we know that it is true. Laws have been set. I think we do have about sixteen countries in Africa where we have laws, and we have in these countries, about six of them, if I remember correctly, we have Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy and New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States which have come up with the law. But the thing is as long as that practice is in Africa, you will still continue to have a lot of problems in the developed countries. They have tried, for example, in Norway they reported that they have, they were almost deciding to actually take child who comes from Africa, having gone on vacation because they go on vacation and then they come back when they are already cut. So there was that issue. Of course, there was a lot of argument because it was seen like violation of human rights coming and inspecting the vagina of every girl or every woman who comes back from vacation, but definitely it is still a struggle on how to enforce that law and we know, for example, in the U.S. there was a man who was jailed, was it for, I think eight years or so because of this, because of cutting the child. So they have to enforce the law and maybe put people in prison, but hopefully we can continue to educate the community including abroad so that they stop that practice. But as long as we have the receiving countries in Africa, it is going to be very difficult.

PRESENTER:
That was Margaret Thuo of the sub-regional office of the United Nations Population fund based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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PRESENTER:
And that’s all for this edition of UN and Africa. Our Production Assistant was Charles Appel and our sound engineer was Zach Pruwitt. I am Derrick Mbatha saying bye bye.

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