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UN and Africa
Programme Number: 078
Week of: Sunday, 11th December, 2005
Recording Date: Thursday, 15th December, 2005
Topical Issue(s):
° A new report released by UNICEF
says that hundreds of millions of children are suffering
from severe exploitation and discrimination and have
become virtually invisible in the world. UNICEF's
Joe Edwin Judd focuses on some of the problem facing
children in Africa.
° As the crisis persists in Darfur, the prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court, Moreno Ocampo,
briefs the Security Council on his investigation of
crimes that have been committed in the region. He
says the court is facing a number of challenges lack
of full cooperation from all those concerned.
° The President-elect of Liberia, Mrs. Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf this week came to the United Nations
to meet with the Secretary-General and other officials.
She tells UN Radio she would like the United Nations
to continue its peacekeeping mission and to support
Liberia's development agenda.
Editor / Presenter: Ransford Cline-Thomas
Producer: Derrick Mbatha
Production Assistant: Beng Poblete-Enriquez
Studio Engineer: Louis Bastion
Duration: 15'00"
PRESENTER: This is United Nations Radio in New York.
*** SIG TUNE *** (Please, play briefly, dip upon
wave, and hold under narr.)
PRESENTER: Hello and welcome to UN and Africa, I'm
Ransford Cline-Thomas.
*** SIG TUNE ***: (Bring Sig Tune up briefly, dip
and hold under)
PRESENTER: Hundreds of millions of children around
the world are suffering from severe exploitation and
discrimination and have become virtually invisible.
That according to a report on the state of the world's
children released by UNICEF.
CLIP-1: JOE EDWIN JUDD
"Of the 115 million children who are out of school
in the world, about sixty-two
per cent of that number is for African children. And
that's very serious."
PRESENTER: That was Joe Edwin Judd, Special Advisor
to the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund.
You'll hear more from him in a moment.
Also in this edition of UN and Africa, the Prosecutor
of the International Criminal Court, reports to the
Security Council about his efforts to investigate
allegations of crimes against humanity which have
been committed in the Darfur region of Sudan.
CLIP-2: MORENO OCAMPO
"The continuing insecurities in Darfur do not
allow for an effective system of victim
and witness protection. This has forced my office
to investigate outside Sudan and
represents a serious impediment to the conduct of
effective investigations in Darfur by
national judicial bodies as well."
PRESENTER: That was Mr. Moreno Ocampo outlining a
major problem he is facing as he tries to carry out
his investigations in Darfur.
And later in the programme Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
says the United
Nations should remain in Liberia and continue to help
restore stability and
rebuild its economy.
So stay tuned to UN and Africa.
*** SIG TUNE *** (Bring up briefly, dip and hold under
until first sentence.)
UNICEF Says African Children Face New Trends of Problems
PRESENTER: The UN Children's Fund this week launched
the State of the World's Children, a report assessing
the situation of children around the world. UNICEF
says that millions of children are being trafficked,
often for sexual exploitation or forced to work in
domestic servitude. But most of these children are
virtually invisible. The report says that even those
who live in plain sight such as street children are
excluded from basic services and protections and that
more than half a billion children live in absolute
poverty. Joe Edwin Judd, Special Advisor to the Executive
Director of the UN Children's Fund told UN Radio's
Audrey Grace that certain trends are now adding to
the suffering of children, particularly in Africa.
Judd: For example, the number of children living in
institutions such as orphanages which are really not
caring well for them, being at least around 10 million.
The number of children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS
is serious, continually high numbers of children particularly
in Africa, but also in some other places affected
by armed conflict. To see rates of deterioration in
the situation of children around these what we hoped
could be very containable or maybe even problems that
could be eliminated I think is distressing.
Audrey: And focusing a little more on Africa, what
do you see in the different regions of Africa, in
terms of conflict and other issues that affect the
children of Africa?
Judd: Well, I think that conflict is the real issue,
and if it were the only issue and we saw progress
and peace building we would feel the future of children
in Africa would be brighter. But the major concern
is not just about new conflicts but a lack of resolution
of old conflicts. And old conflicts starting up and
endangering children, not only their lives and their
survival, which is bad enough, but actually forecasting
a long shadow on their future. Of the 150 children
who are out of school in the world, about 62% of that
number is for African children. And that's very serious.
Now, it's not serious in every single country in sub-Saharan
Africa. But it's a serious thing in a number of countries
including countries that up until a few years ago
had more positive looking trends for the country in
a whole. For example: in Uganda and Northern Uganda.
It's a very serious problem for the survival of children
for their education and their basic protection in
a country which has been known for making some development
games. So we're not able anymore to always think of
a country as being either developmentally oriented
or in a crisis. Many countries are in both. On the
other hand, we've seen some progress. We've seen progress
in Africa in countries like Angola and Mozambique
where the government has said, "Look. We have
to do something bold and striking. Let's abolish these
school fees. We know this is going to create a surge
we won't be able to handle initially but it will put
the political pressure on us we need to hire more
teachers, to train teachers from different cultural
and tribal groups, to bring in more woman teachers
who have a period of discomfort but we want to surge
ahead. And I think that's what encouraging about the
situation in Africa. One senses a new, stronger will
to come to grips with these problems.
Audrey: And in comparison with last year's reports,
the 2005 report, what in Africa specifically have
you seen as the improvements or anything that has
gotten worse in terms of the state of world's children?
Judd: Well, I think that's a mixed picture on HIV/
AIDS. I think the awareness level and people speaking
out including from the United Nations side, from the
government themselves, from a number of civil society
groups, including faith-based organizations, is really
terrific. And I think we've seen some of these organizations,
including the faith-based and traditional non-government
organizations start to develop as a network of services.
But the resources are really missing. We've got to
do a lot more and a better job around the mobilization
and re-integration of child soldiers and children
who have been exploited, including sexual exploitations
back into society. But what's been shown in the last
year is that there are some good signs of political
will and is increasing technical competence in Africa.
Putting the two together, particularly in the rural
areas of Africa and getting a good outreach strategy
is really the key. And bringing into visibility is
very, very important. It's little known, but we have
about 143 million children under 5 who are under weight,
a real strong indicator of under-nutrition and vulnerability.
Most of those children are Africa's salvation.
Audrey: Also, again, focusing on Africa, there's
a lot of regional conflicts as you mentioned. How
are the government's ability to offer services been
affected by these conflicts?
Judd: Well, I think it's very key that governments
take a policy position of children first. And that
they negotiate with the other combatants, around what
I would call corridors of tranquillity, or corridors
of peace, or corridors of services for poor communities
and their children. And what does that mean? That
means that immunization services go in and make visible
the children that are not being covered and provide
the coverage. And that means that it will be understood
that if all combatants are really interested in the
future of the country, if they agree to have safe
schools. That means, girls and some boys, will not
be kidnapped, put into sexual slavery, will not be
treated like child soldiers. So I think governments
that we recognize in security issues need to take
the first steps.
PRESENTER: That was Joe Edwin Judd, Special Advisor
to the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund
speaking with UN Radio's Audrey Grace.
ICC Prosecutor Faces Obstacles in Investigating Crimes
in Darfur
*** SIG TUNE *** (Bring up briefly, dip and hold
under until first sentence.)
PRESENTER: The prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court, Moreno Ocampo who, at the request of the Security
Council, has been investigating crimes perpetrated
against civilians in the troubled Darfur region of
Sudan has reported to the Security Council on his
activities. He told the members that his Office has
made progress in gathering facts relating to the crimes
and individuals responsible for those crimes committed
in Darfur since 1 July 2002. He made it clear that
grave crimes have been committed in Darfur, including
the killing of scores of people, mass rapes and other
forms of extremely serious gender violence. He noted
that despite the presence of African peacekeepers
in the region, the violence has started again. Mr.
Ocampo.
CUT 1: MORENO OCAMPO
We continue to monitor ongoing violence. Attacks on
humanitarian workers and facilities remain prevalent,
including incidents involving the killing of African
Union peacekeepers.
PRESENTER: And this is happening despite the fact
that the government has insisted that it can deal
with the perpetrators of the violence in the region.
In June this year it decided to establish the Special
Court for Darfur and in November also established
two new special courts to sit in Geneina and Nyala
with jurisdiction expanded to include violations of
international humanitarian law. Mr. Moreno Ocampo
told the Security Council that his Office is continuing
to gather and assess information relating to these
efforts of the government.
CUT 2: MORENO OCAMPO
However, the continuing insecurities in Darfur do
not allow for an effective system of victim and witness
protection. This has forced my Office to investigate
outside Darfur and represents a serious impediment
to the conduct of effective investigations in Darfur
by national judicial bodies as well.
PRESENTER: The problems that Mr. Ocampo has faced
have not stopped him from carrying out the investigations
outside Darfur, thanks to the information and other
forms of assistance provided by various states and
organizations about what is happening in Darfur.
CUT 3: MORENO OCAMPO
We have identified witnesses in seventeen countries.
Well over a hundred potential witnesses have been
screened and a number of formal statements have already
been taken. We are currently screening hundreds of
additional potential witnesses either directly or
with the assistance of states and organizations. To
facilitate this process, my Office has established
a semi-permanent presence in the region, which provides
logistical, security and other support to the process
of witness identification and interview.
PRESENTER: Mr. Moreno Ocampo says that in November
the International Criminal Court sent a mission to
the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to discuss with the
authorities what the Court needs in order to continue
its investigations.
Meanwhile the President of the Security Council, Ambassador
Emyr Jones Parry has made it clear that the Council
expects the government of Sudan to cooperate with
the Court.
CUT 4: EMYR JONES PERRY
Secondly, in terms of what the prosecutor is saying
now on the basis of the contacts which took place
last month in Khartoum, things are reasonable and
progressing. Thirdly, our assumption is that they
should continue to, but we would judge the government
of Sudan by its actions.
PRESENTER: Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry has said that
if it becomes apparent that the Prosecutor is not
receiving the cooperation expected from the government,
the Council will respond appropriately.
STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME
PRESENTER: President-Elect Seeks Continued UN Support
for Liberia
PRESENTER: On Wednesday the United Nations Secretary-General
expressed concern about the recent disturbances in
the Liberian capital of Monrovia and the tensions
resulting from protests by supporters of the Congress
of Democratic Change against the results of the run-off
presidential elections. The CDC's candidate George
Weah lost to Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the November
8 elections. One incident happened last Sunday when,
after being addressed by the leaders of the CDC at
the headquarters of the party, its supporters became
violent and attacked the police. The UN Mission in
Liberia dispatched police officers and a limited number
of military personnel to help the Liberian National
Police restore order. This incident has underlined
the fragility of the peace process in Liberia. Mrs.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf came to the United Nations this
week to meet with the Secretary-General and other
senior officials. UN Radio's Maha Fayek spoke to Mrs.
Johnson-Sirleaf who stressed the importance of the
United Nations continued support as Liberia struggles
to restore stability and embark on development.
SIRLEAF: We want to make sure that the fragile peace
which we have is supported by continuation as much
as possible at an appropriate level of the peacekeeping
force. We asked the UN support as we move towards
getting our development agenda formulated and being
able to bring together the partnership with Liberia
to support the economic reconstruction effort. We
want to see the UN secure the peace. We had continuing
small pockets of disturbances recently.
FAYEK: As far as I understand, you want the peacekeeping
mission to stay, let's say, some more time in Liberia,
to do what exactly?
SIRLEAF: Insofar as the peacekeeping force, we would
like to see them stay until we have had a chance to
restructure our own security services and to professionalize
them. We will discuss time frame and the level and
the size of the force and all of that. That remains
to be properly assessed. The formulation of our development
agenda just has to do with working you know with the
UNDP office.
FAYEK: Are there any special things you are asking
them to do for you or for your country?
SIRLEAF: Oh no, just a normal thing to be supportive
of our effort to formulate our development agenda
and to get the support of our partners. I specifically
discussed with the Under Secretary-General for Political
Affairs support for repatriation of some of Liberia's
skills so that we can quickly move to build our national
capacity to enable us to manage our resources effectively
and efficiently.
PRESENTER: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president-elect
of Liberia talking to UN Radio's Maha Fayek.
SIG TUNE ((Bring up briefly, dip and hold under)
And that's all for this edition of UN and Africa.
From me, Ransford Cline-Thomas, Producer Derrick Mbatha,
Production Assistant Beng Poblete-Enriquez and engineer
Luis Bastion, bye for now.
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