Programme Number: 080
Week of: Sunday, 25th December, 2005
Recording Date: Thursday, 29th December, 2005
Topical Issue(s):

" HIGHLIGHTS/REVIEW OF THE YEAR

PRESENTER: This is United Nations Radio in New York.

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

PRESENTER:
In this edition of UN and Africa we highlight some of the important developments on the African continent this year. Africa continued to grapple with issues of economic development, refugees, diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, conflict and political turmoil, to count just a few. Although familiar problems persisted on the continent, there was also cause for optimism.

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PRESENTER:
The year 2005 started with a reminder that Africa might not be able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These goals, which were set by world leaders in 2000, are aimed at cutting by half the number of people who live in poverty, ensuring that boys and girls get primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, reducing by two thirds the number of children who die before the age of five, combating HIV/AIDS malaria and other diseases, and ensuring sustainable use of the environment. Launching a report compiled by a team of experts on how to achieve these goals, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said progress so far was mixed.

CUT 1: KOFI ANNAN
Many countries including some of the poorest and least developed are making real progress in achieving them but many others, particularly in Africa are not moving fast enough. The recommendations in this report offer ideas and strategies to help those who have fallen behind as well as those who looking to build on their gains. The goals are not utopian. They are eminently achievable.

PRESENTER:

Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University, the Secretary-General's Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals gave a practical example of how one of the goals could be achieved.
CUT 2: JEFFREY SACHS
We lay out what we call quick wins which are areas of you could say almost miraculous gains that could be accomplished except there is no miracle involved.These are absolutely proven interventions such as something as simple as ensuring that Africa's children sleep under mosquito bed nets in the shortest period of time possible, saving more than a million lives per year at such remarkable low cost to the world. It's almost unthinkable that we even have to ask because it's so direct what could be accomplished.

PRESENTER:

STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME

On the humanitarian front, the continent continued to face crises caused mainly by conflicts. In the middle of the year, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland briefed the Security Council on various humanitarian crises in Africa, including Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Northern Uganda and Togo. He said there was lack of political will from world leaders when it came to solving African problems.
CUT 3: JAN EGELAND
There is too little attention and too little investment. And that goes for example for northern Uganda where I said we will have a break in the food pipeline in June unless we get more resources, Northern Uganda being one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. There is an inbuilt discrimination in the sense that if we all agree that human life is the same value wherever she or he is born, there should be the same attention to Northern Uganda as to Northern Iraq, the same attention to the Congo as there was to Kosovo, and that's not the case.

PRESENTER

What's more Mr. Egeland noted that the Western media was selective in choosing the stories to highlight.
CUT 4: JAN EGELAND
I think the U.S. media, in general, the Western media is very influential. I think the Western media is a good friend in some respects, like it has been on Darfur, but very disloyal in giving attention to other crises, including that of northern Uganda, or for that matter Togo or Chad. It is too uneven our global attention and we're trying to desperately to get attention to the forgotten and neglected crises. The very illusive irrational terror movement, the Lord's Resistance Army is not easy to explain and therefore the children of Northern Uganda, which is in many ways, one of the biggest untold stories of this decade are not getting the attention that they deserve. Where else in the world is there some 20,000 children kidnapped and turned into killing machines. I don't know of that anywhere in recent generation in Europe or even the Middle East or elsewhere. It is a unique story and it needs to be told.

PRESENTER:

That was Jan Egeland the man in charge of humanitarian relief operations at the United Nations. As he pointed out, one humanitarian crisis that continued to attract the attention of the world is the situation in Darfur, Sudan. More than seventy-thousand people have been killed and over two million others displaced in that region where a crisis developed following clashes with rebels who took up arms complaining that the central government in Khartoum was marginalizing their people and the region. The crises got worse as Janjaweed militias, with suspected government complicity terrorized people, pillaging villages and raping women. That prompted the United Nations to send missions to investigate violations of human rights and possible crimes against humanity. It also referred the case to the International Criminal Court. Its prosecutor, Moreno Ocampo reported to the Security Council that his Office made progress in gathering facts relating to the crimes and individuals responsible for the crimes committed in Darfur since 1 July 2002.
CUT 5: 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:
This happened while the government insisted that it could deal with the situation and decided to establish special courts for Darfur. Mr. Moreno Ocampo said his Office continued to face problems as it tried to gather information about what was happening in Darfur.
CUT 6: 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 Darfur and represents a serious impediment to the conduct of effective investigations in Darfur by national judicial bodies as well.

PRESENTER:
Meanwhile, regional leaders, supported by the United Nations, which is represented by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Sudan, Jan Pronk, have been encouraging the government and the rebels to resolve the conflict at the talks in Abuja, Nigeria. While the crisis continued in Darfur, positive and negative developments happened in the southern part of the country. After twenty one years of conflict, the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Army, led by John Garang finally reached an agreement to end the war. But the bad news is that John Garang died in a helicopter crash less than a month after being installed as Sudan's Vice President. When he signed the peace agreement with the Sudanese government, Dr. Garang had spoken about a two system deal in Sudan.
CUT 7: JOHN GARANG
We, the Sudanese, have ourselves voluntarily negotiated a unique comprehensive peace agreement, which for the lack of better terminology prescribes a one country two systems model. During the six years of interim period, at the end of which the people of southern Sudan and Abie will exercise the right to self determination, to choose between remaining and the new and united Sudan or opt out for an independence of Southern Sudan."
PRESENTER:
The news of the death of Dr. Garang was met with sadness at the United Nations as expressed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
CUT 8: KOFI ANNAN
It was with great sorrow that I learned about the death of [Sudanese] Vice-President [John] Garang. As most of you know, I was there in Sudan on the 9th of July when he was sworn in as the First Vice-President. And at that time, it was such a moment of hope. Here is a man who had lived and fought for peace and one united Sudan. And just as he was on the verge of achieving what he has lived and fought for, he is taken away from us. But what is important is that the Sudanese continue with the process of reconciliation and the process of peace.
STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME
PRESENTER:
And still on the political front, Africa continued to face new crises. One was in Togo where after the death of Gnassingbe Eyadema the army tried to install his son Faure Ghassingbe as the new leader. There was turmoil and regional leaders intervened and the situation was resolved by holding elections which were won by Faure Gnassingbe. In Cote d'Ivoire where Nigeria and South Africa have played an important mediating role, the crisis continued and the country remained divided between the north controlled by the rebels of the Forces Nouvelles and the south controlled by the government. But there is hope that perhaps 2006 might see progress in the peace process since the issue of a Prime Minister was finally settled with the selection of Charles Konan Banny, the governor of the Central Bank of West African States. The good news from Liberia this year was the election of Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first African woman to be elected to that office on the continent. Initially, her rival, George Weah, challenged the results of the elections but eventually abandoned that challenge. Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf told UN Radio that she would like to see the United Nations continue to help consolidate peace in Liberia.
CUT 9: ELLEN JOHNSON-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 have had small pockets of disturbances recently and we would like to see the UN take a very forceful role in making sure that we get this ability to enable us to move on to our development agenda. The Secretary-General has been very kind in all of this. He will support, we hope in another few months to get our partnership meeting, a donors conference to support our development agenda. And so we are just so pleased that the UN has been so supportive of Liberia's effort.

PRESENTER:
Other good news from West Africa is that the UN Mission in Sierra Leone is coming to an end this year. The mission was established in 1999 to help restore peace following a conflict in that West African country.
In the Horn of Africa a setback occurred this year when Eritrea expelled United Nations peacekeepers from the United States, Canada and Europe, including Russia, who were part of a United Nations contingent monitoring the border with Ethiopia. The decision, which was condemned by the Security Council, came amid concerns about restrictions that Eritrea had already imposed on the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea by not allowing it to fly helicopters in its airspace and limiting night patrols along the border.
STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME
And now turning to Central and East Africa. To once again underline the importance of the region, the Security Council this year sent a mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. The leader of the mission was Ambassador Jean-Marc de LaSabliere of France.
CUT 10:
The success of our common undertaking in Central Africa has importance which goes beyond the subregion, well beyond. I think it's important for the whole of Africa, and this in itself justifies the Council going to the region every year, and it's done for six years, I believe now.

PRESENTER:

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo the year is coming to an end with United Nations peacekeepers supporting government troops in their efforts to clear armed militias and extend government control to the eastern part of the country. That region has been plagued by militias who have been terrorizing the civilian population and plundering the natural resources of the country. Stability is particularly important for the country as it prepares for elections next year. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has just conducted a referendum on a new constitution for the country. One important issue that will continue to be a major concern to the African continent in the coming year is the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is threatening economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
SIG TUNE ((Bring up briefly, dip and hold under)

PRESENTER:
And that's all for this edition of UN and Africa. Our producer was Derrick Mbatha, Production Assistant was Nyi Nyi Teza and engineer Carlos Marcias. I am Diane Bailey wishing all of you a happy New Year and inviting you to join us again next week.
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