Africa Renewal Feature: Africa at the United Nations General Assembly 2011
The United Nations General Assembly — the institution's main deliberative body — started its annual general debate on 21 September. Earlier in the week, world leaders attended various meetings, including one on Libya, another on non-communicable diseases and one on desertification. Follow African leaders and issues during the debates.
Sudan vows at UN to settle remaining disputes with South Sudan
Sudan is committed to resolving all the remaining disputes related to its peace accord with South Sudan, including border demarcation issues and the division of oil revenues, the country's Foreign Minister told the General Assembly today...
Ethiopia, at UN, calls for long view on sustainable development in Horn of Africa
Ethiopia called today from the General Assembly not only for immediate aid to help the 13.3 million victims of drought and famine in Somalia and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa but also for the "even more crucial" means to achieve sustainable development in the region...
Intervention in Libya an excuse to plunder resources, Cuba tells UN
A “preventive war” is taking place in Libya using the protection of civilians as a pretext to plunder the country's resources, Cuba's Foreign Minister told the General Assembly's annual general debate today, calling for Libyans to be left alone to decide their destiny...
Central African Republic calls for aid after withdrawal of UN mission
The Central African Republic (CAR) today appealed to the international community to take urgent action to help consolidate peace and prevent fighting following the withdrawal of a United Nations peacekeeping mission...
Liberia calls for greater UN mediation before crises degenerate
Liberia, where United Nations intervention helped to close the chapter on a disastrous 14-year civil war and open the way to democratic elections and stability, today urged the international community to place a greater focus on preventive measures before crises erupt...
Horn of Africa mini-summit ends with more than $200 million of new aid pledges
At least $218 million in new aid for the Horn of Africa was pledged today at a United Nations mini-summit held to raise awareness about the region's humanitarian crisis and tackle the root causes of its recurring drought-related food shortages...
Calling for more help, Libya tells UN it could become a regional beacon for progress
Libya could become an “oasis for human development” in its region now that the regime of Muammar al-Qadhafi has fallen, a top official with the new Government told the United Nations today, but the country remains a “land not yet fully liberated” with widespread destruction of its infrastructure and an enormous ongoing toll on its population and social fabric...
Mali issues call at UN for international help ahead of elections and referendum
Mali's Prime Minister has taken to the General Assembly to call on the international community to support a constitutional referendum and national elections scheduled for next year, saying they will cement nearly two decades of democratic behaviour in the West African country...
Guinea-Bissau, at UN, calls on consumer States to help in fight against drugs
Guinea-Bissau's Prime Minister took to the podium at the General Assembly today to call on the United States and the members of the European Union to help the impoverished West African country control its maritime borders against drug traffickers...
Sierra Leone, at UN, calls for international assistance for next year’s polls
Sierra Leone, often cited as a success story in United Nations efforts to consolidate peace in countries that have been ravaged by conflict, today appealed for international help to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections next year...
Somali leader warns UN that militants are looking to export their violence
Islamist militants that have wreaked havoc in southern Somalia are now looking to strike outside the country and concerted international action is needed to prevent them from exporting their violence, Somalia’s Prime Minister told the United Nations today...
Mauritius calls for boost to UN Economic and Social Council
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) must have a greater say in the running of global economic affairs, where new arrangements are urgently needed given the continuing financial turmoil around the world, the Prime Minister of Mauritius said today...
Lesotho draws UN’s attention to inconsistent approaches to conflict resolution
Lesotho today at the United Nations drew the world's attention to the lack of consistency in global conflict resolution, pointing out that the international community through the Security Council was quick to authorize military intervention in some disputes while preferring mediation in others...
Madagascar asks for UN assistance so it can swiftly set up an electoral timetable
A week after reaching a deal with rivals to end Madagascar’s protracted political crisis, the country's leader has called on the United Nations to help it establish a credible electoral timetable as soon as possible so that polls can be held in the Indian Ocean island nation...
Tragedy of Somalia shames the world, Turkish leader tells UN
The Turkish Prime Minister has called for urgent action to help Somalia alleviate its humanitarian crisis and to build peace and stability, stressing that the world cannot let the cry of the Horn of Africa nation go unheard...
Ghana backs proposed UN treaty on weapons trade
Ghana today called for a legally-binding United Nations treaty on arms trade that would help stem the flow of arms to destinations where they could fuel conflict or undermine national and regional peace...
Djibouti, at UN, appeals for proactive aid to prevent drought and famine
Djibouti, one of the countries most severely affected by the current drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, today used the podium of the General Assembly to call on the world to not only provide immediate aid but also take the longer-term steps to prevent a recurrence...
Kenya issues call at UN to strengthen environmental bodies
Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki called for the streamlining of international environmental organizations to better respond to global ecological challenges, telling the General Assembly that climate change had wrought havoc in the Horn of Africa where recurring droughts have greatly undermined people's livelihoods...
DR Congo calls for UN mission to move from peacekeeping to development
With peace returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), President Joseph Kabila today called for a reappraisal of the United Nations mission which had helped to bring stability to the vast country, moving its focus away from peacekeeping to economic development...
Chad issues call at UN for aid to help face influx of citizens fleeing Libya
Chad today called for continued international aid to carry out the tasks it has taken over from a United Nations peacekeeping force to protect hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as in dealing with the influx of Chadians fleeing Libya...
Zimbabwe, at UN, warns against misuse of responsibility to protect principle
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe warned today about the misuse of the principle of responsibility to protect, telling the General Assembly that it should not be deployed arbitrarily or unfairly to attack an individual country...
Côte d’Ivoire: UN has key role in strengthening democracy, President says
Thanking the United Nations for its role in resolving the electoral crisis after Côte d’Ivoire’s former leader refused to step down, President Alassane Ouattara today highlighted legislative elections later this year as a critical step towards cementing democracy...
At UN, Tanzanian President urges greater support to fight maritime piracy
Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete today urged the international community to boost support for East African countries to combat maritime piracy, telling the General Assembly that the problem, which has been centred in Somalia, has extended further south in the Indian Ocean...
Home-grown methods of mediation work best, Rwanda tells General Assembly
Conflict mediation efforts will be far more successful if they are home-grown and harness the capacities of young people and regional groups or institutions, Rwandan President Paul Kagame told the opening of the General Assembly’s annual general debate today...
Nigerian leader proposes creation of UN conflict mediation commission
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan today proposed to the General Assembly the creation of a conflict mediation commission within the office of the United Nations Secretary-General to develop strategies for the resolution of disputes across the world...
UN hears leaders from Europe and Africa stress role of mediation in resolving conflicts
Leaders from Europe and Africa used the opening day of the General Assembly’s annual session today to stress the important role that mediation can play in resolving conflicts before they become intractable...
African States need more support to handle economic and climate crises, UN hears
Africa needs the support and solidarity of developed countries to activate its economy and provide assistance to victims of climate change, Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo told the General Assembly today...
South African leader backs Palestinian bid to join UN as a Member State
South African President Jacob Zuma today told the General Assembly that his country supported the intention of the Palestinian Authority to seek full membership of the United Nations as a sovereign State and urged other countries to back the move...
High-level UN meeting focuses on need to reverse desertification
Participants have gathered at a high-level United Nations meeting today to highlight the need for stronger action to protect the world's drylands, which are home to two billion people, stressing that doing so will help reduce poverty and improve development prospects...
Ban urges leaders to show greater commitment to agreement on climate change
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged world leaders to step up the international effort to find solutions to climate change, saying that governments needed to show greater commitment to achieving success at global negotiations on limiting emissions of greenhouse gases and strengthening adaptation measures...
Benefits of good nutrition take centre stage at UN high-level event
Representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector joined United Nations agencies today to emphasize the importance of good nutrition, which is vital not only for human health but also for national economic and social development...
UN launches global campaign to curb death toll from non-communicable diseases
The United Nations today launched an all-out attack on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and diabetes with a summit meeting devoted to curbing the factors, like tobacco and alcohol use, behind the often preventable scourge that causes 63 per cent of all deaths...
World leaders must take binding steps to curb unhealthy food industry
A United Nations human rights expert today called for taxing unhealthy food, regulating harmful marketing practices and standing up to the food industry, urging world leaders not to miss the chance at a summit next week to end a state of affairs that kills nearly 3 million adults each year....