Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

 

HEAD OF PEACEKEEPING MEETS WITH U.N. TROOPS, AID WORKERS IN CENTRAL CÔTE D’IVOIRE

 

·        Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held another videoconference earlier today with Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy, who is visiting Côte d’Ivoire, and his Special Representative in that country, Choi Young-jin. The Secretary-General received an update on the latest developments on the ground.

 

·        Mr. Le Roy was visiting Bouake, in central Côte d’Ivoire, for meetings with the area’s UN peacekeeping commander and the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Forces Nouvelles. He also met with staff of the UN Mission (UNOCI) and agencies, as well as representatives of local and international non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives.

 

·        Mr. Le Roy received briefings on the UN military strength in Bouake and surroundings, and on the spate of rallies held in the region since the start of the post-election crisis.

 

·        In his meeting with Mission staff, UN and NGO officials, Mr. Le Roy encouraged them to pursue their mandate with professionalism so that all the “human, material and financial efforts deployed are not jeopardized”. He assured them of the UN’s readiness to ensure their safety, should the situation worsen further.

 

·        Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the towns of Danané and Duékoué, in western Côte d’Ivoire, are hosting a combined total of 2,660 internally displaced persons. OCHA says that its regional office for West and Central Africa is coordinating preparedness efforts with its regional partners and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Côte d’Ivoire. Additional UN aid workers have been deployed to Abidjan to assist the humanitarian team already in place in the country.

 

·        Also today, the Secretary-General received the credentials from Côte d'Ivoire's new Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba, who was appointed by President-elect Alassane Ouattara.

 

 

U.N.-AFRICAN UNION MISSION CONTINUES SUPPLYING AID TO CAMPS IN NORTH, SOUTH DARFUR

 

·        Aid continues to flow into makeshift camps outside the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) team sites in North and South Darfur, where thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge from recent clashes.

 

·        However, the mission said that distribution to Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur has been momentarily suspended Wednesday after new restrictions on movement were put in place. UNAMID is collaborating with local security officials to gain access to all affected areas and ensure the safe delivery of aid.

 

·        An assessment mission carried out by UNAMID and several UN aid agencies today met with local authorities and IDP leaders in Khor Abeche and Shaeria in South Darfur, where over 10,000 people have been sheltered. UNAMID peacekeepers today escorted a four-truck humanitarian convoy to Shaeria.

 

·        The Mission is also investigating reports of conflict in Kazanjadeed, some 40 km from Shaeria, which has allegedly resulted in thousands of new displacements.

 

·        An inter-agency mission to Zamzam camp, outside El Fasher in North Darfur, has observed that around 100 IDPs, mostly women and children, have arrived from the Shangil Tobaya area. Revised figures put the number of IDPs in and around Shangil Tobaya at 14,000, with an estimated 5,000 at the UNAMID team site.

 

·        Tomorrow, UNAMID military, police and civilian peacekeepers are to embark on a four-day verification and confidence-building mission from El Fasher to Shangil Tobaya, Jebel Tin and Dar al-Salam.

 

·        Meanwhile, the security situation in all team sites remains tense and UNAMID has taken additional measures to ensure the protection of civilians and increased the frequency and scope of its day and night patrols.

 

 

U.N SATELLITE PROGRAMMES, GEORGE CLOONEY TEAM UP TO HELP PREVENT WAR IN SUDAN

 

·        The UN Institute for Training and Research says that its Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) has entered an innovative partnership with a non-governmental group run by United States actor George Clooney and the Enough Project. The so-called Satellite Sentinel Project is a unique monitoring and alert system using commercial and publicly available satellite imagery to help prevent and deter possible war in Sudan.

 

·        It will combine the work of UNOSAT with field reports and Google technology to help the international community maintain focus on the events on the ground after the planned 09 January 2011 referenda. One of its key goals is to prevent a resumption of civil war between north and south Sudan in the wake of the referenda.

 

·        “UNOSAT involvement in the Satellite Sentinel project builds on previous successes in geospatial imagery acquisition and analysis in the fields of human rights and humanitarian relief,” said Francesco Pisano, UNOSAT Manager.

 

 

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SPENDS $6 MILLION IN 2010 TO HELP MOST VULNERABLE IN KYRGYZSTAN

 

·        The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it has spent nearly $6 million this year to help the most vulnerable people in Kyrgyzstan.

 

·        This is the single largest amount ever spent by WFP in the Central Asian nation, reflecting the extent of the operations needed to respond to the needs of those affected by the April violence, which impacted markets and livelihoods.

 

·        In 2010, the agency distributed 20,000 metric tons of food, nearly half of which was purchased through Kyrgyz companies.

 

·        At the height of the conflict, WFP supported some 550,000 people in the south, as well as nearly 300,000 others in the rest of the country.

 

·        Currently, it is helping 240,000 conflict-affected people and 380,000 others in six of the country’s seven provinces.

 

 

U.N. AGENCY APPEALS FOR FUNDS TO HELP GAZANS, TWO YEARS AFTER CONFLICT

 

·        The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is appealing for funds to help the people of Gaza, who are still feeling the effects of the devastating conflict which took place two years ago.

 

·        UNRWA has continued to educate more than 200,000 children and provide vital psycho-social support and recreational activities to the children of Gaza.

 

·        The agency is the main provider of basic services – education, health, relief and social services – to 4.7 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East, and is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States.