Nigeria: UN human rights experts call for progress in abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok
12 April 2016 – Ahead of the second anniversary of the abduction of 200 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in Nigeria, a group of United Nations and African human rights experts today appealed to Boko Haram to immediately reveal the location of the girls, and urged the Government of Nigeria to escalate its efforts to free all civilians kidnaped by the group.
"In the last two years, despite re-assurances from those at the highest level of the Nigerian Government, the parents have not seen any concrete progress in locating and liberating their daughters," the experts said. "The lack of access to information increases the suffering of the abductees' families through false hopes and frustrations."
The experts said that while they understand the security considerations put forward by the authorities, which prevent the disclosure of information, they are deeply concerned that "the grievances of the families and their most basic right to be kept informed about the plight of their loved ones has largely been ignored."
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53661#.VxZ_4PkrLs0
Burundi: Independent international inquiry into executions needed, claims Human Rights Watch
An independent international commission of inquiry is needed to establish the truth about the grave abuses in Burundi in the past year, which a "misleading and biased" Burundi commission has so far failed to do, according to a leading human rights organisation.
The inquiry, led by Burundi authorities, into allegations of extra-judicial executions by members of thesecurity forces on 11 December 2015, in the capital Bujumbura, focused on the most deadly operation by government security forces since the African nation's political crisis began in April last year.
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Nairobi street kids 'forced into prostitution'
NAIROBI - Ragged, hungry and rejected by society, thousands of street children abandoned by nearly all live in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
There is no official figure on the number of homeless children in Kenya, a sign of the lack of interest by Kenyan authorities of the problem.
One estimate, by the Consortium for Street Children (CSC), an international charity, suggests the number of street children could be as high as between 250,000 and 300,000 throughout Kenya, including 60,000 in Nairobi alone.
In the district of Mlango Kubwa in central Nairobi, a former landfill is a refuge for street children, who call it "the base".
Here they sleep on the hard floor, close to the rubbish dumps where they scavenge for scraps to make some profit, but at least the place is safe from outside eyes
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http://www.enca.com/africa/nairobi-street-kids-forced-prostitution%E2%80%99
Britain's foreign aid FARCE: £1 of every £7 given by rich countries is paid for by YOU
The UK also gave twice as much as France and it puts 0.7 per cent of the Britain's income back out on aid elsewhere.
Only five other OECD countries spent more than 0.7 per cent of national income on aid – Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands.
While British grants represented 10.2 per cent of Western aid in 2010.
Last year this rose to 14.2 per cent, while UK spending increased by 3.2 per cent while in some countries it fell.
The US hand out seven per cent less and budgets were also slashed in Belgium, Australia and Portugal.
However, foreign aid spending increased largely across the board - as a result of the escalating migrant crisis.
UN DAILY NEWS from the
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
15 April, 2016
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YEMEN AT 'CRITICAL CROSSROADS,' SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD AHEAD OF FACE-TO-FACE PEACE TALKS
Yemen is now at a critical crossroads, the United Nations Security Council heard today from the UN special envoy for the country, with one path leading to peace while the other can only worsen the security and humanitarian situation.
"This briefing comes on the eve of the next round of face-to-face talks in Kuwait, where I hope the parties will come to an agreement on a clear way to end the violence and devastation in Yemen," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, told the 15-member Council.
"The cessation of hostilities began at midnight on 10 April and I hope it will provide a conducive environment for the upcoming talks, offer the opportunity for expanded humanitarian assistance and provide a rare ray of hope for Yemenis' longing for a return to peace," he added.
The talks will commence on 18 April and aim to reach a comprehensive agreement, to end the conflict and allow the resumption of inclusive political dialogue in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2216 (2015) and other relevant resolutions.
Meanwhile, in the last round of peace talks which took place in Switzerland, a committee was established – the De-escalation and Coordination Committee (DCC) – to prevent further violations and avoid any military escalation.
"The agreement on the cessation of hostilities also created local levels of support. The Government of Yemen and Ansar Allah have nominated local committees in militarily contested areas to work with the DCC and ensure better compliance with the cessation of hostilities," the envoy indicated, adding that unfortunately, most of the local committees are not yet fully functional but should be in the coming days.
Despite a discernible decrease in the level of military violence in most parts of the country during the first days of the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed told the Security Council there have also been a worrying number of serious violations particularly in al-Jawf, Amran, Mareb and Taiz.
"Fighting in Taiz continues to cause civilian casualties and I am concerned that a spiral of escalation could threaten the success of the peace process," he warned. "However, the recent events over the last weeks at the same time have given me hope. I would like to acknowledge the courage displayed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ansarallah by accepting to settle border disputes."
He said both parties confirmed that these agreements pave the way for the general cessation of hostilities in Yemen. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has supported both the government of Yemen and the Houthis to sign a landmark agreement aimed at supporting the cessation of hostilities and the work of the De-Escalation, Coordination Committee and Local De-Escalation Committees and supports the role of the United Nations."
Calling on all parties to support the important work which humanitarian agencies are carrying out, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed underlined that humanitarians will continue doing their best to deliver assistance to those in need and negotiate sustained access to hard-to-reach areas.
Briefing on these efforts, the Assistant Secretary-General of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Kyung-wha Kang, informed the Council that more than 6,400 people have now been killed, and over 30,500 injured. She said displacement has spiked, with some 2.8 million people now forced from their homes.
"Livelihoods have been ravaged," Ms. Kang warned. "Some 14.1 million people now need help accessing adequate healthcare as a result of a year of intensified conflict. Lack of supplies, medicines, electricity, fuel for generators, and staff or equipment, have caused health services to decline across the country. Entire governorates have been engulfed in relentless violence."
This includes locations such as Taiz where intensified fighting in and around Taiz city since mid-March has left scores of people dead and wounded, and also significantly hampered relief work.
"This paints a very bleak picture, but there is some cause for very cautious optimism," she continued. "The cessation of hostilities is bringing calm to many areas of the country, reducing the crippling violence that has devastated these communities."
Humanitarian organizations have also begun to respond in areas that were previously difficult to access, but despite these efforts, Ms. Kang told the Council that vital operations continue to be hampered by a variety of bureaucratic impediments, principally by the authorities on the ground.
Concluding her remarks, she said OCHA maintains the hope that the parties to this conflict will choose the only path to a solution – negotiation and dialogue – "no matter how challenging that path may seem."
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THE NEXT UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS 'NEW STANDARD OF TRANSPARENCY' ESTABLISHED
Three days of informal briefings came to an end yesterday, after nine candidates for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General answered all together some 800 questions from the UN membership and the public on how, if selected, they would lead the world body.
"We have established a new standard of transparency and inclusivity for the appointment process, but it has the potential also to influence the final outcome of the selection of the Secretary-General," UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft told reporters at the conclusion of the unprecedented public dialogues.
Starting on Tuesday, each candidate was given a two-hour televised and webcast timeslot. Prior to opening up the floor for questions from UN delegates and civil society representatives as well as from the public through social media, candidates gave short oral presentations – their "vision statements" – addressing challenges and opportunities facing the UN and the next Secretary-General.
Below is a list of candidates in the order they appeared before the Assembly:
Igor Luksic, current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Montenegro.
Irina Bokova, current Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESC), nominated by Bulgaria.
Antonio Guterres, most recently the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, nominated by Portugal.
Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia.
Vesna Pusić, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia.
Natalia Gherman, former first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova.
Vuk Jeremic, President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly and a former Foreign Minister of Serbia.
Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the current Administrator of the UN Development Programme.
Srgjan Kerim, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and was the President of the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly.
According to Mr. Lykketoft, almost every country was represented in the audience to ask questions during the dialogue. "My impression is – of course my experience is short – but during the months I've been here, we never had that frank and substantial discussion about the future of the United Nations as the one we got during these informal dialogues," he said at the media stakeout.
"We've talked about the virtues, we've talked about the flaws of the UN, and the candidates have presented a lot of interesting views on how to do things ever better," he added.
Mr. Lykketoft also told reporters that these past three days are just a part of the "process of transparency" and that he hopes they will help generate wider discussions about the selection of the UN chief.
With more candidates possibly joining the current nine, more informal briefing could be held in the coming week and months. Mr. Lykketoft noted that he was inspired by the interest the public has shown in this selection process, with more than 227,000 people from 209 different countries and territories having visited his website.
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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC PASSES 'CRITICAL MILESTONE' TOWARDS LASTING PEACE – UN PEACEKEEPING CHIEF
Expectations are high for the Central African Republic's new Government to restore durable peace and improve people's living conditions, the United Nations peacekeeping chief said today, stressing that the first hundred days will be decisive.
Briefing the Security Council, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous noted that the country formally ended its political transition with Faustin Archange Touadéra sworn in as President on 30 March.
"The promulgation of the new constitution by the outgoing Head of State of the Transition on the day of the inauguration symbolized a return to constitutional order and marked an important milestone after three years of crisis," he said.
On 31 March, the country held the second round of legislative elections. The final results of this round were announced on 5 April, and the President has since moved quickly on the formation of a new Government.
The new cabinet is leaner than the previous one, with some 23 ministerial posts, including four women and four members of the Muslim community. While the new government includes representatives from all 16 prefectures, no armed group representatives are among the new cabinet members, he said.
The new President vowed publicly to respect the newly-promulgated Constitution – including the two term limit for presidential mandates – and work towards national unity. "The President shared with me that his priorities for the country would be to re-establish security and to further reconciliation, economic and social development and good governance," said Mr. Ladsous.
Exemplary local reconciliation processes underway
The Muslim and Christian communities in Bangui's Boeing neighbourhood, which recently experienced recurring cycles of inter-communal violence, are now engaged in exemplary local reconciliation processes, supported by the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).
Such important efforts provide the foundation for long-lasting peace for all throughout the country and showcase once again the resilience of the Central African people and their desire for peace and unity.
"The Central African Republic has passed a critical milestone," Mr. Ladsous said, noting the importance of building on the positive momentum created by the electoral process. The establishment of a lasting peace and stability would require making rapid progress in disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation, reforming the security sector and improve access to justice.
Positive developments overshadowed by sexual misconducts
"Sadly, these positive developments in the country have again been overshadowed by allegations of misconduct and sexual exploitation and abuse by MINUSCA and international forces," he said.
The UN stands firmly behind the victims that showed courage in coming forward and continue to work to ensure that they receive the assistance and justice they deserve, he said.
With MINUSCA's mandate set to expire on 30 April, the Secretary-General has recommended a technical roll-over of its mandate to allow the Secretariat to fully consult the new Central African authorities before making recommendations to the Security Council for the missions new operating procedures, he noted.
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UN REPORT URGES RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH TO REDUCE HIV INFECTIONS AMONG DRUG USERS
Ahead of next week's General Assembly special session on drugs, the United Nations agency leading the world's HIV/AIDS response has released a new report, which warns that many countries are failing to reduce new HIV infections due to the absence of health- and rights-based approaches, particularly as regards drug use.
The report, Do no harm: health, human rights and people who use drugs, which was issued by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), shows that between 2010 and 2014, the failure of many countries to adopt people-centred approaches resulted in no reduction in the global number of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs.
And the world missed the General Assembly's target set in 2011 to reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs by 50 per cent by 2015.
"Business as usual is clearly getting us nowhere," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "The world must learn the lessons of the past 15 years, following the example of countries that have reversed their HIV epidemics among people who inject drugs by adopting harm reduction approaches that prioritize people's health and human rights."
Those countries included China, Iran, Kenya, Moldova and Portugal.
Recommendations
The report also presents the evidence base for five policy recommendations and 10 operational recommendations that countries should apply to turn around their HIV epidemics among people who inject drugs. These include the implementation of harm reduction programmes to scale and the decriminalization of the consumption and possession of drugs for personal use.
Data demonstrate that countries implementing health- and rights-based approaches have reduced new HIV infections among people who inject drugs.
In other countries, strategies based on criminalization and aggressive law enforcement have created barriers to harm reduction while having little or no impact on the number of people who use drugs.
Imprisoning people for the consumption and possession of drugs for personal use also increases their vulnerability to HIV and other infectious diseases, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and tuberculosis, while incarcerated.
Health is human right
"Health is a human right," said Mr Sidibé. "Investment in people-centred policies and programmes for people who use drugs is the crucial foundation for a global drugs policy that not only saves lives but is also cost-effective."
The UNAIDS Fast-Track approach has a set of targets for 2020 that include reducing new HIV infections to fewer than 500,000. It also calls on countries to ensure that 90 per cent of the more than 12 million people who inject drugs worldwide have access to combination HIV prevention services, including needle–syringe programmes, opioid substitution therapy, condoms and access to counselling, care, testing and treatment services for tuberculosis and bloodborne viruses such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.
Achieving these targets will be a significant step towards ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.
The UN General Assembly's speical session on the world drug problem will run at Headquarters from 19 to 21 April.
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ZIKA: UN HEALTH AGENCY LAUNCHES DATABASE ON WORLDWIDE VIRUS RESEARCH
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have launched a new Zika Research Projects List, a database that lists and categorizes all scientific studies on the Zika virus worldwide.
In a press release, the agencies said that PAHO has systematically identified and collected basic information on all investigations related to Zika, both those already published and those on track to be published. The database includes the title, authors, and a direct link to the article.
Each study has been categorized in the areas of virus, vectors and reservoirs; epidemiology; disease pathogenesis and consequences of Zika infection; clinical management; public health interventions; health systems and services response; research and product development; and causality.
Users can also search the database by publication type: published articles, protocol and publication of preliminary results.
The agencies said the search mechanism was created after a group of experts from around the world met in March to discuss a regional agenda to prioritize and coordinate research on Zika. At that meeting, researchers concluded that efforts must be increased to explore unknown factors about microcephaly and other congenital malformations that may be linked to infection by the Zika virus.
Experts analyzed and mapped the gaps in scientific knowledge about the virus, how it affects people, its implications for public health in the Americas, and the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector that transmits the disease, the agencies said.
To date, Zika virus is circulating in 34 countries and territories in the Americas. It is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito, and now has been found to be sexually transmitted. Zika has been associated with congenital malformations such as microcephaly, and neurological complications such as Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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UNICEF, WORLD BANK URGE GREATER INVESTMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
The heads of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank Group are jointly urging global and national leaders to step up action and investments in nutrition and early childhood development programmes as a critical foundation for equitable development and economic growth.
The two organizations said in a press release that they have established a new alliance that aims to make early childhood development a global policy, programming and public spending priority, to give all young children access to quality services that improve their health, nutrition, learning ability and emotional well-being.
Advances in neuroscience and recent economic studies show that early childhood experiences have a profound impact on brain development and on subsequent learning, health, and adult earnings. Children who are poorly nourished and nurtured, or those who do not receive early stimulation, are likely to learn less in school and earn less as adults.
Childhood stunting is a development and economic emergency
Globally, millions of children under the age of five are at risk of never reaching their full developmental potential. One out of four children under five (159 million) are stunted due to poor nutrition, with numbers significantly higher in parts of Africa and South Asia. Nearly half of all three- to six-year-olds don't have access to pre-primary education. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 80 per cent are not enrolled in pre-primary programmes.
"The time has come to treat childhood stunting as a development and an economic emergency," said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, noting that countries cannot compete in a more digitalized global economy in the future if a third or more of their children are stunted.
"Our failure to make the right investments in early childhood development is condemning millions of children to lives of exclusion," he said, adding: "We can't promise to equalize development outcomes, but we can insist on equalizing opportunity."
Stress can inhibit brain development
Emerging scientific evidence also shows that prolonged exposure to adversity, such as that experienced by children growing up in countries affected by conflict or households affected by domestic violence, can cause toxic stress, a condition that can also inhibit peak brain development in early childhood.
"What we are learning about all the elements that affect the development of children's brains, whether their bodies are well nourished, whether their minds are stimulated, whether they are protected from violence, is already changing the way we think about early childhood development," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "Now it must change the way we act."
A 20-year study in Jamaica showed that disadvantaged young children who were exposed to high-quality early stimulation interventions as infants and toddlers earned up to 25 per cent higher wages as adults, equivalent to adults who grew up in wealthier households.
Early childhood development is also an investment in economic growth. Evidence suggests that an additional dollar invested in quality early childhood development programmes yields a return of between $6 and $17.
Early childhood development included in global development goals
Recognizing the growing understanding of ECD's importance, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted last year by UN Member States, include an early childhood development target, the first time it has been explicitly included in global development goals. The target is to increase the percentage of children under five years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being.
Although early childhood development falls under Goal 4 of the SDGs, it provides a natural link to other goals, including poverty reduction, health and nutrition, women and girls' equality, and ending violence.
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UN AGENCY BOOSTS EFFORTS TO DETECT AND PREVENT SPREAD OF DAMAGING WHEAT RUSTS
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today it is expanding a partnership to inhibit the ongoing spread of wheat rusts, a group of fungal plant diseases that block the production of the staple grain and other crops, which is raising concern in Central Asia and the Middle East.
As part of its efforts, the UN agency is developing its collaboration with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and the University of Aarhus' Global Rust Reference Centre to provide training on surveillance, resistance and management.
Country surveys and sample analysis are also planned to better understand and manage the spread of the menace to wheat production – which, in addition to Central Asia and the Middle East is posing a threat in the world's major wheat-producing areas.
"Under conducive conditions, up to 80 per cent or more of a farmer's yield can be lost due to rust infections, so building countries' capacity to detect them and better understand the ways the various strains of the disease spread is crucial to preventing epidemics and limiting losses," said Fazil Dusunceli, a Plant Protection Officer at FAO, in a press release.
A highly mobile plant killer
Wheat rust comes in three types – yellow, stem and leaf rusts – with yellow and stem rusts spreading widely in recent years. The rusts have the capacity to turn a healthy looking crop that is only weeks away from harvest into a tangle of yellow leaves or black stems and shrivelled grains at harvest.
The plant plague is highly mobile, spreading rapidly over large distances by wind, and can wreak havoc on crops if not tackled properly when first detected.
The most well-known strain is Ug99, a highly potent form of stem rust first detected in Uganda in 1999 and which has since spread to 13 countries, some as far as Yemen and Iran. It has the potential to affect the majority of wheat varieties grown worldwide. Most recently it has been detected in Egypt, one of the Middle East's most important wheat producers, the UN agency said.
Also cause for concern is a new strain of yellow rust, called Warrior, which has made its way from northern Europe to Turkey, affecting various countries along the way.
Building countries' capacity to counter the threat
FAO said that along with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and Turkey's General Directorate of Agricultural Research International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, it is collaborating with the University of Aarhus and the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative to train plant protection officers at a 10-day workshop starting this week in Izmir, Turkey.
Twenty-two officers from nine Central Asian and Near East countries with known cases of wheat rusts will be trained on rust surveillance, resistance and management during the workshop.
Once back in their countries, the officers will survey fields and send samples to University of Aarhus in Denmark, where they will be analyzed to determine how far and how quickly various strains of the disease are spreading.
Early action is essential to containing the spread of wheat rust, and planting resistant cultivars or timely fungicide sprays can prevent crops from catching the disease in the first place. But procuring these seeds in advance and getting a fungicide distribution chain up and running can be an issue, especially in developing countries, FAO said.
In addition to Central Asia and the Middle East, FAO said it is also engaging with countries across Eastern Africa, where new strains of stem rust have been detected in Ethiopia and Kenya, to develop a comprehensive regional response. This includes supporting surveillance and building capacity in Eritrea and Ethiopia to facilitate rapid responses to newly detected strains.
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RIGHTS EXPERTS URGE UN TO COMPENSATE DISPLACED ROMA POISONED IN CAMPS IN KOSOVO
Two United Nations independent experts today called on the world body to hold the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) accountable for leaving Roma families exposed to lead poisoning in camps for those internally displaced in the territory.
The Human Rights Advisory Panel of UNMIK, established in 2006 to examine complaints of alleged human rights violation committed by the Mission, made their opinion public last week.
A press release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recalled that during 1998 and 1999, thousands of Roma were forced to flee by the armed conflict between the Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army and other Kosovo Albanian armed groups. Many became internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees in neighbouring countries and in Europe.
IDP camps were established in the late 1990s close to the Trepca mining and smelting complex, known to be the cause of lead contamination and other forms of toxic contamination of the surrounding areas since the 1970s. The camps, which were intended to provide only temporary accommodation up to 90 days, were in place for several years. The opinion of the Panel highlights the extremely poor conditions of the camps, as its inhabitants often lacked running water, electricity, heating, adequate healthcare or access to food.
"I have been following this case since the beginning," said the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye. "It is disheartening that in the meantime lives, had been lost and many had suffered serious health consequences."
OHCHR noted that this case was brought up in 2008 by a group of 138 members of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities in Kosovo who were initially placed in three IDP camps – Žitkovac, Èesmin Lug and Kablare – after the Roma Mahala (neighbourhood) had been destroyed in South Mitrovica in 1999.
"I am glad that justice is being now delivered to one of the most deprived communities who had to suffer conflict, displacement and negligence," the human rights expert added. "The opinion of the UN Panel expresses a breach of international obligations by the UNMIK and I hope that the UN will see it as an important opportunity to hold itself accountable."
The Panel recommends UNMIK to publicly acknowledge, including through the media, its failure to comply with applicable human rights standards in response to the adverse health condition caused by lead contamination in the IDP camps, and to compensate victims for both material and moral damage.
The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, who visited the affected families in North Mitrovica in October 2013, stated: "I hope that a public apology will be made to the complainants and their families and that swift action will be taken to provide redress to victims, to demonstrate that the UN does fully promote and ensure respect for human rights of all, particularly those of internally displaced persons involved."
He also welcomed the Panel advice that its findings and recommendations on this case be shared with UN bodies working with refugees and IDPs as a guarantee of non-repetition.
The Panel's opinion recognizes that despite the fact that UNMIK had commissioned a report in 2000 which found extremely elevated blood lead levels of the affected community members living in the IDP camps, UNMIK did not make the report public and failed to take sufficient action to address the risks of lead exposure in the camps.
According to the Panel, the World Health Organization (WHO) had warned in 2004 about the chronic irreversible effects of lead on the human body, urging UNMIK to immediately evacuate children and pregnant women from the camps, but no submission or documentation was provided by UNMIK indicating what specific actions were taken in response to WHO's findings and recommendations.
The experts' appeal has also been endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Baskut Tuncak, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Dainius Pûras.
Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work.
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UN AGENCY AND GOOGLE COLLABORATE ON SATELLITE DATA TOOLS TO MANAGE NATURAL RESOURCES
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Google today announced plans to work together to make high-resolution satellite data a common tool in managing the world's natural resources, ultimately boosting efforts towards the pursuit of sustainable development.
Under the collaboration, the UN agency said that resource managers and researchers in many countries can gauge changing land uses of individual field-sized plots seen by "eye-in-the-sky" satellites, thereby improving abilities to assess a landscape's carbon storage capacity or plan a nation's approach to greenhouse gas emissions.
The agency and Google are "ushering in an unprecedented level of environmental literacy," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in a press release.
The initial focus of the collaboration is in the forestry sector, where FAO said that national experts can, after a short training, use its software and Google's accessible geospatial data archives to conduct – in a few hours – mapping and classification exercises that used to take weeks or months.
For example, easily accessible and rapidly updated remote sensing data enable a shift in forest management from inventory reports to taking the almost real-time pulse of forests, thus opening a host of new policy prospects and further opening the doors of scientific perception, the agency said.
FAO stressed that opportunities for future collaboration are "vast," and may lead to innovation in a range of issues from dietary nutrition and pest control to water management and climate change.
"The more people involved, the better it works," said Mr. Graziano da Silva. "Understanding the effects of climate change, planning the improvements in the efficiency of production and distribution of food, and monitoring progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals require more frequent and precise data on the environment and its changes," he added.
Using technology to change future generations
FAO said that the combination – in which Google makes data and processing power easily accessible while FAO devises ways to extract useful information – has already moved into innovative territory, notably with a Global Dryland Assessment, in which national experts, university researchers, partner institutions and FAO combined forces in an open-sourced exercise. Results will be published later this year.
"Partnerships like this bring our products into actual use," said Rebecca Moore, Director of Google Earth, Earth Engine and Earth Outreach.
The partnership with FAO is a way "we can each bring our unique strengths to make a change for future generations," she said.
FAO's Locust Control Unit has used Earth Engine to improve forecasts and control of desert locust outbreaks. Satellites cannot detect the dreaded insects themselves, but can accelerate identification of potential breeding areas and make ground interventions more effective.
Other prospective applications for the technology may reduce crop losses yields and enhance plant health. Forest cover monitoring has proven useful in Costa Rica, as trees provide habitat for birds that predate on the coffee berry borer beetle, which can ravage up to 75 per cent of a coffee farmer's crop.
Further innovative uses will emerge as more people learn how to use FAO's Open Foris and CollectEarth tools. In late May, a team from NASA, the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will be visiting Rome to study how to use these tools, FAO said.
Seeing both the forest and the trees
Satellite imagery cannot replace the local knowledge and expertise – often dubbed "ground truth" – but it can boost the efficiency, quality, transparency, credibility and, above all, the timeliness and efficacy of data collection and the validation of existing global mapping products.
For example, by zooming in to highly granular local plots, researchers and officials may distinguish between temporary loss of tree cover due to harvesting and deforestation driven by land use change, an important technical difference in terms of carbon sequestration. By the same token, citizens may be able to make more efficient use of their natural resources and even police their misuse.
"We will be able to provide, every 10 days, forest assessments and in the near future food crop cover assessments, which are especially important in times of climate change," said René Castro, FAO's Assistant Director General for Forestry.
This past December, FAO and Google Maps agreed to work together, under a three-year partnership, to make geospatial tracking and mapping products more accessible, providing a high-technology assist to countries tackling climate change and much greater capacity to experts developing forest and land-use policies.
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'REFUGEES HAVE A RIGHT TO ASYLUM – NOT BIAS AND BARBED WIRE,' BAN SAYS IN WASHINGTON
As the world faces the biggest refugee and displacement crisis of our time, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated a call to leaders across Europe and throughout the world to show greater solidarity as they strive to combat the deeper roots of conflict and continue to work towards securing human rights for all.
Arriving in Washington, D.C., this morning to attend the annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, the UN chief participated in an event on the development challenges of forced displacement.
Recalling his visit in March with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim to the Middle East region, including Jordan and Lebanon, Mr. Ban said they heard the stories of thousands of refugees, and he was "deeply moved, especially by the dreams and resolve of the young people."
"Above all, this is not just a crisis of numbers – it is also a crisis of solidarity," Mr. Ban said.
The Secretary-General also underscored that today's internal displacement and refugee crises are signs of deeper challenges that must be resolved – from Syria to Afghanistan to South Sudan.
To that end, he will be convening the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul next month to provide a platform "to put a focus on root causes and prevention, to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development assistance, and to improve our global response to forced displacement."
The World Humanitarian Summit will fuel "much-needed momentum" for the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, which is scheduled in the UN General Assembly for 19 September.
Mr. Ban also stressed that world leaders must recognize that today's internal displacement and refugee crises are signs of deeper challenges, and show greater solidarity not just through relief, but through resettlement and other legal pathways.
"Refugees have a right to asylum – not bias and barbed wire," he said.
Noting that he, too, was once a displaced person, Mr. Ban also emphasized that refugees bring new skills and dynamism into aging workforces, and are "famously devoted" to education and self-reliance.
"When managed properly, accepting refugees is a win for everyone," he said. "Demonizing them is not only morally wrong, it is factually wrong," he added.
The Secretary-General also spoke at the Inaugural Assembly Meeting of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together multilateral organizations, governments and the private sector.
He emphasized that it is essential for multilateral financial institutions and the private sector to provide the policy instruments and resources needed to support the transformation to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.
"Markets must play a central role in managing climate risks," the UN chief said. "We must put a price on pollution, and provide incentives to accelerate a low carbon pathway."
Market prices, market indices and investment portfolios can no longer continue to ignore the growing cost of unsustainable production and consumption behaviours on the health of our planet, he said.
Hailing the Inaugural Assembly as an "important step" in consolidating the gains made in the Paris Agreement, the Secretary-General said he was "very encouraged" to see that businesses view carbon pricing as an efficient, cost-effective means of reducing emissions.
"Momentum is building. However, we must ensure the provision of timely and meaningful assistance to developing and vulnerable countries for their mitigation efforts. Promises made must be kept," Mr. Ban said.
"Greater international cooperation is vital for building a low-carbon, climate resilient world," he added.
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Posted by: Africa Realities <africarealities@gmail.com>
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The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
When the white man came we had the land and they had the bibles; now they have the land and we have the bibles.
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The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.
When the white man came we had the land and they had the bibles; now they have the land and we have the bibles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Voice of the Poor, the Weak and Powerless.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Post message: afrocarpus@yahoogroups.com
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