ROLAC Media Update 21 April 2005

ROLAC Media Update 21 April 2005

Esta es la primera vez que se concede este galardón, creado por el Programa de la ONU para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), el Programa para el Desarrollo (PNUD) y la Unión Mundial para la Conservación, y que será entregado hoy en una ceremonia en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York.

Más de 260 proyectos de 66 países que representan a 1.200 organizaciones han concurrido al certamen, que a partir de esta edición tendrá carácter bianual.

La iniciativa "Agua para todos" de Bolivia ha sido premiada por "haber resuelto un problema muy común de cómo pagar las redes secundarias de agua", según los organizadores.

Este proyecto, llevado a cabo por el consorcio privado Agua Tuya, la compañía municipal de Aguas de la ciudad de Cochabamba (SEMAPA), la organización no gubernamental Pro Habit y movimientos comunitarios locales, permite a los habitantes de áreas suburbanas pobres tener acceso a agua potable a bajos costos.

Cada sistema de distribución de agua permite conectar entre 100 y 500 viviendas en área deprimidas, y el costo es sufragado por microcréditos comunitarios que se pueden pagar en el plazo de un año.

Hasta el momento, existen cinco proyectos pilotos de distribución, que permiten reducir a la mitad el costo del agua a 3.000 habitantes en Cochabamba, aunque los planes son abastecer a 85.000 personas en los próximos cinco años.

"Ha llegado el momento de dejar de hablar y pasar a la acción", dijo Klaus Toepfer, director ejecutivo del PNUMA.

Agregó que para promover el desarrollo sostenible, cumplir con los Objetivos del Milenio para el 2015 y erradicar la pobreza, "necesitamos asociaciones entre la gente, las organizaciones no gubernamentales, las empresas privadas, las autoridades locales, los gobiernos y la ONU".

Por su parte, el administrador adjunto del PNUD, Shojil Nishimoto, indicó que "los premios Semilla demuestran que la de las iniciativas locales y la creatividad no sólo permiten impulsar el desarrollo sostenible, sino también generar ingresos y promover el crecimiento económico".

Junto con Bolivia, también recibirán el premio Semilla 2005 otros cuatro proyectos independientes que se están desarrollando en Estados Unidos, Tibet, Madagascar y Nigeria.

El proyecto estadounidense propone una iniciativa para ahorrar agua en los sistemas de producción del arroz, mientras que Tibet se llevará el galardón por un proyecto para reducir los efectos del monzón en los cultivos.

Por su parte, el proyecto de Madagascar premiado tiene como objetivo equilibrar la necesidad de supervivencia de los pescadores con la protección del ecosistema marino.

La iniciativa galardonada en Nigeria es un plan que transforma las aguas residuales en energía y que permite generar ingresos en las comunidades pobres y reducir los gases contaminantes responsables del cambio climático.

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UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE

DAILY NEWS

21 April, 2005

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IN INDONESIA, ANNAN KEEPS FOCUS ON UN REFORM

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today briefed top delegates for nearly three

hours, spotlighting his sweeping proposals for United Nations reform and

calling for new commitments across a broad range of development challenges.

development and that the multilateral system was falling short on

delivering results – particularly for the developing world, the

Secretary-General outlined key features of the proposals contained in his

report, "In Larger Freedom," which he expects political leaders to act on

at the General Assembly's mid-term millennium review summit in September.

Summit, which opens tomorrow and where political leaders from both regions

are expected to forge new partnerships for development cooperation. The

occasion also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 1955 Asian-African

Conference in Bandung, Indonesia. General Assembly President Jean Ping of

Gabon joined Mr. Annan on the podium and briefed on how the report was

being discussed by Member States at UN Headquarters in New York.
According to the text of his remarks at the briefing, Mr. Annan noted that

every day, people were dying from poverty, hunger and disease, "but we

aren't seeing enough action to meet key commitments to boost resources for

development – even though we have in place an agreed development

framework." At the same time, just as the human rights, peacekeeping and

peace-building machinery of the UN faced "major strains," the global

community had lost sight of vitally important issues, such as when to use

force and who should authorize it.

but perhaps it was most important for the developing world, whose countries

suffered most from violations of their social, cultural, economic and

political rights. And while the UN's contribution to human rights remained

important, it had become "uneven, and is often politicized and does not

focus on all human rights in all countries," he added.

said, stressing that more voices needed to be heard – and listened to – to

ensure the UN reflected 2005, not 1945. Along with this, all States should

realize that modern challenges, from poverty to terrorism, were

interconnected. "We cannot have security without development; we cannot

have development without security; and we cannot have either without

respect for human rights," he said.
Saying that his reform proposals set out a "development-heavy agenda," he

stressed the importance for concrete commitments to meet the target for

official development assistance (ODA) amounting to 0.7 percent of gross

national income by 2015. He had also called for renewed negotiations on

duty-free and quota-free market access for all exports from developed

countries, as well as a "big boost" in resources to fight against HIV/AIDS,

an issue of deep importance for Africa and Asia as well as the world.
"I hope you will see [the agenda] as a chance to secure progress for your

peoples on all these points," he said.

prevent violence and Israel must halt all settlement activity if recent

hopes for resolving the Middle East conflict are to be sustained, the top

United Nations political officer told the Security Council today.

peace, but warn us as well that this new process is still fragile,"

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast said in

his latest monthly briefing, citing "a degree of edginess and renewed

suspicion" about Israeli intentions and Palestinian resolve and

capabilities.

coordinate Israel's planned withdrawal of its settlements in the Gaza Strip

this summer, but voiced concern "at reports that this announced readiness

to coordinate has not yet been sufficiently translated into practice.

ensuring that the disengagement is as smooth and non-violent as possible,"

he added.
"The pressing challenge for the parties and the international community is

to take all possible actions to ensure that disengagement happens, that it

happens in a coordinated way, and that it does not become a dead end, but

contributes to the momentum for peace," he said, referring to the Road Map

peace plan sponsored by the Middle East diplomatic Quartet – the UN,

European Union, Russia and the United States.

two States living in peace and security, originally by the end of this

year.
"There is no 'quick fix' to this conflict. We can and should however

reiterate the need for the parties to implement their commitments under the

Road Map, and more recently at Sharm el-Sheikh," Mr. Prendergast said,

referring to an accord reached in February at the Egyptian resort for the

Palestinians to stop acts of violence and Israel to cease military

activities.

security forces, but added: "These actions and announcements are positive

and welcome, but they are clearly not enough. Security reform and a visible

and sustained effort to stop all violent activity is a basic requirement of

the Road Map. As such, they cannot be a matter for compromise. The will to

act must come from the Palestinian Authority."

Abbas' ability to take difficult steps, he said, noting that one of its

primary obligations under the Road Map is a halt to all settlement

activity, including natural growth.

international objections, (Israeli) Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon has

publicly reiterated his commitment to the eventual implementation of the E1

plan aiming at connecting Jerusalem with the largest West Bank settlement,

Maale Adumim," he declared.
"In addition, the Israeli Lands Authority announced on 18 April that it was

inviting bids for the construction of 50 housing units in the West Bank

settlement of Elkana."
Recalling US President George W. Bush's statement that Israel should not

undertake any activity contravening the Road Map or prejudicing final

status negotiations and should meet its obligations regarding settlements,

he said: "I believe that this very much represents the position of all four

members of the Quartet."
* * *
IMPROVED POLITICAL CLIMATE HAS NOT ENDED WESTERN SAHARA STALEMATE – UN REPORT
The overall improved political climate in Western Sahara has not ended the

stalemate between the parties on the core issue of how the people of the

territory can exercise their right of self-determination, Secretary-General

Kofi Annan says in a new report recommending a six-month extension of the

United Nations mission there to maintain stability.
Despite the encouraging recent reduction in negative rhetoric and increase

in high-level contacts in the region, "the stalemate in this long-standing

conflict has left tens of thousands of Saharan refugees living in

deplorable conditions, relying for their survival on the generosity of the

international community," Mr. Annan says in a report to the Security

Council.
He expresses the hope that all concerned will show the political will

necessary to break the current deadlock, thus enabling the UN to resume

efforts to assist the parties in reaching a mutually acceptable political

solution. In the meantime he urges both sides to refrain from inflammatory

statements or taking actions – legal, political or military – which would

complicate matters further or cause friction.
While he is pleased there have been no indications that either side plans

to resume hostilities, which were formally suspended when the UN Mission

for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) began operations in

September 1991, Mr. Annan is concerned by the violations of a military

agreement between Morocco and the Frente POLISARIO (Popular Front for the

Liberation of the Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro), which, among other

things, prohibits tactical reinforcements and the redeployment or movement

of troops in restricted areas.

dangers for civilians who enter the heavily mined buffer strip and

restricted areas. In this regard, he notes that illegal migrants are

particularly vulnerable, as are civilian demonstrators. He also again calls

on the POLISARIO to release all Moroccan prisoners of war without delay. He

appealed to Morocco and the POLISARIO to cooperate fully with the

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in accounting for the

missing.
On the Security Council's request that he examine the possibility of

reducing the size of the Mission, Mr. Annan says that he remains convinced

that this would not be advisable at this stage. Given the situation on the

ground, MINURSO should be in the position to provide adequate and effective

monitoring of the ceasefire, and, at a minimum, be maintained at its

current strength through 31 October.
* * *
EXPERT TEAM COMPLETES NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF EXPANDED UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE IN NEPAL
A United Nations human rights expert team has wrapped up a fact-finding

mission on the needs of an expanded UN rights office in Nepal.

Representative for the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, and

Dennis McNamara, Director of the UN's Internal Displacement Division, left

the Himalayan kingdom yesterday.

Geneva-based human rights office and the Government to set up a regional

monitoring operation to help establish accountability for rights abuses and

prevent further violations by all sides in the nine-year-old armed conflict

with Maoist rebels.
The UN's goal is to set up regional field offices to ensure rapid responses

to violations reports, and to have an advance team of human rights monitors

in Nepal by early May.
Under the agreement, the office will "engage all relevant actors, including

non-state actors, for the purpose of ensuring the observance of relevant

international human rights and humanitarian law." Monitors will seek the

cooperation of both the security forces and the Maoists to ensure that all

human rights violations, wherever they occur, are investigated and reported

on.
* * *

eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a cholera outbreak,

the situation is likely to worsen not only for the infected, but also for

those who need basic supplies of food and water, the United Nations

emergency coordination office said today.
"In addition to the cholera epidemic, which is likely to get out of hand in

the absence of a continuous follow-up in Tché, the IDPs (internally

displaced persons) will soon run out of food, water and medical supplies,

making their situation even more complex in the face of an already volatile

humanitarian situation," said Modibo Traoré, the head of the UN Office for

the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bunia.

before the area became inaccessible, OCHA said. About 1,420 people in Tché,

Tchomia and Kafé have been infected since the start of the outbreak on 26

March and another 20 new cases of the disease have been detected daily, it

added.
Tché is about 61 kilometres north of Bunia, in an area where UN

peacekeepers and DRC national troops have been disarming fighters,

especially along the Iga Barrière-Katoto road, OCHA said.
The fighters have been attacking civilians in Djugu territory despite a 1

April deadline, imposed by the peacekeeping UN Organization Mission in the

DRC (MONUC), to have handed up their weapons.
MONUC has proposed establishing a mechanism to give humanitarian aid

workers safe passage to and from the area, OCHA said.

country's major rebel force started their four-day withdrawal of heavy

weaponry from the frontline today and it has been proceeding without a

major hitch, the United Nations peacekeeping mission said.

between the north, held by the rebel Forces Nouvelles, and the south, under

the control of the Government's Defence and Security Forces of Côte

d'Ivoire, since a coup attempt against President Laurent Gbagbo failed in

2002 and was turned into an insurgency.
The area between them is held by peacekeepers of the UN Operation in Côte

d'Ivoire (UNOCI) and UN-authorized French Licorne forces.

signed in January 2003 in Linas-Marcoussis, France, an accord on unresolved

issues (Accra III) reached last July in Accra, Ghana, and further

arrangements brokered recently by South African President Thabo Mbeki on

behalf of the African Union (AU) and known as the Pretoria Agreement.
Meanwhile, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the

country and the head of UNOCI, Pierre Schori, yesterday urged all political

parties to ensure full and unconditional implementation of the Pretoria

Agreement and he got a pledge of cooperation, the mission said.

meeting separately with representatives of seven allied opposition groups,

known as the Group of Seven and led by Alphonse Djédjé Mady, and the

presidential party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), led by Affi N'Guessan.

Nations envoy for Iraq is back in Baghdad, re-immersing himself in efforts

to ensure that all sectors of society take part in the political

transition, especially with the task of writing a new constitution.

met with new Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, as well as with a

senior Sunni Arab representative in a country in which Shiite Arabs form

the majority. The talks focused on the quick formation of a new Government

and the constitution.
Mr. Talabani was elected president earlier this month by the new

Transitional National Assembly, itself chosen in elections in January, when

Sunni Arabs largely absented themselves, thus securing little

representation in the body that is to draft the new constitution.

participation by all sectors in the process. Shiite Arabs, who voted

enthusiastically, represent about 60 per cent of the population, while

mainly Sunni Kurds, who also turned out en masse, and Sunni Arabs, the

dominant political force in the regime of ousted Saddam Hussein, represent

about 20 per cent each.

week and his meetings with senior officials in the region, Europe and the

United States, and reviewed recent political developments with Harith

Al-Dhari, Secretary-General of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni

group.
In a meeting with the Iraqi Bar Association, he discussed their concerns on

the constitutional process and reiterated the UN's readiness to assist if

so invited. The Bar Association welcomed a UN role.
* * *
DROUGHT, LOCUSTS LEAVE THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN IN NIGER FACING MALNUTRITION, UN SAYS
Extrapolating from a survey conducted in two areas of Niger hard hit by

locust infestation and scanty rains, a United Nations agency estimates that

nearly 350,000 children younger than 5 could be suffering from

malnutrition, with the risk of stunted growth.

suggests that 346,000 children could suffer from malnutrition this year,

with 63,000 of them suffering severely, the World Food Programme (WFP) said

in the capital, Niamey.

locust invasion in 15 years, the situation is likely to get worse before it

gets better. Niger is facing a food deficit of nearly a quarter of a

million metric tons this year," it said.

countryside and migrated to urban centres in search of work, while others

have moved their livestock into agricultural areas where the animals could

destroy crops and bring on conflict, WFP said. Still others are selling

livestock to buy food, or felling trees to make charcoal for sale.
"WFP's emergency operation in Niger to combat the impact of the drought and

locust invasion, which runs until the end of August, currently has a

shortfall of $2.5 million. The only donation to date is a gift of $500,000

from Sweden," it said.

considered by some to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, after

they were massively damaged by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, have

moved a step closer with the identification of six pilot project sites.

see how they perform in restoring the environment and providing clean water

and sanitation to 85,000 people living there, UN Environment Programme (

UNEP) official Monique Barbut told a meeting yesterday held on the margins

of the thirteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (

CSD) in New York.

wetland management skills to local people and communities, heirs to the

5,000-year-old civilization of the Babylonians and Sumerians, with “low

tech” less polluting ESTs which include restoration of reed beds and other

marshland habitats that act as natural, water-filtration systems.
In 2001, UNEP released satellite images showing that 90 per cent of these

fabled wetlands, home to rare and unique species like the Sacred ibis and

African darter, and a spawning ground for fisheries, had been lost to dams

on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and a vast drainage operation carried

out by Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Further studies released in 2003 showed that an additional 3 per cent, or

325 square kilometres, had gone. Experts feared the entire wetlands could

disappear by 2008.
With the collapse of the former regime in mid-2003, local residents began

opening floodgates and breaching embankments to bring water back and

satellite images indicated that by April 2004 around a fifth, or 3,000

square kilometres, had been re-flooded. The challenge now is to restore the

environment and provide clean water and sanitation services.
* * *
WORLD’S YOUNGEST COUNTRY BECOMES NEWEST APPLICANT TO JOIN UN TOURISM AGENCY
Timor-Leste, the world’s youngest country, has become the newest applicant

for membership of the United Nations tourism agency, a global forum that

plays a decisive role in promoting the development of responsible,

sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

Guinea, the United Kingdom and Belarus, which announced their intention to

join earlier this year, will be submitted in November to the World Tourism

Organization’s (WTO) General Assembly in Senegal.

ago, includes snorkelling and scuba-diving in the clear ocean waters of the

Timor Sea, dolphin and whale watching, bird watching, trekking and

mountaineering and exploring cultural treasures from the Portuguese

colonial times in Dili, the capital, and other towns.
With the new members WTO will comprise 148 Member States, seven territories

and over 300 Affiliate Members representing the private sector,

destinations and education, serving as a forum for tourism policy issues

and a practical source of tourism know-how.

public-private sector partnerships and encouraging the implementation of

the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism to ensure that member countries,

tourist destinations and businesses maximize the positive economic, social

and cultural effects of tourism and fully reap its benefits, while

minimizing its negative social and environmental impacts.

dry river bed and to families huddled in miserable tiny twig shelters in

squalid villages in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, the top United

Nations refugee official has called on the international community to

contribute more money for humanitarian relief.
“These people desperately, desperately need the kind of assistance we

provide,” Acting UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Wendy Chamberlin

said yesterday on the third day of a five-day visit to the region. “UN

agencies simply do not have the funding to provide them the assistance they

desperately need to survive.”
The group in the river bed and the villagers had been refugees in

neighbouring Chad, which Ms. Chamberlin is to visit today and tomorrow, and

mobile teams from UNHCR are fanning out into the countryside and the desert

looking for displaced people and refugees who have returned to the country

but are scared to go to their destroyed villages.
“We visited two villages, one Arab and one attacked by Arabs, but in both

villages families had started to come back,” she said at the end of a

gruelling day in the sweltering heat of Darfur, an area the size of France

and where a rebellion that began two years ago, partly in protest at the

distribution of economic resources, has been compounded by armed militia

attacks on villages, uprooting more than 2 million people. Some 200,000 of

these fled into Chad.
“They came back from Chad for a variety of reasons – because conditions

were worse along the border there, because the Sudanese Government told

them to come back to receive UN aid, because they wanted to be close to

their land,” Ms. Chamberlin said. “Whatever the reason, they are desperate

and they have no aid and we, as the UN refugee agency, have a duty to

assist returned refugees.”

35-year-old widow with three children, told her that she and others living

in the river bed have to eat seeds they find on the ground, seeds that are

so tough they have to be boiled for three days.

frightened even by the arrival of Ms. Chamberlin’s helicopter. “We are

living here, yes, but we are scared,” Zaina stressed, cuddling her year-old

baby boy Mohammed. “We are scared of everything. When we saw your plane

(helicopter), we thought of running away. Whenever anything happens we

think of running.” She begged the UN to bring food, water, and above all,

security.
Ms. Chamberlin cautioned against hopes of any quick end to the Darfur

crisis. UNHCR and other aid organizations “are here for the long term.

People we have seen are terrified to go back to their villages.
“There was still a great deal of fear in their faces because of the things

they have been through. Clearly they want and need more protection from the

African Union troops, from the UN and particularly the protection the UN

refugee agency is best capable of providing,” she added.

DEGRADATION

droughts in recent years and the soil erosion stemming from extensive

deforestation, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is

expanding a United Nations-sponsored pilot project of watershed management

to increase the country’s output.
“Applying watershed management throughout the country, planting trees in

the uplands and developing integrated approaches to the use of natural

resources, will help diminish soil degradation and the dangers of floods

and downstream sedimentation,” UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) forestry

expert Thomas Hofer said today.
Trees help retain water in the soil, preventing water from flowing

downstream all at once during heavy rains and keeping moisture in the soil

during low rainfall. Their roots also cling unto the soil, making it more

difficult for soil to erode.

2000 have caused massive destruction and reduced the DPRK’s agricultural

output in the last decade. In 1995 and 1996 alone, 16 per cent of arable

land was damaged by floods, which also destroyed irrigation infrastructure

as well as 30 out of 90 tree nurseries.
To compensate, forests have been extensively exploited and converted into

agricultural land on steep slopes of marginal lands, which are vulnerable

to soil erosion. Forests were also felled for fuelwood and to earn foreign

currency. As a consequence, one quarter of the country’s non-agricultural

land on hills and mountains is bare today.
At the Government’s request, FAO launched a watershed management project in

2001 to reverse this vicious cycle and offset diminishing forest quality

and agricultural output, in part by rehabilitating damaged tree nurseries

and establishing new ones. Two small-scale pilot sites have been

established and rural people have been trained to apply their newly-gained

knowledge sites for replication elsewhere.

for the Taedong River, which flows through the capital, Pyongyang.

to see sustainable use of natural resources and greater agricultural output

in the country,” Mr. Hofer said.
* * *
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