UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE

UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE

DAILY NEWS

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IRAN READY TO NEGOTIATE OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAMME ‘WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS,’

ANNAN SAYS

Minister Manouchehr Motaki has assured him his country will come to the

negotiating table “without preconditions” in any talks on its nuclear

programme – which it insists is for peaceful purposes, but which the United

States and others see as a weapons threat.
“I hope it will give the sufficient answer before too long,” Mr. Annan told

reporters in Geneva after meeting with the Iranian minister, referring to

the offer of incentives by the five Permanent Security Council Members

(China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US) and Germany in

return for Iran’s abandoning its uranium enrichment programme.
“Iran maintains that its interest in nuclear energy is purely for peaceful

purposes, and I have stressed to Iranian leaders, including Mr. Motaki,

that it is very much in their interest to convince the world of that by

cooperating fully with IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency],” he

added.
Despite years of inspections after the discovery in 2003 that Iran had

concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations

under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the IAEA has said it

still cannot conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear activities

although it has not seen any diversion of materials to nuclear weapons.
But it has called on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment, which can

produce fuel for nuclear energy production or for making nuclear weapons.

Iranian leaders have insisted on their right to enrichment.
Asked whether Mr. Motaki indicated that Iran might be prepared to give up

enrichment, Mr. Annan replied: “Their point of view is that they are coming

to the table without preconditions and that everything can be discussed at

the table. That, I presume, includes the question of enrichment. They are

considering the package very, very seriously.”
He was also asked if he thought the Washington should be more engaged in

getting a diplomatic solution on the issue. “I think we saw a major shift

in US policy when it indicated that it will be prepared to join the talks

once the issue of the enrichment or its suspension thereof was resolved,”

he replied.
“I hope that initial shift and signal will bear fruit as we move forward

with the discussions with the Iranians, and that sooner or later – and

rather sooner than later – we will see the US joining the talks.”
He also said he had discussed with Mr. Motaki the timing of the Iranian

reply to the latest offer. “I don't think they will give an answer before

the G-8 meeting in St. Petersburg,” he noted, referring to the meeting of

the major industrial nations in Russia at the beginning of next month.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the reply won’t be ready

until late August.

* * *
ANNAN ‘HOPEFUL’ OF PERSUADING SUDANESE AUTHORITIES TO ACCEPT UN FORCE IN

DARFUR
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced hope that the

world body would be able to convince Sudan’s authorities to accept a UN

peacekeeping force in the troubled region of Darfur, saying not only is it

needed to implement a recently signed peace agreement but also to provide

security to the internally displaced, estimated to number more than 2

million.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Mr. Annan said that talks with the

Sudanese authorities were continuing and he sought to allay the fears

expressed recently by Sudan President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir when he

rejected any UN presence as reimposing colonial rule.

you all heard President [Omer Hassan Al-] Bashir’s statement rejecting a UN

force – but let me say that the talks continue and, I hope ultimately, we

will be able to convince them to accept a UN force.”

colonial rule on one of its Member States, and of course that was one of

the fears President Bashir used in rejecting the UN presence.”
Describing last month’s peace deal on Darfur – agreed between the

Government and the largest rebel group – as “very tenuous and incomplete”

because two of the rebel movements have not signed, Mr. Annan also

expressed his hope that a pledging conference in Brussels next month will

produce more and stronger support for the African Union Mission (AMIS) on

the ground in the troubled region.

will be needed to help the parties implement the peace agreement and help

provide security for the internally displaced.”
He said the joint UN-AU assessment mission, which is wrapping up its visit

to Sudan, would give him its report perhaps as early as next week on the

possible transition from AMIS to blue helmets and then, “based on that

report, we will finalize our plans.” But he repeated that the AU force

needs to be strengthened whatever the outcome of discussions with the

Sudanese authorities.

several months for the UN force to be on the ground,” he noted. “That is

why it is so important that we take every step to strengthen the African

Union force, so that they maintain stability on the ground until they are

able to transition to a UN force.”
Indeed, helping to strengthen this AU force, which currently numbers 7,000

troops covering an area the size of France, was one of “several urgent

tasks” the international community needed to carry out to help the people

of Darfur, the Secretary-General said.

agreement to honour and implement it in good faith. We should maintain a

persistent pressure on the rebels [who] have not signed, and those parties

outside the agreement, to join the agreement, and really press them to

honour it in good faith,” he said.
“We should also take immediate and urgent steps to strengthen the African

Union force that is on the ground so that it can defend its mandate and

defend the people in its proximity… We also need greater assistance from

the donor community to be able to assist the needy.”

who is leading the UN delegation on the fact-finding mission, will be back

at Headquarters on Monday and will brief the Security Council on the

situation in Darfur early next week, a UN spokesperson told reporters

today.
Three years of fighting in Darfur between Government forces, pro-government

militias and rebels have killed scores of thousands of people and displaced

more than 2 million others amid charges of civilian massacre, rape and

other atrocities.

* * *
JUSTICE MUST NOT BE SACRIFICED TO END CONFLICTS, SECURITY COUNCIL TOLD
Justice should never be sacrificed by granting amnesty in ending conflicts,

the United Nations Legal Counsel told the Security Council today, stating

that ending impunity for perpetrators of crimes against humanity is one of

the principal evolutions in the culture of the world community and

international law over the past 15 years.
“Justice and peace should be considered as complementary demands,” Nicolas

Michel told an open debate on strengthening international law.

issue of choosing between peace and justice, but of finding the best way to

exercise one with regard to the other, taking into account particular

circumstances, without ever sacrificing justice.”

considered unacceptable in international practice, citing the recent

transfer of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to the Netherlands to

stand trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges related to

devastating civil wars in West Africa.
“It is now a matter of ensuring that this standard is respected,” the Legal

Counsel added.

to countries in conflict has become a major issue in UN human rights

forums. In April, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said

the battle against impunity was a vital element for bringing true peace.

jeopardizes the possibility of either concluding a peace agreement in the

first place, or of a peace agreement that has been concluded proving

durable,” she stressed. “To the contrary, I suggest that human rights are

central to and indispensable for both peace and justice.”
Like Mr. Michel today, Ms. Arbour hailed the detention of Mr. Taylor as “a

powerful and welcome affirmation of this basic principle.”

judicial body also known as the World Court, was among the approximately 30

speakers who participated in today’s debate.

* * *
MONTENEGRO GAINS SECURITY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT FOR UN MEMBERSHIP

Montenegro’s bid to join the United Nations, bringing the world body one

step closer to admitting its 192nd Member. Following discussions yesterday

on the country, which held a referendum on 21 May to become independent

from Serbia, the Council adopted a formal presidential statement

recommending that the General Assembly admit Montenegro. The Assembly is

expected to act on the matter next Wednesday.
“We look forward to the Republic of Montenegro joining us as a Member of

the United Nations and to working closely with its representatives,” said

Per Stig Møller, Foreign Minister of Denmark, which holds the Security

Council’s presidency for the month of June.

what was originally the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which

dissolved during the Balkans wars of the 1990s.
Former parts Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia joined the UN in

May, 1992. Approximately one year later, in April of 1993, the General

Assembly decided to admit as a Member of the UN “the State being

provisionally referred to for all purposes within the United Nations as

‘The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ pending settlement of the

difference that had arisen over its name.”

2003 officially changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro.

UN Member State on 27 September 2002.

* * *
UN FOOD AGENCY ‘VERY SATISFIED’ WITH MEETING ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES

TREATY
United Nations food agency officials have welcomed the results of the first

meeting of the governing body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic

Resources for Food and Agriculture, citing broad consensus that

safeguarding these resources plays a crucial role in ensuring the food

supply of future generations.

for the five-day meeting in Madrid (12-16 June), which was chaired by

Francisco Mombiela, Director-General of Agriculture of Spain’s Ministry of

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

(FAO) said in a press release.
“FAO is very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. After years of

negotiations, the Contracting Parties have concluded agreements that will

now make it possible to implement the Treaty for the benefit of plant

genetic resource donors and users alike,” said José Esquinas, Secretary of

the Treaty.
The UN agency estimates that some three quarters of the most important

crops and forages have become extinct during the past hundred years. One of

the main purposes of the Treaty is to conserve the remaining genetic

diversity of cultivated plants for future generations.

attaining the UN Millennium Development Goals and to eradicating hunger.

Italy, in the first half of 2007.

* * *
UN REFUGEE AGENCY LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO GIVE THE WORLD’S REFUGEE CHILDREN

HOPE
Aiming to boost international visibility for the world’s 9 million

displaced and refugee children, the United Nations refugee agency has

launched an internet-based fundraising campaign to provide education and

sport outlets for the youngest among those who have been forced to flee

their homes.

with uncertain futures,” said United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR) António Guterres at the launch Wednesday. “Ninemillion.org can help

refugee youth by giving them a chance to change their future through

education and support,” he added.
Two-thirds of the money raised from the fundraising drive will be used for

education projects in refugee camps, with the remainder funding sport and

play programmes by the Toronto-based Right To Play organization.
Providing education and sport activities for these children can mean the

difference between despair and hope. “By helping refugee children to learn

and play we will be helping them, and the world, to have a better future,”

said UN Special Advisor on Sport for Development and Peace Adolf Ogi.

shows short films about young refugees in Azerbaijan, Uganda and Thailand

who share a mutual love for the sport.
The bulk of donations for the public-private sector initiative come from

Nike and Microsoft.

* * *
UN OFFICIALS LAUD CIVIL SOCIETY EFFORTS TO END POVERTY IN LEAST DEVELOPED

COUNTRIES

civil society groups to combat poverty in the world’s least developed

countries (LDCs) and stressed that governments must hear the strong call of

these organizations for action to help the world’s poorest people.

that this intergovernmental body, the United Nations, arrives at,” said

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, addressing the General

Assembly’s Civil Society Hearing on LDCs, held in New York.

organizations (NGOs), civil society groups and world business to exchange

views with Member States on progress in realizing targets agreed in the

10-year Programme of Action for LDCs, which was adopted in 2001 in

Brussels.
Welcoming the participants, some of whom were able to travel to the

hearings thanks to support from the UN, Mr. Malloch Brown challenged them

“to not limit your advocacy to today but to take it back to the national

level and to make sure that you seek to influence the position of

governments when they assemble here in September.”
“You bring to our deliberations the reality of a world where millions of

women, children and men are overwhelmed by poverty and disease,” said

General Assembly President Jan Eliasson.
Civil society had demonstrated its strength by focusing attention on issues

affecting the poor in developing countries, but more must be done to

accelerate growth in those States through “unrelenting support and

effective implementation” on the part of all concerned, he added.

and Small Island Developing State, Anwarul Chowdhury, said civil society’s

ability to forge coalitions that transcend borders must help the

development cause of LDCs. “Indeed, civil society, NGOs and the private

sector are already playing a big role but I urge greater engagement with

the specific needs of the world’s 50 poorest nations,” Mr. Chowdhury said.

“Everyone stands to gain when governments, NGOs and the private sector work

together.”
Civil society actors attending the hearing underscored the importance of

greater transparency and accountability in policy and the decision-making

process. Arjun Karki, coordinator of the NGO LDC Watch, said that during

the remaining five years of the Programme of Action there should be

increased emphasis on pro-poor policies. He further called for adequate

representation and participation of women and other vulnerable groups in

policy formulation.
“Demand-driven and responsive initiatives need to be encouraged, based on

principles of gender justice and equality, so that we can benefit from

investments and even generate our won wealth,” Mr. Karki said.
Today’s informal interactive civil society hearing was part of a series of

meetings, round tables and panel discussions being held in advance of a

September General Assembly review of the implementation of the Programme of

Action.

KITS
With the toll in Angola’s worst cholera outbreak in almost two decades

approaching 50,000 cases and 2,000 deaths, the United Nations health agency

is sending drugs, oral rehydration salts, disinfectants and chlorine to

counter poor sanitation and a shortage of safe drinking water, major

vectors of the disease.

incidence of around 125 cases is still being reported,” the UN World Health

Organization (WHO) said in its latest update.
A plan of action has been drawn up and agreed upon by all partners at the

country level, for short, medium and long-term response to the outbreak,

while the WHO continues to support the Angolan Health Ministry in its

surveillance, water and sanitation, social mobilization and logistics

activities.
As of 19 June, Angola had reported a total of 46,758 cases including 1,893

deaths.
Cholera, an acute intestinal disease caused by ingestion of food or water

contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, causes copious, painless,

watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if

treatment, including rehydration, is not given promptly.
About 35 per cent of victims are children under five. Even at the best of

times, Angola faces one of the highest under-five mortality rates in the

world as the southern African country struggles to rebound from a

devastating civil war that ended in 2002 after destroying much of its

infrastructure over the previous 27 years.

* * *
TEXT MESSAGE SOS FROM HUNGRY REFUGEE TO UN AGENCY SPOTLIGHTS PLIGHT OF

SOMALIS
The mobile phone bleeped twice. The text message was short: we are hungry,

you must help. The recipient: the London office of the United Nations World

Food Programme (WFP). The sender: a Somali primary school teacher in an

arid refugee camp in Kenya who fled violence in his homeland as a boy 15

years ago.
“My name is Mohammed Sokor, writing to you from Dagahaley refugee camp in

Dadaab,” the phone screen flashed. “Dear Sir, there is an alarming issue

here. People are given too few kilograms of food. You must help.”
It may seem strange that someone so short of food can afford a mobile phone

but one of the great ironies of modern Africa is that mobile phones are not

seen as a luxury, but a necessity, WFP noted. They are often cheap and used

far more widely than most would imagine.

millions – like Mohammed – who make up the African diaspora, they are the

thread that binds scattered communities together.
“In terms of sheer initiative, Mohammed’s direct appeal has to be a first,”

WFP said.

Like so many Somalis, he had the misfortune to be born into a country that

began disintegrating in spectacular fashion when the Cold War structures

that had held so many weak States together suddenly collapsed in the early

1990s.
The vicious militia groups that rushed in to fill the vacuum left by absent

government exacerbated the apocalyptic famine in Somalia, prompting tens of

thousands to move southwards and across the border to relative safety in

northern Kenya. Here they were confined to refugee camps situated in one of

the bleakest environments in the world, and here, many remain to this day.
If life was tough at home in Somalia, it was not much easier in northern

Kenya. The camps in Dadaab are in a semi-desert area that can be brutally

hot during the day and cold at night, WFP said. Successive seasons of

drought have placed his refugee camp at the very epicentre of a regional

disaster affecting up to 8 million people in the Horn of Africa.
It is not surprising that Mohammed and his family are hungry. Funding for

the 230,000 Somali and Sudanese refugees in north east Kenya is so low that

WFP had to cut food rations by up to 20 per cent earlier this year.
“If he had the time and the money, he might like to spread his message

further by texting his appeal to ministers and civil servants – or for that

matter Bono, Richard Branson and Bill Gates,” WFP said of rich benefactors

helping the world’s hungry.

donor support if alongside regular food rations, WFP could hand out mobile

phones and a list of VIP telephone numbers. Humble SMS text messages from

refugees could become an effective SOS for millions whose voices are so

rarely heard.”

* * *
US BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION AND UNICEF AIM FOR SLAM DUNK AGAINST AIDS IN

CHINA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and its Basketball Without

Borders programme in Asia has teamed up with the United Nations Children’s

Fund (UNICEF) to distribute HIV/AIDS education materials and sports kits to

schools in seven provinces throughout China.

learning materials for teachers and peer educators to use in the classroom,

as well as a basketball and other sports equipment to help young people

learn about inclusion, empathy, teamwork and fair play.

for Life in a Box project was an exciting way to mobilize young people to

be more sympathetic towards those living with AIDS “by showing that all

children can be included in sports and, through inclusion, stigma can be

defeated.”
Samuel Dalembert, a Haitian native and player on the Philadelphia 76ers,

agreed that the initiative was critical to sparking action. “We cannot

stand on the sideline and just watch it happen. We have to get involved.

All young people have to act,” he said of the programme and kits being

distributed.
Mr. Dalembert is among a number of NBA stars working as coaches at the

camp, including Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Childress, Toronto Raptors

centre Matt Bonner, Orlando Magic’s Pat Garrity, Houston Rockets guard

Richie Frahm and Portland Trail Blazers centre Ha Seung-Jin.

remains particularly low among children and young people.

between the ages of 15 and 20 could not explain one way to protect

themselves from HIV, and in addition, around half the young people in the

same study believed that HIV could be transmitted by sharing chopsticks,

the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said.
The Youth and AIDS campaign in China has adopted the slogan ‘Learn, Share

and Care’ to help young people protect themselves while addressing stigma

and discrimination, the greatest barriers to HIV/AIDS care and treatment.
China AIDS Youth Ambassador Zhao Ying added: “I am very happy to learn more

about AIDS today, to share with each other and care for friends affected.

Sports is one way I think we can all work together and show how we can care

– by including all children affected by AIDS in games and sports.”

York, where the agency and the NBA Cares Foundation announced a partnership

to help promote the initiative, UNITE FOR CHILDREN, UNITE AGAINST AIDS.

That drive is assisting the Basketball Without Borders Asia sports camp

which opened on earlier this month in China at the Shanghai University of

Sport.

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today spotlighted a campaign in Angola where four

football stars have taken to the airwaves encouraging Angolans to

participate in an upcoming immunization campaign aimed at preventing killer

child diseases.
“[The campaign is] a perfect example of how sports, in particular football,

can be used as a platform for social mobilization,” UNICEF Communications

Chief Joe Paulo de Araujo said Thursday. “And we couldn’t have better

advocates than the football stars,” he added.

getting a red card for foul play while the football stars kick out polio

and football nets keep out mosquitoes. Over a three-week period, the

nationwide ‘Enjoy a healthy life’ campaign intends to immunize nearly four

million children under 5 years-old against measles and polio.
The immunization drive is part of a strategic government plan to reach two

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of time-bound targets for

tackling poverty, illiteracy and other global ills – by aiming to reduce

maternal mortality and under-five mortality rates, which are among the

highest in the world in Angola, UNICEF said. On average, one in seven

Angolan women dies during childbirth and 260 of every 1,000 children never

reach the age of six.

* * *
UN FOOD AGENCY STARTS EMERGENCY AID DELIVERIES TO DROUGHT-AFFECTED WESTERN

NEPAL
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Nepal has started

transporting emergency food assistance to support over 225,000 people in

drought-affected parts of the country, many located in remote locations

that could require expensive airlift operations.

very concerned that the effects of the drought will exacerbate what is

already a precarious situation,” said Richard Ragan, County Director for

WFP in Nepal. “With the rains approaching, the time to act is now if we are

able to save lives in these areas.”
The operation plans to provide assistance through an accelerated

Food-for-Work programme. WFP is borrowing close to 800 metric tonnes of

rice from the Nepal Food Corporation with the intention of reaching 225,000

Nepalese victims, who will earn a two month ration of rice and fortified

wheat flour through participation in the programme’s quick impact projects.

Dependent on donor funding, this emergency operation has currently received

less than 30 per cent of the resources sought.
The production of rain-fed wheat was drastically impacted in 10 of Nepal’s

districts, posing acute food shortages, WFP concluded following an

assessment carried out with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization

(FAO). The agencies determined that immediate assistance was needed to help

affected households until the next harvest.
“Families in these areas are struggling to find enough food to feed their

children by selling of their household goods and livestock to survive the

rainless period,” said Mr. Ragan. Should funding be forthcoming, all the

affected areas should receive WFP’s emergency food assistance.

development programmes in 35 districts across Nepal.

* * *
UN FOOD AGENCY PLANTS SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN SCHOOL

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

construction project to build 25 schools in southern Sudan, where primary

school attendance rates are the lowest in the world.
More than 20 years of civil war, ending in January 2005, destroyed most of

southern Sudan’s infrastructure, where estimates show that only 20 per cent

of children attend primary school. Of those who do, just one third are

girls.
These troubling statistics prompted WFP to add school construction to its

list of recovery projects across Sudan, where the agency is working to feed

up to 6.1 million people this year in an emergency operation.

being laid. They also serve as the foundations for the future of thousands

of young southern Sudanese lives,” said WFP Executive Director James Morris

visiting the building site of one of the schools.

construction project is in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals

(MDGs) – a set of global antipoverty targets adopted in 2000 – and the

policy of the Government of Southern Sudan, both of which call for

universal primary education. The project also complements WFP’s School

Feeding Programme, which aims to increase school enrolment and attendance

by giving children a free meal when they go to class.
WFP has already partnered up with the Norwegian Refugee Council and German

Development Corporation to build four schools following donations from the

United States, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
“This is one of the best examples of the humanitarian community working

together to improve lives,” Mr. Morris said.

Health Organization (WHO) reported on Wednesday that nearly 500 people in

the region have died from cholera over the past six months, with the

epidemic recently spreading north to the Khartoum area, causing 77 deaths

since April.
The Sudanese Ministry of Health has formed a task force, including the UN

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO to coordinate the overall response to the

epidemic, including strengthening the surveillance and reporting systems,

standardizing case management and promoting health education and hygiene,

with the chlorination of public water supplies.

* * *
ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN SWEDEN REMAIN: UN EXPERT

“contradictory process,” a United Nations rights expert has said that the

root causes of violence against women in the country have remain

unchallenged and become normalized despite an impressive amount of

legislation aimed at stamping out the problem.
Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council on

violence against women, its causes and consequences, made her remarks after

returning from a fact-finding mission to Sweden, where she held meetings

with officials, women’s groups and others, and talked with women who have

suffered extreme violence.
“The gender equality experience in Sweden has been a contradictory process.

While the equal opportunity agenda has paved the way for public

representation of women, it was not effective in countering the deeply

rooted patriarchal gender norms that sustain unequal power relations

between women and men,” she said in a press statement.
“As a result, the root causes of violence against women remained

unchallenged and perceived as pertaining to the private realm of life. In

the quest for equality, violence against women is said to have become

normalized and personalized.”

Government, which found that 46 per cent of all women have experienced male

violence since their fifteenth birthday, while 12 per cent had been

subjected to such violence in the last year prior to the survey.

stereotypes, they are “normal”, more often than not, Swedish-born men.

Similarly, women who suffer gender-based violence can be found in all

segments of society.”

to violence against women as “impressive,” she said that despite this, only

about 10 per cent of all reported crimes of sexual violence result in a

prosecution of the perpetrator. Ways of improving this situation, she

suggested, include specific training of police, medical and other

personnel, and also more proactive methods of investigation.

in Sweden,” the Special Rapporteur said that some groups appear to face

higher risks, including for example women from immigrant communities and he

called for special protection and assistance for such groups from both the

State and society at large.
“In this regard, it is important to recall that cultural, traditional or

religious considerations can never be invoked to justify any form of

violence against women,” said the expert, who is unpaid and works in an

independent, personal capacity.

* * *
AT UN WORLD URBAN FORUM, A TALE OF TWO CITIES WITH COMMON WAY FORWARD
It was a tale of two cities – one battered into rubble by war, the other at

the cutting edge of technology – as the United Nations World Urban Forum

reached the half-way mark of its weeklong session aimed at averting poverty

and despair among a global population that is expected to double to 4

billion people in the next 30 years.
Yet despite the vast gulf between Kabul, Afghanistan, and Vancouver,

Canada, host city of this third Forum, a plenary meeting moderated by the

Vice-President and Network Head for Infrastructure at the World Bank,

Katherine Sierra, showed there are common ways of facing challenges, though

it will demand public-private sector partnerships as well as the backing of

the cities’ residents.

planning, financing, and servicing facilities for a new city of 1 million

people every week for the next 30 years,” Ms. Sierra said.
“However these will not be nicely planned, new cities at all, but rather,

without smart interventions, the unplanned and unrecorded expansion of

existing slum settlements - poorly located with new ghettoes, often on the

urban periphery. Poverty will deepen, and despair will grow,” she told the

Forum, sponsored by UN-HABITAT, the world body’s Human Settlements

Programme.

that after 25 years of war, its cities had been destroyed, many of them

literally flattened on a scale unimaginable to people outside the country.
But the urban crisis, he added, should also be seen by Afghanistan’s

political and business partners as an opportunity for national and

international investment, a reservoir of cheap skilled and unskilled

labour, with cheap local construction materials, a place where new

partnerships would generate job opportunities for millions of people.
Pat Jacobsen, Chief Executive Officer of Translink, Canada, explained how

Vancouver used partnerships to fund its transport infrastructure as a

modern Pacific gateway city, an example being the new $5-million rail

service linking the city with neighbouring Seattle in the United States.

Partnerships were being used to help find the funding.
In the 1960s and 1970s Vancouver funded its public transport system mainly

from the public sector, but today, over 70 per cent of funding comes in

user fees and fuel taxes. Ms. Jacobsen said 1.2 billion Canadian dollars of

private sector capital had been used to build new infrastructure. A main

problem is the fact that public officials are not used to working with the

private sector, and both sides have different perceptions of each other,

she said.
But the benefits of these new partnerships have paid off enormously and

their biggest supporters are their stakeholders – the users of the public

transport system, she added.

* * *
LANDMARK NEW PROTOCOL TO ENHANCE UN ANTI-TORTURE TREATY ENTERS INTO FORCE

with the entry into force of a mechanism that allows visits by independent

international and national bodies to prisons and other places where people

are deprived of liberty.

High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Louise Arbour said of the new

measure which is entering into force following its signature by 20

countries.

Torture and the Protocol. We have waited a long time for this treaty - let

us now all work together to make it effective worldwide,” she added. “The

monitoring mechanisms, both national and international, established in the

Optional Protocol are critical new methods of ensuring the protection of

detainees around the world against all forms of mistreatment.”

the Optional Protocol and the treaty itself, officially known as the

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

or Punishment.

international Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture with a mandate to

visit places of detention in States parties. It also requires States

parties to set up national preventive mechanisms with access to places of

detention and prisoners held there.
Following these visits, the Sub-Committee and the national preventive

mechanisms will make recommendations for improvements in the treatment and

the conditions of persons deprived of their liberty, and work with relevant

authorities to ensure the implementation of the recommendations.

today’s entry into force. The other 18 States that have signed are:

Albania, Argentina, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Liberia,

Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Paraguay, Poland, Spain, Sweden,

United Kingdom and Uruguay.
* * *
TIMOR-LESTE UN EXPANDS FOOD AID TO TENS OF THOUSAND DISPLACED BY RECENT

VIOLENCE
Tens of thousands of people displaced by the recent unrest in Timor-Leste

are in urgent need of food aid from international donors, according to a

United Nations assessment released today.

World Food Programme (WFP) Representative Tarek Elguindi said of the small

South-East Asian nation that the UN shepherded to independence from

Indonesia four years ago.

forced to flee their homes and at least 37 people killed since fighting

broke out in late April after the dismissal of nearly 600 soldiers, a third

of the armed forces.

Elguindi said. “The recent unrest has placed an added burden on a country

already suffering from widespread nutritional deficiencies. WFP calls on

its donors and partners to help quickly, to prevent any further suffering.”

displaced people living in sites in and around Dili, the capital, in

addition to government rice rations. It is now expanding operations beyond

the capital to reach 78,000 people outside Dili, starting with over 30,000

people in Ermera, Manatutu and Baucau districts in the coming days.
In total, the Agency has provided assistance to over 82,000 people since

the civil unrest began.

among families who remained in their homes in Dili, with markets and

transport networks slow to re-open.
In response, the Agency will start providing supplementary food to 15,000

children under five and pregnant and lactating women, in cooperation with

the government, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and non-government

organizations.

happened “is rather a great disappointment for all of us” after the world

body set up the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAET) in 1999 following

the country’s vote for independence from Indonesia, which had taken over

after Portugal’s withdrawal in 1974.
“I do foresee a strengthened UN mission in Timor-Leste in the future,” he

told reporters, adding that UN Special Envoy Ian Martin would be leading an

assessment team to discuss the issue with the authorities.
If the Security Council agrees, the UN operation would work alongside the

international forces provided by Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and

Portugal that are already there at the Government’s request.
“Whether it will contain only police and people who are able to build

institutions, work with them on elections and on governance issues, or

military, will be for the Council to decide,” Mr. Annan added.
UNTAET maintained a robust structure until independence was attained in

2002, when it was replaced with a downsized operation, the UN Mission of

Support in East Timor (UNMISET). This in turn was succeeded by the current,

even smaller UN office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL).

* * *
UN RIGHTS EXPERT PAINTS DIRE PICTURE OF SITUATION IN OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN

TERRITORY

deteriorated since a cut-off of international funding after Hamas won

elections earlier this year, unemployment and poverty are rising, critical

health services are in jeopardy and some Israeli actions seem to be

dictated by vindictiveness “to humiliate and harass,” according to the

latest reports issued by United Nations human rights experts.

- the first time that an occupied people have been so treated,” the Special

Rapporteur on human rights in the OPT, John Dugard said, calling it

“possibly the most rigorous form of international sanctions imposed in

modern times.”
He called for intensified diplomatic action by the UN and European Union

(EU) in view of the United States’ failure to play the needed role. “Hamas’

refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist and renounce violence will not

be changed by isolation but by engagement and diplomacy. Unfortunately the

United States is unprepared to play the role of peace facilitator,” he

wrote in the report on a nine-day visit to the OPT earlier this month.

Israelis and Palestinians. Whether either of these bodies can play this

role while remaining part of the Quartet is questionable,” he added,

referring to the diplomatic foursome – EU, Russia, UN and US, who have been

seeking a two-state solution to the crisis.
Detailing a litany of hardships facing the Palestinians, Mr. Dugard said

Gaza is under siege with Israel controlling its airspace, resuming sonic

booms “which terrorize and traumatize its people,” increasing targeted

killing of militants that have resulted in death and injury to innocent

bystanders, and expanding the no-go border area to enable it to prevent the

firing of Qassam rockets by Palestinian militants.

to severely affect human rights, with farmers denied permits to farm their

land and families separated.
“To aggravate matters there is a new mood of hostility towards Palestinians

at checkpoints on the part of Israeli soldiers, probably in response to the

Palestinian elections,” said Mr. Dugard who, as a Special Rapporteur, is

unpaid and serves in an independent personal capacity, reporting to the new

UN Human Rights Council.
He noted that checkpoints in the northern sector of the West Bank served no

apparent security purpose, leading to “the inevitable conclusion that they

are principally designed to humiliate and harass the Palestinian people,”

while in the Jordan Valley “a spirit of vindictiveness prevails” with

Israel refusing to supply villages with water and electricity.
He cited Israel’s withholding of $50-$60 million in monthly tax revenues,

which it has not right to do, and said the cut-off in funding by the US and

the EU, because they classify Hamas as a terrorist organization, directly

affects 1 million of a total 3.5 million Palestinians through non-payment

of salaries, while indirectly the whole population suffers economically.
He wrote that the recent Quartet decision to provide support to the

Palestinian people will ameliorate the humanitarian situation but not

alleviate the suffering, adding that attempts to persuade the Israeli

Government to pay tax revenues due to the Palestinian Authority seem doomed

to fail.
“The image of both the EU and the UN has suffered substantially among

Palestinians as a result of the Quartet's apparent support for economic

isolation, under the direction of the United States,” Mr. Dugard concludes.
“Their credibility and impartiality are seriously questioned by

Palestinians. However, they remain the bodies most likely to achieve peace

and promote human rights in the region. In these circumstances both bodies

should seriously consider whether it is in the best interests of peace and

human rights in the region for them to seek to find a peaceful solution

through the medium of the Quartet.”

the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental

health, Paul Hunt, reminded the donor community that it has a

responsibility to provide humanitarian aid.

elderly, children, and pregnant women. In short, some donors have acted in

breach of their responsibility to provide international health assistance

in the OPT,” he said.