UN envoy Bill Clinton arrives in Haiti to help coordinate international aid effort
Former United States President Bill Clinton flew into Haiti on January 5 as part of his expanded leadership role for the United Nations in coordinating international aid efforts in the wake of last month's earthquake, and immediately pledged to see the tasks through to their successful conclusion "long after the television crews have gone and emergency response teams have returned to their home countries."
 "Flying into Port-au-Prince for the second time since the earthquake, I was pleased to see continued signs of an expanding relief effort," he said in a statement.
He was quickly briefed by UN staff about the current situation on the ground following the January 12 quake, which killed up to 200,000 people, injured many others and left 2 million in need of aid.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Mr. Clinton UN Special Envoy for Haiti last May, following a visit they made together two months earlier to raise awareness of efforts to help its people and government bolster economic security of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Related Headlines
|
|
UN atomic watchdog concerned over Iranian move to step up uranium enrichment
The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog expressed concern at Iran's announcement that it will step up its enrichment of uranium, with the country having still not signed an international agreement on fuel for its civilian nuclear research site in Tehran.
 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that it was informed by Iran in a letter that it will enhance its enrichment of the material to nearly 20 percent for use at the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces medical radioisotopes for therapeutic and diagnostic procedures.
IAEA Director General is concerned that Iran's move will effect "ongoing international efforts to ensure the availability of nuclear fuel" for use at the civilian research site in the capital, according to an agency statement.
|
|
UN official defends conclusions of landmark climate change report
The great weight of science still supports the findings in a landmark 2007 report from a United Nations-backed panel of experts that global warming is man-made, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said following recent attacks from climate change skeptics over a mistake in the assessment.
Defending the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( ) against criticism for a mistake made in its 2007 report over the rate at which the Himalayan glaciers would melt, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said that the panel has drawn upon the expertise of thousands of the best scientific minds for some 22 years.
"It is quite right to pinpoint errors, make corrections, and check and re-check sources for accuracy and credibility," Mr. Steiner wrote in an opinion piece published in Turkey's English-language Today's Zaman.
However, the "time has really come for a reality check," said Mr. Steiner, noting that the IPCC has acknowledged the need for stringent and transparent quality-control procedures to minimize any such risks in future reports.
"The overwhelming evidence now indicates that greenhouse-gas emissions need to peak within the next decade if we are to have any reasonable chance of keeping the global rise in temperature down to manageable levels," he said.
"Any delay may generate environmental and economic risks of a magnitude that proves impossible to handle."
|
|
Week in Pictures
Sudanese IDPs Return to Homes in Darfur Village
These Sudanese children are among the former internally displaced persons returning to their homes in Swilinga village, Darfur in Sudan last week.
WHO Provides Vaccinations to Haitians at Port-au-Prince Stadium
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides vaccinations against diphtheria and tetanus at Port-au-Prince's National Stadium last week, where many Haitians displaced by the earthquake have set up temporary shelters. |
