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Here is your UN news update from Washington... |
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Violent foes of Iraqi stability cannot reverse progress underway, UN envoy tells Security Council
While there are still forces in Iraq trying to disrupt reconstruction with deadly violence, they cannot reverse the progress already taking place, but greater international engagement is needed, the top United Nations envoy in the country said.
 Iraq "has made considerable progress but still faces tremendous challenges," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative Ad Melkert told journalists after briefing the Security Council on Mr. Ban's latest report on the situation in Iraq.
"Generally speaking, I should say that the elections are on track in terms of their technical preparation. Still, a lot needs to be done. Security remains a big challenge to all, to the Iraqis in the first place, but also to the international community," Mr. Melkert said.
In his address to the Council, Mr. Melkert said that despite the forces seeking "to interfere violently in the reconstruction and reconciliation" process, the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people wants it to succeed. "Whilst regrettably these forces continue to kill and target innocent pilgrims, public servants, police officers and election candidates, they cannot reverse the progress that is taking place in Iraq," he added.
Mr. Melkert will be in Washington, D.C., this week to speak at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event entitled, Iraq's Election - and Iraq's Future on Thursday, Feb. 18.
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UN officials warn of threat to aid as fighting steps up in southern Afghanistan
United Nations officials in Afghanistan have called on combatants to the current fighting between Afghan and NATO forces and Taliban militants in the south of the country to respect the neutrality of humanitarian workers and to allow the provision of aid to civilians displaced by the conflict.
 At least 900 families have fled Marja and Nad Ali districts of Helmand province for the nearby city of Lashkar Gah since Operation Mushtarak, a joint offensive by NATO and Afghan forces, began on Friday, according to a statement issued by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
UNAMA and OCHA said UN aid agencies and non-governmental organizations in the area around Lashkar Gah have been mobilized to help the displaced families, distributing 750 kits containing food supplies and other items and organizing emergency shelter. Another 6,000 kits are already in place if needed, as well as water and sanitation equipment.
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Washington, D.C. Event, Feb. 18: Mark Ward, Special Advisor on Development to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for UNAMA, speaks at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event entitled, The role of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in delivering governance and development.
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UN-African Union envoy urges calm following Darfur violence
The head of the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur has issued a call for maximum restraint by all parties following the eruption of deadly violence which has displaced thousands in the troubled Sudanese region in recent days.
 Fighting, such as the kind which broke out in Jebel Marra in South Darfur and Jebel Moon in West Darfur, "may negatively affect the ongoing peace process, which has seen significant strides towards bringing stability to the region," said Ibrahim Gambari, Joint Special Representative of the mission, known as UNAMID.
Mr. Gambari stressed that UNAMID's main focus is to assist in securing lasting peace and stability in the region by bolstering the security of civilians and uprooted people in Darfur, where the conflict has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others.
The mission has responded to the latest outbreak of clashes by increasing its security presence in and around the region to prevent an uptick in violence, and is also working closely with humanitarian agencies to help the newly displaced.
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One month after the quake, great challenges remain in relief efforts
One month after Haiti was torn apart by an earthquake, the scale of the disaster is still becoming apparent, the United Nations aid chief said as he stressed that finding adequate shelter and sanitation remain the greatest challenges of the relief effort.
 "The scale and impact of this disaster are still becoming clearer and clearer, and therefore the scale and the nature of the challenges we face - not only on the relief side, but also the course for the recovery and development later on," Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told reporters via teleconference from Port-au-Prince.
Mr. Holmes praised the coordinated relief efforts of the many UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international actors operating in Haiti.
"The civil-military coordination continues to go very well and I was happy to see that on the ground for myself with the Americans and with the Canadians this morning," he said.
Shelter remains a key priority. So far around 49,000 tarpaulins have been distributed along with 23,000 family-sized tents to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people, but the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that 400,000 plastic sheets are in stock and in the pipeline.
Related Headlines
No spike in infectious diseases reported in post-quake Haiti, says UN health agency
UN agency launches Web tool to help aid workers get food to Haitians in need |
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Winter Olympics in Vancouver aim to win green medal from UN agency
The organizers of the Vancouver Winter Olympics are hoping to stage some of the greenest games ever, thanks to a partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
 For the past three years, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) and UNEP have worked together to improve the environmental footprint of these games and to use the high-profile sports gathering to increase public awareness about green issues.
Low-flow toilets that use rainwater for flushing, separate bins for compostable waste and energy-efficient grass-clad roofs are some of the environmentally-friendly features on display at Olympic sites in and around Vancouver.
VANOC has also tried to reduce the carbon impact of the games by expanding the public transport system and introducing various forms of clean technology, according to a press release issued by UNEP yesterday.
The agency said it will publish an environmental assessment report later this year that will examine the greening of the venues, sustainable transport and waste management.
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Week in Pictures
Polio eradication campaign
February 14, 2010: United Nations agencies and the Provincial Government of Nangarhar jointly launched sub-national immunization days in Jalalabad. The three-day campaign aims to reach 2.8 million children in eastern, southern, south eastern, and western Afghanistan. Until last year, 31 cases of polio had been reported in 2008, 38 cases during 2009, and 4 cases reported thus far this year. Photo: Tilak Pokharel (UNAMA).
Secretary-General Launches Climate Change Financing Advisory Group
February 12, 2010: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) launches the new high-level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing which will expedite financing to help developing countries combat climate change. Joining Mr. Ban via videoconference are Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown (center) and Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi, who will head the Advisory Group. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras | |
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