Visiting Haiti, Ban pledges that world will remain at its side
Shelter remains the biggest and most urgent priority in Haiti, two months after it was struck by a catastrophic earthquake, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said as he visited the country for the second time since the disaster and stressed that the world has not forgotten its people's plight.
Mr. Ban met with President René Préval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive on Sunday and toured a camp that is home to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons on a one-day visit ahead of the international donors' conference for Haiti that will be held at United Nations headquarters in New York on March 31.
The secretary-general told journalists in Port-au-Prince, that the situation in Haiti, where the transition from emergency relief to early recovery and reconstruction has begun, remains extremely difficult.
"We have made great progress" in providing emergency supplies of food and water, Mr. Ban said, while the UN cash-for-work program has employed 85,000 people so far to clear debrief and distribute aid and both the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSTAH) and the Haitian National Police have managed to maintain security.
Estimates vary but as many as 230,000 Haitians may have been killed in the quake that struck on January 12 and much of Port-au-Prince and nearby towns was leveled. Around 1.3 million people remain homeless.
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Ban to visit Gaza, UN-backed Middle East Quartet condemns Israeli settlements
Ahead of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Gaza this weekend, the UN-supported diplomatic group seeking to promote peace in the Middle East condemned Israeli moves to expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of East Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, Israel's Interior Ministry announced that it has approved plans to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem.
The Quartet, comprising of the UN, the European Union, the United States and Russia, "condemns Israel's decision to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem," the group said in a statement, agreeing to closely monitor developments in the region.
"The Quartet reiterates that Arab-Israeli peace and the establishment of an independent, contiguous and viable state of Palestine is in the fundamental interests of the parties, of all States in the region, and of the international community," the statement read.
The statement called for the urgent resumption of talks between the parties to resolve all outstanding issues of the conflict, including the status of Jerusalem.
The Quartet said it will take full stock of the situation at its meeting in Moscow on March 19.
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New UN leadership for Afghanistan arrives in Kabul
The experienced international diplomat Staffan de Mistura arrived on Saturday in Kabul to take up his post as the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, saying he was starting work at a "very critical period in Afghan history."
Mr. de Mistura, who now heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told journalists at Kabul airport after his arrival that the UN remained fully committed to helping Afghans rebuild their country and consolidate constitutional democracy.
"The United Nations has been associated with Afghanistan's history and its people for many years," he said. "We're involved not only with assisting the political stability of Afghanistan, but also with many other activities in the social and economic sphere.
"The Afghan people have suffered a lot and endured many difficult times. They deserve international support, but they deserve above all a better future. The United Nations will do its part."
Afghanistan faces a critical year in 2010 with parliamentary elections slated for September and a major international gathering on the way forward for the country scheduled to take place later this year in Kabul.
Mr. de Mistura, a citizen of both Italy and Sweden, succeeds Kai Eide of Norway as the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA.
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Week in Pictures
UN Headquarters Memorial Ceremony in Honor of Fallen Haiti Staff
March 9, 2010 - Alain Le Roy (left), Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Susana Malcorra (beside Mr. Le Roy), Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, solemnly lay flowers at a memorial ceremony at UN headquarters for their fallen UN colleagues, lost to Haiti's powerful earthquake. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
Secretary-General Meets Mourners After Memorial for Fallen UN Haiti Staff
March 9, 2010 - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon comforts a young woman after an emotional memorial ceremony for UN staff members who perished in Haiti's earthquake. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras |
