Ahead of donors meeting on Haiti, Ban calls for more than $11 billion
The "smart" rebuilding of Haiti after January's earthquake will require some $11.5 billion of spending over the next 10 years, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said ahead of Wednesday's international donor meeting.
"That is our challenge in New York - not to rebuild but to 'build back better,' to create a new Haiti," the Secretary-General said in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
 More than 100 countries will take part in the International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti to be held at the UN headquarters in New York. The meeting will be led by Haitian President René Préval, with the Secretary-General and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as co-hosts, and UN Special Envoy for Haiti, former President Bill Clinton.
The conference will be co-chaired by Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France and Spain, as the leading donors to Haiti.
Under the yet to be detailed plan, an Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission would channel nearly $4 billion into specific projects and programmes during the next 18 months, with the remaining funds spread over the next decade.
"This assistance must be well-spent and well-coordinated," Mr. Ban said, noting that emergency relief, such as food and sanitation, must continue.
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UN welcomes new arms pact between Russia and the United States
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Friday's agreement reached between Russia and the United States to reduce their arsenals, hailing it as an "important milestone" in global efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
 Negotiations between the two nations on a successor agreement to the 1991 Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, better known as START, wrapped up on March 26.
Congratulating Russian and US Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama on the agreement and for the leadership they have displayed, Mr. Ban voiced hope in a statement that "this new treaty can be ratified without delay so as to allow its expeditious implementation."
The Secretary-General called on both nations to press ahead with efforts to reduce and eliminate all nuclear weapons, encouraging other nuclear-weapon States to follow their example.
 He also expressed optimism that the announcement will give "significant impetus" to this May's review conference of the United Nations-backed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which forms the foundation of the world's nuclear non-proliferation regime and marked the 40th anniversary of its entry into force earlier this month.
Parties to that pact will meet in New York in May to review its operation and how to further its full implementation and its universality. Under the provisions of the treaty, review conferences are held every five years.
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UN envoy stresses Iraqi responsibility for election vote count
The process of ratifying the vote count in this month's Iraqi parliamentary elections is entirely a national responsibility, the senior United Nations official in the country said, stressing that the UN's role is only to advise election authorities when requested.
 Ad Melkert, the Secretary-General's Special Representative to Iraq and the head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), issued a statement in Baghdad in response to comments made by Nouri al-Maliki, the country's Prime Minister.
Media reports say that Mr. al-Maliki, who is the head of the State of Law political coalition, has challenged the validity of the vote, called for a recount and for UN support for such a move.
"The role of the United Nations is solely to advise institutions in the country on an impartial basis, at their request," Mr. Melkert said in his statement. "This is what the UN has done throughout the electoral process, in support of the Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) Board that has the sole decision-making power and has been unanimous in declaring the final result after reviewing complaints.
"Also, the next stage leading to ratification by the Federal Supreme Court is entirely an Iraqi responsibility. Only at the request of the government will we provide technical assistance and expertise for the upcoming stages."
Mr. Melkert called on all candidates to accept the results of the polls and "to assume responsibility to lead Iraq to the next stage of democracy, stability and prosperity for all. Whether winning or losing, participation in the elections has been a collective victory."
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Week in Pictures
UN Dims Lights for Earth Hour
March 27 - The United Nations joined landmarks around the world as it turned off lights at its New York Headquarters and other locations, in observance of "Earth Hour". The annual event takes place one week after the vernal equinox, and is organized by the global conservation group WWF, which asks everyone to turn off their lights for one hour starting at 8:30 p.m. local time, to support action on climate change. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras
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Craig David appointed Goodwill Ambassador against Tuberculosis
March 24 - British singer and songwriter Craig David, newly appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Stop TB Partnership, holds a press conference at UN Headquarters. Working with the UN World Health Organization (WHO), he will lead the chorus in the fight against the curable disease which claims 1.8 million lives worldwide every year. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras |
