United Nations Washington
In This Issue
Secretary-General confident of 'appropriate' Security Council action on North Korea
Iran's new nuclear proposal could be a confidence-building measure, says Ban
UN World must adopt new approach to bring peace to war-torn Somalia, says Ban
UNRWA's Summer Games facility vandalized
UN identifies most persistent users of child soldiers in armed conflicts
Week in Pictures

UN Calendar

May 27
 

Ad Melkert, United Nations special representative of the secretary-general to Iraq, speaks at a US Institute of Peace event entitled, The View from Baghdad: U.N. Special Representative Ad Melkert on Iraq's Transition at 3 p.m. 

 

May 29

 

UN Headlines 

 

UN Reports

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

 

Review of the economics of climate change in the Caribbean Phase II


Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

 

Sri Lanka Flood Situation

 

Somalia

 

Colombia

 

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

 

Regional Update, Pandemic (H1N1)

 

Earthquake in Haiti

 

Secretary-General's Reports

 

Resolution 1883

 

Children and Armed Conflict

 

UN Center for Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

 

Enhancing food security in Africa through science, technology and innovation

 

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

 

Central African Republic

 

UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

 

China: Working for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

 

UN Development Programme (UNDP)

 

One Year After - Gaza Early Recovery and Reconstruction Needs Assessment

 

UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

 

Good practice guidance on the sustainable mobilization of wood in Europe

 

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

 

A review of UNESCO's action in implementing the WSIS outcomes

 

UN Human Rights Council

 

Madagascar

 

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

 

Somalia Briefing Sheet

 

World Bank Group

 

What's the Big Idea? Africa as the Next "BRIC"

 

World Food Programme (WFP)

 

Ghana Effects of the Financial Crisis on Vulnerable Households

 

World Health Organization (WHO)

 

Iraq: Emergency Situation

  

Pandemic (H1N1)

 

Equity, Social Determinants and Public Health Programmes

 
UN Washington Online
UN Washington YouTube Page
 Facebook
 
May 23, 2010 - During his monthly press conference on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fielded several questions from journalists regarding evidence the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) had torpedoed a Republic of Korea (South Korea) warship without provocation, and whether the matter would be brought before the Security Council. UN Photo/Mark Garten
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
 
Secretary-General confident of 'appropriate' Security Council action on North Korea
 

The deliberate sinking of a navy ship off the coast of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) by its northern neighbor, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), has dealt a blow to efforts to promote peace in the region, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, voicing hope that the Security Council will act swiftly on the issue.

 

North KoreaSeoul released the findings of an international report last week which said that its vessel Cheonan was hit by a North Korea torpedo in late March, claiming the lives of 46 South Korea soldiers.

 

Mr. Ban told reporters at his monthly press conference today that the evidence laid out in the report "is overwhelming and deeply troubling," adding his voice to the chorus of international leaders condemning the incident.

 

He said that it is "particularly deplorable" that this development occurs at a time when both global efforts to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula and the so-called Six-Party Talks - bringing together North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States - are stalled.

 

"Such an unacceptable act by the DPRK [North Korea] runs counter to international efforts to promote peace and stability in the region."

 
 
Iran's new nuclear proposal could be a confidence-building measure, says Ban
 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said an Iranian proposal on its nuclear program presented today to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be assessed by all concerned parties and, if accepted, could serve as an important confidence-building measure and pave the way for a negotiated solution to the dispute.

 

IAEAEarlier, the IAEA spokesperson said the agency's Director General Yukiya Amano had received the representatives of Iran, Brazil and Turkey, who delivered a letter signed by the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi.

 

The letter follows the joint declaration signed by the three countries in Tehran on May 17, regarding fuel supply for the Tehran research nuclear reactor. Mr. Amano will convey the letter to the United States, France and Russia for their consideration, according to the IAEA spokesman.

 

Under the initiative brokered by President Luiz In�cio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Iran would ship its low-enriched uranium out of the country in exchange for high-enriched uranium for use at a civilian nuclear research site in Tehran.

 

Mr. Ban welcomed the diplomatic efforts by Turkey and Brazil to resolve the resolve international tensions related to Iran's nuclear program, and reiterated his call to Tehran to show greater transparence on the issue.

 
 
UN World must adopt new approach to bring peace to war-torn Somalia, says Ban

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the world to adopt a new approach to bring peace to Somalia, telling an international conference on the Horn of Africa country that a failure to act now risks expanding the violence to its neighbors and beyond.

 

Secretary-General Poses for Photo with Somalia Conference Participants"One thing is certain. If we do not change our approach, there will be little chance for peace in Somalia," he told the conference, citing the urgent needs to give humanitarian aid to 3.2 million people, set up a legal framework to bring pirates operating off the Somali coast to justice, and accelerate reconstruction by involving the Somali business community at home and abroad.

 

The three-day international conference, being held in Istanbul and co-hosted by the United Nations and Turkey, is examining Somalia's political, security and reconstruction needs, a year after a similar summit was held in Brussels.

 

"We are here today to start making that change - by considering the challenges Somalia faces and the opportunities it presents," Mr. Ban said.

 
 
UNRWA's Summer Games facility vandalized

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the vandalizing by intruders of a summer games facility in Gaza operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) on May 23.

 

UNRWA Summer GamesA group of about 30 armed and masked men set fire to the facility, which was under construction near the beach in Gaza City. It was designed to be one of about 35 facilities for a summer games program being run by the agency.

 

More than 250,000 refugee children in Gaza participate in UNRWA's annual "Summer Games" which is scheduled to begin on June 12.

 

"UNRWA's extensive summer games programmes offer a rare opportunity for relief from the deprivations and difficulties of everyday life in Gaza," Mr. Ban said in a statement.

 

The program, conducted for the fourth year with the full support and involvement of the community, is the largest recreation program for Gaza's children providing a diversified set of activities including sports, swimming, arts and crafts, theatre and drama. It is of immense physical and psychological importance for children who would otherwise have no other similar recreation opportunity.

 
 
Related Headline
 
 
UN identifies most persistent users of child soldiers in armed conflicts

The United Nations for the first time named the military forces and rebel groups that are the most persistent violators of children in armed conflicts, identifying groups in Asia, Africa and Latin America which continue to recruit child soldiers and use them to wage war.

 

Former child soldiers board a helicopter flight in North Kivu, DR Congo.The annual report of the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict shows that 16 different armies and insurgent groups - in conflicts ranging from the Philippines and Myanmar to Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Colombia - have recruited or used child soldiers for at least the past five years.

 

The report also identifies the groups which subjects minors to the most brutal violence, such as killings, maimings, rapes and other sexual assaults.

 

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, warned that "we still live in a world with those who would use children as spies, soldiers, and human shields.

 

"The shifting nature of conflict has put many children on the front lines. Too often children become collateral damage during military operations. Every year the release of this report should give us pause. Let us remember that we must protect the most innocent and most vulnerable," she added.  

 

Week in Pictures

 
Amnesty ceremony in Afghanistan
 
  Amnesty ceremony in Herat 
  

May 22 - Some 27 former Taliban fighters from the western provinces of Farah and Herat take part in an amnesty ceremony after giving up their weapons and surrendering to the Afghan government. UN Photo: Fraidoon Poya (UNAMA)

  
_______________________________
 
Launch of Global Effort to End Distracted Driving
 
Launch of Global Effort to End Distracted Driving 
 

On May 19, a joint effort to address the dangers of distracted driving was launched by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan E. Rice; U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood; Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Vitaly I. Churkin; and Jennifer Smith, President of FocusDriven -- Advocates for Cell-Free Driving. UN Photo/Mark Garten

 

 

_______________________________
 

 

About the United Nations in Washington
 
As the United Nations office in Washington, D.C, the UN Information Center serves as the focal point for UN news and information to advance understanding of the UN and its work, and to serve as a resource for United States government officials, NGOs, civil-society organizations and the American people.

We always appreciate your interest and feedback and so please call (202-331-8670), e-mail ([email protected]) or visit us online at www.unicwash.org
 

United Nations. It's your world.