UN rushes aid to victims in Kyrgyzstan
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken with the head of Kyrgyzstan's interim government regarding the crisis in the south, as United Nations agencies launched operations to assist the thousands of civilians affected by the violence.
Mr. Ban told Roza Otunbaeva that the UN is closely coordinating with other organizations and players to respond to the crisis, in which more than 100 people have reportedly been killed, at least 1,300 injured and some 75,000 displaced as a result of the clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks that erupted last week.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an emergency operation to provide logistics and feed civilians caught in the crisis, while calling on all sides to allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian supplies, particularly in the southern city of Osh.
WFP currently has 3,000 metric tons of food pre-positioned in Kyrgyzstan - enough to feed 87,000 people for two months.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offered its assistance to Uzbek authorities who are already dealing with needs of the displaced.
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Former Swiss leader elected as next president of General Assembly
A former leader of Switzerland who was instrumental in his country joining the United Nations eight years ago has been chosen by the world body's 192 member states to serve as the next president of the General Assembly.
Joseph Deiss, 64, who was elected this morning by acclamation, will succeed Ali Treki when he takes over the presidency in mid-September as the General Assembly's 65th session begins.
Accepting the post "with great hope and solid conviction," Mr. Deiss told the Assembly that the world has entered an era of increasing interdependence.
"Everything is moving faster and coming closer," he said. "New global challenges have also emerged - climate change, economic and financial crises, terrorism and global crime, extremism of all kinds - in addition to the perennial problems of war and poverty."
Mr. Deiss' first major event as president will be the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summit in September, where world leaders will be asked to accelerate progress to reach the anti-poverty goals by their target date of 2015.
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UN to observe World Refugee Day on Sunday
United Nations officials will mark World Refugee Day on Sunday, June 20 with news that the number of refugees voluntarily returning to their home countries last year plummeted to their lowest levels in two decades, according to a new United Nations report.
Only 251,000 refugees - out of a total of 15.2 million - repatriated in 2009, compared to an average of half a million annually for that past 10 years. Two thirds of refugees come under the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the rest falling under the responsibility of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
"The theme of this year's observance -- "Home" -- highlights the plight of the world's 15 million refugees, more than three-quarters of them in the developing world, who have been uprooted from their homes by conflict or persecution," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message for World Refugee Day.
"On World Refugee Day, let us reaffirm the importance of solidarity and burden-sharing by the international community. Refugees have been deprived of their homes, but they must not be deprived of their futures."
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Food prices could soar up by 40 percent in next decade, UN reports warns
Global prices of food could climb by as much as 40 percent in the coming decade, as the global population continues to surge, a new United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report released today says.
The Agriculture Outlook 2010-19 anticipates that wheat and coarse grain prices could jump to levels of between 15 and 40 percent higher than they were between 1997 and 2006, while vegetable oil and dairy prices are also projected to rise by more than 40 percent.
Spikes in livestock prices are not expected to be as marked, even in the face of rising global demand for meat which is set to outpace demand for other commodities as some segments of the population in emerging economies alter their dietary habits due to increased wealth.
The report, jointly published with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, notes that global agricultural output will ease in the next decade, but food production will meet the demand generated by surging population growth by 2050.
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Week in Pictures
UNAMID Philippine Contingent Medal Ceremony
June 9, 2010 - Officers of the Philippine contingent of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) stand in formation during a medal ceremony at UNAMID's Super Camp in El Fasher, Sudan. UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran
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Women in Cameroon Welcome Secretary-General
June 10, 2010 - Women in Mbalmayo, Cameroon, clad in dresses with the image of Cameroonian President Paul Biya, welcome United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to their community. Mr. Ban visited Mbalmayo to see first-hand several projects related to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
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