The top United Nations official in Afghanistan welcomed the publication of preliminary results of last month's parliamentary elections, but cautioned that the electoral process is not over, with considerable fraud having been identified.

More than 4 million voters took part in the September 18 elections for the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Afghanistan's parliament, which were organized by the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC). At least 2,500 candidates - including nearly 400 women - vied for the parliament's 249 seats covering all 34 Afghan provinces, plus the Kuchi constituency.

Staffan de Mistura, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative, recognized the IEC's hard work to release the election results.

He also commended the IEC for its significant improvements in managing the post-polling day process, noting that the body has detected irregularities and is committed to ensuring the process is transparent.

Last year's presidential elections, eventually won by incumbent President Hamid Karzai, were marred by widespread fraud.

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UNRWA's New York Representative Andrew Whitley speaks at the National Council on US Arab Relations in Washington on Friday, October. 22

THE WEEK AHEAD

UN Women chief and former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet will be honored at a Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) benefit gala on Tuesday, October 26 at the Organization of American States in Washington.

Eric Dienes, Liaison Officer for the UN Office on Sport for Development and Peace will speak on a panel at a Sports and Peacebuilding Symposium hosted by the US Institute of Peace in Washington on Tuesday, October 26.

Kevin Kennedy, the Deputy SRSG for the UN Mission in Haiti meets with US officials in Washington on Wednesday, October 27.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan now has 24 helicopters, an increase of eight, to help move 120 tons of material for the January referendum that will decide whether southern Sudan declares independence from Africa's largest country, a senior official said on October 19.

"We have a large mission support capability here in the south as well as other parts of Sudan to carry out the referendum," the Regional Coordinator for Southern Sudan in the UN mission known as UNMIS, David Gressly, told a news briefing in Juba, the southern capital.

Two referenda will be held on January 9, with the first, on self-determination in Southern Sudan being the final stage in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended two decades of warfare between the northern-based Government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The second in the oil-rich Abyei region will decide whether it is to be part of northern or southern Sudan.

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed that the October 19 attack on a United Nations convoy in Iraq would not deter the organization from continuing its efforts to assist the Iraqi people on their path to reconciliation and prosperity.

The convoy was carrying Mr. Ban's Special Representative for Iraq Ad Melkert, his Deputy Special Representative Jerzy Skuratowicz and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) staff.

All UN staff escaped without injury in the attack, which occurred in Najaf, but a member of the Iraqi security forces was killed and several others injured.

"This attack will not deter the UN from continuing its efforts to assist the Iraqi people on their path to reconciliation and prosperity," a statement issued by the Secretary-General's spokesman said.

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With 1.3 million people still living in spontaneously formed camps nine months after a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, a United Nations envoy has called for a shift in the focus of humanitarian operations and more urgency in launching the reconstruction process.

"Haiti is still living through a profound humanitarian crisis that affects the human rights of those displaced by the disaster," Secretary-General Ban Ki moon's Representative on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Walter Kaelin said on October 19 after a visit to the country, noting that camp residents include both those who lost their homes and others fleeing poverty exacerbated by the January quake, which killed more than 200,000 people.

Calling for more urgency for reconstruction process, Mr. Kaelin said the crisis needs a development solution, with the government facing the primary responsibility to communicate publicly a plan on how to provide durable solutions, while donors ensure early recovery funding for smaller-scale neighborhood reconstruction to begin.

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 The number of Internet users worldwide has doubled in the past five years and will surpass the 2 billion mark in 2010, with the majority of the 226 million new users this year coming from developing countries, the United Nations telecommunication agency reported on October 19.

The number of people with Internet access at home has increased from 1.4 billion in 2009 to almost 1.6 billion in 2010, with 65 percent of these in developed countries and only 13.5 percent in developing countries, where access in schools, at work and public locations is critical, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) said.

By the end the year, 71 percent of the population in developed countries will be online, compared to 21 percent in developing countries. Regional differences are significant: 65 percent of Europeans are on the Internet, compared to only 9.6 percent of Africans.

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