United Nations Washington
In This Issue
UN Calendar
UN Headlines
New UN Reports
Egypt: UN chief urges peaceful transition after Mubarak resignation
UN agency providing help and medical support to refugees in Egypt
Breaking Middle East peace deadlock is vital, Secretary-General tells Israeli Defense Minister
Help needed for Sudan's displaced following referendum, says UN agency
Week in Pictures
Week in Numbers

UN Calendar   

February 11

The Security Council holds an open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security and the interdependence between security and development.
 

 

February 13

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay begins a visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg, which will end on February 19.

February 15

The Security Council hears a briefing by the Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The organizational session of the Open-ended Working Group on Aging begins at UN headquarters in New York.

The 2011 organizational session of the Economic and Social Council begins at UN headquarters in New York through February 18.

February 16

The Security Council holds a debate on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

February 17

The Security Council holds consultations on United Nations peacekeeping operations.

February 18

The Security Council holds consultations on the protection of civilians.


 

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Security Council's February Calendar


UN Headlines  

AFRICA

 

DR Congo: UN helps provide psychotherapy, training for rape victims

 

Western Sahara: UN reports progress in efforts to reunite separated families

 

Ivory Coast: Top UN refugee official urges end to Ivorian stalemate to ease humanitarian crisis

 

Tanzania: UN and artists use music to promote maternal health in Tanzania

 

Central African Republic: UN calls for tackling alleged irregularities in Central African Republic election

 

Mozambique: Deaths highlight perils facing people fleeing Horn of Africa

 

C�te d'Ivoire: UN agency stocking up aid to assist displaced

 

Southern Africa: UN warns floods could lead to food shortages

 

Somalia: UN disappointed by three-year extension of transitional parliament

 

AMERICAS

 

Haiti: UN joins national police in anti-crime crusade

 

Ecuador/Peru: UN chief to visit next week

 

UN regional commissions key to steering sustainable development, says Migiro

 

ASIA PACIFIC

 

Sri Lanka: UN agency planning long-term food support for flood-hit Sri Lankans

 

Pakistan: As temperatures plummet, UNICEF rushes supplies to vulnerable Pakistanis

 

China: Winter drought threatens wheat harvest in north plain as prices soar

 

Thailand/Cambodia: UN chief urges restraint after latest border clashes

 

Thailand/Cambodia: UNESCO to assess damage to Hindu temple caused by clashes

 

Myanmar: Ban hopes election of new president leads to 'inclusive' civilian government  

 

EUROPE

 

Germany: Ban holds talks with foreign minister ahead of Middle East meeting

 

UN envoy convenes talks on former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia name issue

 

European foreign policy chief reaffirms commitment to strong UN

 

MIDDLE EAST

 

Human rights must not be cast aside amid Middle East politics, UN official stresses

 

WORLD

 

At special ceremony, UN pays tribute to victims of Holocaust

 

UN rural development fund notes progress in its gender equality objectives

 

UN urges action to curb harmful use of alcohol, reduce drink-related deaths

 

With cell phone network congestion set to worsen, UN urges rapid broadband growth

 

General Assembly stresses need to invest in disaster mitigation measures



New UN Reports   

Secretary-General's Reports

 

Interdependence Between Security and Development

 

Thailand/Cambodia

 

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

 

Food Price Index Update  

 

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Field Support

 

Ten-year Impact Study on Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in Peacekeeping

 

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

 

International Patent Filings Recover in 2010



For a complete listing of reports, please visit:
 
UN Reports

UN Washington Online
UN Washington YouTube Page
 Facebook
Egypt: UN chief urges peaceful transition after Mubarak resignation

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called again for a transparent, orderly and peaceful transition in Egypt after hearing of President Hosni Mubarak's decision to step down after weeks of anti-government protests, and commended the Egyptian people for making their voices heard.

 

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonAccording to media reports, Vice-President Omar Suleiman announced on state television that Mr. Mubarak, who has been in power for 30 years, had resigned on Friday and had handed over power to the military.

 

"I respect what must have been a difficult decision, taken in the wider interests of the Egyptian people," Mr. Ban told reporters at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

 

"At this historic moment, I reiterate my call, made as recently as last night, for a transparent, orderly and peaceful transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people and includes free, fair and credible elections leading to the early establishment of civilian rule.

 

"I urge the interim authorities to chart a clear path forward with the participation of all stakeholders," he added.

 

In a statement issued by his spokesperson last night, Mr. Ban had emphasized that it is for the Egyptian people to determine their future.

 

"The voice of the Egyptian people, particularly the youth, has been heard, and it is for them to determine the future of their country," he stated today.

 

"I commend the people of Egypt for the peaceful and courageous and orderly manner in which they have exercised their legitimate rights. I call on all parties to continue in the same spirit." 


Read more

UN agency providing help and medical support to refugees in Egypt
  

Amid the continuing political turmoil in Egypt, UNHCR has been working through key partners to provide financial support and medical help to refugees in Cairo while UNHCR staff have been manning telephone hotlines from their homes.

 

UNHCRUNHCR partner Caritas has also been providing medical care and handing out medicine and prescriptions to refugees and asylum-seekers at the Refuge Egypt Zamalek outlet.

 

On February 10, Caritas distributed financial assistance to 150 particularly vulnerable refugees in the Egyptian capital. About 1,000 people in Cairo rely on this bi-monthly aid from UNHCR and there will be further distributions over the coming days.

 

Meanwhile, although many UN offices in Cairo are closed for security reasons, UNHCR staff members continue to work from home. UNHCR has increased a hotline for refugees, which has been in regular use. "The numbers have been circulated via social media and through NGO and community networks," spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva on February 11.


Read more

Breaking Middle East peace deadlock is vital, Secretary-General tells Israeli Defense Minister

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak it was vital to break the current stalemate in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians and make progress towards resolving all final status issues.

 

File Photo, Dec 2010: Secretary-General Meets Israeli Defense MinisterMeeting with Mr. Barak at United Nations headquarters in New York, Mr. Ban called for full Israeli engagement with the UN and its partners in the Quartet - the European Union, Russia and the United States - which seeks a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict based on Israel and Palestine living side by side as sovereign nations in peace and security.

 

The Secretary-General took positive note of the recent Israel announcement of additional measures easing the blockade of Gaza and further steps in the West Bank, including a further transfer of security, his spokesman said.

 

He urged Mr. Barak to take further steps to ease the suffering in Gaza, where some 1.5 million Palestinians live under a blockade imposed by Israel over three years ago when Hamas, which rejects Israel's right to exist, took power.

 

Read more 


Related Headlines

Regional tensions underscore need to expedite Israeli-Palestinian talks - UN and partners

 

Humanitarian crisis in Gaza dire as unemployment rises, warns UN agency

 

UN envoy on sport for peace cheers young Palestinian women footballers

 

Help needed for Sudan's displaced following referendum, says UN agency
 

With the historic referendum on South Sudan's independence now complete, help is needed to support the return of southerners back to the South from other parts of Sudan, according to the United Nations refugee agency, which is seeking $53.4 million for this effort.

 

More southerners arrive from the North in Torrit. � UNHCR/A.CoseacAccording to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), some 200,000 southerners have already returned from the North over the past three months. In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, some 75,000 others have registered to go back.

 

"Relief agencies anticipate that as many as 800,000 southerners will return from the North this year, which will add pressure on the already fragile humanitarian environment," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva on February 11.

 

January's week-long referendum was a culminating point of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ending two decades of civil war between the North and the South that killed some two million people and drove an estimated 4.5 million others from their homes.

 

Read more  

 

Related Headlines

 

North and South Sudan make 'significant' progress on steps for separation - UN

 

Sudan: UN peacekeepers patrol site of deadly military clash 

 
Week in Pictures

 

Secretary-General Attends Mideast Quartet Meeting in Munich


Secretary-General Attends Mideast Quartet Meeting in Munich

 

February 5, 2011 - Fellow members of the Middle East Diplomatic Quartet, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (left), are shown before a meeting of the Quartet in Munich, Germany. UN Photo/Mark Garten


_______________________________

Council Welcomes Results of Southern Sudan Referendum

Council Welcomes Results of Southern Sudan Referendum

February 9, 2011 - Susan E. Rice (center right), Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, converses with Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the UN, prior to the Security Council's meeting at UN headquarters in New York on the results of the historic referendum in Southern Sudan. More than 98 percent of referendum participants voted for independence from Sudan. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

 

Week in Numbers
  
 

2.5 Million

 

Wider implementation of policies is needed to save lives and reduce the health impact of harmful alcohol drinking, says a new report launched by the World Health Organization (WHO). Harmful use of alcohol results in the death of 2.5 million people annually, causes illness and injury to many more, and increasingly affects younger generations and drinkers in developing countries. Harmful use of alcohol is defined as excessive use to the point that it causes damage to health and often includes adverse social consequences.Read more

 

1 Billion

 

With smart phones already consuming five times more data capacity than ordinary mobile phones and their number set to soar from 500 million today to nearly 2 billion by 2015, broadband growth is vital not just for developing countries but for the world's most advanced nations too, a senior United Nations communication official warned. Mobile broadband is increasingly the technology of choice for hundreds of millions in the developing world, where fixed line infrastructure is often sparse and expensive to deploy. ITU estimates that the number of mobile broadband subscriptions will reach 1 billion in the first quarter of 2011. Read more

 

162,900

 

Strong growth from China, the Republic of Korea and Japan has helped to boost the number of patent applications filed worldwide last year, following the drop witnessed in 2009, the United Nations agency tasked with promoting the protection of intellectual property said today. Patents filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an agreement administered by the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that provides a simplified method for international patent filing, increased by 4.8 per cent in 2010. Provisional data shows that 162,900 international patent applications were filed last year, as compared to the 155,398 filed in 2009, WIPO stated in a news release. Read more

 

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