UN Calendar |
March 7
The Working Group of the Whole of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations meets at UN headquarters in New York.
The Trusteeship Council meets in New York to elect its president and vice-president.
The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meets in Vienna.
March 8
International Women's Day
The United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking will launch its Small Grants Facility in London. Participants will include Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Yury Fedotov and UNODC Goodwill Ambassador Mira Sorvino.
The Security Council is briefed by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA).
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro speak at a forum on "Investing in Women and Entrepreneurship: Solutions to Addressing MDG 3" sponsored by the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. It will be held at UN headquarters in New York.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark hosts a live Twitter chat about women and development issues.
March 10
The Security Council holds an open debate on the "Comprehensive Strategy for the Realization of peace and Security in Somalia."
March 11
The Security Council holds consultations on the 1591 (Sudan sanctions) Committee.
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Security Council's March Calendar
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New UN Reports |
For a complete listing of reports, please visit:
UN Reports
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February 28, 2011 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with United States President Barack Obama at the White House Oval Office to discuss the ongoing crisis in Libya and other issues. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
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Ban discusses Libya with Obama, urges punishment of those responsible for violence
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held talks on Libya with United States President Barack Obama on February 28 in Washington, D.C., later stating that Muammar Al-Qadhafi's regime had declared war on its own people and must be brought to account for possible crimes against humanity.
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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers remarks following his tour of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Permanent Exhibit and installation on contemporary genocide, From Memory to Action, on February 28, 2011 in Washington, D.C. USHMM Photo.
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"We agreed that the international community must stand firmly together during this historic transition toward a more democratic, secure and prosperous Middle East," Mr. Ban said of his talks with Mr. Obama in the Oval Office, praising the president's "firm leadership" and telling Mr. Qadhafi that he should listen to his people's call to leave. The crisis in Libya has seen elements of Mr. Qadhafi's government use deadly force in its repression of protesters.
Speaking to reporters at Washington, D.C.'s Holocaust Museum after his White House visit, Mr. Ban said the Council's actions are "important and unprecedented, and I'll make sure that these measures are implemented swiftly."
"This museum commemorates that appalling truth," he said. "It calls upon us to remember - and to act. 'Never again,'" the Secretary-General said. "Once again, we are being tested. In Libya, a regime that has lost all legitimacy has declared war on its people. It is up to us, the community of nations, to stand against this crime... Gross violations of human rights will not be tolerated; those responsible will be punished."
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VIDEO
 | | VIDEO: Remarks by Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum |
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UN in Washington
Ibrahim Gambari, joint special representative of the secretary-general of the United Nations African Union and the United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) met with U.S. administration officials and participated in a discussion on UNAMID co-hosted by the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping and the Stimson Center on Tuesday. Mr. Gambari was joined at the event by Lieutenant General Patrick Nyamvumba, Force Commander of UNAMID.
Robert Serry, special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, gave a speech at a J Street Conference plenary session titled, "History before Our Eyes: Broader Implications of Democracy Movements in the Arab World" on Monday which was held at the Washington Convention Center. While in Washington, he also met with members of AIPAC and congressional, White House and administration officials.
Kevin Watkins, UNESCO's director of the EFA Global Monitoring Report, presented his report, The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education, at a Brookings Institution event on Wednesday.
Catarina de Albuquerque, an independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council on the issue of human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation, briefed the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Wednesday and held a press conference on Friday to release the
preliminary findings of her fact-finding mission to the U.S.
Jan Eliasson, former UNGA president, led a round-table on the future of civil-society organizations in global governance on Thursday at an event co-hosted by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the U.S. Institute of Peace.
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UN General Assembly suspends Libya from rights body; Ban says regional change must come 'from within'
The United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya from the United Nations Human Rights Council for "gross and systematic" human rights violations because of President Muammar Al-Qadhafi's violent repression of peaceful protesters demanding his ouster.
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March 2, 2011 - At the Tunisia-Libya border, a heaving crush of thousands of people anxious to leave the insecurity of Libya gathered in a no-man's land on the Libyan side of the border. Most were young men, principally migrant workers from Tunisia and Egypt. They were desperate to go home or find shelter and safety in Tunisia. After several nights sleeping out in the open, many were exhausted and hungry. As the crowd surged towards the border gate, several people were injured. The Tunisian Red Crescent was on hand to provide medical support for all those in need. Officials from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) were also waiting on the Tunisian side of the border, supporting the Tunisian authorities and aid organizations. UN Photo/UNHCR/A. Duclos
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The vote by the 192-member Assembly, for which a two-thirds majority was required, followed a request on February 25 from the Geneva-based Council itself that it suspend the North African country - one of the top UN right's body's 47 elected members - and was passed by acclamation.
It was the latest measure taken against Mr. Qadhafi's regime by the UN, where the Security Council has already imposed sanctions and requested that the International Criminal Court investigate it for possible crimes against humanity. Only Venezuela expressed reservations about Tuesday's suspension on the grounds that an investigation was needed first - but it did not stand in the way of the vote.
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Related Headlines
Tunisian border at crisis point as tens of thousands flee Libyan violence, UN reports
UN refugee agency 'very concerned' civilians being prevented from fleeing Libya
International Criminal Court investigates Libya violence in response to UN request
Amid reports of continued violence in Libya, UN ramps up humanitarian aid
Video  | | VIDEO: International Criminal Court acts on UN referral to probe Libya violence |
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UN Ambassador Angelina Jolie stresses need to reintegrate Afghan refugees .
United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and award-winning Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has called for greater focus to be put on the reintegration of former Afghan refugees as she wrapped up her second visit to the country.
 | | Video - Afghanistan: Angelina Jolie Returns to Kabul |
"We need to revisit the idea of what return is and the difference between just returning and reintegrating," said Ms. Jolie, who first visited Afghanistan as a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ambassador in 2008, and this time met with some of the same people she saw then and found them still struggling to survive and reintegrate.
More than 5.5 million Afghan refugees have returned since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, mainly from Pakistan and Iran, and they now make up 20 percent of the population.
"The focus needs to be put now on reintegration, and that means not just putting up shelter but making sure there is water, job opportunities, a school for the children and medical clinics," Ms. Jolie said, as she returned to visit families living in a dilapidated warehouse in Kabul, the capital, that once served as a storage facility for the national bus company.
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Week in Review
The War Against War - Haiti Update: A Video Presentation
_______________________________ UN Women: A Powerful New Agency for Women and Girls Worldwide: A Video Presentation
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Week in Numbers
5,500 and 6,000
Fighting between forces of Somalia's transitional government and insurgents  has spread to areas near the Kenyan border, forcing some 5,500 residents of the Kenyan border town of Mandera to flee their homes, exacerbating the plight of people affected by drought, the United Nations humanitarian office reported today. An estimated 6,000 Somalis fleeing the fighting in the Beled Hawa area on the Somali side of the border have also entered Kenya during the past 11 days, and there are unconfirmed reports of other refugees stranded in the no-man's land between the two countries, unable to enter Kenya. Read more
Article 19
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged students to use information  technology and the Internet creatively to chart a better future for humanity, saying that the web is a powerful resource and a tool for development. He underlined the UN's commitment to the freedom of information, as proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to promoting universal access to the information and communications technologies (ICTs) that are central to realizing that right. Read more
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