UN Calendar |
March 13 The High Commissioner for Human Rights begins a visit to Guinea and Senegal. March 14 The Commission on the Status of Women holds its 17th meeting in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at UN headquarters to conclude its work for the fifty-fifth session. The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly holds its first meeting in the Economic and Social Council Chamber at UN headquarters. March 15 The Secretary-General departs for a three-day visit to Guatemala, where he will attend a meeting with the heads of state of the Central America to discuss regional issues. The Security Council holds consultations on Cyprus and on the Committee pursuant to resolutions 751 and 1907 concerning Somalia and Eritrea. March 16 The Security Council is briefed and holds consultations on the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). March 17 The Security Council holds a debate on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and meets on Somalia. It is also briefed by the Iran 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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UN Washington Online | 
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UN voices sorrow and pledges assistance after deadly quake and tsunami strike Japan
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep sorrow today and offered the full support of the United Nations after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck Japan, killing dozens of people and destroying towns, villages and large swathes of infrastructure.
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March 11, 2011 - A view in Tokyo in the aftermath of the earthquake.
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UN agencies say they are on standby to assist in Japan and any other countries that may also be hit by tsunamis in the wake of the quake, which was one of the strongest in recorded history.
"The world is shocked and saddened by the images coming from Japan this morning," Mr. Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.
Mr. Ban said the UN would do all it could to mobilize humanitarian assistance and disaster risk reduction teams as soon as possible.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that its officials are in contact with their Japanese counterparts to see how it can help with relief efforts.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Japanese authorities have shut down several nuclear power plants and have extinguished a fire at one of them.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has staff on standby across the Asia-Pacific region so that they can respond to calls for assistance.
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Related Headlines
UN-managed Asian tsunami trust fund broadened to cover disaster preparedness
Countries must aim for more coordinated action to reduce disaster risk - UN report
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UN in Washington
Valentin Gatzinski with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations briefed a gathering hosted by the UN Foundation on the UN's work in Afghanistan on Monday, where he discussed how the United Nations system is working together with the United States, NATO, the international community and the Afghan people. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme addressed a global leaders' forum on a green economy at John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies on Wednesday. The discussion focused on UNEP's new report on measures to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development. Juan Clos, executive director of UN Habitat, arrived in Washington for a three-day visit.
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Secretary-General deploys UN special envoy to Libya
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this morning that he will deploy Abdelelah Al-Khatib, his new special envoy to Libya, to Tripoli this weekend to meet with Libyan officials and to assess the current situation.
He will be joined by Department of Political Affairs and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights officials.
"I have instructed Mr. Al-Khatib to convey, in no uncertain terms, the concerns of the United Nations and the international community as expressed in Security Council resolutions," the Secretary-General said.
The Secretary-General will travel to Egypt and Tunisia next week.
On humanitarian efforts in Libya, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that some 2,500 people are arriving at the Libya-Tunisia border daily. To date, more than 230,000 people have fled the violence in Libya.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says that a ship carrying nearly 1,200 tons of wheat flour - enough to feed some 94,000 people for one month - has now arrived in Benghazi.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered health kits - capable of treating 50,000 people for more than three months - to hospitals in Djerba, Tunisia.
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Citing rising death toll, UN urges better protection of Afghan civilians
Ordinary Afghans continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing conflict in the country, says a United Nations report that points to a 15 percent rise in the death toll last year and urges greater efforts by all parties to protect civilians.
There were 2,777 conflict-related civilian deaths in 2010, according to the 2010 Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, prepared by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.
Over the past four years, 8,832 civilians have been killed in the conflict with civilian deaths increasing each year.
Anti-government elements were linked to 2,080 civilian deaths (75 percent of all civilian deaths), up 28 percent from 2009, while pro-government forces were linked to 440 civilian deaths (16 percent), down 26 percent from 2009. Nine percent of civilian deaths in 2010 could not be attributed to any party to the conflict.
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VIDEO
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Video: UN urges protection for Afghan civilians as deaths hit record high
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UN marks International Women's Day around the world
From its New York headquarters to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from the battle front in Darfur to the post-conflict stability of Liberia, the United Nations marked International Women's Day on March 8 with a clarion call to end gender discrimination and violence once and for all.
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March 8, 2011 - Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (at podium) addresses Michelle Bachelet (right), Executive Director of UN Women, and Ellen Margrethe Løj (second from right), Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, at a celebration of International Women's Day at Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia. UN Photo/Staton Winter
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"Today... we rededicate ourselves to campaigning against the violence and abuse which millions of women still face daily," Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said in a statement shortly before her arrival in DRC.
In Monrovia, Liberia, a country that a decade ago was plagued by civil war but has since made great strides towards democracy and stability, Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, the new entity grouping together the work of four previous UN bodies, marked the Day with President Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first democratically elected female head of state.
She called Liberia "a country where women's influence in forging peace and recovery offers lessons for all countries to advancing general equality and women's human rights."
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Related Headlines
Ban calls on more businesses to embrace UN-led initiative to empower women
Women could feed millions more people if given equal access to means of production
UNICEF seeks $1.4 billion to assist women and children in crises
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Verdicts in latest DR Congo rape trial show justice is possible, says UN envoy
The United Nations envoy on sexual violence in conflict has welcomed the guilty verdicts handed down by a military court in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) against 11 army officers for crimes committed in 2009, saying it shows that efforts to end impunity are producing results.
The case involved the rapes of 24 women that took place in Katasomwa, approximately 25 kilometers southwest of Kalehe in South Kivu province, from September 22-26, 2009.
The 11 members of the Congolese army, known as FARDC, had been accused of rape, pillaging, destruction of schools, abduction of children and other violations of physical integrity.
All of them were found guilty and sentenced on Wednesday by the military tribunal of South Kivu in Kalehe.
"This sends a strong signal to all perpetrators of acts of sexual violence that no military commander is beyond the law, including members of a national army," Margot Wallström, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said in a statement issued on March 9.
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Week in Review
VIDEO: Tunisia -- Finding Refuge
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Darfur Women and Girls March on International Women's Day

March 8, 2011 - Sudanese women and girls march in El Fasher, North Darfur, to celebrate International Women's Day. The theme this year: "Equal Access to Education, Training, Science and Technology". UN Photo/Olivier Chassot
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