Author Peter Daou

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Peter Daou

Attacks Force 71 Aid Staff to Evacuate Darfur Town

DARFUR.jpg "Attacks on Darfur aid workers' compounds in Gereida town have forced the evacuation of 71 staff and severely restricted humanitarian aid reaching the region's largest population of war victims, officials said on Wednesday... U.N. humanitarian coordinator Manuel Aranda Da Silva said in a statement: "How can we be expected to carry out humanitarian work without vehicles to get to camps, phones to communicate and the constant threat to their own physical safety?" More

Annan: UN Should Be Judged By Its Many Good Actions

"In his farewell news conference as the world's top diplomat, United Secretary-General Kofi Annan today cited the failure to stop the Iraq war as the worst moment of his 10 years in office and made a fervent appeal that the Organization not be judged by the oil-for-food scandal but by its myriad humanitarian and development actions." More

Alice Nah: “Towards a World Without Strangers”

"Today, Dec 18, marks International Migrants Day, a day to celebrate the contribution of migrants to our societies, and to promote their rights and fundamental freedoms across the world. In 2006, there has been increasing attention on the phenomena of international migration. In September this year, the UN facilitated high-level dialogues amongst its member states to discuss the multi-dimensional aspects of international migration. Their focus was on how benefits could be maximised and negative impacts minimised as people continue to cross international borders." More

North Korea Demands End to Sanctions

BBC News: "North Korea says it will not consider halting its nuclear program unless UN sanctions imposed after it tested a nuclear device in October are lifted. The condition was part of the North's tough opening statement as six-nation talks on the issue resumed in Beijing after a one-year suspension."

UN Launches Massive Humanitarian and Development Appeal for Sudan

"Sudan, including the strife-torn region of Darfur, will require over $1.8 billion dollars to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects next year, the United Nations said today while launching a joint appeal in Geneva, an amount representing roughly half the UN's global funding requirements for aid operations in 2007.... Most of the funds from the UN Work Plan for Sudan, around $1.26 billion, will go to fund humanitarian activities for large numbers of the population still in need, mostly in conflict-wracked Darfur, while around $563 million is needed to fund recovery and development efforts, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press release." More

Ban Ki-Moon to Formally Take UN Helm

Washington Post: "South Korea's Ban Ki-moon formally takes the reins of the United Nations Thursday as the institution grapples with internal reforms, volatility in the Middle East and international standoffs over the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran. Ban, who is being sworn-in before the General Assembly in a ceremony also honoring outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will not officially start his new job until Jan. 1, when he will become the eighth secretary-general of the 192-nation world body."

UN Rights Council Holds Special Session on Darfur

"Like Mr. Annan, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour deplored the impunity with which human rights abusers are still able to act in the Darfur conflict between Government troops, allied militias and rebel forces, who took up arms in 2003 in pursuit of greater autonomy and economic development.... Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland also underscored the continuing deterioration in Darfur, with violence and direct attacks against relief workers in the past few weeks forcing the relocation of by far the largest number of humanitarian workers since the conflict began." More

Kofi Annan: “Global Solidarity is Both Necessary and Possible”

Annan.jpg New York Times: "In a speech delivered at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence, Mo., billed as his last address to an American audience as secretary general, Mr. Annan said, "You Americans did so much, in the last century, to build an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its heart. Do you need it less today, and does it need you less than 60 years ago?"

Human Rights Day 2006

fightpoverty.jpg "On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has become a universal standard for defending and promoting human rights. Every year on 10 December, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration. On Human Rights Day it is celebrated around the globe that "All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms". This year Human Rights Day focuses on fighting poverty as a matter of obligation, not of charity." More