Ban Ki-moon
Calls
for
Action
in
Chad
and
Kenya
SG
on Chad:
"I
urge the
Security
Council to
act
swiftly"
|
United
Nations
Secretary-General
Ban
Ki-moon
emerged
from
a
Security
Council
meeting
on
Tuesday
stressing
the need
for peace
in
Africa's
latest
flash-points.
"The
UN
will
do its
utmost
to
resolve
the
crisis
in
Chad,"
he
told
reporters.
With
regard
to
Chad,
the
Security
Council
on
Monday
demanded
an
immediate
end to
the
violence
engulfing
the
Chadian
capital
of
N'Djamena,
and
welcomed
an
African
Union
initiative
to try
to
engage
both
the
government
and
the
armed
opposition
groups
to
find a
durable
solution
to the
country's
crisis.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
meets
with his
predecessor
Kofi
Annan in
Nairobi
on
Friday,
where
Annan is
leading
mediation
efforts.
The
condemnation
of the
armed
groups'
recent
attacks
against
the
government
comes as
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
is
expressing
alarm at
the
deteriorating
situation,
especially
its impact
on Chad's
large
population
of
refugees
and
internally
displaced
persons.
A
team from
the United
Nations
refugee
agency is
also
rushing to
the
Chadian
border
with
Cameroon
to help
thousands
of
residents
of
N'Djamena
who have
been
fleeing
the
fighting.
"The
Security
Council
strongly
condemns
these
attacks
and all
attempts
at
destabilization
by force,
and
recalls
its
commitment
to the
sovereignty,
unity,
territorial
integrity
and
political
independence
of
Chad,"
the
15-member
panel said
in a
presidential
statement
read
out by
Ambassador
Ricardo
Alberto
Arias of
Panama.
Annan
Leads
Mediation
in Keyna
On
Kenya,
the
Secretary-General
insisted
that
the
country's
political
leaders
had to
meet
the
responsibilities
of the
people.
"Kenya
must
think
of
itself
as one
country,"
he
said.
Former
United
Nations
Secretary-General
Kofi
Annan is
continuing
to lead
mediation
efforts
to
resolve
the
post-election
crisis
in
Kenya,
following
a
weekend
of more
killings
and
turmoil
throughout
the
country.
More
than 800
people
have
already
lost their
lives -
and over a
quarter of
a million
have been
displaced
- in
intensifying
ethnic
clashes
triggered
by the
aftermath
of
December
elections
in which
Kenyan
President
Mwai
Kibaki was
declared
the winner
over
opposition
leader
Raila
Odinga.
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
has noted
that the
post-election
violence
has led to
a
humanitarian
crisis
that is
"unprecedented"
in Kenya,
and has
called on
all
political
leaders to
look
beyond
individual
or
partisan
interests
and
resolve
their
differences
peacefully.
"The
people and
leaders of
Kenya,
particularly
political
leaders,
have the
duty, and
the
responsibility,
to wake up
and
reverse
this
tragic
path
before it
escalates
into the
horrors of
mass
killings
and
devastation
we have
witnessed
in recent
history,"
he said.
|
|
Ban
Ki-moon to
Observe
Chicago's
Greening
Efforts
This Week
June
Visit to
Wyoming
Scheduled
|
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
will
travel
to
Chicago
later
this
week
where he
will see
first-hand
how a
major
United
States
city is
tackling
climate
change.
 The
two-day
visit
beginning
on
Thursday
is part
of his
desire
to visit
a number
of
important U.S.
cities.
The
Secretary-General
will
meet
with
Mayor
Richard
Daley to
discuss
his
efforts
to turn
Chicago
into
America's
greenest
city.
He
will
also
visit a
"green"
building,
stop by
a local
high
school,
and also
attend
events
at the
MacArthur
Foundation,
the
Economic
Club of
Chicago,
and the
Chicago
Council
on
Global
Affairs.
Climate
change,
which
Mr. Ban
calls
the
"defining
issue of
our
era,"
was a
key
topic
during
the
Secretary-General's
visit to
San
Francisco
last
July,
and
featured
prominently
in
discussions
with
California
Governor
Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Mr.
Ban is
also
expected
to
attend
the
Global
Insight
Summit,
scheduled
to take
place at
the
fifth
annual
Jackson
Hole
Film
Festival
in early
June in
Wyoming.
|
Meet
the UN
High
Representative
for
Disarmament
|
Sergio
de
Queiroz
Duarte
High
Representative
for
Disarmament
United
Nations
Mr.
Duarte
is a
career
diplomat
and
holds
the
rank
of
ambassador
in the
Brazilian
Foreign
Service,
where
he
has
served
for
48
years.
His
diplomatic
appointments
include
the
Embassies
of
Brazil
in
Rome
(1961-1963),
Buenos
Aires
(1963-1966)
and
Washington
(1970-1974),
in
addition
to the
Permanent
Mission
to the
United
Nations
in
Geneva
(1966-1968),
where
he was
a
member
of the
Brazilian
delegation
to the
18-nation
Disarmament
Committee.
Read
more...
|
Standing
Together
UN
Photo
of the
Week
|
The
Chitsukwa
Irrigation
Scheme
in
Malwai
is based
on 46
treadle
pumps
which
draw
water
through
canals
from
the
River
Shire.
Chitsukwa,
Nsanje
is the
last
place in
Malawi
that you
would
wish to
own a
farm:
deep in
the
southern
Rift
Valley,
it is
one of
the
poorest
places
in the
country
-- and
the
hottest.
Most
villagers
here can
barely
subsist,
often
forced
to watch
helplessly
as their
maize
crops
wither
and die,
victim
of the
burning
sun and
frequent
droughts.
For
years,
local
farmer
Bishop
Khado
refused
to
accept
his
fate,
clinging
to the
dream of
irrigating
water
from the
local
Shire
river.
|
|
About
the UN
Information
Center
As the
UN
Secretariat's
office
in
Washington,
D.C., the
United
Nations
Information
Center
articulates
UN
priorities
and
activities
on a
timely
basis,
raises
awareness
of the
UN and
its
work,
and fosters
relations
with the
American
public,
US
government
officials,
and
NGOs.
Should
you need
more
information
about
the
Center or
UN
affiliated
agencies,
please
do not
hesitate
to
contact
us at
202-331-8670
or at
unicdc@unicwash.org.
|
|
|
|
