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UN urges
protection amid sharp rise
in Afghan civilian deaths
 Navanethem
Pillay, the High
Commissioner for
Human Rights, has called
for ensuring the
protection of Afghan
civilians, as new
figures show an almost
40 percent increase in
conflict-related deaths
in the first eight
months of 2008 compared
to the same period last
year.
The human rights unit
of the UN Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan
( UNAMA)
recorded a total of
1,445 civilian
casualties in the
first eight months of
this year. Exactly 800
deaths are attributed
to the Taliban and
other insurgent forces
while pro-government
forces are reported to
have been responsible
for 577 civilian
deaths in the first
eight months of 2008.
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| UN General
Assembly opens, world
leaders to gather in New
York |
 The
63rd session of the
United Nations General
Assembly opened
today, with Nicaragua's Miguel
d'Escoto Brockmann
sworn in as president of
this Assembly.
The General Assembly draws
dozens of heads of state,
prime ministers and
foreign ministers to UN
headquarters in New York
for round-the-clock
discussions.
Next week, United States
President George W. Bush
will make his final speech
to the Assembly on
Tuesday, September 23 and
then on Thursday September
25, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon will chair a
high-level meeting on the
Millennium Development
Goals and the battle
against global poverty.
|
UN envoy participates in
signing of
power-sharing deal in
Zimbabwe
|
 United
Nations
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon's envoy
to Zimbabwe was in
the capital Harare
to attend the
signing of a
power-sharing
agreement between
the government and
the opposition to
bring an end to the
political crisis
that has gripped the
Southern African
nation in recent
months.
Haile Menkerios,
Assistant
Secretary-General
for Political
Affairs, conveyed
Mr. Ban's
congratulations to
President Robert
Mugabe and
opposition leaders
Morgan Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara,
stressing the need
to cooperate to
implement the deal.
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|
UN
assesses plight of
displaced in Georgia
buffer zone
|
 The
United Nations High
Commissioner for
Refugees ( UNHCR)
has reported that its
teams have now entered
the so-called
"buffer zone"
north of the Georgian
town of Gori, where
thousands uprooted by
last month's fighting
have taken shelter,
after having been unable
to access the
Russian-controlled area
for weeks due to
insecurity.
UNHCR teams found that
the destruction of
buildings and houses is
not as widespread as was
initially feared and
varies from village to
village. However,
villagers informed the
agency that 70 to 80 per
cent of this year's
harvest in the visited
areas is gone.
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| Recent
financial woes highlight
need to revive Doha trade
talks, UN official urges |
 Progress
on the stalled Doha
round of trade
liberalization talks
would not only boost the
world economy but also
confidence amid current
economic and financial
uncertainties, such as
those being witnessed in
the United States
banking sector, the head
of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and
Development ( UNCTAD)
has said.
"We are witnessing a
confluence of different
crises this year,"
UNCTAD Secretary-General
Supachai Panitchpakdi told
the annual session of
UNCTAD's governing Trade
and Development board,
which is currently meeting
in Geneva. "We are
told that this is one of
the most serious crises
we've seen in the last 60
or 70 years. There must be
some better rules and
regulations to help the
financial system as rules
help the trading
system."
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|
Secretary-General
takes solar-powered
taxi to work
|
In an effort to raise
awareness about
climate change and to
promote
environmentally-friendly
technologies, United
Nations
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon arrived at
work at United Nations
headquarters on
September 12 in a
"Solartaxi"
- a fully
solar-powered car.
"I hope that this
Solartaxi,
which uses one of the
alternate sources of
energy, can give some good
messages to the people
around the world that we
need to be creative, we
need to be
practical," he told
reporters upon
arriving at work.
The vehicle, which is
sponsored by Switzerland,
is currently in New York
as part of a worldwide
journey that included a
stop in Bali, Indonesia,
last December for the
landmark climate change
negotiations.
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|
About
the United Nations in
Washington
As
the UN
Secretary-General's
office in Washington,
D.C, the United
Nations Information
Center serves as the
focal point for UN
news and information
to advance
understanding of the
UN and its work, and
to serve as a resource
for United States government
officials, NGOs,
civil-society
organizations and the
American people.
For more information
about the Center or
any of the
UN-affiliated
agencies, please call
202-331-8670, email unicdc@unicwash.org or
visit us online at www.unicwash.org.
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| UN
HEADLINES |
Africa
Americas
Asia Pacific
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| Calendar
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Wednesday,
September 17
- Radhika
Coomaraswamy,
Special Representative
to the
Secretary-General for
Children in Armed
Conflict, is in
Washington through
September 18. Ms.
Coomaraswamy will
speak at 9:30 a.m. at
a United States
Institute of Peace
event entitled, Policy
Forum on Children and
Armed Conflict: Child
Soldiers as
Combatants, Victims,
and Survivors.
- Lisa Gilliam, Deputy
Director of United
Nations Relief and
Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (UNRWA)
affairs in Syria, is
in Washington for
meetings.
Thursday,
September 18
UN Democracy Fund's Roland
Rich is in
Washington for
meetings through
September 19 when he
will participate in an
East-West Center
conference.
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New
UN
Agency Reports
Here is a sample
of UN agency reports
recently published:
Lebanon
Independent Border
Assessment Team
(LIBAT)
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