THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE NEWS
Tuesday, 23 August 2005
UNEP and the Executive Director in the News

UNEP's role in occupied Palestinian territories (The Times of Malta)

UN: Latin America is inconsistent in meeting UN Millennium Development
goals (People's Daily Online)
Propone el PNUMA utilizar recursos ambientales para abatir la pobreza (La
Jornada)



Latinoamérica con mayor índice de deforestación en el planeta (Associated
Press)
Indígenas y ecologistas rechazan los proyectos de minería 'a gran escala' de
empresas extranjeras en Argentina (Terra Actualidad)



Of Goals, Girls and Glamour (Sunday Mail)
Billion-dollar dive tourist industry under threat (Barbados Advocate)
Nigeria; Wastewater Mgt: Stakeholders Seek FG's Involement (This Day)
Other Environment News



U.N. Summit Neglects Clean Water, Say Experts (Interpress Service)
Es muerte materna indicador más dramático de desigualdad, afirman (Prensa Latina)
Climate change marks dawn of man (BBC)
Environmental News from the UNEP Regions

ROAP
Other UN News


UN Daily News of 22 August 2005
S.G.’s Spokesman Daily Press Briefing of 22 August 2005
Communications and Public Information, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-2) 623292/93, Fax: [254-2] 62 3927/623692, Email:cpiinfo@unep.org, http://www.unep.org
The Times of Malta: UNEP's role in occupied Palestinian territories
Paul Mifsud
22 August 2005
In Palestine when someone comes up with an idea that is impossible to realise they have a
saying which in Arabic sounds as follows: "Antah bedak tokeem al-deen fe Malta? Literally
translated it means: "Do you want to set up a new religion in Malta?". I heard this expression for
the first time during a recent visit to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank at the invitation of
Yousef Abu Safieh, chairman of the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority (EQA).
I was on a fact-finding mission to see how UNEP/MAP, as the secretariat to the Barcelona
Convention, could help the Palestinian EQA, even if in a small way, address its huge
environmental problems in the occupied territories. Pending further progress of the peace
process and final status negotiations, the Palestinian Authority has not been able to become a
signatory to multilateral environmental agreements, including the Barcelona Convention. But it
enjoys observer status within UNEP/MAP and participates regularly in our activities.
I entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing, situated about an hour's taxi ride from Tel Aviv
airport. It is a tight security entry point manned by Israeli teenage soldiers armed to the hilt. My
identification documents, including my UN laissez passer, were thoroughly scrutinised before I
was allowed to proceed through the checkpoint, making my way through iron gates and then
electronically-operated turnstiles.
Concrete planks six metres high, similar to the ones being used to erect the wall that separates
Israelis and Palestinians on the West Bank, line both sides of the crossing which is about 200
metres long. Armed Palestinian guards in makeshift rooms control the other end of the crossing.
Once on the other side I boarded an old and worn down taxi to take me to the hotel in
downtown Gaza. According to the taxi driver I was the first customer in months. As for the
hotel, that night I was the only guest.
Top on the list of EQA's priorities is the state of the environment in the settlements, which are
being disengaged by Israel. In order to identify areas of environmental concern and interest,
UNEP has been requested by the Palestinian EQA to carry out a post-disengagement
environmental audit to establish the baseline environmental situation which can form the basis
for future decisions and planning by the Palestinian Authority, especially before the Palestinians
move into these areas. Through the audit, the environmental assets being handed over will be
inspected with a view to document the current status of the environmental resources and map
out areas of concern.
This project will be implemented within the framework of the existing cooperation between
UNEP and EQA, following UNEP's governing council decision on the environment in the
occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), adopted in February 2003.
The environmental audit will be a follow-up to the Desk Study On The Environment In The
Occupied Palestinian Territories, which was conducted in 2002 by a team appointed by Klaus
Topfer, executive director of UNEP, and headed by Pekka Haavisto, former Finnish Minister
for the Environment and Development Cooperation. The desk study makes 136
recommendations on how to improve the environment in the OPTs.
Dr Topfer gives high priority to these projects because he strongly believes that environmental
cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians could serve as a confidence-building tool in the
peace process. UNEP is ready to take further steps to assist the parties in their efforts to improve
the environmental situation in the OPTs.
During my visit I was shown a number of the Israeli settlements in both the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank (at the time these were making headlines as the deadline of August 15 drew closer).
According to information provided by the Palestinian EQA, Israel is planning to disengage from
2
all its 17 settlements in the Gaza strip with a total population of about 7,400 and from four
settlements on the West Bank with a total of about 550 inhabitants.
I also witnessed the huge environmental problems that should be addressed urgently. It was
explained to me that freshwater is scarce and the quality of water is rapidly deteriorating. There
are only a few wastewater treatment facilities and most of them are not functioning properly
with the result that untreated wastewater is polluting the aquifers and the seashore in Gaza.
To give one example, the wastewater treatment plant in the town of Beit Lahia, in Gaza, is
located in a closed depression without a natural outlet to the sea which is 4.5 kilometres away.
Originally the plant included four effluent ponds that would recharge the aquifer and evaporate.
However, the overflow has now formed a lake of wastewater effluent covering over 40 hectares
which is polluting the aquifer and is a major environmental health problem for the population
surrounding the lake.
Most of the permanent disposal sites for solid waste are not sanitary landfills. Curfews and
roadblocks have hindered transport to the municipal disposal sites resulting in the establishment
of temporary disposal sites where open burning of waste takes place. There is no separation of
hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
Biodiversity is under threat from a variety of pressures not least the lack or non-existence of
cooperation.
What the Palestinians need to do in order to address the huge environmental problems in the
occupied territories cannot be achieved without outside help. As the Palestinian saying goes, in
trying to resolve these problems on their own it is as if they are trying to set up a new religion in
Malta.
Mr Mifsud is the coordinator of the Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP), a regional initiative by
the countries bordering the Mediterranean to address pollution problems in the region within
the framework of the Barcelona Convention. MAP is administered by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and is based in Athens.
____________________________________________________________________________
People's Daily Online: UN: Latin America is inconsistent in meeting UN Millennium
Development goals
23 August 2005
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said Monday that Latin America is
inconsistent in meeting the United Nations Millennium Development goals.
Though the region has advanced in curbing hunger and infant mortality, and facilitating access
to potable water, it has not made much progress in reducing extreme poverty and infantmaternal mortality, said Ricardo Sanchez Sosa, UNEP's Regional Director for Latin America
and the Caribbean. The task of reducing inequality also poses a great challenge to Latin
America, as it is "the most unequal region in the world," he said in the report "Developmental
Goals of the Millennium."
Sanchez Sosa also noted that the millennium goal on assistance from industrialized countries for
developing nations has not been fulfilled.
Of the 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in aid to developing countries
committed by the developed countries, only 0.25 reaches the Latin American and Caribbean
countries, he said.
As well, he voiced the hope that by the time the heads of government and state meet in New
York - in a date yet to be determined- "natural capital" can be placed at the top of the agenda,
alongside human and financial capitals.
_____________________________________________________________________________
3
La Jornada:Propone el PNUMA utilizar recursos ambientales para abatir la pobreza
ANGELICA ENCISO L.
22.08.2005
En la región de América Latina y el Caribe el panorama ambiental es de "luces y sombras",
pues a pesar del incremento de la superficie bajo protección especial no existen recursos
suficientes para reforzar la tarea y la sustentabilidad no está incluida en las políticas públicas de
los países de la región. Además, si las naciones desarrolladas mantienen su incontrolada
emisión de gases que generan el cambio climático, los desastres naturales persistirán.
Previo al lanzamiento del Informe regional sobre los objetivos de desarrollo del Milenio en
México, el director regional del Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente
(PNUMA), Ricardo Sánchez, consideró que es importante que los bienes y servicios
ambientales se usen en los países en desarrollo como elemento en la lucha contra la pobreza, la
generación de empleo y para lograr la equidad entre los sectores económicos, debido a que esta
zona es la más desigual del planeta.
En entrevista, precisó que también debe garantizarse a las futuras generaciones la posibilidad de
resolver sus necesidades. "Hay dos puntos básicos que son responsabilidad de los países
desarrollados. Uno es que si no se logra la estabilidad en la emisión de gases de efecto
invernadero, este mundo será sometido a impactos del cambio climático global y los países en
desarrollo seremos los más afectados, porque no contamos con medios, tecnología ni recursos
para producir una adecuada adaptación a estos cambios".
El segundo aspecto, añadió, es que el compromiso ocho de los Objetivos del Milenio establece
que "debe fomentarse una asociación mundial para el desarrollo, que habla de fomentar un
sistema comercial y financiero abierto, basado en normas previsibles y no discriminatorias".
Esto, precisó, no ocurre en los países industrializados, que aún establecen protecciones en
actividades productivas.
Las metas de milenio fueron adoptadas hace cinco años por 189 naciones como compromiso
para combatir la desigualdad y mejorar el desarrollo humano en el mundo, para lo cual se fijó el
año 2015 para erradicar la pobreza y el hambre y revertir el deterioro ambiental.
Sostuvo que los problemas de la deuda de países en desarrollo deben encararse con medidas
nacionales e internacionales, a fin de hacerla sostenible en el largo plazo. "Las naciones en
desarrollo están dedicando el grueso de sus ingresos a pagar su deuda; si pudieran dedicar esos
recursos a su desarrollo, la creación de empleos y protección ambiental, obviamente no tendrían
estos problemas".
Exigencia a naciones desarrolladas
Las naciones desarrolladas deben reducir sus emisiones de gases invernadero y "nosotros (los
países en vías de desarrollo) tenemos la responsabilidad de erradicar la pobreza, de promover la
igualdad de género, reducir la mortalidad infantil, mejorar la salud materna, combatir el sida, el
paludismo y, un objetivo más, en cooperación con las empresas farmacéuticas, proporcionar
acceso a los medicamentos esenciales en los países en desarrollo.
"Tenemos el deber de garantizar la sostenibilidad ambiental, revirtiendo la pérdida de los
recursos naturales y garantizando la introducción del tema en las políticas públicas", sostuvo.
Dijo que el informe regional revela que hay áreas donde los indicadores aparentemente no
pueden alcanzarse. "Los temas más graves que tenemos en la región son la pobreza y la
inequidad. Y si examinamos las tendencias en la degradación ambiental, observamos que las
generaciones actuales consumen el capital natural de manera irracional, lo cual no permitirá a
futuras generaciones disponer de él.
"Se está comprometiendo la sostenibilidad; están encaminando la región a un escenario de gran
inequidad entre los sectores sociales y, además, las generaciones futuras no tendrán recursos
naturales para solventar sus necesidades: es un serio problema en la gestión en América Latina.
4
"En el área ambiental vemos que la tendencia es que los gobiernos no toman en cuenta los
principios de desarrollo sostenible en sus políticas y programas nacionales. Las políticas no
tienen incluida adecuadamente la dimensión ambiental. Es un punto álgido: cuando se promulga
una ley cañera, por ejemplo, ésta debe tener un capítulo ambiental."
El funcionario de Naciones Unidas indicó que cuando se hace el examen de una meta, "lo
primero que decimos es que los indicadores no son suficientes para responder a ella, porque
hablan de que en la deforestación la tendencia es alta; en áreas naturales protegidas es po-sitiva,
pero no todos los ecosistemas están representados, y los recursos con que se cuenta para
manejar los sistemas no son suficientes, muchos sólo están en el papel".
Agregó que el manejo de aguas residuales es de sólo 10 o 15 por ciento, en tanto que
únicamente 23 por ciento de la basura se maneja adecuadamente. "A ello se suma que hay
deforestación, no sólo en los bosques y selvas, sino también en zonas de manglar, y han sido
dañados los arrecifes coralinos". Por último, señaló que es poco probable que se cumpla con la
dotación de agua potable y saneamiento, previstas en las Metas del Milenio.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Associated Press: Latinoamérica con mayor índice de deforestación en el planeta
22.08.2005
[appears in Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, La Tercera (Chile), La Voz, Union Radio, ...]
MEXICO - América Latina y el Caribe es una región que se caracteriza por tener indicadores
ambientales negativos como el peor nivel de deforestación en el planeta, señaló el lunes un alto
funcionario de la agencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre la materia.
Ricardo Sánchez, director para América Latina y el Caribe del Programa de las Naciones
Unidas para el Medio Ambiente (PNUMA), dijo que en la región se pierden más de seis
millones de hectáreas de bosques al año.
El funcionario de la ONU dijo que a ese problema se debe añadir que más de 300 millones de
hectáreas de suelos están degradadas y que la contaminación de las aguas alcanza más de 50%
de los ríos de América Latina.
Señaló que sólo un 14% de las aguas residuales municipales son tratadas en algún grado.
Según el PNUMA, la región concentra el 25% de las áreas boscosas del mundo, la mayor parte
de ellas en la Amazonia, y la deforestación ya muestra impactos indirectos en la región como la
disminución de la cantidad y calidad de recursos hídricos
Sánchez señaló que la mejora del medio ambiente es indispensable para que las futuras
generaciones puedan satisfacer sus necesidades, por lo que se debe hacer un esfuerzo por
superar esos indicadores negativos.
El director regional del PNUMA habló durante la presentación en México del informe
"Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio: Una mirada desde América Latina y el Caribe",
coordinado por la Comisión Económica para América Latina (Cepal).
Garantizar la sostenibilidad del medio ambiente es una de las metas del Milenio que los
gobiernos de 189 países se comprometieron a cumplir hacia el año 2015.
_____________________________________________________________________________
5
Terra Actualidad:Indígenas y ecologistas rechazan los proyectos de minería 'a gran
escala' de empresas extranjeras en Argentina
22.08.2005
Una veintena de agrupaciones de indígenas, ecologistas y empresas de Argentina rechazaron la
minería 'a gran escala' que se lleva a cabo en el país, a manos de empresas extranjeras, por
considerar que impiden el desarrollo de otros proyectos productivos de desarrollo sostenibles.
Asimismo, exigieron al Estado argentino 'la inmediata paralización de todos los planes mineros
a gran escala en marcha', además de la suspensión de 'nuevos permisos y concesiones bajo el
régimen legal actual', según señala el boletín del Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio
Ambiente (PNUMA).
Estas solicitudes están recogidas en una declaración que nació durante el encuentro de
comunidades afectadas por la minería en Argentina, celebrado en la provincia de Catamarca, al
noreste de Argentina.
Además de la declaración, los indígenas se manifestaron en Andalgalá, a 1.200 kilómetros de
Buenos Aires, para protestar por los trabajos de la empresa canadiense Minera Agua Rica en un
yacimiento de cobre y oro situado en esa provincia.
Las marchas congregaron a representantes de las provincias de Catamarca, San Juan, Río
Negro, Santiago del Estero y Tucumán, además de integrantes de asociaciones de agricultores,
artesanos, cámaras empresariales y de la comunidad indígena.
En la declaración, las organizaciones advirtieron de que la actividad minera 'sólo es posible' en
Argentina porque está 'legitimada e incentivada por un marco legal colonial que consagra un
régimen brutal de beneficios y exenciones impositivas a las empresas'. A su juicio, esta
situación discrimina 'todas las actividades productivas de desarrollo sostenible'.
Además, reclamaron la 'reparación integral' de los daños causados por esas empresas, así como
la 'nulidad y derogación del régimen legal minero actual'.
La compañía minera Agua Rica, controlada por la canadiense Northern Orion Resources,
enfrenta críticas por un supuesto plan para construir un 'dique de colas' (embalse que recibe
todos los desechos mineros) en la localidad de Santa María.
Aunque Agua Rica niega la existencia de este proyecto, la Justicia Provincial ordenó a la
compañía el cese de sus tareas hasta tanto la Secretaría de Minería argentina apruebe los
estudios de Medio Ambiente.
La actividad minera se reactivó en Argentina a mediados de la década pasada por un acuerdo
con Chile para la explotación de yacimientos de oro, cobre y plata en zonas de la frontera que
marca la cordillera de Los Andes que atrajo millonarias inversiones extranjeras, la mayoría de
empresas canadienses.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sunday Mail (Malay): Of Goals, Girls and Glamour
Terrina Hussein
21 August 2005
6
WINNING United Nations Environmental award, having his mobile phone kidnapped, and held
for ransom by a crazed fan.
Now, that's all in a day's work for Ashraf Daniel Sinclair.
"Seriously!," Ashraf laughed, "someone stole my phone and held it for ransom! When I called
my phone, the girl picked up and I told her nicely, I didn't do anything to you, so why don't you
please give me back my phone'.
"She had a list of demands.
She wanted to meet me at a certain place, at a certain time, and then she'd give me back my
phone...
But I didn't want to do it that way, so she said she'd leave the phone somewhere, and I turned up
at the drop off point and picked it up.
"That was two hours of excitement! It was a good laugh...
now," he said in hindsight.
And that United Nations Environmental award? Unbeknownst to many, Ashraf Sinclair is more
than just a pretty face (which is not something you can say about many nowadays).
"Well, growing up in England, we've always had lots of parks around, and the outdoors played a
big role in our lives, hanging around, playing frisbee, picnics, whatever, as long as it was at the
park.
We (his siblings) were always at the park, so our love for the environment came very naturally
and automatically that way.
"When we were all still in school (1990), we were complaining that there were not enough good
school trips.
So my mum decided to take us to the nature parks in Kuala Selangor.
"At first, it was just the family, but my mum has 16 brothers and sisters, so the cousin network'
was huge, and pretty soon, our friends wanted to come along as well." "We went from driving
down in cars, to hiring busses, and when we hired busses, you have to pay insurance, and the
bus companies wanted to know what program we were with, so that's when we really formed
the Junior Environmental Youth Group of Malaysia." The Junior Environmental Youth Group
(aka Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam) has since gone on to represent Malaysia at Environmental
conferences all around the world in places like England and most recently Canada.
"We recently had a bunch of our members leave for Canada, where they will attend the
International Environment Conference, and it's that awareness we want to bring back to
Malaysia." As one of the co-founders, Ashraf played a big role in conferences, giving speeches
and writing to ministers and the United Nations, to try and spread the word of the programme.
7
"It was during the Youth Peace Conference in Bangkok that we came up with mandates to send
to leaders of the world, and that's when we received the Global 500 Award from the United
Nations, and that's helped a lot with the growth of Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam," Ashraf said
proudly.
"Now we organise our own trips every school holiday, to parks and nature reserves, to increase
social awareness and consciousness, and to do something to preserve the environment."
Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam has graduated from being one family's plan to visit more parks,
and currently has over 3000 members.
However, most people know him for his television appearances, rather than his congressional
appearances.
But from big parks to bright stage lights? That's not exactly a smooth transition.
"At the end of the day, I need to know how to make money!" Ashraf smiled, "So I started my
image consultant company." "This environmental awareness thing is really where my heart is,
and I feel it's something I can do for the rest of my life, but before I dedicate my future to it, I
need to earn my money.
The recognition I get from the television and movie appearances I do, I hope will help in giving
Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam a little boost too, and take it to a higher level." All this, and he's
only 25 years old.
But then again, Ashraf is not your normal average joe. Born in Corydon England, he came to
Malaysia with his family when he was seven years old. After studying at Victoria Institute, he
set off to find his calling. And it seemed that the calling that shouted the loudest was television.
With his good looks, it was just a matter of time before Ashraf was discovered and thrown into
the limelight. And his first introduction to the fame game' came in 1997, with the Kasut
Gombak commercial.
"From there, I realised that this is an industry I can make it in," Ashraf said, "and after that, I
joined the Disney Channel in 1998." His Disney stint got the attention of a whole bunch of
people, who presented the young man with even more on screen opportunities.
One was for the movie SH3, which was released two years ago, and most recently, people have
seen Ashraf giving his ten cents worth about what movies to watch, on ntv7's Box Office Now.
"We just finished our first season for Box Office Now, and we're not sure when season two is
going to start," Ashraf said.
But that doesn't mean he's just going to sit around and wait for that day.
He's already finished filming yet another movie, Gol & Gincu, which was recently released
throughout Malaysia.
He's also won the coveted position of A Boyfriend', on this seasons 3R, where he's for once out
of the limelight, taking the less serious role of eye candy'.
"I love it!" he smiled, of his role as Celina's puppy dog' boyfriend on the show.
8
"I really support their cause, the purpose of their show.
It really increases a woman's social consciousness, and teaches both men and women a
tremendous lesson in life, so when they asked me to be a part of it, I just jumped at the chance."
But before girls out there start making a beeline to him, Ashraf is off the market, and already
has a girlfriend.
"We met when we were both backpacking through Thailand, then she came back to K.L for a
while, but just left two weeks ago to go back to her country." Ashraf said, without giving too
many details away.
"Yes, we like each other, and we'd like to see whether this can work out, but we're both just
taking it as it comes, and if a long distance relationship is in my cards, then so be it, when you
want something, you go for it." "I'm the sort of person that doesn't want to say I didn't try',"
Ashraf explained.
"I would rather give it my best shot, fail miserably, and live and learn from the experience."
"Everything has its challenges, but that's life," he smiled.
But one area he's still working on is the challenge for authenticity in his showbiz career.
"If you don't like attention, you can't be in this kind of business!" He smiled, "But there is a lot
of pretension behind this scene.
When you think about it, most people are acting - they're pretending.
"So there's that challenge to find that real person between all this pretending, and sometimes it
does get the better of me, like on days when I don't want to care about how I look, but these are
all just part of the whole picture." As for that big picture, having accomplished so much already
in life, is there anything else that he still is yet to do? "I haven't gone sky diving, bungee
jumping and scuba diving yet, those are things I really want to do ..." An ambitious, socially
conscious, sensitive to women's needs, handsome movie star? Well, I guess it's possible after
all.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Barbados Advocate:Billion-dollar dive tourist industry under threat
22 August 2005
THE CARIBBEAN S billion-dollar dive tourism industry is under serious threat from coastal
and marine pollution, according to latest reports released by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Australian Institute of
Marine Sciences (AIMS).
The UNEP in its Caribbean Environment Outlook 2005 report indicated that the Caribbean
currently attracts about 5.7 million of the world s 10 million scuba divers, and that it has been
estimated that by the e nd of this year, diving activities will begin to generate about $1.2 billon
annually.
Since dive tourism is a function of the quality of the region s coral reefs, permanent damage,
as a result of coral bleaching and other factors, will have a dire ct impact on the region s
tourism revenue, the UNEP report said.
9
In its Reefs at Risk in the Caribbean 2004 report, the WRI said that about two-thirds of the
Caribbean s coral reefs are threatened by coastal development, especially along the coa stline
of the Greater and Lesser Antilles where one-third is threatened by sediments and pollution. It
said that coral reefs protect shorelines by dissipating wave energy and are an important
source of white sand for many beaches.
Over 80 per cent of the reefs in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic are identified as
threatened by human activities, with one-third under very high threat, the WRI said.
The report also said that divers make up about 10 per cent of all visitors to the Caribbean, but
contribute about 17 per cent of all tourism revenue.
The average diver spends about US$2,100 per trip to the Caribbean, compared to US$1 200
for tourists in general.
The WRI also reported that divers in the region have indi cated a willingness to pay an average
of US$25 per diver per year to keep the Caribbean coral reefs healthy. It said that in 2000, coral
reefs provided annual net benefits in terms of fisheries, dive tourism, and shoreline protection
services with an est imated value of between US$3.1 billion to US$4.6 billion.
The AIMS, in its Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004 , report also confirmed that the
deterioration was greater in countries like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where
econo mic development is heavily dependent on the marine environment. It said further that the
reefs were relatively good in small low-lying islands like The Bahamas and that Cuban reefs
were among the best in the Caribbean.
The AIMS recommended that con servation and any necessary restoration of the reefs should be
a high priority in policy development in the region. It also recommended integrated,
multidisciplinary and multisectoral approaches in planning and land use, increased involvement
of fishermen in conservation, economic incentives and alternative sources of livelihoods for
artisanal fishers, active management of marine protected areas, and increased ongoing
environmental education in the region. In its recommendations, UNEP said: Governments are
being asked to chart courses that maximise social and economic benefits, maintain or improve
environmental quality and ecosystem resilience, and minimise social, economic and
environmental vulnerability in the face of serious uncertainties about the future.
The report further said that development issues that affect the environment are not part of local
and national election agendas, and in the absence of local and national constituencies with
environmental interests, effective environmental management remains far from the mainstream
of the development agenda
_____________________________________________________________________________
This Day (Lagos): Nigeria; Wastewater Mgt: Stakeholders Seek FG's Involement
22 August 2005
Stakeholders in the sewage/waste water management sector met weekend with a call on the
Federal Government to evolve policies, which should address the precarious impact of sewage
or wastewater on the marine environment as its constant neglect was becoming a source of
concern to the nation.
The experts, who at a one-day national seminar organised by the Institute of Environmental
Engineers (IEE) on "Sewage/Waste Water Management in Nigeria", said the issue of sewage or
10
wastewater is of a global concern, which according to UNEP, "nearly half of the world's
population lives within 100km of a coastlines".
Speaking in a paper entitled: "The Challenges of Sewage/Wastewater in Society", Engr.
Olatunji Oyefuga said "households in most urban areas and rural communities use the onsite
wastewater system (septic tanks and soakage pits)", which he regreted "are generally not
designed or well built".
He said "these units, when properly sited, constructed, operated, or maintained, fail and can
cause a number of environmental health problems".
Oyefuga maintained that "domestic wastewater is generally allowed to drain into the public
open drain where available and if not, they drain into the streets", thereby causing more havoc
in terms of environmental pollution to the society.
He expressed fears that "currently, only about five per cent of Nigeria's industries have a
working wastewater treatment facility", which ought not be.
He pointed out that "it was obvious that the potential for outbreaks of sewage/wastewater
related illness across the country is significant, and to protect public health, water and
wastewater treatment project need to be given priority through awareness".
Speaking on the theme: "Sewage/Wastewater management in Society Yesterday, Today and
Tomorrow", Engr. Chrys Adegbola said "a close look at the federation suggests that the nation
needs a coordinated policy, a crefully implemented scheme in order to achieve sustainable
management of our waste waters".
He said "the Federal Government should restructure the Ministry of Environment to and
reappraise policy and guidelines on environmental pollution and make them more responsive
for sustainable development".
According to him, "a review of existing policy guidelines and regulations to indicate the water
quality standards for rivers, lakes, water bodies in riverine areas must be undertaken", in order
to facilitate "the enforcement of waste guidelines and policies which remains the most important
factor in ensuring effective waste water management needed for sustainable development of our
society".
Also, Chairman of IEE, Engr. Babatunde Oshodi, said the seminar was timely as the issue of
wastewater management has become an issue of national concern, which the stakeholders have
decried, moreso as it affected the development of the society.
Oshodi said lack of awareness was basically the problem faced by the sector, but however,
assured that his institute was doing everything possible to redress the anormally.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
11
Other Environment News
Interpress Service: U.N. Summit Neglects Clean Water, Say Experts
Thalif Deen
STOCKHOLM, Aug 22 (IPS) - The statistics are staggering: one person out of every five alive
today lacks access to a safe water supply, and two in five do not even have basic sanitation.
And worse still, says the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), some 4,500 children
die of diarrhoeal diseases every day, and at any moment, almost half the developing world's
population is suffering from one or more diseases linked to poor water and sanitation, or poor
water resources management.
Still, says Anders Berntell, executive director of SIWI, a global plan of action due to be
approved by some 170 world leaders at the upcoming U.N. summit in mid-September has
brushed aside the importance of water in fighting disease and eradicating poverty under the
much-ballyhooed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"In the draft outcome paper that has been presented, a 38-page document, water is mentioned in
one tiny bullet point, and what is said there is not new. It only reiterates what has already been
said earlier," Berntell told a gathering of over 1,400 water experts and representatives of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) meeting in the Swedish capital for a symposium during
"World Water Week" which began Monday.
"It is obvious," he told delegates, "that more advocacy is needed from all of us that are here
today."
In the only reference to water, the draft outcome document calls for assistance to developing
countries in their efforts to provide access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation for all -"in accordance with the Millennium Declaration (of 2000) and the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation (of 2002)".
The bullet point also calls for the acceleration of plans for national water resources management
and the launching of a programme of action with financial and technical support to halve by
2015 the proportion of people living without safe drinking water or basic sanitation.
Concurring with Berntell's critical remarks, Sweden's Environment Minister Prof. Lena
Sommestad told reporters she was "not happy" either with the outcome document and its
passing reference to water.
Asked if the Swedish delegation at the United Nations will make a strong push for higher
priority for water, she said it will.
Berntell said that "one of those who will help us with this advocacy" is the incoming president
of the 191-member General Assembly, Ambassador Jan Eliasson of Sweden, a former U.N.
under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs. He is expected to be elected president when
the 60th session of the General Assembly opens in mid-September.
In an interview with the New York Times in early August, Eliasson said water is still a luxury
for over two billion people in the world.
12
"I have watched how fresh water is distributed in Somalia, Sudan and Mozambique. I have seen
a mother receiving a bottle of water while she has a child on her arm, and witnessed that smile
that says she knows that the only alternative is to walk for two or three miles, and then only to
get polluted water," he said.
"You can break down figures," Eliasson said, "that show that 300 million people south of the
Sahara don't have clean water."
Unfortunately, Berntell told delegates, Eliasson's "insights are apparently not shared by those
who have negotiated the draft outcome document for the summit".
"What we need is concrete measures that clearly identify what should be done, by whom and by
when," he pointed out. Therefore, water needs to be addressed as part of negotiations, for
example, on trade and on agriculture.
The summit should recognise this, and instruct the appropriate international fora on what to do,
Berntell said.
"The need for developing countries is to give higher priority to water, and develop concrete
programmes to reach the identified water and sanitation targets, as well as the need for
industrialised countries to assist, through increased and more efficient development
cooperation," he added.
Berntell's remarks came even as U.N. member states were meeting in New York Monday to
begin weeklong discussions to revise the outcome document, which has also come under severe
criticisms from the 132 developing countries of the Group of 77 and the United States -- but for
different reasons.
The Group of 77 has criticised the draft outcome document because it does not call for a
stronger commitment by rich nations to increase official development assistance, reduce debt
burdens of poorer nations and permit quota-free access to third world exports.
The United States wants the new Human Rights Council to shut out non-democratic regimes
and wants less emphasis on nuclear disarmament and more on nuclear non-proliferation.
The six day meeting in Stockholm is timed just three weeks in advance of the U.N. summit,
scheduled to take place Sep. 14-16.
The Stockholm meeting, the 15th in a series hosted by SIWI, will discuss concrete examples of
how problems of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and gender
inequality "can in large measure by solved with water and sanitation as the key entry points."
"It is easy to be sceptical," says SIWI. The eight MDGs represent commitments made by world
leaders who expressed their resolve to achieve them.
"With 10 years left to the 2015 deadline, there are fears that at least some of the goals may not
be achieved," SIWI warns.
The eight MDGs include a 50 percent reduction in poverty and hunger; universal primary
13
education; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in maternal mortality by threequarters; the promotion of gender equality; the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases; environmental sustainability, including access to safe drinking water; and a
North-South global partnership for development.
A summit meeting of 189 world leaders in September 2000 pledged to meet all of these goals
by the year 2015.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Prensa Latina: Es muerte materna indicador más dramático de desigualdad, afirman
México, 22 ago (PL) La mortalidad materna constituye el indicador más dramático de la
desigualdad imperante en América Latina y el Caribe, afirmó hoy aquí el director del equipo de
apoyo técnico del Fondo de Población de Naciones Unidas, Rogelio Fernández.
Dentro de las llamadas metas del milenio, la reducción en tres cuartas partes de los decesos por
causas relacionadas con el embarazo y el parto en el período 1990-2015 figura entre las más
rezagadas en esta región, puntualizó el alto funcionario.
Mientras entre los países más ricos y los más pobres del sub-continente la brecha en la
mortalidad infantil marca una diferencia de 20 veces, en el caso de las muertes maternas llega a
ser hasta 100 veces más alta en los últimos, significó.
Así, entre las capas poblacionales más pobres de Latinoamérica y el Caribe la mortalidad
materna es tan dramática como en las naciones más atrasadas de Africa, lo que resume de
manera trágica las desigualdades existentes, incluso, al interior de los propios estados, reiteró.
Fernández mencionó entre los factores determinantes de la morbilidad y la muerte materna el
limitado acceso de las mujeres a servicios de salud de calidad, lo cual se traduce muchas veces
en defunciones totalmente evitables.
Por otra parte, dijo, la fecundidad no deseada termina generalmente en abortos clandestinos
realizados en situación de muy alto riesgo y ello, como la inaccesibilidad a una atención
profesional durante el parto, tiene un altísimo impacto negativo.
Con frecuencia, además, la atención post-alumbramiento es también deficiente pudiéndose
generar complicaciones innecesarias.
Según el informe “Objetivos de desarrollo del milenio: una mirada desde América Latina y el
Caribe” presentado hoy aquí, las muertes relacionadas con el embarazo y el parto son un
importante problema de salud en numerosos países del área.
En la región, la tasa de mortalidad materna es de 87 por cada 100 mil nacidos vivos; pero en
países como Haití se eleva a 520. En el resto de las naciones de menor desarrollo oscila entre
100 y 230 y en los de desarrollo intermedio entre 45 y 105, salvo Perú, donde alcanza las 185
defunciones.
El relativo estancamiento de este indicador es preocupante y evidencia que todavía se está lejos
de una trayectoria que permita cumplir con esta meta hacia el año 2015, subraya el documento.
___________________________________________________________________________
14
BBC: Climate change marks dawn of man
By Olivia Johnson
19 August 2005
Complex variation of the East African climate may have played a key role in the development
of our human ancestors.
Scientists have identified extensive lake systems which formed and disappeared in East Africa
between one and three million years ago.
The lakes could be evidence that global climate changes occured throughout this pivotal period
in human evolution.
The findings, reported in the journal Science, suggest that humans evolved in response to a
variable climate.
Dr Martin Trauth of the University of Potsdam and his team were able to identify and date the
prehistoric lakes by studying layers of soil along the Rift Valley in Kenya, Ethiopia, and
Tanzania.
Exploring ancient lakes
Layers containing microscopic algae skeletons, called diatoms, reveal the depth and
composition of the ancient lakes.
Volcanic ash in nearby layers provides an estimate of the lakes' ages. Radioactive elements in
the ash act as time stamps because they decay in a predictable way with time.
By examining soil layers at seven sites throughout East Africa, Dr Trauth and his collaborators
were able to identify three distinct periods during which extensive lakes covered the region and
grew to depths of hundreds of metres.
They argue that the growth of these lakes resulted from a moist local climate. The regional wet
periods, which may have persisted for up to 100,000 years, occured as much of Africa became
increasingly dry.
The periods of wet weather in East Africa might reflect fluctuations of the Earth's climate as a
whole. At the time when the lakes grew - roughly 2.6, 1.8, and 1 million years ago - glaciers and
the atmosphere were also going through major transformations.
Emergence of humankind
The Science paper states that if the lakes were temporary features related to the global climate,
as the data suggest, they provide strong support for theories in which early human species
evolved and spread out in response to a rapidly changing environment.
"These episodes could have had important impacts on the speciation and dispersal of mammals
and hominins," the researchers write.
Chris Stringer, a leading researcher on early humans in the department of palaeontology at
London's Natural History Museum, praised the quality of the data, saying that it provides "very
good evidence" of climate change in East Africa.
However, he stressed that more detailed work was necessary to positively link these
environmental changes to the emergence of man.
15
"What this is showing is that there are fluctuations of the climatic belts moving up and down,"
he said. "But if early humans are able to move around, the effect of varying environment is
reduced. The key issue now is how mobile are these people?"
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
ROAP Media Update 23 August 2005
UN or UNEP in the news
Report by Secretary General Xu Jinghu of Chinese Follow-up Committee of Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) At the 4th Senior Officials' Meeting of FOCAC
MFA China (press release), China, 22 August 2005
…China-Africa environmental protection cooperation was officially launched. In February this
year, the China-Africa Conference on Environmental Protection Cooperation was convened in
Nairobi under the co-sponsorship of the China Environmental Protection Administration
(CEPA), the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum and the UNEP. Vice Premier Zeng
Peiyan attended the meeting and put forward the initiatives of expanding exchange areas,
advancing technical cooperation and further stepping up personnel training in the area of
environmental protection, thus charting the course for China-Africa cooperation in this field.
This was the first time for the Forum to cooperate with a UN agency and an experiment in the
exploration of new cooperation areas and
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t207975.htm
General Environment News
China Protects Major Rivers in Asia
CRI, China, 22 August 2005 - China is trying to protect the ecosystems of major rivers.
Six provinces, regions and cities in southwest China are working together to protect the
ecosystems of major rivers.
The southwest region, including Yunnan, Tibet, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou and Guangxi, is
the headstream of Yangtze River, Brahmaputra River, Lantsang River and other major rivers in
Asia.
China has built sewage disposal factories and established several natural reserves to protect the
upriver ecosystem.
The government will continue to return farmland to forests and grasslands and plans to establish
a network to tackle cross-regional pollution.
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2238/2005-8-22/80@267492.htm
E-waste causing havoc in the East
TechSpot, by Derek Sooman on Mon 22 Aug 2005 - The environment surrounding the crude
electronics recycling plants of China and India has pollution that has now reached drastic levels,
according to a study conducted by Greenpeace. It is reported that "contamination from a
cocktail of chemicals" is present, and that every single stage of the recycling process is
contributing to this situation.
"Although clearly not an exhaustive study of e-waste recycling facilities in either country, the
results do provide an illustration of the breadth and scale of health and environmental concerns
arising from the industrial sector," reads the report.
"Both wastes and hazardous chemicals used in the processing are commonly handled with little
16
regard for the health and safety of the workforce or surrounding communities and with no
regard for the environment.
http://www.techspot.com/news/18442-Ewaste-causing-havoc-in-the-East.html
Tourism versus the environment FOCUS / POST-TSUNAMI RECONSTRUCTION IN
THAILAND
Bangkok Post, 23 August 2005 - By EARL CARR AND ANN-MARIE COFIELD - Eight
months have passed since the Dec 26 tsunami devastated the Khao Lak coast of Thailand, from
outright destruction of hotels, to instilling fear in foreign tourists, leaving empty rooms in the
structures that survived.
Now we must rebuild the tourism industry and attract visitors that support coastal livelihoods.
While the tsunami had an impact on the environment to varying degrees, Thailand's coastal
ecosystems had been deteriorating long before the disaster. Mangroves-aquatic trees which
provide shelter for aquatic animals and are important food sources for many commercially
harvested marine species, covered roughly 3,680 square kilometres in 1961; but by 2002 only
covered 2,400 square kilometres.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Aug2005_news36.php
A Big, Dirty Growth Engine
Business Week, AUGUST 22, 2005 - Pollution still chokes China, but green technology is
starting to emerge
The 2008 Beijing Olympics don't look like much today. At most of the sites around the city,
ground has barely been broken. But look a little closer and you'll find that the games have
already had a dramatic impact in the form of a thorough pollution clean-up.
China's leadership knows the Olympics may define the country's international image for
decades. So officials have spared nothing in their efforts to show how green they can be. On
clear days it's now possible to look down Changan Avenue and see the peaks of the Western
Hills, which had been obscured for years. Most homes and businesses have converted from
coal heat to natural gas, many diesel-belching tractors and trucks have been banned from city
streets, and 58% of sewage is treated. Beijing has moved nearly 130 factories out of the city
and is building cleaner, gas-fueled power stations while installing scrubbers in older ones. It's
even putting up wind turbines to help power the Olympic village. When the Games start three
years from now, the city and its residents will have spent $13 billion on the transformation. By
the time the Olympic torch is passed, a sparkling Beijing may well wow the world.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948520.htm
Road rash of the Mongolian hinterland
GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto) By GEOFFREY YORK, Monday, August 22, 2005 Page A1 BAYAN OVOO, MONGOLIA -- Every morning, the convoys of Chinese coal trucks crawl
slowly through the Gobi Desert, kicking up clouds of dust and gouging ruts up to a half-metre
deep in the fragile desert sands.
The 18-wheel trucks, weighing up to 100 tonnes, plow through the soft desert sand on their way
to the Chinese border. The only problem: There is no road to the border, so they simply create
their own crude tracks, wider every day, destroying the land of Mongolia's nomadic herdsmen.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050822/MONGOLIA22
/TPInternational/?query=environment
VIEW: Water — a right, not a commodity —Syed Mohammad Ali
Daily Times, Pakistan, 23 August 2005 - Over the past seven years, demand for bottled water
has grown by leaps and bounds in countries in Asia, the Trans-Caucasus, Middle East and North
17
Africa. The bottled water market in Pakistan is witnessing annual growth rates nearing 40
percent
A billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water supplies. If the trends
continue, almost three billion people out of a global population of 8.5 billion could be facing
water shortages by 2025. Over 80 percent of these people would most likely be found in the
rural areas of developing countries.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_23-8-2005_pg3_5
No official respite for parched Govt complex
Expressindia.com, India, New Delhi, August 22: Though it has been a month since the acute
water crisis hit the Central Government Housing Complex at Vasant Vihar, there seems to be no
solution. Despite repeated requests by the RWA to the DJB, CPWD and the government,
residents here say that there has been no response.
The crisis started on July 22 when the DJB started supplying only 200 kilolitres of water a day.
But the 7,000 residents here consume approximately 900 kilolitres of water a day.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=145167
COASTAL EROSION: Sea ‘encroaching at rate of 65 metres per year’
The Nations, Pongpol Sarnsamak, Published on August 23, 2005 - Geologist advises
construction of sea walls for five coastal provinces. The northern coastline of the Gulf of
Thailand is retreating at a rate of 65 metres per year and, in about 50 years, the sea will be more
than three kilometres closer to Suvarnabhumi Airport, Samut Prakan and Bangkok, a leading
geologist warned yesterday.
The encroachment of the sea, due to rapid land deterioration, would bring the shoreline to just
13 kilometres from Suvarnabhumi Airport by 2055, and future residential development between
the airport and the sea could be swallowed by the collapsing shoreline.
… Thanawat said the problem would be worsened by global warming, which was expected to
cause a rise in sea levels around the world.
Citing a 1999 report by the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
Thanawat said the average sea level worldwide was expected to rise by 0.66 metres in the next
one hundred years.
http://nationmultimedia.com/2005/08/23/national/index.php?news=national_18407311.html
Half Asia's children `deprived'
Bangkok Post, 23 August 2005 - ANJIRA ASSAVANONDA - Despite Asia's booming
economy, almost half the region's 1.27 billion children are living in poverty, deprived of food,
safe drinking water, health or shelter, an international development agency said in a report
released yesterday.
While 600 million children under the age of 18 lacked access to one of these basic human
needs, more than 350 million were deprived of two or more of these needs, according to
Growing up in Asia, a report by the child humanitarian organisation Plan.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Aug2005_news18.php
*************************
UNEP Beijing Office’s input to ROAP media update –23 August 2005
General Environment News
18
Nature reserves cover 14.8% of homeland
Xinhuanet 2005-08-22
China has set up 2,200 nature reserves covering 140 million hectares or 14.8 percent of its
territorial coverage, Zhao Xuemin, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said
here on Monday. Speaking at a meeting attended by 12 members of the Convention on the
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Zhao said that
China has signed nearly all global environmental pacts, and embarked on national strategic
programs to fulfill the commitments. Law enforcement officials from the 12 CITES member
countries discussed at the meeting in Urumqi on Monday the intensification of a coordinated
response to cross-border smuggling of high-nose antelopes, Tibetan antelopes, big catamounts
and hunting hawks. …
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/22/content_3390083.htm
China establishes first govt. prizes to promote environmentalism
Xinhuanet 2005-08-22
China will for the first time award prizes to individuals who have made valuable contributions
to the country's environmental protection. "The prize will also serve to promote the
implementation of the scientific view of development and the construction of a green China,"
said Pan Yue, vice minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration, here Monday
when announcing the new prize, which will be supported by the Environmental Planning Office
of the United Nations. …The prize-awarding soiree will be held on Dec. 1, 2005, when China's
Environmental Protection Culture Festival will kick off.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-08/22/content_3389673.htm
China to host Sino-African summit next year to promote cooperation
People’s Daily 2005-08-22
China will host a summit meeting involving Chinese and African leaders next year in Beijing, in
a bid to institute the layout of Sino-African cooperation. Lu Guozeng, Chinese assistant foreign
minister, told the Fourth Senior Officials Meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum
started here on Monday that the summit will be accompanied by the Third ministerial meeting
of the forum. …
http://english.people.com.cn/200508/22/eng20050822_203974.html
_____________________________________________________________________________
19
UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE
DAILY NEWS
22 August, 2005
===================================================================
ANNAN VISITS NIGER TO KEEP WORLD FOCUSED ON HUMANITARIAN
SITUATION
Secretary-General Kofi Annan heads to Niger tomorrow to continue the
United Nations drive to keep the international spotlight on one of the
world's poorest countries, where an early end to last season’s rains,
locusts and chronic long-term poverty have caused severe food shortages
and put nearly 3 million people at risk.
“The trip is intended to show solidarity with the people and Government of
Niger and also to help focus international attention on the special
developmental challenges faced by the countries of the Sahel, such as
Niger,” said a UN spokesman today.
Mr. Annan will begin his two-day trip in Zinder, in the south of the
country, where he will be welcomed by President Mamadou Tandja. He will
visit the pediatric service at Zinder Hospital and then head to a local
feeding centre operated by MSF-Switzerland.
On Thursday, Mr. Annan is expected to meet with the President and Prime
Minister in the capital, Niamey, while there he will confer with UN and
humanitarian staff and attend a meeting on food security, facilitated by
the UN World Food Programme (WFP). He is also expected to attend a meeting
on local development and democracy, facilitated by the UN Development
Programme (UNDP).
Asked if Mr. Annan would be appealing for financial contributions for
Niger during his visit there, the spokesman noted that the UN had already
issued an appeal, and that the Secretary-General would be working to raise
awareness on the need to fulfil it.
***
SUDAN: UN MISSION TO HELP WITH INVESTIGATION INTO GARANG’S DEATH
The Sudanese Government has asked the United Nations Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS) to help with the investigation into the helicopter crash that took
the life of former southern rebel leader and first Vice-President John
Garang.
The UN mission says it will provide transportation and other logistical
support for the investigation into the 30 July crash which killed Mr.
Garang, who was returning from Uganda and a meeting with its President
20
Yoweri Museveni.
Mr. Garang, who steered the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)
through a two-decade battle against the northern Government, had been
instrumental in securing a January peace accord, which ended Africa's
longest-running conflict and led to the swearing in of a national unity
Government in July. His death, which occurred just three weeks after he
took office as First Vice-President, sparked days of rioting in Khartoum
and the southern part of the country.
***
UN HUMANITARIAN ENVOY STARTS TRIP TO ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA
The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the humanitarian
crisis in the Horn of Africa today started a two-day fact-finding visit to
Eritrea, which has been hit by five years of drought, the lingering
effects of its two-year border war with Ethiopia and the challenges of
resettling thousands of refugees.
The envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, will met with senior Government officials,
representatives of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
in the capital, Asmara, to exchange views on how best to supply the
country’s humanitarian needs for the rest of 2005 and in 2006.
In addition, they will review plans for the return and re-settlement of
internally displaced people (IDPs) and rural expellees living in camps, as
well as the reintegration of about 120,000 returnees from Sudan, the UN
Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
This is the Special Envoy’s fifth visit to Eritrea since his appointment
in June 2003.
If the 2005 main rainy season, or kremti, continues to perform well, food
production for the current season will improve, based on having increased
the planted area by nearly 25 per cent and increased agricultural inputs,
OCHA said.
Mr. Ahtisaari has been highlighting the humanitarian and recovery needs of
Eritrea to donors to keep the humanitarian plight of Eritreans high on
their agenda, it said.
Donors have contributed 81 per cent of the $156.2 million the Eritrea
Consolidated Appeal 2005 requested, OCHA said. Some important funding gaps
exist in such key sectors as seed distribution, water supply, effective
supplementary and therapeutic feeding and provision of basic health
services.
The National Nutritional Surveillance System reports indicate that
malnutrition rates remain unacceptably high in many parts of the country.
21
In the Northern and Southern Red Sea regions children under 5 years have
global acute malnutrition (GAM) rates of 15.2 per cent and 14.4 per cent.
Low body mass index (BMI) measurements in adult women were 49.8 per cent
and 43.4 per cent respectively.
This has been worsened by a continuing shortfall of 16,000 tons of blended
supplementary food in Eritrea.
Mr. Ahtisaari and his entourage will leave Asmara for Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, on a similar mission on Thursday.
***
UN AGENCY CALLS FOR STEPS TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE IN LATIN AMERICA
AND CARIBBEAN
A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on progress made toward
meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Latin America and the
Caribbean has recommended a number of steps to improve health care in
region, while noting that area’s maternal mortality ratio statistics
masked serious problems, including a lack of reliable sources for
detecting and recording deaths.
The report said the maternal mortality ratio in the region, at an average
190 deaths per 100,000 births for the past decade, was not among the
highest in the world. But there was considerable underreporting of deaths,
particularly in the case of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants, the
UNFPA statement said.
The MDGs are a set of eight targets drawn up at the UN Millennium Summit
five years ago to slash a host of socio-economic ills by 2015, including
halving extreme poverty and hunger, cutting child mortality rates by
two-thirds, and achieving universal primary education and access to health
services.
UNFPA noted in a statement that the statistics also revealed huge
disparities in maternal mortality within the region. A small group of
countries – Uruguay, Chile, Cuba, St. Lucia, Argentina, Brazil and Costa
Rica – had mortality levels below 50 deaths per 100,000 births, while
Haiti had the most alarming rates in the region by far with 520 maternal
deaths per 100,000 births. The UNFPA also made the following
recommendations:
A substantial reduction in unequal access to health care, often
linked to poverty, gender, race, ethnicity and age;
Better health care coverage under social protection plans;
Increased public sector spending on health care;
Re-orientation towards a new primary health-care strategy that
encourages active involvement by users;
Improvements in public health infrastructure, such as hospitals and
medical equipment;
22
Establishing policies and taking actions that have real impact in
achieving the health targets laid down in the Millennium Development
Goals.
The report was presented by Mexican President Vicente Fox and several UN
agencies in Mexico City today.
“Maternal mortality is closely linked to the issues of women’s rights and
poverty. It provides an indicator of gender inequities. The problem is
therefore much bigger than just a health issue,” said Rogelio Fernandez
Castilla, Director of the UNFPA’s Country Support Team, based in Mexico.
***
IN CôTE D’IVOIRE, UN REPRESENTATIVE FOR ELECTIONS IS PLEASED WITH
FIRST MISSION
Despite many difficulties, the current momentum in Côte d’Ivoire is
positive as it gears up for October elections, the United Nations High
Representative for the elections, Antonio Monteiro, said as he wrapped up
his first visit to the West African country emerging from conflict.
During his 11-day mission, he met with all the principal individuals and
institutions involved in the peace process, especially the leaders who
signed the 2003 Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement, which ended two years of
fierce civil war. He also discussed the situation with representatives of
the international community, UNOCI said.
All expressed a wish to see the political crisis resolved through fair and
transparent elections and those involved with the elections welcomed his
recommendations for quickly establishing an Independent Electoral
Commission (IEC), it said.
Mr. Monteiro left for New York late last week, but was scheduled to return
to Côte d’Ivoire very soon to assist with the elections scheduled for late
October.
The civil war broke out in 2002 when rebels seeking to oust President
Laurent Gbagbo seized the north, dividing the world's largest cocoa
producer in two. Last year the Security Council set up UNOCI, which, along
with French Licorne forces, maintains a ceasefire between Government
forces and the major rebel group, Forces Nouvelles.
***
DESPITE PROGRESS, WOMEN’S HEALTH FACES CHALLENGES IN TSUNAMI-HIT
COUNTRIES – UN
Less than half of the monies committed for women’s reproductive health,
safety and equality in parts of South Asia devastated by the tsunami last
23
December have been used, according to a six-month progress report issued
by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Although considerable progress has been noted in the delivery of maternal
care, the rebuilding of damaged health care facilities, and the
distribution of hygiene kits to women, a narrow pipeline effect has
impeded faster progress in the agency’s efforts to improve women’s health
and safety in regions affected. So far only $11.7 million of the $26.9
million available for women hardest hit by the 26 December disaster, which
killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries, has been spent.
The report noted much positive progress in the region, including providing
basic and emergency obstetric care for the more than 150,000 women who
were pregnant at the time of the disaster, the reconstruction of 20
health-care facilities in Sri Lanka, and safe deliveries of 326 babies, 47
of whom were high risk in Indonesia as of March 2005. But at the same
time, the “absorptive capacity” of the local partners has not been able to
keep up with the speed and number of donors, particularly in areas that
were less developed, and had fewer organizations set up for health
delivery previous to the disaster.
In the hardest hit areas of Indonesia, $16.5 million dollars have been
donated to help improve women’s reproductive services, reduce violence
against women, and decrease the incidence of HIV/AIDS, but only $6.6
million has been spent. Similarly in Sri Lanka, only $3.5 million of $8.6
million has been spent.
The report also cites weak coordination between levels of government and
agencies trying to serve the local communities, and the expected slowdowns
the agency has encountered trying to implement long-term changes, such as
the acquisition of land, and taking the necessary steps through each
country’s legal and customary requirements. Some of the slowdown has to do
with the UNFPA “adhering to its own internal financial regulations and
procurement procedures regarding bidding [and] contract approval,” said
the report.
But also mentioned were the difficulties of progress in any region where
the political and structural landscapes continue to shift, and when the
person the agency worked with yesterday has been replaced with either a
new person or an entirely different agency today.
And, in many areas where the political situation is still in the process
of stabilization such as Aceh Jaya and Aceh Barat, Indonesia, security
concerns have continued to bog down travel plans for UN staff or delayed
them indefinitely.
***
UNICEF OPENS TWO-DAY WORKSHOP ON GIRLS’ EDUCATION IN LIBERIA
24
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) opened a policy review
workshop on girls’ education in Liberia today, bringing together some 50
participants to finalize a policy document aimed at promoting the full
cycle of schooling by girls as the West African country recovers from 15
years of civil war.
“As we begin this very important review, I like to reiterate UNICEF’s
vision that the education of the girl child in Liberia is critical and an
urgent matter. It is actually about human rights and human dignity. It is
about peace and the development of the country,” Angela Kearney, UNICEF
Liberia Representative, said in her remarks to open the two-day workshop.
The workshop, which is being attended by representatives from Liberia’s
Ministry of Education, County Education Officers, and other partners
promoting the education of girls, was designed to present a policy
document to stakeholders for review and for recommendations that will
strengthen it and lead to its finalization, UNICEF said in a statement.
Ms. Kearney said the review would need to focus on the issues of modifying
old values and attitudes while promoting respect for gender equality, on
ensuring that early childhood socialization processes tackle gender
discrimination and on making sure that that families and schools are
sensitized to create new values and patterns of behaviour that support
girls’ education. Attracting teenage and working mothers to schools was
another issue that this review should address, she added.
***
NEW SIERRA LEONE ARMY IS BETTER-TRAINED, SAYS UN PEACEKEEPING
FORCE COMMANDER
With the United Nations peacekeeping mission winding down by the end of
the year, the UN military chief has assured Sierra Leoneans that the
national army had been retrained and was much better than it had been
during the devastating 11-year civil war.
Speaking of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and the
Sierra Leone Police (SLP), UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) Force
Commanded Major-General Sajjad Akram told a news conference Friday that
the country was calm and stable and the security agencies would be able to
protect the populace.
“This is a different force from what you knew during the war. They have
been fully and professionally trained. UNAMSIL has conducted lots of
training for both the SLP and RSLAF so that they will be in a better
position to provide security for the country.”
He added that there was no immediate security threat from Sierra Leone’s
neighbours and since UNAMSIL had handed over security to the Government,
it had not asked for help. “This means they are now capable to handle the
25
security situation in the country.”
RSLAF Major General Sam M’Boma said his troops had met the benchmarks set
by UNAMSIL and “that’s why the UN now believes we are capable of handling
the security of the country.”
SLP Inspector General Brima Acha Kamara said UNAMSIL would leave 20 police
advisers to continue training programmes during its follow-on mission
starting next January, but “if you look at other police forces in West
Africa, you will agree with me that we have improved considerably.”
In other activities linked to UNAMSIL’s departure, the Government also
signed an act last week criminalizing trafficking in human beings,
especially women and children.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the act for which it and other
organizations had lobbied the Government of Sierra Leone, saying that
there was some evidence that certain children seemed to be victims of
trafficking both within the country and across borders.
“The issue of trafficking in persons, particularly of women and children
who are the most vulnerable, has been of great concern in post-conflict
Sierra Leone. UNICEF therefore hopes that the Act will help the Government
of Sierra Leone and its partners to more appropriately respond to issues
of prevention, rapid response for identification and prosecution of
offenders, as well as the provision of relevant reintegration services for
victims,” it said.
Victims often come from families lacking economic opportunities and their
problems are compounded by gender, racial and ethnic discrimination, or
insecurity, which “create the ideal environment for trafficking networks
to form,” UNICEF said.
***
OBSERVER MISSION IN BOUGAINVILLE AN OVERALL SUCCESS – UN OFFICIALS
United Nations officials today described the recently ended observer
mission in Bougainville as an overall success that helped lead to the end
of the violence in the province which had fought a years-long secessionist
fight against Papua New Guinea.
“I believe very sincerely that this is a success story,” Ibrahim Gambari,
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said at a press briefing.
“In specific terms, the mission was able to promote disarmament and
weapons destruction and finally, of course, the mission facilitated
international observation for the electoral process,” he added.
The UN made an important contribution to the peace process through its
involvement in negotiating, mediating and facilitating the resolution of
the conflict through the United Nations Political Office in Bougainville
26
(UNPOB) and its successor – the United Nations Observer Mission (UNOMB),
as well as the UN Country Team.
Mr. Gambari said that the regional partners Australia and the Asia-Pacific
Forum were also very pleased with the outcome.
In June Papua New Guinea implemented the peace agreement that ended long
secessionist fighting and culminated with the swearing-in of the new
autonomous provincial government of Bougainville Island. The agreement was
reached after a decade of island combat against Papua New Guinea that
ended in 1998.
The UN efforts included supervision of the collection and destruction of
some 2,000 weapons, pushing the parties involved to meet agreed upon
pre-election deadlines and ultimately to facilitate the election itself,
said Tor Stenbock, Head of the UN Observer Mission in Bougainville. The
swearing in of Bougainville’s first autonomous provincial government in
June ended the UNOMB mandate.
***
AFGHANISTAN: UN-AFGHAN MONITORS CALL FOR TIGHTER SECURITY AHEAD
OF ELECTIONS
Despite the positive impact of campaigning and voter registration ahead of
Afghanistan’s parliamentary and provincial elections, the joint United
Nations-Afghan team is urging national and international security forces
to respond quickly to keep the process on track, amid escalating violence
against candidates, election workers and others.
“Despite the fact that extremists have failed to derail the election
process or to pressure candidates to withdraw, the possibility exists that
the threat of violent attacks will have an impact on the campaign process
and on Election Day, potentially disenfranchising large parts of the
Pashtun population,” says a joint report by the UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
(AIHRC). The Pashtuns live mainly in southern Afghanistan.
UNAMA and the AIHRC are verifying the exercise of political rights in
Afghanistan to ensure free and fair elections on 18 September. That
ballot, which will wrap up the war-torn country’s political transition, is
on track with 5,800 registered candidates and about 1.5 million newly
registered voters.
“The overall impact was positive, particularly for women in conservative
regions,” says the report, which adds that the range of candidates does
not support the view that the elections will be dominated by commanders
and armed elements.
At the same time, verification team also indicated shortcomings in the
27
environment and “worrying trends.” The escalation of violent attacks
against candidates, election staff, civic educators and community leaders
is particularly alarming and poses the greatest threat to the election
process, with the east, southeast and south being the areas of greatest
concern, says the report.
“Concerted action will need to be taken by national and international
security forces to respond to the security threats,” the report says,
adding: “While the establishment of the National Joint Election Operation
Center is encouraging, much more will have to be done to ensure that the
police, national army and international security forces work closely to
address the security challenges ahead.”
The report also says that efforts should also be undertaken by Afghan
officials at the central and local level to create “security zones” in
vulnerable areas to ensure that candidates can carry out campaign
activities without fear of violent attacks. And while the Ministry of
Interior’s orders instructing the chiefs of police to undertake measures
to protect female candidates and voters is welcome, more specific measures
must be adopted by authorities at the central and local level.
***
PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN HAITI SAYS ARMED GROUPS HAVE GONE
UNDERGROUND
Although the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti no longer needs
to patrol in armoured vehicles, it says the armed groups it has been
battling in the shantytowns of the capital have gone underground and the
police must work most closely with intelligence services, a senior
military official said.
In a radio interview, Lieutenant Colonel André Luis Novaes Miranda of the
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) said operations in the
Caribbean country have moved to a new phase.
“The armed groups now function in a clandestine fashion. We wish therefore
to open the way to the National Police and the CivPol (mission civilian
police) which must penetrate these areas to continue the work that we have
already started with regard to the return to order and security,” he said.
The people living in the troubled districts have begun to give the mission
a positive response, and no shots have been heard in these areas, even
though the bandits of Delmas and Bel-Air are still armed. “Nonetheless,
the group led by ‘General Toutou’ continues to resist,” he said.
Meanwhile, addressing a two-day Santiago seminar for MINUSTAH
troop-contributing countries in Chile entitled “Chile, regional security
and the future of Haiti,” mission chief Juan Gabriel Valdés, a former
Chilean ambassador, stressed “the importance and the historical value of
28
the joint presence of Latin American armies in a peacekeeping mission to
aid a country in the same region.”
Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General José Miguel
Insulzae and MINUSTAH Force Commander General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro
Pereira joined the Foreign Affairs and Defence deputy ministers from
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay at the
meeting. The deputy ministers re-affirmed their commitment to the mission
said the efforts now being made should be maintained.
But Chilean Foreign Minister Ignacio Walker, said the efforts to stabilize
Haiti after civil strife have been positive yet inadequate. “To arrive at
a more significant success in Haiti needs additional efforts, as well as
greater financial and human resources,” he said.
After an insurgency that forced elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
to go into exile in February 2004, MINUSTAH has spent more than a year
trying to re-establish order in the Caribbean country. In early regional
cooperation, Haiti responded to an 1815 appeal from South American
"Liberator" Simon Bolivar by donating supplies and men for the
independence struggle that freed Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru,
and Venezuela.
***
UN AGENCIES RUSH AID TO FLOOD-STRICKEN REGION OF SIERRA LEONE
United Nations agencies are providing emergency aid in Sierra Leone amid
concern over the possible outbreak of waterborne diseases, especially
cholera, after heavy flooding destroyed many homes and affected thousands
of villagers, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) reported today.
Following a Government request, an inter-agency mission of UN agencies,
government authorities and non-government organizations (NGOs) in the six
most affected chiefdoms in Pujehun district, 300 kilometres south of
Freetown, the capital, has identified five priority needs: food, water and
sanitation, non-food items, health, and shelter.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Health Organization (WHO)
have already supplied water containers, chlorine, washing soap, and
essential drugs, while the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is making
arrangements to provide food, OCHA said.
A UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) helicopter carried out an in-depth
aerial survey at the weekend to further assess the damage in the Pujehun
district, where nine out of 12 chiefdoms were inundated by rising water
levels of the Wanje and Moa Rivers.
It is difficult to give the exact estimates of the people affected since
29
many villages continue to remain inaccessible as roads and bridges have
been swept away, OCHA said. Wells have also been wiped out giving rise to
concerns over the possible spread of waterborne diseases, it added.
***
UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE AGENCY CO-HOSTS FISHING CONFERENCE IN
NIGERIA
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is co-hosting a
three-day conference in Abuja, Nigeria for African governments,
development organizations and experts from around the world to discuss
ways to boost production at the continent's fisheries where fish supply
has declined during the past decade, bucking the global trend.
“During the past 10 years, Africa's fish production has stalled and per
capita fish supply has diminished, dropping from 8.8 kilogrammes/per
capita in 1990 to around 7.8 kilogrammes in 2001. Africa is the only
continent where this is happening, and the dilemma it poses is that there
are no affordable alternative sources of protein. For a continent where
food security is so precarious, it's extremely worrying,” FAO said in a
statement.
The conference, which started today, is a collaborative effort of the
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), chaired by Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo, the international research organization
Worldfish Centre and FAO.
Participants will attempt to chart out a shared strategy for strengthening
fisheries and aquaculture development planning for Africa and for
increasing investment in the sector to help eradicate hunger and poverty,
FAO said.
It also said that the contribution of fisheries and aquaculture needs to
go up significantly in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, if the UN
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating extreme hunger and
poverty is to be met.
The MDGs are a set of eight targets drawn up at the UN Millennium Summit
five years ago to slash a host of socio-economic ills by 2015, including
halving extreme poverty and hunger, cutting child mortality rates by
two-thirds, and achieving universal primary education and access to health
services.
FAO said it is convinced the neglected inland capture fisheries of Africa
still have great potential. Many small water bodies and rivers could be
improved and used for a significantly higher fish production, provided the
proper incentives and marketing support structures are put in place, it
added.
30
***
UNICEF IMMUNIZATION AND MALARIA EFFORTS IN NIGERIA RECEIVE BOOST
FROM JAPAN
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) efforts to promote immunization
and malaria prevention in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country where
one in five youngsters dies before their fifth birthday, have received a
shot in the arm with a $5.2 million donation from the Japanese Government.
“The funds given by the Government of Japan will help us to save the lives
of thousands of children,” UNICEF interim country representative Barbara
Reynolds said at a ceremony for the exchange of notes on the initiative
with Japanese Ambassador Akio Tanaka in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
“Every child has the right to a healthy start in life. Unfortunately in
Nigeria, many do not even survive their first year because they have not
been immunized or did not get adequate protection against malaria,” she
added.
Malaria and vaccine preventable diseases (measles, tetanus, tuberculosis,
polio, pertussis, diphtheria, yellow fever, hepatitis B) are among the
major causes of death for Nigerian children. Moreover thousands of people
miss work and school because of malaria.
The donation is especially opportune as Nigeria continues efforts to
interrupt the transmission of polio before the end of the year and to
conduct a major measles immunization campaign in December. The
contribution will be used for polio and measles vaccines, equipment for
immunization activities, long lasting insecticide treated nets and
necessary technical support.
Equipment to be purchased include 200 ice-lined freezers, 40
refrigerators, 250 cold boxes and 500 vaccines carriers to help ensure
that the vaccines are preserved until they are administered to the child.
Some 300,000 treated nets will be distributed to families with pregnant
women and children under five in the most disadvantaged communities.
In the past five years, Japan has been one of the major donors for the
polio eradication campaign and immunization activities, funding millions
of polio vaccines as well as immunization equipment. Since 2000, Japan has
contributed $21.8 million for the prevention of infectious diseases in
Nigeria through UNICEF.
***
SRI LANKAN JOURNALIST’S MURDER WILL ONLY FOMENT MORE VIOLENCE –
UNESCO
In yet another appeal for the protection of reporters, the United Nations
31
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned
the murder of a Sri Lankan journalist as a blow to efforts to achieve
peace in the Indian Ocean island.
Relangi Selvarajah, a former journalist for Sri Lanka Broadcasting
Cooperation (SLBC) who was working as a presenter for the Sri Lanka
Rupavahini Cooperation (SLRC), and her husband were shot dead in the
capital Colombo on 12 August. The gunmen remain unidentified.
“Informed public debate is essential to democracy and rule of law,” UNESCO
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement. “Sri Lanka’s
internecine conflict will only be laid to rest through open debate
reflecting all shades of public opinion. Using murder to silence opinions
will not secure peace in Sri Lanka, but only foment more of the violence
to which it has been prey for all too long.”
The Sri Lankan Government and Tamil separatists have waged a decades-old
war in the north and east of the country, in which tens of thousands of
people have been killed.
Mr. Matsuura’s statement is the latest in a long series of condemnations
he has issued recently over attacks on journalists around the world.
UNESCO’s mandate includes the defence of freedom of expression and press
freedom.
***
NEW FUNDING VITAL FOR REACHING MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN
HEALTH - UN
Without vital new investment, there is no chance of reaching the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of improving health care worldwide,
and millions of people in developing countries will continue to die
annually from mostly preventable diseases, according to a new United
Nations report released today.
“Providing universal access to broad-based health services could save
several million children's lives each year,” UN World Health Organization
(WHO) Director-General Lee Jong-wook said of the study published little
more than two weeks before Heads of State and government gather at UN
Headquarters in New York for the 2005 World Summit to review progress
towards achieving the MDGs by the 2015 deadline.
“That would reverse the downward trends and bring us two-thirds of the way
to meeting the child mortality goal, and 70 to 80 per cent towards meeting
the maternal mortality goal,” he added of the targets set by the UN
Millennium Summit of 2000.
These include cutting the mortality rate among children under five by two
thirds and the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters and halting and
32
beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria
and other major diseases.
The report, Health and the Millennium Development Goals, WHO’s first study
of progress made so far, points to weak and inequitable health systems as
a key obstacle, including particularly a crisis in health personnel and
the urgent need for sustainable health financing.
“We have the treatments; the technology is known and affordable. The
problem in many countries is getting the staff, medicines, vaccines and
information to those who need them on time and in sufficient quantities.
In too many countries, the health systems to do that either do not exist
or are on the point of collapse,” Dr. Lee said.
Annual avoidable deaths in developing countries at present include almost 11 million children
under five; about 1 million people from malaria; and more than half-a-million women in
pregnancy and childbirth. The HIV/AIDS pandemic takes a further 3 million lives each year.
“Building strong health systems requires improvements across governments – in public
financial management, manpower planning, roads and infrastructure, and many other areas,”
Dr. Lee said. “We need to look beyond the health sector if we are to be successful, and we must
take an integrated approach. If we do, success is possible.”
With less than 10 years to the target date, none of the poorest regions of the developing world
are on track to meet the child mortality target. For maternal mortality, declines have been
limited to countries which already have lower mortality levels. The goal of reversing the spread
of HIV/AIDS and reversing the incidence of malaria and other communicable diseases remains
a huge challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. The safe water target may be achieved globally, but not
in sub-Saharan Africa.
At least $30-40 per capita is needed annually to finance a minimum health package, but many
poor countries invest far less, on average $10 per capita, and in some countries, as little as $2
per capita. The UN Millennium Project recently said that meeting all the MDGs would require
an estimated $135 billion of Official Development Assistance, rising to $195 billion by 2015.
“Global political commitment for long-term financing of the MDGs is crucial,” WHO Director
of MDGs, Health and Development Policy Andrew Cassels said. “We must use all potential
means of raising resources, including debt relief. We need resources which are predictable and
sustained to allow countries to make long-term plans. And health must be at the centre of these
efforts.”
In many countries, particularly in Africa, lack of staff is at the centre of the health systems
challenge. “Out-migration, deaths from AIDS and above all, poor pay and conditions have
created a human resources crisis,” WHO director of Measurement and Health Information
Systems Ties Boerma said. “Ninety per cent of Africa lives in areas where there are fewer than
five doctors per 10,000 people.”
***
For more details go to UN News Centre
33
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
22 August 2005
Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Farhan Haq,
Information Officer, Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon. This briefing, we will actually be joined by a guest, Tor Stenbock, who
is the Head of the UN Observer Mission in Bougainville, to talk about the successful UN
Mission there. He will be introduced by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs,
Ibrahim Gambari.
** Niger Trip
The Secretary-General will begin his two-day trip to Niger tomorrow, and we have a
programme of events during that trip available upstairs.
As we told you earlier, this trip is intended to show solidarity with the people and
Government of Niger and also to help focus international attention on the special developmental
challenges faced by the countries of the Sahel, including Niger.
** Sudan
The UN Mission in Sudan reports that the Government of Sudan has asked for its help in
the investigation of the helicopter crash that took the life of Vice-President John Garang.
Garang died in a crash on July 30 while returning from Uganda, following a meeting with
President Yoweri Museveni.
The United Nations will provide transportation and other logistical support for the
investigation, a spokesperson said.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUC, reports that voter
registration has begun in the country’s eastern provinces. The Mission in the Congo reports that
the UN is fully involved in the process, providing transportation and technical help. The
registration is going very well and without any incidents, so far, a spokesperson for the Mission
said.
* Iraq
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, said he deeply
regretted the decree signed last week by Iraq’s Vice-President that authorized the execution of
three men convicted of kidnapping, killing and rape.
In a statement issued Saturday, Qazi said that, during Iraq’s transition process, “one
should look at consolidating the right to life instead of imposing the death penalty, which has a
very poor recognized effect in deterring crimes.” He urged the Iraqi Transitional Government
not to apply the death penalty.
** Afghanistan
34
A report by Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission and the UN Mission
in that country notes a number of recent positive developments recently in Afghan’s political
process, including progress in voter registration.
At the same time, the report also notes some worrying trends. The escalation of violent
attacks against candidates, election staff, civic educators and community leaders is particularly
alarming, it says, and poses the greatest threat to the election process. We have copies of that
report upstairs.
** Sierra Leone
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is closely monitoring
the situation in southern Sierra Leone, following heavy rainfall and flooding there.
For their part, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) have supplied water containers, chlorine, soap, and essential drugs. The World Food
Programme (WFP) is making arrangements to provide food. OCHA reports that there are
concerns that the flooding could lead to the spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera.
We have more information on that upstairs.
** Eritrea
Meanwhile elsewhere in Africa, the UN’s Special Envoy for the Humanitarian Crisis in
the Horn of Africa, former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, is in Eritrea at the start of a weeklong trip to assess current humanitarian needs in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
**Millennium Development Goals
Building up and strengthening health systems is vital if more progress is to be made
towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals, according to a new report from the World
Health Organization (WHO).
The report, which was launched today in Geneva, points to weak and inequitable health
systems as a key obstacle, as well as a crisis in health personnel and the urgent need for
sustainable health financing. The report adds that, despite gains in reducing poverty worldwide,
if trends established in the 1990s continue, the majority of developing countries will not achieve
the health goals. And that, in turn, will affect progress towards the other Millennium
Development Goals.
We have a press release on that upstairs, and the report is available on WHO’s website.
Lastly, in related news, a Millennium Development Goals progress report for Latin
America and the Caribbean was presented today by Mexican President Vicente Fox and several
UN agencies in Mexico City. We have a press release on that in the Spokesman’s Office.
As I said before, we should, within the next few minutes be hearing from Tor Stenbock,
the Head of the UN Office in Bougainville, who will be joined by Ibrahim Gambari. Until then,
do we have any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: On Iraq, the Sunnis are asking the UN to intervene because the constitution
that is being adopted at this point in time does not take their concerns into account. Do you
have a reaction from the UN on that?
35
Mr. Haq: Right now, the only thing to say about that is that we do have an Office of
Constitutional Support, headed by Nicholas Fink Haysom, which is on the ground in Iraq. Mr.
Haysom, as well as Ashraf Qazi, have been meeting with all the parties over the course of this
process, trying to make sure that this constitutional drafting process is as inclusive as possible.
We are hopeful that the final results will, in fact, be inclusive of all the sides. We have to wait
and see, of course, whether they will meet today’s deadline or not.
Question: How does he [Qazi] resolve this issue of the Vice-President of Iraq on the
death penalty?
Mr. Haq: As I just read out, he made his concerns known. We have placed our concerns
on the record and we will raise them with officials as need be.
Question: On Sudan, could you be more specific about technical help for the Garang
investigation?
Mr. Haq: At this stage, it would really depend on the content of the request that we get
from the Government of Sudan. We are willing to provide it, and we will see what kind of
things are requested from us. One of the things I mentioned just now is that we would provide
transportation and logistical support, so that the investigation could proceed. There is also the
possibility that the International Civil Aviation Organization could help out. We will have to
see, again depending on the request, whether they get involved.
Question: Do you know if any flight recorders were on the helicopter?
Mr. Haq: I am not aware of that. That would have to wait…
Question: One quick follow-up. There were reports on the Sudan last week that the
Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement [SPLM] were totally confident in the investigation.
Who actually invited the UN within the Sudanese Government?
Mr. Haq: I don’t know. I would have to check up on that.
[After the briefing, it was announced that the invitation came from the Sudanese
Ministry for Foreign Affairs.]
Question: What happened to the Zimbabwe appeal? It has been three weeks now. It
was pretty urgent at that time, and I imagine it is still pretty urgent. Another thing I just wanted
to check: can you confirm that there is going to be a request for an extension of the Hariri
investigation?
Mr. Haq: On your first question on Zimbabwe, the appeal is not ready yet. You are
right. We are hoping to get it ready fairly shortly and we have been trying to work among the
UN agencies and also with the Government of Zimbabwe to get the appeal out. Hopefully, it
won’t be that much longer.
In terms of a request for the extension of the Hariri investigation, we don’t have to say
anything about that, but I’ll check after the briefing if there is... I know that there has been
some talk going around on this, and I’ll see whether there is anything fresh we can say on that.
[After the briefing it was announced that Ibrahim Gambari would brief the Security
Council on the investigation this Thursday.]
36
Question: On Zimbabwe: just to make sure that the SG is not heading that way while he
is in Central Africa.
Mr. Haq: No, the current trip is a two-day trip to Niger. You have the rough itinerary of
events available upstairs. It includes stops to two parts of Niger: Niamey, the capital, and
Zinder.
Questions: A quick follow-up on Zimbabwe, what was the delay, exactly?
Mr. Haq: It is just the normal process of trying to work with governments in terms of
putting out an appeal, and we have been working with the Government of Zimbabwe.
Hopefully we will put one out before too long.
Question: While in Niger, would the Secretary-General make an appeal for financial
contributions? And also, there is some indication that Japan would no longer pursue its search
for a permanent seat, at least for the time being. Do you have some further details?
Mr. Haq: On the Japan thing, no, of course not. That is really a question that you can
ask the Japanese Mission here, if they have any details. There is nothing that I have to say on
that. The General Assembly is resuming its discussions about the draft outcome document
today and hopefully you will get some more answers about these sorts of things in the coming
days.
We have made an appeal for Niger, as you know, and the Secretary-General is hoping to
raise the awareness of the need to fulfil that appeal. So, yes, this is an effort to help push that
appeal along. We have gotten some response to that more recently.
Questions: On Lebanon, the Prosecutor, Detlev Mehlis, will be here in New York this
week, right?
Mr. Haq: No, I don’t believe that is the case. That was an erroneous report. He had
gone to Geneva briefly, but has since gone back to Lebanon. There will be a briefing to the
Security Council later this week about the work of the Commission, but I believe that briefing
will be done by Mr. Gambari.
Question: Is the Secretary-General planning any other trips in Africa and when is he
due back here?
Mr. Haq: I believe he is due back here possibly before Labour Day. I don’t have the
date of his return here. He doesn’t have any scheduled official visits in Africa.
[After the briefing, it was announced that the Secretary-General would be back in New
York on 8 September.]
Question: On what date do you expect to have the interim report from the Hariri
Commission?
Mr. Haq: I will try and see what time line I can get on when we will get that report. I
believe they have been working on that.
[After the briefing, it was announced that Mr. Gambari’s briefing to the Security
Council on Thursday would be the Commission’s interim report.]
Question: Can we have a readout of Ali Alatas’ meeting with the Burmese?
37
Mr. Haq: As you know, we said something about his visit at the time that he had gone
there, about the focus on UN reform in the meetings with the Foreign Minister and with Senior
General Than Shwe. I’ll see whether we have anything further to add, beyond what we said last
week.
And with that, have a good afternoon. Of course, wait around. Hopefully, in the next
couple of minutes, we can have a press briefing on Bougainville by Tor Stenbock.
38