UN

October 12, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today congratulating Nobel Peace Prize Winners, former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:    » read more »

11 October 2007 -- A coalition of 60 non-governmental organizations is urging the United Nations to adopt a resolution that calls for a global moratorium on the death penalty. Supporters believe such a resolution has enough support to pass.

In 2003, The World Coalition Against The Death Penalty designated October 10 as the "World Day Against the Death Penalty.

At a news conference in New York Wednesday, the group said more than 90 countries nations have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, 131 have done so in practice and 66 retain it.    » read more »

11 October 2007 -- The United Nations is urging the United States to ensure that American private contractors who commit offenses in Iraq are prosecuted.

The U.N. Assistance Mission to Iraq is making the call in its new report on the human rights situation in that country Thursday. The mission noted several fatal incidents involving private security firms in the period between April and June of this year.

The report calls on the U.S. to establish mechanisms to hold contractors accountable when such incidents do not appear to be justified.    » read more »

02 October 2007 -- The top United Nations human rights official has condemned the Burmese military government for what she calls its "shocking" repression of peaceful opposition protests.

Louise Arbour says Burma must give a "full account" of the number of protesters killed and wounded by Burmese security forces who crushed the massive protests last week.

Arbour was speaking Tuesday in Geneva at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council called by the European Union to discuss the situation in Burma.    » read more »

03 October 2007 -- Some of the most widespread flooding in years has swept across Sub-Saharan Africa, from Ghana, Niger, Mali, and Togo in the west to Ethiopia, Uganda, and Sudan in the east. In the last 24 hours, the International Red Cross (IFRC) has added Burkina Faso to its emergency rolls after 33 deaths were reported and more than 75-hundred homes destroyed in torrential rains.    » read more »

01 October 2007 -- The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, is calling for new strategies and greater international commitment to deal with increasing numbers of people fleeing their homes. At the start of the UNHCR's annual refugee conference, Guterres told delegates protection and assistance must be given to people whether they are fleeing from persecution or from poverty.    » read more »

Council Should Act on Other Urgent Issues

(Geneva, September 28, 2007) – The Human Rights Council's decision to hold an urgent full-day meeting on the situation in Burma is a welcome step, for Burma and for the council, Human Rights Watch said today. Fifty-three states called for the special session, which will be held on October 2, 2007.    » read more »

26 September 2007 -- A new report says it will cost up to $51 billion dollars to achieve universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS by the year 2010. The report from UNAIDS says despite progress in scaling-up treatment, current efforts are falling far short of helping all those in need.    » read more »

09/24/2007

Putting California’s leadership in the fight against climate change on a world stage, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today gave a speech to official delegates and invited guests of the United Nations.

In July, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited the Governor to speak at today’s special session when they toured a San Jose business that is developing the technology for countries to help reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.    » read more »

23 September 2007 -- Heads of states from more than 80 countries are gathering in New York City for what will be the largest U.N.-organized event for world leaders on climate change. This is a preliminary meeting to work toward a new international agreement on the issue. But scientists say places like sub-Saharan Africa need more than just an agreement to really fix the problem.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he wants to build momentum to create a new climate-change agreement by 2009.    » read more »

20 September 2007 -- The World Health Organization says it has found typhoid in an area of the Democratic Republic of Congo where health experts are working to fight an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Last week, DRC officials ordered a quarantine in central Kasai Occidental province, after the U.N. health agency said five people there tested positive for the Ebola virus. Now, WHO officials say they have discovered five cases of typhoid in the same area.

WHO spokesman, Greg Hartl tells Reuters news agency that one of the typhoid cases also tested positive for Ebola.    » read more »

23 August 2007 -- The World Health Organization says infectious diseases are spreading around the world at a faster rate than ever before, making them more difficult to treat.

In its annual World Health Report, issued Thursday, the United Nations agency says one or more new diseases have been identified every year since the 1970s, a rate it says is "unprecedented."

The agency also says efforts to control such well-known diseases as tuberculosis have been compromised as they evolve into stronger, more drug-resistant forms.    » read more »

Says United Nations stands ready to support relief efforts

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn of the human and economic losses brought on by Hurricane Dean in the Caribbean. He extends his sincere condolences to those who lost family and friends.    » read more »

16 August 2007 -- Russia's ambassador to the United Nations says the Security Council should not take any action on Georgian allegations that Russia violated its airspace until after officials of the two countries carry out their own investigation.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin says Russian and Georgian experts will jointly probe allegations that Russian fighter jets entered more than 75 kilometers into Georgian territory and launched a guided missile on August sixth.    » read more »

14 August 2007 -- North Korea is seeking the help of the United Nations' food relief agency in the wake of massive flooding there that has reportedly killed hundreds of people.

According to its state-run news agency, 30,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed since heavy rains began falling last week. The rains also have washed away tens of thousands of hectares of farmland, raising concerns about a possible food shortage.    » read more »