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29 May, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

 

INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR UN PEACEKEEPERS, 29 May 2004 1

Message of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
"Last year, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was inaugurated to commemorate more than half a century of dedication and sacrifice by peacekeepers serving under the UN's blue flag around the world to build confidence, reconcile warring parties and relieve suffering. Alas, the past 12 months have given us many more such sacrifices to mourn.

Every one of these sacrifices commands our deep respect. They should also inspire us. We must continue to strive, as those brave peacekeepers did, to make it possible for the community of nations to live in peace.

Today, more than 53,000 uniformed personnel and at least 11,000 civilian staff from 94 countries serve in 15 missions across the globe. Those numbers are likely to increase: the Security Council has just approved an operation for Burundi, and another is being planned for Sudan.

The growth in missions is a welcome sign that many countries are choosing a healthier path as they emerge from violent conflicts. But it places enormous strain on our existing resources. I urge Member States to provide the additional peacekeepers that will be needed, and the resources to go with them.

Peacekeeping has long since evolved beyond its traditional role as a monitor of ceasefires. Today, UN missions engage in such tasks as assisting political transitions, building institutions, fostering the spread of the rule of law, supporting economic reconstruction, supervising elections, disarming militias and former combatants, facilitating humanitarian aid programmes and re-settling refugees and displaced persons.

In Liberia and Sierra Leone, peacekeepers are disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating former combatants from two brutal civil wars. In East Timor, they are helping a fledgling nation take its first steps and build national institutions. In Western Sahara, they have helped organize the first contacts between some refugees and their families in nearly 30 years.

Peacekeeping missions can never end wars by themselves. But they do offer the best possible way of ensuring there is a sustainable peace. On the International Day for UN Peacekeepers, let us remember that the most expensive peacekeeping operation costs far less than the cheapest war. That is an investment well worth making."

 

Security Council Approves 5,600-Strong Peacekeeping Operation In Burundi 2

The United Nations Security Council on 21 May unanimously approved the establishment of a new operation for troubled Burundi, where the UN will deploy up to 5,650 military personnel and help the central African nation with restoring peace and bringing about national reconciliation.

Established for an initial period of six months, the UN Operation in Burundi (ONUB) will be deployed on 1 June and include 200 military observers and 125 staff officers, a maximum of 120 civilian police personnel, as well as civilian personnel. The UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie is awaiting appointment as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative and chief of the mission.

Praising the Council for opening "a new door in the Burundi peace process," the Secretary-General called on all the people and leaders of the country to take advantage of this "unique opportunity to further pursue national reconciliation and facilitate the preparation of national elections."

In a statement issued by his spokesman in New York, Mr. Annan called on the FNL (Rwasa) to sign a ceasefire agreement and join the peace process without further delay. He encouraged donor countries to respond generously and to complement the efforts of the new peacekeeping operation.

Through the resolution, the Council decided that ONUB would initially be composed of forces from the African Union's (AU) existing African Mission in Burundi (AMIB) and would closely cooperate and share military information with the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), particularly in monitoring cross-border movements of armed elements and arms trafficking.

The Council authorized ONUB to use "all necessary means" to carry out its mandate, which, along with helping the transitional Government consolidate Burundi's recent political progress, will include ensuring respect for ceasefire agreements through monitoring their implementation and investigating their violations, promoting the re-establishment of confidence between the Burundian forces present, monitoring and providing security at their pre-disarmament assembly sites, and contributing to the dismantling of militias as called for in the ceasefire agreements.

Ahead of elections scheduled for 31 October, the mission would support the process of disarming and disbanding militia groups as well as collecting, securing and destroying weapons. It would also help to train the Burundi National Police. Other ONUB components would work to promote the rule of law, coordinate assistance in support of the elections, and report on human rights abuses.

 

Sec-Gen: Turmoil In Iraq And Middle East Must Not Hamper Arab League's Progress 3

While the Arab world might be in a period of extreme "turbulence and pain," particularly with the suffering of Palestinians and the upheaval in Iraq, Arab leaders should forge ahead with change so their peoples might enjoy hope and prosperity, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged on 22 May.

"The United Nations remains strongly committed to working with you as you continue your quest for development, justice and peace," he said in a message to the summit meeting in Tunis of the League of Arab States, delivered by Mohamed Sahnoun, his Special Adviser on Africa.

"Above all else, leadership can make a difference between hope and despair, and between renewal and the status quo," he added.

Referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Secretary-General said the recent escalation by Israel of killing and injury had reached unacceptable levels. "Such actions hinder the search for peace and deepen the bitterness that prevails among Palestinians and the indignation felt in the international community," he said, condemning those acts and calling on Israel to refrain from further violations of international law and to meet its obligations under the Road Map.

He also noted that some Palestinian groups continue to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks that fuel hatred and fear, and set back their national aspirations. "We should all strongly condemn terrorism, wherever and whenever it occurs; no cause can justify it," he stressed, and called on the Palestinian Authority to meet its obligations under the Road Map as well, and take effective measures on the ground to curb violence and combat terror.

On the situation in Iraq, the Secretary-General said the United Nations would work with the Arab League to help the country through its difficult transition period. "Whatever our view of the war and its wider implications, we must be united now in helping Iraq through this latest ordeal," he said.

Mr. Annan also stressed that the League's active support would be crucial during the transition. "The region has a role to play, and must play it. Each of us shares an interest in a free, stable, united and democratic Iraq at peace with itself and with its neighbours," he said. "That, and nothing else, must be our agenda, and the United Nations is striving to do its part, as circumstances permit."

The Secretary-General said that despite a "ruinous climate" created by the atmosphere in Iraq and Palestine, he was happy that such a climate had not hindered Arab leaders from addressing the wider agenda of change in the region and congratulated them on their plans to adopt a revised Arab Charter of Human Rights.

"Any process of reform, anywhere in the world, must be home-grown, coming from within. There is nothing that the outside world can tell you about freedom, women's emancipation or the knowledge gap that your own people are not already telling you," he said.

Leading Arab intellectuals, sociologists and others, thinking only of their own people's well-being, and seeking only to assess their societies' development, are offering a prescription for progress, Mr. Annan noted. "With those recommendations striking a chord throughout the region, it is a source of real encouragement that many of you are strongly supporting them," he said.

Sec-Gen Hails Endorsement Of Sudanese Peace Protocols, Urges Progress On Darfur 4

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 26 May hailed the endorsement of agreements aimed at ending two decades of war between the Sudanese Government and rebels in the south, while urging progress in resolving the crisis in Darfur, located in the western part of Africa's largest country.

Meeting in Naivasha, Kenya, the Government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) initialled three protocols on political and power sharing issues. A spokesman for the Secretary-General issued a statement calling this development "a major step forward" in the peace process.

"In welcoming the achievement of the IGAD Peace Process which paves the way for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in southern Sudan, the Secretary-General at the same time calls on the Government of Sudan and the armed opposition in Darfur to seize the momentum created in Naivasha to reach a political solution in western Sudan, putting an end to the grave humanitarian and human rights situations there," spokesman Fred Eckhard added.

During the talks, which are being facilitated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Mr. Annan has encouraged both Sudanese President Hassan Al-Bashir and SPLM/A Chairman John Garang to seek a speedy conclusion. He also designated his Special Adviser, Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, to provide support to the mediation. 

The Secretary-General commended Sudan's First Vice-President, Ali Osman Taha, and Mr. Garang. "He urges the two parties to sustain their commitment and persevere in reaching agreement on the remaining issues, especially the ceasefire arrangements, the implementations modalities and international guarantees for a future comprehensive peace agreement," the spokesman said, stressing the UN's "interest and readiness" to support this process.

"The United Nations stands ready to contribute to the efforts of the international community to help implement a peace agreement concluded by the Sudanese parties," the statement said.

 

UN: Israelis, Palestinians Must Move Beyond Deadlock And Embrace Peace Plan 5

Delivering what he called a "melancholy briefing, full of death and destruction and human misery" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the top United Nations political officer on 21 May called on both sides to move beyond the deadlock that keeps them stalled at the crossroads and embrace the internationally endorsed Road Map peace plan.

"Surely, the people of Israel and Palestine deserve better news, rays of hope," Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told the Security Council in the latest monthly update on the conflict that saw the "now all too familiar phenomenon of growing violence" in which 128 Palestinians and 19 Israelis were killed in the past four weeks.

Noting that Israeli incursions into the Gaza strip had resulted in many deaths and injuries, and the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian homes, Mr. Prendergast said Israel "must abide by its obligations as the occupying power, which included protecting the civilian population and eschewing the disproportionate or indiscriminate use of force."

At the same time, he reiterated calls for the Palestinian leadership to reorganize and act decisively against terror and violence, adding: "It is essential in our view that the Palestinian Authority grasp the nettle of reform without further delay."

In sharp contrast to the tragic situation on the ground is the hope held out by the Road Map plan sponsored by the so-called diplomatic Quartet _ the UN, European Union, Russian Federation and United States _ that calls for a series of parallel and reciprocal steps leading to two states living side-by-side in peace by 2005.

"It is not new, but it is viable, once the leadership on both sides have the vision and courage to start following it in good faith and with determination, and to continue along it to the very end," Mr. Prendergast said.

But he warned that action by the international community or the Quartet was no substitute for steps by the parties. "Experience from other conflicts is that solutions are adopted and implemented only when the parties themselves decide to do so," he added.

He noted that the Palestinian economy continued to languish with unemployment rising by 2 per cent, to 26.3 per cent, and said the proposed Israeli withdrawal from Gaza should be carried out in a way that makes it an end to the occupation and a new beginning for the peace process. 

"If Israel pulled out from the strip while retaining control over the crossing and sealing off Gaza, while at the same time a weakened Palestinian Authority failed to maintain law and order, and the international community refrained from footing the bill for the consequences of such a scenario, 

nothing less than a humanitarian disaster would hit Gaza, which could then become a hub for terror and chaos," he added. "No doubt, that was a worst-case scenario _ but that was one that should be kept in mind while urging the parties to follow the right path."

 

Ramcharan Deeply Disturbed By Recent Israeli Actions In Gaza 6

The Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, on 21 May called on Israel to respect international law and end its use of disproportionate force in the Gaza Strip, saying that even under security-related matters there was no "license to kill."

Mr. Ramcharan "is deeply disturbed about the consequences of Israel's recent military operation in the Gaza strip, in particular in Rafah, and its disproportionate use of force in densely populated areas," José Luis Díaz, spokesman for the High Commissioner's Office, said in a statement issued in Geneva.

"He is particularly concerned at reports of the use by the Israel Defence Forces on 19 May of helicopters and tanks to fire into a crowd of civilians during a peaceful demonstration, resulting in numerous deaths."

"The Acting High Commissioner calls on Israel to abide by its obligations as an occupying power, to respect international law and to stop immediately the disproportionate use of force in the Gaza Strip," the statement said.

 

UNRWA Hands Over New Homes To Palestine Refugees In Gaza 7

Refugee families from Rafah and Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip received 86 new houses on 24 May to replace shelters destroyed by Israeli forces, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said.

The houses will shelter 93 families of 475 refugees who had no alternative housing, the Agency said. So far 220 families have been given new homes, costing $4.6 million, provided by donors. 

Between the start of the strife in 2000 and 10 May, 2,018 buildings housing more than 18,300 refugee and non-refugee Palestinians were destroyed, UNRWA said.

For re-housing projects for currently homeless refugees, UNRWA needs $35 million. In addition, the agency has requested $193.5 million for all the refugees' needs in 2004, but has received only 29 per cent, or $55 million, it said.

 

Over 2,000 Palestinians Left Homeless In Latest Israeli Raid, UN Reports 8

Israel's recent weeklong military raid into the Gaza Strip town of Rafah left more than 2,000 Palestinians homeless, bringing to nearly 3,500 the total of those whose residences were demolished or rendered uninhabitable since the beginning of the month, according to a full United Nations assessment released on 26 May.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it had now completed its evaluation of the raid from 18 to 24 May, in which 167 buildings housing 379 families, or 2,066 people, were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the Tel Sultan, Brazil and Salam quarters of Rafah.

The latest destruction comes on top of what had already been one of the worst months in the Palestinian uprising. Since 1 May, 277 buildings housing 641 families, or 3,451 people, have been demolished in Rafah, the Agency said. Since the uprising started in September 2000, 1,476 buildings have been demolished in Rafah, affecting 14,666 people.

 

Brahimi Consults Iraqi Leaders On Transitional Government 9

Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser, on 25 May continued consulting leaders in Iraq on who would represent the country's people in a transitional government set to assume power after 30 June.

In New York, the Secretary-General voiced hope that it would be possible to reach the target date of 31 May for making an announcement on plans for the transition.

In comments to the press, he also said the draft resolution on Iraq under discussion in the Security Council would be subject to further amendments and clarifications, and voiced satisfaction that the text qualified that activities in Iraq should be carried out "circumstances permitting."

In another development, Carina Perelli, head of the UN electoral team in Iraq, has announced the international members of a panel vetting candidates for Iraq's new independent electoral body.

The four who were named on 23 May are Judge Johann Kriegler, who was a chief electoral officer in the South African elections that finished apartheid; Madame Jaquine Techien, a former commissioner of the Federal Institute of Elections of Mexico; Dong N'Guyen, a former chief electoral officer for the UN in areas such as Paraguay and Eritrea; and Carlos Valenzuela, former chief electoral officer for UN operations such as in East Timor.

 

Ross Mountain: Relief Aid Drive Must Adapt To Security Conditions 10

As Iraq enters "the period of greatest challenges," relief efforts will have to be adapted in order to succeed, a senior United Nations official told donor nations meeting on 25 May in Doha, Qatar.

"Flexibility and innovative ways of working with Iraqi and other partners are key to successful delivery within the current security climate and are likely to be for some time to come," Ross Mountain, the UN Special Representative ad interim for Iraq, told the Donor Committee of the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq.

Analyzing the period ahead, he observed that Iraq will undergo political, structural, economic and military-security transitions all at once. "There has been progress on these transitions, but there is clearly a need to better address some of the causes of insecurity that exist to different degrees in different areas," he said.

Mr. Mountain also outlined a range of ongoing UN relief operations in Iraq, including the procurement of 1.6 million tons of food supplies, the rehabilitation of several hundred schools, the vaccination of 5 million children against measles and the provision of support for infrastructure and housing.

"All our activities seek to enhance the capacity of Iraqi institutions," he said. This year, some 6,500 Iraqis have benefited from UN training in a wide range of disciplines, while over 40,000 have gotten jobs through UN activities within Iraq. 

Mr. Mountain also announced that 17 programmes and projects valued at approximately $230 million have been approved under the UN Iraq Trust Fund.

He emphasized the need for long-term international assistance to Iraq, warning that "for the political transition to succeed, the new government must be able to count on the full support of all concerned." He pledged that the UN would play its "full part" in this process.

Officials from some 35 countries, regional organizations, the UN and the World Bank are attending the meeting.
The International Fund was set up at a conference held last October in Madrid.

 

UN-Sponsored Experts Draw Up Blueprint To Safeguard Iraq's Cultural Heritage 11

Girding itself for the "immense and vital" challenge of safeguarding Iraq's cultural heritage, a United Nations-sponsored group of international experts on 26 May drew up a seven-point blueprint for comprehensive conservation, rehabilitation, capacity building, training and coordination.

The International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Iraq, established under the joint auspices of the Iraqi authorities and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), concluded its first meeting on 26 May at the Organization's Paris headquarters, chaired by Iraqi Minister for Culture Moufid al Jazairi. 

UNESCO became deeply involved in efforts to preserve Iraq's cultural heritage, with priceless antiquities stretching back 7,000 years, after last year's war when looters laid waste to several museums, libraries and archaeological sites throughout the country.

"Iraq's entire culture, from its archaeological sites, museums and cultural institutions, libraries and archives, intangible cultural heritage as well as the arts and cultural industries" has been affected by more than 10 years of embargo and conflict, UNESCO Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura told the two-day meeting. "The challenge, therefore, is immense and vital." 

It is estimated that Iraq has over 10,000 archaeological sites, though only one-seventh of them have been studied. Before it was pillaged in April 2003, the Museum of Baghdad included some 100,000 objects bearing witness to the greatness of the civilizations that succeeded each other in Mesopotamia, the "land between two rivers."

The Committee, whose main task is to provide advice on measures to improve and reinforce international cooperation, comprises 25 international experts including three Iraqis. Its members, proposed by UNESCO Member States, are appointed in their personal capacity by Mr. Matsuura.

 

UNHCHR `Shocked' About Recent Civilian Deaths In Iraq 12

The United Nations human rights chief on 21 May expressed shock over the deaths of some 40 civilians at a wedding party in Iraq near the Syrian border, killed by an air strike by United States forces earlier this week.

In a statement issued in Geneva, the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, stressed the responsibility of the occupying forces to ensure the safety and welfare of Iraqi civilians and to refrain from excessive use of force and indiscriminate attacks.

He "calls on all belligerents to respect human rights and humanitarian law, and to demonstrate at all times paramount concern for the safety and protection of civilians," the statement said. "He reiterates that even if there are security-related concerns, there can be no license to commit carnage."

 

UN Official Says Afghanistan's Stability Hinges On International Security Assistance 13

Afghanistan needs international support to emerge from decades of war, tackle resurgent militias sabotaging peace efforts, and hold credible elections in September, a senior United Nations official said on 27 May.

"The persistent woes of Afghanistan _ terrorism, factionalism and criminal networks _ are as much at work today as they were two years ago, and their ability to subvert State-building and a genuine political process is hardly diminished," Jean Arnault, head of the UN mission in the country (UNAMA), told the Security Council. "Whether it is in counter-terrorism, electoral security, counter-narcotics or control of factional fighting, at this critical juncture for the Afghan peace process, international security assistance continues to make the difference between success and failure."

Mr. Arnault stated that training, funding and other general forms of help, while important, were not sufficient for Afghanistan. "Widespread, robust international military presence in support of domestic security forces remains critical," he said.

While the security "map" had followed a well-known pattern with little change in the provinces, the situation had worsened in the more risky areas, particularly in the south, with a tangible increase in the number of incidents and their toll.  The level of violent opposition to the electoral process was still difficult to gauge, but precautions were being taken as registration pushed into rural areas, he said.

Although Afghanistan lacks a strong electoral tradition, the general population has been mobilized. Since the beginning of May, nearly 1 million people have signed up, bringing to 2.7 million the total number of registered voters. Contrary to initial expectations, women's participation did not drop as voter registration expanded beyond the urban centres. "There is momentum," Mr. Arnault said. "There are expectations."

At the same time, he warned that the polling must be viewed as fair. "A process perceived to be biased and distorted could deeply undermine the hopes… that differences among Afghans can be settled through peaceful political means." The Afghan leadership as well as the international community must ensure the legitimacy of the process, he said.

"Security, in general, and for the electoral process, in particular, is ultimately an Afghan responsibility, but it is a responsibility that Afghans cannot shoulder without international assistance," Mr. Arnault stressed, calling on NATO countries to honour past commitments to the Afghan people.

 

IAEA Welcomes US Plan To Keep Nuclear Weapons Out Of Terrorist Hands 14

Stepping up the battle to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the clutches of terrorists, the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has welcomed a new United States plan to strengthen nuclear security around the world.

The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI), announced by US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on 26 May at a meeting with senior officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, aims to minimize as quickly as possible the amount of nuclear material available that could be used for nuclear weapons.

"The proposal is a continuation and extension of initiatives that the IAEA, the USA and others have been working on for many years, and with renewed intensity in the past couple of years, to address nuclear security around the world," IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said. 

Security issues have become a global priority in the past several years, with nuclear weapons related know-how spreading extensively, Mr. ElBaradei told a news conference. This makes control of nuclear material that could be used for nuclear weapons extremely critical, he added.

GTRI seeks to set up mechanisms ensuring that nuclear and radiological materials and related equipment anywhere in the world are not used for malicious purposes.

Under the initiative, the US will work with the IAEA and other partners to repatriate all Russian-origin, fresh high-enriched uranium fuel (in cooperation with Russia and other countries concerned) by the end of next year, and accelerate and complete the repatriation of all Russian-origin spent fuel by 2010. 

They will also take all steps to accelerate and complete the repatriation of all US-origin research reactor spent fuel, work to convert the cores of civilian research reactors that use high-enriched uranium to use low-enriched uranium fuel worldwide.

They will seek to identify other nuclear and radiological materials and related equipment that are not yet covered by existing threat reduction efforts to ensure that there are no gaps that would enable a terrorist to acquire these materials for malevolent purposes.

Mr. Abraham also proposed that the IAEA and international community join in holding a Global Threat Reduction Initiative Partners' Conference to examine how to address material collection and security in places where a broader international effort is required.

 

UNCTAD: Poor Countries Need Aid And Well-Planned Trade Liberalization 15

Policies using international trade to improve the economies of the 50 poorest and least developed countries (LDCs) have not generated long-term reductions in poverty, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says in a new report.

"Their (LDCs') development partners should not imagine that preferential market access or multilateral trade liberalization will substitute for international aid as a central mechanism for supporting poverty reduction," UNCTAD says in The Least Developed Countries Report 2004: Linking International Trade with Poverty Reduction.

The policies could be complementary, but the LDCs require more and better aid to build their productive capacities, it says.

"The LDCs themselves can maximize the poverty-reducing effects of international trade by pursuing a development-led approach to trade rather than a trade-led approach to development," UNCTAD says.

In the 1990s the average income per person in the LDCs was 72 cents a day, of which the earner spent 57 cents, leaving just 15 cents a day for private capital formation and public investment in such national infrastructure as health care, education, law and order and administration, UNCTAD says.

If current trends persist, the number of people living in extreme poverty will increase to 471 million by 2015 from 334 million people in 2000, it predicts.

Mass poverty reinforces the tendency towards economic stagnation and vice versa, it says. "Low income leads to low savings; low savings lead to low investment; low investment leads to low productivity and low incomes."

Countries which liberalized trade moderately in the 1990s achieved the best trade-to-poverty relationships and the growth rates of gross domestic product, exports and investment have been higher after liberalization than before, it says.

On the other hand, "rapid and deep trade liberalization has been associated with de-industrialization, as import substitution industries have collapsed when they are exposed to international competition without adequate preparation," UNCTAD says.

In any case, "imports have grown faster than exports after liberalization," and "there has been a repeated tendency for aid inflows to peak during trade liberalization and then fall," UNCTAD says.

Experience shows that a country must have a minimum production base, as well as supply capabilities, to take advantage of export market access preferences, it says.

LDCs equipped to take advantage of preferences provided by certain textile export arrangements achieved high and steady export growth, but the benefits of access are being reduced by limits on product insurance, restrictive rules of origin, problems with predictability and the adverse effects of such non-tariff barriers as bans, quotas and tough labelling requirements, UNCTAD says.

Health issues were also a problem for LDCs, UNCTAD says, quoting estimates by the Joint UN Programme in HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) showing that in 2001, LDCs experienced 37 per cent of worldwide AIDS deaths, although they had only 11 per cent of the global population.

 

S-G: Consequences Of Biodiversity Loss `Too Awful To Contemplate' 16

With biological diversity now recognized as crucial to sustainable development and the eradication of poverty, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says "the consequences of failing to stop the loss of biodiversity are too awful to contemplate."

In a message for International Day for Biological Diversity, which is observed on 22 May, Mr. Annan calls for national policies and new additional financial and technical resources to support international treaties such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which seeks to protect natural biological diversity from organisms modified by modern biotechnology.

"Our highest priority should be to guarantee the health and effective functioning of the earth's life support systems _ on land, in the seas and in the air," he says, stressing that biological diversity provides the basic goods and ecological services on which all life depends.

He also underlines biodiversity's importance in the Millennium Development Goals, a set of targets set by the UN summit in 2000 seeking, among other aims, to reduce poverty and hunger by at least half and manage the environment for the benefit of present and future generations by 2015.

This year's theme _ "Biodiversity: Food, Water and Health for All" _ underlines biodiversity's importance in ensuring food security and adequate supplies of water, and in protecting the wide array of traditional medicines and modern pharmaceuticals that are based on the world's biological riches, he says.

 

FAO & WHO: Asia-Pacific Faces Acute Food Safety Risk 17

With one person dying every 45 seconds from food- and water-borne diseases in Asia and the Pacific alone, the area faces serious risks in densely populated zones, two United Nations agencies said on 24 May at the start of a regional meeting seeking to head off future threats to public health and international trade.

"So far, food contamination incidents and food-borne disease outbreaks in the region have been relatively isolated, but the potential danger is just round the corner," according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO). "Already an estimated one in three people worldwide suffer annually from a food-borne disease and 1.8 million die from severe food and waterborne diarrhoea."

In Asia and the Pacific, more than 700,000 people die and many more are debilitated every year from single cases of food- and water-borne disease _ single cases that most often do not hit press headlines.

"The danger of food-related outbreaks is particularly acute in Asia and the Pacific, because of the instances in which animals and people live in proximity and the way in which some food is produced and distributed," WHO Assistant Director-General for Food Safety Kerstin Leitner said.

The bird flu epidemic earlier this year _ the most recent example of a disease linking food, animals and human health _ has been historically unprecedented and of great concern for human health as well as for agriculture, with 23 fatal human cases and about 100 million birds dead or culled.

Food safety officials and experts from some 40 countries are participating in the four-day Regional Conference on Food Safety under FAO and WHO auspices in Seremban, Malaysia.

 

States Endorse WHO Strategies To Fight Obesity And Improve Reproductive Health 18

Aiming to fight lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases, countries meeting in Geneva have adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

This action by the annual World Health Assembly gathering on 22 May is considered especially urgent since these illnesses _ which include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and obesity-related conditions _ now account for some 60 per cent of global deaths and almost half of the global burden of disease.

"This is a landmark achievement in global public health policy and provides our Member States with a powerful instrument, which will enable them to develop effective and integrated national strategies to reduce the human and socioeconomic costs of non-communicable diseases," said WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook.

The strategy emphasizes the need to limit the consumption of saturated fats and trans fatty acids, salt and sugars, and to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables and levels of physical activity. It also addresses the role of prevention in health services; food and agriculture policies; fiscal policies; surveillance systems; regulatory policies; consumer education and communication including marketing, health claims and nutrition labelling; and school policies as they affect food and physical activity choices.

The World Health Assembly also endorsed a new strategy on reproductive health in a bid to combat the spread of sexually transmitted disease and make pregnancy and childbirth safer.

That plan targets five priority areas: improving antenatal, delivery, postpartum and newborn care; providing high-quality family planning services, including those related to infertility; eliminating unsafe abortion; combating sexually transmitted infections; and promoting sexual health.