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3 July, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

United Nations Welcomes Iraq Back To Family Of Nations 1

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 28 June welcomed Iraq back into the family of independent and sovereign nations and urged the country's people to consolidate stability and foster understanding.

Reacting to the United States' handover of power on 28 June to an interim Iraqi Government, Mr. Annan called on "all Iraqis to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation, through a process of open dialogue and consensus-building, to lay down secure foundations for the new Iraq," a UN spokesman said in a statement.

The Secretary-General pledged that the UN would "do everything possible, as circumstances permit, to help the Iraqi people in this challenging yet vital process".

* * *

Hailing an end to the occupation of Iraq, the United Nations Security Council on 28 June welcomed the handover of full responsibility and authority to the country's "fully sovereign and independent" interim Government, while condemning ongoing violence.

In a press statement read by Council President Ambassador Lauro L. Baja, Jr. of the Philippines, the members also underscored the proposed timetable for the political transition, the possibility of an international meeting, and "the leading role of the United Nations to assist the interim Government of Iraq in implementing the political process" with elections to be held no later than the end of next January.

 

UN General Assembly Takes Steps To Streamline Work 2

The United Nations General Assembly on 1 July took steps to pare down its complex agenda, sharpen the focus of its six committees and begin to reduce its extensive documentation.

By a unanimously adopted resolution, the Assembly took what delegations hailed as a significant step in following up the passage last December of a set of sweeping changes set to take effect over the next two years.

Under the new format, all issues considered by the Assembly will be grouped under nine headings: maintenance of international peace and security; promotion of sustained economic growth and sustainable development; development of Africa; promotion of human rights; effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts; promotion of justice and international law; disarmament; drug control, crime prevention and combating international terrorism; and organizational, administrative and other matters.

Other provisions of the resolution call for the Assembly's committees to institute the practice of "question time," a dialogue format aimed at fostering "a dynamic and candid exchange" with officials.

A number of items were slotted for consideration every other year, such as "building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal." Still other issues were marked for consideration only every three years, including "elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion."

Assembly President Julian R. Hunte of Saint Lucia hailed the resolution but said more work remained. He pointed out that the wide-ranging agenda would now be better organized, and formerly rote debates would turn interactive. At the same time, he called for action on a proposal that would spread the Assembly's work over two substantive sessions each year, instead of the current September to December format.

During that four-month period last year, 276 items and sub-items were considered, 347 reports totalling 5,500 pages were submitted and 287 resolutions were adopted. "It is not clear to me why we should continue to operate in this fashion," Mr. Hunte said.

 

S-G Urges Full Participation In UN Treaty Against Organized Crime 3

Countries gathered on 28 June in Vienna for a conference on promoting the first United Nations treaty against cross-border organized crime, with Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging them to strive for universal participation in the accord.

The treaty's full implementation "can make a real difference to millions of peoples' lives, and will be an important contribution to saving succeeding generations not only from organized crime itself, but also from the scourge of war and the misery of poverty," Mr. Annan said in a message to the first session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

The message was delivered by Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Convention, which entered into force on 29 September 2003, has 147 States Signatories and 79 States Parties. By ratifying the treaty, countries commit to adopting a series of crime-control measures, including the criminalization of participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering, corruption and obstruction of justice.

They also pledge help in extradition, mutual legal assistance, administrative and regulatory controls, law-enforcement, victim protection and crime-prevention measures.

 

Strict New UN-Sponsored Maritime Anti-Terrorism Measures Come Into Force 4

Far-reaching international maritime security measures went into force on 1 July as part of a wider United Nations strategy to combat terrorism, with governments, port authorities and shipping companies required to take detailed steps to prevent such scenarios as oil tankers being used as massive fire bombs near ports.

The measures, which require detailed security plans for ships and ports as well as such steps as regular and intensive individual or joint patrolling in vulnerable sea areas and the exchange of real-time intelligence, were developed and adopted by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) in response to the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States.

"IMO has repeatedly urged governments and the industry to take steps to increase awareness of the potential dangers and to encourage ships' crews to be vigilant and alert to any security threat they may encounter," the agency's chief, Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, said of the new International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code).

"Great emphasis has been placed on the entry-into-force date, but the real challenge is to ensure that, now that date has passed, we do not allow ourselves to relax and adopt any complacent attitude," he added.

The measures, adopted in December 2002 by a Conference on Maritime Security, represent the first-ever internationally agreed regulatory framework addressing the crucial issue of maritime security, but IMO stressed that they should not be seen in isolation but as part of the wider UN battle against terrorism.

"In effect we are talking about establishing an entirely new culture amongst those involved in the day-to-day running of the shipping and port industry," IMO said in a release on the ISPS Code, which requires governments to gather and assess information with respect to security threats and exchange such data with other governments. Shipboard and port facility personnel must be aware of security threats and report concerns to the appropriate authorities, while governments need to communicate security related information to ships and port facilities.

The measures take the form of amendments to the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, which has 148 contracting governments and applies to 98.4 per cent of the world's merchant ships by gross tonnage.

Security experts have identified a number of terrorist scenarios regarding loaded oil tankers, including their being hijacked and grounded at environmentally sensitive areas to cause pollution, being run aground in narrow channels to block navigation, and being used as potential incendiary devices near ports and large anchorage areas.

 

Deputy Sec-Gen Urges Wealthy Nations To Remove Or Cut Agricultural Subsidies 5

Calling on the world's rich countries to revitalize stalled international trade and development talks, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette on 28 June urged them to eliminate or at least reduce "the crippling effect" of agricultural subsidies on the world's poorest and least developed nations.

In an address to the opening of the High-Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at UN Headquarters in New York, Ms. Fréchette said the recent pledge by affluent countries to boost their aid levels to the world's least developed countries was only a start.

"Giving with one hand will not work as long as the world takes away with the other _ and that is exactly what is happening with quotas, subsidies and tariffs that stunt growth in poor countries and stifle their ability to trade," she said.

Ms. Fréchette praised several bilateral or regional initiatives by developed countries to "make the playing field a little more level," and said increasing South-South trade and cooperation will also help poor countries.

But she said that reviving the so-called Doha development round of trade negotiations, which began in 2001, was vital to improving life for people who live in poor nations. "There is no substitute for revitalizing the Doha development agenda," she said.

Ms. Fréchette said poor States were also suffering badly from massive debt burdens, and invited creditor countries to consider forgiving the debts of the poorest nations.

Given these problems, the Deputy Secretary-General said no issue was more important to the inhabitants of the least developed countries than achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

Created at the Millennium Summit in 2000, the MDGs are a set of eight goals _ including the halving of extreme poverty and the slashing of child mortality rates _ which world leaders agreed to try to achieve by 2015.

If current trends continue, very few of the world's poorest States are likely to meet these poverty reduction targets, Ms. Fréchette said, calling for stepped-up efforts across the board.

Poor countries, she said, "must spare no effort to strengthen the efficiency, transparency and accountability of governance," support local entrepreneurs and invest more in health, education and infrastructure.

Ms. Fréchette said wealthy countries have a responsibility to not just give more aid, but to link it to national development strategies so that its arrival is not so unpredictable or irregular.

 

Sec-Gen: UN Envoy To Iraq To Be Named `Shortly' 6

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 25 June that he plans to name a new United Nations envoy to Iraq within a week.

The last Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among 22 people killed in a terrorist attack last August on the UN's Baghdad office. The UN eventually withdrew international personnel from Iraq and based its operations in Jordan.

At a press conference in New York, the Secretary-General said the UN has continued its work on behalf of the Iraqi people, including by helping to set up the transitional administration.

"Over and above our efforts in the electoral area and eventually in the constitutional area, those [UN staff] in Amman are operating within Iraq through the local staff and contractors," he said, citing the efforts of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which is implementing a $2 million project on the ground.

"We are doing whatever we can from Amman and, where necessary, we do cross-border trips," he added.

The aim, he explained, is to find creative ways to assist the Iraqi people without over-exposing UN personnel to risk.

The Secretary-General also emphasized the crucial political work underway. "Quite frankly, if we are going to resolve the conflict in Iraq, it's through political reconciliation, it's through political work, it's through inclusive, participatory elections and the national conference which will be held next month," he said.

Force alone would not resolve the conflict, he stressed. "You have to go the political route, so please do not underestimate efforts to get the political process going and to get the Iraqis engaged in talking to each other democratically."

"In the long-run, that is going to make much more difference than any force you can put in," he said.

 

S-G Vows To Press Sudan To Protect Darfur's Civilians From Catastrophe 7

Declaring that the people of Darfur, Sudan, "are suffering a catastrophe," United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 25 June that he would use his upcoming visit to the region to press the Khartoum Government to protect its civilians from continuing atrocities by notorious militia groups.

In a press conference on the eve of his official trip to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, which includes a three-day visit to Sudan and neighbouring Chad, Mr. Annan said "terrible crimes have been committed" in Darfur.

Two UN human rights reports last month found that Government-allied Arab militias, known mainly as the Janjaweed, have conducted wide-scale human rights abuses against Darfur's black African population, including killings, rapes and the destruction of villages.

Asked whether the events constituted genocide, the Secretary-General recalled that he had previously noted that reports indicated "it was bordering on ethnic cleansing."

"The issue is not to discuss what name to give it. We all agree that serious crimes are being committed. International humanitarian law is being broken, and there are currently very serious violations, grave ones, that we need to act [upon]. We don't need a label to propel ourselves to act. And so I think we should act now, and stop arguing about which label to put on it," he said.

He urged international donors to provide immediate assistance _ both in funding and in resources such as equipment and personnel _ to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

"We have a shortfall of $140 million for this year…We need all of this assistance now, not in one or two months when it will be too late. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake," he said.

UN agencies estimate that more than one million people are internally displaced within Darfur and another 150,000 live as refugees in Chad because of the fighting between the Sudanese Government, two rebel groups and the militias since early last year.

The Secretary-General said he had pleaded with the Sudanese Government to stop the Janjaweed from carrying out more attacks and disarm them. "I am going in myself to find out the situation on the ground, support my people and put additional pressure on the Government to do what it has to do," he said.

He warned that the leaders of the Janjaweed, and not just its field commanders, would be punished for any crimes. "Given the atrocities that have happened and the crimes that are being committed _ these are universal crimes _ the perpetrators ought to be put on notice that they will be held accountable wherever they are," he said.

 

UN Human Rights Expert Expects Large Number Of Deaths In Darfur, Sudan 8

The number of black Africans killed by Arab militias in the Darfur region of Sudan is "bound to be staggering," a United Nations human rights expert said on 29 June as she called on the Sudanese Government to end the culture of impunity for those committing human rights abuses in the region.

Briefing reporters in New York after completing a 13-day tour of Sudan earlier this month, Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said there was no doubt that Khartoum had sponsored, armed or recruited the so-called Janjaweed Arab militias.

Last month two UN human rights fact-finding reports said the Janjaweed and other militias allied to the Government had committed numerous human rights violations in Darfur, including murders, rapes and the looting and destruction of villages.

Ms. Jahangir said that during her visit, "nearly every third or fourth family" she spoke to in the camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) within Darfur had lost a relative to the militias.

"It's very hard to say [accurately] how many people have been killed," she said, but interviews with IDPs indicated it would be "quite a large number…They are bound to be staggering."

Ms. Jahangir said it is vital that the international community begins to catalogue what has happened in Darfur since fighting broke out between the Sudanese Government and two rebel groups early last year. Once it does that, it can decide what steps to take against the planners of the militia campaign.

She said the militias _ who, like their targets, are predominantly Muslim _ often wear the uniforms of Government soldiers and use Government vehicles. They also often make their raids on villages in concert with attacks by military forces, she said.

Ms. Jahangir stressed she did not have enough information yet to categorize what has happened as either ethnic cleansing or genocide, but she said "there are strong indications of crimes against humanity."

The Rapporteur is expected to hand down her formal report on her visit to Sudan by the end of next month.

 

UN Envoy: DPR Of Korea Impasse Will Only End With Economic Aid 9

There will be no resolution to the international tension over the nuclear programme of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) unless the impoverished Asian country receives support for its ailing economy, a United Nations envoy said on 25 June.

Briefing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York after a recent trip to the region, Maurice F. Strong, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy, said the DPRK faces major economic problems despite some signs of recent progress.

"It's quite clear that there will be no long-term economic support without a settlement. But it's equally true that you won't get a settlement without a major economic dimension [to any package]," he said.

He said the DPRK's inability to meet its energy needs is "the single biggest constraint" on its development, retarding its economy, its security and its ability to provide humanitarian relief for its citizens.

Mr. Strong said that while the DPRK has had a closed economy, "it wants to move out," adding that during his most recent visit he saw a vibrant street market in the capital, Pyongyang.

But he said the country seriously lacked foreign investment to drive its economic development.

Mr. Strong's remarks come after another round of six-way talks in the so-called Beijing process between the DPRK, the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United States.

The six nations have been engaged in talks since Pyongyang announced in late 2002 that it planned to "lift the freeze" on its nuclear activities and that it was pulling out of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Mr. Strong said there has been "commendable" progress in the latest round of talks in Beijing, but warned there was still "a residue of deep mistrust built up over more than half a century."

The DPRK and ROK remain technically at war following the signing of a ceasefire agreement in July 1953.

Mr. Strong said the UN was "a very active supporter" of the Beijing process and was likely to exert an increased role in resolving the tensions in the future.

Meanwhile, at a press conference on 25 June, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he welcomed an offer by the US to provide some aid and security guarantees if the DPRK ends its nuclear programme as "a positive step."

 

UNDOF Extended 10

Thirty years after it was first established, the United Nations peacekeeping force observing the ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights had its mandate extended on 29 June through the end of the year.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution continuing mandate of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) through 31 December. It also called on the parties to implement immediately the Council's resolution 338 of October 1973, which decided the parties should begin negotiations "aimed at establishing a just and durable peace in the Middle East."

The Council also asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to submit by the end of the renewal period a report "on the developments in the situation and the measures taken to implement" resolution 338.

 

ICTY 11

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on 29 June sentenced a former wartime Croatian Serb leader to 13 years in jail _ longer than even prosecutors requested _ for his role in what it described as a ruthless and savage ethnic cleansing campaign in the Krajina region of Croatia from 1991 to 1992.

As part of a plea agreement, Milan Babiæ, 48, had pleaded guilty to being a co-perpetrator in a joint criminal enterprise to forcibly and permanently remove Croats and other non-Serbs during his stint as president of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK).

Prosecutors then dropped four other charges and recommended a sentence of not more than 11 years for Mr. Babiæ, but on 28 June three judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), sitting in The Hague, said that was not enough given the gravity of the crimes that occurred.

Presiding Judge Alphons Orie of the Netherlands said Mr. Babiæ participated in a campaign of persecution that "involved the murder of more than 200 civilians, including women and elderly persons, the confinement and imprisonment of several hundred civilians in inhumane conditions, the forcible transfer or deportation of thousands of civilians, and the destruction of homes and public or private property."

 

Cambodia 12

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 30 June welcomed the signing of a coalition agreement by Cambodia's two main political parties that paves the way for the formation of a new government.

The accord between the Cambodian People's Party and the United National Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia (FUNCINPEC) was signed on 30 June in the capital Phnom Penh nearly a year after elections were held.

"It is Mr. Annan's sincere hope that the agreement will be quickly formalized by the appropriate organs, so that a new government will be established as soon as possible," a statement issued by a UN spokesman said.

 

FAO: New Plant Diversity Treaty Will Improve Food Choices 13

As a global pact to preserve genetic plant diversity comes into force on 29 June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) hailed the development as a boon to consumers who want more choice about what foods they eat.

Farmers have developed about 10,000 plant species for use in food and fodder production since agriculture began, but today only 150 crops feed most of the world. Four crops _ rice, wheat, maize and potato _ provide 60 per cent of total human dietary energy from plants.

In a statement released at its headquarters in Rome, FAO noted that the variety of crops and plant species continues to narrow because of modernization, increasing population density and changing diets.

Many plant species are under threat from diseases, pests and climate change, threatening to reduce even further the pool of different crops.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture allows plant breeders, farmers and researchers to easily access the genetic resources of more than 60 food or forage crops, including many from other countries, without facing the often high costs of the past.

The FAO said it hopes this will ultimately benefit consumers by giving them a bigger range of food products to choose from and by preventing the most powerful corporations from monopolizing the markets.

The pact is also designed to allow countries to conserve plant genetic material _ supported partly by a gene bank funded through the treaty _ and to exchange information about the use of plant species.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf hailed the treaty _ which has been ratified by 55 countries _ as "the start of a new era."

"The treaty brings countries, farmers and plant breeders together and offers a multilateral approach for accessing genetic resources and sharing their benefits. Humankind needs to safeguard and further develop the precious crop gene pool that is essential for agriculture," Dr. Diouf said. 

 

FAO: More Trees On Farms Can Reduce Hunger And Restore Degraded Land 14

With about 75 percent of the world's poor _ some 1.2 billion people _ living in rural areas, growing trees on farms can help alleviate poverty by providing income and food as well as restore degraded land, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on 30 June.

"Smallholder farmers are under increasing threat of food insecurity due to land degradation caused by extreme weather conditions, growing population pressure and inappropriate farming systems," Assistant Director-General of the FAO Forestry Department Hosny El Lakany said in a message to participants at the week-long First World Congress of Agroforestry being held in Orlando, Florida. 

But this can be tackled by growing trees on farms, he added, helping the rural poor to improve soil fertility and providing them with fruits, leaves, nuts and spices that are important components of their diet, particularly in times of food shortages.

Trees, which also provide wood products, medicine and forage, are an important source of income and energy for the rural poor, with more than 2 billion people using wood as fuel, FAO said. Diversifying income-generation from natural resources is key to the sustainability of small farms.

By addressing food security, household nutrition and income generation, FAO expects to help farmers reduce the need to open new forests and woodlands for cultivation, thus allowing the rehabilitation of degraded and deforested areas.

In the last two decades, the need to grow more food and improve living conditions has forced small farmers, often at risk of hunger, to strive for maximum production from the fragile ecosystems. This has resulted in widespread land degradation and soil fertility decline, exacerbating poverty and sometimes generating conflicts over scarce resources. More than 60 percent of degraded land is in Asia and Africa.

 

Harsher Penalties Needed To Combat Illegal Fishing, Says UN-Sponsored Meeting 15

With illegal fishing growing and seriously undermining efforts to manage fisheries sustainably, a United Nations-sponsored meeting has called on governments to increase the severity of penalties, cooperate more to suppress trade in illegally caught fish, and establish better international controls on exports of fishing boats.

Noting in particular the increasing capacity of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean, 84 members of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggested that regional governments take urgent preventive steps, including a halt to the introduction of additional large-scale fishing vessels.

At the close of technical consultations held from 24 to 29 June at FAO's Rome headquarters, the group, including the European Union, entrusted the organization with creating a central data bank on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing worldwide and with developing common benchmarks for measuring fishing capacity.

FAO was also asked to conduct a global review of fishing capacity and intensify the technical support it provides to resource-strapped developing countries struggling with the problems of capacity management and illicit fishing.

 

Louise Arbour Starts Work As New UN High Commissioner For Human Rights 16

Louise Arbour, a Canadian Supreme Court Justice and ex-prosecutor of United Nations war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, on 1 July takes up her duties as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in succession to Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Baghdad last August.

The General Assembly established the position in December 1993, with a wide-ranging mandate to oversee the world body's complex and multifaceted activities in that field. The first person to hold the job was José Ayala Lasso, a former Foreign Minister from Ecuador, who was succeeded by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland. 

Mr. Vieira de Mello assumed the job on 12 September 2002 before being asked to take what was supposed to be a temporary leave to serve as UN envoy to Iraq, where he was killed in the terrorist bombing that also took the lives of 21 others.

Ms. Arbour, 57, was Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda from October 1996 to September 1999 _ a period of intense activity for both courts. Throughout her career, she has published extensively in the fields of criminal procedure, human rights, civil liberties and gender issues.

She was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1971 and the Bar of Ontario in 1977. She served for 13 years as Associate Professor of Law and later Associate Dean at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

Fluent in both English and French, she became a member of the bench in December 1987, first as a trial judge on the Supreme Court of Ontario and, in 1990, at the Ontario Court of Appeal.

In April 1995, she was chosen to lead an official investigation into the operation of the correctional service of Canada, based on allegations by female inmates at a women's prison in Kingston (Ontario).

Until her appointment to the bench, she served as vice-president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

 

World Drug Report 2004 17

The spread of illicit drugs abuse has slowed after 50 years of significant growth, but more remains to be done to boost prevention and treatment policies around the globe, the United Nations says in a new report released on 25 June.

According to the World Drug Report 2004, launched on 25 June by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), some 185 million people _ less than one out of 30 adults or 3 per cent of the world population aged 15 to 64 _ have used illegal drugs in the past year.

The study also found that the process of extracting cocaine from coca leaves has declined by 30 per cent over the past four years.

Despite these encouraging results, "current levels of illicit drug use, together with the health consequences and criminal activities associated with it, are clearly unacceptable," UNODC chief Antonio Maria Costa said at a press conference in Moscow. He called for stronger prevention and treatment policies in response.

By far the most widely abused substance is cannabis, used at least once a year by more than 150 million people. The report calls the cannabis market "buoyant" and points to increasing consumption in South America as well as expanding markets in Eastern Europe and Africa. 

Cannabis use is followed by amphetamine-type stimulants, with 38 million users, 8 million of which use ecstasy. Smaller numbers of people abuse cocaine (13 million) or opiates such as heroin, morphine and opium (15 million).

In terms of health, opiates rank as the most serious problem, accounting for the majority of people seeking drug treatment in Asia and Europe. In South-East Asia, methamphetamines have become the main problem drug, UNODC said. Cocaine still comes first on the American continent as a whole, but in the United States, cocaine abuse among students has been declining.

The report was launched in conjunction with the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is observed each year on 26 June to commemorate the signature of the declaration adopted at the International Conference against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987.

As another part of the Day's observance, UNODC also announced a yearlong campaign to promote the importance and effectiveness of drug treatment to drug-dependent individuals, as well as to the general public.

With the theme "Drugs: treatment works," the campaign aims to diminish the stigma attached to drug users by illustrating the possibilities for a positive future, using the stories of individuals who have successfully undergone treatment and are engaged in productive lives.

 

UNHCR Joins Fight Against HIV/AIDS 18

The United Nations agencies for refugees and for HIV/AIDS have teamed up as part of the effort to strengthen the world body's response to the global epidemic of the disease.

In signing a memorandum of understanding on 24 June, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) becomes the 10th co-sponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 

"Even though the prevalence of HIV in refugee populations is often lower than in the surrounding host community, refugees are at risk of infection as they are a vulnerable population and can be exposed to sexual violence because of conflict," UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis said in Geneva. "UNHCR considers HIV prevention an essential component of its overall protection of refugees."