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27 November, 2004
 

Table Of Contents

 

Secretary-General Urges World Unity To Promote Stable And Prosperous Iraq 1

Declaring that the people of Iraq "are once again being tested by fire" after suffering decades of brutal misrule and devastating wars, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 23 November called on the international community, especially neighbouring countries, to unite in promoting a stable and prosperous nation there.

"Let Iraqis come together as one people. Let the nations of this region and the world come together to help them," he told the International Conference on Iraq in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. "And let us all work towards one goal: a stable Iraq, a peaceful Iraq, a democratic Iraq _ a new Iraq," he added, pledging continued UN aid to the Iraqi people.

"Acts of violence and terror are being committed against them and against aid workers too, and they are caught in the cross-fire of deadly conflict," he said.

But, he added: "Who can doubt that they have the courage and the ability to triumph over the challenges that beset them today? The Iraqi people want a better future for their country, and they are determined to achieve it."

The conference participants agreed to a communiqué that affirmed the right of the Iraqi people to a secure and stable life, and to determine freely their future through democratic means and to exercise full control over their natural and financial resources.

Mr. Annan said a stable and united Iraq, at peace with itself, and in a peaceful region was a compelling concern for every peace-loving nation, noting that elections due in January are a critical part of the country's transition, now threatened by insecurity and indiscriminate acts of terror.

He stressed that every effort must be made to provide incentives for various Iraqi groups to participate in a national reconciliation process and the broadest possible spectrum of opinion must be persuaded of a shared interest in realizing the potential of a united and peaceful country.

Countries in the region should take the lead in helping to normalize Iraq's regional and international relations and Mr. Annan underlined the world body's role in the country, where a terrorist bomb last year killed top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others, leading to the withdrawal of international staffers.

"We cannot ignore the security risks," he declared. "But nor must we let them deter us from doing all we can, under prevailing circumstances, to help the Iraqi people."

He noted that the UN "did our utmost under difficult conditions" to help form an interim Iraqi government and an electoral commission and was now working to coordinate international aid and assist the electoral authorities.

"And we will be at the side of Iraq in the future," he vowed. "The measure of our success is not the number of staff we have in Iraq. It is the degree to which we translate our commitment into effective support for Iraq's transition. With support from both inside and outside Iraq, I am confident we can do our part in helping the Iraqi people."

 

UN Envoy `Guardedly Optimistic' That Elections In Iraq Can Take Place On Schedule 2

The top United Nations envoy for Iraq is "guardedly optimistic" that credible elections will take place on time on 30 January but cautions that the current violence is having an adverse effect on the political and electoral processes in the war-torn country.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative Ashraf Qazi said he hopes the country's interim Government will take a number of outreach measures with a range of people with whom it has so far not engaged in order to improve security.

"Hopefully that will contribute to an alleviation of the current tensions and bring about an improvement in the security environment which will be essential for the electoral process to be feasible and on schedule," Mr. Qazi told UN Radio on 23 November in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he attended an international conference on Iraq.

"Considering all these efforts which hopefully will be taking place, we are guardedly optimistic that the elections will take place on time and will be credible in the eyes of the Iraqi people, which is an essential condition for it to be effective in advancing the transition process," he added.

Asked about criticism of the UN for refusing to send in more international staff to help the process along, Mr. Qazi said security had to be the major consideration in assessing the world organization's ability to serve in Iraq, where a terrorist bomb last year killed top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.

"We have to have security as the uppermost guiding principle at all times because the Secretary General is responsible for the safety of people, the international staff and indeed the national staff — all who work for the United Nations all over the world," he declared.

"God forbid were any tragedy to be visited upon us, that could seriously set back the ability of the United Nations to implement any mandate with regard to Iraq. So it is absolutely essential to our ability to be of service to Iraq that we keep security considerations uppermost in mind." 

 

S-G Voices Hope For Israeli-Palestinian Movement In Middle East Peace Process 3

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 23 November met with fellow members of the so-called diplomatic Quartet seeking to bring peace to the Middle East and told reporters afterwards he believed the time was now ripe to move ahead with a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after four years of violence in the region.

"We are all encouraged by what is happening," Mr. Annan said in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, after talks with top officials of the European Union, Russia and the United States, the three other sponsors of the Road Map plan calling for parallel and reciprocal steps by both sides leading to two States living in peace by the end of 2005. 

Mr. Annan added that the Quartet reaffirmed its determination to work with the Palestinian leaders to support elections in January for a successor to President Yasser Arafat, who died earlier this month, to work with them on their reform processes and to ensure that the international community gives them the necessary support for their economic and social programmes.

"We also believe that this is an opportunity to really come together and move ahead with the implementation of the Road Map and we believe that the Israeli Government is also ready to do this," he declared.

Mr. Annan, who is in the Egyptian resort town to attend an international meeting on reconstruction in Iraq, said specific help for the Palestinians could include the dispatch of election monitors and financial support both from the Quartet and other countries as well.

He also said elections would require some freedom of movement for the Palestinians to facilitate the poll and he hoped Israel would remove some of the restrictions it has imposed during the past four years of violence.

"Obviously that will have to be part of the process; if you are going to have elections, and people have to campaign and move around to vote, some of the restrictions will have to be lifted and we are hopeful that that will be done," he told a questioner.

 

Sec-Gen Delighted At Release Of Three Abducted UN Election Workers In Afghanistan 4

Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 23 November voiced his delight at the release of three United Nations election workers abducted last month in Afghanistan and pledged the world body's commitment to help promote peace, reconstruction and democracy in the war-torn country.

Mr. Annan spoke by phone to all three _ Shqipe Hebibi, Annetta Flanigan and Angelito Nayan _ who were seized by gunmen from their UN vehicle on 28 October in the Afghan capital of Kabul, where they had been working on the country's first-ever presidential election under contract to the UN Development Programme (UNDP). 

"He is profoundly relieved that their ordeal and the anxiety of their families and friends are now ended," his spokesman said in a statement issued in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where the Secretary-General is attending an international conference on Iraq.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that the three - from Kosovo, Northern Ireland and the Philippines, respectively - seemed fine, were in good spirits and would join family members soon.

Mr. Annan also phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to thank him for the crucial role his Government played in securing the release of the three, voiced gratitude to the people of Afghanistan for their outpouring of sympathy and support, and praised the "courage, dedication and solidarity" of the UN family in a call to his Special Representative, Jean Arnault.

"The Afghan people have high expectations and hopes with regard to the role of the United Nations," the statement concluded. "The United Nations system will continue to work to strengthen the security of its staff in order to enable it to fulfill the organization's mandate to further peace, reconstruction and democracy in Afghanistan."

 

UN Committee Approves Draft Resolution Calling For End To Religious Intolerance 5

A key United Nations committee has approved a draft resolution voicing concern at the overall rise in religious intolerance globally, including cases motivated by animosity towards Jews, Muslims and Christians, and urging countries to cultivate respect for all belief systems.

The resolution was adopted by a vote of 177 in favour with no opposition only after two more contested prior votes, including one on the clause specifically referring to "Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and Christianophobia."

That language was retained by a vote of 99 in favour to 33 against, with 21 countries abstaining.

The draft will be forwarded by the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third) Committee to the General Assembly, which is expected to adopt it.

The measure calls on countries to fully protect and respect religious places, sites and shrines from attacks in accordance with national legislation and in conformity with international human rights standards.

The draft was introduced by nearly 50 nations representing a wide array of cultural and religious traditions.

 

Messages of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan 6

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2004

Violence against women is global in reach, and takes place in all societies and cultures, affecting women no matter what their race, ethnicity, social origin, property, birth or other status may be.

Gender-based violence is particularly pervasive in situations of armed conflict, when women and girls become victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and are vulnerable to trafficking. Last May, in an important step towards ending the impunity with which such crimes are committed, the Trial Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone approved a motion to add a new count of "forced marriage" to indictments against six defendants. Thus, for the first time, forced marriage will be prosecuted as a crime against humanity.

Violence against women is a challenge in itself, but comes with an added deadly dimension: the risk of HIV infection. Sexual violence increases women's vulnerability to the virus. All too frequently, the threat of violence forces women to have unprotected sex. Violence can also make it impossible for women to seek information, follow treatment or even raise the subject for discussion.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the human rights treaty body that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, continues to play a dynamic role in ensuring that this issue is a high priority for the international community. The Optional Protocol to the Convention gives women and groups of women the right to petition, and has the potential to become a highly effective tool for addressing gender-based violence and other violations of women's human rights.

On this fifth International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, let us be encouraged that there is a growing understanding of the problem. But let us also pledge to do our utmost to protect women, banish such violence, and build a world in which women enjoy their rights and freedoms on an equal basis with men. 

 

World AIDS Day, 1 December 2004

This year's World AIDS Day is an occasion to recognize the burden that women and girls bear in the age of HIV/AIDS, but equally, to celebrate their achievements in the fight against the epidemic.

Women are our most courageous and creative champions in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In most countries and communities I have visited around the world, it is women's voices that are heard above all others; women advocates and activists who are moved to act selflessly and speak publicly, often risking prejudice, abuse or violence, in order to improve the lives of others.

The courage that women are showing in this fight is matched only by the toll the disease is taking on them. Women already bear the brunt of poverty. AIDS makes the poverty trap even easier for them to fall into, and even harder to break. Women continue to face discrimination on a number of fronts — from the workplace to laws governing land ownership and inheritance. AIDS puts them at even greater risk. Girls already make up the majority of children not in school. When AIDS strikes the family, those girls who are attending school are all too often taken out, to help run the household and care for sick relatives. Women now account for about half of all people living with HIV worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, where more than three quarters of all HIV-positive women live, almost 57 per cent of adults living with HIV are women.

Why are women more vulnerable to infection? Why is that so, even where they are not the ones with the most sexual partners outside marriage, nor more likely than men to be injecting drug users? Usually, it is because society's inequalities put them at risk — unjust, unconscionable risk. A range of factors conspires to make this so: poverty, abuse and violence, lack of information, coercion by older men, and men having several concurrent sexual relationships that entrap young women in a giant network of infection. Nor does marriage always offer protection: in some heavily affected countries, married women have higher rates of HIV infection than their unmarried, sexually active peers.

These factors cannot be addressed piecemeal. What is needed is real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls. Change that will transform relations between women and men at all levels of society. Change that can only be brought about through the education of girls, through legal and social reforms, and through greater awareness and responsibility among men. Change that will allow women to play to the full their role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Empowering women in this struggle must be our strategy for the future. It is among them that the real heroes of this war are to be found. It is our job to furnish them with hope.

 

International Day of Disabled Persons, 3 December 2004

This year's International Day of Disabled Persons focuses on the goal of full and equal participation by persons with disabilities in social life and development, which is a central message of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons.

For many years, persons with disabilities tended to be viewed as "objects" of welfare policies. Today, as a result of a dramatic shift in perspective that has been taking place over the past two decades, persons with disabilities have started to be viewed as people who must enjoy the full spectrum of civil, political, social, cultural and economic rights. This process is admittedly slow and uneven, but it is taking place in all parts of the world. The motto of the international disability movement, "Nothing About Us Without Us", encapsulates the shift.

The right to make one's own choices and to participate in all areas of life is figuring prominently in current efforts to elaborate an international convention on the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Those efforts are making good progress, and the process itself has seen an unprecedented degree of engagement by persons with disabilities and their organizations in international negotiations, bringing their first-hand experience and expertise to bear on disability issues. 

Indeed, it has become increasingly clear that persons with disabilities are the best experts on how to remove barriers to their participation, and must be included in the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes that affect their lives. Moreover, no society can claim to be based on justice and equality without persons with disabilities taking decisions as full-fledged members.

On this observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons, let us reaffirm our commitment to fundamental changes in our thinking about the place of persons with disabilities in society. And let us pledge to work even harder towards fully inclusive societies.

 

FAO Adopts Guidelines To Slash World Hunger In Half By 2015 7

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has adopted a set of voluntary guidelines deemed vital to achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of slashing the number of the world's hungry in half by 2015.

The guidelines, adopted on 23 November by the FAO Council, the Rome-based agency's executive body, take into account a wide range of important human rights principles, including equality and non-discrimination, inclusion, accountability and the rule of law as well as the principle that all human rights are universal, indivisible and inter-related.

"The guidelines are a human rights-based tool addressed to all states to help implement good practices in food securitypolicies," FAO Assistant Director-General of the Economic and Social Department Hartwig de Haen said of the battle to halve the number of hungry people worldwide, totalling more than 840 million according to latest agency figures.

"They cover the full range of actions that need to be taken at the national level to construct an enabling environment for people to feed themselves in dignity and to establish appropriate safety nets for those who cannot. This landmark event signifies universal acceptance of what the right to food really means."

FAO said the guidelines must be implemented to have any hope of reaching the MDG on hunger, one of eight ambitious goals adopted by the UN Millennium 

Summit of 2000 for halving some of the world's most significant ills such as poverty and lack of access to health care by 2015.

"Now we face the challenge of putting these guidelines into everyday practice in a way that will bring an end to the injustice of hunger," FAO Legal Counsel Giuliano Pucci said. "The guidelines provide us with a new instrument to better define the obligation of the state and to address the needs of the hungry and malnourished and we should use them to empower the poor and hungry to claim their rights."

The Council's action on the guidelines comes two months after their endorsement by the FAO Committee on World Food Security following 20 months of often difficult but constructive negotiations. 

 

UNAIDS: Number Of HIV-Infected Women Rising Worldwide 8

The number of women living with HIV has risen in each region of the world over the past two years, with the steepest increases in East Asia, followed by Eastern Europe and Central Asia, according to a new United Nations report released on 23 November.

In East Asia there was a 56 per cent increase followed by a 48 per cent rise in both the other two regions, according to AIDS Epidemic Update 2004, the annual report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

The number of people living with HIV globally has also reached its highest level with an estimated 39.4 million people, up from an estimated 36.6 million in 2002.

"We do not yet have a vaccine, but we do know that prevention and treatment work, and we have the tools to deliver them. Government leaders, civil society and the private sector are all affected and we must all mobilize to save lives," WHO Director-General Lee Jong-wook said.

"These latest trends firmly establish AIDS as a unique development challenge," UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot added of the report's indication that there is no single AIDS epidemic worldwide, with many regions and countries experiencing diverse epidemics, some still in the early stages.

"The time of quick fixes and emergency responses is over. We have to balance the emergency nature of the crisis with the need for sustainable solutions," he added.

Women are increasingly affected, now making up nearly half of the 37.2 million adults aged 15 to 49 living with HIV worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, the worst-affected region, close to 60 per cent of adults living with HIV are women _ or 13.3 million.

The steepest increases in overall HIV infections also occurred in East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with a 50 per cent rise in East Asia largely attributable to growing epidemics in China, Indonesia and Viet Nam. The 40 per cent increase in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is mainly due to Ukraine's expanding epidemic and the growing number of people living with HIV in the Russian Federation.

With an estimated 860,000 people living with HIV at the end of 2003, Russia has the largest epidemic in Europe. As the numbers of people becoming infected and living with HIV increases, so does the number of those needing antiretroviral treatment, as well as care for opportunistic infections.

Women are more physically susceptible to HIV infection than men. 

Male-to-female HIV transmission during sex is about twice as likely to occur as female-to-male transmission. For many women in developing countries, the "ABC" prevention approach (Abstinence, Being faithful and reducing number of sexual partners, and Condom use) is insufficient.

"Strategies to address gender inequalities are urgently needed if we want a realistic chance at turning back the epidemic," Dr. Piot said. "Concrete action is necessary to prevent violence against women, and ensure access to property and inheritance rights, basic education and employment opportunities for women and girls."

According to the report, millions of young people are becoming sexually active each day with no access to prevention services. In sub-Saharan Africa, three quarters of all 15 to 24 year-olds living with HIV are female. Young women there are three times more vulnerable to HIV infection than their male counterparts. In addition to being biologically more vulnerable to infection, many women and girls, particularly in southern Africa, find themselves using sex as a commodity in exchange for goods, services, money or basic necessities _ often with older men.