Impunity in Somalia was a major factor maintaining a long-running “genocide in motion” in that Horn of Africa country, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General emphasized to correspondents at a Headquarters news conference this afternoon.
In progress at UNHQ
Press Conference
Following the commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of peacekeeping last year, this year’s International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers placed special emphasis on the theme of “Women in Peacekeeping: the Power to Empower”, Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.
Somalia’s Transitional National Government had amassed 5,000 troops to secure the country, and was working to mobilize popular support against a militarized opposition believed to be attempting an overthrow of the newly formed administration, the country’s Foreign Minister said at Headquarters today.
The world’s “three F” ‑‑ food, fuel and financial ‑‑ crises had broadened and deepened the extent of hunger and malnutrition around the world, Sheila Sisulu, World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director for Hunger Solutions, told correspondents at Headquarters today. She was joined at the press conference by Henk-Jan Brinkman, WFP’s Senior Adviser for Economic Policy, and the Programme’s Spokesperson, Bettina Luescher.
The United Nations was setting its sights on economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the head of the United Nations country team telling correspondents today that humanitarian relief “is not the answer”.
Agriculture was a mainstay of development in Africa, but was also a neglected sector, Robert Vos, Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told correspondents today at the launch of the 2009 Africa Economic Report, adding that “regional value chains” could enhance African agricultural markets through cooperation, rather than focusing on competition between African countries.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today launched a revised appeal for $543 million to meet the humanitarian needs of internally displaced persons in Pakistan, Under-Secretary-General John Holmes said today at Headquarters.
Georgian Ambassador Alexander Lomaia today accused the Russian Federation of using its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to pressure Secretariat officials into drastically altering the title and content of the Secretary-General’s latest report, which proposed a new security regime to help stabilize the Abkhazia region and ensure a “viable role” for the United Nations there.
The United Nations had downgraded its world economic forecast for 2009, Rob Vos, Director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.
The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues would support a framework which stressed the State’s duty to protect citizens, through regulation and adjudication, against human rights abuses by third parties, Chairperson Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said this afternoon.