The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UN

  • Jonathan, Obama, Ki Moon, Cameron to meet at UN General Assembly

    Jonathan, Obama, Ki Moon, Cameron to meet at UN General Assembly

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday left Abuja en route to New York for the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, while in New York, the President would attend receptions hosted by President Barack Obama of the United States and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon.

    He will address the United Nations Security Council High-Level Session on Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts and present Nigeria’s statement to the General Assembly on Wednesday.

    Jonathan is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Ki Moon and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

    The President will stop over in London for a brief private visit before proceeding to New York.

    He is expected back in Abuja on Thursday.

  • U.N to deploy Ebola mission as death toll hits 2,630

    U.N to deploy Ebola mission as death toll hits 2,630

    The United Nations Security Council on Thursday declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a “threat to international peace and security” as the death toll hit 2,630 and France became the latest Western nation to step up its support.

    French President Francois Hollande announced the deployment of a military hospital to the remote forest region of southeastern Guinea, where the outbreak was first detected in March.

    Since then the virus has infected at least 5,357 people, according to World Health Organization (WHO), mostly in Guinea, neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. It has also spread to Senegal and Nigeria, Reuters reports.

    With fragile West African healthcare systems overrun by the outbreak, Hollande said France’s response would not be limited to contributing to 150 million euros ($194 million) in aid promised by European Union nations.

    “We must save lives,” Hollande told a news conference. “I have asked the defence minister to coordinate this action and to include military doctors and the civil protection agency plus air support.”

    The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said on Thursday he will create a special mission to combat the disease and deployed staff in the worst-affected states.

     

     

  • Big for nothing

    Big for nothing

    •Nigeria should not repeat last year’s UN General Assembly jamboree

    If it were not such a shocking shame, the honest observation that the country’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is usually wastefully bloated would qualify as just another evidence of laughable political administration.  What makes it even more depressingly worthy of attention is the source of the information, which would appear to be authoritative and unbiased.

    It is creditable that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bashir Wali, rose above considerations of political loyalty and non-professional sentiments during the inter-ministerial meeting in Abuja to adopt the country’s working documents ahead of this year’s 69th UNGA Sessionin New York. His candour while addressing heads of government ministries, departments and agencies reflected his understandable discomfiture, which was underlined by his declaration that he was seeking the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan to limit the number of delegates this year.

    Wali said: “The size of Nigeria’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly last year was 567; that is something that is certainly unacceptable. On that basis I asked that they send me the list of three countries, Germany, South Africa and Egypt to compare with what we in Nigeria have. None of them is up to one third of our delegation.”   He reasoned: “So, you can see that there is certainly need to really take a second look and see that those of our delegates that go to the UN General Assembly do have value. It is not a question of having a jamboree; but indeed, it is more like a jamboree.”

    Significantly, the minister pointed out that his argument was informed by facts derived from experience. He said: “I happen to have observed for four years as Nigeria’s ambassador to the UN, the delegation of Nigeria to the UN General Assembly. So, I know and if we are going to be honest to ourselves, I know 80 percent of the delegates that go from Nigeria do not add value to our team to the UN.” In other words, apart from what amounts to a trivialisation of forum and function, it is like being big for nothing.

    Against this background, it is worth considering how such an unjustifiably high number of officials get on the train, which is to say that the business of representing the country at the UNGA may have become equivalent to riding on a gravy train with the implication that the delegates enjoy rich monetary advantages unmatched by the value they bring to their work.

    Sadly,  it is no secret that the country’s shambolic public administration system has over the years encouraged government workers to scramble for foreign official assignments in order to collect substantial travel allowances known as “estacode”. A logical but ultimately senseless consequence of such state of affairs is that many of the beneficiaries reportedly indulge in shopping trips, visit relations and attend to other personal matters while neglecting the official business that took them abroad.

    Wali’s observation, which goes to show the extent of the rot, should prompt a critical examination of this freeloading culture and a proper intervention to bring it to an end. It is instructive that he said at the meeting: “Certainly, something has to be done to put a stop to this embarrassment.” Indeed, the absurdity exposes the country to avoidable international ridicule, especially because   the sheer numerical strength of such delegations has little to do with qualitative impact.

    It is indefensible that in this framework, accountability and responsibility are relegated to insignificance, and the powers that be seem unbothered by the squandering of public funds as well as the unproductiveness of human resources. This is no way to make progress and earn international respect.

  • ‘How world leaders can avert crisis’

    ‘How world leaders can avert crisis’

    Global leaders yesterday in Stockholm urged governments to start coordinating water and energy sectors to avert the global crisis likely to emanate from increasing demand for water and energy.

    This position was made known at the opening plenary of the 24th annual World Water Week, hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

    The leaders said the increase in demand for energy and electricity would put pressure on the limited water resources, leading to increased water scarcity.

    This, according to them, would create problems for competition among water users and in the environment.

    “We know that the demand for energy and water will increase in the coming decades and the added demands will present challenges in all regions, especially in developing economies,” Ms. Hillevi Engstrom, Swedish Minister of International Development, said.

    She said the United Nations (UN) expected global water demand to increase by 55 per cent

    in 2050, making more than 40 per cent of the world’s population to live in areas of severe water stress.

    “The challenge for policy makers is to take into account the multiple aspects, roles and benefits of water. It is essential to have a long-term sustainability perspective,” Ms. Engstrom said.

    The Executive Director, SIWI, Mr. Torgny Holmgren, said the challenges were immense, with the global demand for water projected to grow by 55 per cent between 2000 and 2050 and electricity demand expected to increase by 50 percent in the next two decades.

    He added that there was need for a relationship between the

    energy and water communities, if the world was to provide solution for people to prosper.

    Liberia President Helen Johnson-Sirleaf said water access and energy

    should top the coming 2015 sustainable development agenda to replace the Millennium Development Goals.

    The United Nations World Water Report shows that the rate of groundwater abstraction is increasing by 1 per cent to 2 per cent per year, adding to water stress in

    areas and compromising the availability of groundwater to serve as

    a buffer against droughts and local supply shortages.

    More than 1.3 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity,

    with more than 95 per cent of them located in Sub-Saharan Africa and

    developing Asia, and roughly 2.6 billion people rely on the traditional use of biomass for cooking.

     

     

  • UN chopper crashes in South Sudan

    The UN says one of its cargo helicopters has crashed in South Sudan, with unconfirmed reports saying it was shot down.

    A search and rescue team has been sent to the crash site near Bentiu, said the UN mission in South Sudan.

    A UN official told the AP news agency the Mi-8 helicopter had apparently been shot down.

    Thousands of people have been killed this year in bitter fighting between South Sudan’s army and rebel forces.

    Bentiu, capital of the oil-rich Unity state, has changed hands several times but a ceasefire agreement is currently in place.

    On Monday, the two sides were given 45 days to form a power-sharing government.

    The AFP news agency says the Mi-8 would normally have between three and five crew on board.

  • UN vows central role in fighting ‘exceptional’ Ebola epidemic

    UN vows central role in fighting ‘exceptional’ Ebola epidemic

    The United Nations vowed yesterday  to play a “strong role” in helping Liberia and other Ebola-hit nations  fight the deadly disease in West Africa, which it said could take months to bring it under control.

    Liberia has been particularly hard hit by the epidemic that has swept relentlessly across the region since March, accounting for almost half of the 1,427 deaths.

    “Ebola in Liberia must be addressed to ensure a stable economy, future and society,” said Karin Landgren, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s special representative for the country.

    “The magnitude of this outbreak requires a higher level of coordination than previous responses and the UN Mission in Liberia will play a strong role in this effort,” she said in a statement yesterday.

    Her comments were echoed by Dr David Nabarro, the UN’s new pointman on Ebola, who arrived in the region on Thursday to tour the Ebola-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.

  • NFC partners UN on gender equity

    NFC partners UN on gender equity

    IN a bid to expand mutual understanding, develop joint projects and promote the advancement of the rights and opportunities of women using the film medium, the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN-WOMEN).

    At the MoU signing ceremony, which held at the National Film Institute, Jos on Tuesday, August 19, Dr. Danjuma Dadu, NFC’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, said the partnership and collaboration between the UN-Women and his Agency would not have come at a more auspicious time than now, considering the plight of women and children as a result of the insurgency in some parts of the country. Dadu described the MoU signing as a historic engagement for the NFC and pledged the full commitment of the Corporation in actualising the letter and spirit of the MOU.

    According to him, the NFC is also committed to using the film medium as a veritable tool to expose negative anti-development practices against women, promotion of peace, unity and gender equality.

    The Country Director of United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Woman, Dr. Grace Ongile, spoke on the various challenges faced by women in modern day and expressed satisfaction on the ability, capacity and willingness of the two agencies to address issues of the vulnerable women in Nigeria.

    Ongile further added that the film medium in Nigeria had grown over the years to become a veritable tool for entertainment, information dissemination and more importantly for opinion building and perception changer.

    Among the dignatories at the event were top officials of the UN-Women Country Office Abuja, Special Consultant on Media for the UN-Women, Mrs. Moji Makonjiola, top government functionaries from Plateau State government led by the Commissioners of Information and her Women Development counterpart, Barrister (Mrs.) Olivia Dazang and Mrs. Sarah Yusuf, among others.

  • Osun declares public holiday

    Osun State has declared today a public holiday in commemoration of the yearly Isese Day.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, in a statement, said the day was set aside by the United Nations (UN) as the “Day for Indigenous Religions” globally.

    He added that the day, since last year, has been part of the effort of the Aregbesola’s administration to ensure equality among all religions.

    He said: “Traditional religion worshippers usually set aside the week running to August 20th every year for celebrating with their own adherents while the day usually witness parades, lectures and display of other traditional apparels to attract tourists from other parts of the world.”

  • UN,group call for corruption eradication

    The United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria and  the Nigerian  Economic Summit Group (NESG) have  called for a collaborative fight against corruption.

    They made the call during a media interaction organised by the group.

    Mr. Innocent Azih  said the organisation is a business community focused initiative to enable operators understand that corruption is an anathema and that there is an international collaboration to punish offenders. He urged the media to collaborate and partner the group to make sure that  this global objective is accomplished.

    The  Senior Civil Society Coordinator, Olajobi Makinwa, who is also the head, Transparency and Anti-corruption unit of UN Global Compact,  said the group had been implementing the call in about 15 countries.

    She said: “Other development policies and agenda will not be accomplished unless corruption and good governance are taken into consideration.’’

    Makinwa said the government needs to address corruption because they are part of it and must be part of the solution

    She called on the government to   include anti-corruption provisions in its development agenda.

    The Company Secretary, Corporate Services,  NTN, Uto Ukpanah said UNDC is public sector driven, noted that in 2012, the theme was sustainability but last June, the call  was made for anti-corruption policies to be embedded in the  development agenda of the world.

    She called on the government to implement the tenets of the UN Convention on corruption which most countries of the world have signed, stating that it is one thing to sign the convention and another thing to implement the provisions of the convention.

    “The call to action is an appeal by the private sector to governments, urging them to promote anti-corruption measures and to implement related policies to establish systems of good governance.

    “All companies are invited to add their names to this statement. In signing the Call to Action, companies commit to pursuing transparency and fighting corruption.

    The Call to Action will be forwarded to UN Secretary General Bank Ki-Moon to high-light the private sector’s continuing efforts to work with other important stakeholders, their names  will also be featured as a signatory on the UN Global Compact’s Website. In addition, signatories to the Call to Action will be acknowledged at the UN Global Compact’s 10th Principle Anniversary to be held  in New York on December 10.

  • UN declares major emergency in Iraq

    The United Nations has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as a humanitarian crisis follows the rapid advance by Islamic State militants in the north, the BBC reports.

    Kurdish officials in Dohuk province said some 150,000 refugees were in the area, overwhelming the local population who were trying to feed them.

    Meanwhile, the United States said it is unlikely there will be a rescue mission to help thousands who have fled to Mt Sinjar.

    However the U.S vowed to continue to provide humanitarian assistance there.

    The UN estimates that 1.2 million Iraqis have been internally displaced by the crisis.

    The three other countries that have the same emergency status are Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

    The declaration by the UN of “Level 3 Emergency” would “facilitate mobilisation of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements,”  said UN special representative Nickolay Mladenov.

    The situation of displaced people on Mount Sinjar remained critical, he said.

    The UN had estimated that tens of thousands of people, most from religious minorities, were besieged on the mountain after being forced to flee their homes, including members of the Yazidi sect.

    U.S forces conducted a brief mission to Mt Sinjar to assess the situation after days of international concern.

    It found fewer people than expected and that those remaining were also in a better condition than feared – partly because thousands had left the mountain each night over the past days.